Maddie Washers P.O.V.

My phone buzzed. "Hey turn on the news you need to see this," my friend Cameron had texted me. I got up off the couch, crossed the room, grabbed the remote, and turned on the news.
      "Recently there have been reports of over 32 abductions in the Bismark, North Dakota area. Police have informed us that the killer seems to be going after girls anywhere from 4'7" to 5'8", from the ages 8 to 22, he also goes after women with blonde hair, blue or green eyes, and 90 to 110 pounds. If you have three or more of these characteristics please contact the police immediately you might be in danger. Back to you Bryan," Lynnda, the news lady said.
    I have almost none of those qualities, thank the heavens. I walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge. I was scanning the shelves when I heard the front door open. "Hello?" I kept scanning through the shelves of the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. When I stood up straight I felt breathing on the back of my neck. "You will be mine Maddie Renee Washers. No matter how long you think that you can hide from me, YOU WILL BE MINE!" I turned around as fast as I could just in time to see the black blurry figure dash out the door. I ran and grabbed my cell phone from the living room and dialed the police. "This is North Dakota police department, how may I help you?" the lady said calmly. "I need to see Detective Amanda Williams immediately."

I sat in the seat across from Detective Amanda Williams and she got right down to business. "So why did you come in today?"
"I believe that I am being stalked."
"What has led you to believe this?"
"This past week I have had a gut feeling that someone was always watching me even when I was in my own home. And my house was broken into right before I called and asked to come into the station to talk to you," I let out a deep sigh. She started writing things down on her notepad.
"Is there anyone that could possibly want to hurt you or wish you any harm?"
    "Not that I can think of."
    "Are you sure? No ex-boyfriends, cold blood with family, enemies? Even if you think it's unimportant it could possibly help us find your stalker."
    "Well, there is this one guy, my ex-boyfriend Danny Wilson. I broke up with him about a month ago."
    "May I ask why you broke up with him?"
    "I broke up with him because I felt that he was being too possessive and controlling. He never let me go anywhere without him or promising to text him every second."
    "How long did you and Danny Wilson date?"
    "4 months."
    "When did you notice his behavior start to change?"
    "About 2 weeks before we broke up. I don't see what this has to do with having a stalker." She wrote things down in her notebook as I was speaking.
    "Typically stalkers have been mentally hurt by the person they stalk, so they will follow them, try to get revenge on that person, or in most cases like yours, they would try to win you back. My team and I will review what you have been telling me and talk to him. We will find out who has been following you. Your safety is our top priority now. If anything else happens, or if you think of anything else please contact me immediately," she handed me her card with her information on it. "Thank you so much Detective." We shook hands."You're absolutely welcome." She walked me to the elevator then I went home.

Later that night Detective Amanda Williams P.O.V.

    I continued scrolling down through the list of victims that had recently been abducted by The Red Mask Killer. Something had just caught my eye on one of the victims profiles when my phone rang. "This is Detective Amanda Williams, how may I help you?"
    "Detective," it sounded like a girl. Her voice was shaking. "It's Maddie Washers."
    "Maddie what seems to be the problem?"
    "I think someone is outside my house. Earlier I found a box on my front door with blood and a note," she started desperately crying and whisper panicking.
    "Maddie take a deep breath. Everything is going to be alright. Now I need you to calmly tell me what happened from the beginning."
    "Okay," she took a deep breath then continued. "I came straight home after I left the station and everything was normal. I started thinking of stuff that could cause me to have a stalker like you said and I made a list. It's sitting on my bedside table upstairs. I started cooking steak for dinner not to long ago because I am expecting my friend Cameron to come over for dinner tonight. While I was in the middle of cooking dinner, when the steaks were almost well done just how he likes them, I heard a knock on my door. So I went to the door and opened it and there was a bleeding box on my doorstep. I brought it inside and sat it on coffee table in the living room and opened it. Inside there was a pool of blood and a bloody note that read the words, 'Maddie Renee Washers you will be mine and only mine no matter how long it takes me to get you. -Your sincerest boyfriend'."
    "How long ago did you get this note?"
    "About half an hour ago, and I know that I should have called but I didn't. I was too scared to do anything."
"That's okay. Now, has anything and I mean anything no matter how small else has happened since then?"
"I think that there is someone outside of my house."
"Stay on the line. I am sending police your way right now."
"Please hurry."  I pressed the red button on my desk and entered her phone number to be located in the address bar. "Ah!" I heard her scream into the phone.
"Maddie what's happening?"
"It's the..." I heard the phone hit the floor.
"Maddie! Maddie! Can you hear me?" I heard muffled sounds in the background. Then someone picked up the phone.
"Maddie are you okay? What happened? The police are almost there!"
    "Thanks for the heads up Detective, I appreciate it," that didn't sound like Maddie it sounded like a man in his 20s.
"Who is this?"
"Thank you for helping me track down my beautiful beloved Maddie. You were tons of help. Don't worry about her anymore, she's in good hands now. I'll take care of her." The line went dead.
"I need police at Maddie Washers house right this minute!  Henry I need you to run a scan of the phone. I just received a phone call from Maddie, and I need you to see if you can figure out whose voice that was. Janet and David, you're coming with me to the possible abduction scene. Let's get a move on this people!" We don't need another abduction especially not in this town. It's not like we don't already have enough on our plates with The Red Mask Killer.
    We arrived at the scene and the police that were already there escorted us to the dining room where Maddie had said she left the package. "Oh my gosh," Janet said shocked. "A bloody package and a note nicely typed up! This had to have been The Red Mask Killer," David said surprised. "But why would he abduct her? She has almost none of the traits we had found in the other victims that he has abducted," I said, jumping into the conversation. "Did she ever give you a list of who could possibly want to hurt her,"  Janet asked. "No but while I was on the phone with her, before she got abducted, she said that she had made a list on her bedside table. I'm going to go give that a look," I said. Then I quickly walked up the stairs to get the paper she was talking about.
    I got upstairs, took a right turn, and was in her room. I saw the bedside table. It was covered in blood. I picked it up and read what I could of the note. I only made out 2 names- Danny Wilson and The Red Mask Killer.

Maddie Washers P.O.V.

    I slowly opened my eyes. There was a black clothed man standing there looking down at me through the holes in his black mask. "Good morning beautiful," he said with his deep brown eyes pouring into my soul. "Where am I," I asked while starting to slowly sit up. "What happened?" He took a deep breath before saying, "Sweetie, some really horrid people didn't want us to be together so we moved out here remember? I saved us from those people." "I don't remember that. The last thing I remember was I was on the phone with Detective Amanda Williams," I paused. "Wait a second. You're the person who kidnapped me aren't you?!" I started panicking. He stared at me with his dark brown eyes, then walked out of the cell that I am in and shut the large iron gate behind him. He locked the door.
"Maddie I love you."
"Who are you?" I asked before I could even process what he had just said. "I'm your true love," he said with such sincere and passion that it started to make me sick to the stomach. "How can you be my true love if I don't even know who you are?" He threw a frustrated punch into the metal door. His knuckles started turning the ugliest black and blue color that I had ever seen.
"Maddie lets make a deal. Every time that you deny me I will kill one of those poor helpless younger versions of you from back when I first fell in love with you."
"Please don't, they did nothing wrong!"
"Do you love me?"
"I don't even know who you are! You kidnapped me! How could I possibly love someone who is trying to do me harm?"
"That's it!" He clenched his fists up and  stormed into the other side of the jail room.
"Ahh!" I heard screams coming from the other side of the jail room. He stood in front of the iron gates that separate us. He was holding a girl by the collar who looked terrified out of her mind in his strong bold fists.
"You see her Maddie? This piece of manure is going to go rot in hell because of you. She is never going to be able to say goodbye to her dearest loved ones and children all because you won't tell me that you love me!"
"I love you! I love you," I screamed at him. "Please don't kill her, she's done nothing wrong! I love you!"
"Now you're just saying that to save her skin." He opened the gray metal door and threw her in the neverending black pitless room. He slammed the door shut and I started to cry.
I could hear the loud agonizing screams of torture coming from the room. I pressed my ear up against the left wall and tried to hear something. The sound was muffled and almost inaudible due to the horrific screams of pain she cried.
    After a good half hour of listening to him beat her on the other side of the door, he finally came out of the room. "Oh, sweetheart that was fun! I would prefer not to ever have to kill someone again. It's just 3 simple words- I love you. How hard is it to say 3 words, my darling?"
    "I don't even know who you are," my voice started trembling with fear.
    "Don't be afraid. I would never in a million years dream of harming a single little hair on that perfect body of yours." He stared at me only for a moment longer then walked away.
    That perfect body of yours kept repeating in my head. I couldn't get the image of his brown eyes staring at me with endless sincere love out of my mind.
I felt disgusting. This guy was telling me how much he loved me but yet I didn't even know who he was. If he really loved me why wouldn't he just tell me what I want to know? I felt so invaded when I woke up and he was just looking down at me like I was the juiciest piece of meat in the world. Sure it's sweet that he would do this much for someone he loves, but it's just terrifying to think that he knows every little thing about me and I only know that he has brown eyes and a to die for kind of voice.

14 days later

Since the first day that I was here, trapped in this makeshift jail cell, the same thing has happened from every waking moment. I wake up and he's there staring at me. He asks if I love him, I say I don't know who you are. He threatens to kill someone, I say I love him. I scream it from the rooftops, he doesn't believe me and kills an innocent young girl. I listen to her die, he laughs with pleasure. He says its just 3 simple words, I whisper it as he walks away. The only difference now when I say it, I actually mean it.
    On the first day, I was here he killed one. On the second day, he killed two. On the third day, he killed three. On the fourth day, he killed three. On the fifth day, he killed two. On the sixth day, he killed three. On the seventh day, he killed three. On the eighth day, he killed two. On the ninth day, he killed three. On the tenth day, he killed three. On the eleventh day, he killed two. On the twelfth day, he killed three. Yesterday he killed two. He killed thirteen of them because I wouldn't say I love you. He killed ten of them because he was mad. He killed nine of them because he felt like it.
    Today the fourteenth day was different from all the rest. It was oddly quiet and he hadn't come to ask me if I love him. I don't know what time it was but the day had to at least be halfway over. I heard voices talking off in the distance. I braced myself like I had been every day for the past thirteen days to hear more people get killed. A door slammed shut off in the distance then he stood before me. His eyes had changed from a milky to die for brown to a pitless ugly black.
"Oh, boy, have you got it in for you little Miss. My-boyfriend-loves-me-so-much-he-would-never-dream-of-killing-me." His voice was different. It went from a sweet lovely tone to a deep, dark, ugly, I'm going to eat your voice. Something was way off. He was even standing differently for crying out loud. This was not the same guy that I secretly love.
"What are you talking about?"
"Now listen up missy," he started to unlock and open the door to my room. "My name is The Red Mask Killer and it's time for you to meet your maker."
"I always knew you were The Red Mask Killer."
"Let me talk little girl. I never wanted you. It was the dumb brown haired boy who has the hots for you that convinced me to kidnap you. I should have never listened to that son of a..."
"What's his name?"
"Daniel Wilson."
"Danny," I gasped.
"Yes, Danny. He said he didn't want you hanging out with that Cameron guy. Anyways like I was trying to say, he would never let me kill you. He said that I had to let you live. But today he can't stop me from killing you, he has an interview with the police about you. How lucky am I?"
"You'll never get away with this!"
"Oh sweetie," his black pitless, dark, death-defying hole of eyes stared straight into my soul and he c***ed his head to the side as he said, "I already have."
He threw me up against the wall and started to suffocate me. I tried to fight back but my limbs started to fail me. He picked me up and carelessly swung me over his shoulder. I tried with all my power to move or even just make a peep but I couldn't.
"Save your breath sweet heart! I want to enjoy giving you a nice long slow death not watch you die because I temporarily paralyzed you." And at that moment I gave up. My life was officially over, I was done trying. He opened the big gray metal door and stepped through.
The room was pitch black except there was light on a rack of weapons in the distance and there was a light on the cold metal silver chair that he threw me on top of. My eyes were still scanning the room when he walked over to the weapons rack and carefully picked his weapon of choice. All of the weapons were red just like his name. He grabbed a Granton Edge red knife then slowly walked over to me.
"I would like to say that this isn't going to hurt one little bit but that would be a lie. I do have some truth to myself you know."
He grabbed the knife and with his tender hands started to cut six x's into my left arm. Then he took my right arm and cut the words Non va morendo a me ora bambino into it (means Don't go dying on me now baby). I screamed louder than a woman giving birth ever could. He smacked me. My face started tingling.
"You keep your damn mouth shut or I will stab you in the heart right this very minute!"
He wiped the bloody knife on his white blood stained shirt then went back over to the weapons rack. He then placed the knife back and carefully selected his next weapon of choice. He grabbed a matchbox and started walking back towards me. He slammed the box on the ground then grabbed my shirt and ripped it off.
He started tracing the word Tempo (means time)across the torso of my body with his fingers. Then he picked up the box of matches and took a match out. As he was lighting it he said, "I hope you treasure these next few moments. You're not going to be breathing much longer." He took the lit match and in the same exact spot he  took the fire and slowly but yet ever so carefully burnt the word Tempo (means time) about an inch away from my bra.
He dropped the match on the ground and stepped on it. Then he walked back over to the weapons rack and selected the black .45 pistol. "Your life is over. Nobody will miss you and I will never be caught." He started laughing his stupid haunting laugh as he pointed the barrel at my forehead. "Say goodbye," he laughed carelessly.
I started to silently cry. This is it- I'm going to die. My life started to flash before my eyes. All of the mistakes I made, all of the promises I never kept. My life had no meaning. I was worthless and never going to be remembered for doing anything but being a lazy couch potato.
He pushed the gun into my head with more force than he had just  twenty seconds ago. "Drop the gun Red Mask!" I looked out of the corner of my eye and it was Detective Amanda Williams. Oh, boy was I glad to see her. He pushed the gun further into my head and put his finger on the trigger. "Drop it or I will shoot you."
"Don't you see the detective, this was never my plan. I didn't want her. Everyone is dead but her. If he didn't talk me into taking her I would be just another cold case."
"Drop your weapon Red Mask. I'm giving you thirty more seconds to drop it or I will fire."
"She deserves to die like everyone else in this room including myself."
"Ugh," Officer David tackled The Red Mask Killer down to the ground. He slid the gun away from him and started to handcuff him. "You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"
Detective Amanda Williams ran over to me. "Are you okay?"
"Never been better," I said sarcastically.
"Janet get me the medics over here immediately!"
"Oh my gosh," Janet said then ran off to get the medics.
So everything was going to be okay and go back to the way things were before this mess ever started- at least I hope.

1 week later

"Okay fine just call me when you get here," I said into my phone while walking upstairs to take a shower.
"Okay, I will. I love you, Maddie."
    "I love you too Cam," I said then hung up the phone.
Since the police found me that night one week ago life kind of went back to normal. The Red Mask Killer went to trial and got the death penalty for killing thirty-two women, I'm rarely home alone, and Cam and I started dating three days ago. Not that much has really changed about my life since then. I try to forget about what happened but I can't.
I turned 'Singing in the shower by Becky G.' on then stepped inside the shower and let the hot water run down my back. I started humming the tune. As time passed by I forgot about everything and just focused on the music. When the chorus of my favorite song, Don't tell em by Jeremiah, came on I heard the front door swing open.
"Oh, Cam is that you," I called out. "I thought I told you to call me before you got here!" I waited for a response but I never got one. I continued taking my shower. Less than two minutes later I heard another door open but this time, I felt a breeze come with it. I peeked my head out of the shower curtain and looked. The bathroom door was wide open. I could have sworn that it was shut thirty seconds ago.I jumped out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my body. I poked my head into the hallway. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
I felt two strong firm hands grab my waist. I started screaming and thrashing around. It kissed me. I punched it in the stomach and made a run for the front door. "Thump!" It grabbed my towel and I tumbled down the stairs. I could barely see anything and was the verge of passing out. "Oh Maddie Renee Washers, you really shouldn't have done that."
Only moments before I could realize who had said that I fell into a deep sleep--