Chapter 2
I stared at Eric's blood-stained, sinister face, feeling like I was looking at a stranger.
He gave the severed head a few wild kisses, then started humming a song.
He sang, "Today's a good day, tomorrow's gonna be even better..."
Still humming, he tossed the head into a black plastic bag, then reached under the bed and dragged the woman's body out.
That was when I realized the woman was completely naked.
Her body was all curves, and her waist was ridiculously slim. If she were alive, she would be drop-dead gorgeous.
But now, her waist had been slashed wide open, almost like she had been chopped in half, and a bit of her intestines was spilling out.
Eric reached out and gently touched the bloody, mangled intestines; he actually looked a little sad about it.
"What a shame. I didn't mean to kill you so soon," he said.
With that, he turned and headed to the kitchen, coming back with a meat cleaver.
He crouched down and went to work on the corpse as he had done a hundred times before.
Watching him carve off the meat and break apart the bones, I felt a wave of nausea so strong I almost threw up.
There was a saying about the butcher carving up an ox.
He spent nineteen years slicing up cattle, and his skills were so insane that he could slip his blade right between the joints, never needing to force it or hack at the bones.
Eric gave me the same vibe.
His moves were so slick and effortless, it was like watching a pro at work.
There was hardly any sound of bones cracking.
He was clearly getting a kick out of his own handiwork, a smug grin plastered on his face.
He quickly disassembled both legs, laid out the bones, and hacked the meat into pieces before stuffing it all into black plastic bags.
He stood up, stretched, and then his eyes suddenly froze on something; his face twisted in a flash.
I followed his gaze, and my eyes went wide, cold sweat breaking out all over me.
It was my earring.
I instinctively reached for my earlobe, and sure enough, my left ear was bare.
It must've fallen off when I was frantically searching the room earlier.
Eric furrowed his brows, walked over, and picked up the earring.
Eric muttered to himself, "Didn't Monica have these on when she left?"
These pearl earrings were a birthday gift from Eric, and I loved them so much that I even planned my outfit around them before I went out.
Eric always teased me, saying most people pick jewelry to match their clothes, but I did it the other way around.
He joked that it was like buying a house to match a throw pillow.
Eric must've remembered that, too, and his expression grew uglier by the second, suspicion flickering across his face.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping the room, searching for any sign of trouble.
I held my breath, terrified.
The next second, it hit me. I instinctively grabbed my phone from my pocket.
My palms were drenched in sweat, and my fingers kept slipping on the screen.
No matter how many times I tried, I just couldn't unlock it.
I was trembling all over, my heart thumping so hard it felt like it was about to leap out of my throat.
Through the slatted wooden door, I saw Eric grab his phone from the nightstand and call me.
I hadn't put my phone on silent; if it rang, I was dead meat.
At the very last moment, a flash of genius struck me. I pressed and held the power button, shutting my phone off just in time.
Right at that moment, a woman's voice rang out loud and clear in the quiet bedroom, making my heart skip a beat.
It said, "Beep. Sorry, the person you're trying to reach is currently unavailable."