Demented Souls Collection: Books 5-8

Chapter 4

The tall tattooed man who called himself Sadist left the salon for the second time the same day and Beth watched him leave, a little stunned by what had just happened. This morning had been normal enough. She had chatted with him, made him feel at ease as she had helped him, then he’d left. Nothing remarkable, except the way he’d made her stomach flip-flop and her heart race. Her next client had come in and she’d moved on, wondering if Sadist would ever be back. He’d been the last person she expected to see when he’d come in while she was taking her turn at the front desk. She’d panicked for a moment wondering if she’d screwed up his cut.

“What was that?” Sierra, another stylist asked after a moment.

“Someone I did a cut for this morning.” Beth blinked, remembered the card he’d given her and looked down.

“Was he unhappy with his hair?” Sierra frowned.

“If he was, he didn’t say so.” It was glossy card with the words The Sadist Den written across it in what looked like neon lighting. There was an address and a phone number as well.

“Then what did he want?”

“He brought me some drawings and he asked me out.”

“Drawings?” Sierra moved closer. “Let me see.”

Beth didn’t mind letting Sierra look at the sketches, but for some reason, she didn’t want to let her handle them. Instead, she laid them on the counter. “These are what he brought. He said he drew them.”

Sierra looked down and looked them all over. “They look like they could be tattoos,” turning to look Beth in the eye. “It was Sadist wasn’t it?”

“You know him?”

“Not really, I know who he is though. He’s been coming in every few weeks for a while for a cut and trim, but he’s never come back like that before. And he’s never been anything more than polite.” She paused a moment. “Wait, did you say he asked you out?”

Beth nodded.

“What did you say?”

“Yes. I didn’t see any reason not to go.” Now she wondered if maybe she should have said no. Was there something wrong with him? Was he a jerk?

Sierra’s high-pitched squeal brought Beth back to the fact that her friend was talking and made her blink several times as the noise hurt her ears.

“Girl, I’ve been trying to get him to notice me for ages. I’m not sure which is hotter, the tattoos or the beard.”

“I liked his tattoos, or at least the ones I saw, but while he’s nice looking, the beard isn’t a real draw for me.” Beth shook her head. She didn’t really get the thing about beards these days. She didn’t mind them, but it was like the uproar about bacon. It was good and all, but it wasn’t something to hold up on high and make everything out of. The line had to be drawn somewhere, and hers was at bacon milkshakes. A shudder ran through her at the thought of bacon milkshakes.

“You’ll have to tell me if he’s tattooed all over.” Sierra gave Beth a leering grin.

Beth just shook her head. She had no plans to sleep with him, especially not on the first date, but she knew better than to say so to Sierra. Beth had listened to her and some of the other girls in the shop talk about their escapades enough to know that they would think she was a prude. Instead she smiled and thankfully, the phone rang, saving her.

For the rest of her shift, her eyes kept drifting back to the sketches. She couldn’t help but run her fingers over the one she liked best. When she’d first seen it, she swore her heart had skipped a beat then raced. This wasn’t just what she’d been looking for. It was perfect. Now she just had to get up the nerve to let someone stab her with needles hundreds of times. She didn’t fear needles, but it would take a lot of stabs for a tattoo and that made her hesitate a little.

After work, she carried the sketches and card out to her beat up Cavalier. She started the car and let the AC run for a minute while she got everything situated. Glancing at the card, she realized the address was in between the salon and her apartment, she would just have to take a different route than normal. Curious, she decided why not? A few minutes later she slowed her car as she looked for the address on the card. Spotting it she was a little surprised, though she didn’t know why, to find The Sadist Den was a tattoo parlor. It was in a small shopping center between an Italian deli and a big box craft store. The front of the shop matched the business card, what she’d thought was a creative font looked like a photo of the real thing. Satisfied, she continued to her apartment.

At home, she went through her evening routine – TV show, dinner and the rest of the evening off her feet. Somehow, she couldn’t get Sadist out of her mind. She tried to focus on the TV, but thoughts of him kept creeping in.

Why would he be interested in her? She was plain, boring and more than a little fat. Who would let people call them something like Sadist. She should text the number he’d given her, make up an excuse and cancel.

But why?

Because she couldn’t see what he saw in her? Because he had a strange name? A yawn caught Beth by surprise, making her check the time. Crap, it was almost eleven. How had it gotten so late? Pushing everything but the task at hand out of her mind, she picked up the living room and went to bed, hoping for a better perspective in the morning.