The Wicked Game of a Psychopath

by Stan Hendriks

  Susan immediately dropped the phone, grabbed her car keys, ran outside, and raced off towards Marco’s house.

  Just a couple of miles away from Marco’s house, his wrecked car was being loaded onto a truck. He had crashed into a tree and hit another car right before the crash. The rain was pouring down heavily and men with orange vests were cleaning the road as fast as they possibly could while a police officer was directing the traffic. Without caring about the countless cars behind her ramming on the horn, Susan parked the car in the middle of the road and ran over to the police officer to ask where Marco was. The officer explained that Marco had been taken to the hospital, but he couldn’t tell if Marco was in critical condition or not. Susan thanked the officer, rushed back to her car, and drove off to the hospital.

  Luckily, Marco was going to be fine. He had a few cuts and bruises from the crash, but that was it. However, Susan was not allowed to visit him yet as he was still being treated for the bite of the saw-scaled viper and not only that, he also got a fairly large dosage of sedatives for the pain and he needed rest. Susan was relieved, Marco was going to be all right. She could finally breathe again as she took a seat in the waiting area. “Thank you, thank you so much,” Susan quietly said.

  About twenty minutes later, a worried Jack entered the hospital. Susan immediately walked over to him and Jack asked, “Susan, how is he?”

  “He’s going to be fine; he just needs some rest.”

  “Oh, thank god. When I received the news, I thought he was dead. Especially when I heard that a venomous snake had bitten him. How the hell did a venomous snake end up in his car?”

  “I honestly have no clue,” Susan replied as she rapidly blinked her eyes.

  It took a moment for Jack to understand what Susan was trying to communicate, but when he figured it out, he simply nodded and said, “Anyway, I’m glad he’s going to be fine.”

  “Me too.”

  “So, since we have to wait, how about I get us some coffee?”

  “That would be nice.”

  “Do you have everything in it or?”

  “Only sugar. But I really have to go to the toilet so, be right back.”

  “That’s fine,” Jack said as he walked over to the coffee machine.

  Susan then went into the toilet, threw some water in her face, and took a good look at herself. But then she heard a phone ring. She didn’t pay attention to it until she realized that there was no one else in the toilet cabins behind her. The phone kept on ringing and Susan carefully opened each toilet cabin. “Hello? Is anyone there?” Susan asked as she reached the last toilet cabin. No one answered and Susan slowly pushed the door of the last toilet cabin open. Her heart dropped when she saw that there was a mobile phone taped onto the wall. It was Mr. Miller calling; she was certain of that. She knew that Mr. Miller was going to bring horrific news and everything in her told her to just run away as fast as she could. But she had no other choice, she had to answer the phone. So, with shaking hands, she carefully took the tape off the phone and answered, “Hello?”

  “Sweet Susie, my apologies for bothering you at this time, but earlier I left out some crucial details. Can you believe that?” Mr. Miller chuckled. “I completely forgot to tell you that I have another favorite snake and I just now realized it. I went out and bought some chocolate, but when I came back, I noticed that my other favorite snake, the Inland Taipan, was missing. It took a while, longer than I would have liked, before I remembered why she was missing. Earlier today, I was taping Kim onto her bed and whispering my darkest and most sickening fairytales into her ear, and when I was done, I taped my beautiful snake onto her belly. I can be remarkably stupid at times and lately, I find myself forgetting things, which is quite concerning since dementia runs in the family. Anyway, it’s been a while and my lovely snake is probably starving. She needs a mouse. So, please, do me a favor and give her something to eat. Can you do that for me?”

  Susan immediately dropped the phone and ran over to Jack as quickly as she possibly could. Together, they ran outside and got into his car—his police car—and drove over to Marco’s house, but it was already too late. The Inland Taipan had bitten Kim multiple times and released a substantial amount of venom into her bloodstream which had caused her heart to stop working. Kim was murdered because Susan had given Jack a clue and that realization tore her heart to shreds.

  Chapter six Day Nine

  The funeral

  About forty people, fully dressed up in black, gathered on a graveyard and although the sun was shining brightly, it was a sad day. It was the funeral of Kim, Marco’s girlfriend. As the coffin was slowly lowered into the six feet deep hole in the ground, the priest read a verse from the bible out loud, followed by Marco who had a couple of words on his own, which brought many people to tears. Susan was standing there as well, next to a distraught Jack. But her mind was elsewhere. She stared at the coffin, thinking about how she hadn’t heard anything from Mr. Miller in four days already. She had been anxiously waiting, fearful of what task he was going to give her this time. She had isolated herself, afraid to move a foot away from the phone. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the phone ring, it haunted her. She had slept with one eye open because she was fearful that if she wouldn’t hear or be able to pick up the phone, Mr. Miller was going to take someone else’s life. Someone close to her. But in those four days, the phone hadn’t rung once. She knew the game wasn’t over yet, it couldn’t be. Why would Mr. Miller stop now and so abruptly? It didn’t make sense. Was he planning something big? And he made a promise that by the end of the game, he was going to reveal himself. What was going on? Nothing made sense anymore, and the suspense of not knowing what was about to come, and when, tore Susan apart even further.

  After everyone offered their condolences to Marco, they left, and Susan and Jack were the only ones left. Jack embraced Marco and said, “If you need anything, just let me know, okay?”

  “I appreciate that,” Marco nodded.

  Jack then padded Marco on his shoulder and as he looked back at Susan, he said, “I will wait for you by the car.”

  He then walked off and Susan embraced Marco with tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry… I… I feel so guilty. This is all my fault.”

  “Hey, hey, this isn’t your fault, okay? You’re not responsible for someone else’s actions. Please don’t blame yourself for this.”

  “But if I… if I would have… I can’t. I can’t tell you anything because… because if I do these things happen.”

  “Then say nothing. Just know that you’re far stronger than whatever you’re facing right now, okay?”

  Susan nodded and wiped away her tears. “I’m sorry, I’m making this about me while… I’m so sorry about what happened to Kim. No one deserves that, especially not Kim. She was a fantastic woman and… it’s horrible.”

  “I know,” Marco replied as a tear rolled down his cheek. “And it will be extremely tough, not having her around anymore. And I’m going to need… I… I don’t even know. I just need to be alone for a moment.”

  “Of course, but if you ever want to talk then know that you can always call me, okay? And if you need me then I will be there, I promise you.”

  “Thank you, that means a lot.”

  Susan embraced Marco again, gave him a kiss on his cheek, and then walked off towards the car.

  Jack was leaning against the car with a cigarette on his lip, and as soon as Susan came up, he said, “We need to talk.”

  “You know that I can’t talk about it,” Susan replied as she got in the car.

  Jack threw away his cigarette and got in as well. “This has to stop, and you know it. But the only way this is going to end is if you’re going to give me some information because right now, I barely have anything on this guy.”

  “Don’t you think that I want this to end as well? I’ve been mentally tortured by this freak for days already and every day, every minute, every second I feel like I’m either going to end up dead next
or someone else who is close to me is going to end up dead once again. Do you even have a clue what that feels like? That’s right, you don’t have a clue. So, yes, detective, I completely agree that this has to end!”

  “I didn’t mean it in a negative way, trust me.”

  “Trust you? I’m not so sure if I still can.”

  “What… what are you implying?”

  “Isn’t it strange that you told a similar story about the roses as him? And on top of that, I haven’t seen you around for the past four days, and guess who hasn’t contacted me in the past four days?”

  “Do you honestly think that I’m capable of committing these horrific acts of violence? If that’s the case, if you honestly think that I’m the one behind all of this, then you’re not in the right mind. We’ve known each other for quite some time already and this… this is beyond ridiculous. Do you even know what you’re accusing me of here?”

  “I’m well aware. But until I know for certain that you aren’t him, I can’t trust you. Because the last time I gave you a hint, Kim ended up dead. Sorry, but I have to leave,” Susan replied as she got out of the car and walked off.

  Jack got out as well and shouted, “Susan, come back. You can’t be serious right now.”

  But Susan didn’t look back once and kept on walking. Jack considered running after her, but he decided to just let it rest, for now. And as he let out a deep sigh, he got back in his car and drove off.

  After walking on high black heels for a good ten minutes, Susan had enough. The blisters on her heels were stinging way too much so, she took off her heels and took her phone out of her bag and called a taxi. “Welcome to Susie’s San Francisco Taxi Service, how can I help you?”

  “Susie’s… what?”

  “Sweet Susie, have you missed me? I’m sure you did. But worry not, I’m back and we can finally continue with the game again!”

  “Why… what took you so long?”

  “Because it’s part of the game. I had to build up the suspense to keep it exciting. But if I may be so honest, the funeral took a little longer for Marco to plan than I initially thought. The plan was to contact you yesterday, but then again, I’m not surprised as planning isn’t really feminine man Marco’s strong suit. So, on Marco’s behalf, apologies for the delay.”

  “Why did you kill her? She had nothing to do with this, nor was she a feminine man or whatever. Why?!”

  “It’s simple, each time you fail to follow the rules and disobey me, the punishments get more severe. I hope this was a good lesson and I hoped it showed you that I take this game profoundly serious, and you should too if you want to prevent these things from happening again in the near future. But let’s not think about what happened in the past. My mother once said, while she was beating my father with his shiny dress shoe, ‘Stop whining about something that happened before, it’s in the past’. And she was right, what happened in the past is no longer important. We should live in the present, and we should only focus on what’s occurring in this moment and time. So, I suggest that we leave the past behind us and continue with the game. We have actually almost reached the final stage of the game already; can you believe that? Although the game was of short duration, it was definitely an intense emotional rollercoaster, wasn’t it? And now that I think about it, I should intensify it even more. So, are you ready for your next task?”

  “What is it?”

  “That’s the spirit. You’re a fast learner and you adapt quickly, it’s astonishing. Anyway, tonight at eight o’clock, there will be a meeting for recovering alcoholics in a sports hall. And after everything that happened, I think you should attend the meeting. It will do you some good to express your feelings. And, of course, you do have to pretend that you’re a recovering alcoholic as well, but I’m certain that won’t be an issue for you. Because let’s be honest, you’re in an intense love-hate relationship with red wine. You will be picked up at seven forty-five but worry not, if you behave then it won’t be necessary for the driver to put you to sleep again. Is that understood?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s all? Are you not going to insult me again?”

  “No.”

  “Well, you actually did by assuming that I’m Jack. I’m far superior to Jack and you should know that by now.”

  “I know.”

  “Excellent, and before I hang up, you should know that I’m proud of you, Susie. Although everything that happened must have taken a toll on you and must have been extremely tough, you just keep going like the trooper you are. Which is admirable. You deserve a thumbs up, you really do. As a matter of fact, I’m giving you four left-handed thumbs up in total, get it?” Mr. Miller chuckled. “Have a pleasant evening, Susie.”

  Susan stared into the abyss for a while with the phone still close to her ear. She knew something terrible was going to happen, that was for sure. But if what Mr. Miller said was true, then she was finally, after all the misery she had been put through, close to avenging her son’s death. And with that thought in the back of her head, she walked home to prepare herself for what was about to come with a determined expression on her face.

  At precisely seven forty-five o’clock, the limousine pulled up in front of Susan’s house. Susan was already standing there with a pair of sunglasses on and to her surprise, the driver stepped out of the limousine this time. With a blank expression on his face, the driver held the door open for her and simply stared at her without saying a word. Susan tried her best not to look the driver directly into his eyes and got into the limousine. The driver then slammed the door shut, took a good look around, and then got back behind the wheel and drove over to the sports hall.

  Fifteen minutes later, Susan stepped out of the limousine which then drove off with squealing tires. Although confusing, she ignored it and took a moment to look at the humongous sports hall before she walked inside.

  In the entrance hall was a man, who was in his early sixties, waiting and as soon as he saw Susan, he walked over to her with a bright smile and shook her hand. “Hello, my name is Benjamin. You must be Susan, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “It’s a pleasure meeting you. I’m the host of tonight’s meeting. I myself have fought against the demon called alcoholism for years and it has been an extremely tough battle. I’ve gone through all the seven circles of hell before and every day felt as if I was living in a nightmare. But by talking about it, sharing my feelings with others, especially with those who went through the same thing, I was able to defeat the demon and put him to sleep once and for all. And if I can do it, you can do it as well. And I know that you feel ashamed, and the shame you’re feeling is holding you back from sharing your story. But know that no one is forcing you to talk and that you already made a huge step in the right direction by coming here. And you can be proud of yourself for that. I certainly am.”

  “Thank you so much, I appreciate that.”

  “It’s my pleasure. But please, follow me. It’s about to start.”

  Susan did just that and followed Benjamin over to hall number three.

  There was a stage built and in front of the stage were well over a hundred people seated. Susan took off her sunglasses and her eyes widened while her throat tightened. “Is everything all right, Susan?”

  “Yea, I… I wasn’t expecting this. I was expecting around twelve people sitting in a circle or something but not this.”

  “I completely understand, but do not worry. No one here is going to judge you, nor are you forced to speak. Just take a seat, try to make yourself comfortable, and listen to what other people have to say. Is that all right with you?”

  “Sure, I guess.”

  “Very well,” Benjamin said with a wink as he then walked over to the stage and got behind the microphone.

  Susan took a seat somewhere in the back and after Benjamin took the microphone off the stand and introduced himself, with a similar story he told Susan, people applauded and then Benjamin invited another man up the sta
ge. He embraced the man, padded him on the shoulder, and gave the man the microphone. “Good evening, everyone. My name is uhm… Daniel and I’m here to share my story. I used to be addicted to alcohol, and I became addicted when my daughter died two years ago. She was sixteen years old and a straight-A grade student. She was popular, had lots of friends, and everyone liked her. She was always optimistic, full of happiness and she always had this bright and beautiful smile on her face. Her life seemed to be going great, and my wife and I were certain that she was going to have a great future. Sadly, she committed suicide. There were no warnings, nor was there anything that indicated that she was unhappy. She always seemed so happy but apparently, deep down, she wasn’t, and she was wearing a happiness mask for the outside world. I still have no idea why she was unhappy or what made her unhappy and sadly, I will never know. But she was my angel, my everything, and I couldn’t deal with the fact that she was gone forever. Never was I going to be able to hold her in my arms again or tell her how proud I was of her or how much I loved her. She was… gone. And she was never going to come back and that… that broke me. It broke me to the point at which I needed alcohol to stay sane. I couldn’t deal with the pain and I simply had to numb myself. But exactly six months ago, I reached rock bottom. Not only had I lost my daughter, but I also lost my wife, my house, and my family. It was all my fault. I chose alcohol above everything else. And although that was extremely tough, it was something I needed. I needed to hit rock bottom to realize what I was doing, I needed it to wake up and get my act together. I remember I was lying on the ground in an alley. It was dark, cold, and on top of that, it was raining. I had a bottle of vodka in my left hand which was still half full and normally I would have downed it within seconds, but that night, I told myself no more. I had enough of it. So, I threw the bottle away and went to the first rehab clinic I saw. After that night, I have never touched alcohol again and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. And I know that somewhere up there, my daughter is looking down on me with a smile on her face. So, please know that no matter what you’re going through right now, it’s never too late. No matter how tough it may seem. If I can do it, you can too. Thank you.”