Chapter 9: Dominic
1113 Words
I watched her disappear into the night, the soft rustle of her footsteps fading into the distance. My eyes stayed fixed on the spot where she’d been standing moments ago, her red hair catching the faint moonlight as she moved away from the shed. She didn’t even look back.
I waited, my breath steady, my heart beating calmly in my chest. I wasn’t going to rush this. Not yet. The night was still, and no one had seen her. No one had seen me either.
Once I was sure she was far enough away, I moved.
The air was thick with silence, save for the soft crunch of leaves beneath my boots as I made my way back to the shed. There, in the shadows, lay the body—wrapped up in black plastic, waiting. Adam had been a fool, arrogant and reckless, thinking he could control someone like her. He didn’t even know her potential. But I did.
I crouched down, my fingers brushing against the plastic that covered his lifeless form. The weight of him was heavier than it had been earlier when we’d first moved him. But that didn’t matter. I could handle it. I’d handled worse.
I grabbed the edge of the tarp and lifted, dragging his body out of the shed. The ground was soft from the recent rains, the earth giving way beneath the weight of Adam’s corpse as I pulled him across the yard. The sound of him sliding against the wet grass was barely audible, but it echoed in the quiet of the night.
The woods loomed ahead, dark and deep. I moved quickly, my steps steady, my pulse calm. I needed to get far enough away, into the thickest part of the forest. No one would find him there. No one would ever know.
Half a mile. That’s what I always calculated—far enough to ensure the body would be hidden from prying eyes but close enough that I could still make it back without drawing attention. The trees closed in around me, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers, and I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline building beneath my skin.
I liked this part. The quiet. The darkness. The act of erasing someone from the world, removing all traces of their existence. Adam wasn’t even worth a second thought, not after what he had done to her. And now he was just another body, another task that needed to be completed.
When I reached the right spot, deep enough in the woods that no one would venture here by accident, I dropped the tarp. Adam’s body hit the ground with a dull thud, the sound muffled by the layers of plastic. I straightened up, pulling the small canister of lighter fluid from my jacket pocket. The smell of it filled the air as I doused the tarp, soaking it in the flammable liquid.
There was something strangely satisfying about this moment—the calm before the fire, the brief pause before everything was consumed. I struck a match, the tiny flame flickering in the cool night air, and tossed it onto the body.
The flames roared to life instantly, licking at the plastic, curling around Adam’s lifeless form with a hunger that matched my own. The heat hit me in a wave, but I didn’t step back. I watched, my eyes locked on the fire as it consumed him, turning flesh and bone into ash.
I’d done this before. I knew how it would end. The fire would burn hot and fast, and when it was done, there would be nothing left but a pile of blackened remains. That was all Adam was now—a pile of ash and soot, a faint echo of a man who had thought he was untouchable.
But he wasn’t. He never had been.
Once the flames began to die down, I moved in, using my boots to kick dirt over what remained, burying the ashes beneath a layer of earth. I didn’t need to dig deep. No one was coming out here. No one would find him.
I stood there for a moment, staring down at the shallow grave, my mind already moving on to the next step. The body was gone, the evidence erased. But there was still more to do. I turned and made my way back toward the house, the smell of smoke clinging to my clothes as I slipped back through the trees.
The house was just as quiet as before, the back door still slightly ajar where we’d left it. I stepped inside, closing the door softly behind me. The kitchen was dark, but I knew my way around. I’d helped clean up earlier, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Not tonight.
I moved through the kitchen, wiping down the counters, checking the knife block, the doorknobs, anything she might have touched. I’d seen how thorough she’d been, how careful, but I wasn’t about to let any detail slip through the cracks. Not with her.
Vivian.
Her name echoed in my mind, and I felt a shiver of excitement crawl up my spine. I couldn’t stop thinking about her—about the way she had moved, the way she had acted. There had been no hesitation, no fear. She had been in complete control, her every move deliberate, calculated. It was beautiful.
I finished wiping down the last of the surfaces, satisfied that everything had been handled. There was no trace left behind, nothing that could tie either of us to what had happened tonight. Adam was gone, erased from existence. But Vivian... she was still here. In my mind, in my blood.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
The way her eyes had burned with that fire, that fierce determination. She hadn’t flinched, hadn’t wavered. She had taken control of the situation in a way I had never seen before, and it had awakened something in me. Something dark. Something hungry.
I was obsessed. Completely and utterly consumed by the thought of her. I had never met anyone like her before, never seen anyone with that kind of raw power. And now that I had, I couldn’t let her go.
I wouldn’t.
As I stepped outside into the cool night air, I felt a sense of calm settle over me. The job was done. Adam was gone. But this wasn’t the end. Not for me. Not for her.
I would find her again. I would watch her, follow her, learn everything there was to know about her. And when the time was right, I’d make my move.
But this time, I wouldn’t let her slip away so easily.
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