The Night Stalker

Fifty-Seven

The shrieking scream that came from her TV made Jessica Black wake with a start. She’d fallen asleep on the sofa and hadn’t even noticed the old, black-and-white B-movie horror film that had started.

She rubbed her gritty eyes, pulled herself up into a sitting position, and looked around her living room for Mark, her boyfriend. He was nowhere to be seen.

The woman on the screen screamed again and Jessica groggily reached for the remote control that had fallen between her legs, and switched the set off. The scented candle she’d lit earlier had burned halfway through, and the entire room now carried the sweet smell of apples and cinnamon. Jessica watched the flame burn for a minute. Her Wechter acoustic guitar was resting by the side of the sofa next to her. Still watching the flame, she ran her hand across the strings and allowed her memories to catch up with her.

Jessica had got her first acoustic guitar on her tenth birthday. Her father had bought it for her as a present in a garage sale. It was an old and scratched plank of wood with rusty strings that sounded more like a dying dog than a musical instrument. But even at that age, Jessica understood her father had spent money he couldn’t afford just to make her happy. And happy she was.

Her fascination with the instrument had started two years earlier. Just like every afternoon before she had gotten sick, her mother had taken Jessica to the park close to where they lived. That day there was an old black man playing guitar just yards away from the bench her mother liked to sit on. That day, instead of running around with the other kids, Jessica sat on the grass in front of the old man and watched him play all afternoon, mesmerized by the sounds he could get out of only six strings.

The old man never returned to the park, but Jessica never forgot him. A week later her mother fell ill with something no one could diagnose. Her disease advanced quickly, eating away at her from the inside and transforming her from a smiling, vital woman into an unrecognizable bag of skin and bones. Jessica’s father faded along with his wife. As the disease progressed, so did his depression. His pay as a supermarket clerk was barely enough to keep them going, and when he lost his job two months after his wife had gotten ill, their financial situation collapsed.

Jessica’s mother died the day after doctors finally found out she had developed a rare carcinoid tumor.

Jessica’s last happy memory of her mother was that day in the park, both of them listening to the old guitar man.

Jessica took to the guitar as if that memory lived in every note she plucked. She had no money for lessons, magazines or music books, but she spent every possible second with her beloved instrument. Soon she’d developed her own unique style of tapping and fingerpicking the strings, exploring every sound the instrument could give her. She could play the guitar like no one had ever heard. At the age of nineteen she was offered a record deal by a small independent record company based in South Los Angeles. Through them she’d released six albums and done countless tours over the years. Jessica became well known and well respected in the jazz music scene, but her music wasn’t mainstream enough to be played by the most popular radio stations.

Three years ago, the manager of her record company decided to go back to basics and record a few videos of Jessica playing by herself before uploading them onto YouTube. He was betting on her beauty as well as her talent.

Jessica was stunning in a simple way. Five foot six with a dancer’s lithe body, straight shoulder-length black hair, magnetic dark brown eyes, full lips and flawless skin. She attracted looks anywhere she went.

The gamble paid off, but even he hadn’t expected it to take off as it did. Through word of mouth and social networking, Jessica’s YouTube videos went stratospheric. Over one million worldwide hits in the first month alone, placing her name on YouTube’s front page as the most watched clip. Today, as many of Jessica’s albums were sold and downloaded as those of mainstream, world-famous pop bands.

Jessica’s attention returned to her living room. A single, empty dinner plate and a half-drunk bottle of red wine sat on the small glass table in front of her. Seeing that made her remember that she’d eaten alone, and reality finally caught up with her. Mark wasn’t in. And he wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon.

Jessica and Mark had met at the Catalina Jazz Club on Sunset Boulevard two years ago, after one of her gigs. That night she had been sitting at the bar, surrounded by fans and a few music reporters when she’d noticed someone hanging out by the stage. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a strong physique. His long midnight-black hair was tied back Viking-style. But his good looks weren’t what caught Jessica’s attention. It was the intriguing way he was studying her guitar.

She’d excused herself from the crowd and approached him, wondering what was so interesting about her instrument. They’d chatted for a while and she found out that Mark was also a guitarist. He’d been classically trained, but instead of following that route he’d formed his own hard rock band. They were called Dust, and they’d just signed their first record deal a few days before.

The chat turned into dinner somewhere along Sunset Strip. Mark was funny, intelligent and charming. Several more dates followed and eight months later they’d rented a large warehouse loft conversion in Burbank together.

With the help of the Internet and the music video channels, Dust’s first album became a worldwide sensation. Their second had just been mixed down and it was scheduled for release in a month’s time. Their grueling touring schedule was about to begin again. As a pre-tour warm-up they were doing a series of eight secret gigs in smaller venues all around California. The first one was tonight in Fortuna. Mark and the band had left that morning.

Jessica crossed her legs under her and checked her watch — 1:18 a.m. She’d fallen asleep in an awkward position and the left side of her neck had gone stiff. She sat there for a while longer, nursing the pain and dreading the loneliness of her bed. But spending the night in the living room would probably make her miss him even more. She had one last sip of her wine and blew out the scented candle before heading to bed.

Jessica wasn’t the best of sleepers, and sometimes she would toss and turn for a long while before finally falling into a light sleep. Tonight though, with the help of the wine, she started dozing almost immediately.

Click, click.

She blinked a few times before opening her eyes. Had she really heard something or was that her mind playing tricks on her? The bedroom curtains weren’t drawn, and the full moon just outside her window was enough to keep total darkness out. Jessica allowed her eyes to roam the room slowly — nothing. She lay still, listening attentively but the sound didn’t repeat itself. A minute later she started drifting back into sleep.

Click, click.

Her eyes shot open this time. There was no doubt in her mind. She’d heard something. And it was coming from inside her apartment. Jessica sat up in bed and brushed her fingers against the touch lamp on her bedside table. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Had she left a tap on somewhere? But if that was it, why wasn’t the sound constant?

Click, click.

She held her breath and her pulse surged in her neck. There it was again. It was coming from just outside her bedroom door. It sounded like a shoe heel lightly clicking against the corridor’s wooden floor.

‘Mark?’ she called and instantly felt silly for doing so. He wouldn’t be back for several weeks.

Jessica hesitated for an instant, debating what to do. But what else could she do? Stay in bed worrying for the whole night? It was probably nothing but she had to go check it out. Slowly, she slid out of bed. She was wearing nothing but a tiny pair of shorts and the thinnest of sleeveless shirts.

She stepped outside her room and switched on the hallway lights. Nothing. She waited a moment. No sound. She grabbed Mark’s old baseball bat from the storage closet before proceeding cautiously down the corridor. An uncomfortable shiver ran through her as her bare feet touched the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. All the faucets were securely off. There were no drips. She walked back and checked the living room, the kitchen, Mark’s games room and her practice den. The entire apartment was absolutely still, except for the tick-tock that came from the clock in the kitchen. She rechecked the windows — all closed — doors — all locked.

Jessica shook her head and chuckled as her eyes focused on the baseball bat in her hands.

‘Yeah, I’m a real home-run hitter, me.’ She paused. ‘But just in case, I’m keeping you by the bed.’

Back in her room, Jessica looked around one more time before resting the baseball bat against her bedside table and getting back into bed. She switched off the lamp and snuggled under the covers once again. As her eyes closed, every hair on her body stood on end. Some hidden instinct inside her exploded into life. Some sort of danger sensor. And the only thing she could sense was that she wasn’t alone in that room. Someone else was there with her. That’s when she heard it. Not a clicking sound coming from outside, but a hoarse whispering voice coming from the only place she didn’t check.

‘You forgot to look under your bed.’