psychotic murderer
Killing is knowledge. I don’t do it for a thrill or some other sick means. I do it because with each person’s blood I spill; I draw closer to becoming a god of knowledge. A true jack of all trades. I’m not sure why I was given this gift, but I know my purpose must be to use my abilities to better myself. Why else would I have these talents? If there was a god watching over me, this is what they would want to see.
It wasn’t like I was random in my attacks, either. Random knowledge is a sin. What good is a jumbled mess of trivia when I can have the real meat of knowledge that comes from killing brilliant specialists in their fields?
As I typed away on my keyboard, my eyes were drawn to a scrapping sound at the window of my apartment. A man, mid-forties, stood on a boom lift, dragging a wet squeegee along the glass. He couldn’t see me staring, not behind my tinted windows. The man carelessly performing his job with no safety equipment attached to him. Perhaps he found the harness uncomfortable, or maybe he thought a drop from three stories wouldn’t be enough to kill him. Whatever reason, his careless demeanor got my mind racing.
It would be easy to kill him. If I wished, I would only have to open my window and give him a push. Maybe not even that. The scare of having a window opened in front of him could be enough to cause him to misstep. If so, my job would be that much easier. Nevertheless, he had nothing to offer me. What knowledge could he offer me that I didn’t already have?
I turned back to my laptop, staring over the list of potential figures I had. It was always tough deciding who would be next. Each person presented unique challenges. While I may be less clumsy than I used to be when it came to taking lives, that didn’t mean that high security areas didn’t still pose a serious risk to my health. If I let my gifts be wasted by dying before godhood, I would be spitting in the face of the one who blessed me. I didn’t plan to find out what the punishment would be for betrayal.
“Peter Flare. Specialist in heart surgery. His current research could help minimize the risk of infection and blood clots during open surgery. Interesting and he’s a local, too.”
I pondered the figure before me, only to sigh. He was impressive and a secret like that should belong to me. The mortals weren’t deserving of something like that, they couldn’t be trusted. Yet was his knowledge better than my other candidates? Taking a break from my work, I got myself a cup of apple juice, something I had loved to drink before discovering my legacy as a god. Something about the sweet taste just reminding me of my human indulges, giving me a temporary break from my duties.
To think this life had all started after a harmless accident at a retirement home. I never intended to kill the man, but fate had a funny way of making sure things worked out. When his last dusty breath left his lips, it gave me the experience of a man who had been a medic during a global conflict. Learning valuable skills about the human body that I used to kill some of the other residents. After killing six of them, my hunger for knowledge became far stronger and soon their little tidbits of experience didn’t sate me anymore. I needed more.
How many had I stolen from since then? Twenty? Maybe more.
I finished my cup, placing it back on my desk. Just how stuffy was this room? The heat stinging my body, causing me to shift in my seat. I needed some air. I approached the window, forgetting all about the figure on the other side as I opened it, staring at the man as he dropped his squeegee.
He let out a grunt of a scream, taking a few steps back. I reached out a hand to grab the collar of his shirt, only to watch as his back hit the railing, sending him backwards over it. From the angle he was falling at, it was clear he would either land headfirst or suffer enough whiplash from the impact that he would die as soon as he hit. I resisted the urge to stick my head out and watch, only returning to my seat.
“Forgive my sin. I didn’t wish to give myself a careless offering of knowledge. I am truly sorry. Please don’t forbid me from godhood. I know I’m close. I can do this. It was an accident; I would never defile your gift.” I prayed to whatever god had granted me this ability, asking for their forgiveness and compassion.
A scream came from outside the window. No doubt a crowd was gathering now. I closed my eyes, feeling a cold chill shoot through my spine as the experiences forced their way into my brain.
“Talented cleaner. Great at wasting time on a job. Had a technique where he would carry around a half-eaten sandwich, always claiming to be on a lunch break.” I shifted through the various experiences that shot through my mind, only to come across one I didn’t expect. “Religious, spent years praying to a god. Received a vision.”
A god gave him a vision? Suddenly, my boredom had turned to curiosity as I tried to find the vision. I was greeted by walls of pointless experiences like first loves and deaths in his family, only to arrive at the experience I wanted to see. The vision was short, a purple glow coating a shadowed figure as they sat in the pits of his mind.
“A man is abusing my gifts. My gifts were intended to further humanity through tragedy, not to be hoarded by a selfish idolizer of godhood. I want you to monitor the man. Don’t take any action yet. Just keep an eye on him. When he decides on his next target, I want you to inform me who that is. I plan to meet him there. Don’t worry about your safety, he won’t kill those he doesn’t see as worthy. His arrogance will be his downfall. He is on the third floor of the Shallow way. Look for the man with the curly blonde hair and pale skin. That’s who I want you to watch.
The vision ended, leaving me in silence. My love of the god now spilling over into blind anger as I cursed them. I threw my hands up to the heavens, shouting whatever profanities I could, only to get disrupted by a banging on my wall, telling me to shut up. Even as I lowered my voice, my chest still heaved as though it would explode. So, the god was getting scared? I would show them what happens to someone that betrays me. I would use all that experience I had gained to kill them. Once I have their experiences, I will be a god in every sense of the word.
“Peter Flare. I hope you saw that name on my list. I’ll meet you there.”
*****
THE END.
