Through the eyes of a killer

Chrissy walked towards Jake, excited to hear about her first assignment. It was her first day working as a cop. Jake had been a cop for the past ten years. The force had assigned him to guide her simply because of his experience. Chrissy was happy she had got Jake. He was cool. He laughed and joked even while on the job unlike most cops.

"Here you go," Jake said, handing over her a file. "It's your first job."
"Thanks," Chrissy said, as she took it. She opened the file to find information on a dark haired lady in her mid thirties. She had just called 911 ten minutes ago as her burglar alarm had gone off.
"Come on," Jake said. "Let's go."

Chrissy looked out of the window as Jake parked his car in front of a large, modernised house, in the middle of a beautiful garden.
"You take the front door," Jake said. "I'll take the back." Chrissy obeyed.
As Chrissy walked towards the front door she noticed a CCTV camera watching her from the front porch. By the look of it, the house had all the security it needed.

"Mrs. Spence," she called out as she turned the door knob. The door opened. So it wasn't locked, Chrissy thought. She looked at the alarm that had gone off. It was turned off. So there was a burglar! He could still be in. Chrissy pulled out her gun, ready to attack. She silently made her way towards the living room.

"Chrissy...!" Chrissy turned around at the sound of a faint voice. It was a little girl. Chrissy lowered her gun.
"Who are you?" she asked. "You called me Chrissy! How did you know my name?"
The girl took a few steps back, as Chrissy walked towards her. She had long dark hair and wore a long white dress. Her dress had a red bow on the waist. Something in Chrissy's mind clicked. Do I know this girl? She wondered.

Chrissy blinked, and suddenly the girl was gone. Chrissy lowered her gun and ran towards the place the girl had been standing. There was not even a trace of her. Weird, Chrissy thought. She looked towards her right. A staircase! Chrissy held out her gun once again, and walked up the stairs. The staircase led to a hallway. There were a few doors on either side of the hallway, but the very last door caught Chrissy's eye. It was a drawing on the door. A drawing of a family; a man, a woman and a little girl!

Chrissy walked towards the door and opened it. The room was empty. However, it was clear that the owner of this room was no doubt the little girl she had seen before. The room was pink. Pink walls, pink bed spread, pink cupboard, pink dresser; even the window sills were pink. A photo frame on the dresser caught Chrissy's eye. She walked towards the dresser and picked it up. It was of the same girl she had seen before.

Suddenly, there was a flash. I know this girl, Chrissy thought. But how? Nothing came to her mind. Think Chrissy, think! She forced herself. Chrissy walked towards the bed and sat down with the photo in her hand. How do I know you? She wondered, staring at the photo. Suddenly, it all came back!

Her memory flew back by five years. It was the time she was with Alexander, a thief who had offered her a job. A job to steal! Chrissy had broken into a few houses with Alex. They had always shared what they stole. After a few months Chrissy wanted to give up stealing. One day she had walked towards Alex with this question in her mind.
"Alex, let's stop this business," she had said.
"Sure," Alex had replied. "After one last job!"
One last job! That wasn't so bad, Chrissy had thought. If only she had known that that job would change her life!

Chrissy and Alex were to rob one last house. They set off in a stolen van one late night. The owner of this house was Mrs. Spence, a lady who was recently divorced. She was out of town on a business trip. The house was meant to be empty that night. As usual Chrissy had picked the lock. They had walked in and were collecting goods when suddenly they heard the sound of a phone click. Was someone there? Had someone called the police?

Chrissy and Alex had rushed to the staircase taking two-three steps at a time. As they walked through the hallway Chrissy had noticed the door. The door with the drawing! It was this very same room. As Alex kicked open the door the first thing they noticed was a little girl crying in the corner. Chrissy remembered the white dress with a red bow. The child had the phone in her hand. Alex had taken out a gun and aimed it at the little girl.

"No, don't!" Chrissy had screamed. "She's only a child!" Alex had handed over the gun to Chrissy and had walked towards the child. She had started crying even louder.

"Don't hurt me!" she had said. "My mommy will be here soon!" Chrissy had watched as Alex took out a knife, ready to stab the child.
"Alex! No!" Chrissy had screamed. She had pointed the gun towards Alex. Alex had held the little girl in front of him. Just then the police had broken in. Chrissy had panicked, and pulled the trigger!

Chrissy blinked her tears. She was still sitting on the bed in the same room. She looked towards the door and saw Jake staring at her.
"It was me!" she said. "I killed her!"
"Yes," Jake replied. "You did!"
"But it was a mistake! I wasn't going to kill her!"
"I know!" Jake said. "The police startled you." He walked towards her and pointed at the girl in the picture. "You shot her that night Chrissy."
Tears rolled down Chrissy's cheeks as she thought about it. She remembered it! She remembered the little girl, her face, her expression, her white dress covered in blood, and her lifeless body fall down! Chrissy had shot a child.
"I remember!" she told Jake.
"That's good," he replied. "It means the exercise worked!"
"Exercise?" Chrissy asked.
"I'm not a cop Chrissy," Jake said. "I'm a doctor. I have been your psychiatrist for the past five years. Pretending to be a cop was the last exercise I could do to help you remember!"

Chrissy watched as few armed cops walked into the room.
"You're under arrest Ma'am!" one of them said, as he handcuffed her.
"I have one more question," Chrissy said, as she looked at Jake. "What about Alex? Where is he? Is he in jail? Or did the cops shoot him?"
"Alex?" Jake asked. "No Chrissy, you broke into this house alone. There is no such person as Alex!"
"But I don't understand... We robbed together! All the time!"
"Alex was an imaginary figure your mind created, so that you wouldn't have to take the blame for all the robbing you did on your own! And that includes the murder of this little girl!" Jake explained. "Alex was never real!"

The Best Valentine’s Gift Ever

Rachel looked at the silver watch she wore. It had been a gift from Brian on her birthday last year. It read 7.30 pm. Brian was late. The waiter walked up to her for the fifth time.

"Miss," he said. "I'm sorry you will have to make an order if you want to stay any further."
"Could I wait just five more minutes?" Rachel pleaded. She was worried. Brian had never been this late for a date before. He was always on time! Sometimes he even came ahead of time.
"Miss I'm sorry," the waiter started again. "It's Valentine's Day and there are so many people outside waiting for a table. If you are not going to order anything I will have to ask you to leave."
It was Valentine's Day. Brian was late for their first Valentine's dinner.
"Ok," she told the waiter. "In that case, I'll have a coffee."

Once the waiter had left, Rachel buried her head in her palms. Brian, where are you? She wondered. Rachel and Brian had been dating for nine months and two weeks now. Brian was a businessman and had always been a busy guy. They had very little time to meet as Brian had his clients to take care of. However, he loved Rachel dearly and always made it on time for their dates, except for today.

Rachel smiled as she thought about Brian. Two weeks ago, Brian had asked Rachel what she wanted to do for their first Valentine's Day together.
"Cancel all your meetings and spend the whole day with me," she had answered playfully. Brian had smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"You know I can't take the whole day off sweetie," he had said.
"I know," Rachel had said smiling.
"However, I can promise to meet you for a nice romantic dinner!" he had said, giving her a slight kiss on the lips. Rachel smiled as she put her arms around him.
"Ok," she had said. "Dinner it is!"
They had agreed to meet at Hotel Shanghai at 7 pm, which was the closest to Brian's office.

The waiter had brought the coffee, and Rachel took another look at her watch as she drank it. Another 15 minutes had passed and Brian still hadn't shown up. Rachel picked up her mobile and dialed Brian's number for the third time since she had come. No answer! Rachel was now getting impatient. Brian had never stood her up before, but why today? On Valentine's Day!

Suddenly, a strong pair of hands covered Rachel's eyes.
"Brian!" Rachel's heart jumped as she held his hands. Brian smiled as he took his hands off Rachel's eyes and sat next to her. The first thing Rachel noticed was a huge bouquet of roses lying next to her on the table. Rachel smiled as she took them in her hands.
"It's beautiful!" She said. "Thank you Brian."
"I'm sorry," Brian said. "I had some important things to take care of before I made it here."
"What important things?" Rachel asked.
"Like getting something special made for the lovely lady sitting next to me," Brian answered. Rachel turned red as Brian put his hand into the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a little black box.
"What is that?" Rachel asked.

Brian did not answer, instead he stood up. Rachel was confused. Brian took her by the hand and lead her to stand up. Rachel stood up. She could feel everyone staring at her. Brian let go of her hand and opened the little black box. Inside it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen in her life. Brian held her hand again and got down to his knees in front of her. Tears curled up in Rachel's eyes.

"Will you marry me?" Brian asked her. Tears escaped out of Rachel's eyes as she looked at Brian. His face was full of hope. Hope for her to give a positive answer.
"Yes," Rachel replied. "Yes!" Brian stood up, and slipped the ring into Rachel's finger. The crowd applauded as Rachel hugged Brian. This was the best Valentine's Day ever! It was truly a dream come true!