To My Dear Sweet Catherine,

Hello darling. I woke this morning to find your side of the bed empty. The rumpled cotton sheets still smelled of your perfume. Oh, what torture it is to close my eyes and see your face. To kiss those sweet lips of yours. To caress your beautiful soft skin. Only to wake and grasp at the empty air.

It’s been one week, two days, and 17 hours since you left. God only knows where you are. But I want you to know that I will be waiting for you to return until the day I die. that is, unless you die first.

I cannot fathom how agonizing it would be for me to see you with someone else. Is that where you’ve gone? Have you fled to the arms of another man? Oh, Catherine… if that’s the case, please don’t ever let me know.

Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine what I would do to you. To him. To the both of you. I imagine tying him up and making him watch as I make sweet, passionate love to you. When we are finished, I will watch the Crimson liquid pour from your gaping mouth as I drive the blade of my knife deep into your silky, smooth abdomen. I imagine he will cry, and that will only fuel my resolve. I will listen to you gasp and gurgle, and look into your beautiful ocean eyes as the last ounce of life slowly drains from them. then I will lick your blood from my knife and use it to cut off a lock of your golden curls. It will be something to remember you bye.

After I’m finished with you, I can see myself sauntering over to where your lover lies, bound and gagged. Oh, but his death will come so much more slowly. As I remove the gag from his mouth, I imagine I’ll be fixated on those lips that have kissed you 1000 times. . Where have his lips kissed you, Catherine? Have they trailed along the base of your jaw? Down, down, down to each one of your forbidden places? I presume I will never know. But it won’t matter after I cut out his tongue.

Next, I will break his bones and remove them one by one from his body while he watches helplessly. After his body has been dismembered and his head removed with a hacksaw, I will leave you both in a heaping pile of your own blood — along with his organs and intestines, of course.

So, Catherine… My sweet, sweet Catherine… Please know that I love you with all of my heart. And until the day I die, I’ll be waiting for you.

With all the love that you’ve discarded,

Jeremiah