To calm my frazzled nerves, I decide to put my restlessness to practical use. If I’m to enact my plan, I’ll need a way to secure my little flower in the dark, to make her crave me like I do her. Heading out to my garage, I do a quick inventory for supplies and items I’ll need. I’m pleased to discover leftover wooden panels from when I repaired a damaged fence that blew down in a storm a few years ago. My toolbox holds plenty of nails and a hammer, and with a smile on my face, I haul everything I’ll need upstairs to one of the unused bedrooms on the second floor.
The spare bedroom I’m in hasn’t been used in years, and I cough as my boots kick up small puffs of dust when I walk across the wooden floor to the windows. The wooden panels are light but thick and wide enough for what I require, and I quickly estimate how many I’ll need. There are two large windows, but there should be enough wood for me to cover them entirely. I get to work, and after a couple of hours, I stop and step back to assess my handiwork. The windows are completely obscured by the panels, and not even the faintest sliver of light peeks through the cracks. I approach them and tug at them to check they are secure.
The old fashioned door has a lock, and I have keys for all the bedrooms in a drawer in my room, so I don’t need to make any extra additions to the room to make sure she can’t get out. It’s ready for Violet. I just need to fortify my resolve not to instantly kill her, and it briefly occurs to me that I’m going to an awful lot of trouble for an insignificant and shy, little flower.
However, when I think about her gentle beauty and the effect something as simple as her lavender and honeysuckle scent has on me, I feel more assured that I won’t kill her...at least, not right away. In the end, even the prettiest flowers will bleed, and I can’t wait to see if Violet bleeds as prettily as I imagine she will. Eventually, I’ll paint her skin a brighter crimson than the roses my father planted so long ago.
Chapter Nine
Z
Violet messages me almost constantly now, and she often tells me I know her better than anyone else in her life. She’s shared many intimate and personal secrets about herself and her family, and if her father wasn’t in prison, I’d be sorely tempted to introduce him to Rose.
This little flower of mine has sent my obsession with her into a frenzy. If I was certain I’d be able to remain in control of myself, I’d visit her more often than I do. I’m safest around her after a fresh kill, but I’m wondering how safe she’ll be when she’s finally in my possession, tucked away in her dark little room, a few doors down from where I sleep. The thought is intoxicating, and I’m eager to jump the gun and take her now.
I’ve decided to wait until Violet asks me to meet her. By then she should trust me completely, and even though I’ve only fed her scraps of truth about myself, she’s poured her heart out into our messages. The barest hint of guilt still haunts me like a stubborn weed, but I’m determined to be rid of it. I’ll pull it out before it can destroy all of my carefully laid plans with its toxic presence. There’s no room in my plan for mercy, not when I’ve spent so much time and energy on Violet. She’s going to be mine—now it’s only a matter of when.
Another message from Violet pops up on my screen, and I do a double take when I read the words I’ve been waiting nearly six months to see.
ViBlackthorn1064: I want to meet you. Will you meet me?
My fucking heart stops dead in my chest. I wonder if this is how the other flowers felt when their hearts took their final beat before falling silent and still forever. I’m not going to answer her. Not yet. I need to be sure she’s serious, and I need to make sure everything is ready. My mind is racing at a mile a fucking minute, and I’m mentally running through a list of what supplies I need to get, where I need to meet her, and how I’m going to take her. She’s bound to fight me at every turn, and while I’m sure time will subdue her fury, I know I’ll never be more than the villain in her life story...because that’s what I am.
I’m her stalker, and I’m a killer. No matter how inherently good she may be, nothing will repair how rotten to the fucking core my soul has become, not even Violet. Violet is a lonely flower, blooming in a garden of shadows and monsters. There’s no way I will ever let her escape from me, not now. I’ve worked too hard, waited too many months for this opportunity, and now it’s time.
I won’t fail.
Violet will be mine.
Chapter Ten
Z
The next day, I drive through town, scouting out the perfect spot for my date with Violet. A plan forms as I realize she doesn’t know what I look like, and even if she did recognize me from the store it’s unlikely she would think I’m her date. A smirk of satisfaction emerges at the thought of just how I’ll do it. I’ll watch from across the street, and when she lets her guard down, distracted with thoughts of me standing her up as she makes her way to her car, I’ll snatch her. It needs to be quick. Perhaps
