Ambiguous Voices (standard:drama, 2695 words)
Author: Nathan K	Added: Nov 19 2000	Views/Reads: 5082/2765	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A murder is commited. A man is caught. He starts making accurate predictions to a psychologist. Is he crazy or gifted?

Ambiguous Voices. 

Nathan K 

"I kill because I have to. There is no choice ". The sweat rolls from
his face under the bright lights of the interrogation room.  He knows 
what is coming, but he doesn't fear it. It's almost excitement. In the 
next room two young detectives observe him. " Is he still talking to 
himself?" says one. " Yep, real nutcase this one" The other officer 
opens Knell's folder, containing the statements from the witnesses who 
had seen the execution. He reads, "He got picked up this afternoon, 
double homicide, two guys were having dinner, Mr Knell here walks in 
the restaurant holds a gun to one of the man's heads and shouts, from 
one witnesses statement ' You must understand me, I do not control 
this, this must happen'. Everyone in the restaurant thinks this is a 
hold up, he shoots one man in the chest, the man falls to the table, he 
shoots him in the head. Without hesitating he turns and shoots the 
other man in the head, one shot. He then puts the gun in his pocket, 
turns and walks out, 35 witnesses, all give the same story." The 
officer replied " That's cold, who is talking to this guy?". "McTraw is 
on his way" replies the first. 

Knell stares straight at the one way mirror through which he is being
watched. His hands placed on his lap, handcuffed, as are his feet. The 
interrogation room is painted white with two chairs and one large 
table, also white.  There are four mirrors in the room, one on each 
wall.  One of which is used for one way viewing. This is the one Knell 
somehow knowingly stares at. There is nothing in the room that could be 
inspiring, good or bad in any way. Knell mutters to himself, almost 
reassuring himself, " They needed to die, it is not me, they use me."  
The faint sound of agony in his voice can only be heard by his own 
ears, the cry to himself that he is not to blame. The prison style 
overalls that he had been given makes his skin itch under the hot 
conditions of the room. Knell could not imagine being more 
uncomfortable. He listens for any sign of movement or voice coming from 
the next room. He gets agitated when he is alone. That is when they 
come, the thoughts that drive him. 

Agent McTraw walks into the room, he has a confident sway, not seeming
to care that he is walking into a room containing a man who earlier 
committed a gruesome crime.  Without giving Knell any eye contact at 
all he sips at his coffee, throws the file he is holding onto the table 
and sits down. "Ok then, Why?" asks the detective. " I wish I could 
grace that simple question with an equally simple answer" says Knell. 
He looks down and says "They, they tell me to". The detective stands 
up, pushing his chair aside, walks over to Knell and leans with both 
hands on the table, inches from the killers face. "On behalf of the 12 
children who will be having nightmares for the rest of their lives 
because of what they saw  today, why did you do it?" says the 
detective. Knell smiles, as if to dismiss with ease the guilt that the 
detective is trying to place on him. " You know what? Don't bother with 
the guilt thing, I was doing what I had to, you don't know what it's 
like, no-one does, except me, I am gifted, not evil."  The detective 
turns his back, brushing back his thinning hair, trying not to break, 
not to show his frustration. But he had been there, he had smelt the 
death that this man had caused, he was not finding this easy. Knell is 
giving nothing away. " Do voices tell you to do these things?" asks the 
detective. " Sometimes" says Knell " Sometimes it's voices, but not a 
voice like you are talking to me now, it comes from within, not from 
the outside, it is someone talking to me, through my body.  Someone 
that is recognised by no-one. Sometimes I dream what I have to do, 
sometimes I'm reading the paper and it'll be a headline, the fact is 
whenever I get a sign it's different from the last. I don't know where 
the next one will be, it's kind of exciting, but on the other hand I'm 
so afraid." 

The detective looks straight into the eyes of Knell, trying to get a
glimpse of what lies inside. Knell just smiles back. A kind of smile 
that you imagine on the face of someone who is enjoying a situation. 
The detective turns around, picks up his file, gives Knell one more,  
lingering , cold look, walks out. 

" Get a Psychologist down here, this guy might be genuine, I want a full
report" The detective says to the waiting observers. " Yes sir", the 
detective leaves the outer room. One of the observers picks up the 


Click here to read the rest of this story (162 more lines)