The Mind Hunter

by Mir Quadri

  Will slowly walked to the edge of patio as Evelyn followed him. The patio was all wet due to the recent rain. It was still drizzling.

  “You care for a cigarette?” asked Evelyn offering him a pack of cigarettes. Will reluctantly took one cigarette out. Evelyn lighted it for him.

  “Talk to me, Will. It’s just you and me now. What the hell happened? Did you really kill Ms White?”

  “No, Evelyn. I didn’t. I again didn’t. I have been framed. Again” responded Will.

  “How, Will?. You were found in her house, with a knife. It’s your DNA all over” explained Evelyn.

  “That’s right. But I didn’t”

  “What were you doing there?”

  “I did go inside the house with intentions of killing her, but I did not kill her, Evelyn” responded Will.

  “Why did you want to kill her?” countered Evelyn.

  “I wanted to kill her because I thought she had seen me kill Mr Zhu. But I was wrong. What I saw while Hunting her before was what happened in the house just now” muttered Will, thinking deeply.

  “What? What do you mean?” asked Evelyn.

  “I saw exactly this event, Evelyn. The one that happened just now. When I Hunted Ms White, I thought I saw myself killing Mr Zhu. I saw the man in black, in other words myself, from behind, raising the knife and thought I did it… but I didn’t. I didn’t kill anyone, ever. I assumed I saw Mr Zhu under that blanket, but I was wrong. It was her. It was Ms White. It was her under that blanket all along. And in the Hunting Session, I thought the man in black, who turned out to be me, killed Mr Zhu. Now I know, the person who got killed was not Mr Zhu. It was Ms White. By the time I arrived, she was already dead. Both, in the Hunting Session and just now” said Will, rubbing his forehead.

  “You mean you saw…” said Evelyn, thoughtfully.

  “That’s right. Remember I asked you if you had called me anytime asking me to run, before?” asked Will.

  “Yes” responded Evelyn.

  “The reason why you said no was because that event hadn’t happened back then. It just happened now when you called me. But I saw this event while Hunting Ms White” gasped Will.

  “Which means you saw the future and not the past? How’s that possible?” asked Evelyn.

  “That’s what I have been trying to figure out” said Will.

  “But, if it was the future, how could it be a memory?” she asked.

  “I have no idea”

  “Can you see the future in a Hunting Session?” asked Evelyn.

  “No. You can’t”

  “I am sorry, Will. This is all messed up — I don’t understand what you’re saying. I am going to get back to the crime scene again. Maybe there’s some evidence out there that can help you, and prove that you are being implicated. But I need to rush there to preserve whatever is not washed away by the rain” said Evelyn as she got closer to Will and continued “you stay put, Will. I am going to figure this out and get you out of this, I promise. They might hold you to local prison in downtown. It’s going to get a little cold. I just heard in the news that after the year 1912, tomorrow may be the first day when Miami will get some snow” said Evelyn.

  “What?” asked Will.

  “Yes, can you believe it. First it was the quake, then the storm and now the snow. Miami is going crazy” she said.

  The moment she said those words, something hit Will. His eyes popped out of his face, like his face was flushed with blood, and this blood was dripping from his eyes. His jaws dropped in awe as he brushed his head with both his hands.

  “What did you just say?” he asked.

  “What? I said don’t worry, I will fix this”

  “No, after that”

  “About the weather?”

  “Yes. You said first it was the quake, then the storm and now the snow. The climate is changing too rapidly” noted Will.

  “So?” asked Evelyn, now curious as to what was going on.

  Will looked down from the patio as he released the burnt cigarette from his hands. The cigarette went all the way down and fell on the street.

  “How did the cigarette fall down on the street? Where is the black window pane with the beams?” asked Will.

  “The ones that were holding your used cigarettes buds?” asked Evelyn and continued “remember, we got them changed last year. It was difficult for the facilities to clean it as it was holding a stack of your used cigerette buds. But why are you asking?” asked a surprised Evelyn.

  “Last year? I saw them a few days ago right after Hunting Jon Hendricks” said Will.

  “Jon Hendricks…are you referring to the old guy who killed the woman in his closet?”

  “Yes”

  “What’s going on with you, Will? That happened two years ago. What’s going on?” asked Evelyn.

  Will could not believe what he had just heard.

  “What year is this?” he asked.

  “Now you are really freaking me out, Will. It’s 2015” responded Evelyn.

  “Holy shit!” exclaimed Will as he started walking to and fro with his hands on his head.

  “What’s happening, Will?” asked Evelyn.

  “Aren’t we in 2013?”

  “Will, what’s going on. This is 2015. Are you okay?”

  Will started shivering as the wind started blowing furiously.

  “Holy shit!” he said as he slowly figured out what was happening.

  “Come on, talk to me, Will. What’s going on?” asked Evelyn.

  “I understand now. Geez, I understand now!” screamed Will.

  “What?”

  “When you came to my house that day to pick me up for the interview, I didn’t even look at my watch but opened the door without you knocking it, remember?” asked Will.

  “Yeah I remember. So what?”

  “How did I know that you had arrived?” asked Will.

  “ I am not sure I’m following you.”

  “How did I know Sarah would give me the prints? How did I know that Dan would just enter the room when I was breaking into the station and not stand outside the door to contain the situation?” asked Will, almost bursting out of anger.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Can’t you see, Evelyn? I knew all these because I have lived these before. I have lived these memories before!” screamed Will.

  “What?”

  “Yes. Do you remember I told you about Interferences?” asked Will.

  “Yes. This happens when a subject gets reminded of some other memory inside a different memory, by looking at something which is very familiar? Generally you end up calling them back, right?”

  “Yes. Exactly. That is what happened when I was Hunting Ms White. I saw this picture of Mr Zhu and his brother, and my brain reminded me of the memory that happened a few hours ago. This is the reason why, when I was Hunting her, I observed that it had started raining by the time I went inside her bedroom. But when I had entered the house, it was a quiet night. It didn’t occur to me until now. When I saw the picture of Mr Zhu with his brother, I jumped onto the memory that happened just now. And it was raining today. That’s why when I looked outside the window of the bedroom, I saw that it had started raining — because by then, I was witnessing a different memory” explained Will.

  “How could your brain remind you of an event that did not happen back then? The memory that you are referring to happened just now, did it not? So how could you see that before?” asked Evelyn.

  “Only that it did. It did happen. It had happened already. It was an Interference from another memory” said Will as he continued “look at the conditions, Evelyn. This abrupt weather changes, the quake, all these are signs of the Hunting Session getting unstable” explained Will.

  “You mean…” and Evelyn paused as she realized what Will was trying to say.

  “Yes. We are currently in a Hunting Session. My brain is jumping between memories due to Interferences. That’s why I witnessed something that had happened two
years ago, just a few days back. All these happened in real life, in sequence. I lived all these moments in sequence. But my mind is currently jumping from one memory to another due to Interference. This is the reason why, when I saw Mr Zhu’s picture inside of Ms White’s memory, I jumped into the memory of witnessing the murder, something that happened just a few minutes ago. Because, I had already lived that moment. And for me, these are all memories. Just like when I was Hunting Mr Jon Hendricks, when he looked at the puddle of water, he got reminded of his daughter, looking at the picture, I got reminded of my attempt to kill Ms White. The only difference is, my events were not in sequence. But nonetheless, these all happened and are a part of my memories.

  “I am not sure I’m following” complained a confused Evelyn.

  “Imagine a sequence of five days. Assume we are in the fifth day. Now, for us, what happened on day one is a memory?” asked Will.

  “Yes”

  “What happened on day three is a memory?”

  “Yes. Anything that happened before today, or in your assumption, day fifth, is a memory” said Evelyn.

  “Exactly. Similarly, I have lived all these events already. What happened in the Hunting Session, say was day one, and what happened just now, say is day three. But that does not change the fact that on day five, both events are my memories. So, while living my memory on day one, or in this case, Ms White’s Hunting Session, I witnessed an Interference, and jumped to the memory of day three, that happened a few minutes ago. That’s why I assumed I saw myself killing Mr Zhu, but in reality, I was just witnessing another memory and did not actually kill anyone.”

  “What the hell…” said Evelyn.

  “Yes. I did not see myself killing anyone. I just saw a memory, an Interference! I am reliving all my memories.And so are you and the entire department. All this is…” gasped Will.

  “Are you saying this is all a ….” said a shocked Evelyn.

  Will looked around and said “yes, we are all inside our Memory Palaces. This is a Hunting Session…and I am…the one being Hunted” said Will when suddenly, there was a loud howling sound of an elk bellowing in a forest.

  “Who is Hunting you?” asked Evelyn as she looked around, disturbed, by the sound of the elk.

  “I guess we are going to find out… now” smiled Will as a big twister, which appeared from nowhere, came furiously towards them, destroying everything into it’s circumference. It took Will, Evelyn, the choppers and everything around, and shredded them to pieces”

  ***

  Will opened his eyes and saw…

  To be continued