THE EMPATH

FINDINGS

"It was you all along. I should have seen it. I mean, you seemed to always be at the right place at the right time. That day at the diner, it was almost like you expected us. You never even raised concern questions about the task force because you already knew everything. But...but...you only look eighteen or something, h...how do you manage to commit the perfect crime...you must be the youngest serial killer," I liked confused Eddy more than the firm angry, robot Eddy. He was up but he was not completely off the drugs yet and I hoped that by the time he would recover, he would have told me a thing or two about himself. For the last ten minutes, all he had been doing was analyzing me and he was nailing it. "Well, as much as I enjoy watching your surprised face, I have other more important things to do. I need to be back in the house by dinner time since I told my parents I was just taking a walk. I am going to ask questions and I am gonna need you to answer them nice and short," I said and walked over to him. I had tied him up in an upright but comfortable position as I didn't want him to get tired. Robert had equipped the place ready and I couldn't help but wonder whether he had done for me or if he had done his share inside the damn place. Apart from books and water cans, there seemed to be no any other to prove that someone had ever been held down there. The walls were not shouting to me and there were no ghosts haunting the place. "Maybe the big guy just happened to know that I would need the place," I had concluded and went on with the business at hand.

"Tell me how you manage to find out about me and the boys first. Explain to me how you pick your victims and how you get to them without anyone ever seeing you. Please tell me how you manage to look like the victim in all the scenarios you are caught up in. If you do, I will tell you all about myself because I have a feeling that is what you want to know," he said and smiled a bit. I knew the cards were working for me as it seemed like I didn't have to hurt him to find out the truth. I pulled one of the cans toward him and made myself comfortable. I then went on to tell my story from the very beginning. I knew he was never going to tell anyone so I didn't have to filter. As I told the story, he seemed to be getting excited at first but towards the end, he started to grow angry and that was about when everything shifted. The drugs had won out and apparently, I had underestimated his strength. While I was busy telling him about me, he was busy freeing himself. The next thing I saw was him jumping off my comfortable cross and picking up one of the metal crap that was lying on the floor. I reached into my pocket and took out the syringe I had carried for an emergency. I was in a tight spot because so far, I had known that Eddy was one hell of a trained dude and he had the kind of experience that gave him the upper hand. He made sure to keep his distance as he feared me a little. I could tell that he was looking for the perfect moment to pounce so I kept on moving around.

I remembered how Robert had taught me to deal with skilled people like Eddy, but I had not tried it before in a real situation and I was not sure I could pull it off. "You little piece of crap, you thought you could just show up toy house and pick me up like a stupid goat for s*******r? Well, son, I hate to break it to you, but I am not one of those other weak boys that you have been dropping like flies. Now I know your story and I can work on a few things to prove that I had a good reason to take you out. Even better, I could make sure no one ever found out what happened to you," he said and took one swing at me. The huge metal landed on my side and I felt a rib c***k. The pain moved up my spine and my vision blurred for a minute. I also could not breathe so I slowly dropped to the ground. Eddy walked over to me and bent down punching me full force in the face. By then, my body was in so much pain that I didn't feel it anymore. Slowly, I lifted my arm and put the damn needle into his thighs, and pushed all its contents into his body. He managed to break my arm and pull the syringe out but by then it was too late. He dropped forward and I moved a little so that he didn't fall full-body on me. I stayed on the ground for a bit as I was trying to catch my breath. My chest was on fire and I could feel my left arm going numb with the moment.

I remembered Robert telling me that there was a way I could activate my super healing ability but I could not remember how he had explained it to me. However, I knew it was in a book somewhere and I started searching. The man sure loved his books and he had lots of them. I went through six huge books before I could find the one with helpful info. The first thing I learned, was how to make a truth syrup from the poisonous apple seeds and a couple of leaves he had planned in the compound. I was then convinced that there was more to the old man than he let out and I wondered just how much more helpful crap he knew but never told me. At the very end of the book, I found the instructions I was looking for and I followed them. The only thing I needed was a bathtub full of water. I looked around and even though there was no bathtub, there was a trough. Ignoring the pain I was experiencing right about then, I filled the damn thing with water to the brim. I then continued to read the next part of the instructions and that got me rethinking the whole thing. I was supposed to lie still under the water while holding my breath until I felt like my head would explode. I would then go on to take in some water through my lungs so that my body would think I was drowning and activate the guardians' protection ability which would be saving me from drowning but would also heal me in the process. It was the craziest thing I had ever had to do so far and I was scared. However, looking at my swollen face and feeling my broken rib, I understood that I could not show up home in that state and though the risk was great, I had no choice but to go for it.

Ten minutes later, I came around. My guardian must have taken me out of the trough or something as I was lying n***d on my back. I felt heavy on the chest but I was no longer in pain. I sat up and scanned the room just to make sure that Eddy was still asleep and there was no one else around. After I was satisfied, I went in ahead to dry myself and put on my clothes before taking Eddy back to the cross. That time around, I made sure to tie him up strong so that he could not break free. I looked at my watch and it was almost eight o'clock. I needed to get back home but I promised unconscious Eddy that I would be back in two hours. I had to be careful while leaving the compound as I didn't want anyone to see me. All the villagers knew that no one lived there at the moment and seeing someone walking about would raise concern. Before I left, however, I made sure to pick a couple of apples and some leaves from the plants Robert had explained in his book. I really needed to hear Eddy's story and I knew he was not about to tell it to me out of his own will. I needed to push a few buttons and I would feel much better if I didn't have to hurt him. I made my way home in the dark which I was already used to by the time. The night vision had got me thinking that it was better to work at night.

I got home to find a slightly concerned mother and father who was about to lose his patience. He knew me better now and he knew I may have been up to something dangerous. I could feel his worries as soon as I walked through the front door. "Hey, mum. Hello dad. Sorry, I am late, I guess I walked too far," I said with a smile as I joined the two at the dining table. "You should have at least picked up your phone Vicky. It doesn't hurt to let your father know that you are okay," dad said looking me right in the eyes. I knew what he was talking about but mum had a different idea. "I left my phone here. Remember it was about to shut down me after the funeral," I answered. A moment of silence followed as the two were waiting for me to serve myself first. That had always been the dinner routine and I had forgotten. Somehow, the whole take-out and junk thing had made me forget that to us, meal time was more like a ritual. "Vicky, are you sure you are okay. I mean, of course, I know you are not...how could you when you just said goodbye to one of your best friends. I just think that you should try to move past this, or at least, don't let it ruin your healthy appetite for mum's specially made vegetable rice and chicken." she reached for my hand and briefly held me. She felt my cold hands. "Oh my...Vicky, you should have worn gloves. You are cold. Please tell me you weren't down by the river all that while. I know you love that place but daytime is always there. You will get yourself sick," I was beginning to remember why I kept a tiny distance between myself and her. She was always overly concerned and it was hard to feel like a grown-up around her. "Relax mother, I was just down there for a few minutes. My hands are always cold remember. If it helps, I will eat half the chicken and all the soup," she smiled at my joke even though she didn't find it funny at all. I reached for the hot dish and served myself a plateful of rice and a bowl of soup. I then went on to cut a huge chunk of the chick and I could feel my dad smiling. "That is more like the Vicky I remember," mum said and smiled big.

I hated that dinner time went slower than my afternoon class back in college. After eating, mum would always have something to tell or some questions to ask. That night, she wanted to know all about my lone life in college. I tried to take her through it as fast as I could but she kept the questions going until ten o'clock when dad left the table. She had to follow him so I helped her clear the table and I was all alone again. After I was sure they were all tucked under the blanket, I quickly made the syrup that would loosen Eddy a little. I then ran all the way back to my dungeon where my prisoner was already awake and trying to free himself. The moment he saw me, he started cursing me in all the languages he could speak. He was more like his friends before him, he just didn't know it. "Eddy, you need to take it easy. In all my career as...you know, no one has ever walked away. Actually, no one has ever even tried to free themselves the way you did earlier. You are a special one. That is the only reason why I will give the special treatment I never gave the others," I said while forcing the foul-smelling liquid into his mouth. "That's it? you are just going to poison me?" he asked and smiled. He was trying to get me worked up so I could get all unreasonable. I knew that because I had watched him do it to me in the station a while back. "Well, yes and no. The liquid you just took is a poison yes, but not the kind you have in mind," I told him and sat in the water can like I had earlier. Silence followed.

"Hey, if you were to ever go through what I went through while working at the border, you would understand why I am the way I am today. You can't even imagine the things we did there. Taking that many lives do change a person and not for the better...," he started at last and I put the book down to listen. Apparently, Eddy had been forced to do nasty things down at the border and they had taken his humanity away. He even told me of how he and his friends had invaded an enemy camp that was filled only with mothers and children. "...We would have just left them alone. After all, they were untrained, unarmed, and in hiding. I tried to tell the others that it was not okay but they didn't listen. We killed them all and to this day, I can still hear those little children's cries in my head. I could also hear and see some of my friends r****g the mothers in front of the damn children. After that day, a switch flipped in my head, I was no longer capable of feeling any emotions. When I came back home, I was different and my family noticed it. I didn't know when I was hurting them and I ended up making enemies out of them. I left home and tried living a normal life but things weren't working out. I couldn't live in a world where the only danger I faced was getting too drunk to walk home and ending up in a ditch. I wanted the rush, the thrill. I wanted to live dangerously. That was about when I decided to join the police force." he had explained. I understood him and for a while, all the hatred I had toward him melted away. I made the last move without even thinking about it.