She stood in the produce section, specifically searching for the ripest looking apple. She was insistent it had to be a Granny Smith apple, one that was as close to a shade of neon green as possible.
Going through she picked out the best one that she found most satisfactory. Then she ripped off one of the plastic bags by the shelf and placed the apple inside and headed towards the checkout.
There a lady smiled at her, asked “is that all?”, to which she nodded. Then she paid and hurried out the door and out to the chilly October evening.
It was Halloween, and all the Trick-or-Treaters were out, little kids going door to door asking for candy. But she had bigger plans. Halloween always excited her; gave her an adrenaline rush.
She hurried towards the townhouse, walking through the busy streets until finally a few minutes later she reached it. It wasn’t hers of course, she couldn’t take any chances. To her relief the townhouse was located in a relatively quiet neighbourhood. She had ensured that all the lights in the home be turned off. She could have no one disturb her. She had big plans.
She passed by a group of Trick-or-Treaters and unlocked the door of the townhouse. She walked inside, creeping through the hallways and flicked on a hallway light deep inside the home. No one would notice the light from outside.
She crept through the hallways until she got to the door that went down to the basement. Without another thought she treaded down the carpet steps one by one until she reached the bottom.
It was eerily quiet downstairs. Just the way she liked it. She walked through the unfinished basement, passing tools and a saw table. Finally she reached the end of the basement where a secluded bedroom was located. All it consisted of was a dresser, a bed, and some empty paint cans.
And of course the man. The duct tape wrapped over his mouth had done its job. He had of course, been unable to speak. She approached him as he lay down on the bed, his hands and feet tied against the railings. Just how she envisioned it.
She stood over his trapped body, looking into his eyes. His eyes were terrified, his breathing heavy and panicky.
“Mmm”, he said. She couldn’t understand what he was trying to say but she knew the general gist of it. She had done this enough times.
Sighing she pulled off the duct tape from his mouth. He began panting immediately, as if breathing for the first time.
“Please don’t do this”, he said in between breaths. “Please.”
“Oh honey. Don’t worry.”
She smiled reassuringly. If only he knew what was about to happen.
She of course had done this many times. Always to men she knew. It gave her such immense pleasure.
She had never intended to do this. It had just ended up this way. Her plan had always been to be a doctor. That was what she had always dreamt of as a little girl.
Every Halloween she dressed up as a doctor; she would put on a doctor’s robe, medical gloves and a mask. She would always get so excited to see everyone’s reaction.
“I’m a doctor”, she would say proudly.
And every year people would laugh at her.
“A doctor? How crazy.”
“No way. Men become doctors, women become nurses.”
As the years went by, the torment continued. Even in Medical School, she was the only woman. All the men laughed and made fun of her. They made sexist jokes or told her she would be working for them soon. Then one day she just snapped.
She left the Medical School never to return. She still dreamt of becoming a doctor, but now all those dreams were just that; dreams. It was no longer a reality.
Shortly afterwards she knew she had gone insane. That was when she found her first victim. And it had been mind-blowing. She had gained such immense pleasure from the encounter that she could not help but repeat it again and again. And it was always to men. Always to the men who laughed and made fun of her and said she could not become a doctor. And here she was now giving surgical procedures.
She continued to watch this man now as he continued to lie there helpless.
“Please”, he said again. “Let me go. I won’t tell anyone.”
She had heard it all before of course.
“Oh honey. You know I can’t do that.”
Then she placed a hand over his mouth. He became increasingly panicked and then she released it immediately, as if it had never covered his mouth in the first place. She gave a chuckle as he squirmed.
Then she turned around and walked toward the dresser where she had placed her clothes. She removed the robe from the dresser and pulled it over herself. Then she covered her mouth with the mask and followed that by putting on the latex gloves, pulling them tightly over her hands and wrists.
She looked perfect. Just like her days Trick-or-Treating. The costume had to be repeated, replicated. It had to.
Then she turned back towards her patient who lay there like a brick, his face pale, his eyes terrified.
“Will you be a good boy?”
“Help! Help! Anyone.”
Of course now he began to see the end. He began to understand what was about to happen.
“No one can save you”, she said disinterestedly.
By the bed sat all her utensils. She rummaged through them until she found the scalpel. It was an effective tool. And it caused maximum pain. Or pleasure depending on whose point of view you took.
She would undergo the same procedure she always did. A heart transplant. Or in other words, a heart removal. She liked that phrase better. She had her collection at home in her freezer. She enjoyed the variance they provided, one heart larger and more lopsided than the other.
“Okay shall we?”
Upon seeing the scalpel, the man’s body spasmed in fear. He tried to free himself but of course he couldn’t. She had ensured that he couldn’t escape under any means. The rope she had used was the sturdiest kind.
“Okay. This may hurt… A lot. It may be excruciating.”
Without another word she began the process. The man’s shrill screams bellowed out through the room as he struggled, but it was like music to her ears. The pleasure it gave her was like ecstasy, her body savouring every bit of it. It was much better than sex.
As she underwent the process, cutting the heart’s attachments and ligaments, the blood spurted out in streams, splashing across her robe and the floor of the room. She ignored it.
The man’s screams continued to fill the room until finally they were no more. She removed the organ, watching as it beat a few more times before ceasing and dying, quite literally in fact. She laughed at the thought.
The man lay there motionless, and disappointingly soundless, as if the hole in his chest had contained all the sounds of his body. She slipped the heart into a large Ziploc bag, then removed her clothes and costume props and placed them into a large garbage bag. She would burn them later.
She placed them to the side, took another look at the man which gave her a smile. Then she turned and walked back to the dresser. Once there she removed the bag containing the apple from her pocket which she had purchased earlier. Without another thought, she placed the green apple on the dresser.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. That was the saying after all. Now she provided him with the apple. But it was of course, too late. Not even the doctor could save him now.
Without another look at the body, she turned and walked away, already thinking about the next one, her next victim.
