Scars in the Mirror

Note: This story is available in Behind the Shadows IV

~A forensic psychologist explained to the detective that the paranoid schizophrenia had probably always been there, lurking in the depths of the man’s mind. Over time, Thomson had developed normal, healthy coping mechanisms, enough to hide the condition. Like a crack in a sheet of ice, though, the single exposure to LSD upset the delicate balance of his mind, shattering the webwork of processes that allowed Thomson to deal with reality.

A week later, and the kid was a full-on doomsday prepper. Within six months, his parents and siblings were dead, all victims of their little boy’s earnest belief that he family were agents of some sinister government surveillance program. 

Petrov had been the one to clear Thomson’s apartment. It was almost identical to this one: the garbage, the filth, the disregard for hygiene. Only it hadn’t been a a simple shower wall systematically reduced to its components; it had taken the lab techs seven hours to collect all the parts and pieces of Thomson’s mother.~

As a cop, you quickly learn that the world is full of unspeakable horrors going on right next door to regular, everyday life. You get numb to it. You have to if you want to be able to close your eyes at night or take your family to a park. But every once in a while, something brake through the numbness.

One day, a message went out about a murder. The suspect had killed his family. As harsh as it may sound, that happens. But this one was different. I knew the suspect. Many years ago, I’d worked with him, was friendly with him, joked with him to while away the hours. There was absolutely nothing about the man that even hinted at violence. I figured there had to be a mistake.

They asked for an officer to check his apartment. I volunteered, hoping I’d be the one to find some clue as to what went wrong. And I did. It was all there in the apartment, like a half-assembled puzzle.

I hope my little story is able to get across some of the dread I felt going through the darkened apartment of a murder in the middle of the night. I hope it makes you question what we think we know about each other and ourselves and the consequences of the choices we all make. Most of all, I hope it scares you…in the best way.