Meet the Characters: Third Victim, Laura Atkinson

YOUR LAST BREATH

A SHOCKING, GRIPPING THRILLER

 

After fleeing to London, I found myself living next door to Claudia Atkinson. She was stunning and we became firm friends. I wanted more than just friendship, but Claudia started dating Geoffrey. Knowing I covertly watched her, she flaunted their lovemaking in front of me, teasing and humiliating me until I could bear it no longer. I wanted her dead!

EXCERPT

On the second of January, I did some shopping and found myself a knife; not just any knife though, it had to be a Bowie knife. I had one as a teenager and I loved it. This one, different from my first one but just as sturdy, had a nine-inch silver blade with a two-inch sharpened curve cut into the back at the tip for faster and easier penetration of the flesh. The sharpened edge curved out from the handle then back up towards the tip, making the blade appear to be fat in the middle. A curved guard separated the blade from the wooden handle which fitted nicely into my hand. I knew it would make easy work of Claudia’s firm, young body.

Setting my plan in motion, I’d pretended to be her friend again. We weren’t able to talk much in the cold, dreary weather, but I finally learned Geoffrey would be out of town the coming weekend, leaving Claudia home alone. She’d planned to go out dancing with some friends that Saturday night, kind of a girl’s night out thing. I knew from past experience, she and her friends usually stayed out until two am on the weekends, plenty of time for me to slip in and surprise her when she got home.

That Saturday morning found me as nervous as I’d been when I was sitting outside Tammy’s house. I paced the house most of the day, checking the clock constantly. I examined my knife probably twenty times; making sure it was still sharp. As the sun went down so did my nerves. By ten pm I was calm and relaxed. Around eleven, I slipped from my backyard into hers and used the key she kept hidden under a flower-pot to let myself in…

Her kitchen was mainly unlit except for a small pool of light under a wall cabinet. I boldly checked out the room using the point of my knife to open cupboard doors. I jabbed a new bag of sugar, allowing the sweet, white grains to flow onto the counter below.

I made my way into her dark living room and was surprised to see two packed bags standing by the couch. Claudia hadn’t mentioned a trip… I heard running water so I left the living room to investigate. There was a light on in her bathroom which faced the front of the house like mine. I headed towards it. Is she home already? I hadn’t seen her come home. Maybe she changed her mind and never went out tonight. That makes sense if she was planning a trip in the morning.

The bathroom door handle made a slight squeak as I turned it with my gloved hand, but the hinges were quiet as I slowly opened the door enough to peek in the steam filled room. I saw the shower with its translucent curtain to my left, and behind the curtain stood the naked redhead. Her head was tilted back under the flowing water of the shower head, so I used the opportunity to slip quietly into the room and close the door.

She paused, momentarily, and looked my way, but my dark clothes blended in with the grey wallpaper and the clothes which hung on hooks behind the door. She resumed rinsing her hair.

I watched as she turned and ran her hands over every voluptuous curve, rinsing the soap from every crack and crevice. I stared intently as she ran her hand between those shapely thighs and I felt myself swelling up and pressing hard against my jeans as she bent over and caressed her calves. She straightened up turning her back to me, so I quickly moved to within a foot of the plastic curtain.

Up close and naked with the curtain between us, she looked larger than I thought she would, but she still looked great. Slowly, she swiveled around until her face was under the water, and continued around until we were practically face to face. Through the curtain, I saw her eyes open as they came out from the spray. She saw me standing there and screamed.…

I stifled her scream by shoving my blade through the thin plastic curtain and into the soft, yielding flesh of her stomach. The pain overwhelmed her. She inhaled a moan and fell back against the far shower wall pulling the curtain loose from a few of the rings above. Blood flowed from the opening I’d made in her and streaked down the wet curtain. I twisted and lifted the large blade so it tore upward through more flesh. Gasping for breath, she tried in vain to remove my knife from her body. Her wet hands slipped repeatedly on the plastic as she tried to push the invading object from her body. She finally gave up and consented to my invasion of her anatomy. I smiled, pulling the curtain the rest of the way down so Claudia could see who was doing this to her.

As the wet plastic fell around my arm, I was alarmed to see it wasn’t Claudia my knife was buried in.… In front of me was an older version of Claudia looking at me with pain and terror in her eyes.

It was her mother!

YOUR LAST BREATH