Dean worked fast this time, counting the stabs inside his head as he pushed the knife into the woman's stomach and chest. One, two, three, four, five. And then he stopped. He had gotten better at controlling his rage. His eyes followed her as her body dumped down on the floor.
"Breathe," he told himself. "Breathe, Dean."
He wanted to apologize to her like he had done with the first two victims, but the words wouldn't leave his mouth. They stayed in his mind, whispering inside himself. He was still sorry. He just couldn't say it this time. Instead he moved to the wall to leave a new message for the cops.
"Another blonde," Randy said.
"Her name was Natalya," Laura said. "She was a physics and chemistry teacher at the high school around the corner. When she didn't show up for work and didn't answer her phone, one of her coworkers came to check up on her."
"I hate that I feel a bit happy about this, but at least now we know our theory about him liking blondes is correct," he said.
"Three isn't a coincidence," she said.
She looked over at the wall and sighed.
"He's changed though," she said.
The words "I tried stopping myself" was written in blood.
"Not sorry anymore," he said.
"He's still sorry to a certain extent. He tried to stop himself which means he's still not completely alright with killing people," she said.
"And yet he continued," he said.
"He only stabbed her five times. He's getting a hang of it. The anger is giving way to something else," she said with a shrug. "Lust maybe. Living out his fantasies. I'm not sure what he likes most. The feeling of killing them, or seeing their dead bodies afterwards."
"Maybe he even masturbates later," he said.
"Maybe. I doubt it though. As long as he's sorry, I don't think it's sexual. Look at them. They're all fully dressed. He's chasing death, not some way to make himself cum," she said.