A new message was waiting, the screen having refreshed itself.
He opened his email.
It was from Nikki.
Her name is Amy. She seems sweet. Do you think she’ll be interested in hearing about some of the fantasies we talked about? Maybe it will give her some ideas on things you two can do when alone.
Mark stared at the message in disbelief, his mind unable to register anything beyond terror.
Here he had finally met a girl that was interested in him, one who actually showed up at a first get together and had enjoyed herself so much that she was hinting at sex, and this Nikki bitch was going to ruin it. It wasn’t fair.
Another message arrived.
Once again, it was from Nikki.
Instead of the fantasies maybe I should tell her about our time together last night. Do you think she would be interested in that? I’ll tell her how you filled my mouth with cum and then pinched my nose until I swallowed it all. Yep. I think she’ll like that story better.
Mark hit the reply button and typed: We didn’t get together last night and you know it. Nothing happened.
It took Nikki three minutes to reply.
I know that, silly boy, but will she? Did you stand me up so that you two could be together? If that’s the case I guess she has nothing to worry about, but if you simply went home and were by yourself I think this could be quite an eye opener for her on what you’re really like, especially once I send her the messages you sent me about getting together. Women typically like to be aware of these things from the start so they don’t waste time with perverts like you.
Mark didn’t know what to say to this.
Who would?
Less than an hour earlier he had been overcome with joy about getting together with Amy for a second time that afternoon (and, of course, the possibility that sexual things would occur), and now he was worried that he would never see her again. And this time it wasn’t his usual insecurity creating this fear. Nope. The threat was real. If Nikki sent a message like that Amy would bail on him. He knew it to be true.
You should call her before any messages arrive and let her know someone is harassing you.
He stared at his phone while thinking this, finger ready to push the AMY entry in his address book.
But will she believe me?
If he had told her about Nikki before she herself had contacted her then things would probably be okay, but suddenly getting concerned after contact had been made, well, that might just seem like he was trying to cover his tracks. Such panic wouldn’t look good.
He closed the phone.
A new message arrived.
Please be from Amy, he pleaded, his eyes hoping to see a message confirming the Tom and Jerry’s location.
It was from Nikki.
I’ll tell you what. I won’t tell Amy about how sick and twisted you are if you buy me some items from my wish list on my blog. I want you to have a gift note sent with each. The first will be the large black dildo on page two of the wish list. I want you to write a note with it that says: I CAN’T WAIT TO SHOVE THIS UP YOUR BUTT WHILE YOU BEG FOR MERCY! The second item will be the standard police issue handcuffs on page three. With those I want you to write: AND TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN’T GET AWAY WHILE I HAVE MY WAY WITH YOU. The third item is the Tantalizing Lace Up Teddy on page four. With that you will write: FOR YOU TO WEAR TO SHOW EVERYONE WHAT A WHORE YOU ARE. Ship it all next day. Do that now and then save and send a screen shot of your order confirmation to me. If it arrives before ten thirty this morning I will not send a message, if it doesn’t . . .
Mark felt his jaw drop while reading the message.
Why in the world would Nikki want him to send this stuff to Kimberly? What possible good could come from it, especially since Nikki had to know that he knew Kimberly was not her.
Or does she?
The idea that this Nikki person had the same abilities to deduce things that would be obvious to people like him was probably a mistake. Now, he wasn’t saying Nikki was stupid. In order to orchestrate something like this one had to have a good chunk of intelligence. High intelligence, however, didn’t necessarily mean a good ability to understand reality.
Send her a message about this and see what happens.
Or just do what she says and warn Kimberly that items will be headed her way.
Though he didn’t like it, the second option seemed the safest. Going the first route could be interpreted as him provoking her, which could cause all kinds of trouble. Best to play it safe, especially if it meant making sure his chances with Amy weren’t threatened.
But what if she still threatens to send the message?
Maybe you should put some of your own terms down.
He could send two items but hold back on the third until after his date today. Of course, just suggesting that could fall under the provocation category.
Indecision gripped him.
He honestly didn’t know what to do.
Oddly enough the money he would need to spend on the three items wasn’t even coming to mind with this dilemma, not when he would gladly spend twice that much if it meant things would be okay between him and Amy (or any other girl he wanted to try and have sex with). Nope. His indecision was based on the fact that he was pretty much being blackmailed, and whether or not he wanted to give in to it. After all, what else would Nikki instruct him to do after this?
It won’t matter because after today Amy will know about Nikki and understand the problems she has caused you. It will be a one-time thing.
He just had to remember not to spill all the Nikki stuff to Amy right away. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her with information that could ruin the potential for sex. That, and nothing else, was the most important factor right now.
2
The girl who called herself NIU_Nikki sat at her laptop waiting for the message from Mark, her fingers crossed that he would be frightened enough about his true nature being revealed to Amy that he would give in to the demands she had made. If not, she did have a plan B that was probably just as good as this one (plan A?), one that involved buying the items with a Visa gift card, but figured things would be so much easier if the items were bought under his credit card.
Unless that looks too obvious?
Would he use his own credit cards knowing the purchases could eventually be traced back to him?
The thought was unsettling, but didn’t ruin the pleasure she felt at everything she had accomplished thus far – and, with the exception of last night, almost completely without a glitch. And even if it looked too obvious and brought suspicion upon itself for that very reason, at least it would still focus attention away from what had truly happened. Add in all the DNA that would be left upon the scene of the eventual crime and it would be hard for the police to look elsewhere.
Satisfaction arrived.
It got even sweeter when the message from Mark appeared, one that had the screen shots of the receipts just as she had instructed.
Amazing.
Nothing else could describe it. Men were so weak when it came to issues involving women that is was no wonder the girl named Kimberly had been able to manipulate them so easily.
And now you are doing the same.
NOPE!
This was different. This had a purpose. If she could have put an end to Kimberly’s ways without having to manipulate so many men she would have, but no workable options had presented themselves. Plus, she wasn’t manipulating any guy who didn’t deserve to be manipulated.
Well . . .
Memories of her interaction with a young man named Dominick started to arrive. Guilt tagged along. He hadn’t been like the men she was using to torment Kimberly, at least not to the same degree. She couldn’t dismiss that he had agreed to help her in exchange for sex, so the potential to be like all these other guys was there. Still, if given the chance and not forced into situations of temptation, he seemed like a nice guy. Sadly, leaving him alive would have been disastrous for he
r, so she had killed him.
More memories filled her head, specifically those that saw her playing with his penis with one hand while pulling the knife from behind her back with the other. One quick slice and his throat had been open, blood from the severed jugular spraying upon a tree that stood next to them. Interestingly that hadn’t been the only thing that spurted. She would never forget the feel of his penis actually bulging in her hand as the blade opened his throat and the powerful ejaculation that had followed.
Experiencing such an event had been so unexpected that she almost wanted to try it again, her mind and body actually craving the moment when such an opportunity would present itself. At one point she had almost considered attempting it with a total stranger, but then thought better of it. Kimberly came first. Once that situation was taken care of she could experiment with this new found sexual interest. First, she would use her hand again just to see if it happened a second time. After that she would see how it felt once that penis was inside her, an image of her riding the guy to the point of near ejaculation and then grabbing the knife and quickly cutting his throat playing out in her mind’s eye.
3
As expected, an idea about the picture arrived early that morning, one that he couldn’t shake or push far enough from his mind to allow for the desired sleep to arrive once again. Unfortunately having the picture within his hand didn’t really help confirm his theory on what it represented. Then again, confirmation wasn’t all that necessary since he was almost positive it was what he thought it was.
But why leave a picture of the motel room door?
And is the actual room number significant, or was it just chosen at random?
These thoughts plagued him for most of the morning, his sore exhausted body able to do little else but dwell on the unanswerable questions. As always, he did make an attempt at writing, but nothing flowed.
And nothing will until you fix this situation.
The optimistic part of his brain didn’t even try to argue this statement. The reality of it was too strong to attempt contesting it.
So, now what?
Only one answer arrived. He couldn’t put it into action right away, however, not when he was certain that Kimberly would want to join him in his little trip to the Sleepy Time Motel.
Plus you need a car.
This realization didn’t come to him immediately, the lack of transportation so unfamiliar that he probably would have headed out to his car without even thinking about it if it hadn’t been for a trip to the bathroom to check on his cuts.
4
Kimberly felt worse than she looked, which was probably fairly typical after a night like the one she had endured. Most of it was good old fashion exhaustion from staying up late; something she still remembered quite well from her freshman year party nights down at the University of Illinois. Pain was present too, however, which wasn’t as familiar. Actually, being hit in the face was a new experience all together, one that she hoped would never happen again.
I would gladly dish it out if that bitch ever wants a rematch, though.
God, she hoped for just such an event soon.
Careful what you wish for, there is no telling what type of weapon this girl may bring next time.
This thought brought to mind the question on what the girl hoped to achieve. Was she just tormenting her because she was a bitch with a bug up her ass, or was this all just setting the stage for something bigger? Something carefully calculated?
A knock on the inner stairway door cut off the line of thought.
“Just a second,” she called and hurried back into the bedroom to grab some clothes, her hand first reaching for her work shirt from the night before, but then stopping when she caught sight of the blood. A College of DuPage t-shirt was next in line, followed by a pair of sweatpants.
Both items in place, she went to the door.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” Bill asked.
“Nah, I was up,” she said, her mind doubtful that he hadn’t already known this.
“Okay, good.” He yawned. “Sorry, didn’t get much sleep.” He smiled. “I think I figured out where that picture was taken.”
“Oh?”
“Out on Route 64 heading toward St. Charles there is a small rundown motel called the Sleepy Time Motel. It looks like something right out of a horror flick; cheap little forty dollar a night dump.”
“Okay?” she questioned.
“Anyhow, I used to send men there with the Nikki profile.”
“What . . . why?”
Teasing men to earn a membership referral fee was one thing, and while she couldn’t condone it, she could at least understand the motivation behind it. But sending men to a motel?
“Money was growing really tight and I wanted to make sure I would have enough to cover the rent for the summer, so I promised two dozen men that I would meet them for sex at the motel. It was toward the end of March, and I made all the ‘dates’ for the first and second week in April.”
If he thought this had explained anything he was wrong. “I still don’t understand.”
“You pay by the month on Adult Friend Finder, so by making the date the following month it pretty much sealed the deal on them allowing their memberships to renew one more time.” He shrugged.
“How much did you make per renewal?” she asked.
“Like thirty bucks.”
So, roughly thirty times twenty, she said to herself while calculating. “You did that for six hundred bucks?”
“Well, plus the money coming in from all the new subscriptions.”
“How many did you typically get when doing this?”
“Three to five a week.”
“You did all this just to get a hundred bucks a week!” Back at her parents place she knew neighborhood kids that made that much cutting grass during the summer.
“Hey, it kept a roof over my head.”
“How?”
“My rent isn’t much and I used credit cards for everything until my novels started to sell.”
She wanted to argue with him on how ridiculous this was, a simple part-time job would have netted him more and most likely wouldn’t have resulted in her being tormented, but then realized how pointless it would be. Plus he probably would have kept doing the blog anyway for the extra income.
“It was a good thing I did it too because after April the Internet was gone and I couldn’t get online to talk to the men through the Instant Messenger, so my renewal rates plummeted. The money I made from sending guys to the hotel in April and May was enough to keep me going for a while.”
“Wait, you did it twice?”
“Yeah, but the second time around wasn’t as effective. I promised ten guys to meet at the hotel come the first week of May. I would have done more, but like I said, the Internet was taken away during the last week of April and I couldn’t get Comcast to figure out the situation.”
Kimberly shook her head.
Bill didn’t say anything more.
“So, you think the door in the picture is from this motel?”
He nodded.
“But why would she want to direct my attention toward it?”
“I don’t know, but it seems like she does, which means it’s important -- at least to her -- and we should find out why.”
Driving all over the place was the last thing she wanted to do today, especially considering she started school tomorrow and wanted to be nice and rested for that. On the flip side, she knew that she probably would never feel rested until all this shit was finished, and if he thought going to the motel could help, then maybe that was the best bet. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll meet you by your car in a few minutes, I just want to grab some – “
“Oh, my car was trashed last night, remember,” he said before she could finish.
“Wow, you’re right, I completely forgot about that.” And that explains why he didn’t just go check out the motel on his own. Then again, even with access to a car he probably would ha
ve wanted her to come along. “Let me just get some juice or something.”
“Okay.” With that, he headed back up.
She watched him go, then closed the door, and went to get the juice she required, followed by her purse since she would be the one driving.
Both tasks completed she headed outside.
Bill was waiting by the garage door.
“Anything new left for me?” she asked.
“Not that I saw. I don’t think she came back.”
“Maybe we scared her off for good by catching her in the act.”
“Hmm, maybe.”
He didn’t believe it. She could tell by his tone. Of course, she felt the same way and wasn’t sure why she had even suggested it. This wasn’t going to end that easily.
“You said Route 64, right?” she asked once they were on the road.
“Yep, you know how to get there from here?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, just head toward downtown Sycamore. Route 64 is also the main street through the town.”
“Oh, that’s easy.”
Three turns and they were on it, heading east, Bill randomly pointing out things on the route that he thought was interesting as if he were a tour guide.
Kimberly never replied, though she did tuck away the information about the good Chinese place called Rens.
In time his voice stopped. Kimberly didn’t know if it was due to her lack of replies, or because they had entered a sea of corn. Whatever the reason she welcomed it.
5
“Should be coming up,” Bill said. They had been driving through nothing but farm fields for twenty minutes, the sheer expanse of crops between Sycamore and the next area of civilization always instilled a sense of awe within him. The fact that they really weren’t that far from Chicago, about an hour and a half when taking I-88 added to his amazement. Growing up near the city, he had always felt as if the world had been paved over. Driving west proved this to be false. Once beyond Route 47 nothing but the city of DeKalb really made a dent within the landscape. After that, it was the Mississippi river. “On the left.”
Nikki's Secret Page 18
