"The Eye Of The Spider: - A thriller - Sample Chapter

“Eye Of The Spider” An Original Novel

Chapter One

Spiders fascinated Reggie Stillmore when he was a child. As a little boy, he would sit for hours mesmerized by the methods they used to spin their webs and trap their prey. He would watch hypnotized as a fly or insect approached the web completely unaware of the spider lurking there, motionless and completely imperceptible to the hapless invader. He would shiver with anticipation as the fly or insect misled into a false sense of security by the lack of any movement on the web, would move closer and closer until it made its fateful decision and landed.
By the time the insect realized the awful mistake it had made, it was too late. It was hopelessly trapped in the sticky mesh of the web. It was then – and only then - that the murderous spider would expose itself. And it was at that precise moment that the insect fully understood its terrible but irreversible fate.
Quickly the venomous killer would glide across the silken web toward its victim who could for the first time, feel the web humming with its approach. To the captive, it was a moment of sheerest horror accompanied by paroxysms of uncontrolled, physical palpitations. To the spider it was the time to kill. To Reggie it was a moment of extreme titillation producing waves of sexual paroxysms. He stood there as wave after wave of exstacy swept over him, hypnotized by the titanic life and death struggle that was unfolding before his eyes.
What made it so exciting to Reggie was that the victim was helpless, it had no chance. There was no escape. Even knowing what was about to happen to it, the insect was powerless to free itself from its prison. It watched the approaching spider with stupefying fear. Reggie watched with animalistic anticipation.
Throughout the death ordeal, Reggie Stillmore remained suspended in time and space. He felt the part of the spider. He felt he was the spider. Reggie had no compassion for the insect that now struggled so fiercely – yet so unsuccessfully - to avoid his fate. And when the spider finally reached his frantic victim and injected him with his paralyzing poison, Reggie was not revolted; Reggie was entranced. And when the ill-fated insect was torn apart, Reggie felt no sympathy for the victim; instead he exulted – and reached a sexual climax. That was when Reggie Stillmore as a boy. Tonight, years later, Reggie was a man.
It was a cold winter evening in the cellar of a small row- house in Southwest Philadelphia. Reggie sat staring at another spider web. There was nothing special about the house; it was one of thousands built just like it in the late forties. And like the others, this small home was aging and in need of repair. The basement in which Reggie sat tonight, like the rest of the house, was dank and decrepit. The ceiling was of exposed old wooden beams. The only light was from two 60-watt bulbs hanging from ratty fixtures; lights whose on/off switches were single yellowed-strings.
In one corner of the dingy basement, was an ancient gas heater, old and dirty like the rest of the house. Across from the heater was a workbench of sorts, nothing elaborate, just an array of hammers, saws, screwdrivers and assorted fasteners. In the near corner was a chair with a small table and lamp that was currently turned off leaving that area in semi-darkness. In was in that chair that Reggie Stillmore now sat holding an open can of beer in one hand and a handful of chips in the other. He munched and drank, his gaze fixed on the spider web in the corner across the room from him.
Reggie Stillmore was a twenty-six year, two hundred and twenty five pound bachelor. For a long time, the stocky youth had been unemployed but three years ago he found the ideal job. Ideal at least for him. Reggie was hired to drive a concrete truck delivering pre-mixed concrete to construction sites. It was a job he loved for a number of reasons: one was that it required no social skills of which Reggie had none. Another was that it fit his chosen life’s vocation to a tee.
Reggie was a serial killer. Across the room from Reggie, stretching across the far corner of the room, fastened at the top to the ceiling beams and at the bottom to a crosspiece of lumber fastened to the floor, was an intricate but artificial spider-web constructed of tough-as-steel nylon chord. The web was an exact duplicate of the actual spider webs that had fascinated Reggie as a child and young man. At the center, was an opening duplicating the opening through which the spider would appear when the time to kill was right. Tied spread-eagled to the web was Reggie’s latest victim, a terror-stricken young woman named Patricia Mora. Patricia was twenty-one years old. A five-foot four-inch sexy brunette with a pretty face, long dark hair and brown almond-shaped eyes, Patricia had worked as a cocktail waitress in a downtown Philadelphia nightclub where she caught the attention and interest of Reggie Stillmore. Reggie had found his next victim.
To get Patricia’s attention, Reggie had visited the club on a number of occasions, and while being exceptionally polite, had repeatedly offered to walk the pretty waitress home. For weeks, Patricia had declined although the young man had never done anything to dissuade her. Then, as fate would have it, on a cold, dark night in January, and for no discernible reason, Patricia changed her mind and accepted Reggie’s offer. It was the same fatal mistake the fly had made so long ago.
Somewhere along the way home, Reggie invited Patricia to join him for a nightcap. Reluctantly, though not unwillingly, the young woman agreed. When she entered Reggie’s neighborhood, she felt she might have made a mistake. When she entered his home, she was certain of it. But like the fly that touched down on the web, for Patricia, it was too late. No sooner had she taken off her coat, than Reggie turned on her, overpowering her in minutes. There was nothing subtle about it. He covered her mouth with his powerful right hand, and dragged her furiously struggling body down the steps into the basement. Once he had her safely there, he removed his hand from her mouth, a terrible grin spreading across his face.
The basement had been long ago prepared for this scene. The walls were heavily draped with sound deadening carpets, the ceilings padded with sound deadening insulation. No matter how loud his prey might scream, the sound would be trapped inside this chamber.
In addition to the inside preparations, Reggie was aware of other advantages that he enjoyed. The row home on one side of him was vacant; the home on the other side was occupied by a drug-addicted family who could care less about what happened anywhere outside their own prison. Reggie knew he had nothing to fear from his neighbors.
Dragging Patricia into the corner, Reggie held his hand over Patricia’s nose and mouth until she lost consciousness. It wasn’t the first time he had done this and he was well aware of the time to release her to keep her alive. He wanted her unconscious but not dead. At least, not yet.
He spider that Reggie emulated killed slowly and only after torturing its victim; Reggie was that spider. He would do the same thing. It was five minutes before Patricia regained consciousness.
When she awoke, Patricia’s whole world had turned into a living, timeless nightmare. Without opening her eyes, she knew she was in trouble…horrible, desperate trouble. She knew from the most primal instincts in her soul that she had made the worst mistake of her life. She struggled to move but quickly discovered that she couldn’t move. She was tied up. She was helpless.
Her arms were outstretched above her head, her legs spread-eagled below her. There were straps on all four extremities. For a moment she panicked and began to throw her body around wildly but quickly realized it was to no avail. Although the thing to which she was tied moved when she moved, she couldn’t break free of it. Breathless from the effort, she gave up the fight and lay back, too terrified to open her eyes. The room was still, the silence oppressive.
Patricia hung there, too afraid to open her eyes, yet knowing she had to find out where she was, what this thing was that held her. Slowly she steeled herself for what was to come, and simply forced herself to look The first thing she saw was Reggie Stillmore.
He was sitting across from her, drinking a beer and munching on chips, his face emotionless as he stared back at her. Her eyes locked on his then broke away as she glanced around her. She was in a dark, dank and ugly basement. Two small bulbs illuminated the area—they couldn’t have been more than 60-watts each—which hung from bare sockets attached to wires that were suspended from the ceiling. The room was as cold as it was dingy. Once again, she tugged at her hands and legs; once again they wouldn’t come free. She felt the panic growing inside her again. Her attention returned to Reggie and she stared at him. She could see now what she had missed before. There was something strange about him. It was his eyes. They were cold and unresponsive—like those of a snake—or a spider.
Although she was frightened nearly out of her mind, Patricia tried to hold herself together. She continued to stare at the man across from her. Suddenly and without warning, her fear erupted in violent anger and she screamed at him! “What have you done to me you fucking animal! How dare you do this! Get me down from here right! Get me down from here right now!!!!”
Reggie took a long pull from his bottle of beer all the while continuing to look at her. He didn’t respond. He didn’t even seem to hear her. As quickly as it had come, her anger dissipated. Realizing the awfulness of her situation, she broke down and began to cry. The sound of her sobbing filled the room. Her tears had no effect on Reggie. He had no intention of letting his captive go and he had even less intention of doing this quickly. Like his mentor, the spider, he would accomplish his objective one slow tortuous step at a time. It wasn’t just the kill that thrilled him; it was also the chase. To Reggie, it wasn’t a human being on the web; it was a fly.
By now, Patricia fully understood what was going to happen to her. Her cry came from the very depths of her soul and filled the dark chamber that was to be her grave. The young woman knew she was going to die. There was no more false bravado. “Please,” she pleaded, “don’t hurt me, please! Let me go! I won’t tell anyone! I promise! Just don’t hurt me! Please don’t hurt me!”
Reggie continued to stare at her. He didn’t move. Then suddenly, he got up. Turning, he picked up something from the table and held it in his hand. Then he proceeded to move toward the stricken girl. Patricia strained to see what it was he held in his hand. When he was finally close enough for her to make it out, she all but swooned in terror. It was a pair of scissors. “Oh my God, no! Please don’t…” Reggie didn’t react to her pleas. He continued to move toward her until he stood in front of her. Once there, he lifted the scissors and Patricia screamed and fainted. Reggie remained unmoved. He moved closer until he was able to reach out and touch her. Then, he lifted the scissors and cut her dress across the left shoulder strap. Switching hands, he did the same to her right strap. When both straps were cut through, he took the scissors and once again cut the dress, this time from top to hem. The dress fell to his feet leaving the young woman only in her bra and panties. Reggie turned and walked back to his chair. He put the empty car of beer down and reaching down into a cooler, picked up another.
The minutes dragged by. Slowly, Patricia regained consciousness. At first she didn’t know where she was but then the awful truth came flooding back, overwhelming her senses. She remembered Reggie coming at her with scissors and she wondered if she had been cut. Then she saw him sitting across from her. He was back in his chair, munching on chips, slugging down his beer. It was at this very moment that Patricia realized she was cold. And it was at the very next moment that she realized her dress had been taken off. She looked down on either side and could see she was hanging there, dressed only in her bra and panties. Once again, she lost control and began shouting at Reggie.
“How dare you fucking undress me you son of a bitch fucking animal! Who the fuck do you think you are! Get me off this God Damn thing!!! Do you hear me! You’ll be sorry when you’re in jail you rotten bastard!”
For the first time, Reggie seemed to see her. He sat there looking at her without responding, but then, he stood up and walked over to stand in front of her. She was so frightened and angry, she spit in his face. “You fucking bastard,” she screamed at him the veins bulging in her face and neck, “get me the fuck off this thing!!!!”
Without a word, Reggie rose and walking over to stand in front of her, he clenched his fist and punched her full in the face with all his strength. Her head flew back and the force of the blow stretched the web to its fullest before it sprang back. Patricia’s mouth was a mass of blood, her nose had been broken and he had knocked out two of her teeth. The pain was so intense she almost lost consciousness. Patricia had never been hit like this before. The pain was more intense than any she had ever felt before.
At that moment, Reggie reached his left hand around and grabbed her long dark hair and wrapped it in his fist. Then he pulled her forward, close to him. Her blood dripped on his hand. He didn’t notice. He stared at her holding her face inches from his own, then he whispered in a voice she was never to forget: “do that again, you fucking whore bitch, and it will be the last thing you ever do, you got that!” And he slapped her with his open palm of his right hand, almost knocking her unconscious again. She passed out.
When she regained her senses, she was beaten and broken. She knew she was utterly powerless and the heart went out of her. There was nothing she could say or do that could save her and she knew that now. She belong to him.
He leaned forward, his face inches from her’s. “I asked you something bitch, do you understand me you fucking mother-fucking whore!!! ANSWER ME!”
She was petrified, unable to speak. She nodded.
He shook his head violently from side to side. Shoving his face into hers, he growled, “No, say it, you cocksucker! I want to hear you say it!!”
Her voice was barely audible. “Yes,” she whispered, her voice trembling along with her body.
Holding her tightly by the hair he dragged her face forward and shoving it downward as far as it would go, held it there. Then he took his free hand and put it down the front of her panties and rubbed her.
She was sickened and she was shamed and she was so frightened she couldn’t catch her breath. It was as if she was trapped in a horrible nightmare. But now she knew the truth, it was a nightmare from which she would never awaken.
Straightening up, Reggie released her. He walked back to the table and picked up the scissors. She watched him, hypnotized like the fly long ago watched the spider, but there was nothing she could do. She was helpless. In order to save her sanity, she let her mind go blank.
He approached her again, this time from the rear. Reaching up to her hanging body, he took the scissors and cut through the bra strap in the back. The bra loosened but didn’t fall off her. He walked around to the front and put the scissors down. Then he reached up and pulled the bra loose, dropping it to the floor. Stepping back he looked at her. Her lovely young breasts stood firm and full, the nipples hardened from her fear. He cupped her breasts in his hands and began to manipulate them. He squeezed first a little then a lot. He squeezed them to hurt her.
Patricia didn’t feel it. She was unconscious again. Reggie barely noticed. Once more, he brandished his scissors, this time carefully cutting the right side of her panties from bottom to top. He repeated that on the left side. When that was done he reached down and cut across the bottom and pulled them free. Tossing them aside, they fluttered to the ground.
Patricia was naked. She awoke and her moans filled the room as she hung there on the web. It was a sound that in the heart of any human being would have aroused pity and compassion. But Reggie wasn’t human. Not at that moment. In him, it excited him arousing the desire to kill; the same desire that must have excited the spider as it raced across the web towards its victim.
The young woman had been stretched on the web in such a way that the opening on the web that was where the spider would lay in wait, was at the apex of the joining of his captive’s two thighs. Again, Patricia continued to moan pitifully.
Again, awareness came over her and she let out a blood-curdling scream. “Oh my God,” she screamed, “why are you doing this to me!!! Why? Please don’t do it! Please let me go! Please!!!”
It would have aroused pity in any living creature, but here, her cries fell on deaf ears. This was the climax of the hunt for Reggie and nothing his victim could say or do would dissuade him. He was over the edge. He was insane. Reggie has become a cruel and heartless predator.
Patricia Mora was about to die and she was powerless to prevent it. He moved in front of her swaying side to side as he approached, studying his victim with cold, remorseless eyes. Her eyes followed him, mesmerized by his evil, terrorized beyond imagination. Her lips moved as she tried to speak, but no sound came out; she was frozen in terror.
Without warning, Reggie turned and moved around the back of the web and crouched down. Patricia was frantic! She tried desperately to turn her head to see what he was doing, but she couldn’t move. Violently, she thrashed about, throwing her body from side to side trying to break free, at the same time pleading for her life; promising him anything…
“I’ll do anything you want…you can do anything you want. Just don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me! Please….!”
His voice was more animal than human. “Shut the fuck up, you cocksucking bitch!” he hissed at her, reaching up and smashing the back of her head with his open hand, her head flying forward violently with the blow.
“Please…” she moaned. It was all she could say.
Crouching behind her, Reggie reached his hand into the opening at the web center. His hand was now positioned directly between his captive’s naked spread thighs. He reached for her and touched her.
It was this moment that Reggie loved the most. The moment his prey totally surrendered to him. He had experienced this same thrill twice before. Two other young women had he pursued until he had lured them to his home. Neither had ever left alive.
His reached up and caressed her young body and at his touch, she uttered a primal scream like an animal in a death grip, which she was. Again and again she threw herself violently against the unyielding web. It was futile. The web held firm.
At that moment, she came to know the terrible truth, she would never leave this place alive. She no longer belonged to herself, she belong to the monster in the room with her.
As he fondled her, Reggie felt the thrill of total conquest. He was ready for the kill. Again, he moved his hand against her warm, moist body as again, her terrible screams filled her soundproofed basement prison. Now like a man in a trance, the madman walked around the web to confront her. He stood there unmoving as the woman begged for her life. Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Reggie was now the spider he had studied so often as a boy.
He reached up and wrapped his left hand around the back of her head. Then he leaned forwarded and placed his right hand over her nose and mouth. Firmly he pressed down shutting off all oxygen to her brain. He held her that way, through her death struggles, until suddenly, she collapsed. Her body was still.
He waited a moment, then released her. Her head dropped to her chest. She was dead. Reggie stood for a moment staring at her hanging there. He was emotionless. Then he moved toward her. Reggie was ready for sex.
Reggie Stillmore was a necromancer…he made love to his victims only after they wwere dead. When he was done, hours later, he fell asleep.
It was well past midnight when he awoke. Rousing himself, he untied Patricia and lowered her to the ground. Then he went to a closet from which he selected a body bag from among several. Laying the bag on the ground beside the dead girl, he put her body into the bag and zipped it closed.
Effortlessly, he carried the bag outside to his car where he deposited it, in the truck. Satisfied with his work, he went inside and went to bed. He fell asleep immediately. The next morning, at six thirty, Reggie awoke and went to work. Parking beside his truck, he removed the body bag from his trunk and moved it to the rear of the cab of the truck. Reggie was scheduled to deliver a load of pre-mixed concrete to a building construction site at seven o’clock. They were pouring a foundation. It took him less than thirty minutes to reach his destination and when he arrived, he climbed down and approached the foreman of the three-man crew that had been waiting for him.
“Morning,” the foreman said, nodding in his direction.
“Yo.”
“You ready to pour?”
“Yep.”
“Good, let’s get going, then.”
Reggie pulled two one hundred-dollar bills from his pocket and held them out to the man.
“What’s that for?” the man asked.
Need you to do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Take your guys away from here for a couple of minutes.”
The foreman stared at him curiously. “Yea? Why?”
“So you can be two hundred fucking dollars richer.”
Again, the foreman stared at him, then he reached out and took the money. Like the others on this work gang, he prided himself on minding his own business. He nodded. “Ok, you got it. Three minutes, no longer. You goin’ pour now?”
Reggie nodded. “Yea.”
“Don’t be long, we got to work it.”
Reggie nodded again. The foreman didn’t need or want any more information. He turned and walked over to his men. “Okay, you guys come wit me.” He led the way across the lot a good ways from the front of the truck. From there, they couldn’t see what Reggie was doing which was fine with the foreman. Reggie backed his truck up to the pour-site. Then he pulled the body bag out of the cab and carried it to the foundation where he placed it in a long excavation.
Climbing back into the cab, he elevated the mixer and the concrete began to slide down the chute quickly immersing Patricia Mora’s body, rendering her permanently missing. As soon as the pour started, the foreman returned with his men and they began to work the mix, smoothing and filling around the steel rods. When the required amount of concrete was delivered, Reggie stopped the pour and lowered the bed.
Waiving at the crew, he drove off. He had a grin a mile wide on his face. Another perfect crime. This was his third time for Reggie, and each time, it got easier. And safer. With no body, the police would find it all but impossible to prove Patricia Mora was dead let alone who had killed her. They might suspect anything they wanted, but as long as they couldn’t prove anything, Reggie could care less. And with the body now a permanent part of the new building, proving anything was just about impossible.
The man the police would one-day call, and the world would one day know as ‘The Spider Killer’, was content.
He reached over and switched on a music station. Reggie liked music.
It had a soothing effect on him

End of Chapter 1.


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