The Collector

It was dark and smoky in the bar.

The music blared loud from the ancient speakers, and the carpet was stained from years of spilt cocktails.

The pretty blonde sat on a stool at the back of the bar, sipping her apple martini while surveying the room for someone to take her home tonight. She adjusted the neckline of her strapless red dress.

When she was on her fourth martini, she spotted a dark haired young man staring at her from across the room.

He was tall and good looking, but he had dark, sinister eyes that shone with malicious excitement. Startled by his intense eyes, the blonde blinked, but when she looked up at him again, the cruel glint was gone.

Maybe a trick of the light, coupled with alcohol?

The dark haired stranger started coming her way. Red Dress smiled, and put down her cocktail glass. This night is about to turn interesting, she hoped.

"Hello," the stranger greeted her and gestured to the empty seat to her left. "May I sit?"

Red Dress nodded, batting her eyelashes seductively. Of course, how could she refuse? Chances are he was a rich, lonely bachelor looking for someone to spend his life with.

They talked throughout the night. Red Dress started to drink stronger brews. By 2am, her head started to feel heavy.

"I should be going, it's late," Red Dress slurred and tried to stand up but fell back to her seat. She was pretending, of course.

As she'd hoped, the stranger steadied her with concerning eyes. "Maybe it ought to best if I take you home. Where do you live?"

"I live out of town."

He frowned. "You are in no state to take the long drive home. Would you like to come home with me and rest for a night?"

That was what Red Dress was hoping for. "Su...ure." she mumbled, pretending to be worse off than she really was.

She looked up at him with sleepy eyes, and to her surprise, he was looking at her with a look so hungry it would've scared off lions. He grinned at her wolfishly, but the grin did not reach his eyes, which shone with cruel excitement and longing.

Red Dress shivered. His look unsettled her. But she shook the feeling off.

The stranger half carried her to the car. "You are very beautiful," he whispered. "You have an exquisite neck. So slim and delicate."

Red Dress frowned. Her neck?

She dozed off to his quiet rantings of her slim neck.

Hours later, Red Dress woke up with a start.

Her mind was still groggy, and she could dimly see daylight coming in from the small spaces between wooden planks that were used to board up a window.

Where was she?

She tried to get up, but a sharp pain around her wrists informed her that she was tied up. She could not scream, as a piece of cloth was wadded up and taped into her mouth. She was gagged, trussed up and left alone, seemingly in an old abandoned house.

Terrified, she tried to get up again but only succeeded in kicking over an old lamp. It made a loud BAM when it went down.

Footsteps. She could hear footsteps. They were downstairs . . . coming up . . . getting closer.

Outside the door.

The door was pushed open, and Red Dress squinted up to see who it was. The dark stranger look back impassively.

"You're awake," he smiled, and closed the door softly behind him.

Let me go, Red Dress thought furiously and tried to pull her wrists free.

He tsked softly. "Struggling wont help, my sweet. Keep still. Look up at me," he crooned, almost like he was talking to a lover.

A pair of defiant eyes glared back at him.

"You have such beautiful eyes, but you neck is the most beautiful. I've never seen one so perfect in my entire life. And your skin . . . so smooth, so flawless."

He pulled out a french razor and looked her her hungrily.

"You see, darling, some people like to collect things. Some collect stamps, or coins."

He smiled and walked over to the horrified girl.

"I collect necks."