Without looking away, Julie leaned towards him, deliberately letting the sharp blade press into her delicate throat. "Do I look like I'm scared, Jed Olson?"

Hearing the name he had used as an alias in Roseville made him grin. The calculating chill in his gaze faded as he raised his eyebrows in appreciation. "Huh. You really did your homework. Clever kitten. Another example of never judging a book by its cover."

He cocked his head and his intense eyes tried to burn their way straight into her soul. "Tell me, Ju. How did you become a groupie for serial killers? I'm all ears..."

She swallowed. The light above their heads flickered as it had back then. In the dark side street where everything changed for Julie.

"I was 17. It was just after 1 am, when I was on my way home from the party of a classmate. The night was cold and calm, as always in Ormond. But when I turned down this one side street to take a shortcut, that changed fast. One rough hand grabbed my waist while another clasped my mouth, stifling my scream. I knew immediately that it was a grown man holding me against my will before he even started speaking in his disgusting voice."

Julie could still remember the events exactly as if it had been yesterday. Jed's attentive look silently led her to continue with her story.

"I tried to free myself, of course, until the moment I felt a sharp blade in my lower back. He said I should stay calm, shouldn't defend myself. Said, he doesn't want to hurt me, but he needs me to take revenge on my parents, to teach them a lesson. The more he talked, the more I realized who was standing behind me. It was John Miller, a disappointed client of my oh-so-great lawyer parents. I had seen him many times in my father's office. Around 40, overweight, ugly scratchy voice. But the worst thing was the way he always looked at me. It was not difficult to see what sexual preferences Mr. Miller harbored. Definitely not of the legal kind."

Julie suppressed a disdainful growl and kept going.

"And then it was clear to me that the only chance to get out of this situation unscathed was to play along. Because the physically weaker sex is actually the stronger one - because of the weakness of the stronger for the weaker. So I finally stopped struggling and turned to butter in his arms. I whispered to him that I would be a good little girl. That I would do anything he asked of me as long as he let me live. As expected, he fell for it, lowering the knife to grab my breasts with his slimy hands. Like a moth to the flame. Without hesitation, I kicked his toes with all my weight so he let go of me, screaming like a baby. I rammed my knee into his rotten balls and when he went down whimpering, I grabbed his knife. It felt weird in my hand at first, as if another person was standing over their would-be rapist. But soon completely different feelings flowed through me: Rage. Bloodlust. Power."

Julie's lips twisted into a malicious smile at that part of the memory.

"Miller must have seen it too, because when I leaned over him with the blade, he began to sob pitifully. He apologized to me, begging me desperately to let him go and to spare his pathetic life. I just smiled, grabbed his head, and stuck my knife through his throat from below. The blood was like a fountain. It splashed everywhere. On my sweaty clothes, my hands, my face. In the end, it gathered in a large puddle at my feet and I held my red fingers up against the dim moonlight. No mercy. No regrets. It was glorious. I had never felt as alive as I did in that moment. When I got down from my high, I gathered myself and called the cops. They arrived at the same time as my worried parents and of course everyone believed I was the victim who had to kill in self-defense. Poor innocent Julie, survivor of a malicious attack by a sick pedophile. Ha!"

She couldn't help but laugh. The vibration in her throat caused the blade of Jed's knife to scratch her skin. A thick drop of blood emerged and began to run down her neck, but she felt no pain. She didn't even flinch.

Jed's free hand grabbed her shoulder, piercing her flesh, while his pretty eyes, mesmerized, followed the path of the drop of blood. When it disappeared into the depths of her clipping, Julie spoke again.

"I passed your test, Jed. That's what it was, wasn't it? A test. You left your backpack open and knocked it over on purpose, assuming I couldn't resist my curiosity. And you were right, but I didn't run away. Instead, I stand here in front of you. Waiting. I've been waiting a long time, Jed… For answers. Answers only you can give me. I want to understand you. Know everything about you. Every tiny detail. Then maybe I can understand myself better as well…"

Her breath was now in gusts. The fact that she had just poured out her heart to him, her idol, and he was still standing so close in front of her, was slowly but surely driving her insane.

The seconds felt like minutes. His silence was louder than any scream.

Finally he lowered his knife, bowing his head to the neckline of her green shirt, where the drop of blood had disappeared. She moaned as his tongue retraced its path agonizingly slowly, from her cleavage to her throat and up to her ear. His husky laugh went through her marrow and bone.

"I knew you were special. I am a good connoisseur of people after all. I could see your potential from the moment you walked into this bar tonight, my little kitty cat, but your confession even surpassed my wild imagination." His tongue caressed her ear and Julie saw stars. "I'm actually not the spontaneous type, as you probably know. But I still have a little time before my job tonight. So, what do you say, Ju? Should I fuck you senseless, here and now? Hmm, would you like that?"

His dirty words drove her over the edge.
Without thinking further, Julie grabbed his shoulder-length blonde hair, pulled him close, and hungrily pressed her lips to his. Jed didn't react for a moment, but then he dropped his knife into the sink with a clang, grabbing her own blond waves to return the kiss.

His blizzard met her firestorm.

Their tongues and hands fought for dominance, but when he grabbed her arms and jerked her against the wall, Julie willingly surrendered to her fate. With her wrists fixed over her head with his right hand, Jed grinned triumphantly, letting his left hand wander under her shirt to pinch her sensitive nipples. She gasped with excitement and his grin widened. He kneaded her round breasts with fervor and experience, while Julie struggled in vain against his unrelenting grip on her wrists.

She wanted to touch him, needed to touch him. The urge was so great that she let out a more than unusual whimper for her, which made Jed laugh, charming and cruel at the same time. It echoed in her head as he took her lower lip between his teeth, nibbling, pulling and sucking until she tasted blood.

She retaliated by lifting her right leg and pressing his strong hips tightly against hers.

"Mmm… my resourceful little kitty cat."

Purring in response, Julie rubbed her lower abdomen against his to satisfy her hyperventilating libido. She wanted to break through his iron shell, to affect him as much as he did her, to shake him to his core.

Achieving a particularly good friction with her hip, she managed to elicit a wanted reaction. He growled into her mouth, giving her a primal sense of pride and satisfaction. But when his devilish touch left her now rock-hard nipples, she moaned in protest.

The disappointment did not last long, though, because his hand wandered lower and lower, over her flat stomach with the silver navel piercing to the zipper of her hot pants. He pulled it open and was just about to slide his talented fingers under the band of her panties when there was a knock on the door.

"Jules? Honey, are you in there?" It was Lana. 'Crap. Why now?!'

She froze. Pulling slightly away from her, Jed looked at her questioningly, blonde hair disheveled and wicked lips reddened from their hot make out session. Julie found it more than difficult to formulate a coherent sentence at this sexy sight.

"Hey, Lana. Yeah, I'm here. Umm, it's gonna take a little while longer. I noticed that I got my period…", Julie answered through the closed door with a monotonous voice. Assessing the situation, Jed's silver eyes suddenly began to sparkle mischievously. This could only mean one thing. Julie gulped. 'Oh oh…'

While Lana asked her some irrelevant question, his hand continued on its journey, and without further warning, Jed slipped a long finger into her inviting pussy.

Her mouth formed a silent O before Jed began moving his finger. In and out. In and out.

"Oh damn, kitty cat. You're so wet for me…", he whispered in her ear and Julie smothered her lust-filled moans on his neck, internally cursing him for still holding her arms firmly above her head while he pushed deep into her.

When he added a second finger, Julie's self-control said goodbye. She let out a little cry of pleasure, jerking her hips forward to his, where she felt the impressive bulge in his jeans.

"... Jules? Is everything okay?"
The person addressed wanted to loudly deny, but bit her lower lip hard, while Jed kept on penetrating the walls of her cunt, thoroughly enjoying every single desperate twitch of her body.
Julie gritted her teeth. 'This guy is a real killer…'

"Yeah, I'm fine." It took every ounce of her iron will to keep her voice from shaking in utter pleasure. "Go ahead. Tell the others that I'll be coming soon…"

Jed grinned at the unintended innuendo regarding her current state, accelerating his relentless pace, and adding his thumb to stimulate her clitoris with circular motions.
'Okay, this is pure torture...' Julie was fucking furious. He enjoyed making her suffer way to much.
His hand dug around her wrists like a vice as she got closer and closer to orgasm. She was sure she would see the bruises even days later.
Sadist. Show-off. Maniac.

Ughh, who was she kidding? She loved it. She fucking loved it.
She loved the fact that she was getting hot and bothered in the ladies room of a shabby rock bar with a wanted serial killer with a way too pretty face.
She loved every fucking second of it and wanted more. More.

The irrepressible desire to feel his full member inside of her overshadowed everything and everyone. She was a mess.

With the next movement of his sinful fingers, Julie fell over the cliff. She closed her eyes as white-red waves of liberated lust broke down over her and she screamed the bliss from her lungs.

She didn't care if Lana or anyone else heard it. The only one who mattered was him…

Slowly but surely she came down from her high and opened her eyes.

Jed removed his fingers from her wet pussy and lifted them up to his smiling lips. She was still breathing heavily as he licked each one of them clean. He made a real show out of it, knowing full well that the sight would burn into her mind forever.

"Hmmm. That was really fun, Ju.", he hummed. His silver-gray eyes slid over her quivering body from top to bottom, without question to admire his work.

With one smooth movement, he took something out of his back pocket, blinding Julie for a moment. His famous camera. Stolen from a victim in Philadelphia where he had previously worked, if her research was correct.

"An image is worth a thousand words. Don't you agree?"

Oh yeah. And what a picture she just had to give. A memory for the ages. Captured and frozen forever.

"I'd really like to stay so that I can keep my promise to fuck your brains out, but the disturbance by your friend reminded me that my free time window is unfortunately coming to an end."

He sighed as he let go of her wrists to check his watch. Julie shuddered when she felt the blood flow freely again.

"Business before pleasure, kitty cat. But don't despair, I'll keep in touch. Pinky swear." He winked at her playfully and before she knew it, he had grabbed his knife, unlocked the door and was gone.

She knew there was no point in following him. There was a reason not even the fucking police could trace this guy.

After her adrenaline rush ran out, Julie sank exhausted against the wall, staring into space. The music from the bar seemed far away as she tried to place the events in her head. 'Did all of that really happen just now?'

She still sensed the aftertaste of scotch in her mouth as well as the smell of dried blood on her lower lip and throat.

All signs of his existence, and yet he was gone. Without a trace. Like a ghost. Like a goddamn fucking ghost…

When Julie got back to the bar, she found nothing but empty chairs. Even the bartender had finished work and left already. A look at her cell phone confirmed it was just after midnight.

The black backpack at the foot of the bar stool had vanished into thin air just like its owner. "I didn't drink that much, did I? Maybe my madness is so advanced that I am now imagining things…", Julie muttered lost in thought and ran her hands through her tousled blonde hair.

The rest of the evening was a blur. She continued roaming the streets with her fellow students for a while, but Julie was no longer really there with them.

Eventually they returned to campus. As soon as she arrived in her dorm room, Julie fell into a restless sleep.

"Good morning, sunshine!"

Julie groaned. Blinking, she could make out the much too fresh-looking face of her female roommate sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Uggh. It's way too early for your good mood, Lana.", Julie muttered and pulled the blanket straight over her head. She had the most fucked up dreams last night.

"Early? It's noon, Jules. Get out of bed, sleepyhead!"

At these words Julie threw back the covers, staring at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

"What? Almost 1 pm? Damn." She shook her head in utter disbelief.

Lana laughed mockingly. "That's how it goes. Fortunately we don't have any lectures today. But we wanted to go to the cinema with the clique, remember? You have half an hour to get ready." She blew her a kiss, standing up cheerfully, while Julie yawned and stretched her tired limbs. With shuffling steps she moved into the bathroom, took off her pajamas and turned on the shower. She immediately noticed that she was damp downstairs. 'Oh yeah, those kind of fucked up dreams….'

She shivered as the warm pounding water caressed her body.

All were about him. Who else?
Different scenarios, the same man.

In one of it she was a good girl. He snapped his fingers and she obediently spread her long legs for him, nice and wide. He then got down on his hands and knees so he could feast on her with that hungry mouth of his. Devouring every piece of her being. Making her body his own.

In another one she was a bad girl. He spanked her bum, tied her up, and used her as his toy all night long. Fucked her front and back, hard and merciless. Showed her who's boss, who's in control. Made her his willing slave.

In even another one he just sat and watched. Kept taking pictures of her while talking dirty and giving her orders how exactly to stroke herself. She came in a whirlwind of blissful cries without him touching her even once, his melodic laughter reverberating in her mind.

Julie moaned and cursed, knowing there was no time to masturbate and ease her pent up sexual frustration.

With a deep sigh, she turned off the water, got out of the shower and threw on her bathrobe. She went to her room to get dressed, absentmindedly turning on the television to fill the silence. A look through the window promised another great day in Florida full of sun.

"Dear viewers, breaking news has just reached us directly from Florida. There was a murder last night in a backyard on the outskirts of town. The victim is a man in his mid-30s."

Julie spun around. Any sign of tiredness had finally evaporated from her being.

"Our correspondents report that the cause of death and a cryptic message written in blood on the wall point to a serial killer America already knows too well: The Ghost Face."

Julie dropped the clothes she was holding on the floor in shock. 'No way….'

A picture of the just mentioned killer as well as of the victim was now shown on the TV and yes, it was the fully tattooed bartender from the rock bar she had visited last night. A third picture of the bloody evidence was faded in and the reporter was right. It bore Ghost Face's handwriting, or rather Jed's handwriting, as Julie noted. "Lock your doors: a murderer is in our midst and roams freely like a ghost in the night."

Her heart made several leaps in a row. 'It was real. It was all real. Everything. He was there. He was there with me…'

She gasped as her cell phone vibrated on her nightstand.

As if in a trance, she went over and picked it up. The icon for a new message blinked. Unknown number. Holy shit.

She swallowed and took a deep breath before opening it. 'I have passed the test…'

"Hey Ju! Told you I would keep in touch. I hope you like my newest masterpiece. You really inspired me last night, you know, kitty cat. On several levels, haha. I think this could become a new range of artworks of mine that could even surpass the one in Roseville. What do you think? Should be fun. Speaking of which: the two of us still have a lot of unfinished business with each other. See you soon. Very soon. XOXO"