Suspect 009: Chapter 4

Deep thoughts started to swirl in his head. He’d had no family, no love interest, not even a single real friend. It was all just him and his job. Maybe that was what drove him to do what he did three years ago.

Perhaps he’d never know WHY he did it. Did it even matter right now? All he had to do now was to make sure it never happened again.

Kasimir closed his eyes and ran his hands over his face with a heavy sigh.

“Ja, Izaak. I understand. Danke for coming.” He said wearily, his German accent showing through, like it always did whenever he was depressed. He added that to the towering list of his flaws.

Izaak, who understood he wished to be alone with his thoughts, stood up to leave. He murmured a silent goodbye which was not acknowledged by Kasimir, and left the room quietly.

Now that he was left alone, his thoughts started to attack him even more viciously, this time with little bursts of flashbacks from the past.

A single child’s boot, lying on the floor;

A trembling hand holding a gun;

And blood dripping down a marble staircase.

Kasimir started to shiver violently, tears falling from his eyes as he gripped onto his bedsheets. His teeth sank deeply into his lower lip to prevent himself from yelling and blood started to pool around his teeth as his heart raced, setting off a beeping sound which echoed in his room.

His vision grew hazy and dark as the sounds of a bicycle bell echoed in his ears. He could barely hear the sounds of the doctors who bustled into his room over the mirthful, feminine laughter ringing in his ears.

“Katrine…” He murmured inaudibly, as the last of his vision faded away.

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“Where are you going again, Kasimir?” whispered a small, afraid voice.

Kasimir turned around to face the woman clutching at his arm, who seemed to be sobbing softly.

“It iz 3AM, Kasimir, why must you leave?” she pleaded as she clung desperately to him, the tears brimming in her soft blue eyes quite visible now, even in the dark of the night.

“Work, Katrine.” He replied coldly as he shook her off.

“It’s zat criminal again, ja?” she whispered, only a little bitterly in between her sobs, her fingers now nervously twisting the sash of her blue silk dressing gown.

He nodded, not even bothering to respond as he put on his army boots, and tucked them into his green combat pants, the typical uniform for all officer cadets. He stood up and frowned at the cowering woman, whose dark brown hair seemed to be moved to conceal her eyes from view.

“I must go now.” He said quietly, yet curtly. “I will be back tomorrow afternoon.”

“I see...” piped up the same voice after him “Well, I’ll have Eintopf and Kasespatzle ready for when you return, love…”

The prospect of having his favorite foods prepared by his wife did not put a smile on Kasimir’s face. Instead, his face sank deeper into a scowl. He murmured his goodbye and walked outside in a brisk pace, almost as if he couldn’t stand the sight of her.

Katrine stared after him, and made a movement to reach out to Kasimir, although her hand fell back to her side after rising halfway up. She leaned against the door, clutching onto the doorknob.

“I love you…” she whispered before gently closing the door behind him, with her hand now placed on her swollen stomach, as if she were reassuring her unborn child that all was well.

Kasimir looked back for a split second as the door closed and shrugged it off before increasing his pace.

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“Katrine… Katrine, please… No, no, NO!” whimpered Kasimir, gradually getting louder until the last word echoed in the hollow room, the echoes reminding Kasimir what he’d done every time they hit his ears. He felt sorrow wash over him like a tidal wave.

He groaned as he tried to sit up, but found himself bound to his bed with iron links wrapped around his waist, legs and arms, which prevented his movement, and caused him to flop down once more, leaving him utterly bewildered.

He looked around madly, trying to make out where he was.

It seemed to be a room in the same hospital, judging by the television model and the size and brand of his bed, however, he seemed to be underground, what with the lack of windows.

Just within his reach, if he pushed his fingers carefully, was a red button, the same one used to summon a nurse. He pushed it and waited.

Within seconds, a nurse walked inside. The contrast between the two nurses who had tended to him so far could not have been greater, for the nurse tending to him right now was plump and matronly, and far from young, oozing the experience he so seemed to require.

“Where am I?” Kasimir asked, trying to make as little conversation as possible as he felt absolutely nauseated, like one always does when particularly upset.

“You are in our lowest level, Lieutenant” replied the nurse, with a quivery voice “I’m sorry, but after our doctors ran a thorough investigation on you, they have deemed you too unstable to assume regular human contact.”

“I- wha?” Kasimir began to ask before bits and flashes came back into his mind. He winced, almost as if he were reliving the pain he went through then.

“It was just a panic attack, right?” Kasimir asked, slightly worried as this posed a serious setback in his mission to capture the Suspect 009. He had not forgotten about it just yet.

His hand tightened around the bedrail on his right, with the sharp look of the matronly nurse following it.

“Yes, but we were given strict orders to keep you here, Lieutenant Kasimir, SIR.” Said the Nurse, looking as if she did not disagree with her orders.

“Until WHEN?” Kasimir bellowed suddenly, causing the nurse to flinch almost unnoticeably, for she had regained her impassive stature after a split second.

“The time duration is unknown to us. It will be decided by our doctors upon examination of your temper and your behavior with the few you will be allowed to interact with.

Here, the nurse gestured to a small black screened window, enough for two people to sit down and watch his actions behind it.

“We are aware that you require immediate leave, and for that we have taken all measures possible. After your treatment for poisoning is over, which will be in two days thanks to the immediate response of our paramedics in the scene, who prevented the arsenic from depositing in vital organs, if you exhibit no signs of abnormal anger and mental instability, I daresay you’ll be released in a maximum of a week.”

“Madam, I have no days to lose anymore, let alone an entire week. I need to get outside and capture the suspects! I’ve already lost track of them, and for all we know, they might be killing another person right now!” Kasimir said, fighting to keep his voice calm and even, but even then, a few cracks showed through.

What he needed right now was to lose himself in work, in anything at all.

Another laugh rang in his ears, this time, that of a little boy. He didn’t want anyone else killed anymore…

Kasimir, weakened significantly by the many drugs he’d been administered to, took his face in his hands and started to cry feebly as the nurse looked upon him wordlessly.

“Please…” Kasimir said, his voiced muffled by his quiet sobs and his hands, “Just, please… I wish to be alone, now.”

The nurse nodded and walked away, the door of the room closing behind her quietly.