Sex and Murder Magazine

By Hal Kempka

There was always a workout wolf in every health club, and the fitness center staff referred to Howard as such. He could have cared less however. That was what wolves did, hunt prey.

He broke into a jog on the treadmill, and scanned the room, silently ridiculing the workout wannabe’s and checking out the babes. Several of the women working out had rejected him in the past, but so what? Sex was a numbers game and his few successes outweighed the rejections.

As he had in every other club he’d joined, Howard responded their rejections by cutting them down to size with a biting verbal remark or two. Of course, if they became bitchy, slashing tires and keying BMW’s certainly was not beneath him.

Of course, Howard occasionally crossed the line, once or twice over the years however, which required him to pack up and relocate.

He remembered one in particular. She flirted with him during a workout, and he followed her to the parking lot afterward. She rebuffed his advances, and when he tried to kiss her, gouged his face with her fingernails.

Howard’s lips curled in a sordid smile as he recalled caving in her left temple with a roundhouse right. After throwing her into his trunk, he drove to a remote area where he stripped her, screwed her, and dumped her in a ditch. By the time a jogger discovered her decomposed corpse beneath a pile of leaves the following spring, Howard had moved to another state.

*****

Howard spotted a new enrollee stepping from the locker room. They made brief eye contact and she flashed him a shy smile. As she stretched on the warm-up mats her spandex body suit accentuated every sinewy curve and valley.

His passion flared inside, and he hurried to an adjacent machine when she moved to the horizontal squats press. In his peripheral vision, she appeared in great shape, though her sallow complexion and sunken cheeks hinted at an eating disorder.

Several minutes into her routine, she abruptly stopped.

“You know,” she said, turning toward him, “you can either continue gawking like a pervert or be a workout buddy and we’ll spot each other on the equipment.”

Howard gave her a lustful once-over. “No problem. I’m Howard, by the way.”

“I’m Amelia, and whatever you’re thinking, forget it. Have you been a member long?”

“About six months.”

“Well, you must come here a lot. You’re certainly well developed.”

Howard flexed. “Baby, all my muscles are well-developed. You should check them out sometime.”

“Uh yeah, right,” she said. “So, do you know many members or staff?”

“Not really. You’re probably the first person I’ve said more than ‘hello’ to.”

“You’re not from around here?”

“Nah, I live across town but I like the facilities here. How about you?”

“I’m new in town.”

“You got a boyfriend or family here?”

“Nope; just me.”

Howard knew then, he had to have her.

“Say, there’s a great health bar several blocks over. After the workout, you want to get a power smoothie or something? I promise I’ll be a good boy.”

“Then, it sounds great,” Amelia said.

After the workout, they climbed into Howard’s car. After several blocks, he abruptly took the freeway onramp.

“Uh, wait a minute. Aren’t we going to get a smoothie?” Amelia asked.

“Sure. But, there’s a neat little park with a terrific view of the sun setting over downtown. You have to see it.”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Amelia said. “I mean, I don’t really know you.”

“Relax. We’ll take a quick look and then hit the smoothie bar.”

She shrugged. “Okay, but just for a moment.”

When Howard exited the freeway, he turned onto an overgrown service road leading into a stand of tall trees. Once out of sight from the road, Howard parked...

He reached over and squeezed her thigh. Amelia’s leg jerked skittishly and she pushed his hand away.

“You know what?” she said, sliding toward the passenger door. “We need to go.”

He grabbed her and pulled her to him. “Don’t worry about it. I know you want me.”

“No, please,” she begged. “Really, you don’t want to do this,”

Amelia struggled for a moment, and then stopped. Her body trembled. Howard felt her hot breath on his neck, and sensed her resignation to the inevitable.

“M-m-m, good girl,” he said, nuzzling her neck.

Amelia panted, and then raked her fingernails across his shoulders and back. Howard winced.

“Ouch! Take it easy, bitch.”

“I can’t,” Amelia replied, following with a low growl. “And I’m not your bitch.”

The car violently rocked. A horrific scream pierced the night air, and blood splattered the steamed-over windows. Then, the windshield shattered and Howard landed on the hood semiconscious and partially disemboweled.

His frantic moans echoed in the crisp night air as he rolled off the hood. He managed several staggering steps before Amelia leapt through the broken windshield and pounced on him.

After emitting a triumphant howl, she bounded into the woods clenching Howard’s entrails between her jaws. The following day, a healthy looking and sated Amelia curled up in the rear seat of a Greyhound bus.

A month later, a health club body builder struck poses and admired his physique in the mirror. He spotted Amelia in the mirror and spun toward her.

“Well hello gorgeous. Where have I been all your life?”

“I don’t know,” Amelia said, “entertaining yourself perhaps?”

“Ooh,” he replied, clutching his heart. “You go right in for the kill, don’t you? Seriously though, I’ve not seen you in here before.”

She flashed him a coy smile. “That’s because I’m new here and don’t know anybody.”

Hunger burned in Amelia’s belly as he accompanied her to the different machines. She salivated slightly knowing this wolf was about to meet the real deal for a one night stand.