A/N: I'm aiming for 4 or 5 chapters…depending on how well-liked this is. If I make some adjustments, I may push it off to 5…but it looks like 4 so far. And I hope nobody likes Sophia…she's kind of…icky to me.
Disclaimer: I would love to own Albel…there hasn't been very many serial killings in the world lately and my serial killer book needs another addition.
After Fayt released his findings on Albel, he became a huge media sensation. The public devoured every bit of info on Albel they could get. Biographers traced his family tree and researched his stepmother's family. After all, she was almost as big of a part of the story as Albel himself. After the story of his sad childhood was revealed, he had quite a few admirers. Women sent Albel letters, desperately declaring their love for him. To Fayt's great embarrassment, Sophia was among Albel's many female fans. She had once been a strawberry blonde, but after she heard about Albel's betrayal by his blonde stepmother, she had died her hair chestnut.
Every time he saw her, Sophia was avidly campaigning for Albel's release on the grounds that he was a victim of his stepmother's terrible treatment. Albel's plight consumed her. Fayt had reluctantly resigned himself to tagging along with her when she went on protest marches demanding Albel's freedom. She had read all his notes and surely she should have realized that Albel had come to hate women so much that he was a homosexual. But Sophia was idealistic, believing that somehow she could appeal to Albel's "kind heart within" or some such nonsense. Fayt's opinion of womankind was now almost as low as Albel's. Didn't Sophia realize that Albel killed young girls like her? It didn't matter that she had died her hair. Albel's killings were brutal and indiscriminate. As long as he was killing women, it didn't matter what they were like. Sophia was an idiot as far as Fayt was concerned.
Three months after Fayt's findings had become public, a shocking bit of news swept the nation of Airyglyph. Albel Nox had escaped from jail. As a killer, he had been kept under heavy guard at all times, even more so after all the attention. But somehow, he had managed to escape and no one had seen him do it. He had simply vanished. Fayt was immediately contacted by the authorities, demanding to know where he would have gone. Fayt couldn't answer that. As far as he knew, Albel had no safe place to go to. His home was watched thoroughly and women in Kirlsa were once again told to stay home at night.
But it seemed that Albel had moved on. Pretty soon, similar killings were reported in Peterny and in the capital city. Albel should have been obvious to anyone who laid eyes on him, but somehow he was managing to evade capture and continue his reign of terror in the cities to the north.
Fayt was summoned to Peterny to head up a new task force to catch the killer. The nation's best profilers, criminologists, and forensics teams studied each new corpse for some clue about where Albel was and how he was managing to hide so effortlessly. The bodies were piling up and nobody had any leads. But suddenly, the killings stopped. After taking a new victim almost once a week, a month suddenly passed without any reported deaths. The team was anxious. For a killer like Albel, fixated on killing women, it was almost ludicrous to believe that he had voluntarily quit murdering. And yet, another month passed by without a single death. Either Albel had gone into hiding to avoid capture and he was managing to suppress his urge to kill, or he was dead. Death was the option preferred by most of the team.
After two more uneventful months, Fayt was sent back home to Kirlsa. He had expected life to return to normal, but he was surprised to find a squad of policemen waiting at his door the next morning. He was promptly arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Sophia Esteed.
The photos were horrifying to look at. Sophia's body had been found on the floor of her apartment. The door had been left ajar and the landlord had stopped by to look in on her. She was found lying on the floor spread out on top of a thin sheet. Her shirt had been ripped open and a heart had been cut into her chest along with the word "cheater". In one of Sophia's tightly clenched hands was a piece of paper, worn from a letter she had been writing to Fayt. In the letter, she had told Fayt that she was going to go off and find Albel and her love for him would help her find him when everyone else had failed. There had been no sign of forced entry. Sophia had let her killer into the apartment.
And so, Fayt was the most likely suspect. Despite his vigorous protestations of innocence and his insistence that he had been framed somehow, the jury found him guilty. Fayt just didn't seem properly upset by her death. Somehow, he had known she would get herself killed by chasing after a serial killer. He just didn't think he would be the one to blame when Sophia got killed.
Fayt heaved a sigh as he was led to jail in shackles. The stupid girl had let her killer in. Probably a member of that crazy Albel fan club. Surely there were at least a few killers among Albel's fans. One of them had probably done it.
Fayt had no place in prison. He was an intellectual, not a criminal. He wasn't an experienced fighter and he had never had to live with one eye open at all times. But he had to learn quickly. Prison was a nasty place for the weak.
Currently, Fayt was hiding behind a wall in the prison yard. There were few other hiding places. He listened to the footsteps passing by, but no one had thought to look for him here. At least, not yet. There were several hardened criminals that were itching to pick a fight with him and Fayt was not about to let that happen. He kept absolutely still, listening as people passed by.
"Here, boy," a man whistled. "Come out wherever you are, kid. We ain't gonna hurt you."
Fayt grimaced and remained right where he was. Shelby. Ugh. The man had an insatiable appetite for sex and Fayt wasn't about to become anyone's bitch. He hugged his knees tightly to his chest. He was lucky just to be able to survive this long without being raped. A single tear slid slowly down his cheek. He looked up at the sky. Still late afternoon and he had a long way to go before he could even say he survived a single day.
Fayt's muscles tensed as another voice barked out, "Where's Leingod?" Fayt licked dry lips. So, now the guards were looking for him too. It was no secret that the Kirlsa prison system was corrupt. Some of the guards, especially Nox, liked seeing fragile little prisoners like Fayt get raped.
"Leingod!" Vox shouted again. "Get your ass out here. Your lawyer wants to see you."
Fayt sighed and reluctantly rose to his feet. He kicked at the ground disconsolately as he climbed out from behind the wall.
Vox's face split into a vicious smile. "Good. I thought our favorite little boy had run away from home."
Shelby and his gang were standing nearby, watching Fayt being led away. "We'll wait for you," Shelby called out. "Tonight you're going to find out who you really are: a cocksucking slut!"
Fayt shuddered and tried to erase Shelby's eager expression out of his memories. He felt sick.
Vox handcuffed Fayt's hands and then roughly shoved Fayt into the tiny interview room. He could care less about Fayt. He shut the door behind the bluenette and stood against the wall a short distance away, scowling.
Fayt nervously took a seat and stared up at the man before him. He was definitely not his lawyer. His lawyer had been a woman named Maria Traydor. This guy…
Fayt frowned hard and studied the tall, thin man before him. He looked like a lawyer, dressed in that fancy suit with those expensive sunglasses, but he definitely wasn't Fayt's lawyer, unless Maria had abandoned him. He heaved a sigh and looked down at his hands. That was probably the case. Maria must consider him a hopeless cause.
"What's the matter, kid? Aren't you glad to see me?"
Fayt coughed in surprise and his eyes flew upwards. He knew that voice. "A-Albel?" he stammered.
The "lawyer" reached up and lowered his sunglasses, smirking at Fayt over the top of them. He pulled off his disguise quite well. He had cleaned up and cut his hair. He had even managed to act like a smooth professional. But his eyes gave him away. There was no way to hide the madness in those ruby eyes.
Fayt swallowed hard as he looked over Albel nervously. He was trapped with the man and this time their positions were reversed. Albel was a known killer and there was nothing stopping him from killing Fayt right here. He wasn't bound and chained this time.
"Relax, fool," Albel purred, hooking his sunglasses on his belt loop. "I only kill women. I'm not going to kill you, only have a little fun with you."
Fayt's voice shook and he pressed himself as far back into the chair as he could. "H-how did you get in?" he whispered. "You're a wanted man and you've been locked up in here already. Don't they recognize you?"
Albel shook his head with a sly smile. "I've hidden myself in plain sight. They think I'm some sort of rampaging madman unable to control himself. But you must not have told them how charming I can be." He stepped over to Fayt and pushed the chair back from the table, settling himself in the space he created. "I've missed you, Fayt." He climbed onto the chair, straddling Fayt's waist. "I've missed fucking with your mind. It's got me thinking about how I could fuck with your body instead."
Fayt's mouth went dry. "You're crazy," he spluttered. He didn't like the look in Albel's eyes. Albel was serious, dead serious.
Albel loosened his tie. "So, Fayt, let's get acquainted," he drawled.
Fayt struggled, fear rising in his throat. To have avoided Shelby for so long only to fall into Albel's clutches. Life just wasn't fair.