"I think he said it was the third house right after the second turn.. or maybe..... " Riya was mumbling to herself. She had left the park behind already, so that meant she was on right path.

"Ugh! This place is a maze! All houses look the same!" She grumbled in annoyance after sometime. Just when she thought that she should probably turn around and cancel the plans for tonight, she received a text : Hey, have you found the house?

She typed back an answer and waited for a minute before she received another text directing her about the place. She quickly started her car and made another turn before spotting the light blue house. It looked very similar to other houses in this locality and maybe needed a good paint job. She parked her car in the driveway and after locking it, slowly walked towards the house which was illuminated by the porch light.

She rang the doorbell and waited for him to open the door. This was the fourth time they were going to meet in person, but first time at his place - usually they talked on phone. There were mixed feelings running inside her - excitement, happiness, anticipation - but all these were overshadowed by her decision to finally talk to him about their relationship. There were issues that needed to be sorted and things were moving too fast for her to handle. When she heard the footsteps approaching the door, she composed herself and tried to relax.

The door opened. A man wearing a checked white shirt and black jeans along with a charming smile appeared. "Hey gorgeous!"

"Hey!" She said shyly, not able to help the smile. He smiled and draped his hand on her shoulders, leading her inside the house. She took a look around the house. It was spacious enough and minimalistic. There was a couch with a coffee table a few steps ahead from the door with a television on the wall in front of it. Far left corner of the hall had a small dining table with four chairs. Next to the table were two bedroom doors, perhaps. Cosy, she thought. She sat down on the couch as he poured her a glass of water and kept her handbag beside her.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back." He said before disappearing in the direction of entrance, possibly to lock the door. He quickly came back and sat opposite to her, grinning at her and she couldn't help but smile back. His smile was contagious.

"So... What's the surprise?" She asked him with a curious expression. She had cancelled her plans with Amyra and others on the last moment because of him. He said he had something planned, that he wanted to tell her about something, show her something. It was such a great news to her, dangling in between her doubts over this fast moving relationship and her growing unease at keeping this all to herself. She wanted to get a closure at this thing between them. To make sure if it was serious or not. She had told him about this and he said he wanted to make things clear too. So tonight, it was. Surprise. Maybe this surprise will break the ice

He laughed in an enticing way. "Have patience. I have it here. But first let me get you something to drink. Coke? Or you'd like some wine?"

"Coke's fine with me." He got up and went to grab them a drink while she sat there smiling and still wondering if any of this was real. He seemed to be in a very good mood, almost jovial. Perhaps things were going to be good tonight.

"You know, none of my friends have met you yet." She said when he came back with two glasses of iced coke.

"Yeah, so?" He asked as he handed her a glass and took a sip from his own glass.

"So I was thinking.... Why don't we meet tomorrow at my house? I'll introduce you to my friends and we could just hang around a bit. It'll be fun." She said that with a hopeful voice.

Her request wasn't so totally unexpected; he knew this was coming. "I'm sorry, but I'm not free tomorrow. I have plans." He said with a regretful expression.

"Oh, come on! You can't blow this thing off again. Even Amyra hasn't met you, and neither have I met any of your friends." She pointed out.

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Amyra, your roommate? You told her about me?" He asked with a smooth and seemingly calm voice but she could trace specks of curiosity in his even voice.

"No, not much. But it doesn't matter. I'd like you to come and meet my friends." She said that with a slight frown. He has been evasive about things from the very beginning and despite the fact that she liked him a lot, this was starting to create doubts in her head.

"Not much? Well that's good."

She scrunched her eyebrows. "Good?" Things weren't going as she hoped.

"Yup. Good. If you had told her about me, it would have ruined the surprises that I've planned for her." He said while his eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Surprises planned for her?" There was confusion written all over her face. She felt strangely uneasy and the atmosphere suddenly grew hotter.

"Yup! For her. And just to ease your worries, I've already met her. In fact, I met her way before I met you."

"You met her? When?" She wiped away the beads of sweat trickling down her temples with the back of her hand, trying to figure out if this was a joke. As far as she could remember, they met coincidentally, completely out of wild chance. How could it be possible that he had met Amyra before her?

"A few days before I met you, you know. But I don't think she will recognize me. She didn't even notice me." There was a faraway look on his face for a moment which was quickly replaced by a child-like enthusiasm. "But that doesn't matter much though. I got you for now."

Riya tried not to focus on his sudden overexcited attitude that was definitely freaking her out. She has known him for almost five weeks now, but he never once behaved in such a weird way. "I don't understand. Why didn't you tell me before?" She asked, hoping against hope to get a reasonable answer.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you this. I mean, it's our last date tonight. What's the use of burdening you with information that you'll never reveal to anyone, right? We should enjoy the moment!" He said, back to his usual calm and charming self as he got up from his place and came over to her side across the coffee table.

She gulped and tried not to let it show how shocked and anxious she was. She didn't want to be here anymore. She spoke with a trembling voice as she tried not to focus on what he could possibly mean by information that she'll never reveal to anyone. "Last date?"

"Last date. It has to be done tonight, you know. I can no longer waste my time on you. You were actually an accident to be frank. Not a part of plan. Now I have make some preparations for our dear mutual friend. I must tell--"

"Okay, now, enough!" Riya cut him off before he could finish. She didn't let him finish, because she didn't want to know what had to be done tonight. She was better off not knowing it. She was absolutely positive that it wasn't something that was insanely romantic or funny."This is a last date, I get it. I should leave now. I'm getting late anyway."

She got up from the couch and grabbed her purse. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. She was already regretting her plan to come here. As she turned around and started walking towards the door, she was expecting him to stop her, forcefully even. But she breathed in a sigh of relief when he didn't say anything and let her move without any hindrance. She went ahead and turned the knob, instantly blanching with fear.

Locked.

She uselessly tried to open the door many time but didn't succeed. Her hands were shaking now and tears blurred her vision. She stood there at the door, cursing herself for coming here. Hadn't she heard stories about charming killers before? Then how could she even fall his good looks and endearing manners!? It was all a trap!

An idea struck her and she quickly started fishing for her phone. Why didn't it cross her mind earlier!? She could make a quick call to Amyra, even if something happened at least someone would be knowing, but all her hopes were crushed soon. Where the hell was her phone?

She felt her knees getting weak and atmosphere growing even more hot. She was sweating profusely now. She let herself sit down on the ground, near the door, panting with fear and a slow burning sensation in her chest. Her mouth was unusually dry. She was stuck in with a crazy man in here who could be a rapist, torturer, serial killer, anything, and no one even knew about her. Why did she cancel her plans and came here? Going over to her Aunt's for real would've been a better option than this one.

Among many scenarios that were going on in her head, she had another thought in the back of her mind that was bugging her. Why hadn't he come here looking for her yet!? He knows that the door is locked and she can't run away, but isn't he scared that she will shout for help or just grab a vase and attack him. He managed to confuse her even while she was so scared for her life.

And then she heard it, a soft music coming from inside. Gathering all her courage, she got up and moved inside, still not able to decide what was she going to do next. She kept wiping away the tears that stubbornly kept flowing from her eyes. Her mind was getting numb now. She wished she had told anyone about this date. Or even better, she didn't come here at all. This dreamy date had suddenly turned into a nightmare.

She saw him sitting on the couch, eyes half closed, humming along the lyrics of the song. Song that was being played from her phone. He opened his eyes when he heard her approaching him and then smiled at her, almost lovingly. "I knew you will be coming back here. Wanna dance with me?" He extended his hand forward like a Victorian era gentleman.

She stared at him for a moment. It still blew her mind away how innocently charming he looked with this gesture. It was this very same charm that caught her attention the first time they met. She never imagined him to be a possible kidnapper, or worse, a killer and rapist. The thought filled her with trepidation and a loud sob escaped her lips as tears streamed down her face. Soon her sobs turned into coughs and the burning sensation she felt in her chest from earlier increased even more. The temperature rose higher and she was sweating and breathing heavily.

She tried to calm herself down. She was feeling shattered, sad, terrified and extremely weak now. She felt her legs giving up; she was about to fall down when she felt two hands wrapping around her weak body, supporting her weight as they hugged her closer. "Sshhh..... Try to relax. This will be over very soon. I'm here." He whispered in her ears, while slightly rubbing her back in a reassuring and comforting manner as he swayed to the rhythm of the music holding her weak body with amazing strength.

"What are you going to do with me?" She managed to croak out. Without even realising, she encircled her arms around his waist, trying to support her weight and keep herself upright.

A mocking sad tone came to his voice. "I'm not going to do anything with you." There was a moment of silence before he pulled away slightly and grabbed the side of her face gently, yet firmly. Looking straight in her eyes, without displaying any emotion, he spoke again. "I already did what I had to do. And the rest I plan to do afterwards."

Riya's eyes streamed with fresh tears as she realised what he meant. Her breathing was getting heavier now. There were thousands of questions running through her head and she somehow managed to ask that seemed most important one to her.

"Why?" Her question, merely a whisper was barely audible, but he had heard her. He just stared at her for a moment before replying.

"Oh, well..." He shrugged."I go a bit crazy sometimes." He spoke before her eyes closed and she coughed out blood. Her hands fell down from his waist and her body went limp in his arms.