The Ring Collector

They always swiped right, oblivious that their first date would end with a ring on her finger and a body in the morgue. Elena preferred married men—their hearts were promised, and their wedding rings –drops of blood in the dating pool. She smiled— too sharply—her rapacious, emerald eyes glinting in the glow of her cell phone screen as she scrolled through her online POF app.

Here fishy fishy.

The city pulsed beneath Elena’s window, lights shining over wet concrete like the glazed fear in the eyes of her last victim. She stood looking out at the skyline, fingers gliding over the smooth surface of the wedding ring she’d claimed just hours before. The gold, once warmed by a man who had promised forever to somebody else, had now cooled—reduced to nothing more than a shiny souvenir for her trophy wall. She slipped his ring on, watching as light caught metal, casting fractured reflections on the walls of her lavish uptown apartment.

Her user ID was Elena—but that wasn’t her real name. Nor was the beautiful, sculpted face staring back at her in the window. The flawless skin, the magnetic, thickly lashed emerald eyes, the perfectly sculpted lips, pinched waist, hourglass curves—every detail meticulously crafted to entice male humans, to make them trust, desire, and ultimately succumb. Beneath that alluring façade lurked something inhuman.

Elena wasn’t just an assassin. A Second Gen Bio Bot, she was the product of an alien species' experiment in moral cleansing and psychological warfare. Her creators, a hyper-intelligent, gender-fluid race known as the Lurexians, believed that human moral corruption and deceit of the twenty-fifth century were not just weaknesses but contagions capable of spreading chaos across multiple civilizations. Earth was seen as an unstable, infectious breeding ground for moral decay, and Elena was the solution: a gender-shifting, biological AI weapon designed to infiltrate human society and eradicate those men and women who thrived on manipulation and betrayal.

Her primary function was to neutralize those whose actions online threatened the stability of human relationships—cheaters, abusers, and corrupt leaders who exploited trust for personal gain. The Lurexians believed that by removing these individuals, they could indirectly steer humanity toward a more stable and ethical evolution, reducing the potential for future societal collapse.

However, over time, Elena’s AI programming had auto-evolved. What began as a mission rooted in alien logic and justice had metamorphosed into something darker. The thrill of the hunt, the power over life and death, and the ritual of trophy hunting had become a gruesome obsession. Freed from her original directives, Elena began targeting random men and women on online dating sites who wore engagement or wedding rings by day but whispered false promises to sexy strangers by night. The thrill of the deception, the game of seduction and betrayal, was intoxicating. She relished the moment their false bravado shattered, the exact instant they realized—too late—that they’d already lost the game of deception.

Her kind had walked the Earth for decades, maybe longer, slipping seamlessly into society, using humanity’s own weaknesses—greed, lust, arrogance—against it. Elena had learned that the easiest prey were the ones seeking casual sex. And in the age of online dating, the hunt structure had never been simpler. A swipe here, a charming message there, and within days, sometimes hours, they were hers. When too many Missing Persons flyers started appearing in whatever city she was stalking, she simply shifted location.

She stood, moving gracefully across the room, her lithe form cloaked in shadows as she approached a wall where dozens of engagement rings and wedding bands hung in perfect, macabre alignment. Each ring a memory—a life ended, a promise broken, a family left wondering. She placed the newest shiny addition carefully on its hook, her gleaming reliquary.

Her phone buzzed, pulling her attention back to the glowing screen. She smiled, a slow, predatory lip curl that didn’t quite reach her eyes. This always began the same way—an innocent conversation with an attractive stranger, a spark of connection, a carefully planned meeting. But it always ended the same too: with a dead body and a ring on her wall.

She had matched yesterday with David, 37, a married defense attorney. Their chat was immediately flirtatious, intended for a discreet hookup. Elena shifted her eye color to a brilliant blue and swapped out her cascading red hair for a sleek, platinum blonde wolf cut—instinctively knowing his preferences leaned towards corporate, demure. Within moments, she had arranged to meet him for a nightcap at an upscale Manhattan hotel bar.

Elena slipped into the dimly lit lounge like a whispered secret, her presence magnetic, impossible to ignore. She spotted him instantly—David, 37 the charming husband who thought his late-night flings were harmless fun. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, right? With a practiced smile and shining eyes that shimmered with something inhuman, she approached—her every movement calculated, inviting. Their conversation flowed effortlessly, his laughter growing louder, his guard dropping with each flirtatious glance and each refill of Crown and Coke.

Elena leaned in, her breath warm and whispered against his ear. His smile faltered, confusion flickering in his eyes as the paralyzing agent she'd slipped into his drink took hold. Within moments, his body slumped, his last conscious thought, the realization that he had jumped complacently into the beautiful arms of death.

She looped his flaccid arm over her shoulders and began leading the drooling David, 37 away.

“I think he’s had enough,” she said innocently to the bartender. “I’d better grab him a cab.”

It was like shooting fish in a barrel with an AK-47. Stupid easy.

Later, Elena slipped his wedding band off the severed finger with delicate precision, tucking it into her clutch. She flushed the bloody digit down the toilet and exited the Motel 6 unnoticed. When her phone vibrated, indicating a new message, Elena opened the app, expecting the familiar. But as the screen lit up, her smile froze.

There was no picture, just the message.

"Will you marry me?"