Chapter 7. At the Threshold of the Occult Club

We left the lounge room where Emma stayed behind. As we walked past the counter, Oliver addressed us.

"I'm counting on you, James, to find the degenerate who did this," he said, looking at me sternly.

"I'm disgusted by the thought that something like this could happen in our city. I'll do everything I can to put an end to this," I replied, bidding him farewell. "Let's go, Oliver. I hope Emma recovers quickly."

"Goodbye, James. Farewell, Samuel," said Oliver.

We exited the building and headed towards the car. Samuel, who was walking beside me, turned to me as I approached the door. His words made me freeze in the moment as I opened the door.

"You're very emotional for someone in your line of work, James. It's important to remain calm, even if your relatives or loved ones are involved. Only with a clear mind can you see what others can't. However, you did a great job. I hope we can work together to catch this criminal. But for now, I think we have time on the way to discuss the possibility that the girl who was going to become a nun was manipulated by the killer. Perhaps your version is still possible," he said, looking at me.

"As for my emotional state, everything is fine now because I plan to leave this job, so I won't have to try to restrain myself anymore. As for the possibility of the victim being manipulated for murder, I only hope it's not someone from my city," I said. The feelings I had recently still hadn't gone away, and I hoped to cool down before we arrived at the occult club.

"As we were talking in the coffee shop, I presented a possible profile of the victims who could be connected to occultism. Firstly, the person must be between 17 and 30 years old, religious, and frequently attends church confessions. Perhaps they even live in a religious community. I think it's a girl who's slightly older than 20, who has just received her spiritual ordination. We don't know which religion she belongs to, but it's likely to be one of the traditional religions. Possible characteristics include being very religious, strictly adhering to religious rites and teachings. It's probable that she's under strong influence from her religious group and may be vulnerable to manipulation. She might be controlled through psychology and faith, or even physical abuse, justifying the killings as religious purification."

I listened to his hypotheses until we arrived at the occult club. The only thing that pleased me now was that he started sharing his options. We got out of the car, and I stood by the trash can, lit a cigarette, and told Samuel to go first. My mind was still filled with thoughts of Emma and Samuel's hypotheses.

The thoughts that were swirling in my head felt like they were consuming me. I felt the same sense of anxiety and hopelessness as I did yesterday while watching that video. I... I wanted to and admitted that I was too emotional, but I thought I could handle a lot in the police department, especially considering our town, but what happened in these two days had too much of an impact on me. I felt like I was weighed down by the sin of allowing all of this to happen.

While the weight of my thoughts was overwhelming me, I began to recall what I had told Samuel in the car, his sketches of the criminal, his theories.

In my head, thoughts about the killer's motives started to emerge. I was thinking about what could have driven him to commit such a heinous act - was it his belief in religion or a belief that he was cleansing the world of danger? Was it hatred towards them due to some event with a loved one? The opportunity to save his soul by killing them, or just the banal satisfaction of achieving self-gratification through their death?

Even if we consider these motives, why would he need a victim to manipulate for his killings? What would be the purpose?

Enjoying playing with the psyche of his victim? Perhaps he takes pleasure in the suffering of his victim, killing them at his whim, like a living toy, satisfying his desires.

Or maybe he enjoys being a spectator, trying not to show himself, possibly even hiding his identity so as not to be caught. There are too many possibilities and options to consider in my head. I will never be able to understand these sick minds, the thought of someone deriving pleasure from such acts fills me with hatred.

I wearily looked at the cigarette butt in my hand. I had already forgotten that the world is imperfect and that evil can be so inhumane. And with each passing second, this realization became clearer.

How sick and soulless one must be to treat human lives this way, to kill those who you don't like and enjoy it. And what's worse is the possibility that he manipulates someone else, not only does he kill, but he also does it through someone else's hands, which is much worse. No one deserves such a fate. He's not a god to decide such things, he can't decide who lives and who dies, it's not a game. There are now many more people like Emma, waiting for their loved ones and grieving for them with broken hearts that can be glued, but not repaired.

I looked at my phone. The screen showed the time 6:50 p.m., which meant there were still 10 minutes before the meeting started. I opened my contacts and stared at Kate's number. My urge to call her was too strong, which helped me gather myself. I had to make the city safer, at least for her.

Shooing all thoughts from my head, I tossed the cigarette butt into the bin. I looked out the window on the second floor. Samuel should have already received some information from there, considering his morning conversation with Alex. I think he'll be able to obtain the information unnoticed, and most importantly, we need to find the girl and the guy named Steve. Only they can give us the necessary information, because one of them may be the killer. Taking my eyes off the window, I headed to the building where Samuel was already waiting for me.