《Psychopath》 The First Kill First time I killed someone was when I was 13. Flashback - exactly 16 years ago. It''s been almost three days since me and my sister had anything to eat. Crusts from thrown away, out-of-date sandwiches barely count. There hasn''t been much rain recently and drinkable water was getting rarer and rarer. The cold weather didn''t help much . And there is only so much begging would do. That''s when I saw him; another homeless guy, just like me and my sister, munching on what looked like food. I saw him turn around the corner and out of my sight. I knew him, we beg in the same subway station as him, never talked to him though. I knew where he slept, under a bridge, a block from us. I looked at my sister, cold and shivering, barely able to sit straight. And right then I knew I had to do something, if not for me then for her, the only thing left I have in this world. "Stay here, I will go get us food." "Come back quick." I stalked my way to the homeless guy. I knew where he slept. Hiding behind the support of the bridge; I saw him rearranging his blankets, getting ready for the night. He didn''t finish the food he was eating, understandable, he would want to conserve it for more dire situations. I couldn''t see it before, but it was a sandwich he was eating. Stealing from him without being seen was impossible, he was practically hugging the sandwich, also understandable. And it''s not like he would just give it to us. I looked around and no one was in the vicinity. Couple of cars crossing the flyover but no pedestrians. I walked over to him, with a rock that barely fit my hand, and my hand behind my back. As soon as he saw me approaching, he got on the defensive.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "The fuck do you want?" "Food." "I ain''t got nothing. Now get the f-" -BAM. I slammed the rock over his head. He was already on his knees, screaming and clutching his bleeding head. I took him by surprise, he wasn''t expecting me to get violent. "What the hell are you d-" -BAM. The second hit put him on all fours, he started coughing blood, momentarily unable to scream. "Take it! Just take it. Le-" -BAM. The third hit put him flat on the ground, now barely able to make coherent sentences. His head clearly split open. "Plea-" -BAM. He stopped moving. -BAM. -BAM. -BAM. -BAM. Five minutes later I found myself walking back to my sister, food on one hand, blankets on the other and in my pocket some loose change the homeless guy got from begging. I don''t know if my sister heard the screaming, he didn''t have much of a chance to scream anyway. She never asked me how I got the food, or why I had blood on my hand, or why we moved the next morning. She never asked and I never gave an explanation. I could have probably done it without killing him. On my way to him I couldn''t stop shaking, and the only thing pushing me was the image of my sister shivering and whimpering in hunger. "I have no choice."- I kept telling myself. "I have to do it. Either that or we starve to death." After the first hit, it''s as if an invisible weight lifted off me, and his pleading just made me want to hit him harder. I couldn''t stop myself. On my way back I felt happy, happier than I ever felt before. It''s as if I was released, as if nothing else mattered, not the hunger, not the thirst and definitely not the blood of a dead man on my hands. Flashback end - It''s at these moments that I always reminisce. It''s the perfect moment after all. I always have a clear head moments after a kill. As the adrenaline is washing off, I think to myself, tonight was a good night. As was 16 years ago. Be more suspicious! -Knock Knock "Who''s there?" "Me." "Me who?" "Just open the God damn door." Opening the door to my suburban house revealed my 6 foot, 150 pound, auburn haired sister. She didn''t care much for her appearance and being a police captain didn''t exactly allow her to show her feminine side. Not that she has much of a feminine side to show. With blue jeans and a white full sleeve shirt, she probably put on the first thing that wasn''t on the floor. Her floor is her laundry basket after all. Knowing her, she probably has her Glock 19 concealed underneath her shirt. That''s part of the reason why she wears loose clothes. Annabeth Sherman, at age 27, is the youngest captain in Westerlund. "Sure, come in, it''s not like I was sleeping or anything." "Huh? Don''t you always wake up at like 5 or something?" "Busy week. I''m taking a break from all the paper work. Why are you here?" "Aww, can''t I come visit my brother every once in awhile? Anyway, I''m here because I want you to meet someone. She''s a big time event planner. Last month during a party she organised, some guy pulled out a gun and accused another guy of cheating with his wife. No one got hurt and it was settled quickly, back to topic, she came down to the precinct to give a witness statement and we got talking. I''ve actually been talking to her for the last month and she''s a really nice person and I think you should meet her. I think the two of you would get along really well, she''s a couple of years older but I do-"Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. -beep beep beep beep She looked at me exasperated, went out to the back garden, answered her phone then came back 2 minutes later looking angry. "Something wrong?" "Old woman. Drowned in her bathtub. Not too far from here, some 5 miles west." "Suicide?" "Unlikely, I''m going over there now. And here I was thinking to have a good relaxing day, sipping tea and annoying the shit out of you. Anyway, Sophie; your date, she expects you at Gooday Restaurant at 7. Don''t be late." "But I don''t want to go on a date, besides isn''t weird that you''re the one arranging it. You''re my sister and she''s gone. Perfect." So they finally found the body, I''ve been wondering how long it would take them. I killed the woman three days ago. One of my easiest kills actually. I told her my car broke down and my phone ran out of charge. Even before I could ask her help, she let me in, offering to let me use her phone, she even made tea for me. She makes some damn good tea, I''ll give her that. You''d think she would be a bit more suspicious of a stranger showing up to her door in the middle of the night. At least ask some probing questions first. My car broke down and my phone ran out of charge at the same time? Really? That doesn''t sound the least bit made up to you? But I won''t to be complaining. One thing that I''m dissatisfied about though is that she gave up and stopped struggling too quickly. It''s more fun when my victims fight back, or think they can fight back. My knife 2 inches away from her eyes stopped any attempt at screaming. But she more than made up for it with the look of betrayal on her face. The look on her face when I told her to draw her bath and then lie down in it was priceless. Priceless. I almost couldn''t stop myself from cracking out loud. Of course I had to keep her head underwater myself. She didn''t trash around much and she died quicker than I expected. It shortened my fun but as I said, the pure shock on her face when I revealed to her I was there to kill her was more than enough satisfaction. I didn''t bother cleaning up the spilled water. Overall an enjoyable kill, let''s just hope my sister doesn''t connect it to me. Annabeth Sherman "Captain Sherman, Sheriff Jerome, we talked on the phone. Thank you for coming out here. We don''t usually see stuff like this around these parts." The Sheriff greeted me from outside the house of the victim, lifting up the yellow "do not cross" tape for me to enter. "It''s my pleasure, really, Sheriff. I came as fast as I could. So, you think this is related to the drowning I got a few months back?" "I don''t know what to think, the last murder in Albireo was over 15 years ago. It''s all just petty theft in this area. Nothing ever gets more violent. I was hoping to borrow your experience, I hear you have plenty." Unfortunately the Sheriff was correct. As an orphan that lived on the streets, I had seen my fair share of violence. That only increased during my days as a trooper. I was often the first responder at violent crimes. During my time as a homicide detective, I saw a variety of ways to take human lives. Not to say it doesn''t affect me anymore, it''s just that the shock of it all has waned. The frequency of my encounters with violence has decreased since my recent promotion to captain. More paperwork than active field work really. Not to mention more days off. We started making our way inside the house with the Sheriff leading the way. "No worries Sheriff, I will help out as much as I can. What do you have?" "Victim owns the house. Her name is Barbara Burns, 79. ME puts her death between 72 to 82 hours ago. More examinations can be done in the lab. Cause of death is still uncertain. The victim has been in the water for too long, the ME can''t determine whether the water filled her lungs before or after her death. No other external injuries. I''ve left the body as it was found, I wouldn''t want to contaminate it before you came." "Well, there doesn''t seem to be any sign of a break in, so maybe the victim let him in? Is there anything missing from the house? Maybe jewellery, laptops or just hard cash? And how is it that she''s been missing for three days and no one noticed?" "Nothing missing that I can tell. It''s not unusual for her to stay cooped up in the house for a couple of days, she only usually comes out to pick up the newspaper in the morning and chat with the neighbours in the afternoon. Her health''s been deteriorating recently and she''s been spending less and less time outside." The Sheriff stood still for a moment then turned around to look at me "And if you''re thinking because there is no sign of a breaking it was someone she knew, she trusted, I can assure you it was no one from this community. We folks we grew up together, went to high school together. No one from this community would ever do something like this."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "You knew her?" "Yeah." "I''m sorry for your loss." We made the rest of the way in silence. The Sheriff stiffened as soon as we entered the bathroom. The stench from a three day old dead body was almost palpable. There were mosquitoes in whatever part of the body was floating above the water, ants crawling up the bathtub in the dozens. The body itself had a tinge of blue around the nose and mouth and I didn''t need to touch it to tell how cold it was. I felt for the Sheriff, it was never fun to see someone you knew in a state like this. Doesn''t matter how much experience you have. I made my way to the now deceased Barbara, kneeled in front of the bathtub to examine her closely. "Pieces of cloth underneath her fingernails, definitely wasn''t an accidental death. I found a similar material underneath the fingernails of the woman I got back in Westerlund. Have it analysed, if it''s the same material in both cases then there is a high chance it''s the same suspect. Who found the body?" "Neighbour got worried when Barbara stopped collecting the newspaper in the morning. Knocked on the front door couple of times apparently, but when no one answered she asked a patrolling officer to check it out. He''s the one that found the body." -beep beep beep beep "Sorry Sheriff, I gotta take this." I picked up my phone as I stood up and walked out of the bathroom. "You''ve got Captain Sherman of Westerlund PD." "Captain, we''ve got another body. It''s the Child Stabber again." "You sure?" "Looks like it. I''ll give you the address." "I''ll be there as soon as I can." I hung up the phone and made my way back to the bathroom. I found the Sheriff still standing in front of the bathtub looking at the body. "Looks like I got a case of my own. I think it''s safe to say that the murder happened late at night 3 days ago. Ask around the neighbourhood. As you said, this is a close knit community. Someone must have seen something. Maybe an unusual visitor coming to see her in the days leading up to the murder. Or maybe a strange car parked for too long. The suspect must have known she lived alone. So he either stalked her before killing her or he knew her. 54% of all female victims reported being stalked before being killed. Although that''s much more common for younger victims. Sorry I couldn''t be more help." "No, you''ve at least given me a starting point. Thank you." "Keep me updated." "Of course." And with that I made my way out of the house and towards my car. There goes my plans for the day. I have to talk to the parents of the latest victim of the Child Stabber too. Something else I''m not looking forward to. And the massive amount of paperwork that''s going to come with this. Gives me a headache just thinking about it. To think I had just caught up on all the piled up paperwork too. On second thought, I''m gonna make one of my detectives talk to the parents.