The sun was slowly setting on the horizon dotted with buildings, bathing the city in a reddish light. I was standing there as usual, right in front of the grocery, waiting for her to come out of her business. I pulled out my fob watch; 18h05.

"She must be really busy tonight", I thought to myself.

After a few minutes, I saw her. She quickly closed the metal curtain of her shop, and walked away on the way to her home. So did I.

As I walked down the sidewalk, slightly damped with the evening condensation, I looked at her with a smile. I looked at her legs, slender and feminine, giving her a beautiful gait. Her fine, long coat letting one guess her subtle curves. My gaze stopped at her headwear, a beautiful finesse, reminding me of her face ; adorned with long dark curls, her tender green eyes, her freckles, and her lips... so defined, yet so delicate. They always made me think of the first time I saw her two months ago, at her grocerie... the time she talked to me with her infinite kindness, saluting me so lovingly with a little smile.

I finally got out of my reverie, always following the footsteps of my beloved. I probably had my mind elsewhere for awhile; the night was falling and the London fog was crawling in the empty streets. I saw her turning back several times, a worried look on her face, then pressing on. She seemed really scared. She looked back once more and scolded herself. I realized that someone was following her. No. Stalking her. It was dangerous. I had to follow her to make sure she got home safe and sound.

After a few minutes, we finally got close to her house. She hurried, opened the big entrance door and furrowed it right behind her. Saddly, she didn't give me enough time to come in. Maybe she wanted to be alone. In a short time of reflexion, I thought it was better to stay with her just to make sure the stalker wouldn't hurt her in my absence. I looked for a window that wasn't locked, and quickly noticed that the kitchen window wasn't. So I infiltrated the room, silently, in order to keep her calm. Wanting to stay hidden, I hid behind the mini-bar. I could feel that she was still really tensed. She took her phone and called someone, telling this person what happened and begging him to come back home. I couldn't hear what the other person was saying, but something made me twist.

"Come back home fast, darling, please... Yes. I love you too."

No. I just couldn't bear it. How could she love someone other than me? No... It was impossible. Whoever was this man, he did NOT deserve her love, body and soul. He didn't have the right to have her, to take my place. I loved her, I did everything for her, I went to see her every day after work and I always accompanied her back to her house. I was the only one who deserved her, this sham didn't. If I couldn't have her, he wouldn't have her either. A wave of resentment and anger seized my mind as I heard her walking down the hall near the living room. I had totally lost it, with one single thought looping in my head; I'd better steal from this man the future he took away from me, be the last memory of my beloved... even if the issue had to be deathly. In an outburst of anger, I got up immediately, grabbed a knife resting on the workshop, next to the stove. I needed to find her.

I was silently prowling in the hall, looking into every single room in the hall, seeking for her like a hunting beast. As I approached the last door in the dark hall, stirring hate, I felt my fingers become... moist... sweaty. The door was ajar, a net of light was drawing in. I pushed the door open, entering the room quietly. She was standing near her bed in her nightgown, which gave her a particularly attractive attitude, the satin following the curves of her breasts and hips like a veil. A scream of fear and surprise escaped from her lips when she noticed my presence.

"Y... You ? You've followed me here ? Who are you?! Get out of here, you stalker!" She yelled at me.

I got seized by a high heart, then by a deep feeling of disappointment and annoyance. How dare she talk to me like that?

"By what right do you reject me? I deserve a better treatment and you know it. I deserve it. I protected you every day until now. I even protected you from the danger you were afraid of today! I don't understand your behavior... Remember when we met at your grocery? You know that I am a good person for you, I love you and you love me..." I said, getting a little closer.

"No... YOU are scaring me, YOU are dangerous. I don't even know who you are and I don't love you!"

Unbelievable. Total nonsense. She pretended that we didn't know each other just for the beautiful eyes of the man with whom she replaced me. I felt like I had no control over the situation, no control over her. It was horrible.

"Liar! Do not lie to me like this, you selfish, ungrateful junk! You belong to me, it is my right to have you, whether you like it or not!" I screamed, glaring at her.

Her gaze shifted from aggression to an underlying fear. This ambient nervousness triggered something in my mind. I could feel a kind of submission in her behavior. It was satisfying. As I got closer, still holding the knife in my hand, he stepped back slowly, keeping her eyes on me. A part of me wanted to see more of this "game of submission". I wanted more.

"Please, don't hurt me"

I loved when she said that. I don't know why, but I think that a part of me would have imagined her saying this ; "Are you gonna hurt me ?", but she was too smart for that. She didn't ask stupid questions, that's one of the reasons why I loved her. She was now against the wall: of course I was going to hurt her.

"Please, don't hurt me...I beg you, don't hurt me."

I could have listened to her for hours. I loved this sentence because it went straight to the point: in this situation, it was me who finally had control over her, and she knew it. She knew that, whatever was her will or desire, I was the only one able who to grant it. Alone in this room, knife in one hand, I constituted her entire universe; her hopes and fears, everything.

I waved my weapon imperceptibly and felt an adrenaline rush when her pupils followed its movements: first to the right, then to the left, up and down. It was an intimate dance, our bodies and minds perfectly synchronized. This moment created a link between us, a link that I had always been waiting for.

I raised the knife and stepped forward. Like a dance partner, she was evolving at my own pace, pressing her back against the wall, her eyes wide, panting. A perfect link.

Everything was coming out as I wanted, a connection united us and I finally had control, power over the situation. A dream becoming true, a scenario so well put together that I felt it sweep and take me away. Her stricken look was focused on me. Pale, she finched when I reached for her. Emotions swept over me, bubbling, flowing over me and blowing my skin.

I was the master of her whole being at this moment. It felt good and bad at the same time. No... it was overwhelming. I couldn't distinguish my dreams from my nightmares anymore. There was only one way out, one and only one.

I grabbed the neck of my beloved, felt her pulse... fast and irregular under my grip. I looked at her, warm tears of rage and sadness filling my eyes. Her beseeching, frightened, fear-filed look seemed to implore my mercy... But I had no choice. Nobody was allowed to have her except me. I took a deep breath, squeezing the knife in my hand, then sinking the blade into her chest. She screamed in pain, crying like a river. I felt a warm, thick liquid on my hand, still holding the knife.

I looked at her once more, saw her eyes becoming more and more glassier, and kissed her sweet, soft lips. Then, I held her lifeless body against me.
I was crying, a smile on my face.