Gabriel

All the curtains were drawn and the room was quite black. Gabriel reached behind Sarah for the light switch and she heard the faint click of a lock before light flooded the room. The sound made her freeze. And then she screamed.

Gabriel appeared beside her, graceful as a cat, and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Sarah . . . I'd like you to meet Jodie." he whispered, ignoring her flailing arms and her attempts at biting his hand.

Before them in one corner, seated on a throne-like chair, was a partially decayed corpse. Gabriel dragged Sarah forward and lovingly stroked the brittle red curls that still protruded from greenish flesh that still clung precariously from the gleaming white skull that peeked out at them from the large sections where the skin had already fallen away.

"My beautiful Jodie. The finest of my little collection."

He forced Sarah to turn with him toward the rest of the room. In each corner sat a similar corpse . . . each with the same red curls, only the other three were in far more advanced stages of decay.

Gabriel trapped Sarah's desperately kicking legs between his own and held her still, his grip vice-like, biting into her flesh with his fingers.

"There's even a spot for you, Sarah. Just for you!"

Indeed, in the center of the room sat an empty chair, identical to the others. Sarah jerked with renewed horror and finally managed to sink her teeth into the fleshy part of his palm. He yelped in pain and released her mouth. Instantly she let loose a blood-curdling scream and fought desperately to get away from him. He grunted in his frustration and slammed his fist down on the crown of her head with all the strength he could muster. She instantly went limp in his arms.

He scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way to the chair; placing her gently down into it and propping her up so she did not slump over to the side. Finally, he drew up the long length of chain which had been pooled around the legs of the chair and wrapped it several times around each ankle and wrist, then her midsection and throat. He padlocked the chain to the floor, just as he had the others and stood back to study his handiwork.

Beautiful! He thought. So exquisitely beautiful. "You could be her twin!" he whispered, looking from Sarah to Jodie and back again. "Remarkable!" He thought about gagging her . . . she would regain consciousness shortly . . . but decided against it. He had not gagged the others and he rather liked listening to the screaming. The room was insulated so no sound would escape; her music would be for him and him alone.

He started toward the door, turned for another long look at his lovely collection with it's newest freshest addition, then exited, locking up behind him.

He strode out to the nearest paddock, leaned against the fence and took a deep cleansing breath of crisp air. The sun was beginning to set and he watched as it made it's slow descent.

He smiled. It had been a lovely day.