Cruel Intensions: Being Inside the Mind of a Young Serial Killer

Agent Megan O'Malley was out on patrol, looking for the missing kid Josh. She honestly hoped that the kid was still alive but everybody knew that every day is crucial. Usually a kidnapping doesn't last more than 75 hours before the kid is dead.

A house sat in a clearing, like something out of a Grimm fairy tale. Megan goes up to the porch and knocks on the door. If Josh was kept here, there was a chance that he was being kept in a cellar. No lights went on. No faces peeked out from the window. She circled the house. All the doors were locked. She crouched down onto the ground and put her face against the basement window. She strained her eyes to see with her flashlight. No sign of Josh.

The side door to the garage was unlocked. It was disgustingly neat and clean. Megan backed out of the garage, closing the door behind her.

There was shed. The shed looked like an older building. It probably had gardening equipment at one point. What it contained now was a mystery. Her instinct sensed something but there was no one here. At least she thought there wasn't.

Stepping to one side of the door, and pulled a gun out of her holster. She flicked the safety off. Heart thudding hard and fast, she moved along the shed. At the far end of the shed, she saw footprints on the dirt. Her pulse picked up a beat. Megan scanned the yard. She took a deep breath and stepped quickly past the open door on the side of the shed. She estimated that in about thirty feet, she would be clear of it.

She only made it twelve feet.

He hit her from the side. Struck a blow that sent Megan stumbling head first onto the dirt, gun flying out of her hand. She scrambled frantically to get away from her assailant. He was behind her, she could feel the presence....a black apparition, the shadow of evil. One more lunge and her hand grazed the gun. His weight came down on her. She gasped at the lightweightedness (sp?). She twisted her body rolling out from under him.

His image flashed through her mind. Black clothing, ski mask. He dove toward her swinging a wooden baseball bat. Megan caught the blow on her left arm. She tried to get away but he kept coming at her swinging, hitting her on her shoulder, side of her head which dimmed her consciousness.

One thought ran through her mind....Oh, Shit. I'm dead.

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"We have a treat for you."

The voice was soft, a whisper, unrecognizable. Megan opened her eyes and saw nothing. She noticed that she was tied to a chair blindfolded.

"You think we're going to kill you? Perhaps. We could kill you, you wouldn't be the first."

"Did you kill Josh?"

"What do you think? Do you think he's dead? Alive?"

"I think you're a lunatic."

"You ought to respect us. We're so far superior than you. We fooled you, so easily. It's a game. We calculated all the moves, the options, the possibilities. We can't lose."

"Did you kill Josh?"

"The game isn't over yet. We can't lose. Do you understand me? You can't defeat us. We're very good at this game."

The chair she sat in tipped back and spun around. Then everything went still. She couldn't tell if she was awake or in a nightmare. It was the blow to the head that made her disoriented. She felt as is she was floating on a black void. Then there was an image. A face, brown hair, stripped pajamas.

"Josh?"

There were freckles, a bruised cheek, blank eyes.

"Josh!" she tried to move but couldn't.

The image flashed again. He looked like a statue, like a mannequin, face expressionless.

"Josh!" she screamed but he didn't seem to hear her at all.

"You wonder who we are don't you?" A voice sounded from the top of her head. "You wonder why we play this game? we play it because we can. Because no one can catch us. Because no one suspects us. Because we're brilliant and invincible."

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Mitch's phone rings.

"What now?" The silence was broken by a thin shaky breath.

"M-Mitch?"

His heart pounded. "Megan? What's wrong?"

"G-get this sonofabi-" A strangled cry choked off the sentence.

"Megan!" Mitch shouted. "Megan!"

"We have a present for you chief." The line went dead.