Vows From Hell

I

STORM

T he gloomy sky stared back at me as crossed my arms in front of my chest. Dark clouds gave me a sense of comfort. Each time a flash of lightning struck, it was as if a wave of calmness washed over me. Unexplainable, yet peaceful.

The city seemed so small beneath me. t was the highest floor of the skyscraper, my very first time seeing just how pretty the city looked from this view. No wonder this was their way of welcoming me into the building.

Suddenly, the door opened, and was quick to turn around.

A middle-aged man stood before me, in a suit that cost more than my monthly rent. He briefly glanced at his wristwatch before taking a few steps toward me.

“ apologize to have kept you waiting, Professor Peyton.’’

Kyle Morrison extended his hand for me to shake, and gave him a light squeeze. t was our first time meeting in person, and the moment he stepped into the conference room, my anxiety vanished. t was probably because of the warmth in his smile as he greeted me.

’d heard of him a while ago. He was often on television, a retired FB agent who still helped catch serial killers from time to time. His record was stupidly impressive – with over ninety-seven percent of cases closed and killers sent behind bars.

smile. “No need to apologize, sir. But let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”

Without waiting, took a seat across from him, placing my palm on the wooden table and tapping with my index finger.

“’m still uncertain why you’ve asked to see me.’’

He cleared his throat and pulled out a thick file. t was pitch black with the title being in bold, white color. My eyes widened at that, and glanced between him and the files a few times, before narrowing my eyes in confusion.

“My emails were vague for a reason.’’ He sighed. “’ll be frank; you’re one of the best criminology professors in our country and we need your help.’’

“My help?”

“Yes. ’ve personally looked through your record, and ’m impressed, to say the least. Your teachings on serial killers are amazing, as well as the unfortunate experience you’ve had to endure.’’

“That’s odd.’’ tilted my head to the side. “ teach at a private university to pass the time. That information shouldn’t be easily accessible.’’

A guilty look flashed behind his eyes, but he masked it rather quickly. He cleared his throat and pushed the files toward me.

“The Terror of the Night is back.’’

A single sentence managed to freeze the blood in my veins.

couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t speak.

My mind immediately wandered off, heart racing in my chest. A wave of chills spread down my body, and found myself struggling to breathe. Each breath was like a knife repeatedly being stabbed in the pit of my stomach, a pain hadn’t felt in years. One of my biggest fears was Micah getting arrested again.

could see Kyle’s lips moving, but no sound came out. As the room started spinning, was desperately clutching onto the last bits of sanity had left.

t felt almost unreal. Over the past few years, searched for him. Hell, might as well have flipped the entire world upside down and nothing. He never had an MO in which he could’ve been traced, and the cabin where he took me was bought and remodeled by someone else.

There wasn’t a single trace of that man.

Until he appeared after a signing event and left a gift.

That gave me hope and the thought of finally seeing him again made my heart flutter. Yet, soon enough, that happiness turned into fury. He was radio silent, and he hadn’t made an attempt to contact me since. The bastard was laying low, in some ditch probably.

At that point, started wondering if he was even alive.

And if he was, was determined to track him down and get back at him for everything that he did.

My obsession ran deep, and my mind was filled with him, every waking moment of the day. Because couldn’t find a single thing about his whereabouts, was slowly becoming more and more obsessed with him. dreamed of him every single night. Sometimes, it was just flashbacks, and other times it was my delusion of what would happen once we were brought back together.

“Professor Peyton?’’

My eyes snapped back at the man ’d forgotten was even in my presence.

cleared my throat and fiddled with my fingers on my lap, staring at the files in front of me.

“ apologize.’’ My voice was hoarse. “What exactly do you need my help with?”

“We’d like for you to become a consultant on this case.’’

A bitter laugh filled the room as my eyes widened in disbelief.

“s it because of my personal connection to the killer?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Yes.’’

“sn’t that a bit… insensitive on your part? My only qualification is that was kidnapped by him. That’s hardly enough to capture him – if it really is him, that is.’’

“ understand why you’d be hesitant, but we truly need to put that man behind bars once and for all. And you’re the only one who can help us.’’

leaned back into the leather chair and sighed, hoping he took my earlier reaction as an alarm at Micah being back, and not that was worried about him being caught. “How can you be certain that it’s him? His MO is all over the place, from burning people alive and stabbing them to death to putting a bullet between their eyes. Not much of a connection. t could be anyone else.’’

“Yes, but–’’

“And from my research and experience, having someone so close to the case is never a good thing.’’

He took a deep breath, staring right into my eyes. His determination sparked something inside of me.

“All ’m asking is to look over what we have so far. Then decide if you’d like to help us out or not.’’

took a deep breath.

Everything was happening too quickly.

When received an urgent call to meet him, thought he might’ve figured out that ’d killed someone. nstead, he was asking for my help. didn’t know how to proceed.

On the one hand , it would be beneficial for me. would finally be able to find out where Micah had been hiding for years, and start the little vengeance game had planned.

ended up taking the files, after all.

They were hidden in my closet for nearly a week before got the courage to look through everything. After work, on Friday evening, opened a bottle of wine and settled down to read through every detail.

went down a rabbit hole.

opened a can of worms had no desire to close.

Apparently, Micah was everywhere.

The tabs kept on him didn’t have nearly half of the information Kyle provided. His victims had nothing in common. Geographically, nothing aligned. t was as if he was picking random people off the streets and killing them in cold blood.

These people weren’t tied to Micah's sister, either.

t was odd. The more was reading, the less realized how much time had passed. was absorbed by information couldn’t obtain on my own. An exhilarating feeling burst in the pit of my stomach, and by morning, ’d read every single piece of paper Kyle had given me at least twice.

His latest victim was in Los Angeles. The one before that was in Portland. They were only four days apart and the number of killings reached nearly sixty in the past two years. He’d been busy, and now, was getting suspicious.

t wasn’t strange for him to kill if someone pissed him off or got in his way, but sixty people? t was too much, even for him. And the fact that his face was never seen in any footage, or that there weren’t any witnesses, made me wonder.

Micah was incredibly intelligent, but even smarter people were detected. Given how long he’d been on the run, and not keeping a low profile, he was bound to be caught sooner or later. But even now, when so much time had passed, not a single trace of him, or any indication of where he’d be next.

Someone was covering for him.

Evidently, it was someone of higher authority and status, with enough money to make any evidence of Micah’s killings disappear.

Which brought me to my next theory.

What if he was killing for money? A serial killer turned a hitman wasn’t too hard to imagine; however, struggled to comprehend just why someone would help out Micah.

With a sigh, collected all the documents scattered on the fluffy black carpet and neatly put them back in the file. lay on my back, staring into the ceiling as my mind started to fully process the information.

f he had enough time to kill, he had more than enough time to come back to me.

Yet he didn’t.

And by the looks of it, he had no plans to in the near future. He was forcing my hand to accept this deal and find him with the help of the police. tried, for months, to track him down. t wasn’t as if ’d been completely oblivious to his little antics, though there were things out of my reach.

glanced at my phone, noticing that it was six in the morning. didn’t sleep last night, nor did feel tired. f anything, had too much energy and nowhere to spend it.

As if on cue, my phone buzzed and an unknown caller appeared on the screen,

“Hello?”

“ apologize for calling you so early in the morning, Professor Peyton.’’ Kyle’s voice filtered through the line. “However, ’ll need your answer now.”

“Why? Did anything happen?”

He took a deep breath. “Yes. There was another murder late last night. Although we’re still uncertain of the culprit, we have reason to believe it’s him.’’

A knot formed in my throat, and was barely able to speak through the ache.

“Where?”

“New York.’’

closed my eyes briefly. “sn’t New York operated by the Russian mafia, mainly? Can you be sure they aren’t involved?”

“Even if they are, it’s a good opportunity to take care of them as well.’’

removed the phone from my ear and snorted.

Now, was sure. Kyle was unbelievably arrogant.

Saying that he alone wanted to take down a criminal organization that had been around longer than he was alive was ridiculous .

His arrogance knew no bounds, but perhaps that was exactly what needed to track Micah down.

“Alright.’’ returned the device to my ear. “’ll accept your offer.’’

“You won’t regret it.’’ already did regret it. “’ll send you all information. Can expect you on the next flight over to New York?”

“’ll be there on Monday.’’

Now all that was left for me to do was thoroughly study. needed to be prepared for everything that might come my way and could not allow myself to do this sloppily.

A grin formed on my lips.

Soon, Micah.

’d make him regret ever picking me. The bastard wasn’t even aware of what had planned for him. ’d confine him in the prettiest cage and keep him as my marionette forever. Once he was back within my reach, wasn’t going to let go.

Whether he liked it or not.

My perfect little doll.