Posted by AlOmega on July 07, 2004 at 20:29:58:
INTRODUCTION
Now that he was in his forties, the well-dressed gentleman looked forward to a reasonable (for him) retirement. His wife was a roll model in the community giving of herself to several charaties as well as their local church. Their three kids were in college and doing well. Well secured investments in stocks, bonds, and real estate coupled with her newly acquired inheritance had finally given them a comfortable standard of living. They were the envy of even their closest friends who knew them to be a loving couple. Those friends knew him as a young, quick-rising financier who acquired his money through shrewd investment management. This was the family they all knew. But like all families, they had a secret which only the two of them shared.
His wife, his only confidant, knew what he had done to acquire much of his wealth but couldn’t have cared in the slightest. Sometimes in bed he still referred to her as his choke chick. To her he was simply her Sandman. They had met in high school. Unlike some of his earlier girlfriends, she was not turned off by his need to choke her while making love. They even found a cybercommunity where they could share their interests with friends. It was soon thereafter that he opened up to his wife and shared some of his thoughts and finally his secret diaries. Just after leaving high school they had married. Although both wanted college, that option was not open. It was by accident - or perhaps providence - that he happened upon the occupation that enabled him to secure college degrees in accounting and finance; hers in Electronic Engineering. Initially, most of his money came from the ‘other’ jobs that he found from time to time. They paid well. But always he maintained his diaries. After a time, he decided to rewrite them into a series of stories - a chronicle of his life’s activities. This is one such diary titled simply “The Twins”.
Sandman was rather disgusted with his last job. He had not thought that strangling an old woman would be so hard. After all she was old and didn’t have long to live anyway. He supposed that it was because she seemed like great-aunt Beth. Even though the other cousins had thought her an old bitch, he had loved her regardless. And his latest victum had been about her age. He had approached her from behind while she was reading. Her neck wasn’t conducive to making love even if he had been interested. That idea was horrible in itself. Her struggling was something he hadn’t counted on either. It was one of those jobs he would just as soon forget. This job was another matter, however.
According to his files, twin sisters, Casey and Sandy, had a set of books on a local businessman that the IRS were apparently interested in. The businessman knew that the books were the ‘smoking gun’ needed by the Feds to convict him of fraud. He also knew that the twins had them. He didn’t know which one, however. Sandman’s job was to eliminate the sisters. More importantly, he was to return the books. With the data about the sisters secured and verified, he waited until dusk. Driving his Volvo into a deadend street, he turned around and stopped near a darkened house. Opening a large briefcase, he applied makeup and a long, black, scraggly wig. A red bandanna further hid his height. The disguise in place, he found an opening in a hedge and paused. A sharp pain caused him to look down. Apparently, the hedge had been recently trimmed because one of the cut branches had punctured his arm. Jimmying the lock took no time. The only light he saw was coming from a partially opened door. He entered surprising Casey who dropped the book she was reading.
Although surprised at the intruder, Casey still had the temerity to ask who he was and why he was there. She realized her mistake when he crawled onto the bed after her. Then she opened her mouth to scream. Too late. His hands caught the scream stillborn within her throat. Carefully with practiced ease, he closed off her breathing. She might have to be killed but that would be later after he had a few questions answered. As her eyelids fluttered shut, he released his grip.
Casey slowly woke groggily realizing she was tied to a chair. While the ropes on her upper torso were fairly loose, the bindings on her ankles and wrists were tight. Moreover, they were tied to the chair which itself was bolted to the floor. Any motion she made only tightened the ropes about her wrists. Helpless, she ceased trying to escape. Looking around, she didn’t see much. Curtains covered everything. There could have been anything or nothing at all behind the curtains. As she was getting used to her surroundings, a man emerged with a pair of scissors. He put them in his hip pocket as he surveyed her.
“Like my room? I’m rather proud of it You can scream all you want here. No one will hear you. The curtains muffle sounds rather well; and what they don’t, the walls will. “
“W-what do you want?” was all she could stammer.
“Nice of you to ask. Seem your boss is in a little trouble with the IRS. And seems you’ve got something of his he’d like to keep out of their hands. Suppose you don’t know anything about that?”
“Suppose right, you bastard. You just wait. The... .” The last remark was sharply cut off by a slap. He laughed.
“Well perhaps if I do this,” he said, removing the scissors. Walking behind her, he cut off the straps holding her negligee up. With a flourish, he pulled down the top.
“Now these are nice,” he said stroking her breasts. “But though you’re a pretty little thing, I’ve got to get those books. Perhaps if I do this”, he added as he placed an arm around her neck and grabbed her hair. He gave a quick twist which hurt her neck. But he was careful with the twisting. He didn’t want to kill her yet. This still didn’t loosen her tongue as she spat at him.
He realized a different tack was necessary. Gently he caressed her neck while at the same time making comments about the softness of the column of her throat. Placing a hand under her chin, he grabbed the back of her neck tightly enough that she cried out in pain. Then he began choking her with his arm but he couldn’t maintain a good enough choke. Finally he began choking her from behind manually. The last did the trick as she confessed that her sister had the books and not her.
“They’re in a locked box in Sandy’s house”, she finally confessed.
“Where is the box?”
“It’s in the hall closet,” she sobbed. “Now please, let me go.”
He smiled.
“Hey!! I’ve told you all that I know now LET ME GO!” She paused as he brought out a stocking - her stocking - and began tying a knot in it. Her eyes were glued to the stocking as he snapped it in front of her.
“Oh my God!! No. No. Please NOOO... !” was all she could get out before he wrapped the stocking around her neck. Tighter and tighter he pulled as she struggled helplessly unable to free a hand let alone free her neck. After a few moments, she began to weaken. He pulled tighter knowing she was about to die. Then she arched her body and died voiding both bowels and bladder. He released her from the ropes and took a few pictures of her body. Gathering up her corpse, he returned to her house. With reverence, he removed her nightie and lay her supine on her bed. As he left, he cupped a cool breast and kissed her eyes closed.
It was near 8:00 PM when he arrived at Sandy’s. Again with practiced ease, he entered the house. Although there were lights in several locations, no one appeared to be inside. He found the box and removed it from the closet. But where was Casey’s twin? Ah ha, he thought as he heard movement near the front bedroom. Though Sandy wasn’t in there, clothes were hung on the closet door. He heard humming from the bathroom. Avoiding a piece of exercise equipment, he carefully approached the bathroom. Peeking, he saw the diminutive Sandy brushing her hair. She was clad only in white panties. He watched as a few seconds later, she used brushes to spread color over her face. She applied some to her bare breasts and seemed to enjoy using the brushes on her nipples. He sighed. That was how she perceived his presence. Realizing his mistake, he rushed her.
Sandy punched him in the stomach and managed to escape the confinement of the bath. As Sandman chased her, he almost fell over the equipment. He trapped her in the main bedroom. Approaching her, he opened and closed his hands. This mesmerized her as he neared. He managed to grab her neck before she could escape. Tighter and tighter he squeezed.
“Now I’ve got you”, he stated. However, she pulling at his wrists and hands, accidentally pulled hard on his left little finger. Sandman released his hold and backed away with a howl. Eschewing the nearby phone, she attempted to crawl across the bed to a door leading to a patio. There she could run for help, she reasoned. However he managed to grab her shoulders and turn her around again.
Flopping onto the bed, she spread her hands protectively as he climbed on the bed after her. There would be only one outcome, she realized as she managed to emit a long scream. As she inhaled to scream again, Sandman dashed all her hopes by squeezing her neck yet again. This time she wouldn’t get away. As he shifted his weight to put more pressure on her throat, she managed to gasp in some life giving air. But it was hopeless, she knew. She only heard one sound other than his grunting and that was the futile gasps for air and her final gurglings. The sounds came to her ears but she didn’t realize they came from her. And finally her gurglings and his grunts were lost in the roaring in her ears.
Sandman looked at her while her life slowly ebbed away. He looked down at his thumbs pressing tightly on the front of her neck. He knew she was dying when her hands fluttered like dying butterflies to her side. Finally she moved no more. Her skin stuck to his fingers as they left the darkened column of her throat. He looked at her open eyes and protruding tongue. The darkness at her throat excited him more. He lay her nude body as he had her sister's. Again he kissed the eyes shut. As he left, he knew he and his beloved would make love for most of the night. Even the money was almost forgotten as he thought of her.