BLACK ROSE (COMPLETED)

38 -

***Note: This section will be narrated by our unhinged, maniacal, crazy-eyed, chili-pepper-headed Sinan...

On a Wednesday, in the early hours of the morning...

This whole ordeal was starting to get on my nerves. Not only had I failed to kill Ece in that car accident, but I'd also inadvertently made Kerem aware of everything. Word had it that Kerem, severely wounded, was now battling for his life in the hospital. I couldn't let him recover and expose all I had done.

Kerem had to die...

And yet, I wouldn't bloody my hands in the process. Why should I, when there was a much simpler solution—using Derin, who adored him to the point of madness, as my unwitting executioner?

With that plan in mind, I set to work immediately. I made my way to the hospital and approached the reception desk, asking for Kerem's room number. Armed with the necessary information, I headed up to the third floor. Following the room numbers, I found his door and knocked.

"Come in," Derin's trembling voice called from inside.

I opened the door and stepped in. She was alone with him, keeping vigil at his side. Hands thrust casually into the pockets of my school trousers, I greeted her with a nod. She returned the gesture, her eyes red and swollen from crying, her face haggard from the relentless grief. She looked utterly shattered. Derin sat hunched on a chair beside Kerem's bed, clutching his hand as though it was the last tether holding her to the world.

"Welcome, Sinan," she said between sobs. "Kerem... he's not doing well. They said he's got multiple fractures, organ damage... He's not conscious right now, but I know he must be in so much pain."

I didn't come here for idle chit-chat. There was no time for pleasantries. I moved straight to the point. "Don't worry, Derin," I said, closing the door softly behind me. "Soon, I will end his suffering. Or rather, you will."

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. Then, with a sudden flash of understanding, her eyes narrowed, and a sinister hiss escaped her clenched teeth. She was preparing to attack. The moment she transformed from human to snake, shedding her clothes and slithering toward me with astonishing speed, I was already prepared.

"Stop!" I commanded, using the full force of my mind control powers.

The serpent froze in place.

"Now, Derin," I continued, "you will return to your human form."

In an instant, the snake's body twisted and warped, morphing back into the slender, trembling girl she was before. She knelt, utterly vulnerable, hands and knees on the ground, gazing at me with a look of helpless dread.

"Stand up and return to Kerem's side," I instructed.

Obedient as a puppet, Derin rose—still unclothed—and walked stiffly back to the bed. She resumed her position, soullessly awaiting my next order.

"Now, you will take that pillow," I said, voice calm and cold, "and smother your beloved. End his pain. Then, replace the pillow where it belongs, get dressed, and forget all that you've done."

The beautiful girl nodded numbly, silently accepting her fate.

My work here was done. As Derin reached for Kerem's pillow, I whistled a carefree tune and sauntered toward the door. I opened it, stepped out, and softly closed it behind me. Leaning casually against the wall, I waited. It wouldn't take long.

Mere seconds later, Derin's anguished scream erupted from the room. "Doctor! Somebody, help! His heart has stopped! Please, help him!"

As I strolled leisurely down the hallway, a middle-aged woman in a pink uniform—likely a nurse—rushed past me, running frantically toward Kerem's room. But by now, it was too late.