CHAPTER 1
Professor Ferdinand Roux stands with folded arms and watches as the first year students enter his auditorium. He watches their feet. Of the forty in the class, probably only half of them will get their degree. It’s nice to waste your parents’ money at university. One pair of feet catches his eye. They are slender and almost perfectly shaped. He looks up at the rest of the girl. She is tall and thin. She has brown hair that hangs in curls on her shoulders. She has vivid bright blue eyes that sparkle full of life in her pretty little face. Her breasts and hips are nicely rounded and looks like it might be soft to the touch. For a moment they look into each other’s eyes, but the girl quickly looks away as a cold shiver run down her spine after staring into those piercing green eyes.
Yes Miss, we’ll see how far you will go, Ferdinand thinks to himself. She looks him up and down as she walk past him. He has dark hair with green eyes that look right through you. He is taller than most men. He has broad shoulders that go down to his narrower hips. She can see how his muscles on his upper arms bulge through his shirt when he moves. He is built like an athlete. His hair is starting to turn gray against his temples but he is very attractive for his age. When everyone has taken their seats and calms down, Ferdinand clears his throat for them to keep quiet.
“Good morning, I’m Professor Ferdinand Roux. You are going to study the anatomy of the human body with me. We start here in the auditorium and then progress up until we reach the morgue. If you’re disgusted by dead people then I suggest you leave my class in advance. It’s going to get very interesting here. We’re looking for the cause of death. I look forward to seeing how many of you will make it to the end of the four years here at university let alone the seven years in total. So if you have a weak stomach or are squeamish, I suggest you follow a different study direction. You are here to learn, not to play.”
Ferdinand sees the girl with the beautiful feet whispering something to her partner.
“He is quite attractive” Madelein whispers to Ansie.
But even before her partner can answer her, Ferdinand interrupts her.
“Is there a problem Miss” he asks sternly and glares at her with his piercing green eyes.
“No Professor, no problem” Madelein replies red in the face in a small voice.
“Let me make it very clear to you that no games will be played in my classroom. If you can’t keep up from the beginning, I will excuse you after the first semester. You are going to work with people’s lives in the future and if you make the wrong diagnosis, it can cost someone’s life. Do we understand each other” he asks.
“Yes Professor” everyone answers in a chorus.
After class, Ansie and Madelein discuss their respective lecturers.
“I was quite startled when Prof Ferdinand took you out so quickly when you whispered to me. He looks like he can be very strict.”
“Yes quite, but he still remains the most attractive one of the lot. Just think what he can do to you in the bedroom with those green eyes and strict tone of voice.”
“You can’t play with fire. You know you are not allowed to date a professor.”
“But he is so attractive!”
“Yes girl I know, but don’t get involved in something that shouldn’t be.”
“Let’s see what happens. I will try to behave myself.”
“Yes sure” Ansie replies with a smile around the corners of her mouth. She and Madelein have known each other since primary school. She knows Madelein can act very irresponsibly and has gotten her into trouble many times before.
Later in the afternoon, Ferdinand was happy to be able to go home. Sometimes he himself doesn’t understand why he still teaches. It must be the feet of the students that fascinate him so much. He lives in one of the oldest houses at the foot of Devil’s Peak just off the grounds of the University of Cape Town. He inherited the house from his parents when they died in a car accident a few years ago. It’s an old double storey house that sits against the cliffs and looks like it could be haunted. It has several small square pointed roofs that protrude from the larger roof. This is the perfect place for an owl to sit and make hoo hoo sounds at night. The house has many hidden rooms that are not visible at first glance. The wooden floors makes a cracking sound under your feet as you walk over them.
Many of the rooms are not used. All of the furniture in those rooms is covered with white sheets. Madelein’s room is still as it was before she died. Sometimes if Ferdinand misses her too much, he will go into her room and sit on the bed. Then he will look at her toys that are still lying on the floor. Then, in his mind’s eye, he can still see how his beautiful little girl with her green eyes and her curly hair is sitting on the carpet, playing with her toys. And when he listens carefully he can still hear her laughter in the room, but it is fading with time.
Ferdinand goes down to the basement. He takes the key out of its hiding place and unlocks the lock. He opens the heavy wooden door that leads to a secret room. It makes a heavy cracking sound when it swings open. He wonders how much he will get this year. The mountain always makes sure he can add something new to his collection every year. But they have to be perfect. The feet should be feminine. The bridge mustn’t be too high and the toes mustn’t be too long and ugly.
Every day he follows the same routine. He walks up and down in front of the freezers with the glass doors. He looks at his collection in the freezers. He starts with the smallest one in the collection. This is the only one that has a photo attached to it. This is a photo of his beloved Madelein when she turned two years old. She would have turned nineteen this year and most likely would have been a first year student in his auditorium. But what’s in the freezer is all he has left of her.
Once again, his mind goes back to that fateful night when his beloved Madeleine died. He and Teresa had a huge fight.
“No Teresa you can’t go now. Wait until dawn, there is too much fog. Teresa! The road is wet, it’s too dangerous” Ferdinand called after her.
But Teresa grabbed Madelein and put her in her car and drove away. It was very dark and the fog made white ghosts across the road as the rain descended on them in torrents. She drove too fast and misjudged her for the bend in the road. The car slipped and rolled down the cliffs. This is the same place where Ferdinand’s parents also crashed their car and died a few years back. Ferdinand drove up behind them and saw the car tumble down the cliff. He drove around to the next bend to get closer to the wreckage of the car. Through the rain he struggled over the rocks to get to them.
“Teresa! Madelein!” he called as the rain hit his face, but there was no answer. When he got to the car he felt if Teresa and Madelein still had a pulse but their bodies were distorted and torn apart. They both died instantly.
“Nooooo!” Ferdinand shouted out against the cliffs when he saw both were dead. His dearest Madelein has now been taken away from him. Bitterly he punched the distorted roof of the car with his fist. How could Teresa do this to him? He will never be able to forgive her for that.
Ferdinand sent for an ambulance from the hospital to come and fetch them. While waiting for the ambulance, he looked down and saw Madelein’s perfect little foot lying at his feet. At first he hesitated to pick it up but when he saw the approaching lights of a vehicle he quickly picked it up. He wrapped it in his handkerchief and put it in his pocket.
He ordered a freezer with glass doors that he had installed in the basement. There he inserted little Madelein’s foot with the last photo they took of her. That way she will always be with him. Every year he tried to get a size foot that fit her age. So far, Devil’s Peak has provided him with one every year. Her birthday is coming up but the seventeenth foot has not yet been found. He had Teresa and Madelein’s bodies cremated. Their ashes are in wooden boxes that he placed above the fireplace in the living room where they will never be cold again.
There is an old story told of a pirate named Jan van Hunks who always sat at the foot of the mountain under his favorite tree and smoked a pipe. One day the devil came to sit with him and they sat for days on end smoking to see who could blow out the most smoke over Cape Town and Table Mountain. This is where the mist on and around Table Mountain comes from and this section is called Devil’s Peak. As the mist comes from the sea, so the collectibles come down from the mountain. The students go for a walk in the mountains and then get lost when the fog and rain overwhelm them. Usually they end up on Ferdinand’s back porch. Many times they die of exposure to the elements or they fall off the cliffs and roll to this side at his back door. That is where Jacob, his faithful helper, usually finds them.
Jacob always calls him to come and have a look. The bodies are then taken to the state morgue. From there, their families are contacted. If they are not claimed after a certain time, they are taken to the university and used as cadavers. The students are advised not to go up the mountain without a guide, but they don’t listen. When they get drunk they wander into the mountains without realizing the danger of it.
The next day, Ferdinand’s day begins with the fourth year students. He enjoys the students who are already advanced in their studies. They understand each other well. It’s the first year students that give him gray hair. They are his next group of students who have class with him. The easiest way to get rid of them is to do an autopsy. Usually he uses someone who had internal bleeding before they died. When you get to the part that you have to scoop out buckets full of blood from the stomach, most of them pass out. Then they disappear one by one. Only those who really want to be there grind their teeth and survive Ferdinand’s initiation.
The girl with the beautiful feet is one of them. She may look slender and tingly but she has a very strong stomach. She doesn’t bat an eye when he makes the autopsies extra gruesome. He would like to get to know her better.
He sees on his class register that her name is also Madelein. Could it be a coincidence or was she sent across his path for a reason. Maybe she can help him get the last piece of his collection. Lately, the mountain hasn’t sent him what he is looking for. He will have to wait and see what happens. He hopes she will not become one of the mountain’s victims. What can he do to get closer to her, he wonders? She’s a pretty girl and he’s quite an attractive man. But how is he going to finish his collection if he falls in love with her. Maybe it’s not a good idea, he thinks confused, but the attraction to this girl is almost irresistible.
Ferdinand goes to visit his girlfriend with benefits the next evening. He can’t get Madelein out of his mind. Maybe Vanessa can divert his attention away from her. Vanessa also has nice feet but they are only suitable to sexually stimulate him. They have an understanding about their relationship. It consists of friendship and sex as he needs it.
She wears her sexy lingerie with the stockings that reach up to her thighs. Everything must be black. Ferdinand takes off all his clothes. He lies back against the pillows and watch as Vanessa take off her sexy lingerie for him. However, she has to keep the stockings on. Then she lies down on her side next to him and rubs her feet and legs over his body so that he can feel the stockings against his skin. He let her lie down next to him and he satisfies her by stroking her clit until she reaches an orgasm. He then let her lie on her back. He takes a pillow and places it under her buttocks. Then he takes her legs and places them on either side of his head so that her feet rest on each shoulder. As he penetrates her he stroke her legs with his hands so he can feel the stockings she is still wearing. He moves rhythmically in and out until he reaches an orgasm too quickly. He feels better but not satisfied. It’s that girl’s blue eyes dancing in front of him that breaks his concentration. Maybe he will get satisfaction if he can get her into his bed, he thinks to himself.
“And now my big bear, why are you in such a hurry tonight? Am I not doing it for you anymore? ”
“It’s not you Vanessa. There is a first year student who is distracting me.”
“You know you are not allowed to get involved with the students. Does she have beautiful feet?”
“Yes and that is what attracts me to her. I know I can’t get involved, but she has the perfect pair of feet.”
“You will have to think carefully about this. You can’t get involved in a scandal.”
“Yes I know. I will try to control myself.”
“I am always here for you. You just have to let me know when you want to come and visit me again.”
“Thank you Vanessa. I can always rely on you” says Ferdinand as he puts his clothes on. Vanessa knows Ferdinand has a thing for feet, but she doesn’t realize how serious it is. Hopefully she will never find out.
He will have to find a way to lure Madelein to his house. He doesn’t know how he is going to do it, but he will think of something. He knows he’s playing with fire. Maybe he should try to find out where she comes from and what her domestic circumstances are. Maybe he can get an opening to approach her on a personal level.
He leaves Vanessa’s apartment and goes back home. That night a big storm arises and the fog is gathering thickly over the slopes of the mountain. Later it starts to rain. Early the next morning Jacob comes to call Ferdinand.
“Master come look. The mountain gave us one last night.”
Ferdinand goes outside with Jacob. Not far from the back door lies a body.
“Is she dead?”
“Yes, master, all frozen up. She must have gotten lost on the mountain and ended up here.”
“Did you look at her feet?”
“Yes master but it’s not what master is looking for. Look at her ugly toes. It looks like the tentacles of an octopus. Not pretty at all” Jacob says as he gestures with his hands.
“I will call the police. Put the sock and shoe back on.”
“Yes master, I will.”
“Thank you Jacob” Ferdinand says when he walks into the house feeling very disappointed.
He hoped that the mountain would have sent him the right piece for his collection by now. If he gets the right one he doesn’t have to approach Madelein. But it seems to him that he has to lure her to his house after all. It’s not something he wants to do, because he does not want the whole world to find out about his deep dark secret that he is hiding in the basement.
