• Tim woke up sweating. The dream he had was still fresh on his mind. The monsters that had been chasing him were still engraved in his brain. In his dream he was running through a dark hallway. The monsters behind him were bloody and had sharp claws. Their faces were disfigured and teeth were sharp. He knew what they represented. It was his guilt again.
    The past three years he had been a murderer and a thief. It was a surprise he hadn't been caught yet. The hate he felt towards his actions toward people was immense. The people he killed were innocent but they had been in his way. No one had seen his face and lived to tell about it.
    He was a big guy, weight wise. Weighing in at two hundred and fifty pounds, six feet tall, and with fair skin. His hair was a deep brown and went down to his shoulders, his bangs covered his green eyes when he let them.
    He got out of bed and walked into the kitchen in the dark. Knowing his way around the house the lights were not needed. He opened the fridge and winced when the light came on, making him feel around until he found what he was looking for. Finally pulling out a bottle of water and letting the door to the fridge close, he opened the water and downed half of it. In the same darkness, he walked back into the bedroom and laid down.
    He heard a beep and looked at his phone. His girlfriend, Amy, was on her way. The clock said it was three in the morning. Wondering why she would be coming over this early in the morning, he got dressed in some black jeans and threw on a black button up shirt, but didn't bother buttoning it.
    He walked to the living room and sat down for a moment, and would have sat there forever but someone knocked on the door. As he got up and walked to the door, his heart beating hard for some reason, opening it and sighing in relief to see Amy standing there.
    “Rough night?” she asked.
    “Just another dream,” he said as she walked in the house. He closed the door and hugged her.
    “I told you to go see someone about those.” She hugged him back.
    “And I told you it was nothing.” He let go of her and walked into the kitchen. She followed him closely.
    “Tim, I am worried about you.”
    “Don't be.” He was annoyed and she could tell.
    “Tim, If you don't go see someone about it, I will bring someone to you.”
    “Amy, I told you I am fine!” He yelled. They had had this fight before.
    She stayed silent a moment, appalled that he had yelled at her. He had never yelled before, no matter how much they fought. “That's it. I am out of here. Don't bother calling.”
    Tim was in a rage. He opened the drawer his gun was kept in. He pointed it at her as she turned around, hearing the slamming drawer. He squeezed the trigger three times, leaving two holes in her chest and one in her stomach. She fell to her knees, tears in her eyes. She fell face first to the floor and was silent. Tim walked outside and turned his back to the house. Cleaning the gun off so his finger prints wouldn't be on it, he turned the gun towards himself and pulled the trigger once, aiming for his heart. He conscious long enough to throw the gun as far as possible. Hearing the splash as it landed in the neighbors pool, he passed out.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Officer Ben Farley secured the perimeter. The previous night there had been another of the same murders and an attempted murder. They had found the gun in the neighbors pool but couldn't get any prints off of it. The survivor, male, had been taken to the hospital. The resident of the house Tim Fleming. The other victim, female, died. The neighbors had said they had seen the female victim's car pull up and some shouting. Farley suspected Tim was the one who had done the shooting, but why would he shoot himself was the question.
    Ben opened Tim's file. No felonies, no traffic tickets, nothing. Tim was clean. He jumped as his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID and seeing that it was his partner, Carrisa, he answered the phone.
    “Talk to me,” he demanded.
    “Ben, the gun was registered to a Cody Harris,” Carrisa said slowly. “And Tim's record is clear. The doctor called and said he was finally awake. They said you can go question him if you want.”
    “Thanks C,” he said. “I will go check out Cody Harris. Give me his address?”
    “I can't Ben.”
    “Why not?”
    “Cody Harris is dead. He has been dead for three months. He was murdered with his own gun. The same one we just found.”
    Ben ended the call walked to his car. He got in and slammed the door shut. Sitting back and sighing, he turned the key and started to drive to the hospital.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Tim sat up in his bed. He had meant to kill himself the night before. He winced feeling the pain shoot through his body. The cops would figure out what he had done. Reaching for the phone, but not picking it up as a policeman walked in the room. He withdrew his hand from the phone.
    “My name is Ben Farley. I am with the police investigating the murders that have been going on. This shooting matches the others. Except for you. The only survivor of the shootings and robberies.” Ben stated.
    Tim looked at Ben. “It was dark officer so if you want to ask questions about the shooter I can't answer them too well.” He said hoping that Ben didn't know anything.
    Tim's heart skipped as Ben got in closer. “You are my suspect Tim,” he whispered. Tim stayed still. Ben backed up again and waited for a reaction that might confirm his suspicions. Tim just sat there. He didn't have a guilty look. It was more like an innocent and confused look.
    “A-Amy was the girl I loved,” Tim stuttered. “I chased after the man before he shot me.”
    Ben stood there a moment. Tim watched him from the corner of his eye. Hoping he could still get away with this. “I will be back tomorrow to pick you up.” Ben walked out quickly and shut the door.
    Tim picked up the phone and started to dial a friend of his that helped him with the big stuff. They always helped each other out of tight situations such as these.
    “Hello?” a voice on the other side said.
    “Dude, It's Tim,” he said quickly. “I don't have a lot of time. I need a favor.”
    “Name it. You saved my a** last month and I owe you one.”
    “I need you to murder someone, tonight.”
    “Who? And why can't you do it?”
    “I am in the hospital and the cops are on to me. I want you to murder anyone you see fit. Draw the attention off of me. You know how to copy my kill.” He slammed the phone down.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Ben smirked. He was still outside the door and had heard the phone call Tim had made. Of course, he couldn't prove anything by it. He didn't have any recording, didn't even have a bug in the phone. He would figure it out later. Right now his plan was to use Tim to catch his partner and finally catch Tim red-handed.