Alex stood in front of the wall staring at the names, news articles, and photos taped to it. His bedroom was no longer the place where he sought refuge but a room where he conducted his search.
His hair was shuffled as he sported a full-on beard. He tried to rub the strain out of his sleep-deprived eyes then pushed his silver-rimmed glasses back onto his face.
A hard knock pounded on his bedroom door. Alex slowly looked back, seeing it was his brother, he turned back to the wall.
"Have you decided?" Malachi asked sliding his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he slowly walked in the room. "Are you coming with me?"
"I don't really feel.... like watching kids play soccer." Alex taped a news article under Egan's photo. "Go without me."
"Isabeth's going to be there." Malachi leaned against the dresser frowning at Alex's bed covered in newspaper clippings and articles he printed off the Internet. "Maybe you can talk to her...fix things. She loves you. I'm sure she'll forgive you.... for whatever you did." Malachi rubbed his mouth.
"A psycho drugged me and I killed her friend." Alex leaned over his bed in search of the next clue. "If I find Faith...." He plucked an article from the bed. "She'll talk to me and maybe.... she'll forgive my lie."
"What did you lie about?" Malachi pleaded to inch closer. "Just tell me."
"It's our secret." Alex stuck tape to the corners of the paper. "Trust me you don't want to know."
"Your secrets are my secrets." Malachi placed his hand on Alex's shoulder and just for a second it warmed his soul then Alex flexed it off. "I'm here for you."
"Go to the game." Alex sniffled slapping the paper on the wall. "I need silence to think and you're distracting me." He peered at Malachi.
"Whatever you're hiding from me it's going to eat you alive." Malachi backed up towards the door. "Secrets and lies tend to do that." He turned around and walked out the door.
Alex heard the front door slam and shifted his attention back to his wall of scattered clues. "A family that makes babies disappear." He read the riddle Isabeth told him after he walked out of the house of horror. "The Psychopath Maker." He mumbled the moniker. "Who are you?" He inhaled deeply catching a whiff of his stench.
Alex pulled the dingy white shirt over his head as he walked to the bathroom. He turned on the shower. He plucked his toothbrush from the holder and dipped it under the sink's faucet. He pulled his glasses off his face and studied his reflection, the strained, red vessels in his sunken eyes, and the placidity of his emotions. He was hollow but being hollow was better than feeling the pain of all he lost. He stuck the toothbrush in his mouth and wiped away his morning breath.... that was collected two mornings ago. Steam cloaked the bathroom as he stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash over his skin.
He stood under the showerhead for minutes which turned into almost an hour letting the water slither over his body as his mind repeated the riddle until it clicked. "A family that..." The water that rolled over his lips tickled into his mouth. "Malachi. Lemen's."
He twisted the valve off, climbed out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around his waist. "Lemen's can make babies disappear." He stormed out of the bathroom forging to his room.
His footsteps halted in the doorway. His heartbeats raced as his eyes caught sight of the envelope propped up on his nightstand. His name was written delicately across the white envelope. He knew who it was from when he picked it up and ripped it open. He slid out the card and read the cursive words, "Take a sip and you shall learn all the truth that you yearn."
Alex's eyes fell on the vile filled with a brown liquid sitting on top of his nightstand.
Alex flung the card to his bed grabbed the vile and uncorked it. He poured the liquid down his mouth and gulped it down. The bitterness of the elixir made him twist his mouth and scrunch his face. It burned as it coursed down his throat and in five minutes his knees weakened, his eyes closed and his head hit the floor.
A minute later, a slender figure climbed through his bedroom window. It stalked across his room and stood over his body. It knelt down and stroked his reddening cheek.
The gentle sensation caused his eyes to slightly open. Through the fog, he saw it. "It's you. It's been you." His eyes slithered closed.
"Yes." It spoke. "It's me. It's been me, Benjamin."
His breath quickened and his chest rapidly rose and fell, "You're...dead." He fought to open his eyes but he could only raise his eyelids a sliver letting the sunlight in. "I killed you."
"You did what I told you to do." The Psychopath Maker stroked his cheek once more. "I'm not done with you, yet." It rose to its full height. "Carry him out." It instructed the two figures standing at the end of the bed. "Quickly, for we have work to do."
So, you finally get to meet The Psychopath Maker. Is it who you thought it would be?
Thanks for reading the second book of The Psychopath Series! I hope you enjoyed it.