The Mindf*ck Series

Chapter 4

𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.
- 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘌𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯

𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗔

𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗸. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗸. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗼. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵?

I

grin when I see the random text from Logan. Yesterday I was awkward, but then he called and made me forget how unversed I am with all this, because he didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed more
intrigued.

𝗠𝗘: 𝗬𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘀. 𝗜 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗬𝗜.

𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡: 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝘁. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆? 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲? 𝗢𝗿 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗻, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿?

I finish concealing the final camera over the entry of the doorway. Getting inside wasn’t easy, considering Tyler or his wife locks the doors immediately when they get home or leave. But I finally managed to slip in and leave a window unlocked for later.

No security system. There’s only one of my targets planned who has a security system. That’ll be on Jake to handle. Jake is a true best friend. How many people do you walk up to, tell them you want revenge, tell them your plan, and then they start helping you keep from getting caught?

I grab my phone and text Logan back, finding it oddly calming to have a normal conversation while plotting.

Maybe I really am psychotic.

𝗠𝗘: 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗜’𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄. 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄.

That’s not entirely a lie. I did do a trade review… It just happened to be in the same town.

Tyler’s wife is out of town on a conference for work, which gives me plenty of time to check out his home.

The flooring is new, just like the rest of the home. No creaks is a damn good thing. My phone buzzes in my pocket as I make my way through the hallways, checking for anything and everything that might pose a problem.

𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡: 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗜’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿. 𝗝𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

Gotta love irony.

We’re so terribly mismatched that it’s not even funny.

If he’d seen the evil I’ve seen, he’d understand why some people deserve to die.

𝗠𝗘: 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲?

Pretty sure that’s not the best question to ask a guy you’ve only had one coffee house date with—if you can call that a date.

𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡: 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆.

Well, he’s killed numerous people the same way with the same methodology and reasoning…so technically he’s a serial killer too. It’s logically truthful. Other than wearing a badge to find it legally justifiable, we’re the same. Well, I torture my victims first, but that’s just nitpicking at facts.

𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡: 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

I’m laughing before I can stop myself, and I groan while shaking my head, happy that there’s no one here to hear me. Morbid humor is probably not going to get me far in this relationship.

𝗠𝗘: 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗜’𝗺 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁, 𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹.

Sometimes people don’t find justice. Sometimes they have to take it.

“𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺, 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰.” 𝘉𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.

𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.

“𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯!” 𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘳. “𝘖𝘳 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”

𝘈 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺,” 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘒𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.

The memories used to leave me curled in a ball and crying for hours. Now they fuel me. Feed my mission. Drive me forward.

Make me a little murderous.

Shaking my head, I move through the house quicker, hiding the last camera in the stuffed bear on Tyler’s bed. Apparently his wife likes stuffed animals. Or at least I hope it’s his wife who likes stuffed animals. I’d hate to know I’ve trembled in fear over a guy who carries around a stuffed bear.

As I enter the last bedroom, I notice it’s soundproofed with large amounts of studio padding meant for musicians. This will be the perfect room, since he doesn’t have a basement. No windows are in here.

No cameras will be added in this room.

There are a few guitars lined up, all of them nice and shiny.

His whole life is nice and shiny. Just like all of them.

I can’t wait to paint it red.