They were drinking champagne and losing their clothes. One by one, they each slid off a new damp piece of clothing. Neil ran his fingers through Mary’s luscious curls. The way they held together, it was like there would be sticky hairspray stuck to his gentle hands, but when his hand made it through, nothing. Her black hair was gorgeously smooth; he adored the bleached strip that went through her hair. He thought of it as edgy, fierce, and powerful. It gave off a vibe that he definitely had fallen for. After drinking, kissing, and stripping away their clothes for about an hour, they stumbled into the bedroom and elegantly flopped onto the bed. Still in her leopard print bra and matching “hip huggers,” Mary was in a haze. She thought to herself Is it him? Has he finally found me? Just as Neil slipped his hand to her moist back up to her, now soaked, bra, Mary panicked. Her gun was still in the black leather pouch she kept in her purse which was in the living room. There was no way of getting it.
~~~~

Mary took one last glance in the mirror before she left her chilling apartment. It was a dark place. No love, just white walls. Mary wore a tight, strapless, black, low-cut, high thigh dress and leopard print shoes that matched her bra and underwear called “hip huggers.” Her jet black hair with a bleached stripe, on the left, curled down to her mid back. She bit her now ruby red lips thinking, Maybe tonight is the night! But probably not. She made her way down the elevator and into the lobby. Heads turning left and right. Men and women starring motionless, stunned by her breathtaking body. People claimed she had a “Kardashian Booty,” and her breasts definitely looked great in this dress. But what her watchers didn’t know was that the bra that she wore really helped her out. She was simply stunning. She stepped outside into the crisp air of a fall, soon becoming winter, night in New York City. She inhaled a gulp of a so called “Fresh” breath of air. She nearly raised her hand to yell for a taxi when two fought for a spot to pick her up. The bell boy trotted over and opened the taxi.
“Here you are Miss Anderson!” he said squeamishly.
He was practically drooling over Mary. He was new and he had heard about how beautiful she was but she was even more ridiculously gorgeous in person. He did not want to mess up this first impression. Mary was no idiot but to give him something to talk about to his other fellow bell boys, she kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks Timmy!” Mary said with a wink.
She knew his name was really Johnny and he didn’t even realize she said the wrong name. Either way she knew he would still have to clean his pants later.

Mary got out of the cab and headed down a shady alley. Behind an old blue beaten up dumpster was an old haggard homeless woman named Rose. Rose put out her frail, shaky hand and handed Mary a small black leather pouch.
“All polished honey!” Rose exclaimed.
“Thanks Rose dear, you’re a doll,” Mary said.
Then Mary hurriedly stuffed the black leather pouch into her purse, searching around for unwanted, wandering eyes. Mary quickly trotted out of the dark alley. Just before she slipped out onto the main street, she heard someone’s faint yell.
“Good luck tonight dear! Stay safe and have a great time,” Rose said.
Mary couldn’t help but to give a smirk as she thought, oh I will Rose, oh I will. As she exited she heard the muffled chuckle of good ol’ Rose.

Mary arrived at a fancy restaurant called Delmonico's. She’d been here once before on a date with a man she murdered. She was very anxious as she walked in, in hopes of no one recognizing her. As she walked up to the door, a young fellow opened the door for Mary with a smile on his face. Mary smiled back but she couldn’t help but to think, Maybe he knows. As she approached the host’s desk, a new man greeted her with a smile as well.
“Good evening ma’am, do you have a reservation?” the host with the name tag that read Tom said.
“As a matter of fact I do, uh Tom is it? I’m waiting on my date, but if he isn’t here I’d love to stay here and talk to you,” Mary said in a flirty innocent voice.
“That’s very flattering,” Tom said while blushing, “But I think you’re date, ma’am, is waiting here already. If you’d like I can take your coat and show you back,” Tom said.
“Thank you Hun, I appreciate it,” Mary said politely.
As they walked to the table, eyes gazed at Mary, As usual, she thought. This was it her first impression with a man named Neil Ross. The tingly feeling arose in the pit of her stomach. That same feeling she got every time she was about to meet the next man she would send six feet under. It wasn’t the cute butterfly feelings and normal person would get on a first date, it was more like knives jabbing away at her stomach. Maybe it was guilt that this man was going to die within a few hours, or that a mother was going to lose her son, or maybe that this would be her tenth kill. Whatever the reason, Mary knew it could not screw this up.
“Here you are ma’am,” Tom said as he pulled out the chair for Mary.
“Thank you sir,” Mary said as she glanced over at Neil who had politely stood up in respect to her.
As they both sat down the only thing on Mary’s mind was here we go.
~~~~
Mary was feeling pretty good as her and Neil left the restaurant. After all, they did walk through two and a half bottles of wine with dinner. As they walked down the street Mary and Neil took turns of taking swigs from that third bottle of wine they didn’t finish. Mary started to stumble just a bit.
“Oh s***! I scraped my toes. I just got this pedicure yesterday,” Mary said in a decrescendo voice.
“Here let me help,” With saying that, Neil swept up Mary and started to carry her.
Mary couldn’t help but to notice the muscles Neil had, and his olive colored skin, his dark, thick brown hair, his beautifully dark brown eyes that she knew if she stared into for too long she just might like him, and that adorable little birth mark behind his jaw. Mary snapped back into reality. She could not let his handsome looks distract her from her from what she had to do. She HAD to kill him; there was nothing special about this guy, except he is carrying her. Mary thought for a second, Wait, how long has he been carrying me? How long have I been thinking about his looks? Five? Ten minutes? He doesn’t even look out of breath. Mary knew that was an issue because maybe he was too strong. If he was too strong, Mary might not be able to fight him off. He might try and actually fight back to defend himself. Neil looked down at Mary and smiled.
“Anything wrong? You’ve been quiet for about twelve minutes. I thought you might have even fallen asleep!” Neil said with a chuckle.
S***. “Oh I’m great Neil! This has been a great time so far,” Mary lied, “Are you getting tired? Do you want me to walk? It’s no problem at all,” Mary was hoping he was tired at this point.
“Oh no! Why would I want to put down such a pretty lady like you? Besides you’re light as a feather Mar,” he said as he winked at her.
Mar? He’s calling me Mar now? We just met. Only my friends call me that. Does he like me?
The thoughts ran through Mary’s head; she couldn’t keep up with it all. But then she realized what if, just what if he really did like her and he could be the one?
“Here we are!” Neil said. Are we already here? “It’s not very big but I call it home.” Neil said and smiled.
Mary looked around and saw a bottle of champagne; it was her weakness. But a few glasses wouldn’t hurt.
~~~~
Mary panicked. Her gun was still in the black leather pouch she kept in her purse which was in the living room. There was no way of getting it.
“STOP!” Mary yelled. “Stop Neil stop!”
“Mary! I’m sorry...I...I...I thought,” Neil started to say.
Mary realized he had spiked the champagne. She shoved Neil as hard as she could and sat up and saw stars. Something was wrong. Neil looked at her with a devilish smirk on his face.
“I was going to say I thought the LSD would have kicked in by now,” Neil said as he sat up and went to Mary’s purse. He knew exactly what he was looking for. The black leather pouch. Everything was starting to get fuzzy to Mary as she tried to stand up. She barely made it half way up before she fell over and wacked her head on the side of the night stand. The excruciating pain was unbelievable, even with the drugs almost taking over her entire body. Neil walked over to Mary with the gun in his hand.
“You killed my brother and my best friend. I’ve been looking for you all over this damn town and now I finally have your life in my hands. Anything else you want to say? HUH?” Neil yelled.
Neil popped three bullets into Mary’s left temple. Blood started to puddle around her head making her curls soppy and sticky. Neil took one last look at her and then headed for the door. He picked up a suitcase which he had already packed. He knew once he had killed her he could never be in this town again. He had to leave immediately. Neil had rented the apartment under the name of Neil Ross, but in actuality his name was Roy Johnson. Roy was from Beauford, Kentucky, Mary’s home town. When Mary was 16 she dated Roger Johnson, brother of Roy Johnson, they were in love; or so they thought. When Mary turned 17, she and Roger were going to do the dirty. It was both their first time so it was going to be a special time. But when Mary had second thoughts, Roger beat, raped and left Mary for dead. Mary recovered and when she found Roger she gave him hell. That was her first murder and from then on the adrenaline for Roger was a high to her. She knew this wouldn’t be her last kill. Roger set out for Beauford, Kentucky to go home. His work was done here. Even though he killed, murdered a woman he knew deep down it was the right thing to do. Every mom that had lost her son could now sleep peacefully at night knowing that the lady who took her sons life would never take another.