Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
A nurse with long, sunset- red, straight hair walked slowly in the center of a narrow, dimly- lit hallway, carrying a stainless steel tray with almost grotesque food on top of it.
She passed through every corridor and glided towards Ward 13. Most of the nurses here were considered unlucky because of the patients they were treating.
The only ward with private rooms and the highest ceilings so the patients couldn't reach the cctv cameras. The rooms were soundproof to prevent the screams and wails of the older patients to stop haunting the nurses who passed by.
Abruptly stopping in Cell no. 9, the nurse gulped nervously and nodded towards the camera infront of her, motioning the door to be opened as she shifted to the side to look at the sleeping patient.
Her patient was a man in his late teenage years. 19 years old to be exact, sent here at the Townsville Mental Hospital for the cold-blooded murder of three women.
The article graced the Townsville Times for a few months before the police caught who was responsible. They didn't know that the guy responsible for all the killings had been only one.She had mentally remembered seeing the three victims' bodies. Her patient killed once a month to lessen the tension he felt.
"It was part of his M.O., he killed once a month to avoid suspicion and there were no common threads to his victims except long and red hair. I mean, the first victim was strangled with the wire of a laptop's charger. The second one was brutally stabbed at least 28 times and hanged to the ceiling while the last one had been a bit considerate since he sliced her throat and dropped her off to bed, leaving petals of roses around her. He'd cut off a bit of his victims' hair and all the women had long red hair. He was like 3 different persons when he killed them" taken from the long interview of a reporter to the Chief of Police after they caught him at his apartment, separating each strand of hair.
"He was a handsome man and muscular to boot, with copper-red hair that women find attractive. He used it towards his advantage and lured his victims" the Chief of Police added.
The nurse entered the room quietly and immediately placed the food down on the heavy stainless steel desk.
"Going so soon?" her eyes shifted towards the bed. Her heart beating irregularly at the sight of his crimson eyes staring directly at her. It seemed to glow menacingly.He was wide awake and grinning from ear to ear like a hunter cornering his prey.
"Why don't you stay for a while? Better yet. Stay here forever." He had swiftly moved from his bed to her side.
She screamed. Loudly.
Her body involuntarily shaking, fearing what he would do next.
She slowly moved away from the door as he slowly took one step closer to her. And when she had reached the corner of the room.She knew she had nowhere else to go.
"Shhh, keep quiet...Rhea" he glimpsed at her name stitched on the left side of her uniform's chest area.
He touched her whimpering face and bellowed at her small sniffs. A tear fell from her eyes.
"P-p-please...don't k-k-kill...m-m-me" her soft voice, high-pitched and almost unhearable.
He touched her hair, delighted at the red strands. He missed this -literally- touching moment.
He liked her hair so much, the only problem was...he didn't like her.
She was a coward, not made for him.She was just a fake. A fucking fake.
Now he was angry.How dare she try to make a fool out of him? Mess with his head? Let him believe that she was the real thing.Oh no.She was dead wrong.
She was wrong.
And she would be dead.
Strong hands wrapped around her neck, wringing the life out of her.She pressed the button on her watch, a safety precaution, but it was too late.
No one could hear her choking, her grasping for air, her crying.
A final twitch and he left her lifeless body on the corner. The other nurses and doctors would be rushing to his room now.He looked at his victim again. He snickered gleefully at her.
Then he laughed and cackled. Smiling and waving to the camera, imagining the horror-stricken faces on the other side.