Skin

Thank you so much for those who have rated and reviewed my work. Im getting great feedback on this story! Jamie finishes the story of his murders in this chapter, and if it seems like he's just rushing through it I've done my job well. Bare with me on this one, but it's supposed to be like this. Jamie is...unsure of himself still and doesn't really want to go indepth on his kills. There's a pretty naked Jamie in this and Ayden sees every inch of him >.O, also, there's an interesting character development regarding their relationship. I hope you like this chapter, please rate and review some more and I hope to hear from you all soon!

PS--Clover...you'll have to read and find out >.O *hugs*


Doctor’s Notes:
Holds great distrust of professionals, apparently feels abandoned frequently. He holds great sorrow for his actions but little regret. He honestly believes in his ‘visions’ and feels he is doing the right thing at the cost of his own innocence. Perhaps in the next session I’ll remove his straight jacket.

Jamie closed his eyes and let the water run down his body. He was only allowed out of his cell once a week to shower, one quick half hour and then it was back to his hole. He wasn’t allowed to shower with other patients, and two guards were always posted on the opposite side of a wall of shatter proof glass to make sure he wasn’t up to anything. The day before, Ayden had returned to him with his basic meal of meat, vegetables and bread. He ate, and they talked a little more but about nothing important. Jamie rolled his shoulders in the hot water, they were sore from their constant confinement.

Ayden approached the guards standing at the showers, he was a little earlier than usual and had hoped it wouldn’t interfere but perhaps he should have waited.

“You here for him?”

Ayden’s gaze followed the jutting thumb of the guard. Jamie stood as naked as the day he was born, steam rolled off his skin as he rested his palms against the cool tiles. He was taller than Ayden had originally thought and was surprisingly slender. The guard knocked on the glass to get his attention as Jamie turned his head slightly. His grey eyes locked with Ayden’s. He suddenly had the urge to step away as he felt heat rise to his face. Jamie smiled as he let his arms drop to his sides and the water was turned off. Ayden tore his eyes away as Jamie walked to his waiting towel and clothes.

“We have to restrain him. Sometimes he cooperates, and sometimes he doesn’t. You can wait for him in his cell if you wish.”

Ayden examined Jamie’s back. He had his cotton pants on now but his back and shoulders were littered with small bruises and old cuts.

“It’s alright, I’ll stay.”

Jamie glanced at him over his shoulder with his cold grey eyes, although he hadn’t heard their conversation. He knew there was no way he could have through the glass but the look none-the-less spoke multitudes.

Jamie gazed at Ayden, hoping to keep him riveted. He knew the doctor thought he was a victim, but the truth was the guards were taking every precaution they could. He placed his hands on the tiled wall as the guards locked themselves in. Ayden watched, just as he had hoped. He was tempted to hurt them just to show him what he can do, but he decided against it. He wanted the man to be afraid of him, but he would only truly hurt those who were going to hurt others. Sometimes the guards were a bit rougher than they really needed to be, but he never held it against them. He played nice as they slid his arms into the jacket and tightened the buckles in the back. The guards led him to the door as one prepared his blindfold.

“There’s no need for that.”

“We have to, so long as he is outside of his cell. We don’t want him observing his surroundings too closely it could be dangerous.”

Ayden sighed and nodded, allowing the guard to blind Jamie. That was alright with him, he had spent so long in the darkness the light almost blinded him anyway. Everything except his cell seemed too bright, too clean and too human to sustain him. He wasn’t human anymore. Once he and Ayden were locked in his cell again the good doctor removed his blindfold.

“I’ve killed a man of faith. My fourth murder was a priest. I had set after him myself, after seeing him on the news. Stop.”

Ayden’s fingers stilled as Jamie tensed. He had undone one of the latches to his jacket but Jamie’s behavior had changed suddenly.

“I was only going to remove your jacket. It would make you more comfortable.”

Jamie swallowed and forced himself to breathe.

“This makes me afraid.”

Ayden moved away from him but Jamie remained frozen.

“You listen to me, although I find you writing little details about me insufferable. You came back to talk to me and instead of digging you asked me to tell you about my crimes. You don’t interrupt me and you blushed when you saw me naked. You smell like cheap cologne and expensive clothes but when your fingers removed my blindfold I could smell the tobacco you try so hard to cover up. I’m scared to be loose around you. If you touch me and I see something I will kill you.”

They stayed like that as Jamie counted the seconds. He closed his eyes as Ayden stepped forward again and undid the last strap. The thick cloth slid away from his shoulders as he turned his head and smiled at him. Perhaps this hadn’t been the best idea.

“I attended the last mass he ever led. I stayed to the very end and approached him boldly. When I touched him I saw him strangling the life out of a little boy as he raped him.”

The heavy cloth of the jacket fell to the floor with a dull thud. He stared at it a moment as it laid at his feet. He was surprised by the gooseflesh that rose along his body as Ayden’s fingertips lightly touched the skin of his back. No vision.

“Would you like a cigarette?”

Jamie smiled, he wasn’t pretending anymore as he took up his usual chair. He lit two cigarettes and passed one to Jamie. He hadn’t smoked in almost three years but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity presented to him. Jamie stretched himself out on his cot, the muscles of his arms and back pulled taunt as he lay on his stomach.

“I took him then, by force I shoved him into the confessional and strangled him with my hands. The church was empty but his dying sounds echoed in the building. I left him in that box for someone to find.”

Jamie rolled over onto his back and took a long drag.

“How do you feel about killing a priest?”

He sighed as his chest rose and fell with great effort, smoke rolling out of his nostrils.

“I feel condemned, even though I saved a little boy; I felt the eye of God as he marked my soul. However, I would have done the act again if it meant the little boy would live.”

Ayden wrote in his little book as Jamie continued.

“My fifth murder was simple. A troubled student had planned the death of six classmates. I ran into him on the subway. I carried a gun with me everyday until I found him again. I shot him down from the train and then ran. Several photos of me made it to the news but none were clear enough to identify me. I decided to be more careful after that.”

“The police were linking the murders at that time.”

Jamie smiled as he finished his cigarette.

“They were trying to; apparently I had been sloppier that I had thought. I had left clues I hadn’t realized I left and I could feel my prison walls growing nearer. Almost six months passed before I had another vision. The girl shoved past me with tears in her eyes as I was walking into a bar. She was drunk, and so was the man she planned to castrate and kill. She wanted to make him pay, I’m sure he deserved it but my duty to my visions passed her judgment, not I. She was fairly easy. She stumbled down an alley, too drunk to walk and I even managed to find an old piece of metal wire sticking out of the trash. I pushed her onto the ground and placed my knee in her back as I wrapped the wire around her neck and pulled. It cut into her skin and made quite a mess, I’m not sure if she bled out or if she suffocated.”

Ayden’s gaze found his as the wheels turned in his head. Jamie gave him the answers.

“I was being stupid now. The police had found my blood on the wire as well; it had cut me when I had pulled them taunt. So now they had my DNA and I had wire cuts on my fingers. I became desperate. I wanted to complete as many visions as I could before the police caught up to me.”

“You knew they were going to catch you?”

Jamie lay on his back, his head tilted towards Ayden as his gray eyes searched his face.

“I knew I would be caught when I committed the first murder. I knew that I would be tried and found guilty. And I knew that I would be deemed crazy and would be locked up in a mental hospital until my body rots away. My last vision struck me on May 22, 2006. A boy of ten years old handed me money for milk while I was at work. He was going to kill his baby sister, an infant. I asked him to follow me into the backroom to get milk that was fresh. Children are so trusting; they make it so easy to trap them. I held his head to my chest until he stopped thrashing and his body had gone still. I through him into the dumpster out back and took a week off of work. I knew they were coming for me soon.”

“The police had talked to you once at this point, you were a serious suspect and they wanted to see if they could match you to the priest by the bruising patterns on his throat.”

Jamie smiled at him as Ayden waited for him to continue.

“While I waited, I watched the news, waiting to see them call me out. But I saw something else. I saw the face of Daniel Harting, the first man I had had a vision from, walking free after a long trial and a partial imprisonment. His case had been overturned for inconclusive evidence. I was confused as to how the evidence could be inconclusive when he had hacked up a woman with an axe. I stayed up all night researching him, until I found out where he was staying. I went out, prepared to kill, prepared to be caught, and bought an axe. I went to his house, forced my way in and quickly took him down. I tied him to his bed and made him watch as I hacked off one body part at a time. It’s such a shame that he passed out after I had hacked off his right arm in three places and his right leg in two. I finished my job none-the-less and sat and waited. When they found us they thought I had been killed too, I had his blood all over me. He was in 13 pieces, and I felt more solid that I ever had before. I had carried out my murders as much as I could.”

“How could you keep your stomach down in all of that? You weren’t born to do this; you never fell in love with the killing like so many others do.”

Jamie’s hand went to his throat, caressing the skin there lightly as he stared at the ceiling.

“They were animals, beasts, creatures that needed to be slain for the betterment of the world. When all you’re doing is cleaning up, it’s easier to handle. It’s easier to get over the smell of the blood and the sound of breaking bones and the look of organs as they spill out on white sheets.”

Jamie rolled over on his cot, his back to Ayden.

“I’m tired; I don’t think I want to talk anymore today.”

Ayden nodded as he gathered his things.

“I’ll let you choose the topic tomorrow. Decide what you want to discuss by them.”

He let himself out as Jamie turned back over and gazed at the door. His voice was barely a whisper in his small cell.

“You blushed.”



please rate and review so I can edit and post the next chapter. until next time!