Mind of a Killer Read online

  Mind of a Killer

  Lee Emerick

  Copyright 2011 by Lee Emerick

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright

  The right of Lee Emerick to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

  Published by Lee Emerick Publishing www.leeemerick.co.uk

  Edited by Matthew Robinson

  Proofread by Sharon Mills and Martin Belcher

  ©2011

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to the following people for their help, support and inspiration in the making of this book;

  Alison, Libbi, William, Garry, Josie, Matthew, Sharon and Martin.

  Disclaimer

  All characters and events portrayed within this book are entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or persons living or deceased is entirely coincidental.

  Dedicated to my Granddad Norman George Emerick, whom I miss very much.

  Foreword

  The Mind of a Killer was originally entitled The Surgeon. It was to be based on a serial killer who severely maimed his victims but left them is such a state that the authorities would have to humanely euthanize them.

  As I began to write it, it dawned on me it was going to end up a generic cop / detective book. More of the same. Deciding this was not what I wanted; I put that manuscript to one side and began thinking about what I really wanted out of the book.

  That’s when I came up with the idea for ‘Mind of a Killer’.

  The Protagonist, namely Ian Rivers had a rough childhood. Living through tragedy and upset, he finds in his teenage years he is able to witness murders being committed in his dreams. He does not see every murder, but his talents have been used to solve several high profile cases. With his psychic talent Ian Rivers is recruited into the Police Force which for a time gives him direction in life. His parents dead and blamed by his sister for their suicide, Rivers has largely been left to fend for himself.

  As the murderer who is known as ‘The Hacker’ (due to the violent mutilating nature of his crimes) takes interest in his pursuer, he begins to target Rivers directly through his own psychic dreams.

  Sit back and enjoy a rollercoaster ride as Ian Rivers discovers that there is more to ‘The Hacker’ than he could have ever imagined, and that they share more in common that just psychic ability.

  Prologue

  Ian stared in shock as the violent scene played out in front of him. He watched through the eyes of a killer who prepared to attack his victim. Although he tried his hardest to prevent it from happening he found he had no control over the killer’s movements or actions. Ian was just along for the ride as he watched another monster slay his victim.

  Ian tried to close his eyes but they were not his to close. He tried to scream but again they were not his vocal chords to instruct. He inhabited the body of a killer; it was not his body but somebody else’s. His mind was just along for the horrendous ride.

  It was dark; the only illumination being a dim flashlight which lay on the ground next to the victim.

  They were surrounded by trees and fallen logs. In the distance lights could be seen through the trees suggesting they were not that far away from other people.

  The victim was a young woman in her mid-twenties at the most. She lay with her chest to the ground and her arms behind her back. She tried to wriggle free of the madman’s grasp but it was futile, he easily overpowered her. Ian watched helplessly as a hand rose in front of him. Within in its grasp was a long sharp knife. The flashlight’s dimming light gleamed off the blade as it was raised high in the air.

  “Please, no… don’t do this!” screamed the woman as she twisted her head to face her attacker.

  The attacker remained silent. Ian could tell he felt no emotion or remorse. The woman before him was just an item, a thing. She was his to do with as he pleased.

  “Please, just let me go!” the woman continued to beg.

  “I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt me!”

  With a swift movement, the attacker brought the blade down. Ian tried as hard as he could to stop the arm but he was completely helpless; there was nothing he could do.

  The blade easily slipped into the woman’s back as she let out a blood chilling scream. Ian watched in slow motion as the blade tore through her top and embedded deeply into her flesh. With a sickening thud the blade came to a stop. The woman’s body began to shake violently as the realisation that she had been stabbed sank in. Ian could feel that the killer’s knee felt wet and warm as something trickled past. In the shock the poor woman had clearly lost control of her bodily functions as she was violently attacked.

  In fury the killer abruptly removed the knife from her back. Blood splattered from the wound as the knife was raised high into the air again. With all his strength the killer repeatedly stabbed her again and again. Blood poured from the deep wounds as the knife repeatedly penetrated her flesh.

  As the woman’s screams reduced to muffled whimpers the killer slowed down the pace of his assault. The woman was now lying in a pool of warm blood which slowly began to seep into the soil.

  Finally the killer threw the blood stained knife to the ground. The woman wheezed loudly fighting for breath. Bubbling could be heard coming from her chest as her lungs struggled to breathe as they filled with her own blood. After a few moments she had lost the battle for life. With a last exhalation of breath her body ceased moving.

  Her top was nothing more now than a torn bloody mess.

  In distress Ian tried to scream as loud as he could. He could feel himself screaming now although the noise was somewhat distant. He felt himself begin to shake as he left the scene. Beneath him the killer disappeared into the distance as he shot up into the night sky.

  With a loud scream Ian sat bolt upright in bed. Cold sweat poured from his body as he sat staring into the distance. His Mom was sat beside him, concern clearly visible on her face.

  “Another vision Ian?” asked his Mom as she passed him a glass of water.

  Ian looked around the room confused. He knew he was back in his bedroom but it had felt so real. He felt as though he had actually been there. Taking the glass of water he took a sip before passing it back to his mother.

  “Someone has been killed. A woman in the trees…” he panted before beginning to sob. Ian’s mother embraced him tightly as she consoled him.

  “We need to call Detective Reed. He said to contact him directly should you have another dream...”

  Chapter 1

  ‘News just in… Police have just announced that the violent murder of Derek Carter has now been linked to the notorious serial murderer known as ‘The Hacker’.

  Derek Carter was found at 03:37 PST yesterday morning by a concerned neighbour. The extent and ferocity of the injuries sustained have been shown to be consistent with The Hacker’s previous crimes. Next-of-Kin have been notified.’

  Detective Ian Antony Rivers stood next to where the latest body had been found. Around him cameras flashed as the crime scene was photographed and catalogued before being examined by forensics.

  In front of him, an outline of blood marked where the body had been found. The carpet was stained crimson. The stain left a startling silhouette of how the body had been found, sprawled across the carpet as the victim had been skinned alive.

  The room in which he stood was quite spacious and well lit. Although sparse in content, what was present was ex
pensive and considered fashionable.

  Reaching into his pocket, Rivers removed a piece of nicotine gum. Staring distantly at the mess he placed the gum in his mouth and began to chew.

  Everybody called him by his surname apart from family. He preferred it that way.

  How he craved a cigarette. It had been two weeks now since he had quit smoking but he still craved a cigarette as much as the day he had quit. The gum was meant to help his desire for a smoke but unfortunately, it never killed the urge.

  Twelve murders down and not a clue to link anybody to it. The media were quick to report the trail of disaster The Hacker left in his wake and how he avoided detection.

  “I think the choice of a cream colour scheme was this guys undoing,” commented Karl Turner as he came to a stop next to Rivers; disturbing his trance like state.

  Karl slurped loudly as he drank from a cardboard cup containing coffee before continuing.

  “Never get the blood out of the carpet...” commented Karl jokingly.

  “I think there are bigger problems now than the mess Karl. What have you got anyway?”

  “Looks like the perp broke in through the bathroom window; no prints left as usual. No doubt he was gloved but forensics will dust for prints anyway.”

  “Skinned alive in his own home… The Hacker is getting braver by the day. It will only be a matter of time before he slips up but how many people is he going to attack before then?”

  Karl took another long slurp from his coffee as he looked over where the body had been found.

  “How about you? Can you pick anything up?

  “I can see through his eyes from this spot. He took the time to admire his work before he left the apartment. Apart from that, I’m drawing a blank now. It’s as if he is teasing me, trying to see how far he can push my abilities.”

  “Could he be a psychic himself?”

  “I don’t know, but he knows I am following him. I can feel that he knows or knows of me. For whatever reason, he is taking my involvement very personally.”

  Karl shook the last few drops of his coffee into his mouth before patting Rivers on the back.

  “Don’t let him get to you Rivers; he’s playing with your mind. He is no doubt obsessively following the investigation in the media; his own biggest fan! Seeing us drawing a blank every time is no doubt delighting him. I would wager he will start to get sloppy as he becomes confident he will not be caught. That’s when he will make his slip and that’s when we will get him.”

  “There is more to it than that Karl. He’s in my mind, I can feel him. The dream I had before the murder was more vivid than ever. I felt as if I was watching helplessly through his own eyes as he skinned him alive. I can still feel the victim’s screams reverberating in my lungs.”

  “You’re getting too close to the case Rivers. There’s getting into the killers mind and then there’s letting him get into yours.”

  Rivers turned his back to where the body had been found and rubbed his eyes. He breathed deeply as he let the disturbing image leave his thoughts.

  Karl was right. He controlled his abilities, not The Hacker. He needed to remember that and not let The Hacker’s brutal energy disturb his mind or cloud his judgement.

  “You’re right Karl. I’m letting him get to me but the power he exerts, the brutality and evil behind his work, I feel as if it clings to everything. Everywhere he’s been and everything he touches, it’s tainted with evil.”

  Karl looked at his partner with concern. Although Rivers’ psychic abilities had proved useful indeed and were certainly a gift, they brought with them a heavy burden for him to carry. In a way a curse, as Rivers could see into the killer’s mind. He could see the evil that lurked behind those dark eyes. The cruel thoughts that occupied his mind as he slowly drew a scalpel down a screaming victims exposed flesh.

  Karl thought back to when they had first met. They had both been in the academy together when they joined the force. Karl had joined as a family tradition. With Irish roots both his father and his father’s father had been in the force and it was strongly encouraged that he did the same.

  On his first day in the academy, he had met a very strange young man. A year younger than himself, Ian Rivers had been recruited for his special abilities. For the last two years Rivers had helped the police with a series of homicides and murders as a psychic. Impressed by his accuracy, Rivers had been encouraged to join so that he could help the force on an official basis. Before that though, he needed to go through the training like everybody else.

  Karl had found that Rivers abilities did not work as he would have thought they would. Largely he had no control over what he saw in his mind’s eye. He could not predict the future nor directly read a random persons mind. No, his abilities largely came in the form of dreams which he could then recollect when he was conscious. The closer he came in contact to certain cases, the more information would be revealed in his dreams. It did not work with every case or all the time but with some cases he found he had a direct link to see though the eyes of the perpetrator and on occasions share their thoughts.

  When Rivers found a connection to a case, he would be assigned to it, to make use of his abilities. Over the years Detective Ian Rivers had been responsible for the conviction of several high profile murderers.

  Never before though had he become so involved in a case. It was the first time that Karl had seen it affect him so deeply. The mind of The Hacker was no doubt a terrible thing to explore.

  “I have found something that will interest you anyway Rivers” said Karl holding a video cassette.

  “The apartment is rigged with an outdated CCTV system. It may be old and it’s a long-shot but it may have caught The Hacker in the act,” said Karl as he indicated with a look to suggest they should leave for the station.

  Taking a last glimpse of the crime scene, Rivers left the building with Karl as the forensics team began to conduct their examination.

  With no leads to the case, Rivers would take any help he could get.

  “This video could be just what we need to get a lead on this guy,” said Karl as the car drove towards the police station.

  Rivers stared out the window watching the world zoom by. With the window down, wind rushed through Rivers’ hair. Karl knew it was highly unlikely the video would add up to much but he kept chirping on about it anyway.

  Although Karl continuously attempted to make conversation, Rivers ignored him as he recalled the dreams he had experienced regarding the case so far.

  In previous cases he had managed to get a glimpse of the killer through mirrors or other surface reflections. However, in this case, The Hacker was meticulously careful about being seen by him as somehow he knew Rivers was watching.

  “Rivers, hello, can you hear me?” said Karl looking over to Rivers who continued to ignore him.

  The only way Rivers was going to get a lead on this guy was if he tricked him into showing himself. Somehow he needed to encourage or taunt The Hacker into slipping up. He obviously wanted to be known for his work, he saw Rivers as an avid fan who meticulously examined his masterpieces.

  Rivers’ eyes slowly closed as the steady rumble of the car’s engine and motion hypnotised him into a gentle sleep. Karl could be heard in the distance but before long his voice disappeared into oblivion as Rivers found himself drifting off.

  As he floated peacefully, suspended midair by an unseen tether and surrounded by darkness, Rivers could feel something pulling at him. As he tried to pull away he found he was helplessly pulled downwards.

  Becoming distressed Rivers tried to fight against the force but there was nothing to be seen.

  From the direction he was being dragged, a strange deep howling could be heard. With the howling followed wind gushing towards him, something was down there and it wanted him.

  As Rivers struggled, the darkness around him began to turn blood red. The howling grew in intensity as a void opened into oblivion.

  To Rivers it appeared as
a hole in space. Through the hole was nothing but darkness. As he grew ever closer, arms extended from the hole of nothingness and reached towards him. Fingers clasped at his legs as he kicked hard against them. The more he kicked them off, the more hands extended from the hole.

  Finally they took a firm grip of his legs as Rivers let out a loud scream of terror.

  “Rivers… Wake up..!” said a distant voice.

  Rivers tried to talk back but was unable to make a sound apart from a murmur. Reaching for his mouth he found the hands now gagged him, preventing him from crying for help.

  As the distant voice continued to call for him, Rivers began to shake as he was suddenly snapped out of the dream.

  “Rivers wake up, we are at the station!” said Karl as he shook Rivers by the shoulders.

  Opening his eyes Rivers found Karl standing over him through the passenger door. Concern was clearly visible on his face.

  Wiping his face, he found that he was clammy with cold sweat. Whatever it was, it appeared desperate to get to him now.

  “What’s wrong, what did you see?” asked Karl concerned.

  “It’s him, he knows how to reach me now…”

  “Who,” asked Karl?

  “The Hacker. He has found me…” panted Rivers as he regained his composure.

  Karl rested a hand on Rivers shoulder as he looked him in the eye. Rivers was far too close to the case and it was taking its toll he thought.

  “You need to let go a little Rivers. You’re getting too close to him. I tell you what, get yourself home and take an early night. I’ll review the tape and let you know as soon as anything else comes up.”

  “I’ll be fine Karl, just give me a couple of minutes…”

  “No Rivers, get yourself home. You’re not thinking clearly. In this condition you’re a liability, I mean look at yourself. Give yourself a night off. You have been working solid for several weeks now, without a break. Take the night off or you will lose the case.”