Ash Kelley

She feels safe.

Now pulling off the parkway at the Queens Boulevard exit, Kitty turned onto Austin Street and then parked in the lot for the Long Island Railroad, ignoring the no parking signs, just as everyone in the neighborhood always does.

I was going to say.

They said, fuck that.

Yeah.

As she got out of the car, she fumbled with her keys.

She probably didn't notice the white Corvair slowly pass by and pull off the side road a half a block away.

Mm-hmm.

After lingering a moment to lock her car doors, Kitty turned and began walking towards the building.

The door that led to Kitty and Marianne's second floor apartment was in the back of the building, which required her to walk down a dark alley, lit faintly by the street lamp by the railroad tracks at the other end, but pretty dark.

Maybe Kitty finally caught on to this man who'd been following her since she left the bar.

Or maybe she simply got the feeling that something wasn't right.

We don't know.

Whatever the case, she started running towards the streetlight.

And the man behind her ran after her.

Oh, God, that's an absolute nightmare.

Most women know that feeling.

Absolutely.

Now she'd reached the entrance to the bookstore when he finally caught up with her, knocking her to the ground and driving his hunting knife into her back, yanking it out and then stabbing her again.

It happened this fast.