Obsession. It's a nice word to describe the feeling that consumed him every night. A feeling he renew every day in every case he was assigned to help out. In every criminal he was chasing, he was chasing a part of the evil that had destroyed his life. Every criminal arrested was in part Red John.

So, when the phone rang, 5:26 am, he wasn't surprise to hear that Red John might have attacked again. He was waiting for this moment for a long time. It was closer to the end of it all, when all his grieve would end with the death of that demon. He hurried to the address that was given to him, controlling his emotions to not show the fire burning inside of him, claiming revenge.

38 minutes early

She was dead.

Four stabs ago she had stopped breathing and moving. I continued stabbing anyway because I wasn't finished and it was too much fun to stop. It had been a while since my last killing; I had to take a break to let the trail cool off.

Oh she was so beautiful, so perfect, alone in her big house, husband had left. She was totally alone and waiting for me. She had fought for a while, the way I like them to fight, but after the stunt gun had paralyzed her and I had bound her feet and hands it wasn't a fight anymore, just a struggle, some muffled screams and all the time in the world to see her bleed to death, stab by stab.

Her blood was free flowing now and the time for my finally has come. I soaked my hand in the warm stick fluid and looked around the room to see where would be the best place to draw my signature. The perfect spot was right were the TV was, so I threw it on the floor and begin painting the smiley face on the peach colored wall.

When I finished the circle I heard something that wasn't right. I looked back at her, dead in the bed and then I heard it again. Somewhere close there was breathing, a tense and scared breathing, making me realize there was someone else in that house.

For one moment, I thought my mind was playing tricks with me. It was impossible to be someone else there. I had made my research thoroughly. I had checked every possibility. I needed time to enjoy myself with her and I was sure I had picked the perfect day and hour. Her husband was abroad; I had checked a few hours ago. Her family lived in another state. No one would pass there at this time of night.

But then the door of the bedroom opened and I realized something in my research had gone wrong. Two dark eyes stared at me frightened. I recognized them quickly, because they were so alike

Her older sister wasn't supposed to be in this country, but somehow she was there in the door, looking at me drawing a smiley face with her little sister's blood. I hadn't planned that, but she was beautiful too and the more, the merrier. I had to be quick or she would scream - not that it would matter, the house was well isolated.

I ran to grab the stunt gun that was in the floor. When I moved, she moved too, she ran to the stairs, surprisingly without screaming. Maybe she knew that it wouldn't do any good, but still, not a standard reaction when seeing a strange man soaked in blood going in your direction. Something told me she would be even better than her sister and I felt the excitement arousing in me.

I chased her downstairs, she was running towards the main entrance and I couldn't let her get there. I jumped on her when she approached the door, but in that dark I miscalculated the distance and missed her, hitting my shoulder at the door. She managed to change her direction to the living room as soon as she realized I was between her and the exit. I tried to grab her by the arm but, with my hands still soaked in blood, she slipped away from me, falling through the center table next to fireplace.

She was vulnerable now, crawling towards the glass door that led to the backyard. I could hear her uneven breath and that made shivers run down my spine. The stunt gun wouldn't even be necessary anymore. The fight was more exciting.

I walked over her trying to get a hold of her. That was when she surprised me again. I didn't notice when she managed to grab an iron from the fireplace. She swung confidently hitting me strongly in the arm. The stunt gun flew to the other side of the room and I heard a crack in my arm. The bitch had broken it. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as it would be later, probably because of the adrenaline flow.

I cursed and my excitement was instantly replaced by rage, but I didn't have time to react. With another swing she hit me in the shoulder, making me loose my balance and collapse against the wall.

She quickly crawled away from me getting up and running to the glass doors. I couldn't let her escape. I never let anyone escape and that bitch would not be the first. I jumped on her direction, grabbing her by the ankle. She tripped and flew through the glass door. That was the first time I heard her scream. She felt heavily against the marble floor, the shattered glass ripping her skin and letting me smell the iron scent of her blood.

She continued to crawl away from me, trying to get to yard where she would have the chance to run. I stood up and went walked to her again, knife in hand this time. She was getting up apparently ignoring the cuts. She should have a good resistance to pain. I wondered how good and once again I was excited. I wanted to hear her scream again, to hear her plead for her life.

I grabbed her arm, firmly this time, she would not slip now. And once again the bitch caught me. She carved a point piece of glass on my shoulder and it was my time to scream. She kicked and tossed trying to free herself from my grip, and with the sharp pain in my shoulder she almost got away. But I had it with that playing, she was a good fight and we had fun with that dance so far, but I had to finished up and get out of there before the sun rose.

The look in her eyes when I didn't let go even after she carved the piece of glass in me was priceless. Pure terror. Delightful. And then I stabbed her right under her ribs. To my disappointment, she didn't scream.

She kept tossing and punching me and trying to break free from me, but I felt her weakening as the blood soaked my hand. I let her go and she collapsed on the floor. She looked away from me and began crawling again. I had to admit, she was going to cling to her last breath. I let her go away a few inches than I stabbed her again in the shoulder.

Now she screamed and my heart raced with excitement.

Yes – I whispered in her ear – Scream for me.

I took the knife out and was ready for the next stab when I heard the sirens. My blood froze and my heart skipped a beat.

It was impossible. No one could have heard anything, and even if anyone had heard her first scream and the shattered glass, there was no time for the police to arrive in such sort time. But there it was again, the siren, closer now. And then, the blue and red light shone through the living room window.

I looked at the woman on my feet; she was still alive. There was no time to enjoy myself, to watch her bleed to death. There was no time to try and understand what had gone wrong tonight, why the police was there, but I knew it had something to do with that woman who wasn't supposed to be there. I had to end it and clean up and leave before the car arrived.

I stab her once again on the back and she stopped moving. I pulled the piece of glass from my shoulder, being careful not to let a single drop of blood fall. I would not have time to clean up if it did. I ran upstairs and grabbed my bag, put the knife inside and hurried back down. I took the stunt gun in the bag too and ran to the yard the moment the police car stopped in front of the house.

I heard when they broke down the door, but then I was already out of their sight. I would still have a few minutes before they start to pursue. Bloody mess in the house, they would have to make some phone calls. I was soaked in blood; it would be very hard to escape, but I had to find a way. I was sure I would find a way.

It wasn't my night to get caught yet.