A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
It had started out innocently enough; Marcie and her friends were getting ready for a night out on the town. They were insistent that Marcie should go with them. They said she needed to move on, get over her ex. So hesitantly, Marcie agrees as she puts on a light layer of mascara, and then goes through the difficult task of picking out the perfect outfit. The one that says, 'hey I'm here to mingle, but I'm not looking for anything permanent.' It takes her a long time picking out her clothes. She can hear her friends' constant, excited chatter about how they hope the night will turn out. She can't help but sigh in frustration as she finally settles on a dark purple shirt with half sleeves that shows an ample amount of cleavage. She pairs it with a pair of black leggings that shimmer when the light hits them perfectly. Marcie dons a pair of black combat boots to complete her ensemble. At this point her friends have walked into her room, themselves having finished getting ready.
"Marcie you looked like a depressed lesbian." Her morbidly blunt friend Camellia interjects suddenly dragging Marcie from her thoughts.
"Cam! That's kinda harsh." Luna scolds the threesome's most realistic member.
"You know you were thinking the same exact thing." Camellia mutters in an attempt to defend herself.
"Really? I thought this was kinda cute, guys." Marcie questions as she turns to face her boisterous friends, upon turning around she notices their state of dress. Both of them are wearing dresses. Camellia's is an ungodly short mini dress that shows off every lovely curve of her body. The dress is the color of the Caribbean Sea, and it compliments her bleach blonde hair perfectly. Now when she turned to face Luna it was the complete opposite. Luna was wearing a mid thigh length forest green dress that seemed to give her the appearance of an ethereal spirit.
"Luna what are you doing?" Marcie asks as she watches her friend go to her closet and starts rooting through it.
"I'm looking." Luna answers plainly as she digs through the piles of dark clothing. She was looking for something that didn't make her think of a depressed gothic woman.
"For what exactly?" Marcie asks quietly as she watches her friend dig through the piles of clothing with a sort of determination. After what feels like about five minutes Luna makes a small, "ah-hah!" sound in triumph.
"I found it!"
"Found what exactly?" Marcie questions as she inspects the garment in Luna's hands.
"Something that will actually make someone want to talk to you." Camellia says with a smile as she silently applauds Luna's actions.
"Hey!" Marcie says in outrage, her outfit would have made people talk to her.
"Alright, how about this? Luna's choice in outfit will make the right kind of people talk to you." Camellia says as she herds Marcie towards the bathroom. Once in the bathroom Marcie puts on the dress in defeat knowing her friends were right; as Marcie puts the dress on she can't help but feel pretty as the satiny material slips over her shoulders. The dress was about as long as Luna's. It was strapless, and a shade of dark blue that complimented Marcie's long dark brown hair wonderfully. After admiring her reflection Marcie emerges from the bathroom with her previous sour expression gone, now replaced with a confident smile.
"Now that's the Marcie I remember." Luna says mimicking her friend's smile. Camellia just looks at them with approval and gestures to the door.
"Ladies I believe it's time to party." Camellia says as they walk out of the house and enter the car. They take Luna's car since she decides to be the designated driver. After parking the group walks into the club. The club was nothing special, just a hole in the wall with loud music blaring, and the dance floor crowded with it's dancing patrons.
"Marcie, Cam and I will be at that table over there." Luna shouts over the music as the two head off to the left and disappear into the crowd. Once alone Marcie heads up to the bar and settles onto a stool. As she sits there she begins to think about her ex, and how much she misses him.
"What can I get for you Darling?" The bartender asks kindly as he approaches the brooding woman.
"Hmm… I'm sorry what did you say?" Marcie asks having been jolted out of her thoughts when the bartender appeared.
"Drink Sweetheart… I asked what I could get you." He tells the disheveled young woman.
"Uh… Sorry, can I just get a Budweiser?"
"Sure thing Darling." He says politely as he disappears to get her drink. After a few minutes he shows back up with her beer and he looks the lady over, who had seemed to be in her own little world. She appeared to be about the age of twenty-three. He sets the beer down in front of her and snaps his fingers to get her attention. Marcie once again jolts out of her stupor, and smiles kindly at the young bartender.
"Sorry, I'm not usually this spacey." Marcie apologizes quickly as she takes a sip.
"It's no skin off my back… So what's your deal?" The bartender asks as he eyes the beautiful young woman at his counter. Marcie notices him staring and ducks her head with a blush.
"Bad break up." Marcie answers quickly and the bartender offers an understanding nod.
"I've been there."
"Haven't we all." She mutters as she downs the rest of her beer in a couple more swallows. The bartender having noticed her distress just gives her four shots of tequila.
"These are on me Sweetheart."
"To love, broken hearts, and the dawning of a new day." Marcie says as she toasts with the bartender.
Several hours later and many more shots later
Marcie's head begins to feel fuzzy. So she walks outside in an attempt to go find her friends, but she notices that the car is gone. Knowing this is bad she wobbles back into the bar to find her newfound friend waiting patiently at the bar.
"Did you find them?" Matt the bartender asks hopefully.
"No, they just left me." Marcie says with a pout as she settles back onto the barstool. Matt gives her a sad look, but on the inside he wears a wolfish grin; knowing that each minute that ticks away just brings him closer to his prey. Marcie being drunk doesn't even notice how his lips quirk up in the corners suddenly.
"Damn, hey if you want I could give you a ride home. My shift ends in like two minutes." Matt suggests and he watches as a look of unease crosses Marcie's face, but it quickly fades away when Matt flashes her a comforting smile. So against her better judgment Marcie nods her head slowly and Matt just smiles politely.
"Um… sure, I'll just wait here."
"Okay, I'm gonna go punch out." Matt says quickly, and on his way back to the punch cards his hands shake with excitement. He realizes that he has just gained a new addition to his collection, ever since his last one died. Though he still had one she wasn't very much fun anymore; she wouldn't even scream when he cut into her body. Lately he had been having trouble finding a new toy to add to his collection. However, now he had Marcie, so he punches out swiftly, and goes back to find Marcie waiting patiently at the bar.
"Oh, hey your back." Marcie says a little too loudly with a smile as he offers his arm. Knowing that she was drunk Marcie takes it in an attempt to keep her from embarrassing herself. Matt leads her out to his car and he helps her into it. Once strapped in Marcie gives him the directions to her house, then closes her eyes and drifts off into an uneasy slumber.
Awhile Later
"Hello?" Marcie shouts into the darkness as she struggles against the bonds holding her to the bed. She begins to panic when her eyes finally adjust to the darkness. In the room she can see dried blood on the walls and the silver gleam of steel. Marcie also identifies the coppery smell that seemed to linger in this room; it was the smell of dried blood.
"Mgh!" A muffled voice from across the room answers.
"Hello, is someone there?" Marcie whispers again, and this time she can hear the rustling of fabric.
"Yes, yeah I'm here… Are you okay?" The voice asks suddenly, having been freed from the gag.
"I think so my head hurts."
"That's normal, what's your name?" The voice inquires gently figuring that this newest edition was probably terrified.
"Mmarcie… What's yours?" Marcie asks with a stutter in her voice as the fear begins to sink in.
"Hey Marcie it's okay… we'll be okay… I'll get us out of here."
"But how?"
"I'm not sure but I'll find us a way, names Roslinda. You can call me Ros though."
"Ros I'm scared." Marcie says as she begins to feel tears streaming down her face.
"Marcie, it's okay… hey do you see anything that you could use to pick a lock with?" Ros asks as she begins twisting against the cuffs holding her to the other wall. Marcie begins to look around hoping for something to use, but then a thought crosses her mind.
"Are your hands even free?" Marcie inquires as she pulls at the bonds again.
"No, but I was just trying to be optimistic." Ros answers tiredly as she rests her head against the wall in defeat. Marcie just sighs in frustration and stops her pointless struggling. They both rest quietly till bright light suddenly floods the basement causing both of them to flinch. Matt having heard them stirring decides to go and greet his pets.
"Hello, how are my Pets doing this morning?" Matt asks in a sickly sweet voice. That puts both Marcie and Ros on edge instantly causing their skin to crawl as well.
"Let us go, you sick bastard!" Ros shouts at him as she struggles with renewed energy.
"Now Ros where would be the fun in that?" Matt questions as he turns to face her with a twisted grin on his face.
"Just wait till I get free! I'm gonna tear you limb from limb especially for what you did to Lily!" Ros shouts in fury as she tugs the chain roughly.
"Now, now Ros settle down. I believe you're scaring little Marcie over there." Matt says as he begins to approach Marcie, who starts to back away from the approaching man.
"You leave her alone!" Ros says in fear as she tries to draw his attention back to her.
"I won't hurt you, Sweetheart… yes now there's a good girl… stay still for me." Matt praises her as he sits down next to Marcie and begins to stroke her face gently. Marcie tries not to shy away, but she fails and his touches just follow her even as she moves.
"Pleease don't hurt me." Marcie stammers out and Matt stops stroking her face.
"I'm not gonna hurt you… I'm just gonna play a little." Matt says as a wicked grin appears on his face.
"No, Matt don't! Cut me instead leave her alone! Matt!" Ros shouts desperately as she watches Matt draw a small blade from his pocket. All she can do is watch in horror as Marcie begins to cry when he runs the blade over her skin, leaving a thin line of blood in its wake. Ros falls silent in defeat as she watches the young woman shake in terror. She closes her eyes unable to watch anymore when Marcie begins to scream as Matt cuts deeper causing the blood to flow faster. The smell causes Ros to become nauseas and if she had anything in her stomach it would have been on the floor. A few long hours later Matt finally finishes his dark ritual. He takes pity on Marcie, and links Ros' chains on the other wall so she can comfort the young woman. After Matt finishes doing this he leaves the women. The instant the door shuts Ros jolts into action and begins to treat the wounds to the best of her ability seeing as Matt had left a thread and needle for stitching plus a bucket of hot water with a rag. Ros first takes a few minutes to assess the damage on the woman's body. She counts fifteen gashes with several minor scrapes on her arms and legs. Ros stitches the worst ones shut, and watches as Marcie begins to come out of the haze of pain.
"Why Ros? Why does he do this?" Marcie asks quietly, as she looks to the woman caring for her. She doesn't know why she's asking this woman who is in the same exact situation as her. From the way she is so calm Marcie knows Ros must have been through this before.
"Marcie I… I … I don't know Marcie. I just don't know why." Ros admits in defeat as she puts the thread down, and pushes the bucket away from them. After Ros settles down onto the bed Marcie immediately clings to the woman, who shushes her with comforting words.
"Ros I wanna go home." Marcie stammers out as she cries in the woman's lap.
"I know Marcie, I know." Ros says as she begins to hum a soothing lullaby causing Marcie and her to fall into a dreamless sleep.
A few Days later
Marcie and Ros had fallen into a monotonous routine. Matt would come down with food and water every couple of days. He would cut one of them or both of them then leave, and Ros would do her best to stitch the wounds close. Eventually after what feels like a week Marcie begins to become curious about the woman living with her.
"Ros who was Lily and how did he get you?" Marcie asks suddenly breaking the natural silence that seemed to settle between the women. She can see how the tears begin to form in Ros' eyes as she looks at Marcie preparing herself to tell the tale.
"We were med students at Yale University finishing our third year of residency at a local hospital. Lily and I were studying to become ER doctors and we had just finished midterms. So naturally we went out drinking to celebrate, while we were out we met this charming young man named Matthew. He was very charismatic and us both being drunk thought nothing of it as we followed him back to his house." Ros explains and the tears begin to fall from her eyes, but she just wipes the tears and keeps explaining. "Neither of us were prepared when he knocked both of us unconscious. When Lily and I woke up hours later we were chained down here and he was sharpening his knives."
"Ros I'm…"
"Don't Marcie, just don't." Ros snaps as she stops Marcie from finishing her thought. "As I was saying, Lily and I had been here for two years. One night we tried to escape, but he was to strong for us in our weakened state…. He beat us both for days and under the stress Lily's body could take no more… she died that night in my arms… I didn't see Matt for a whole day after that." Ros says and as she finishes her tale tears begin to fall freely from her eyes. Marcie says nothing as she hugs the young almost doctor.
"I should have known he was to good to be true." Marcie says suddenly after a few moments of silence. Ros looks to Marcie and for some reason she laughs, it's the first time she has laughed in years and it feels wonderful. Marcie gives the woman a reassuring smile, and for some reason that gives Ros a small glimmer of hope.
Three Years Later
It's been a few years since Matt first caught Marcie. The police had given up looking for her after about fourteen months since there was absolutely no trace of her anywhere. Her friends had told the police all they knew, but no one else seemed to know anything else. So with no more leads to go on the police file the case away, alongside the other ten missing women cases all believed to be committed by the same man. This unknown to the women, who continue to try and survive hoping one day someone would find them. Ros not really keen to the idea of trying another escape especially after the other failed attempts, Marcie tended to agree with her since she didn't fancy being beaten again. They figured if they could hang tough, then maybe some day someone would save them. However no one ever came for them, no white knight came to their aid, and they died after five years of each other's company. One morning Matt went down to play with them, but all he found was Marcie leaning against Ros, both of them dead with smiles on their faces. Their eyes filled with not anger, not pain, but hope.
