poppy

Poppy felt sadness wash over her as she packed her things into her little suitcase. She sighed as she folded her last sundress and laid it on top of her other fastidiously folded garments.

Even though she had only stayed in the apartment for less than a week, she had grown quite fond of the soft carpeted floor and creamy walls. The smell was something to be complained about however, and the nosy neighbour in the apartment next door clearly agreed. It wouldn't be much longer before the lady would complain to a higher authority, the landlord. That would just be a whole lot of trouble Poppy didn't want to be involved in.

She zipped it up and put it by the door, waving to the man who let her stay in his home. Alan's home didn't have any pictures with family so she assumed he didn't have any. A fun game of Poppy's was to make up the life of everyone she met because she never stayed around people long enough to learn about it.

According to her, Alan was the youngest in his large family. He didn't get into university or become a lawyer, despite everyone thinking he would be. He was disowned by his wealthy family and left to fend for himself so he works day and night as a taxi driver to pay for his rent. Alan believed in love and romance so he had dated many girls believing they were the one. Only, none of them turned out to be the special someone he was looking for so he turns to the secret romance books, hidden in his sock drawer, for the love he knew existed.

But of course, that was just speculation.

Poppy giggled at her thoughts and went to fetch Lucy - the name short for Lucifer. Her blue puppy waited patiently beside Alan, looking at her with his one big beady eye. The left one had fallen off while the fluff on the inside was clumpy and not as puffy as it once was.

However, she loved her cuddly puppy and would never think to give it up. She frowned when she noticed Alan's arm inching towards Lucy, until it fell off and squashed the dog.

She gasped and rushed to the animal, freeing him from the clutches of Alan. "Oh. H-how dare you! Naughty Alan! No touching Lucy. You'll get him dirty." She grabbed the fallen arm and threw it across the room. "Go fetch Lucy!"

The dog stared at her and didn't move. She frowned but then smiled at her clever puppy. "You're right! We need to leave. We've no time for games." Lucy got a pat on the head.

Poppy walked carefully to the door, avoiding the littered floor. She wasn't the cleanest roommate but Alan wasn't going to complain about it. If it really bothered him, he'd clean it himself.

"Goodbye Alan! Do take care of yourself." She said cheerfully, blowing a kiss to him.

She took one last look at the apartment she had called a home for five days. The man smiled at her widely, permanently craved on his face with the knife he used to cut sandwiches. The blood splatters on the walls were a lovely contrast and the limbs lay unmoving on the ground, a terrible safety hazard for Poppy who tended to be a little clumsy.

Once she closed the door, another beside her opened, revealing a woman, probably in her fifties, wearing an impressive full face of makeup with an outfit she was sure featured in Pretty Woman. "Oh hello. I didn't know Alan had a guest. Are you his daughter or something? Are you leaving?" She said, eying Lucy that was tucked under Poppy's arm and the pristine ladybug suitcase by her side. The lady was the neighbour that kept yelling through the door. Poppy recognised the voice and the pure nosiness.

"Yes I am, Miss." she replied sweetly, mentally praising Lucy for not growling at the woman that would often disturb the peace of the apartment. "To both." She added.

The woman nodded and then scowled. "Could you tell Alan to never watch that horror film he had watched a few days ago? The sounds were..." she shivered as if getting rid of something gross, instead of finishing her sentence. "And tell him to get rid of whatever is causing the smell. It revolting." She said, scrunching her face in disgust. Poppy felt it was a little exaggerated but then again, she was used to the smell of dead, rotting bodies.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Miss." she said politely, although the woman looked at her as if she'd told her her to fudge herself.

"And why not." She asked, appalled.

"Because then he'd have to get rid of himself."

She looked at Poppy in utter confusion before letting out a dry laugh. "Ha ha very funny." Poppy wasn't joking. "I'll just tell him myself."

This woman was being rude to Poppy but she couldn't be bothered teaching her a lesson. Lucifer was tired and they needed to find a new place to stay before the sun went down and the monsters come out to play.

"He's sleeping." Poppy replied flatly, before gesturing to the hallway the lady was blocking. "Excuse me, Miss."

She sucked her teeth and after a short while, moved out of the way to let Poppy past with Lucy under her arm and her suitcase being dragged behind her.

Finally! Poppy knew the woman wouldn't care that Alan was 'sleeping' and would knock on the door, yelling at him to wake up. Because the door wasn't locked on the inside now, she's most likely let herself in a discover the mess.

Therefore, the little girl walked with haste down the stairs, dropping Lucy a couple times in the struggle but quickly apologising straight after. As expected, just as she made it at the entrance, an ear piecing scream bounced off the walls in the building. Poppy was surprised it didn't shatter the large glass windows.

The man at the reception dropped his phone in shock, before picking it up and running towards the sound of distress - not before giving Poppy a charming smile.

She received those a lot.

She wasn't oblivious to the effect she had on people, often using to her advantage. They'd be mesmerised by her angelic, doe-eyed face, giving her a look of purity that many desired to corrupt. However, they didn't know that while Poppy still had her innocence, she lacked it when it came to her favourite pastime. She was anything but innocent.

Not wanting to be near the building when the police turn up, Poppy skipped away. It was difficult to do with her suitcase so she put away the long handle and instead carried it as a backpack as it doubled as one too.

A little tired from skipping around the streets finding someone to follow home and kill, she decided it was time for a short break. She spotted a quaint cafe that was almost empty. She giggled and asked Lucifer if he wanted to go in.

"Yes please. I'm very thirsty." She said, imitating him in a low voice. "Woof." She added.

A man stared at her in bewilderment as he walked by. Poppy waved and made sure to put him on her list. She'd be sure to kill him some other time.

But now, she just walked into the cafe, giggling at the little bell that rang when she opened the door. It sounded really cute as it replayed in her head, making her giggle turn into a louder laugh.

"Now what is so funny, petal?"

Poppy stopped laughing and stared at the elderly man behind the counter of the café. She blinked once, then twice, before running towards him and climbing over the counter to embrace the stranger in a hug.

"Oh my gosh! HI!" She screamed up at the man, maybe in his seventies. She hoped he wasn't any older or he'd die soon.

He looked at the girl, who wrapped her arms around his round stomach, reaching only his belly. He hadn't done anything but stare wide eyed in surprise. As soon as the shock left, he awkwardly put his arms around the jolly girl and chuckled.

"I didn't expect to have fans!" He exclaimed, attempting to match her excitement.

"You're so old!" She yelled again.

Poppy really liked old people. They were always so kind to her and they had lived for so long. She admired how they got up in morning with the will to live, despite having to do absolutely nothing but sit and stand.

She also loved babies because they were cute. She hated everyone else in between.

"Well, I guess I am a little old. Only a little." He begrudgingly said, scratching his prickly beard.

He has a beard too! Best old person ever!

"You're ancient!"

The old man gently pushed the girl away and looked at her with a frown. "Have I met you before?"

"Nope." She popped. "But you called me petal!"

He frowned in confusion. "Is that your name?"

"My name is Poppy!"

The man nodded and picked up the muffin she had knocked off the counter when she climbed over. "And my name is Rufus." Poppy grinned and climbed over the counter again to get to the other side of it. "There's a little door you know." He told her.

She gasped and ran over to the door, opening and closing it over and over again, smiling at how fun it was. She balanced Lucifer on top of it and continued to open and close it.

"Petal? Did you want anything?" Rufus called.

Poppy looked away from the hypnotising door and said, "I would like a hot chocolate and a bowl of water please."

He arched an eyebrow. "Bowl?"

"Yes. For Lucy. He's thirsty too." She said.

"Ahh. The pup. Alright. Hot chocolate and a bowl of water coming right up." He said and turned around, getting back to work.

Poppy, for the first time, looked at the seating area of the café that she had ignored since she came in. There wasn't anybody laughing at her like they usually did when she was herself. There wasn't anybody in the café actually. That was apart from a man, a quite beautiful man older than herself, gazing at her with a thoughtful look.

His dark aura and intimidating presence was what she noticed first. He had features as sharp as her knives and a tailored suit to match. She stared at him like he was a work of art, the tattoos that peaked from underneath his attire contributed to that. It made her feel a feeling she'd never felt before. She wanted to spend hours tracing and studying every piece of ink on his skin and she didn't even know the man.

Maybe she just liked tattoos. Maybe I should get a tattoo!

"Woof." Barked Poppy in a low voice.

She thanked Lucy for dragging her out of her unusual thoughts. She walked to a little table close by the door, avoiding the stare of the man, and took off her ladybug backpack to sit it on the chair beside her. On her other side, the chair was occupied by Lucy.

Poppy shyly looked behind her and saw the man still staring but this time with a smirk. Automatically, she blushed and told Lucy to stop laughing at her.

"Alright, love. Here is your hot chocolate and I've also got you a chocolate muffin. You need more meat on your bones." Rufus placed the two down on the table in front of her, making her thank him gratefully. "And here is the bowl of water for... Lucy is it?"

"Mm hmm. Short for Lucifer." She said casually after blowing on her hot chocolate.

Rufus laughed and put the little bowl down in front of Lucifer's seat, before leaving again to do whatever old people do. Poppy tried to balance her puppy's head on the rim of the bowl so he could drink the water but after several attempts, Lucy just fell into it with a splash.

She pouted at her now wet puppy but shrugged and continued to blow her drink, cautiously drinking a sip.

Whilst drinking her drink and eating her muffin, Poppy decided she would follow the mysterious man home. He seemed to be her only option as it was starting to get dark.

Having been without a place to call her genuine home for as long as she could remember, she found places to sleep by following someone to their house or apartment and then murdering them. Most likely torturing them too but that was an added bonus. The lucky chosen one would be anyone, men being the easiest because most would invite her home. But, she tried to avoid people who looked like they had a family back home. Not because she was against killing people with loved ones. But because she didn't like killing babies.

She kept stealing glances at the man as he talked to Rufus. It looked like they knew each other from the way they talked. Being as curious as she was, Poppy tried to listen but they talked too quietly. Neither her nor Lucy knew how to read lips.

When they stopped talking, both him and Rufus had an unhappy look on their faces. His was more angry whereas Rufus looked worried. The old man caught her eye and faked a smile in her direction. Because his attention was elsewhere, it caused the mystery man to turn around and spot her. Again, she blushes at the eye contact.

Now she really wanted to torture him. He made Rufus, the dear old man, upset and he kept making her body feel on fire. Nobody liked being put on fire.

Well, she didn't think it felt good as people normally screamed whenever she set them on fire. Who knows, maybe it was screams of pleasure.

Suddenly, her eyes widened in alarm as her new roommate stormed out of the café and her while Lucy hadn't even finished his water. To not make it obvious, Poppy waited a while before slowly standing up, putting her backpack on and holding Lucy's paw in her hand. 

The Rufus watched the girl come up to him and give him a quick hug, enthusiastically leaning over the counter top. "Bye!" She said.

"Oh your leaving?" He asked, looking a little sad but mainly worried, glancing at the shop entrance several times.

"Yeah. It's kind of dark now and I need to get home." She said quickly. Poppy was worried she'd lose the man if he walked too fast.

"You don't want another muffin?" He asked in an urgent tone as she started to walk away.

She frowned at the old man, wondering why he was acting so suspicious. "No. Erm... bye." This time, Rufus didn't say anything but give her a half hearted wave, mind clearly full of concern.

Poppy looked around the street for her roommate, squinting her eyes to see further with no success. She looked to her puppy. "Where do you think he went Lucy?"

Before he could respond, Poppy spotted the unmistakable clean cut suit and stylishly maintained hair in the distance. She hurriedly walked closer so as to not lose him again. There was nobody else on the streets as far as she could see but it didn't mean there weren't people lurking in the shadows.

Her favourite pink pocket knife was wedged in between her boobs in her bra. It had "Princess" engraved in it and was something she was never left without. Even Lucy had his own loaded gun hidden inside his stomach. Poppy wished she could have more toys but because she had to move quite frequently, her only option was her small knife. However, she was very creative with the things she found lying around.

The man walked to a lavish black Italian car and used his key to open it. Poppy watched as he climbed in and started to drive away. Panicked, she looked around for a bike to steal but after finding nothing, she pathetically ran after the fancy car.

Being short meant that it didn't take long before her petite legs ached from the fast movement. She was panting heavily when a small blue vehicle pulled up beside her.

A woman opened the window with a sympathetic smile and leaned forward to say, "hey. Are you ok? Did you lose your mum?"

Sensing that this would be her one and only opportunity to chase the man, Poppy faked a sniffle, clutching tightly onto Lucy. "S-she told me to take the bus b-because..." More tears were added to the façade. "The shopping took my seat!"

The naïve woman gasped in shock and immediately stretched over to unlock the door closest to Poppy. "Oh goodness! Let me drive you. There aren't even any buses at this time."

Poppy inwardly cheered for the stupidity of lady but outwardly looked at the her with glossy doe eyes. "B-but, I'm n-not s-supposed to t-t-talk to strangers and I can't get in a c-car with one."

She pursed her lip, thinking of an answer and then reached into the glove box of her car, pulling out her phone and holding it out to Poppy. "Here. Take this and hold your thumb over the call button. If you're afraid at any point, you can press it. Trust me."

Poppy inwardly grinned evilly but widened her eyes and smiled gratefully at the lady. "Perfect! Thank you, Miss." She said, getting into the car and putting her little suitcase by her feet.

"Do you know the address?" She was asked softly.

The bouncing in her legs was unavoidable proof of how giddy she was getting. In normal circumstances, this woman would be the lucky winner of being her host for the next few days. However, she was possessed by the man in the coffee shop and didn't want anything more than to play with her new toy.

Luckily, the woman kept her eyes on the road so she didn't notice when the corners of Poppy's lips turned upward in a sadistic smile.

She also didn't notice when a dainty hand aggressively grabbed her thick hair and propelled the attached head forward into the steering wheel.

The car swerved, causing the giggling girl to quickly throw the lady's phone out of the window to clutch the steering wheel with one hand and use the other to continue slamming the driver's forehead, increasing in enthusiasm with each one.

It didn't take long for the Poppy to take over the driving and gleefully bounce on her new cushioned seat. She didn't pay any mind to her spluttering victim in the car. Instead, her head only had one thought, one goal and that was to catch up to the oblivious car in front of her.

"Oh, how boring," she said, dejected when the high speed car chase didn't last as long as she wanted. In reality, it was more of a subtle stalk being that she concentrated to not let her excitement get the better of her operation, as it sometimes would.

The man had a luxurious gait, one that exuded confidence. Poppy followed said gait easily through the fog of mundane people, unaware the dark red splotches were not in fact a pattern on her dress.

It eventually lead her to a quieter street, unoccupied bar the sleeping or unconscious homeless residents. It peaked her curiosity as to why a man of his calibre would be perusing the streets of the unworthy. "Even I have standards Lucy," she whispered with her nose turned up at the stink of the wet ground.

Perplexed and at the same time amused by the unusualness, something that Poppy appreciated, she continued to stalk him until he came to a sudden stop. She watched him, entertained by the glowing man stood in the eerie darkness. But in usual Poppy fashion, she quickly grew bored and concocted a plan.

She barely got to imagine all of the delightful, mischievous scenarios before a needle pricked her in the back of the neck and arms gracefully caught her body before it hit the ground. "One man," she thought foggily to Lucy, knowing that it'd be useful to know the number of people she'd have to seek revenge against if need be.

It wasn't like Poppy to panic, so she didn't. She let whatever the drugs were stream through her body and make it's way to her heart, hoping it would be a happy drug where it killed her quickly. She didn't want to wake up embarrassed that someone had managed to sneak up on her. Before thoughts become impossible, she blamed the beautiful man without hesitation.

But just before her eyes glazed over, she caught a glimpse of her mysterious stranger looming over her.

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Thank you for reading!

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