Chapter 1

Make no mistake, there are monsters among us. Richard Pauling was one. He certainly didn't look like a monster. He was actually quite physically attractive. He was well-aware of his appearance and quite vain. He was also incredibly self-centred and had absolutely no regard for other people's feelings. Or their physical well-being, for that matter. And he absolutely didn't care what anyone else thought of him. If using and hurting other people made him an asshole, then so be it.

In Richard's universe, he was the sole inhabitant. The only reason that other people existed was to fulfil his needs and desires. If they didn't like that, fuck 'em. Literally. You see, Richard was also a sex addict. He craved sex as a junky craves drugs. He never thought of sex as part of a relationship.

Indeed, he never really understood relationships, never having been able to experience interpersonal bonding. He had observed relationships. He knew they were valued highly. And he knew enough about them to mimic one should it be necessary. Indeed he'd done so more than once, leaving the women in question destitute.

But he had no need or desire for a relationship with another person. He wanted sex, and other people could supply it. Men, women, children, he'd fucked them all. Generally speaking, he preferred women, but if a woman wasn't available and a man or child was, he wouldn't turn either of them down.

Because of his inability to empathize with or indeed even to view others as persons like himself, a mental health professional would view him as having antisocial personality disorder. He was what is commonly called a psychopath. The worst kind of predatory psychopath. He was an intra species predator, preying exclusively on other humans.

Unfortunately for society, he was bright and cunning enough to victimize other people and get away with it. His combination of intelligence and total lack of empathy would, had they been aware of him, have made any law enforcement officer cringe. Early childhood experiences had taught him that other people were different than he was. If he were to be stupid enough not to be constantly aware of this, he could be punished and perhaps institutionalized.

In spite of his character flaws, Richard had killed only one person: a playmate when he was five. He'd wanted to see what would happen if he held someone under water for a long time. Although it had seemed to everyone an accidental drowning, the resulting attention had caused him to make a rule against killing. Not because he'd have felt any remorse. It was unnecessary, messy and dangerous. Dangerous for him. Murders tended to cause exhaustive investigation no matter what the motive.

Very early in his career he'd realized that there was a better way. If he made the victim feel both complicit in his or her victimization and disgusted enough by and ashamed of the acts he or she had performed, there was little likelihood that his deeds would ever be reported to the authorities. Thus, there was no need for him to become a serial killer.

When he was a child, his method consisted of convincing other children that they had initiated the sex play. As he grew older and more expert, he found that this strategy worked with adults, but the preliminary steps necessary for that approach were extremely time consuming. It was more efficient to capture a subject, force him or her into his preferred acts, and have photographic or video evidence showing the victim performing said disgusting acts.

It was easy to make it appear that his subject was enjoying herself or himself. Richard took pride in his skill as a photographer and videographer. He made recordings of excellent quality. In addition to their value as intimidation, these recordings provided him with an additional source of income.

For instance, there was the time that he'd kidnapped a mother and her teenaged daughter. It had been pure serendipity. He was passing through a small town, more like a village, in cottage country. In the general store, he overheard the mother and daughter talking to the proprietor. His ears perked up when they mentioned that the husband and father of the family was unable to come with them for their two-week holiday. The mother explained that they'd decided to simply lie low and enjoy the quiet of the country. Therefore, they were buying supplies enough for the whole two weeks.

Richard's heart nearly burst with gladness. No one in the village would expect to see the mother and daughter again until they were on their way home. He followed them to their cottage, which was at the end of a long dirt road. The mother was surprised when someone knocked on her door, and she was even more surprised to discover that her unexpected visitor was carrying a gun.

It was easy for Richard to subdue the pair. Over the next two weeks, he fucked them in every way he could think of, and Richard had a very good imagination. He also forced them into sexual acts with each other, including digital penetration, cunnilingus, anilingus and the use of sexual aids such as vibrators and strap-ons.

He'd captured everything in photographs and videos. He showed the well-crafted pictures and cinemas to his horrified captives and told them that, should they report him to the police, he would release everything on the internet. He was not surprised when there was no mention of the kidnapping and rape in the news. The pictures and videos he sold discretely to his usual customers. What they did with them was not his concern.

There was another cottage episode. Richard had found it necessary to lie low for a while, so he rented a cottage for a week. It was on a lake with a lot of boat traffic. Many of the boaters were scantily-clad young women. Predictably, Richard soon found himself getting horny. On his second evening at the cottage, an unexpected opportunity appeared.

Richard was sitting on his dock drinking a beer and enjoying the sunset when a young man appeared. It seemed that he was one of Richard's neighbours out for a stroll. They chatted for a little while. The visitor was disheartened because he'd just broken up with his girlfriend, and she'd gone back to the city. Richard listened sympathetically and invited him in for a beer. The guy accepted. Of course, the beer was drugged. When Richard's guest awoke from his stupor, he found himself naked and securely bound.

Over the next few days, Richard tutored his unwilling guest in the fine arts of fellatio, anilingus and anal intercourse. Richard was a martial arts expert, and he quickly proved to his captive that he could kick the guy's ass. The fact that the gent was a strapping young jock in his twenties made the acts even more enjoyable. Richard loved the physical domination of this proudly masculine individual. He was especially turned on by the young man's revulsion to the homosexual acts Richard forced him to perform.

By the end of the week, the captive had become quite docile. Richard took videos and photos of his captive sucking cock, being sodomized and performing anilingus. One of Richard's favourite videos was the one in which he masturbated the captive to climax while fucking him in the ass. Predictably, that was the one his guest found most humiliating. It looked as though he were enjoying the act, which indeed he did, in spite of himself. Once again, the attack went unreported and the pictures and videos were secretly sold.

One of his favourite attacks involved only domination. In this case, he'd not had sex with any of his victims: four young teenagers.

Richard spotted the quartet while he was cruising near a high school. There were two girls and two boys. The boys seemed to be average teenagers, but the girls took his fancy. One of them was small with a dark complexion. She was dressed provocatively in very short shorts and a halter top. She was absolutely gorgeous, and she obviously knew it. The other one was dressed more conservatively, in boyfriend shorts and a T-shirt. She had very pale skin, almost pure white, and dirty-blonde hair. Although she was not as beautiful as her companion, she was quite attractive.

Richard had "borrowed" a big new Mercedes from a parking garage. The idiot owner had left the valet key in the unlocked glove box. He parked the car just ahead of the four and waited for them to notice the big fancy vehicle.

And notice they did, especially the boys. They fawned over the car, nearly drooling. Richard lowered his window and said, "Do you like it?"

"Like it," said one of the boys, "I love it. Have you had it long?"

"Not long at all," Richard said truthfully. "Would you like to take a spin?"

"I don't think we should," the blonde girl said.

"I'm glad that you feel that way," Richard said. "Ordinarily, I'd agree. But there are four of you and only one of me. And I'll just give you a short ride. Where are you going?"

"Home," the girl said. "We live near each other. It's only a few blocks."

"Cool," Richard said. "I'll take you there." The kids got in, one of the boys in front, the girls and the other boy in the back. "How about some gum?" He opened the console and took out an unopened package of gum. The boy in front opened it, took a couple of sticks and passed it to his companions.

When the kids woke up, they were lying on mattresses on the floor of a featureless room. Richard sat in front of them in the only chair. He was holding a large, menacing-looking gun in one hand and an equally menacing-looking knife in the other. "Well," he said, "I see you're back."