Think like a killer

Among all criminals he had ever had the misfortune of meeting, this one was by far the most vile. No one knew his real name, the only thing they knew was the name he liked to call himself– Jericho. Even with the kill on sight notice issued for him months ago he still somehow managed to stay alive all this while.

Over 100 people had been brutally murdered by him, all in gruesome ways. And that was just this year alone. And right now Vera and the rest of the Enforcers from the IT division were in his possession.

Chari's alter sat absorbing every single tune that came out of the record player, his mind moving to the tunes of the music. He danced lovingly to the flow like he was part of the piece himself, each tune bringing a strange warmth to his very soul.

Then he suddenly fell deeper, deeper into what he couldn't exactly give a name to. Everything seemed to slow down and he danced inwardly, he had one person in mind, he had to reach into the very soul of the serial killer and risk tainting his soul as well. This was his strength, the ability to see through the eyes of souls but he himself was not aware of this.

To him It was all a simple routine.

'Think like a serial killer, become a serial killer.'

The dark thoughts flowed into him along with the music, a smile appeared on his face as he imagined a host of vile things and found joy in watching himself do them, he had attuned and now it was time to connect.

He reached and sunk his fingers seemingly into space and then he saw it.

A tall abandoned apartment building, an array of bodies. Artistic strokes made on each one as the killer danced with glee. Chari's alter danced as well, enjoying the sight before him.

A pool of blood, broken widows, thick itchy rope! The pungent smell of blood, its warmth as it slid down his fingers. The view from the window as he stood up to enjoy the view after his kill. There were 3 more, 3 more opportunities to feel this way.

And then he reached for his dagger once more and with a violent thru–

"Pull out now" A faint voice echoed from somewhere in the skies. Strangely that voice sounded like it belonged to him, who would dare interrupt his feast!?

"Pull out!" The voice boomed, this time far louder than before and suddenly his alter was pulled back into reality.

Chari found himself lying on the cold floor, panting heavily. Although his premonitions were very helpful they did have one disadvantage, and that was that if the soul or conviction of the target was considerably powerful, there was a chance of him losing himself in it.

That was why while his alter dug, Chari would serve as his anchor to pull him back whenever he dug too deep.

Jericho was strong, but they had gotten what they needed.

He picked up his phone and dialled a number.

***

Moments later they were in front of the apartment they had seen in the premonition. In the vision he was unable to see the building properly but now he did, he saw that it was actually an abandoned hotel rather than an apartment building.

The bottom part of its walls were slowly being covered by moss and the paint of the building had long faded. It was the perfect place to hide a murder, with the numerous rooms the killer would be gone before they even figured out where he was.

Chari stood facing the building and behind him were up to 50 enforcers from various squads all armed to the teeth.

He himself was no exception; he wore a slim enforcer vest on top of his jumpsuit that stuck close to his body giving him ease of movement. Coupled with a pair of combat boots.

'All these people for just one man.' Chari thought as he glanced behind him.

Unlike the other enforcers armed with guns he had three weapons with him, a steel staff that was slung on his shoulder and one dagger on each side.

Being part of the elite group among the enforcers he had the choice of weapons, the staff was specifically created for him while the dagger he specially picked out for his alter.

A middle aged man walked next to him. He had graying hair and a well trimmed mustache. His uniform was nothing short of dazzling. It was properly ironed, the edges of his trousers probably being sharp enough to cut through diamond and an array of badges decorated his right breast pocket, showcasing his achievements.

The man now standing next to him was the captain of this operation.

"How many people did you say were left?" He asked.

Chari's face remained stoic, the only thing betraying the torrent of emotions running through him was his clenched jaw. He replied:

"Just two."

They managed to arrive here just minutes after the premonition but were they fast enough? He didn't even know if Vera was among the people still alive, all he could do was hope.

Chari turned to the commander, his face betraying no emotions as he spoke.

"I'm going in alone."

There was more than one reason for this. The serial killer had a way of always evading the enforcers, after all this was not the first time an area he was spotted in was under siege. They could not use conventional tactics against him.

The second reason was that this many enforcers going in at once was bound to create far too much noise, they would be a walking alarm!

And the third reason was that even though they were far better than the average police, even they were not good enough for a job of this caliber.

The man calling the shots had favored quantity over quality and as such he was the only one from the special division here, the rest of them were just regular enforcers.

They would end up being liabilities, surrounding the building to prevent him from escaping was the more advantageous choice.

But Chari knew trying to convince the captain would be a waste of time. The man looked at him in contempt and said:

"I can't have the lives of my men rest solely on a butcher such as yourself. We are all going in."

Butchers? Well it wasn't too far from the truth, after all the special division was pretty eccentric. They were the enforcer's personal executors.

Chari himself had never brought himself to kill anyone, but he was more than capable of incapacitating every single criminal he had encountered. Not that it mattered in this case.

Taking a deep breath the captain screamed at the top of his voice:

"Move in!"

And all the enforcers rushed past Chari towards the entrance of the building.

"Fools! Don't rush in!" Chari screamed.

But his voice was muffled by the sound of multiple moving bodies, and those who heard him simply ignored.

BOOOOOOM!

The ground floor of the building erupted into a sea of flames. The fire surged forth clinging onto every unfortunate thing it touched, every enforcer that rushed into the building was instantly consumed by the flames. The few that managed to stop just as the explosion happened staggered back their faces in shock as they watched their colleagues burn.

"Damn it!" Chari cursed looking to see if any member of his squad had gone in, luckily for them they were at the rear of the group and were unscathed.

Still in shock, a firm hand held onto his shoulder, Chari immediately reached for his dagger, the dagger already halfway out of its hilt when he heard the man's voice. After which put the dagger back in place and turned to see the captain of his squad, the man who recruited him.

"That fire is going to be a problem, since we don't know if there are other traps like this we will have to reevaluate our strategy." He said, his voice grim.

"Vera might be dead by then." Chari replied, his voice calm even though he was everything but calm.

The captain stared at the inferno that was now taking over other parts of the building and back into Chari's eyes that were burning with determination, the light from the flames dancing in his pupils.

"Do as you please."

He began walking to join the rest of the enforcers then stopped.

"But get them out of there in one piece."

Chari nodded and raced towards the building, with one large leap he grabbed onto an unnecessary decoration hanging at the edge of the building and boosted himself into the first floor. Just before a window exploded, fire streaking out of its depths.

When he pulled himself into the room his leg got stuck on an object that was placed right next to the window, almost causing him to trip. He pointed his torch towards the figure and what he saw...