Jack Kinley

10 o'clock in the morning

"Here I am again… sitting in my bed, guarded by multiple eyes around me, watching me, CCTV's pointing at me, recording every move I make…

I can feel their eyes moving as I move. I can feel all their deadly stares. Every day I wonder why am I here? Who am I? What did I do? Nurses told me I killed a lot of people due to insanity. They said a lot of blood have gone through my hands, and the reason why I'm here now is because they knew that after 5 years, I found a new target so they're trying to cease me from doing the same crime all over again.

And now, a doctor entered my room bringing a syringe with him together with a pill and a glass of water.

This is how my day goes…

This is...….

my life…"

The doctor said "Here, Jack. Drink your medicine."

Two people came behind the doctor after he finished his statement.

Jack stared at him, recognizing the face that he used to see but can't remember. He can't restore information in his mind for so long. It must be the effect of Benzodiazepines or the anti-anxiety medications that he takes each day or might be the antidepressants. It makes his memory shorter.

He tilted his head a little bit, making a weird look to the doctor.

Then the two people behind him instantly move, like they were preparing themselves already in case Jack gets uncontrolled again. Jack looks at them too and smirked.

Jack occasionally gets tricky but he's always like that, playful and because of being like that, he undeniably becomes a threat for everyone living inside that building. They're scared of whatever is running through his mind. His mind is impossible to read, this is also according to the psychiatrists who came to check his condition. He is one of the most dangerous patients around because he's very impulsive. One day, you are the winner, but expect less later on, because he can turn tables. He can make wrong things right and right things wrong.

His plans are scarier than anyone because criminals' minds are dark but his are darker. But the way he looks is the most deceiving of all.

He looks stable when you look at him at first meeting. He looks like he was on his normal mind. He is very good in hiding his madness that normal people won't be able to decode what goes within and what doesn't.

Jack stretches his arm and reaches for the pill from the tray that the doctor is holding. He swallows it and drinks the water without hesitation. Then after he drank the medicine, the doctor held the syringe and said "This will hurt a little."

He pumps the liquid inside. Jack said "That's for?"

"Calming your nerves… 3 hours from now, the medicine will lose its effect. We'll be checking you out every 3 hours from now."

"For?"

"For your safety."

"I am safe."

"You are not safe."

"How could I not be? I'm inside this room. You got all the cameras recording me… I bet you get my point."

The doctor looks at him seriously and said "You don't get it Jack. You, yourself, are dangerous. You Are Not Safe."

"Well…"

"I want you to keep calm while I inject this medicine to you, because this is for your better condition. I guess you don't know yourself that much Jack, you are not yourself when you don't get injected."

"I'm not myself?"

The doctor injects the medicine to his arm while he says, "Yes, it's a different 'you', so you have to get this daily."

"What am I doing when I'm not me?"

"Do I have to do this every day, Jack?" Doctor said as he chuckles. Jack looks at him with blank expression in his eyes. The doctor saw that look from his eyes so he said "Alright then, I have to tell it all over again...............… you kill people, Jack."

"I kill people?"

The doctor rolls his eyes and said "Like you're not aware." He laughs a bit then he continued, "Oh yeah I forgot, you can't remember things. So yeah, that's it."

"How many people have I killed then?"

"10 people. And now, you're hunting for another one."

Jack looked at the floor and said "Will that be you?"

"Don't joke around, Jack. Or else I'm going to take this process done without doubt."

"You're going to kill me right away?" He smiled.

The doctor replied "If there's nothing else I could do, I would. I'm serious about this. Don't dare me. I have your life."

"Killing me is such a nice idea." He gazes at the doctor's eyes with such a creepy sense. "Don't you just love the thrill of it?"

The doctor says "Okay, Jack, check up is over, See you later, good bye." while he gets the equipment and prepares to leave. Jack is still staring at him and he has that smile on his face that seemed to mean something.

The doctor walks away with the two people behind him. He whispers to them, "He's changing. It's not safe here anymore. Let's go now. Hurry boys." And they walk away so fast then close the door of his room.

The sudden change with the way he acts is visible through his suspicious smile. Anyone can tell the difference before and after. He was now left in his room again. He stands up and roams around each corner of his room.

He thought "I've killed 10 people? Hahaha. That's funny. Why did I kill that amount of people? Too many…. Too many......… I could've killed 20 anyway. That was too nice of me. Nobody yet has seen my bad side, I guess. Nobody has ever seen me........ being bad."

He's the most dangerous patient, indeed. He came back to his old self for he was reminded of his past.

A killer…

A psycho…

A fraud…

A criminal…

Those define him from his past..... it defines him now again.

He looked in the mirror, combed his hair and just stared at his face for 1 minute. And then he saw a picture frame beside the mirror so it got his attention. It was a photo of a pretty woman.

He looks intently to her face and tries to remember if he knows her. He's clueless who that girl is and what her picture is doing in his room. He looks around his room and notices that he has pictures of the same girl on his walls. Then he remembers what the doctor told him.

He was hunting for another one.

He walks around and checks each picture. He is distinguishing her face. He stopped on a certain picture and said "Beautiful…"

He touched the photo and smiled.

His head started to ache severely. He closes his eyes and begins pulling his hair from his head as a sign that it hurts so bad. He screamed like a helpless child. The memory of her flashes back to his mind, same time as his head was aching.

He shakes his head so hard.

He pictures out the girl in his mind, she was running in front of him, laughing and happy. She is saying "Stop!" and she's running with him, playing along.

His vision of her blurs out and another memory came in, he was inside an office and the girl was sitting adjacent to his seat then she smiled bashfully at him.

It's very chaotic that memories are coming back to his mind all at once.

He sees her again in his mind and she was sleeping at her working station. But since he can't take the pain anymore, he opens his eyes and shouts.

"Heeeeelp!!!"

But no one heard him.

He knelt down the floor and curled his body while holding his head. His memory is coming back to him and it makes him suffer so much, physically.

It was an unimaginable pain that no one wants to experience.

After 5 minutes of severe headache, fortunately it fades off but now, he could feel his blood rushing through his veins so fast.

He can't explain what he's feeling. It was different from all the other headache and hypertension that normal people get.

His sight swirls, he spins his head round and round.

Until, the door opens and the girl from the pictures on his walls enters his room.

He paused a bit and looked at her.

She said "What's happening?"

He tried to stand straight and said "Who are you?"

"I'm Alice. Can't you remember?" She smiles so sweet.

He acts normal even if he's visibly breathing so fast because of hyperactivity of his blood inside his body. He's also sweating.

Alice said "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yes. What… what are you doing here?"

"I came to check you out."

"Ahh…" He becomes anxious.

Alice detects her face on his wall. She said "Wait a minute… Is that me?"

"What? You? No."

"That's my face. It's me. Why do you have pictures of me all around your wall? Are you stalking me?"

"No… no… that's not it. Will you just get out?" He acted so nervous.

She looks at him with shock in her eyes, as if everything was unexpected for her.

Then she smiles again.

"Why will I?" then she lays her hand on the top of his shoulder.

Jack felt that she was trying to deliver a positive feedback from what she saw so he smiled and holds her hand that was touching his shoulder. Then everything turned black.

Next thing he knew, he was lying on his bed with 4 nurses all around him, two men with muscular bodies, and two women with a big body size as well, just enough to handle a man like him, because Jack isn't just a normal case to be careless about.

He just woke up so he asked right away, "Where's Alice?"

The female nurse said "Sir?"

"Where is she?"

"Sir, you should rest."

"What happened?"

"You were screaming so loud lately so we came here to inject a tranquilizer for you since you look like you were in so much pain. Good thing, you fell asleep fast."

"Huh? But what about the girl who came in? Where is Alice? Where did she go?"

He looks so worried.

The nurses just look at each other. Jack said "What?"

One of the male nurses said "Sir, no one is entering your room since lately."

"You got to be kidding. She just did lately!"

"This room is locked sir. No one could enter here only but us."

"Code combination! Maybe she has those."

"The doctor only knows the code, sir."

"But I saw her here! She touched me."

The other female nurse butts in and said, "You got to understand… that your mental condition is different from the others. You're seeing something that everyone doesn't see. That is hallucination."

"You mean…"

"Yes, it didn't happen for real."

He was dumbfounded. He said "It seemed so real."

"For you, it was, because you have that...… uhhh…"

"What?"

"…. Obsession towards her."

Then he realizes the meaning of why it looks like they know each other already based from the flashbacks in his mind lately.

He looks away from them and looks somewhere else.

He suddenly speaks.

"I'm a Chief Executive Officer of Def Media Corporation (DMC),beside the Empire State , 5th avenue East, 24th street, currently living at a condominium, a few streets away from our company building. I have 24 employees sharing the same ground with me on our building, one from those 24 is Alice Simone and all the others are below us. Alice Simone was my secretary. I met her from college but she doesn't know me yet, she doesn't give an eye on me. I have this strong desire for her. I want her so bad until now.

I grew old alone, thirsty for love. All I want is Alice.........…. Alice......…. Just her.

My name is Jack Kinley, escaped in prison 8 years ago, rehabilitated 5 years ago, killed 10 people, all of them during night time, 4 of them are guys, Timothy Phillips, Jake Adams, Smith Billwyger and Harry Joe, then the 6 remaining are all girls…... Alex Morrison, Findy Cho, Jessie Fort, Sally Wyler, Ashley Bedingfield, Leighton Black and next will be..... Alice Simone.

I find pleasure each time I kill. Almost like a habit.

I am Jack, I am in this room for solitary confinement, being medicated, because someone sent me over...… that's the doctor, right?"

Then he looked at them and he slowly showed an evil smile.

The nurses got scared.

Suddenly he talks like he knows it all, like he didn't really lose his memory because he remembers every detail from his past, like he was aware to every single thing that is happening right now. The nurses therefore concluded that he didn't really forget, he was just playing with them. He was just acting like he was innocent and incapable of remembering because of the drugs he's taking but truth is, he was just trying to test them. He wants them to think that he knows himself better than them by his sarcasm.

Jack being serious is not scary, they say. Jack being playful was a dreadful threat, it is definitely scary.

The nurses started to step backwards. The other one said "You're right."

Jack's personality itself is tricky. It changes all at a sudden.

The male nurse said "We'll get back to you. Okay? Have you eaten your dinner?"

"It's getting late. Yes, please, give me something to eat. I'm hungry."

"Right away, sir."

They all go out of the room in haste.

And when they get back to his room with dinner in trays, they panicked.

His walls are cleared and he was not around anymore.

They look around his room while yelling "Doctor! He escaped!"

Until one of the nurses heard a loud smash, she looked back. She saw the other nurses on the floor with blood in their heads. She screamed, wondering who did it and how could they all be dead with just a split second.

Then she felt a breath from the back of her head.

He whispers, "Oops. You forgot to lock the door, sweetie."

He held her head and twisted it immediately. He broke her neck.

All the nurses were dead. He chuckled then went closer to the surveillance camera in a hurry. He raised his middle finger in front of it while biting his lower lip.

Then he got a bag, ran away from his room and sneaked out of the building immediately.

"I never thought escaping would be that easy."

He ran through an alley then as he finds his way out, back to the city, back to the free way where there are a lot of people, he stopped running and just walked, as if no one's going to chase after him.

He fixes his collar and his coat like a confident man. He was just all relaxed and calm, like nothing happened.

It's his way of matching with the environment. No one would really suspect he's a criminal with the way he acts and the way he looks.

"If you don't want to look like a criminal, don't act like you are one. If you want to be trusted, act like you are worth being one. Fools will believe, real eyes will see the truth, but truth can be twisted, so what's there to be scared about?"

And by that, he deceives tons of people.

He said "Now that I'm free, I can now have easier ways to find my target."

He hailed a cab.

"Taxi!"

The taxi stopped right in front of him.

He said "Bring me to 5th avenue East, 24th street. Def Media Corporation building, please."

"Well yeah, sure thing." The taxi driver replied.

The taxi moves.

He looks inside his bag and picks a picture. He said "......Alice Simone... I'll be there."

Then he crooked a smile on his lips, painting dark skies in his eyes.