Chapter XIV:...Are The Hardest To Heal

Chapter XIV:…Are The Hardest To Heal

Luxor

My life is ruined. RUINED! I just woke up in an abandoned warehouse in the industrial part of the city, not too far from where Robert Serfass dumped his parents. I didn’t even think to look here, mainly because I had no leads, and now I know why. I’ve been looking for me this whole time, the only person smart enough to outsmart me is me. This explains why I’ve been waking up in strange places, I thought it was just sleepwalking from being overstressed at work. But no, this is different, I’m standing here, with Debbie strapped down on a table, handcuffed. Her abdomen is sliced open like an autopsy, but she’s still alive, I can see her organs functioning. Intriguing to see her lungs inflate and deflate as she breathes. I don’t know what I planned to do to her, but I sew her back up. I uncuff her, find her clothes, and redress her bottom half. I wrap her torso up in bandage, and put her shirt back on. This warehouse doesn’t look very sanitary, I hope she didn’t get infected. I take a walk around the place, and find Maryann, dead in a cage, naked. From the looks of her, she was dead only a few days. I keep walking, and find a large cage, and in it is Patricia. However, she has four extra limbs, two extra arms and legs. What was I doing here? Next to her is a birdcage with Emily, who is nothing but a head and torso, also dead. By the looks of her, she’s been dead for a couple of years at least. Her hair and glasses were still on her, that’s the only way I could tell it was her, was the glasses. I approach Patricia, who recoils, and backs into the corner of the cage. “Patricia?” I ask.
“What are you going to do to me? Do we need to make more porn? Who did you bring this time?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You can leave the cage now, just tell me. What have I been doing here?”
“What do you mean you don’t know what you’ve been doing? You've been doing it for five years!”
“And I have no recollection.”
“Really? All the torture you put us through, and you don’t remember any of it?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“You brought me here on a date. I thought it was an odd place for a date, and the next thing I know, I wake up in this cage looking like a freak! You used me and Emily in some pornography you were making with all sorts of...I can’t even bring myself to say it, but let me just say we’ve never felt more violated in our lives. Emily said she thought you loved her.”
“I did! That’s why I don’t understand why all this happened!”
“I thought you loved me too.”
“I did! I did!” I couldn’t help but start crying. “Get yourself clothed, and go to the police station and turn me in. Where is the pornography?”
“In your office over there.” Both arms on one side simultaneously point to a room nearby. Fascinating, I wonder if they work together, or if she can move them independently? I go into the office and start reviewing the tapes. They were sicker than the ones I found on the boat. Not only were these women tortured, but I openly killed anyone who participated in the sex act with these women, including animals. I beat these women, cut them, whipped them, stabbed them, I am ashamed of myself, how could I do such atrocious things? I seemed to be zoned out on the camera, as if I was doing everything in my sleep. For some reason, I too am completely naked. I leave the office, and find Patricia as she is preparing to exit the warehouse.
“I have one more question. What did you eat?”
“I honestly don’t know, you’d show up with slabs of cooked ground meat and feed us with dog bowls. There was something in the water too, it made us sluggish, and every time one of us would become aware of what was going on, the water was heavier dosed. Speaking of which, I need some before I leave.” She walks over to her cage, picks up the bowl, and finishes what little was left. She makes her way out, and Debbie wakes up.
“What’s going on- you!” She yells, wide eyed and terrified. “Oh my god, I’m in so much f*****g pain, what did you do?”
“Now, calm down, I don’t know either.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re the one who invited me here! Why do I hurt so bad?”
“Calm down, we can answer each other’s questions to figure out what’s going on here. I have no memory of bringing you or any of these women back here. You hurt because I had you open about to operate or something when I woke up. I sewed you back up and bandaged you, I suggest going to a hospital. Now, what is the last thing you remember?”
“You told me of a romantic spot where you like to take your dates, and that we were going to meet some friends of yours there. When we got here, I was confused, because this is not romantic in the slightest. When we got in here, you injected me with something, and I fell asleep. Next thing I know, we’re having this conversation.”
“Ok, thank you.” I take a lap around the warehouse, and find a small break room with a stove and a sink, and a fridge full of rotting meat. I notice gallons filled with water, along with a large jar full of powder. By the color, I’d guess it was heroin. I see the red and blue flashing outside, and I make my way to the front door, where Oswald is waiting.
“Some woman looking like a spider came in and told us you did that to her, is that true?” Oswald asks me.
“It’s more than that.” I introduce him to Debbie, and she repeats to him what she told me. I take him around, point out the dead bodies, show him the break room, and finally, we reach the office. “What’s contained on these tapes should make me eligible for the death penalty.”
“But you’re an excellent cop, no way you should get the death penalty, plus, you weren’t even conscious for any of it.”
“I don’t care, I’m a horrible person, I’ve done unspeakable things, I don’t deserve to live any longer. Test the meat in the fridge, I guarantee some of it will be human. Test the jar, it seems to be heroin. All this time Oswald, I’ve been searching for my missing girlfriends, and it was me all the time.”
“That just shows you that as a criminal, you outsmarted yourself. If you hadn’t woken up here, you’d still be looking for yourself.”
“Just take me in, Oswald. As of now, you are acting captain, as I am unfit for duty.” He arrests me and puts me back in the cruiser.
“I’m going to recommend an insanity defense for you since you weren’t conscious during any of it. Plus, you’ve done a great service as a detective, that has to count for something.”
“No, I want no special treatment. I want to be put to death, it’s what I deserve, Oswald.”
“I wholeheartedly disagree. I’m going to find you the best lawyer there is and-”
“NO!” I yell. “It only contributes to the stereotype that cops can get away with things normal citizens wouldn’t. I want a trial, and I want to be put to death.” We get to the station and I’m seen by the psychiatrist. Basically, I repressed my emotions for so long, I ended up developing a split personality. I apparently had regrets for not forgiving my brother before he died, and when I started showing emotion towards Emily, I was exposed to emotions and physical feelings I hadn’t felt before, and I wanted more. Because of my morality, I wouldn’t just consciously take what I wanted, so the split personality did what I couldn’t bring myself to do. Because of my interest in science, I started experimenting in a mad scientist type way that obviously got way out of hand. I told anyone and everyone to just give me the death penalty, but they all want to go for an insanity plea. They put me in the correctional facility until my trial date, though I expect to return. I approach Don when I see him, he may be able to fill some gaps. “Don?”
“Ey cap’n, what’re you doin’ in here?”
“Did I ever buy anything off of you?”
“Like what?”
“Anything? I have gaps in my memory.”
“Huh. Thought you’d remember buying ten pounds of heroin from me and asking to use that warehouse.”
“Oh my god.”
“What?”
“You were talking to my split personality, which I didn’t even know I had.” Don starts laughing. “It’s not funny, people died because of me!”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why it’s so f****n’ funny!”
“You knew about this, and didn’t tell anyone?”
“Nah, it’s pretty routine for me.”
“Routine?”
“Come on, you think you’re the first cop that needed something from me? When things need to get swept under the rug, people come to me.”
“But I’ve spent the past five years looking for me!”
“Haha, that’s great!”
“I want the death penalty.”
“What? Are you nuts?”
“No, I feel it’s the punishment I deserve.”
“It ain’t gonna happen, not with your shining reputation.”
“Give me your worst lawyer, I want to lose this case. I deserve to die for what I did to those people! Or give me your best, whichever one will help me get that conviction.”
“It ain’t gonna happen, I told ya already. Although, if you really wanna die, there’s plenty of guys in here that you put away, I’m sure one of them would love to do you in.”
“I’d rather die from lethal injection than be stabbed by one of these degenerates.”
“Why does it matter to ya how ya die?”
“I don’t know, I’d just rather be put to death by the state than by some lowlifes.”
“You think you’re better than them?”
“I- I guess not, if I’m in here.” Finally, my court date came, and Patricia and Debbie testified against me as I’d hoped they would. The recordings I had made were shown in court. It was my first time seeing them. I’m a monster. After all the testimonies and evidence were presented, my lawyer says,
“I recommend because of his unawareness during these crimes, that a reduced sentenced be enforced due to insanity of mental illness.”
“NO! I want the death sentence!” I couldn’t control myself, I hopped up and just yelled it at the judge. The judge just called for order, and told me that I’m not allowed to pick my own punishment. He got up and went into his chambers. After what seemed like hours, but was actually one, the judge comes back out.
“This is a difficult case, you have done so much good work for this city, and I can’t just ignore that. You were completely unaware of your actions, so you didn’t mean to do this on purpose. However, the brutal nature of the crime is extremely heinous. After careful consideration, I hereby sentence you to double life sentence with no possibility of parole.” The judge tells me. Guess I’m going to die in a cell, unless one of those degenerates get to me first. Patricia came into court looking normal, so she must have had the extra limbs removed. I still can’t believe I’d do that, and poor Emily, her death saddens me the most. She was the first person I made a connection with, the first time I knew what love was. If my brother hadn’t killed himself, would things be different? Sex is addicting, and while I understood the boundaries of the relationship, I guess there was a part of me that refused to accept. I’m a monster, I know I keep saying it, but it’s true. I am very disappointed with the judge’s ruling, but there’s nothing I can do about it. They transport me back to the prison, just as I expected. I go into the yard, and meet up with Don.
“So, what’s the verdict there, brain boy?” Don asks me.
“Double life, no parole.”
“Aww, no death for you?”
“Eventually, in my cell.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll tell the rest of the guys to leave you alone.”
“I’m a cop in prison, and I did a horrible thing, I deserve whatever is coming to me.”
“Yeah, but you were such an outstanding member of the community, I think you should be spared.”
“So I’m just going to suffer then?”
“Now, isn’t that a better punishment?”
“I don’t believe so, taxpayer money is keeping me alive, I’m better off dead.”
“Yeah, but if you truly feel bad for what you did, don’t you think suffering for it is more fitting than just ending it?”
“I never thought about it like that. But I’m going to have this in my head every day, and it’s all I’ll be able to think about, it’ll drive me insane.”
“Exactly. Having the state kill you is taking the easy way out. This way, you’ll have time to reflect, and maybe repent if that’s your thing.”
“You make total sense, Don. I should have to suffer, after all, I made those poor women suffer.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll have me as a friend.”
“Gee, great.” I say sarcastically.
“There’s that holier than thou attitude again, you ain’t better than me.”
“No, no, you’re right, I apologize. Thank you for taking me under your wing, such as it is.”
“No problemo, Luxor.” Oswald visited me later that day.
“How are you doing, Alpha?” Oswald asks.
“Miserable, Middleton.”
“Figured you might be.”
“I deserve it.”
“So you’ve accepted you’re not getting the death penalty?”
“Unfortunately. Don made a good point, suffering for my crime is better than ending my life, it gives me time to think about what I did. It’s all I think about.”
“I’m sorry it had to end this way.”
“As am I, I was hoping to get into the medical field next.”
“Considering the evidence that was shown on tape, you would have excelled at it.”
“Of course I would have, I’m Luxor Alpha, the man who is so smart, he outsmarted himself for five years.”
Luxor didn’t survive his double life sentence, after only a year, the intrusive thoughts about what he had done was too much for him to bear, and so, he hung himself in his cell one night, thus ending the story of Luxor Alpha.