Lei Mi - Profiler

Only then did Meng Fanzhe seem to realize that it was Fang Mu standing before him. "Is that you, Fang Mu?" His body went limp at once. Tears streamed from his eyes and mucus dripped from his nose. "Help me, help me, please. I don't know what I've done; it's like I was dreaming…"

Fang Mu put his hands under Meng Fanzhe's armpits for support and did his best to hold him up.

"I will, I will help you. Now tell me, what is going on?"

Meng Fanzhe's gaze went to the sink. At once his senses seemed to return. Shaking with fear, he pointed at Tom's remains. "I didn't do it, I didn't do it…it wasn't intentional…"

He leapt at Fang Mu and grabbed at his collar, his eyes full of fear and desperation. "Don't tell anyone," he entreated. "Please don't tell anyone. I'm not crazy… I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to. I'm not crazy…"

He pushed Fang Mu away, shot toward the sink and picked up the bloody flesh and fur. He looked all around, his mouth still moving nonstop. "Gotta take care of this now. Can't let anyone else see…gotta take care of this now, now, now!" He spun around in place, looking wildly for somewhere to put his cat's remains.

Fang Mu was so disturbed by all this that for a moment he had no idea what to do. At last he picked up the big plastic trash can from the doorway — normally used for throwing out leftover food — and signaled for Meng Fanzhe to put the remains in there.

Meng Fanzhe forced Tom's skeleton into the dirty water at the bottom of the trash can. He then ran into one of the stalls, grabbed the wastepaper bucket and dumped its contents in on top. Next he hurried to the sink, turned on the tap, and let the water wash away the bloodstains. When it wasn't rinsing fast enough, he used his bare hands to scrub the sink clean.

After the last cat hair disappeared down the drain, Meng Fanzhe grabbed a mop from behind the door and vigorously scrubbed the blood from the bathroom floor.

At a loss, Fang Mu could only watch as Meng Fanzhe rushed to clean every inch of the bathroom. A million thoughts were going through his mind at once.

At last Meng Fanzhe stopped and leaned exhaustedly against the wall, panting heavily.

Cautiously, Fang Mu asked, "What happened? Can you tell me?"

Meng Fanzhe shook his head weakly. "I don't know. But recently I've been feeling so strange. I'm constantly forgetting what I've been doing, and there are all these things in my room that I don't remember having brought there."

Fang Mu thought for a moment. "Do you want to go see a doctor?"

Meng Fanzhe shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, no, that's not necessary." Then as if thinking aloud, he said, "I will get better, yes, I will definitely get better. I don't need to rely on anyone else…"

He muttered this over and over again, as if he had no faith in himself.

Fang Mu watched him silently. He had no idea what he should say.

Suddenly Meng Fanzhe stood up straight. Forcing a smile, he looked at Fang Mu and said, "I…I'm gonna go back to my room. Will you…" he dropped his eyes, "keep this a secret for me?"

"All right. However, I still recommend that you see a doctor."

"Okay, I understand. If I think it's necessary, I'll go. See you later." Then he walked unsteadily out of the bathroom and back down the hall toward his room.

The bathroom was quiet once more. The only sounds were the gurgle of water rushing through the pipes and the hum of the fluorescent light overhead. For a long time Fang Mu just stood there, barely moving a muscle. He looked at the spotless sink, and then at the trash can. What the hell was going on with Meng Fanzhe tonight? His behavior made no sense at all, was just utterly strange.

Even stranger than that first day in class.

Early the next morning, Fang Mu knocked on Meng Fanzhe's door. There was no answer. He knocked again and again, almost 20 times, but there was still no response. He looked through the small window in the door. No lights seemed to be on inside. He didn't know whether Meng Fanzhe had already gone out or just didn't want to answer.

All that day Fang Mu could think of nothing but Meng Fanzhe. The fellow student's pale face and cavernous eyes seemed to always be hovering in front of him.

A behavioral scientist for the FBI once proposed a related theory. If an individual manifested at least two distinct traits while young, the likelihood of him committing crimes later in life would be fairly high. Among those traits were continuing to wet the bed past a certain age, starting fires, and torturing animals or smaller children. These types of behaviors were caused by weak self-control coupled with strong anti-social impulses. And, from the perspective of behavioral science, the need to torture animals often came from anxiety caused by feelings of powerlessness and loss of control in daily life.

So what was making Meng Fanzhe feel powerless and out of control?

And the other important question: What would he do next?

Meng Fanzhe had a weak personality, but he was kind and sweet-natured. Tearing a living cat apart and then eating it was not something a person like him would do. And it had been obvious to Fang Mu that last night, while Meng Fanzhe was mutilating Tom, he was in a very confused state.

What had caused Meng Fanzhe to begin acting this way?

" Tom… They all hate him…so I can't…rely on him…any longer… "

Rely on him?

If Meng Fanzhe had been relying on Tom, what had the cat been protecting him from?

Rats?

Fang Mu knew Meng Fanzhe was afraid of roll call. Perhaps he was scared of rats as well.

Keeping a cat would give him a subconscious feeling of protection and would cause his fear of rats to disappear, at least to a certain extent.

The problem was that this would make him reliant on this source of protection, and should it ever go away, not only would his fear of rats resurface, it would probably be even stronger than before.

If Fang Mu was right, then by killing his treasured Tom — whom he most likely saw as his protector — Meng Fanzhe was essentially burning all his bridges, or rather, destroying the basket in which all his eggs had been placed.

A person who could do something like that was dangerous.

Fang Mu was just as lost in thought that night while studying for class.

After being ignored by him for half the evening, Deng Linyue finally spoke. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing really." Realizing that he had been acting a little cold, he turned to her and smiled apologetically.

She didn't smile back, just looked down and continued reading. After a while, she said quietly:

"Are you thinking about a certain someone?"

"Who are you talking about?" For a moment he didn't know how to react. He had no idea when she could have met Meng Fanzhe.

"You know…the girl who's always on your mind."

He stared blankly for a moment, and then shook his head helplessly. "I'm not. Don't get so carried away."

She looked searchingly into his eyes, obviously not believing him. "Will you tell me about her?"

"No!" He stopped the conversation in its tracks.

Deng Linyue didn't say another word to Fang Mu for the rest of their time together. When he walked her back to her dorm, she didn't ask him for a hug or a kiss like usual. She just said, "I'll see you later," and walked to the door, leaving him alone on the sidewalk.

With no other choice, Fang Mu turned to go. After walking only a few dozen feet, he turned and looked back. Deng Linyue was still standing in the doorway of the women's dormitory, looking in his direction.

He started to walk towards her, but before he had gone more than a few steps, she spun and hurried upstairs.

He hesitated for a moment and then walked over to the dorm. He waited for fifteen minutes before deciding that Deng Linyue wasn't coming back out. He shook his head, turned, and left.