Chris Carter - An Evil Mind

Despite the bloody chaos of the control room, Hunter forced himself to think as clearly as he possibly could. His main concern came back to him, and he turned his head to look down the corridor behind him. His eyes caught a glimpse of Taylor’s body on the floor, and his heart sank yet again. He looked back at Lucien.

‘Let Madeleine go, Lucien,’ he said one more time. ‘Please. If you really want another victim, take me instead. She means nothing to you.’

‘True, and that’s exactly why I should kill her, Robert,’ Lucien said. ‘Because she means nothing to me. Now you were my best friend. We have some history. Why would I want to kill you instead of her?’

‘Because you already took half of my life when you took Jessica from me,’ Hunter replied. ‘And I know you don’t like to leave things half done.’

As much as Hunter tried to hide it, Lucien recognized real emotion in his voice.

‘So this is your chance, Lucien,’ Hunter continued. ‘Let her go and finish what you started with me, because if you don’t, I will kill you.’

Despite the seriousness of his words, Hunter spoke as if he were talking to someone inside a library, his voice quiet and steady.

‘OK,’ Lucien said, taking a step closer to the blood-covered control console, his weapon still targeting Hunter’s heart, ‘let’s see if you are a man of your word, Robert.’ He flicked a switch and the door at the end of the corridor swung open again.

Hunter turned and faced the hallway.

Madeleine immediately looked up. She looked even more petrified than before.

Hunter knew that she’d heard both shots, and they’d no doubt scared her imagination into fantasizing the worst as to what was happening outside and, worse, what would now happen to her.

She looked to be almost hyperventilating; right then, nothing in the world could make her stop shaking.

Lucien jerked his gun toward the hallway. ‘Let’s go join her, shall we? I have one last surprise for you.’

Hunter had to step over Taylor’s body to reach the hallway. Lucien followed, but at a safe distance. There was no way Hunter could mount an attack before Lucien fired at least two shots at him.

As Hunter started down the corridor, Madeleine’s eyes met his and he could see only one thing in them — pure terror.

‘Please help me.’

This time Hunter could finally hear her. Her weak and quivering voice was drowning in fear.

‘Madeleine, please just stay calm,’ Hunter said in his most confident voice. ‘Everything will be just fine.’

Madeleine’s gaze moved past Hunter and found Lucien, and it was as if the monster that had been haunting her worst nightmares since she was a little girl had just materialized in front of her. Fear grew inside her like a hurricane, and she began screaming and wiggling her fragile body in the chair.

‘Madeleine,’ Hunter said again. ‘Look at me.’

She didn’t.

‘Look at me, Madeleine,’ he repeated, firmer this time.

Her stare moved to Hunter.

‘That’s right. Good girl. Keep your eyes on me and try to stay calm. I’ll get you out of here.’ He hated himself for lying, but in the situation he found himself in, there wasn’t much else he could do.

Madeleine still looked terribly scared, but something in Hunter’s tone seemed to work. She looked directly at him and stopped screaming.

‘Get in, turn left, walk five paces and kneel down, Robert,’ Lucien said as they got to the door.

Hunter did as he was told.

The room was completely bare, except for the chair with Madeleine and a small module with two drawers at the opposite end from where Hunter had kneeled down. There was a faint aroma of urine and vomit, fighting the harsher odor of disinfectant right inside the door, as if someone had been violently ill, and the clean-up had been sloppy.

Lucien entered the room after him, turned right and approached the module. He opened the top drawer and reached for something inside.

Madeleine’s eyes wavered toward him.

‘Look at me, Madeleine,’ Hunter called again. ‘Don’t worry about him. Keep your eyes on me. C’mon, this way.’

She looked back at Hunter.

‘You are very good with hostages, Robert,’ Lucien said, moving to the left side of Madeleine’s chair.

Hunter finally saw what Lucien had retrieved from the drawer — a stainless-steel blade, about five inches long.

‘You know,’ Lucien said, ‘I really hate guns.’ With a quick hand movement he released the ammo clip from Taylor’s .45 Springfield Professional. It fell to the floor, and he kicked it behind him, across the room from where Hunter was. In another very quick double-hand movement, he pulled back the slide, ejecting the bullet in the chamber.

Hunter kept his attention on him. He finally began to see a chance.

Lucien then moved the gun away from him and used his finger to depress the recoil spring plug. In no time at all he had completely stripped the gun, dropping all the separate parts onto the ground.

Hunter breathed out, his muscles tensed-ready as he wondered if he could get to Lucien fast enough.

‘Don’t even think about it, Robert,’ Lucien said, taking a step forward and positioning himself partially behind Madeleine’s chair. The blade, now in his left hand, moved to her neck, while with his right one he pulled her head back by the hair. He could see that Hunter was dying to lunge at him. ‘You move a muscle, and I’ll slice her neck open.’

Madeleine felt the cold blade dig at her skin and her heart almost stopped. She was so petrified that this time she wasn’t even able to scream.

Hunter held steady.

‘I know you despise me, old buddy,’ Lucien said, smiling slightly, almost apologetically. ‘And I don’t blame you. Without knowing the real purpose behind everything I’ve done, anyone would. To everyone I’m just a psychopathic sadistic killer who’s been torturing and killing people for twenty-five years, right? But to you I’m much more than that. I’m the person you’ve been hunting for twenty years. The person who so savagely mutilated the only woman you’ve ever loved. The woman you were going to marry. The woman that would give you a family.’

Hunter felt the anger and rage inside him start to gather strength again.

‘But I’m much more than that,’ Lucien said. ‘In time you’ll understand. I’m leaving you and the FBI a gift.’ He jerked his head in the corridor’s direction. ‘You’ll have no problems finding it. But that will come later, because right now I’m going to give you a chance to fulfill the promise you made to yourself and to Jessica all those years ago, Robert. And this is going to be the only chance you’ll ever get, because if you don’t kill me now, you’ll never see me again. Not in this lifetime.’

Hunter’s heart shifted gears inside his chest.

‘The problem is,’ Lucien continued, ‘the moral dilemma that is about to storm through your head and throw your conscience into a tormenting mental battle, old buddy.’ Lucien’s gaze flicked to Madeleine for a moment before returning to Hunter. ‘Let me clarify what I mean by asking you one single question.’ He paused, his stare almost drilling holes into Hunter’s eyes. ‘And that question is: If you come after me now, how are you going to contain her bleeding and get her to a hospital before she bleeds to death?’

In a super-fast movement, Lucien moved the knife from Madeleine’s neck down to her body, and stabbed her on the upper left-hand side of her abdomen, just under the ribcage. The blade penetrated all the way to its handle.

Hunter’s eyes widened in shock.

‘No!’ he shouted as he sprang forward, but Lucien was ready for it, and before Hunter could get to his feet, Lucien used the sole of his boot to kick him square on the chest. The powerful blow sent a winded Hunter tumbling backward. Lucien extracted the knife from Madeleine, opening the wound and causing it to start bleeding profusely.