Through the Killers’ Eyes

“You spotted her the moment she walked in, didn’t you, Elliot?”

His emerald hues shifted on to his father, who wore an all-knowing smirk across his lips. It was evident he had been referring to the brunette that had just come waltzing through the door of the rest stop by herself. His dad was right. Elliot had noticed her the moment she came in from the pouring rain outside, closing her umbrella as the door swung shut behind her.

There was just something about her that caught his attention almost instantly.

“Funny. Here I thought you only paid attention to blondes,” he quipped in response.

“Just because I prefer them,” he nodded towards a group of young blondes that were seated a few tables down from them, “doesn’t mean I don’t notice them,” his gaze went towards where the girl was waiting in line for food.

“Could’ve fooled me,” he muttered under his breath.

For as long as he could remember, his father preferred the easy ones. The ones that could be lured away with just a few sweet words…along with the fact that their hair color be a shade of blonde. He couldn’t remember a time that his father had picked a brunette out of a crowd and taken her as his victim. It has always been a blonde.

Elliot, on the other hand, could care less about what the hair color was. In the last town they left, he'd taken the life of a redhead and in the town before that, it just so happened to be a blonde.

The only thing Elliot cared about was the thrill of the chase. It had been different in the beginning of all this, he was all for taking the easy route, but it grew boring. Now he preferred to stalk his prey, get to know them, gain their trust, before bringing about their demise.

His father preferred to just go in for the kill and be done with it.

Though he was the one that raised Elliot into this lifestyle, they had differing opinions on how they went about it.

“Are you going over there or are you just going to sit around gawking?”

He was pulled out of his reverie from the sound of his dad’s voice. Elliot's jaw clenched at his words. Sending a scowl in his father's direction, he snatched up his cup, which actually wasn’t even empty yet, and pushed to his feet to make his way over to the soda fountain where she now stood, contemplating her options.

His breath caught at their close proximity. Her back was turned to him and if he were to simply stretch his arm forward, his fingers would be able to touch her silky, mahogany locks. Inhaling deeply, her scent washed over him. Despite it being a downpour outside, Elliot was reminded of a warm, spring day, and reflexively he took a single step closer.

That's when she turned around.

They collided. Both of their cups were uncovered and the contents of both were crushed between their bodies. The liquids within each spilled down the fronts of their shirts, though she somehow managed to get more on her.

She jumped back reflexively, back pressing into the metal counter behind her, and a startled look flashing across her face. Elliot, in turn, stepped back with a dumbfounded expression etched across his features.

“I’m so sorry," he quickly responded, stepping to the side of her to grab some napkins from the dispenser.

“I didn’t even see you there!” She replied, angling her body towards his.

Their gazes met. Her hues were a chocolate brown, but they were the most beautiful shade of which he had ever seen. Elliot knew right then that he'd made the right decision.

She was going to be his next victim.

He couldn’t help the slight twitch of his lips at the thought. At the same moment, her lips lifted into an amused smile, which surprised him in the slightest.

“It was my fault honestly,” he said smoothly, handing the napkins off to her, which she graciously accepted. “You don’t have eyes on the back of your head. You can’t be blamed for not seeing me there.”

“This is sort of the norm for me, really.” She turned her gaze away from him and down towards her wet shirt, which she began to dab at with the napkins. “Klutz is practically my middle name.”

A light chuckle trickled through his lips as he took up a couple napkins of his own and began to dry up his own shirt. Not that he really cared about it being wet. Presently he was more fixated upon the female before him,

“I’m sure your middle name is much prettier than that.”

Crimson rose in her cheeks immediately and her hands began to slow in their movements. A moment later, her head lifted and their gazes met once more. She crushed the napkins into one of her hands and stuck her other one out towards him. A warm smile lifted the corners of her lips heavenwards and the raven-haired male stuck his free hand into hers.

“I’m Andrea.”

“Elliot,” he responded with a dazzling smile, giving her hand a light shake before letting it go entirely, as much as he desired to hold it longer.

“You know, I’m beginning to think this whole thing was just a ploy to meet me,” she teased lightheartedly, evoking another chuckle from him.

“You caught me,” he held his hands out in front of him. “I planned all of this just to talk to you rather than simply going up to you like a normal person would.”

Normal—a term that would never be used to describe him.

A light laugh trickled through her lips, “Who’s to say I would have talked to you under normal meeting circumstances?”

“Ouch,” he feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart. “Would’ve been your loss.”

“Someone’s awfully confident,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully; Elliot smirked. 

“Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you. I’m just going to try to get this stain out a bit in the bathroom.”

“Well, maybe we can continue this conversation afterwards. I’m sitting at a table back there with my dad…or we could even get a table of our own.”

“I’ll think about it,” she responded before stepping past him and crossing to the corner where the bathrooms were.

He watched as she went. It was only after she disappeared past the door that Elliot finally moved back to the table. His father was waiting expectantly as he plopped back down into his chair.

Sitting forward slightly, he made a gesticulation for him to elaborate on what happened. A faint smile spread across Elliot's lips as he folded his arms atop the table and met his gaze.

“I’m more than sure I have my in with her.”

“I’ll think about it,” her response played over in his head. Something about the way she said it gave him the impression that she had already decided.

As he waited to see if his original guess was right, Elliot gave his father the rundown of what happened. It didn’t take long to get through it and the moment he finished, he caught sight of her exiting the bathroom through the corner of his eye. Being discreet, he watched as she crossed back to the food place, got a new cup and filled it with whatever she originally intended to get.

“Well?” His father raised an inquisitive brow.

“I was right.”

The moment she spotted where they were sitting, she began to close the distance separating them.

Their eyes met. A smile spread across her lips. A smirk spread across his. Across from him, his father wore a smirk mirroring the one on his son's face. Everything was falling into place just as Elliot suspected it would.

“Hi,” she waved slightly, standing to the side of their table. “I’m Andrea.”

“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Elliot’s father, Roy.” He wore a charming smile, “Please, take a seat. Elliot here was just telling me about the drink incident.”

“Certainly one way to get a girl’s attention,” she remarked, laughing under her breath.

Across the table, he met his father’s gaze and based on his expression, he knew he'd picked well.

Soon, that was the only word that whispered through his mind as the three of them conversed with each other. This was just the beginning of the end for her and she was completely oblivious to it all.

Little did he know that she had a secret of her own, though...she was a serial killer, too.