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Dark Shadow
By
Keiko Tanaka
The dark shadow appeared in the open doorway to the bedroom
and observed the sleeping forms on the bed. The moonlight shining through
the window cast a beam of light across the bed, illuminating the two figures
deep in sleep, a sheet pulled over their bodies. They did not stir at
the new arrival, so deep was their sleep.
A black gloved hand came up, the black .45 in its fist almost invisible
in the darkness. The gun was held waist high, aimed at the two forms sleeping
in the bed, a finger poised on the trigger.
Eight times the gun roared, breaking the silence of the night. Each time
the gun spit fire, lighting up the room briefly. The space between the
shots was even, very methodical. Blue smoke rolled from the gun into the
room.
The forms on the bed jumped with the impact of each shot as the slugs
hit flesh and each empty cartridge dropped to the floor. On the first
few shots they grunted with the impact, later they were silent as the
bullets tore through the flesh of their bodies. The sheet now had blue-black
holes burned through them and red stains flowering around them.
Then the room was silent again. The earlier smell of sex, sweat, and cheap
cigarette smoke was now replaced with the smell of cordite, blood, and
death.
The figure stood watching as smoke wafted from the gun’s barrel, still
aimed at the now dead bodies on the bed. The gun’s slide was back, showing
the empty chamber. The shooter released the slide, letting it snap closed,
the sharp noise again shattering the silence of the room. The figure stepped
inside the room, causing the lingering smoke in the room to part.
In the moonlight, the dark figure was unmistakably the curved figure of
a woman. The curve of her hips and breasts made that quite evident, despite
being covered by a long black overcoat. The light glistened off her curly
blonde hair and the earrings she wore. Her shadowed face was revealed
to be quite beautiful, perfectly made up, her lips painted a bright red.
She smiled in the darkness and bought the gun barrel up, blowing the smoke
off the barrel. She slowly lowered the gun and released the empty clip
into her other hand. She slipped it into the pocket of her overcoat and
withdrew the other magazine she carried that was full the heavy .45 slugs.
She slid it into the butt of her gun with a click.
She walked over to the bed, the freshly loaded .45 still in her hand,
ready to use once more if necessary. She looked down at what she was certain
was now the dead man and woman, taking in the scene of what she had done.
The man had a hole in his head above his ear. He also had two holes in
the sheet over his chest, another in the groin area. The woman smiled
in satisfaction at the placement of that first shot.
The woman had a hole in her cheek, which damaged a once pretty face. The
other three shots had damaged her breasts, the black holes surrounded
by bright red blood. The shooter pulled back the sheet to look at the
woman’s body. They had been nice breasts, full and well shaped, but now
there was bruising and swelling around the red holes in them. The blood
that had once flowed from them was now soaked into the sheet.
The woman then turned from the scene of death, walking back toward the
door as she shoved the .45 in the wide belt of her coat. Her expression
was pleasant, neither remorseful nor horrified at what she had done here.
She paused in the doorway, knelt down and picked up the shell casings
off the floor, slipping them into the left pocket of her coat.
She stood up and walked out of the room, not looking back.
The woman walked outside the small isolated cabin, then paused to light
a cigarette. She sucked in a lungful of menthol tobacco smoke, closed
her eyes as she held the nicotine laced smoke in her lungs a moment, and
then exhaled into the crisp, chilling night air.
She was reveling in the fact that she just murdered two people she despised
in cold blood. No one would ever know what she had done, she had planned
it well. But she would never forget the pure pleasure she felt right now
at what she had just done.
The woman climbed down the steps, fishing her car keys from her right
coat pocket, and went over to her waiting luxury car. She opened the car
door, climbed in, and started up the car. She put the car in gear and
pulled away.
Once she hit the open road, she looked at her reflection in the rear view
mirror and smiled. She was more than halfway home.
The woman parked the car
back in its parking spot. It would look like it never left.
She pulled off the blonde wig and shook her dark hair free. The blonde
wig went with the gun, her black gloves, and her overcoat into a shopping
bag she had on the passenger side floor.
The woman left the car, locked it up. She walked over to a red sports
car and unlocked the trunk. She dropped the shopping bag inside and shut
the trunk. Done.
She smoothed the wrinkles in her blue party dress, then walked up to the
elegant mansion where the party was still going on and went inside. The
woman knew at this big charity function, she wouldn’t be missed while
she was gone.
Once inside, she deftly dropped the car keys into a basket on a small
table by the foyer. Now she was home free.
She grabbed a glass of champagne from a touring waiter and headed toward
the party’s hostess.
“There you are!” Cindy exclaimed. “I was wondering where you got to.”
“I was mingling just like you asked me to,” the woman replied after a
sip of champagne.
“I know you too well, Madeline Cooper,” Cindy admonished, sniffing at
her. “You went outside for a smoke.”
Maddie made a guilty face. “Caught me,” she said. “I needed some fresh
air.” She smiled and took another sip of champagne.
Cindy would never know where her car went tonight while she entertained
her guests.
Maddie took another sip of her champagne and made small talk. She would
spend another hour here, encountering as many guests as possible before
going home.
Maddie had just finished
cleaning her .45 when she heard the door bell. It was around midnight.
They couldn’t possibly have found Jake and that slut dead yet.
Suspicious as she wrapped her terry cloth robe around her, she took the
.45 with her to the front door, holding it against her hip. She looked
through the peephole, then her face relaxed. She put the .45 into a drawer
in the desk by the foyer before opening the door to her visitor.
“It’s a bit late, Ethan,” Maddie told the young man standing outside her
door.
“I saw your light was still on,” Ethan said.
“Come on in,” Maddie told him.
Maddie’s eyes wandered over the young man’s body as he walked past her
into the house. She would watch him as he mowed her grass, stripped to
the waist, sweat glistening on his eighteen year old body when no one
was looking, pure, unadulterated lust in her deep dark brown eyes.
Many times in her fantasies she would strip him naked, run her hands over
his well muscled chest, his perfect abs, see if those big feet of his
were indeed an indicator of him being big elsewhere.
She shook herself back to reality and closed the door behind him.
Maddie walked over to the bar. “Can I get you a drink?”
Ethan smiled thinly. “Now you know I’m 18, Mrs. Cooper.”
Maddie smiled as if sharing a secret. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
Ethan nodded. “OK.”
Maddie poured two scotches on the rocks and took him one. They clinked
glasses. “Cheers,” they said in unison and then drank.
Ethan finally broke the silence. “I came to see if you wanted your grass
mowed tomorrow.”
Maddie suddenly realized she had been staring. “Oh, yes. Definitely.”
She walked over to her purse and got out some money. She handed him a
fifty dollar bill. “I’ll pay you in advance.”
Ethan sat down his drink. The glass was empty. “Wow. Thanks.”
“Take your best girl out to dinner,” Maddie advised him.
“Where do you want to go?” Ethan suddenly asked.
Maddie laughed. “I think that scotch has hit you. You have better things
to do than chase after an old woman like me.”
“You’re not old,” Ethan stammered, his eyes taking in her still shapely
thirty four year old body. “You’re beautiful.”
Maddie smiled at the compliment. “You are good for my ego.”
“I mean it,” Ethan insisted. “He leaves you alone too much.”
Maddie sighed and sipped at her scotch. “My husband is an important businessman.”
“If you were mine, I’d never leave you alone,” Ethan said suddenly.
Maddie looked at him. She stepped forward. “You’re sweet.”
She meant to kiss him on the cheek, but he moved his mouth and their lips
met. The young man went for it, his mouth opening, his tongue exploring
hers.
Taken by surprise, Maddie returned the kiss, clinging to Ethan hotly.
When she felt his hands on her breasts, she backed away, ending the kiss.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan said once he found his voice.
“I’m a married woman,” Maddie said weakly.
“Who is ignored by her husband,” Ethan said. He put his hand on her face,
caressing her cheek. “I won’t ignore you, Maddie. I’ve wanted you for
a long time.” He looked deep into her beautiful eyes. “I’ve seen you watching
me. I know you want me too.”
He kissed her again and Maddie lost her senses for a while after that.
“You smoke too much, honey,”
Ethan said behind her.
Maddie lay on her side in bed, smoking a cigarette as Ethan lay behind
her, spooning her. She could still feel him against her backside, still
partially erect. It wouldn’t take much to get him ready for her again.
But Maddie wasn’t as young as she used to be. She needed a break after
all those earth shaking orgasms.
Young men were so ready, able, and eager to please. She should have remembered
that from when she was younger. She sure was aware of that now.
The rational part of her was berating herself for giving into her passions.
The last thing she needed was to have the cops come to her door to tell
her they found her husband dead and find her in bed with an eighteen year
old. But it was done now.
“You probably should get home before your mother misses you,” Maddie said,
knowing very well where his mother’s dead body was right now.
“Mom is out of town on a business trip,” Ethan said.
Maddie almost laughed out loud. Almost. That was Jake’s cover story too.
“So you have me all night,” Ethan said.
“Good,” Maddie said, stabbing out her finished cigarette. She turned over
and took Ethan in hand. “Because I’m not finished with you yet.”
They made love again the
next morning when they woke up. Maddie hadn’t fucked like this in years.
Probably since her Caribbean honeymoon with Jake. Maybe even since they
were dating. It was incredible to be so sexually satisfied again.
Afterwards, Maddie did something she hadn’t done in years. She went to
the kitchen and made breakfast.
She had given her domestic, Imelda, who usually did the cooking and cleaning,
the weekend off. It was just as well considering the events of the last
24 hours.
Ethan seemed to enjoy his eggs. He wolfed them down like there was no
tomorrow. Maybe he didn’t get a breakfast like this often. Probably not
considering who his mother was.
He went into the living room while she cleaned up. Maddie kind of enjoyed
being in the kitchen again. Maybe it had something to do with feeling
like a real woman again.
Maddie finished up and went to join Ethan in the living room. She saw
immediately that he had helped himself to a scotch and one of Jake’s cigars.
“I see you are making yourself at home,” Maddie commented with an amused
smile.
“I can get used to this,” Ethan said. He held out a hand. “Come here,
woman.”
Did he get an ego boost when she wasn’t looking? That was OK with Maddie.
She went to him and wrapped her arms around him. They kissed.
“Come back to bed,” Maddie said afterwards, her voice husky.
“In a minute,” Ethan said, stroking her hair. “We need to talk about something
first.”
Maddie’s hands stroked him, marveled again at the size of him. “What is
it? It can’t be more important than this.”
“We need to be careful, baby,” Ethan said. “It would be a shame if your
husband found out about us. Or anyone else.”
Maddie looked at him strangely. He wasn’t worried about that earlier.
“Let me worry about my fucking husband, OK?”
“Sure, baby,” Ethan said. “But what do I get out of this?” he asked, squeezing
her buttocks.
Maddie raised an eyebrow and smiled seductively. “Except the obvious?”
“I thought you might want to compensate me for this stud service,” Ethan
said, moving against her teasingly. “I don’t think your husband would
miss a few thousand in the bank account here and there.”
Maddie smiled, even as her heart sank. “So you want me to right you a
big old check, is that it?”
“I’d prefer cash,” Ethan said.
Maddie kissed him as if nothing was wrong. “I’ll be right back.”
“When you come back, you can give me a nice blowjob,” Ethan called after
her, puffing on the cigar.
Maddie fumed as she went into the foyer. The little bastard. It was all
about fucking money. He didn’t give a shit about her. Did he honestly
think he could blackmail her? He wasn’t any better than that slut bitch
of a mother.
She pulled the black gloves on slowly, almost reverently. She picked up
the .45 out of the drawer and wrapped her hand around it once again. It
felt good to hold it again.
Now Ethan would pay for his insolence.
When Maddie returned, Ethan
had helped himself to another drink. Maybe the scotch had given him that
shot of confidence which had been his undoing.
He saw her as she walked into the room, her hands held behind her.
“About time,” Ethan said impatiently. “I smoked half a cigar waiting on
you. You have the money?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get what you deserve,” Maddie said.
She raised the .45 and the cigar dropped from Ethan’s mouth, the drink
from his hand.
“You had it made,” Maddie told him. “You could have been a part of all
this,” she said, waving her other hand. “But you had to get greedy, didn’t
you?”
“Y-you can’t just kill me,” Ethan stammered.
“Oh, but I can,” Maddie replied. She motioned downward with the gun. “Get
on your knees.”
“Maddie, baby, wait, we can talk about this…”
“NOW!” Maddie shouted, her finger tightening on the trigger.
Ethan did as he was told. Tears ran down his face as Maddie circled behind
him. “Please, don’t kill me, Maddie.”
Maddie clubbed him on the back of his head with the butt of the gun. He
fell over like a heap on his stomach.
“Not quite yet,” she said with an evil smile.
Night.
The red sports car cruised down the back country road at legal speed.
The last thing she needed was a traffic stop.
Maddie put the cigarette she held between her black gloved fingers to
her lips and took a healthy drag. Almost there.
She pulled off the road onto a dirt path. Soon her car disappeared into
a path through the trees. She cut the engine, then the headlights.
Maddie stabbed out her cigarette in her ashtray before climbing out of
the car. She went around to the trunk and pulled the .45 from where it
lay in the waistband at the small of her back.
She opened the trunk and looked down at Ethan. He looked back at her in
horror, the duct tape covering his mouth stifling his cries. Maddie reached
down with her free hand and pulled him out by the front of his shirt.
Ethan tumbled to the ground in a heap, his bound hands and feet throwing
off his balance.
Maddie held the .45 waist high, enjoying the moment. She savored the moment
even more this time, her victim looking at her with pleading eyes, knowing
he was about to die and that she was about to kill him. The large gun
in her black gloved hand gave her such a feeling of power and control
she had not had much in her life.
Tears rolled down Ethan’s face once again. He was such a cry baby.
Maddie gave him a cruel smile. “You just had to fuck with me, didn’t you?
You’re no better than your fucking slut of a mother.”
“Mmmm,” Ethan replied behind the duct tape.
“Now you’ll join her,” Maddie boasted. “You see, I found out she was fucking
Jake. So I took care of them both. Just like I’m going to take care of
you.”
Ethan’s eyes went wide.
Maddie was glad she told him before she pulled the trigger.
Then she pulled that trigger, twice.
The gunshots echoed throughout the night as her gun spit fire twice more.
Her aim was true. Ethan’s head exploded as the two .45 slugs tore through
it.
His body crumpled over.
Maddie dropped the still smoking pistol to her side.
She studied his dead body for a few moments before walking away.
Moments later, the red sports car pulled away, the smell of menthol cigarette
smoke lingering in the air behind it a moment before dissipating.
The night was again silent.
Maddie sipped at a scotch.
She had again cleaned the .45 and returned it to the hidden wall safe
alongside her emergency stash of cash. The stash would tie her over until
the proceeds of the million dollar life insurance policy populated her
bank account. Not to mention what she would get out of the sale of Jake’s
business.
Maddie couldn’t wait.
The door bell rang.
Maddie went to the door and looked out the peep hole.
She straightened her hair and opened the door.
Andy stood on the porch in his sheriff’s uniform. He and Jake had known
each other since high school and were best friends.
He looked white as a sheet. She knew why he was here.
They found him. He wanted to tell her personally. He just didn’t know
how to tell her. Not only that Jake was dead, but where he was and who
he was found with.
“Andy, darling,” Maddie said sweetly, as she took him by the arm. “You
look pale. What is it?”
It was time for the performance of a lifetime. The grieving widow. By
the time she was done, she could get an Academy Award.
It would be all over soon enough. Then her new life could truly begin.
Maddie was looking forward to it.
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