Jane
I see you, Jane.
So strong, vibrant
Fearless, even.
Watching from my perch,
It is easy to see
You are not.
Do your hands still hurt, Jane?
Those stunning alabaster hands
Whose palms I pierced?
Do you feel them ache
When I draw near
As I do?
Do you dream about me, Jane?
Dream of the night we first met,
My scalpel against your throat,
Your partner shot?
You escaped me, Jane,
But not really.
As I watch you now
I can see that
I never truly left
Your presence.
You never really were the same again, Jane.
I knew it when I next saw you.
Your eyes now lacked the ferociousness that attracted me
Your lips, trembling
Slightly
But slightly is enough, Jane.
Slightly lets me know I still have you.
My eye still hurts, Jane.
When I think about you,
My eye throbs.
Sometimes, if I think hard enough,
I can see the crimson sparks.
I can feel my flesh sear
As you escape yet again.
You are so clever, Jane.
My victims usually don't outsmart me.
But you have
And you did
And that is why I love you, Jane.
That is why I need to feel
Your hot blood coating my hands
As I rip the breath from your chest.
Are you still friends with her, Jane?
The red-haired, wide-eyed girl
Who is so very much like me?
I know you can't see it, Jane.
Her passion, intellect
It is almost like looking into a mirror
I can see me
Before I snapped
Before I knew
Before I met you, Jane.
I was dying, Jane.
Not by poison,
Or the wrath of a rival.
Not even by your beautiful, pierced hand.
Cancer had staked its claim on my life.
And rest assured, dear Jane, I was not faking
This time.
An oddly peaceful way for a man like me to leave this world, wouldn't you say?
You were there, Jane.
You and the red-haired girl.
I saw my chance.
I told you of the bad things I had done, Jane.
Lead you on a little scavenger hunt.
A missing family
A murdered inmate
Some swallowed teeth
All for you, Jane.
You see, I was drawing you to me.
Earning your trust.
Lowering your guard.
Wasn't it fun, Jane?
When the straps came off
And my hands wrapped around your delicate throat
Oh, Jane—you should have seen your face!
To think that a noble guard
Would so easily turn against the law
To help me? Ha!
But he knew, Jane.
He knew I had to have you.
I always finish what I start, Jane.
I remember telling you that
Laughing
As my scalpel dug into your throat
But I saw your concern for her, Jane.
And I thought, why not?
Why not extend your life,
If only for a little more,
So you could watch that red-haired girl
Fall to my blade?
"NO!"
You were amazing, Jane
So determined
So brutal
The scalpel was in my chest before I knew
You were even up.
As for the guard, well,
Good Korsak took care of him
It looks like being shot
Really doesn't keep him down long, does it?
Happy birthday, Jane.
I'm long gone now—I suppose it is my gift to you
Your red-haired girl saved
The little mystery solved.
But Jane, I will never really leave.
I have left my mark on your life
As the scalpel left its mark on my heart.
I can see it in your eyes, Jane.
Those gorgeous eyes that I so desperately wanted to shut.
Take good care of her, Jane.
The red-haired girl you saved.
Protect her.
Don't let her leave your sight.
Because, dear Jane,
She is so very much like me.