A/N: Once again, thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing this.

Thank you to the wonderful starfishyeti!

Waring for violence-, it´s not essiental to read this chapter to understand the story!

The stalker

by elessar73

*** 12. chapter : Blood to wash the memory away ***

An excited Mary entered the room with Edward following close behind. A glance around was all it took to make the young man's excitement disappear. 'Not very suitable.' In the dim light he made out some tools and a kind of machine but nothing more. Nothing they could use for getting comfortable. Edward shook his head; this was getting weird.

"I wanna leave." He turned around expecting to see Mary standing there. But she wasn´t and she didn´t respond either. An odd feeling settled in his stomach - maybe fear? He swung round and called out her name. His voice became known with every call, but nothing. Edward felt his heart beat increasing. His breathing became rapid and cold sweat ran down his face. "I'm leaving now!" He announced ready to walk back to the window they had just climbed through.

He muttered to himself when suddenly he felt something slam into the back of his head. The blow caught him by surprise. He lost his balance and stumbled forward.
"AUUUUAAHH!" He screamed out in pain. His right hand flew up to his head searching the sore spot. His fingers touched a sticky smear - blood. He brought the hand back to his face. Looking for confirmation he strained his eyes but in the dim room it was hard to tell. Edward was trembling all over when he realised Mary was standing in front of him. The beautiful woman had turned into a maniac. An evil smile distorted her once soft expression. Now there was just hate, rage and insanity. She held an iron baseball bat in her right hand ready to strike again. Panic washed through Edward's body as he looked into her staring eyes. Then the adrenaline kicked in he gained back some of his former strength. His mind cleared a little. ´I have to run. Just run!`

Mary observed every move her prey made through slit eyes. She saw Edward swaying on his feet while he tried desperately to get as far away as possible. She closed her eyes for just a second when a shudder of excitement and insanity ran through her body. Mary gave him some projection. She smirked at him. 'You can run, but you can´t hide!'

Edward was breathing heavily. Sweat ran down his forehead and burnt his eyes. He turned his head slightly to see if he'd been followed, but he saw nothing. The room appeared empty. Mary was gone. The man allowed himself a moment of rest when he suddenly heard the sound of running steps from behind. 'Oh my god!' He didn´t dare look back again. He just hoped to make it to the window. He tried to increase his speed. He got closer and closer to the window; his point of escape. 'I can make it,' he told himself again and again and just then, when he had convinced himself and the window was in grabbing reach he was hit in the back of his knees. His legs gave in and Edward cracked down hard on his knees. The man stretched out his hands to alleviate the crash but his wrists couldn't withstand the full weight of his body. He heard his bones snap. Screams of pain filled the room. Tears shot into his eyes and ran freely down his face. Edward's head started spinning when pain and fear took control over him completely. Instinctively he curled together into a ball to be protected against the next assault.

Mary stared down at him with abhorrence, " You miserable worm. You really think that you´re good enough for me?" Her voice was shrill and she was totally out of control. In a blind rage she kicked Edward hard in his side. She trampled over his legs and arms. Blood poured out from several wounds but her victim didn't react. Edward was unconscious. Mary dropped to her knees catching her breath. The assault had exhausted her. She took her time to regain her equilibrium. Her eyes were fixed on Edward's curls. Her hands moved slowly forward. She really wanted to touch his hair to feel the softness. 'Charlie!' she whispered imagining the professor in her mind . But the moment of weakness passed by. And with it went Edward's chance to live through the night. She inhaled deeply to compose herself and finally stood up. Mary knew what to do.

Edward stirred. His whole body was aching. Every muscle seemed to be on fire. He opened his eyes but his surrounding remained dark. The thought occurred to him that it must be night. It was almost dark outside when he had left the bar with Mary. 'Mary!' The name brought back the memory of what had happened and the young man felt panic rising. He tried to move but he couldn't. He was tied down with chains. He tried to open his eyes wider hoping to catch a glimmer of light but it was in vain. He turned his head from left to right when he felt a knot on the back of his head and some sort of fabric rubbing his skin. 'A blindfold. I´m blindfolded, not blind,´he thought.
"You need to focus," Edward said to himself under his breath trying to quiet his racing heart. "Stay calm." But he couldn't. The fact that he was unable to see what was going to happen made it even worse. His breathing became ragged. He couldn´t get enough air into his system as his body and mind went into shock. He was beginning to freak, the uncomfortable silence screaming at him. ´God, where was she?´A shudder ran down his spine. He felt coldness permeate the fabric of his T-shirt. He strained to remember what the place had looked like. Where could he be chained? As far as he could remember the room had been empty apart from the press. 'Oh no!' Edward started to move frantically.
"Mary!" He screamed totally out of breath. "Mary please talk to me. If I´ve done something wrong I'll make it up to you. I'm sure we can fix it," Edward was pleading. His tears wet the cloth. The fabric began to hurt his eyes, but he didn't care. His voice faded into sobs. The surrounding cement walls echoed it back. It rolled like the surf through his head taking away every hope. Edward was running out of strength. His voice had first became hoarse and then it was gone, just a rough scrape remained. His throat was dry as emery paper. He believed he would die if he couldn't get something to drink. A frantic laugh escaped him. He would die anyway, so why worry about dying of thirst. It was ridiculous.
" Mary, Mary! I need some water. I'm thirsty. I may die before you are finished with me." His voice was barley a whisper but it showed all the self confident he could afford. He had concluded with his life. He didn´t see a way out. So why not pleading and whining? It really didn´t matter anymore.

Dispite Edward's plea the porch remained silent. And for a brief moment hope soared up in him at the thought that Mary had left. He relaxed a little in the belief that there was still hope. He said a silent prayer to all the saints he could remember. But it seemed that nobody was listening. His last hope vanished when he sensed a movement on his right side. He could perceive the clicking of high heels on the concrete floor.
"Mary? Are you there? Come on, let me go. I´ll forget everything..." Edward was pleading for his life when a sardonic laugh interrupted him.
"Shut up you son of a bitch." Mary's voice sounded distorted and strange. "You don't deserve to live. Just shut up."
The man's heartrate increased and he heard the blood rush in his ears. Edward wasn't at all ready to die. He fought his chains and pleaded again and again. He fought till all his strength was gone. His body lost all of its tension and Edward became limp. A hysterical laugh from Mary sealed his destiny. Edward gave in. This woman was beyond reason. Helpless he waited for the end.

Mary approached the press with quick steps. She couldn't wait any longer. She stared down at her gloved hands. No shaking, Mary was absolutely calm. She was in control and more than ready. Mary peered at the man on the table. Her insane mind played tricks on her and she saw her brother Mickey. She reached out her hand and stroked his curly hair. Mary sensed him flinch underneath her touch.
"SHHHHH... little one. Don't fight it. You just get what you deserve. You´ll learn to never laugh at me again. I'm your sister and you´re supposed to love me." Mary's voice was tender and soft when she spoke to him. Her hand ran down Edward cheek.

"I'm not your brother. And I never laughed at you!" Edward spat out. "I'm Edward."

"Don't lie to me!" Mary screamed. She clenched her fist in his hair and pulled till the man yelled in pain. "Don't you dare lie to me you bastard!" Mary had reached her breaking point. She was dancing at the abyss of her madness ready to make the next step. "Good bye, Mickey," She whispered when she pressed the start button of the machine. With a screech the press came to life covering up Edward's screams for help. He panicked and dragged at his chains when he felt the hammer crashing down on his midsection. He howled in pain and fear when he heard his rib bones snap. The pressure of the hammer broke his skin. Blood sprayed out of uncountable wounds. The hammer crashed down again and again turning his body into a mass of flesh and blood. Edward didn't care anymore. His mind had drifted into a twilight state. When he at last lost consciousness he welcomed death. All the pain was gone.

Mary observed her victim closely. The blood flooded out of his body. The press was stained with it. Puddles of blood covered the ground. When the flood stopped Mary was satisfied. She turned off the machine. Making a big circle to avoid the blood on the ground she moved up to the corpse´s head. Edward's face was pale, bloodless. She smirked. Roughly Mary dragged the blindfold away. She bent down to kiss the forehead. 'I love you Mickey.'

She looked at the closed eyes and unharmed skin of the man's face. She wasn't finished yet. Mary began the final part of her bloody work. The screwdriver cut deep into the soft skin of Edward's face leaving a random pattern of red cuts all over it. The woman was astonished to see blood oozing out of the wounds. Amazing how much blood a single body held. In a sort of ecstasy Mary dipped her index finger into the blood and smeared it over Edward's face till it looked like a red mask. She stepped back and evaluated her work. It was perfect; the original look of the man was gone. The view of it lightened up her mood even more. 'No chance of laughing again.`

Mary felt excellent. She packed her tools into her shoulder bag and searched one last time through the pockets of Edward´s pants carefully to not leave prints in the blood. But as expected she found nothing. Edward's jacket was safe in her trunk and with it all his papers and money. She glanced one last time at him, blew him a kiss and disappeared into the night.

TBC