Like a Moth to a Flame

Andrew 20

I'm sitting in the room with Sam, watching him stare at his hands clasped in front of him when there's a knock at the door. An officer steps in first followed by Lisa, a notebook in her hand and a look of confidence that makes me so proud of her.

She takes a seat in front of Sam as he carefully eyes her, his sullen eyes landing on the notebook she sets on the table. "Hi Sam, I'm Lisa. Detective Andrew told me you had some questions for me?" Sam is quiet for a couple of minutes as Lisa nervously looks at me and back at her notebook, waiting for the questions to begin.

"Was he charming with you too? Did you think he was this nice guy? Lisa responds, not missing a heartbeat. "Yes, he was very charming in the beginning. Actually, even up until the end. He was a talker, and his favorite subject was himself. At first, yes, I thought he was a nice guy. Articulate and very forthcoming. He earned my trust quickly. Too quickly."

Sam notices how she whispered that last part. "What do you mean, too quickly? How long did you talk to him before you let him into your innermost thoughts?" "Well, we used to speak in the beginning, like monthly because of our job but then that turned into bi-weekly and weekly calls. And then before you knew it, we were talking daily and he was opening up to me about his life. Probably about a year or 2 after we first spoke but you have to understand, we hadn't met up with one another until earlier this year."

Sam and I are staring at Lisa trying to comprehend what she just said. She had just met the killer this year after working with him for years and confiding in one another. She was able to keep him at bay but she was next on his list. We found evidence in his apartment of this but I didn't feel it was right to tell Lisa this now. Everything was still so fresh in her mind and she was just now coming out of her shell.

"Consider yourself lucky Lisa. Lucky that you didn't have to be in the same office as this asshole. He started off just like you said, charming and played the nice guy card with my sister. He led her to believe he could be trusted as she began to open up about her life . And just as when you begin to open up to someone, making yourself vulnerable to them, you eventually become attached to them.

Before she knew it, he had become fixated on her. Obsessed. He wouldn't leave her alone. He'd harass her at work with calls and texts and he'd follow her home. She asked him to stop several times but he'd charm his way back each and every time. Its like he had this hold on her and she was too weak to break free."

And then one day, she was at her wits end Lisa. She came to me late at night and begged me to make him stop. She broke down in my arms as she told me he raped her. He got what he set out to get from the very beginning."

"I'm so sorry Sam for your sister. I know how manipulative James could be. He had me fooled for a while there as well. He needed to control everything. When we'd have conversations, he wanted to keep me confused and off kilter. He...he wasn't a good person and I'm so sorry your sister was the victim of his sickness."

Sam sits in silence for a minute. "She told me you were next."