A Game of Hearts

I have another date tonight.

I love, and loathe, the nervous energy I get. The last one disappeared without a trace but my date tonight, Kelsey, she seems a bit more on my wavelength.

Looking at her tinder profile, she seems perfect. Blonde, petite and a cute heart-shaped face with big blue eyes. I’m looking forward to staring into them over drinks at La Salza. We’re meeting at 8pm, so not long now.

In fact, I should probably get ready. I’ve been sitting on my bed for an hour now just looking at all her photos. It didn’t take long to find her on Facebook, and seeing her happy and smiling with her friends makes my stomach flip. They seem like a happy crowd. I’m a little envious. I never seem to have people stick around for long.

Shrugging on my white shirt and buttoning up my chinos, the nervous butterflies start to dance in my belly. I’m really hoping this one works out, Kelsey looks like she has a big heart; her timeline is full of charity fundraisers and awareness posts. I need someone with a tender heart.

As I slip my watch on my wrist, I notice it’s almost seven thirty so after a quick check of my hair and a splash of cologne I grab my jacket, head out the door and start walking. It’s not far to town, and even though the route is pretty secluded through woodland, it doesn’t bother me. The crime rate is low in this area, well, except for the disappearances, but they were all young brunette women, not six-foot rugby player types.

The walk is dark, darker than normal on account of the new moon, and the only lights are the pin-pricked stars in the black velvet sky. It’s nice here, there’s very little light interference so you can really see the stars clearly. If it goes well, I might bring Kelsey this way back to my place. My heart skips a beat at the thought of having her beneath me later.

It’s not long before I’m walking into the mall in town. It’s situated on a river, with the shops inside and the restaurants either side of the water, with large glass bridges connecting the two sides. There are colour-changing lights at the water’s edge between the two bridges, giving the area outside a touch of mood lighting. There are couples everywhere seated at the outside tables under the heat-lamps, and worry settles in that we won’t be able to get a seat. That soon disappears though when I hear someone shout my name and turn to see Kelsey sitting and waving at me, a glass of wine already in front of her.

Damn, I’m late.

I usually like to arrive first whenever I’m meeting someone, I’m kind of particular about where I sit. But I can’t grumble, it’s my own fault for not getting out the door sooner. I should have known it would be busy on Valentine’s Day.

Kelsey’s smile is breathtaking, her plump lips stretching out over her pearly white teeth. Her jacket, which was resting on her shoulders, slips down her raised arm, and I can see by her muscle tone that she works out and takes care of herself. That brings a smile to my face. I like a girl who enjoys pushing herself.

I cross the patio area to the table, faster and more eager than I would normally like to appear but there’s something about Kelsey that pulls me to her, like a suicidal moth flies into a naked flame. It’s like instinct and I’m hypnotised by her casual beauty.

“Hi!” she squeaks. “I’m sorry, my uber arrived early so I thought I’d grab us a seat, and then the waiter said I had to order or give up my seat and I didn’t want to lose the table so…”

“It’s fine,” I say, chuckling slightly at her nervous ramble. It’s nice to see she’s as jittery as I am. “It’s a great seat, I’ll just go and grab myself a drink. Do you want a top up?” I point to her half empty glass.

“Um, I should probably pace myself, but I will when you have the next one. If you have a next one…” she trails off, unsure if I’m going to want another drink with her.

“Of course I will have a next one! I don’t get a personality until the third beer,” I laugh, trying to lighten the tension. It works, and she giggles and visibly relaxes.

After fighting my way to the bar and getting myself a pint, I make my way back to the table and take a seat, my heart warming at the brilliant smile back on Kelsey’s pretty face.

“So, tell me about you,” she says, leaning forward to rest her chin on her hand. She looks completely enthralled before I’ve even said a word.

“Oh, well, I’m 28. I work in accounting, and while I may look like I should play for the All Blacks, I’m actually a huge nerd and enjoy building robots in my spare time.”

“Robots?!”

“Ha! Yeah, I often get that reaction. I’m fascinated by the application of artificial intelligence to better serve humans.”

Kelsey frowns. “I’ve heard AI is actually pretty harmful…”

“Well, it can be, and it has been used irresponsibly and frivolously, but if used to advance research and human betterment, I genuinely think it can be a tool for good.”

“Hmm, I’ve never really thought of it like that.”

From there, the conversation flows, and Kelsey shows that along with a big heart, she’s very intelligent. I hadn’t expected her to be based on her instaworthy looks but it seems there’s more to her than meets the eye. It’s not long before we need a top up and I, being the gentleman, head inside for another round of drinks.

Time to put my plan into action.

After the bartender is done, I turn to place the drinks on a table in the corner, pulling the little baggie out of my inside pocket. I deposit the white powder into Kelsey’s wine and give it a stir with a discarded straw, then head outside. There’s not enough to knock her unconscious—I’m not a monster—but just enough to loosen her up and give me an advantage.

As I head out onto the patio, I pause when I spot Kelsey dipping her finger into the melted wax of the candle on our table. I haven’t done that since I was a child. When she sees me watching her, she pulls her hand away quickly and hides it under the table looking sheepish.

“I-uh, I just love the feel of it,” she says quietly, as I sit down and give her a quizzical look.

“I used to enjoy it too.” I smile reassuringly. “Haven’t done it in years though.” and I reach forward to squish the wax as Kelsey smiles in relief.

She reaches over with her wax covered fingers and strokes them over the back of my hand. Our first physical contact, not counting the wax. Her fingers dance and trace the ridges of my veins and tendons, the wax making the motion silky smooth. She smiles lazily at me as she does so, and I get to gaze into those beautiful eyes just as I had hoped.

It is all going too well however, as while we are busy making eyes at each other, a drunk dark-haired woman in a slutty dress stumbles in her too-high heels and knocks our table, sending Kelsey’s wine glass flying. I watch in horror as my well-organised plan falls apart before my eyes.

Kelsey shrieks at the woman, who is desperately struggling to right herself.

“You stupid bitch! What are you doing?! I hadn’t even taken a sip of that wine! Apologise to my date, now!”

Both me and the drunken woman stare at Kelsey, I couldn’t believe the switch in her personality. It was almost arousing to witness her rage ooze forth. Maybe she was the right woman for me after all.

“I-I’mmm so sorry, s-so sorry,” the drunk woman slurs.

“Now, fuck off,” Kelsey spits, wiping down her dress before looking at me again. “Sorry,” she says, clearly embarrassed by her own outburst.

“No, no! That was amazing! Let me get you another drink.” My GHB supply is all gone but I don’t see the need for it anymore. I am genuinely attracted to Kelsey. All this time, I thought I needed the girls to be helpless to be aroused, but her swift mood-shift to her anger, it was downright intoxicating.

I stand to head to the bar, but my head swims as I get to my feet, and I wobble slightly. Kelsey runs around the table to my side to support my arm.

“Woah, you ok?”

“I, uh, I don’t feel so good…” My head is pounding, and my vision is starting to go blurry. I rub my eyes to try and clear them, but the pain is blinding.

“Your pupils are like saucers! Maybe we should get you home,” Kelsey says, her voice full of concern. “I’ll call an uber.”

“No, I’m only a quick walk away,” my words sound slurred and slower coming out of my mouth than they do in my head. I raise my arm in the direction of my home but just the movement makes my heart feel like it’s going to beat right out of my chest. I just hope I can shake this off to take advantage of the quiet woodland walk with Kelsey.

The path ahead morphs and swirls in front of me. My vision refuses to clear and I have to lean more heavily on Kelsey; poor, petite little Kelsey. She’s so lovely. So nice. I can’t believe I was planning to kill her. What a mistake that would have been. I need to change from my usual victims but I’m glad I didn’t start with her. Her rage, it was something else. I might even be able to use it to convince her to joi–

My thoughts are cut short by a sharp pain in my side, then the sensation of liquid soaking into my shirt. My head wobbles as I look down to see a blade sticking out from between my ribs. Then the pain hits me.

Then Kelsey’s foot hits me.

I fall on my ass to the floor, the hard ground making my coccyx scream in pain, and me shout with it. The pain of the knife in my ribs tears through my chest and I can barely see a thing; my blown pupils and the moonless night making it impossible to make out even basic shapes. We must have been jumped. I can’t see any movement or hear any scuffling around me though, making me worry for Kelsey. She must have kicked me out of the way.

Damn, she’s amazing.

“Kelsey? Kelsey, are you ok? Where are you? I can’t see anything?” I slur.

The only sound is that of the soft wind rustling through the trees, I can’t hear anyone breathing or moving. My side is bleeding more since the fall and the sting is unbearable.

“Kelsey!” I yell.

“Topical deadly nightshade,” comes her voice from somewhere just ahead of me, making me jump. “That’s what happened in case you were wondering.”

“W-What?”

“Urgh, I said, topical deadly nightshade. Like an ointment. That’s why you’re struggling. I rubbed it in with the wax earlier.” Her sweet, giggly voice is gone and in its place is a hard-edged tone.

“B-But, why?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me. I saw you stirring something into my wine. I know who you are. You killed my friend.”

My blood ran cold.

She knew? How could she know? I’d been so careful.

“You’re wondering how I figured it out? Well, it was quite easy-I saw you! I was the one who dropped Evelyn off to meet you. I waited to see who she sat down with. When she disappeared, along with a string of other girls I saw you with, well, when you popped up on Tinder, I just couldn’t resist.”

Well, shit.

“How did you know about the other girls?” I sighed, resigned to the fact I was caught. She was right.

“I’ve been following you ever since Evelyn went missing,” she said, so nonchalantly you’d think she was discussing the weather. “And now, it feels almost poetic. You stole their lives, but I’m going to be the one to steal the heart of The Broken Heart Killer.”

I didn’t have time to respond. Kelsey moved fast and I still couldn’t see a fucking thing. I just felt a swift kick to the face before the cold steel tore through the bottom of my ribcage, then Kelsey’s hand inside my chest cavity. My brain short circuited as it registered what was happening, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Kelsey grunted as she ripped her arm out of the hole in my torso, her hand firmly grasping its prize.

My lonely heart had been claimed.