****
Months passed. Then years. By the time he reached the eleventh grade, he learned to perfect his little act. He exuded charm and charisma. He was also blessed with romance-novel good looks. Parents adored him. Girls flocked to him. And his teachers had nothing but good things to say about him because he was a straight A student. He even joined the football team and became a star athlete. Nobody would believe that the innocent young man he portrayed was capable of anything wicked and evil.
Only Adam knew the truth. And it wasn’t until he was alone, left with his own morbid thoughts that the real Adam came out of hiding. He’d close his eyes and envision blood flowing like a river. He thought of the story in the bible, where as part of the seven plagues, God turned a whole river in Egypt into blood. He wanted to swim in that river. He wanted to feel the blood splash against his skin. Adam told himself that having these thoughts was the only way he could appear to be normal on the outside.
He fought like a champion gladiator to control his urges and for years, he had kept them at bay. Then, out of nowhere, they resurfaced, hitting him like a slap in the face. He had sat across from his girlfriend Regina Taylor at the movies. He couldn’t look at her face. He found himself staring at her long, slender neck. She had such a beautiful neck.
Then, he closed his eyes and imagined her neck, creased with red, as the blood drizzled down the front. Regina caught him staring. “Adam,” she scolded, “Snap out of it and watch the movie.”
“Sorry,” he said. He didn’t feel sorry. He was angry that she caught him and interrupted his fantasy.
He shook off his dazed look and turned toward the projection screen. In those few seconds he had made up his mind. There was no way he could push his urges to the side. Just from sitting next to her in the movies that day, Adam knew that he wanted to—no—knew he had to kill Regina Taylor.
Adam started his plan by just observing her. He was the ultimate strategist, plotting everything thoroughly. He kept himself out of sight, often wearing disguises; clothes he purchased from a local thrift store, wigs, sunglasses and shabby baseball caps.
He’d wait until she left school, and followed her home. Then, he followed her to the mall. He made mental notes and familiarized himself with every aspect of her schedule until he had it memorized.
Regina Taylor’s murder took ninety days to plan. Adam only needed thirty minutes to commit it. He loomed over her body, lying in an open hole in the ground. He watched as the blood flowed out of the gaping slash in her neck and out on to the muddy soil. He had satisfied his blood lust…. for now.
Search parties formed after Regina went missing. Of course, Adam Jacobs was the first person the police questioned; being that he was her boyfriend. They even took him into custody as a suspect. Adam turned on his charm when questioned, flashing his brilliant smile, being polite and cooperative. But that didn’t seem to work the same with the detectives that were working Regina’s case, as well as it did everybody else.
The detectives were fishing since no body was ever recovered. Adam had thought that out before he slaughtered her. Regina Taylor was buried in a rural area just outside the city in a place the detectives would never find because it was outside their jurisdiction. The entire Chicago police force ransacked Adam’s room, trying to find any sign of evidence. They had nothing. And luckily for Adam, his father was one of the most prominent defense attorneys in all of Chicago. Ultimately, Adam was released and no charges were ever drawn up. Adam proclaimed his innocence, even though it was a flat out lie.
As his father escorted him off the premises, a short, round detective lingered in the parking lot. “I know what you are!” he shouted as Adam and his father passed him. Adam looked over his shoulder. “Oh, yeah. And what exactly am I?”
“A monster…”
Crocodile tears formed in Adam’s eyes. “Shut up!” Adam shouted, on the verge of fake hysterics.
“You leave my son alone!” shouted his father. “You hear me!” The detective glared at Adam, turned around, and walked inside the building.
When Adam arrived home from the police station, he shut himself away in his bedroom. Numerous questions bounced around in his brain. Did he feel sorry for killing Regina? No. Being that he was an emotionless robot, he felt nothing. Did he want to kill again? Yes. Without a doubt. But, did he want to be the monster the detective figured him to be? No.
There were several instances when he tried to suppress his urges. He remembered one time in particular when he locked himself in the closet. Not even that worked. When the urge to see a crimson red river flowing from a human being overwhelmed him, he kicked down the closet door.