Natural Born Killer

When Hyatt thought it'd be a good idea to stop by the twenty-four-hour laundromat on a Saturday night at a quarter til midnight to wash the bad date out of her clothes, she didn’t think anyone would come in. Especially not some cute guy while Hyatt was in her granny panties and a black bralette.

The guy was tall, broad shouldered, and fit. Blond hair shone short at the sides, the rest fell to his chin with a hard, chiseled jaw with a designer beard. He shucked his clothes off quickly, leaving him in nothing but tight black briefs that showed just how muscular his thighs were.

Hyatt kinda wanted to sink her teeth into them. Hyatt took in the rosary that rested just above his belly button. She didn’t miss the rusty red stains smeared all over the clothes that had just been thrown in the wash, but the look the guy gave her as he stood there made her self-conscious.

“Bad date gone wrong.” Hyatt patted the top of the washer that she sat on top of, her clothes swished inside.

The guy’s eyebrow jumped in acknowledgement as he went around and checked other dryers until he found a pair of black jeans that Hyatt was sure were women's but he slipped them right on up his legs.

The guy paid little attention to Hyatt after that.

*

Hyatt brought her bike to a halt when she passed the laundromat as she biked around town. She recognized the guy inside, but this time he wore tight fitting denim jeans with a plain white t-shirt and a leather jacket, his rosary wrapped around his hand, his fingers idly rubbing the beads.

Hyatt wondered if his clothes were stained red, but she fumbled for her pedal as he looked up and she gave an awkward wave before pedaling away, flustered.

*

Telling Athens about her suspicions of the mystery guy from the laundromat was zero help.

“Dude, that doesn't mean he’s like a serial killer. He's probably like an artist or something. Probably red paint.” Athens reasoned and hit the black puck across the table, but Hyatt successfully blocked the score.

"I’m pretty sure he’s some kinda murderer.” She whispered as she shot the puck off. It sank into the slit and she threw her arms up. "Ha. Score."

"Here's a thought; why don't you just ask him?"

Hyatt straightened her back as Athens’ puck glided into the slit with ease and Hyatt made a face. ”Yeah, so I can be his next victim? No, thanks.”

*

Hyatt took a shortcut through Northbury Cemetery and skidded to a halt in front of Old Man Barclay’s estate as she saw her dad’s cruiser and the rest of his squadron out front. A body bag on top of a stretcher being loaded into the ambulance.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the sight of the shiny vintage mustang and the guy from the laundromat behind the wheel.

He wiggled his fingers at her in a mocking wave, and she quickly glanced away and began to pedal home.

*

It was a quiet Thursday night as Hyatt sat across from her dad at the dinner table, pushing around her small mole hill of mashed potatoes. "Have there been any murders?"

Sheriff Kovac paused with his fork to his mouth and gave his daughter a look. "Excuse me?"

"Ya know, any murders or unsolved cases?"

"Honey, this is Northbury. The only crime we had lately was when Mrs. Ingrid was having a spell and broke Ms. Darwin's garden gnome."

Hyatt tore apart her dinner roll as she remembered that. They had to shut down the entire block. "What about Mr. Barclay?"

Sheriff Kovac’s eyebrows raised into his hairline. ”And just what would you know about Hubert?” He stabbed a few green beans with his fork.

“I saw your cruiser out front.”

"Hyatt." Displeasure in his tone. "Mr. Barclay died from a heart attack."

"Oh." She stuffed the entire dinner roll into her mouth.

Her father wiped his mouth with his napkin and tossed it over his plate. "I've got some paperwork that needs to be done. Wash up and get to bed." He stood up and kissed the top of Hyatt's head.

*

It was past midnight as Hyatt stared aimlessly at her laptop screen, trying desperately to come up with something futile for her college essay.

“What excites you?” had been taunting her for days. With a huff, she closed her laptop and her eyes caught movement out of her window, she was startled to see a dark figure standing in her backyard, underneath twin pear trees.

Hyatt shook her head. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” She hastily rushed down the stairs and out the back door as the screen door banged off the hinges. The dewy grass clung to her feet, but she didn't care as she shoved at his chest just as he bit into a pear. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He blew out the chewed up chunk of pear as he tossed the pear aside. “You didn’t wave to me today. I was offended, so I thought I’d drop by.”

She let out an exasperated laugh at the audacity. “You’re literally out of your skull.” She reached up and pulled a pear from the tree before lobbing it at him.

He laughed as he reached up and wrapped his hand around a branch. “Don’t act like you didn’t want to see me again.”

“It’s blood, isn’t it? From your clothes at the laundromat.”

His steel-blue eyes stared at her. “Is that what you think it is?”

She nodded.

“Color me surprised. What's your name?"

"Hyatt, what's yours?"

"Gustav." He let his arm drop. “I'll see you around town.” He turned to leave, but Hyatt was quick to move in front of him.

“Wait.” She pressed a hand against his chest. “I just wanna know. I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“You’re the sheriff’s daughter.” Gustav wrapped his hand around her wrist. ”Don’t you think you’re obsessed with this notion?” He twisted her around by her arm until her back was against the tree. “Unless, that’s what you want to hear. Is that what gets you wet between your thighs?”

He was so close, Hyatt could smell the leather of his jacket. She swallowed around the lump in her throat, slowly nodding. "I just want the truth."

"That's really cute." Gustav released his grip as he backed away. “Next weekend. In front of the laundromat at six sharp. Don’t be late.”

*

Hyatt sat in the passenger seat of the sixty-nine Shelby, all leather and chrome, and it held a scent of new car and mint. A large manila envelope sat on Hyatt’s lap, her hand toying with the flap, but Gustav’s hand grabbed her wrist.

”Are you sure you can handle this? It’s intense.”

Hyatt cleared her throat, nodding. ”Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.” She wondered if Gustav even believed that by her body rattling all over the place. Gustav removed his hand, started up the car and drove while Hyatt opened the folder. A glossy photo of a man in a suit, slicked back gray hair with a fat neck slipped out and with it, so many documents of the man’s whereabouts that dated back weeks, phone records, contracts, photos of his place of employment and big, luxurious house. “Someone did their homework.”

Gustav snorted as he navigated the highway.

Hyatt closed the file, pulled her knee up and turned; the leather groaned under the shift. “It’s just a lot to take in. You kill people. For money.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet, but if you’ve changed your mind-”

“I haven't.” Hyatt cut Gustav off in a rush, feeling the heaviness weighing in her gut.

Gustav headed downtown, too many people and too many lights, but Gustav's car blended in nicely and he pulled to the curb in front of an upscale restaurant. “He’s inside talking money and contracts.”

Silence enveloped them, Hyatt trying to take in what she was doing, that she was sitting next to an actual hitman, but the thought itself didn't frighten her as much as she thought it should but she was sure this was just second nature to Gustav.

The man exited the restaurant and slipped into a sleek town car, pulling away from the curb, and Gustav was quick to do the same. They followed closely through traffic and even passed the man's house until he was inside.

Gustav shut the engine and lights off, coasting to a stop two houses down where he got out, and Hyatt followed closely behind Gustav up to the front door.

Gustav banged on the door with a fist. The door swung open, the man’s face dropped just as Gustav threw a blow to the man’s face, blood instantly began pouring from his nose and Hyatt watched in horror as Gustav’s face morphed, his brow becoming pronounced, his eyes oil slick black, and fangs unsheathed from his gums. Hyatt let out an audible gasp as she stepped backwards, but Gustav lunged toward the man, his hands grabbing at his head as his teeth sank into the skin of his jugular, viscous blood blurting out.

“No!” She felt her bottom lip quiver. “This can’t be happening,” she whispered as he stepped forward. Her eyes met his. “You’re a… you’re not…” she stuttered out as she watched the body fall to the floor in dead weight. Gustav wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as his face resolved back to its normal state.

Hyatt stood still, couldn’t take her eyes off the dead body in front of her, and she couldn’t help but feel a tickle in her gut. But she could probably throw up right now, but she swallowed it down.

She watched as Gustav straddled over the body, his fingers gripped the man’s gray hair and pried the man’s head from his body with the quick flick of his wrist, tendons and ligaments tangled with veins and arteries, hung down from the jagged skin like a bunch of wires.

Hyatt covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her stomach rumble. She felt a hand on her upper arm and she opened her eyes.

“Let’s go.” He pulled her outside towards his car where he popped the trunk and tossed the dismembered head inside and she slipped inside the Shelby. The engine came to life as the car slowly maneuvered toward the freeway, back toward Northbury.

Gustav turned onto the empty main street of downtown Northbury and came to a stop in front of the laundromat and climbed out.

As soon as they were inside, he pinned her against a washing machine and himself, and cupped her face just beneath the hinge of her jaw, his thumbs caressing across her cheeks.

“You’re afraid of me.” It wasn’t a question. “I can smell fear all over you.”

“You’re a, uh,… there’s just no way.” She tried to reason.

“Draugr.” He dipped his head, his lips covering hers as he kissed her ever so slowly and filthy, just teeth and tongue, and it made Hyatt dizzy. She gripped at the fabric of Gustav’s shirt as he kissed down her throat, his sharp teeth dragging across her fragile skin. Her breath hitched as he sucked at her neck.

Gustav slipped his hand down the front of her jeans and Hyatt probably should have been embarrassed how wet she was, but his finger grazed over her clit and it was like an electric current and a moan fell from her lips, echoing in the empty space.

His finger slipped inside of her, her knees buckled as he added another and slowly pumped his fingers, pulling an orgasm from her just as his teeth sank into her throat as she cried out, thighs shaking.