by P J Mann
“Sure, is there anything wrong? Should I be worried?” Justin asked.
Jonas smiled weakly, “no, nothing really serious, but I prefer to talk outside of this building.”
That said, they both walked in silence towards the exit, not even exchanging a glance to each other. “So, what was it that you needed to talk about?” Justin asked as they were already far from the Police Department.
“I had a long call with my mother, and she was wondering when I am going back home. I thought you might come with me like we talked about last time,” he replied.
“Yes, that would be fantastic. I haven’t traveled so far outside the States, and I would love to visit the place where you had grown up,” Justin said. “But something tells me that there is more you are not telling me.”
“Yes, there is more. This is not going to be just a leisure trip,” Jonas started to explain. “As I was telling you once I might need to help this cousin of mine with that open case that has been causing him some troubles. I do not have yet any idea about the case itself, so I think that the best thing to do is to go there personally and see what I can do to help him out. I hope I can also count on your help.
“I know you will be using your vacation time, and you are hoping just to relax and have a good time, but I promise you this will not take more than a couple of days. I don’t want to get involved in a case that doesn’t even belong to me.”
Justin didn’t reply immediately, he needed to think about it and ponder the proposal carefully. Indeed, he always wanted to see the place where Jonas was born and grew up. He was curious to meet his family and friends, let alone traveling abroad, for which he never really had time. The only problem was to spend some of the time of his vacation working.
Ok, he said it might be only a question of a couple of days, after which we can get to travel and relax together, but what if the case will get more complicated? He thought.
“Do you want to think about it or are you trying to find a polite way to turn down my proposal?” Jonas asked apprehensively.
“I am thinking about it. First, I would like to know when you are planning to leave. I do not have special plans, but it would be nice to have something in my calendar so to schedule all my stuff.” Justin replied.
“The reason for taking a vacation is just to relax and not thinking about the job, so I would like to know whether the fact of helping your cousin would last more than the two days you forecasted. I have no idea what kind of problem he might have, and not being familiar with Georgian laws, I also wonder how we can help your cousin. I need to have more information about this particular case.”
Justin felt like Jonas was also trying to control and plan his life, and that was something he wasn’t ready to accept.
One thing is that I find him extremely sexy and arousing when he plays the bossy guy, another thing is when this stops being a game and becomes his normal attitude towards me. Sorry, Mr. Charming, this is not the way I mean it he thought.
Jonas turned down his gaze, as he noticed the sour tone in Justin’s voice. “I’m sorry, I might have sounded like the one who is expecting to control your life at my own will.
“I don’t mean it that way. I let myself get carried away with this problem, and I stopped thinking that you are not at my beck and call. I am your supervisor at work, but this doesn’t make me the one who can command you in every situation. I am sorry.” His voice was full of shame as its tone got lower and lower as he spoke. He really didn’t mean to behave in a cocky way.
Justin huffed, “That’s ok, I understand you are pretty stressed during this period; so, apology accepted. So, when are you planning to go?”
“I thought we might go for Christmas. With this much time to plan, we might be able to schedule our duties, and I can figure out your scheduled vacation time with the rest of the team here at the Department. What do you say?” Jonas asked.
“I think I would love to visit Georgia, and Christmas is the best time to go on vacation together.”
“So do we have a date?” Jonas asked hopefully.
“Yes, we have a date, you can start booking the tickets for the flight and scheduling my replacement for that period,” replied Justin with a tender smile.
“Justin, me shen mikvarkhar - I love you,” Jonas whispered as he grabbed Justin’s hand.
That was not the first time Justin heard Jonas saying something like that, but he could feel the intensity in his words, and they felt more than just something said.
He remained for a second open-mouthed, as his heart started to beat faster and faster in his chest making him feel like he was dying from the desire to kiss him. The need to keep their relationship secret, for the sake of their jobs, was something that felt almost unbearable and the wait to be at home together, seemed to be almost impossible.
Justin sighed, “I love you too. I wish we could have our relationship without hiding ourselves.”
“I know, at least the problem is not on us being gay, but that I am your supervisor. We might think about being moved to work in different departments, so to avoid conflicts within our jobs. You know the rules very well, if I weren’t your direct supervisor, we might have better chances to be in a relationship,” replied Jonas.
“Then we have to think about who is going to move because I cannot stand this secrecy for much longer,” Justin said smiling.
“Since I am your supervisor, I can try and arrange your transfer, if this is what you really want.”
“We will think about it, for now, I feel like I don’t want to stay far from you for a single moment,” Justin chuckled amusedly.
“I guess you’re right, but one day we will have to figure out what we expect from our relationship and how we are going to get there. I guess we are still in the phase of understanding our feelings, and there is no reason to rush anything,” he glanced at the clock, with a grimace. “It is time to get back to our duties, have you received the email I’ve forwarded you?”
They stood up and started to walk back to the Police Department, “Yes, but I didn’t have the time to read it. I will take a look at it as soon as I reach my office; can you give me a quick rundown about it?” Justin asked.
“Sure, there is a ten-year-old girl who is missing. This time I don’t think it is a question of someone who wanted to cut the ties with the past, so I expect something nasty to come out from it. The only hope we have is to find the girl alive,” Jonas replied.
“I’ll start to work on it immediately.”
At the Police Department, it seemed like the case of Mrs. Lynn was finally archived. That was exactly what Dr. Wright and Prof. Doyle hoped; also, at the hotel, where the countdown to the final test was swiftly approaching, the case was fully archived.
However, there wasn’t any relief from the original tension as the choice of the victims had to be finalized between the few potential candidates they gathered.
Dr. Wright and Prof. Doyle waited until all the patients were already in their rooms and that the doors were already locked.
At that point, they also locked themselves in Dr. Wright’s office ready to make the final selection.
“So we have five possible people to be sacrificed in the name of the research, the question now becomes, who’s going to be next?” asked Dr. Wright. “What I am wondering is why are we the ones to choose the victims…”
“Would it make any difference?” Prof. Doyle asked leveling him with his stare.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we are ready to kill people, and at least in the previous test, you had to finish the job Mr. Jackson wasn’t able to complete. What is the difference in also making the final decision about the victims? Our client found five possible candidates, we will choose two of them.”
Dr. Wright sighed, “It wasn’t something easy to finish that girl. We will have to make sure that the patients will follow through with the kill from start to finish. In a real situation, there won’t be someone else ready to finish what they s
tarted. Once the drug is ready, the patient must be ready to go through the whole process without any kind of supervision. He or she must get to the victim, kill them and return to his or her home, where every memory will get erased.
“I understand, but we need to keep our feelings separate from this research. Think about the reason why we got involved in this project in the first place. I don’t know what it was for you, but for me, even before the generous pay, it was the potential opened up by this kind of research. The fact that there would have been some lives to be sacrificed, it didn’t really matter. We are living in an overpopulated world, and one more or one less won’t make any difference. Particularly because the choice of the victims has been made to eliminate those who do not have anybody left in this world. Our victims do not have many friends, and particularly do not have a family, or they have burned all their bridges with it.
“Seen in this perspective, you cannot really feel any sort of regret for the loss we are causing. Moreover, the advantages can be more important,” concluded Prof. Doyle.
“Of course, the potential of this research, besides the purpose of our customer is virtually limitless, and many of my patients might benefit from it. Although for me if in the beginning, I was also very excited by the research, the compensation we receive is far more interesting. Thinking about the chance to retire way before the legal time, is something that I am really looking forward,” Dr. Wright said lazily browsing the pictures of their potential victims.
“Any special plan on where to spend your golden years?” Prof. Doyle asked chuckling.
“Not really a steady plan, but I would love to move to a Caribbean island, and live there in peace, trying to forget about this project.”
“Then we need to make sure that we are not getting caught before that, and make sure that wherever you go there aren’t any extradition policies with the USA… just make sure that nothing could touch you, once you are there.”
That said Prof. Doyle took the pictures of the potential victims in his hands along with the sheets that described their status and background.
“I always hated gardeners,” he said placing the picture of the man who was taking care of the garden in the hotel.
“Have a bad experience?” chuckled Dr. Wright.
“You can say that again. When I was a kid, we had a gardener coming every spring and fall to take care of our garden. The only thing he was able to do was take our money, as my mother had to take care of it after he left.”
“So, let’s say that the gardener will be the one who will be eliminated, now we need another candidate and then we are ready to prepare the subjects,” Dr. Wright said turning the pictures.
“Well I chose one, you chose the second. Is there anyone interesting?” said Prof. Doyle.
Dr. Wright remained pensive for some long moments browsing between the pictures trying to find the right person to be killed. He tried not to think about that detail, he chose the victims he would have chosen the candidate for some sort of experiment.
“I guess that I will choose this one,” he said placing the picture of a middle-aged woman who used to clean the rooms. “It seems like there won’t be anyone missing her; she is living a quite lonely existence.”
He sighed “let’s not get too attached emotionally, we need to focus on the results.”
Prof. Doyle smiled, “So it seems like we have our victims, now all that is needed is to start changing the dosage of the drug and see the reactions. Then you need to start working on the hypnosis routine, and next week, the final test will take place. Nothing has to be left unplanned, and nothing shall go wrong; we cannot afford any kind of mistakes.”
“I know, that is what I am working on constantly; that there wouldn’t be any trouble, not before during or after.”
“Well, since we do not have anything else to think about it, I guess we could just inform our client about the choice and go on with the plan. What do you think?” Prof. Doyle asked.
“Indeed, you’re right. I will send him an email immediately, and then we can go to sleep. I am terribly tired, and tomorrow the most complicated part of our job will start. We need all the rest we can get to keep our brains working perfectly.”
As soon as he sent the email, Dr. Wright took a deep breath and switched his computer off. He turned his gaze at Prof. Doyle and smiled weakly.
“This is it, I think we can go to sleep.”
This was not going to be an easy night for Dr. Wright, he already knew from the previous time; this was the time when he could feel the stress the most. He wasn’t sure whether it was connected to the responsibility of choosing the fate of the next victim, or the adrenaline of risking everything.
Neither he was sure about the feelings in his soul. For sure, he could say that there was a big confusion going on in his heart, together with the biggest conflict he’d ever experienced.
The power, he thought, the power of playing God in someone else’s life. The power of being the one to decide who is going to live and who is going to die. It is an incredibly addicting feeling; it is something that can intoxicate and take over the heart of a human being.
He took out his notebook and started to write some notes about what his feelings were. That was a sort of self-psychoanalysis or a way to understand himself and to get a better grasp over the triggers that take over a serial killer.
Although with just one murder on his conscience, he could not consider himself a serial killer, he knew from the very beginning that the need to step into murder was feasible.
“There are things that I still fail to understand about the feelings of being an assassin, of planning and eventually executing a murder. Something for sure is the powerful effect it has on the conscious.
Like a heavy curtain, it is able to obliterate any other feelings like compassion and empathy. When I think about the process, my brain gives priority to what gives me some sort of pleasure. It is like it’s trying to push aside the feelings like regret, fear, compassion, and empathy, emphasizing the pleasure I can get from the power of choosing the fate of another human being.
It feels like I am no longer a fellow human, but a sort of super being that has the power and right to decide who is going to live and who instead has to die.
This is a sort of trigger I might use with my patients, to help them in their fight against the murderer inside them…
Sometimes to cure a monster, you need to become a monster yourself.”
He shook his head and hoped that nasty story would have come soon to an end. “If I get out of this alive, I promise to leave the country and peacefully enjoy my life.”
He took a deep breath and switched off the lights hoping to find some rest.
The next morning, like every morning, the director of the hotel, Mr. Atkins entered the hotel walking through the lobby. To reach his office, this was not necessary as it could have been accessed easier by the rear entrance. However, that day he preferred to make an exception and greet the receptionist that was finishing his shift.
“Good morning Mr. Atkins,” he greeted standing up from her chair, eager to go home and rest.
“Good morning to you, Mr. Allison,” he replied almost absentmindedly. “Is there any news?”
“Well, sort of,” Mr. Allison replied searching for something in the drawer. “Yesterday just after you left, Jennifer, the supervisor for the cleaning service and Mark, the gardener, asked me to give you their resignation letters.”
“Resignation…?” He wondered taking the envelopes from the desk. He could barely believe it, none of them ever complained about anything connected to their jobs. I thought they liked working here.
“I didn’t even know they had any intentions to leave their job. Did they mention anything to you about their reasons?” He asked surprised.
“No, to be honest, they both seemed like there was something serious with their resignations. I didn’t want to be nosy, but perhaps they both had serious family problems. I am quite new here, I onl
y started my job five months ago, so I didn’t have the time to get confident with everyone,” he replied.
“Could you do me a favor before you leave?” He asked
“Whatever you need Mr. Atkins.”
“Could you ask them to come to my office as soon as possible? I am not going to stop them or trying to persuade them in their decisions, but I would like to understand whether there was something wrong with the salary they received, or if they had conflicts with the other members of the staff,” he replied shaking his head, walking to his office without waiting for a reply. In his head, there were a thousand questions that needed to have an answer, and he was sure that he would have them only by talking to them.
I don’t buy the story that they have family problems. None of them had a family or anyone who could care for them anymore, he thought.
He entered the office and looked around, knowing that the day already started off in the worst possible way.
He opened the letters, and both gave him only a ten-day notice, “What is going on here?” he said aloud.
“Right when the therapy group is leaving, and the hotel will start to run as usual with more than six customers, they are going to leave!”
“Where are we going to find their replacements in such a short time?” he added.
He understood that there was no use in falling into despair, he needed to talk with the manager of human resources as soon as she arrived at her office, so he sent an email immediately, explaining the situation. He knew that the first thing she would have done would have been that of checking her emails.
“And let’s hope she won’t change her habits today.”
It didn’t pass more than an hour, and someone knocked at his door.
“Come in,” Mr. Atkins said.
The door opened, and Mark came in warily, like a child that enters the office of the principal of the school.
“Good morning, Sir. Did you ask to see me?” his voice was uncertain and was perhaps expecting Mr. Atkins to be disappointed or even to raise his voice.