American Devil

‘Dr Levene,’ said the strange, contorted voice. Denise jerked her head. He was back, but his voice was different. It wasn’t so deep and full. It was kinder.

The way he crept silently into the antechamber worried her. Was he studying her? He might’ve been sitting there for hours watching her. A patch of light hit the floor of her prison.

‘My name’s Nick.’ Nick felt sick in his stomach. He knew how dangerous this was. Sebastian wouldn’t forgive him for intruding. ‘I didn’t know who you were when I found you down here, then I put two and two together. You’re the woman they’re all looking for, aren’t you? You’re in every newspaper. Every one.’

Denise listened. What game was he playing? ‘Where’s Sebastian?’

‘Sebastian hurt my son today.’ Nick hung his head low. ‘Sebastian took a spoon to his eye. He was going to gouge out my son’s eye. I’ve got to stop him.’

‘Please don’t ask any more. I’m not in control of what he does. I can’t stop him. He’s going to kill them all, Dr Levene. He wanted to kill you, but I forced him out. I needed to see you. You can help me. He’s going to starve you in this dungeon and then ...’

‘He wants to use you to get to Tom Harper. I’ve got pictures of him on my phone. That’s how I know. He leaves his victim’s pictures on my phone.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Nick. His voice was low and fearful, with a hint of West Virginia in there somewhere. ‘It’s in the Bible. It’s called demonic possession. He’s evil, Dr Levene, and he’s taking over.’

‘He’s in my head. He’s in my hands. I don’t want him to kill. He’ll kill my family. He knows I tried to stop him. That’s why he went for William, see. If I go home again, he’ll kill the boy. I love my boy, Doctor. I love my boy.’

Nick paused. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t believe that this was the vicious, sadistic killer responsible for nine deaths. And that he was asking for her help. His voice was so soft and considered that it was difficult to imagine that it could belong to a killer.

‘If you’ve got some kind of multiple personality disorder,’ she said, ‘I can try to help you,’

‘How can you help me, Dr Levene? I’ve tried with psychologists. I’ve tried, but no one can stop him.’

‘We can try, Nick,’ she said. She had no idea what she was intending to do. She was just looking for something that gave her some control. ‘I can try some things with you, if you want me to ...’

‘If you can stop him, Dr Levene. If you can stop him killing my children.’

‘Yes,’ said Denise. ‘But you have to understand, you want to think he controls you, but he doesn’t. You control Sebastian, Nick, you just don’t realize it. Please, sit down, let me talk to you.’