CHAPTER 6

Bohdan returned to the saloon driving a horse pulled wagon. The wagon was empty except for a few sacks of grain covered by a blanket and some tools. He pulled the wagon behind the saloon and tied the horses up to a rail by the back door. The wagon set just under the second floor windows and was well hidden in the dark of the evening.

When he knew the wagon was secure, Bohdan walked around the side of the building and entered trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Most of the patrons at the bar noticed the stranger right away and now knew a little of him from when he first arrived in town a few weeks ago. Bohdan looked around and watched the nude dancers grind on the willing men who were paying for lap dances. For a moment he took in the show, but he needed to get on with the business he came for. He turned and headed up the stairs by the front door to the apartment of the madam he had met once before.

As he headed up the stairs, all eyes were upon him, and this was exactly what he didn’t want. He needed to be invisible. At the door, he knocked and the madame opened the door. She was shocked to see the man who was the last person seen with Maria before she died. “What do you want?” the madam asked. She was pissed.

“I came for your services,” Bohdan replied. “May I come inside?”

“I think you’ve had enough of my services, you can leave,” she replied and tried to shut the door in Bohdan’s face.

“Wait,” Bohdan said, putting up his hand to stop the door. “Let me in.” “Why should I let you in?” the madam asked.

“I have money.”

“So do I, and I don’t need any more of my girls dead.” “I didn’t kill anyone,” Bohdan replied.

“Then tell me what happened to Maria.” “She was alive when I left,” Bohdan replied.

“I’m sure she was, now tell me what really happened.” “I don’t know, like I said, she was alive when I left.”

“They didn’t find her till the next morning, and she was torn apart.” “I heard, it was all over town,” Bohdan said.

“And you just happened to show up in town and be the last person she was with. Did the sheriff talk to you?” the madam asked.

“No, nobody spoke to me.”

“Probably couldn’t find you,” the madam said. “Where are you living?” “With the pastor,” Bohdan replied.

“His wife was murdered, what a coincidence.”

“I had nothing to do with that either. If the pastor thought I had anything to do with her death, do you think he’d allow me to live in his house?”

“I don’t know, what are you doing there?”

“I’m working as a hired hand, for the church,” Bohdan replied.

“Do you think the pastor would approve of you coming here? I mean, spending your earnings on prostitutes?”

“The church is for sinners, not for angels,” Bohdan replied.

“Yeah, I suppose so. I still don’t want you here, and I know none of my girls will have anything to do with you.”

“I’m willing to pay whatever it takes.”

The madam stood and looked at Bohdan. Money did talk, especially in her business. “How much?”

“I’d go so far as a dollar,” Bohdan replied.

“Nobody will fuck you for less than three,” the madam said. “You are one scary fucker.”

Bohdan fished in his money purse and pulled out what he had. He counted eight dollars and handed three to the madam.”

“Not me, I don’t fuck for money, I just take a cut.” “Fine, show me the girls,” Bohdan said.

The madam hesitated. She didn’t know which girls to show him since none of them would touch him let alone fuck him. “I can show you around, but no guarantees.”

Bohdan started to get nervous. He really did need a girl, but it didn’t matter to him which one, he had no plans to fuck any of them anyway. Then a new plan popped in his head and he spun around to see if the door was shut. Seeing it was closed, he lunged at the madam and forced himself onto her driving her to the floor. Pinning her down, he covered her mouth and tried to bite her on the neck. She fought back and pulled his hair, yanking him from side to side.

Angry that she was fighting back, Bohdan placed his hands around her neck and forced his thumbs into her windpipe until it gave under the pressure. Feeling her windpipe snap, the madam panicked and put her own hands to her own throat in an attempt to free up the airflow, but to no avail. Bohdan sat back and watched her as she gasped for air and turned a dusky blue color. He knew that before she died, he needed to drink from her as he was getting weak and needed the energy to continue his plan.

As she lost consciousness, Bohdan placed his fangs on the madam’s neck and punctured her artery taking a drink before her heart stopped. Once she was dead, he raised back and wiped the blood from his lips and scanned the room for a blanket or large cloth. He found what he was looking for on her bed and picked her up and placed her on the mattress so he could wrap her inside.

As the woman was concealed in the fabric of the blanket, he stood up and opened the door of the apartment scanning the hall to make sure it was clear. He then returned to the bed, bent over and picked up the dead woman slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. He carried her to the doorway and poked his head out and saw no one in his view. The patrons below who were drinking and frolicking with the nude dancers were too enamored to look up to see what was going on. Bohdan stepped out of the apartment and walked along the balcony until he was at the back of the building. At his destination, he opened the door to the middle apartment and stepped inside closing the door behind him. He set the dead woman on the bed and walked over to the window and opened it looking down at the wagon he had parked there earlier.

Back at the bed, he picked up the madam and carried her to the window and dropped her to the wagon below. She landed with a soft thud that went unnoticed by anyone within earshot. Wanting to avoid being seen back in the bar, Bohdan slipped through the window and jumped down to the wagon below landing on the soft sacks. He quickly scrambled to the driver’s seat, jumped down off the wagon and untied the horses. Back in the seat, he slowly took off down the street trying not to bring attention to himself. The bar was always noisy and the distraction was good to keep the nosy townsfolk from noticing he was transporting a dead woman down the main street towards the church.