Thomas Amo: An Apple for Zoë: Book One ~ The Forsaken

"I understand it does not make sense to you yet. At the time it did not make sense to me. I had been subjected to so many tests I was not sure if it was real thoughts or imagined thoughts from all the drugs. The doctors were certain I had severe brain damage from the blow of the hammer. Except now I saw things I had never studied. I saw things that would make a normal person become insane. It was as if giving birth triggered something paranormal inside my mind."

"Why did you lose your eyesight when Chikatilo killed?" asked James.

"Chikatilo used to stab out the eyes of his victims," she said.

"Was it just a result of overkill frenzy?"

"No, he feared that the last image a person sees at the time of their death is forever recorded in their eyes."

"So by stabbing out the eyes he believed it would keep him from being caught," stated Shelton.

"Precisely. Belief in the human eye taking a final snapshot is an old wives tale. Chikatilo probably learned that Scotland Yard took photographs of Mary Kelly's eyes just in case the myth was true, and it made him paranoid." added Stasya.

"So, you said the more Chikatilo killed the more you could sense him," stated James.

"Yes, even though I would become blind during the murder itself, once he left the victim I was able to see the crime scene with complete clarity. This was of course after my daughters were born. When the KGB were able to go directly to the crime scene within hours of the murders they knew somehow clairvoyantly, I was connected to him. We could never figure out if it was because I survived the rape or gave birth to his children."

"So because of your gift, the KGB recruited you to hunt down Chikatilo?"

"I would call it a curse, Inspector, but yes you are correct. I was 14 years old by then. I spent the next three years of my life being exposed to every type of paranormal testing the KGB could imagine. After the fall of the Soviet Union your government took charge over me."

"So you're not really a translator for the FBI are you?" asked Shelton.

"No."

"Then what have you been doing for our government since you were 17 years old?" asked James.

Stasya looked at James with surprise that it took him this long to ask this question which, to her, was obvious.

"Hunting serial killers."

"When was the last time you saw your daughters, Commander?" asked Shelton.

"They were taken away from me when they were 3 years old."

"Did they also manifest paranormal behavior?" asked James.

"Yes, but that is not why they took them from me. It was because they had committed their first murder together."

"What happened?" asked James.

Stasya sat silently for a moment. She attempted to speak but no words came. She made a motion to James and Shelton that she needed a moment to compose herself. They understood and waited patiently. After several minutes of silent meditation Stasya, found her voice again.

"It was November 6, 1990, I was living with the girls at a government detention center. Living in comfort mind you, I was not a prisoner. The KGB is notorious for being as ruthless as the Gestapo, however I was treated very well and now I was also a member of the KGB with limited clearance. I was called to a meeting with the task force who had been looking for Chikatilo for many years now. During the meeting, I was suddenly overcome by an oppressive darkness. I was in the woods alone. I see a young girl enter the woods where I am also. She is close to me in body and age maybe a little older. For the first time since my own attack I was able to clearly see everything that was happening. I knew Chikatilo was coming and I had to warn her. I called to the girl. 'What are you doing here? You must go.' The girl looked at me defiantly and told me to mind my own business. I felt desperate. I knew any moment Chikatilo would arrive and find her."

James could see the perspiration forming on Stasya's forehead. She began to tremble as she recounted the story to him and Shelton.

"Why weren't you blind this time like all the other times?" he asked.

Stasya waved her hand at James to be silent. "Please Inspector James, do not speak or I shall never be able to tell this again," she pleaded.

James quickly nodded that he understood, as he and Shelton shared a worried look.

Stasya returned her focus to her story. "I rushed up to her and begged her to go. I told the girl it was not safe to be here, but she only cursed at me and pushed me away. My heart pounded with fear. I did not want this girl to suffer the agony I had faced. I kept watching the edge of the woods, when there in the distance I could see a man coming. I chased after the girl and grabbed her hand . 'He's coming, you must hide, hurry!' I cried.

"Angrily the girl jerked away from me and slapped me across the face. I tried to calm her, but she began to pull my hair and scratch at me. The two of us fell to the ground and began to roll back and forth on each other. My own fear was becoming more than I could bear for I knew any moment, Chikatilo would find the two of us. I could not face him again. I had nightmare after nightmare over the years of him finding me and finish killing me. I struggled with the girl on the ground trying to get her to see the monster was nearly upon us. She only continued to fight with me. My fear began to turn into anger and now I began to fight back. Our legs twisted as we writhed together.

"We fought wildly, yanking hair, biting each other, hitting anywhere we could hit one another. I rolled on top of the girl and pulled the hammer from my coat. Pinning her down with my knees I began to pound the claw of the hammer into her face and chest. Over and over I hit her. When she stopped moving I leaned down and savagely bit her face.

My anger began to subside and my breathing began to slow. I looked down and saw the lifeless body of the girl under me. I stood and gathered my things and made my way to the clearing at the edge of the woods. In the distance was a well. There was blood on my hands and face and I needed to clean them. I washed quickly in the well water and a policeman approached me and asked me for my papers. I nervously gave him my identification papers. He turned to me and said, 'Citizen Chikatilo, what were you doing in the woods?'

I stared at him with shock and was only able to mutter the words, 'I'm the devil and I'm here on the devil's business.' "

James and Shelton watched Stasya sob uncontrollably. Shelton moved from one side of the table to other and sat down next to her. She placed her motherly arms around the woman and embraced her, letting her shed the bitter tears that had been held back for so long. Both Shelton and James understood why she felt she could not have told the story again if she stopped.

After several moments, Stasya pulled herself together, wiping her tears from her face. "Forgive me," she apologized.

"It's okay, we understand," reassured James as he spoke softly to her.

"Thank you, both of you. This is the only other time I had ever spoken of this. The last time was with the KGB."

"So this time instead of being in place of his victim, you were him," enquired James.

"Yes that is correct. We had a name, but I didn't know the location. The KGB followed up on Chikatilo and learned he had been arrested once before as a suspect and let go for lack of evidence.

"On November 13, a hunter found the mutilated body of 22-year-old, Sveta Korostik near Donleskhoz Station. The following day the police began watching Chikatilo. Over the next six days they observed him at train stations attempting to talk to young children or teenaged girls. Then on November 20, he was arrested for suspicious behavior and was interrogated for the next nine days without result.