chapter three eric's on the prowl

                                                                                        Chapter three

                                                                                    Eric's on the prowl



Eric was out on the streets again stalking his next victim. Eric watched Nikki baker he knew Nikki was a special woman and he was going to give her special treatment. Nikki was a young beautiful blond haired girl she had round blue eyes and she had just finished high school, moving onto a job working as a personal support worker helping the elderly with their daily chores. Eric walked far behind Nikki careful not to be spotted he wished that he could just touch her, feel her blond smooth hair as it flew wildly in the afternoon breeze. Nikki walked down to township square which was half a mile long filled with fashion shops like the shoe Company, Grants which was a man only dress shop. Nikki walked towards a dress shop called Beauty fashions and Stuff that dealt with all kinds of dresses you could not find anywhere else and fancy shoes which were very hard to find. Nikki entered the shop and walked directly towards the dresses. Eric walked in after her and watched her look at evening dresses being careful not to give himself away, he began looking at earrings and purses every so often popping his head up and eyeing Nikki. The man behind the counter Ricky Davidson saw Eric looking inside the woman,s accessories department and walked over hoping that he might be able to help Eric find what he was looking for. "Hello Sir can I help you find anything?" Ricky said in a low pleasant tone. Eric became very uncomfortable he was scared that Nikki would see him and find out what he was doing. "I'm fine just looking." Eric said, moving quickly behind some expensive fur coats pretending to examine them. "We have some beautiful silk scarf’s and a brand new shipment of earrings and beautiful new perfumes that just arrived, just to give you an idea of the special items we have." Ricky said again happily suggesting his most popular items. Eric thought about the perfume and thought that it would be a perfect gift for beautiful Nikki Baker. "I'll take a bottle of that new perfume!" Eric said, a grin showing on his face as he looked towards Nikki. Ricky went behind the cash and opened the glass showcase were the bottled perfumes were being held Eric walked over to the counter and saw the perfume bottle it was a tall thin fancy bottle with a pump attached to the end of it. "Would you like a specialty box for your perfume sir?" Ricky asked showing Eric the hand carved wooden oak box. "Yes i would like that." Eric said, imagining what Nikki would say when he gave her the perfume "Ok Sir that will be $95 please" Ricky said ringing up the total of the perfume and the hand carved box. Eric handed Ricky the money and stepped outside. Eric sat on the bench across from the shop and waited for Nikki to come out. something caught Nikki's eye as she was looking at the dresses she had come across what to her was the most perfect and most beautiful dress she had ever seen the dress was red and was cut way up above the knees it was also an open back dress. Nikki had been looking for a beautiful evening dress like that for months. "Sir how much is this dress?" Nikki asked, holding the dress up for Ricky to see Ricky looked at the dress and looked in his book of dress prices "That dress is $120 dollars it also comes with a pair a red high pump shoes" Ricky said pointing to a shoe display. Nikki looked at the dress again and put it back on the rack she could not afford to pay that much, but she was going to ask her step mom if she could buy it for her 20th birthday which was coming up in a few days March third to be exact. Nikki left the store and walked off towards a cafe Eric watched Nikki as she walked far off into the distance. Eric entered the beauty, fashions and stuff and told the owner Ricky that the young girl that was just in was his girlfriend and whatever the young women was looking at he would buy for her. Ricky walked over to the dresses and picked out the dress Nikki was looking at and brought it up to Eric. "this is the dress your young lady was admiring." Ricky said smiling "and as a free gift you get theses beautiful matching red shoes!" Ricky said again going behind the cashier desk and ringing up the total of the dress. Eric smiled and thought about how he was going to give Nikki these presents. He could not wait to see the look on Nikki face when she got this gift. "Ok sir that will be $120 dollars" Rick said, folding the dress into a fancy box Eric handed the owner the exact amount of money and then took off down the street with his gift for his Nikki. Eric decided not to follow Nikki for the rest of the day and went out of Town Ship Square towards his house Eric stopped at a flower shop on King street and bought a single rose then continued his walk to his home. Inside the house Eric placed the rose inside the box containing the dress and shoes and wrote a special note on a flowered notepad and then attached it to the perfume box. Eric then waited for an hour knowing that Nikki would be home with her stepmother Heather and then he would have her gift delivered to her. Nikki went to stop for a snack at a cafe near her house and sat down on the outside patio and sipped a coke and nibbled on a ice cream sandwich that she bought. Then Nikki decided to go home. "Heather I'm home!" Nikki announced as she walked through the door "Hi Nikki how was your walk?" Heather asked, handing Nikki a notepad with her phone messages on it "Oh it was great I saw this beautiful dress and I think it would look really good for when I go out to parties!" Nikki said hoping that Heather would buy her the dress before her birthday. Heather was going to ask Nikki more about the dress when she heard two knocks at the front door "I’ll get the door Heather!" Nikki said walking to the front door. Nikki opened the door a tall good looking young delivery man stood on the doorsteps holding two gifts for Nikki "Hello there you must be Ms Baker!" the Man asked smiling. "Yes I'm Ms Baker are those for me?" Nikki asked looking at the wrapped parcels. The man laughed "Yes they are, here you go" The man said, handing Nikki the items "Do I need to sign for anything?" Nikki asked curiously The man smiled and shook his head and then turned around and walk off down the driveway and down the busy street. Nikki watched the man leave and closed the door and walked into the kitchen to open her present in front of her step mom heather. The Man walked happily down the street taking off his delivery hat Nikki had no idea who it was that gave her the presents It was Eric he dressed up like a delivery person just so he could see Nikki's face when she got the gifts. Eric was beginning His game and he loved it.



page 2





Nikki looked at her presents and smiled "I must have a secret admire." she said, blushing "I wonder who It could be" Heather watched Nikki as she carefully peeled the flowered note off the small gift box. Nikki opened the note and read out loud "to a very special lady on her birthday, I will reveal myself to you soon." Heather looked at her step daughter with concern as Nikki smiled and started to open up the first box Nikki's eyes gleamed with delight as she took the bottle of perfume out of the box and sprayed it once on her neck, then her attention turned towards the slightly bigger box Nikki lifted the box cover and saw the single red rose and the beautiful red dress she a looking at earlier along with the red high heeled pumps. "Nikki honey these are beautiful gifts but you shouldn't accept them if you don't know who sent them." Nikki looked at her stepmother "Heather this is from somebody who might really like me" Nikki said, smiling "besides the guy didn't want to leave his name or an address so I can't give anything back." Nikki said again holding up the sexy red dress. Heather put her arm on her daughters thin shoulders "I'm just worried that theses gifts could be from someone who might want to hurt you" Heather said, brushing Nikki's hair back "I just don't want anyone to take advantage of such a beautiful young lady." Nikki looked at her stepmother and smiled "Don't worry Heather having a father as a police captain you learn about protecting yourself" Nikki said, giving her stepmother a hug Nikki put her dress back in the box and brought the gifts in her room and started trying on her dress Heather still looked bothered by Nikki's secret admirer and thought about telling her husband Mike when he got home from work. Heather started cooking dinner when the phone rang, she turned down the volume on the kitchen tv and picked up the phone "hello turner house Heather speaking" heather said, walking towards the stove with the phone in hand "hi dear I'm on my way home now I be there shortly." mike said, shoving papers into his briefcase "ok honey when you get home there's something we need to talk about it,s about Nikki" Heather said still concerned about the gifts she had gotten Mike sighted "alright honey I'll be there soon" mike turned his cell phone off and left his office at first when mike married Heather Nikki was not overly pleased often running away to a friend's house. her mother, Ann was forced out of Nikki's life after she and Mike got divorced Mike feared that Ann's drinking would turn Nikki into a drunk too Mike often thought about letting Ann see Nikki but Ann was so messed up he thought  it was for the best. and Nikki turned into a great young lady Mike was thrilled that she just graduated from high school in the top of her class with a scholarship and he admired her love and desire for helping the elderly. he knew that heather was overly protective and often worried about every little thing Nikki did often pushing Nikki away without meaning it. but things were starting to get a little bit better with Nikki being in her twenties heather started giving her a little more space. Mike drove his gray mustang into his driveway, he saw Heather outside sitting on the porch swing sipping on lemonade. He got out of the car and walked towards the house smiling as he reached his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "So What's wrong with Nikki?" Mike asked sitting besides Heather looked into mikes blue eyes "Honey I was just worried" Heather started saying "Nikki got some very expensive gifts from a secret admire and they just seem to suggestive for a young man to be sending a young lady." heather said again turning her eyes away from Mike he looked at heather and brushed a loose curl away from her face. " It's probably nothing, just some young guy that doesn't know how to start speaking to Nikki that's all" mike said smiling "you remember when I first started dating you I wrote you a letter without signing my name and gave a you a bottle of perfume." mike said, remembering the first time he meet heather Nikki came running out the front door "dad heather can I go to a movie tonight with Jasmine I promise to be home by 10:00" Nikki said smiling holding the moving listing in her hand. Mike smiled at nodded at his daughter " Ok honey, you can go just be careful and don't be too late" mike said, giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek Nikki smiled and ran back in the house to call her friend. Jasmine came over a few minutes later she lived three houses down her and Nikki had been best friends since kindergarten. "Hi mr turner mrs turner is Nikki ready yet?" Jasmine said walking up the stairs "She should be out in a few minutes dear" heather said, smiling just then Nikki came walking out her curly hair tied back wearing blue designer jeans and a whit flowered top. "bye daddy bye heather sees you later" Nikki said smiling as she walked with Jasmine down the stairs Jasmine and Nikki walked down the driveway Nikki turned to her parents and waved at them and turned to continue walking down the street. the sun was coming down now Mike and Heather were starting to eat Mike lite a candle on the outside patio table and waited for Heather to join him. Heather came out her eyes beaming "what's all this, are you trying to be romantic?" Heather said, smiling Mike grabbed his wife's hand and gave her a kiss " 10 years ago tonight we first fell in love " Mike said, turning to a small music box beside him and turning it on. "Care to dance my lady" Mike said again, smiling Heather looked and at mike in his soft blue eyes, she smiled and wrapped her arms around him and they started dancing the music seemed to last forever. Nikki and Jasmine walked two blocks down main street to the emerald plaza the movie theater stood on the 2 floor. the first floor was filled with shops and a food court. "Nikki we have too see that movie it's so scary. Everybody wants to see that movie" Jasmine said, pointing to a poster on the theater wall Nikki looked at the poster "Okay we'll see that it does look good' Nikki said, laughing they stood in line to purchase their tickets it seemed like an hour went by because the line moved so slowly Jasmine nudged Nikki on the arm as they almost reached the ticket booth. "I'll be right back, I have to go to the bathroom." Jasmine said she reached into her purse and handed Nikki her ticket money Jasmine walked away from the line down the hallway towards the public washrooms. "Next in line please" a young girl from behind the counter said smiling "I'll have two adult tickets for stalked at midnight" Nikki said as she handed the young girl, her money the teller grabbed the money and ripped two tickets from a side drawer" Here you go, enjoy the movie" the girl said, pushing the money inside the cash register Nikki held the tickets firmly in her hands as she walked to the snack bar she peeked through the line of people to see if Jasmine was coming. Nikki started to get concerned after a few a minutes. there was no sign of jasmine anywhere she started walking towards the washrooms which were just around the corner from the theater. a young man dressed in a security uniform stood in the distance, watching Nikki going into the ladies washroom a smile seemed to sweep over his face, he started walking towards the bathroom entrance "Mama excuss me are you still in here?" the security guard said, knocking on the washroom door Nikki came to the washroom door her face was filled with worry "I can't find my friend she told me she would be in here" Nikki said "your friend she has black hair right, she was wearing a white espirt T-shirt?" the Security guard said Nikki's face turned white she looked at the security guard " You know where my friend is?" "is she alright?" "your friend got very sick she told me you were waiting for her" the security guard said "I'll take you to her" the security officer said again Nikki looked at the security guard and started to follow him as he lead her to the elevators "your friends in my security office on the second floor" the security officer said as they waited for the elevators Nikki didn't say anything she was just happy Jasmine was ok and she had no reason not to trust this officer he seemed nice, trustworthy. The elevator doors opened Nikki almost hesitated to follow the officer as he started to walk inside the elevator but then calmly followed the elevator doors seemed to close slowly Nikki pushed herself into the corner keeping an eye on the young officer the doors finally closed with a soft thud Nikki watched as the officer pressed the elevator button "Hey I thought we were going up to the second floor" Nikki said raising her voice the officer looked at Nikki a smile swept over his face he pushed the hold button and in one single motion he grabbed Nikki's arm and slammed her into the elevator  wall. he let Nikki fall to the ground, blood seeped from an open wound on the side of her face. The officer kneeled down beside her he took off his security hat and smiled "you know who i am?" the officer said he touched Nikki's check "I'm Eric your secret admirer" the officer said again the officer stared at Nikki for a few more minutes he loved the fact that she was already scared of him this was the best part of Eric's game watching his victims living in fear of him. Eric stood up and pressed the hold button again the elevator started to make a light humming sound Eric then pressed the basement button. Nikki  pressed her back up against the elevator  wall "please don't hurt me" Nikki said crying Eric just looked at her the elevator came to a sudden stop the doors swung open Eric grabbed Nikki dragged her to her feet and held his hand over her mouth Nikki struggled to get away but Eric grabbed her tighter he forced her out of the elevator  and started dragging her down the hall. The basement was cold the lighting was very dim. Boxes of merchandise filled the hallway. As Eric continued to drag Nikki down the hallway, she bit his hand, hoping that she could yell loud enough for someone anyone to hear her. Eric shoved Nikki to the ground, holding his bitten hand Eric gave Nikki a cold stare. She started yelling her yells echoed down the empty hallway. Eric became enraged he reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair, he dragged her to her feet, he started yelling shaking Her repeatedly he then took her head and slammed it against the wall. Eric released his grip and Nikki fell to the ground she laid motionless on the ground. Eric stared at Nikki his rage seemed to disappear now he bent down beside her. "It's all going to be over soon" Eric said he picked Nikki up and put Nikki's limp body over his shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the mall with her. Eric's car was parked besides the doorway entrance. It was the perfect escape nobody could see Eric going in or out of the mall the loading docks were nearly deserted. all the deliveries had been made earlier that morning and everybody had gone home early. Eric opened the back door of his car and gently shoved Nikki into the back seat he clicked her seat belt into place and pulled out a white cloth from his back pocket. He gently wiped away some blood that was seeping from an open wound on her forehead. he looked at Nikki and smiled, then quickly closed the door. he got into the front seat and started to pull out of the loading zone. on the way out there was a security guard doing his rounds, he spotted Eric and waved at him to stop, puzzled as to why he was driving in the loading area Eric continued to drive away pretending he didn't see the guard. The guard watched as the car drove out of the loading dock he took out his notepad and wrote down half of the license plate from Eric's car. The guard put the pad back in his pocket started walking into the basement of the mall. It was so easy Eric thought he was home free he took Nikki right out of the mall and nobody noticed he did it, nobody cared they had no idea what he had done. Eric kept checking his mirror every few minutes watching Nikki making sure she didn't start moving. He had hit her head hard enough that he hoped it would keep her out for a little while. Pretty soon Nikkis parents were going to start looking for her so that meant Eric was going to have to start playing more games to keep the police on their toes This was going to fun Eric thought a smile swept  over his face as he though about the games he was going to play. "Let the games begin" Eric said, laughing to himself