PSYCHOPATH

chapter 5: goodnight

Chapter 5: Goodnight

~"But women are strong. She knew vessels, she knew water, she knew mortal thirst."~Anne Carson from "Short Talk on the Mona Lisa"

"Daddy, don't leave! The monsters will come."

His father walked back and sat on the ground, and peeked under the bed. The boy watched from under his covers. His father's eyes met his, very different from his own, and he shrunk back.

"No monsters in here. Goodnight." Daddy's figure stood up, the joints cracking in the knees, and retreated out the door. The light disappeared with a clicked closed door and he was left in the dark.

If only he knew, his little boy was talking about the monsters inside his head.

****

Ella could not believe what was happening to her.

The more she stared at the picture on the wall, directly parallel to the cross, the more she felt like having a mental breakdown. She was certainly on the brink of it. Taking three deep breaths, Ella counted to ten. Don't freak out. Be strong. Don't freak out.

Turning on her heel, she found her phone discarded next to her purse by the front door. She screwed up her nose at the sight, never had she ever done something like this. One-night stands just weren't her thing and it was slightly embarrassing to see her belongings thrown next to the door in her hurry to get some dick. She usually had a level head, even when drunk. This wasn't like her at all.

Picking up the phone and turning on the home screen, Ella found the multitude of notifications overwhelming: thirteen calls from Kat, twenty texts from Asher, a reply text from Will finally, and one singular message from an unknown number.

Ella stared at the phone screen harder than she needed to. An unknown number. Something felt wrong about it. She unlocked the phone and made the choice to click it first.

Hint 2: The Code Killer likes you!

Ella's throat instantly clogged up, the muscles in her jaw locking. She stood there in some stranger's house with a cold shiver racing down her spine. He had her number. What did this mean? How the fuck did he get it? And what was so special about her for him to stalk her like this? Recalling Will and her therapist's words, Ella knew she had to use this to her advantage. But this...was too hard. This was terrifying, and as much as she thought of herself as a brave woman, the whole ordeal was beyond her capability to handle shit. The killer had some sort of sick obsession with her; how does a person grip onto something like that?

Taking a gradual breath, Ella wrapped her hands around the phone tightly, stopping the shakiness in her fingers. She was going to regret this...she knew this was stupid. With some hesitation, she found herself typing back to the killer. It was a wild hope. A desperate grab at any information she could get to catch this guy. Or, it was a careless decision that might get her killed.

Ella typed out: I would like to meet you.

Establishing a friendly relationship was better than starting off angry with the killer. She knew he wouldn't want to meet but at least being polite will make him more open to talking to her, meaning more information to capture him. Ella would gain his trust to exploit him, to find his weakness, and ruin him. To possibly kill him. It would be some atonement for all the lives he stole from the world.

Not wanting to overthink, she pressed send. She needed to stop being so scared, she needed to figure out this guy and get him out of her fucking life. Ella was going to do what she needed to do so she could rub it in James Grey's obnoxious face.