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After their very brief conversation with Ginger, the grieving college student, Holmes and Saunders decided that it was time to locate the students Amanda had tutored.

They located the first student, a Kelly Richardson, on the south side of the college campus with her head buried deep in a book as she sat on a bench surrounding a floral scene the college had arranged.

She held a light skinned complexion, a perfectly arched eyebrow raised as she flipped a page in John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars."

Deep dark brown curls trailed down the girl's back, tied back as she relaxed, oblivious to the two detectives as they approached.

"Good evening Miss Richardson." Saunders greeted, making the young woman raise her other eyebrow to join the first.

"I'm not interested in buying anything. I'm already a registered voter. I don't need a new credit card. I don't smoke or party. And no, I'm not free Saturday...I'll be reading." She droned on as if she were used to giving these answers.

Saunders glanced at Holmes and returned his gaze to the woman. "We're from the LAPD." He told the woman.

Still, she never lifted her gaze from the pages of her book. "Okay?"

"And we're here about an Amanda Hendricks. She tutored you." Holmes continued.

Still not so much as a glance from the woman as she remained immersed in her book. "Right. She's not very nice...well not to me anyway. Everybody thinks she's so nice but she's not. She the most rude, disrespectful bitch-"

Saunders cut her off. "She was murdered."

The woman paused only briefly. "Oh. Well then she was all of those things." She spoke. "How'd she die?"

"That's what we're here to figure out. Do you know of any enemies she had?" Saunders questioned and then in remembrance of the woman's hatred of Amanda he added, "Well...any other enemies?"

Kelly shook her head. "Nope. I think I'm the only one on the campus who hates her guts. Not enough to kill her though, I don't think jail is for me. Now can you leave? I'm trying to finish my book."

They attempted to speak to speak to the girl again and get any other possible details from her but she sat there in silence, pretty much pleading the fifth.

—-

Adrianna had returned to the bed, turned on her side and unable to sleep without knowing what this man would do to her next.

She hadn't seen him in what she estimated to be a few hours, and she wasn't sure if she should be relieved or fearful.

But when the sound of a key in the lock sounded once more, she shut her eyes as if pretending to sleep.

"I know you're not sleep." He told her as he approached the bed. He set a bag down in front of her and watched as she slowly opened her eyes. "Here...eat."

Adrianna stared at the fast food bag and then looked up in the darkness at him.

He didn't bother shielding his face from her in any attempt to hide who he was because well...she wouldn't live long enough to tell anyone.

"Eat." He repeated.

Adrianna stared  at him a little while longer. She couldn't help but find him quite handsome. "Why? You're gonna kill me, right? What do I need to eat for?"

"Just eat." He snapped back. He waited a few seconds for her to obey and when she didn't, he repeated his statement in an angry yell. "EAT THE FUCKING FOOD!"

Adrianna jumped at the sudden change in volume and reached a shaky hand out for the bag.

—-

*The Next Morning*

Chresanto sighed deeply, parking his car in the driveway of Mrs. Lawson's home. As he emerged from his vehicle, his eyes scanned the neighboring homes until they rested with a curious squint on a blue house with boarded windows. Closing his car door, he returned his gaze to Mrs. Lawson's home.

It was a nice, two-story house with pale yellow paint on the exterior and brown roofing. She had a spacious front porch, which was covered with flowers of all sorts, and a bench.

"Oh great, you're here." Mrs. Lawson greeted as she pushed open a creaking screen door.

He nodded, making his way to her porch and leisurely ascending the few required steps. "Good morning, Mrs. Lawson. Have you found Fluffy?"

The woman shook her head. "I told you, Mr. Jenkins killed her. I know he did." She shook a fist in the direction of a pale green home near the blue home Chresanto had looked at earlier. "And when you prove it, I'm gonna strangle him until he chokes on his dentures."

Chresanto furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Until he what?"

"Until he chokes on his dentures." She repeated.

Cheese to raised an eyebrow at her. "Well okay then. Just, make sure you call the police and not me, okay? I can do absolutely nothing for him if he's already choking."

"Right." She gave a thoughtful nod and turned in the direction of her front door once more. "Come in and have some coffee, won't you?"

Chresanto gave a nod and then followed the elderly woman inside her home.

—-

Once Adrianna finished her meal, she cast a glance at the man seated a little ways away from her on the bed.

He had remained silent the entire time, watching her eat her food. It was only when he reached for her trash that he spoke again.

"Do you know why you're here?" He asked her.

Adrianna slowly shook her head. She watched as the man's dark figure approached her in the darkness after he'd thrown her trash away in a small bin at the bedside. He claimed a seat in front of her on the bed and she subconsciously slid away.

Being that she was no longer bound, this was an easy task. But when she moved back, her captor moved closer, minimizing the space between himself and her once more.

"You're here, not because of you...but because of someone else." He told her. "Technically speaking, you're dying for the mistakes of another." He smiled slightly at her. "I'm the Leo."

Adrianna's eyebrows furrowed. "T-the who?"

"The Leo. Like...the fifth zodiac sign...the fire sign...the Lion." His smile never wavered and Adrianna continued to look at him with a mingled mixture of fear and confusion.

"So...why do I have to die?" Adrianna asked him quietly.

His lips curled up into a wider smile, reminding Adrianna of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and he showed a nice row of pearly white teeth. "Oh...you don't have to die. But you're going to."

Fear was now the only thing present in Adrianna's face as she slid away from the man once more. "Can't you just let me go? I won't tell anybody what you look like or anything! I won't tell them you raped me! I promise!"

He chuckled softly, a sinister chuckle. "It gets funnier every time. I can't let you go...mostly because well...you have to die for me to prove my point. I'll be right back."

He quietly left the room, and when he returned, he wheeled in a metal cart filled with tools with him. Rope rested on the top of the items.

He whistled a soft tune that reminded Adrianna of the song from the movie Insidious, and approached the girl once more. "I'm gonna regret not fucking you twice." He admitted. "But there's no time to spare."

"O-Oh please...can't you just k-keep me alive? We c-can do whatever you want." She pled, trying to bargain with the murderer.

He released another soft chuckle and looked her in the eyes. "Anything?"

Her head was quick to nod again. "Yes. Anything."

"Hmm." He commented thoughtfully as he made his way back to the door to lock it. "Tiptoe by the window. By the window, that is where I'll be. Come tiptoe through the tulips with me." He sang the tune low, his deep voice echoing off the walls and sending chills down Adrianna's spine.

Adrianna's eyes fell to the cart and she saw a small shard of bloody glass resting on it. Thinking that it was the least noticeable item to make disappear, she reached for it and closed it tightly in the palm of her hand while he locked the door.

He turned to face her once more and began to whistle the tune again as he walked back to his cart. With a smile, he grabbed the rope and leaned toward her. "Give me the glass."

One of his gloved hands held the rope, the other was held out for the glass she had taken from the cart. She raised a shaky hand and dropped the shard into his awaiting palm, watching as his Cheshire Cat grin returned and he placed the glass back where it had been removed from.

"Hands out."

Adrianna obeyed, and he bound her hands, before pushing her back onto the bed so that she was laying down. He stood and approached the cart, still whistling the tune.

His hands found a knife and then a needle and thread and Adrianna's eyes went wide in fear once more.

"W-what are you gonna d-do?"

He didn't respond. Instead, he climbed over her, straddling her as he took her chin in his hand and tilted her head to the side. "Open your mouth."

She obliged, only because she knew she had no choice.

"Don't scream. No one can hear you way out here." He told her.

Then he began to saw at the flesh of her cheek, cutting up to her ear while she cried and attempted to scream. He continued to whistle as he turned her head and repeated the action to her other ear.

Blood poured from the wounds and he then reached inside her mouth, capturing her tongue in his hand and sawing it off. He reached for the needle and thread and sewed her mouth back together, just as he had with Amanda.

By now Adrianna's tears were flowing. She could no longer make any loud noises and she was beginning to choke on her own blood. The same way Amanda had.

The man ran his gloved hand against her skin and lifted her up to take her into the nearby bathroom.

He bathed her body in water she hadn't even known he'd run, and then carried her back after drying her off.

"Had to get rid of any evidence of myself." He explained as he reached for the knife again. He tagged her stomach, etching "The LEO" into her skin, and then reached for his needle and thread once more.

This time, he sewed her eyes shut, just as he had with Amanda. Then, while she choked on her own blood, he started his clean up process...all the while whistling the sinister tune he had been before.

—-

Holmes sighed, buckling her seatbelt as she and Saunders prepared to locate the other student Amanda tutored....Dylan Andrews.

He was supposedly on the North side of the campus at football practice.

Her ringing phone halted her steps of putting the key in the ignition and starting the car.

Pulling the small mobile device from her pocket, she fixed her eyes on its screen.

It was the Captain.

"Hello?" She held the phone to her ear as she turned her key in the ignition.

"Small farm house out in the country. 1175 Farley...Get here now." The Captain ordered.

"Yes sir. We'll be right there." She ended the call and glanced over at Saunders. "Change of plans. We're not going to look for Devin. We're going to a farm house on 1175 Farley. Captain's orders."


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