Jamie Thomas, 30 Jul '12

Barb rested her head on the detective's chest, and pulled the tattered motel blanket around her torso. When she was with Carter, she felt safe. This was a feeling that was all too uncommon these days, with The Night Stalker racking up the body count. The first month had been spent worrying about the girls that she knew so well from walking the streets night after night. There was a massive decrease in clientèle, meaning more cold and hungry nights. There was also the factor of finding the wrong customer, and ending up spread eagled on the cover of The Sun. Dressed in the fancy warm clothes you had dreamed of for months, adorned with an eviscerated neck.

As time progressed, the hunt for The Stalker didn't, and Barb began to worry about herself. She had regular customers like Detective Carter, and she wasn't too scared to walk the streets at night. But her spare cash was dwindling. Soon Barb would be taking on riskier jobs, and this could result in a run in with The Stalker. She had seen his face, but she was tormented by the uncertainty. Would she recognise him again? She had even gone three sleepless nights after a newspaper printed a storyline about The Stalker having a partner. Two vamps patrolling the streets, picking up prostitutes. The thought of it made Barb's stomach turn 360 degrees.

Carter ran his hand through Barb's hair. "Barbie Doll?" he cooed.

"I'm awake, baby."

There was a pause. "I want you to quit." Another pause. "I'll give you enough money to hold you until you find a real job."

Although this was the first time Carter had brought this to the table, it was obvious that he had been thinking about it for a long time. They had spent a lot of night like this. Locked in a frenzy of passion on Barb's undercover mattress, crying each other's names, then settling. They never slept, they just discussed the details of the crimes, and Carter filled Barb in on any recent developments. Unfortunately for them, there were very few. But Barb knew that there had always been something else on Carter's mind. At times she thought he wanted to express his love for her, and ask them to elope. He hated his wife enough for this. But what he said instead wasn't completely unexpected, and what Carter didn't know was that this wasn't the first time a client had urged her to quit. Instead of voicing her thoughts, she just sighed.

Taking the hint, Carter began listing the names of the women killed by The Stalker. The most recent had been a pretty little redhead by the name of Kay. She had looked like a plumper Karen Gillan, and pictures of her as a teenager had shown immense happiness and joy. The media had championed her as the saddest case out of all of the victims, because she had lived such a happy life before prostitution. The term "saddest case" made Carter furious, because every single murder had been a sad case.

Barb had known Kay very well. They had worked the same streets for a year now. The loss of Kay had hit Barb pretty hard, but not as hard as the first murder. Poor little Cindy. Or Selena Marlborough as her real name had been. She had been called "The First", and the papers and general public had seemingly forgotten her name.

Barb interrupted Carter's chain of thought. "Has there been any developments?"

"No, sorry. We know he is going to hit the west side of town, but that is about it. We still have a couple of days."

Another silence followed. Icy and pregnant, the silence hung in the air for a whole minute. Barb was about to speak when there was a loud knock on the door. Carter jumped up from the bed, pulled his boxers on and ran into the small en suite bathroom. Barb simultaneously racked her brains as to who it could be, and slipped into a woolly jumper and worn jeans. Deciding it would probably be the lousy motel owner, asking for a drunken late night delight, Barb put on her fake smile and pulled the door open.

All Barb saw was a pair of hungry eyes and a snarling smile, before a fist smacked her right in the face. Her head rocketed backwards, and then bounced back, right into the path of another punch connecting with her right eye. Two firm arms gripped around her waist, and hoisted her off the ground. She smelt blood and Joop Homme, and her eyes lolled in her head as her abductor flew down the flight of stairs to the main lobby.

A scream erupted from her throat and she began thrashing wildly. The man who held her lost his balance and a feeling of weightlessness threw Barb into confusion and despair. The man regained his balance and made it out into the open street, just as Barb began punching and kicking, biting and scratching. Scratching was the key, DNA under the fingernails was vital. The man panted and lost balance again. Barb's feet touched the floor and she kicked off the ground with all her might, desperate to free herself from her attacker. As she spun on the spot, she saw the sleek black car in a dizzying spectacle, and she was suddenly being dragged towards it.

A man's voice. "Come on, get her in the car!"

Barb screamed again, locking eyes with the man sitting in the car. He was different, not the same man she had seen with Cindy. There were two Stalkers. Barb screamed again, but a cold hand gripped around her face, shutting her up. The man in the car reached forward to assist his accomplice, but suddenly jerked back. A loud bang had sounded. Then another. The first had coincided with a spurt of blood coming from the arm of the driver, the second with a tinny pang as a bullet skimmed the hood of the expensive car.

The next few seconds were a blurred mess of screaming and struggling, as the kidnapper finally released Barb and tried to make his escape, but found Barb's sharp fingernails digging into his arm, tearing into the expensive suit as she tried to pull him back towards her and the detective stood behind her firing gunshots. The man smacked her in the mouth again and leapt into the car. Before the door closed, the car sped off down the street, racing away from the almost naked detective who held the sobbing prostitute in his arms, wiping away her blood and tears. She held up her hand, reaching towards Carter's face, and he just held her tighter to him, soothing her with his voice. She muttered something through the tears, and Carter's face lit up.

She repeated herself as she held her fingers up to Carter's face.

"Scratches... His DNA..." she whimpered.