a cold summer

Chapter Fifteen ~ Joining up the dots

Xara sat behind the iron bars in a small chair which was tucked up against the table. She was clad in a white straight jacket and orange prison trousers with a pair of black boots. Her hair still had the purple tinge but I could see it fading away and her contacts had been taken out, leaving her with bright green eyes as opposed to the icy blue ones she had in.

I sat in a chair on the other side of the bars and looked at her, wearing an expression of pure disgust. She looked surprisingly calm. Her eyes met mine and I asked her a question I had been wanting to ask her for a long time.

"Why?"

She smiled. "Out of selfishness. To protect myself. It goes against what I usually believe in, but after almost being arrested a second time, I couldn't let them just expose me. I had to complete my mission."
"Mission?"
"To rid the world of evil."

Now I knew she was crazy. "How does murder rid the world of evil? If anything it makes the world an even more evil place."
Her face fell. "No one ever did understand me. Maybe its time I tell someone. Then they'll understand."

She took a deep breath.

"I was a college student in Midsomer Norton studying English and Music and doing some pointless work experience at a shop in a village in the middle of nowhere. The weaker half of me was on display for most of my life. Shy, quiet, boring. No wonder I didn't get anywhere. But one day, I woke up."

Xara was on a roll now. I was slightly confused but didn't bother to question her.

"For the first time in ages, I was finally happy. I was doing well in my job and soon had enough to buy my own place and a car. I even had friends. I liked being happy and didn't want to stop being happy. It was in this instance that I realised not everyone was as lucky as me. Some people were unhappy. And they didn't deserve to be unhappy."

She sounded passionate, like she wanted to change the world for good. But I still didn't understand why she thought murder was the best option to do so.

"My first victim was an arrogant sod. I was unlucky enough to end up with her as a roommate. The weaker side of me saw her as my closest friend. How wrong I was. She stole from me. She was broke as she was too lazy to get a job. Almost constantly she borrowed money from the people around her and just never paid it back. More often than not she took money without asking. That's called stealing. It makes people feel unhappy, myself included. So by getting rid of her, I made most of the village a lot richer. That murder was exciting. I studied English and music which I like to think makes me quite creative. My murders were certainly creative. I kept the whole thing in a diary and planned to submit it as my English Coursework. The weaker part of me didn't know about this, and she didn't need to. That would just draw suspicion."

Xara talked about herself as if she were two different people. That seemed rather odd.

"Next were her two stuck up friends. They thought I was the one being mean to her, when really it was the opposite way around. So shallow, so clueless. I did society a favour getting rid of those two. The average IQ of the village almost tripled. After that was another fake girl who hooked up with my crush. He didn't really love her, he just kept her around for the popularity and status. She had him wrapped around her little finger. I could tell he felt trapped. So I did him a favour and set him free by getting rid of her."

She took a breath.

"But he didn't appreciate what I had done for him. Instead he spent an entire day moping around feeling sad. Carol understood my point of view and tried to make it clear to him..."

"Who's Carol?" I interrupted.

Xara smiled. "She ran the charity shop where I worked. She was rather eccentric and weird, but I loved her. She understood me. When I killed his girlfriend, she understood why I had done what I did. Of course, she didn't know it was me. I didnt tell anyone it was me. That was meant to be part of the fun, trying to guess whodunnit. I decided I would do whatever I could to keep Carol happy. I would protect her as much as I could. So when he started threatening her and yelling at her, my love for Carol overruled my love for him. If Carol was ever going to be happy again, he needed to be out of the picture. After that, I was happy for a while. I spent some time with the people in the village, of whom I was close to. Geoff used to work in the local cafe before coming here. That's how I knew he could help me when I came here."

I thought about that. Xara and Geoff had been good friends. I wondered how much of her pretending to know PIT was acting and how much was genuine.

"But then things took a dark turn. I made a mistake. The parts for the murders which I carried out came from random things I found in Carol's shop. Some idiot started snooping around in Carol's shop and found them. Soon, Carol was arrested for my crimes. I couldn't believe it. The one person I was close to had been framed. I had to do something about it. So I taught him what happens to snitches who can't keep their mouths shut."

She looked triumphant. That scared me. If someone so much as displeased Xara, it would cost them their lives.

"My bad luck continued. My old therapist, a crusty old lady, came to the village. She was awful. She insisted that I had about fifty mental disorders and a bunch of random illnesses. My childhood was ruined because of her. But not just that, she was rude to everyone. I figured I was doing the village a favour without the likes of her around anymore. And that was it. Six murders, seven victims. My weaker side was beginning to get stressed and wonder what was going on. So she stupidly went to go and see another therapist. I couldn't kill her because then I would die. Instead I had to kill the therapist."

Xara paused.

"But she was smart. Pretty soon she figured out what was going on. Before I could eliminate her, she called the police. And I was arrested. But was that the end?"

She laughed hysterically.

"Absolutely not! Far from it in fact. I moved to a new town and continued my mission of ridding this world of evil people. Boy, that was fun. Murder is so much easier in a large settlement, because you become anonymous. Unlike villages, where everyone knows everyone, towns are hard places to know everything about all of your neighbours. I could become invisible, inconspicuous. In fact, when they arrived to arrest me, I was already gone."

Xara smiled evilly and looked at me, waiting for a response. I processed what she had said. She wasn't really an evil person, she was trying to make the world a better place, albeit in a really sinister and twisted way. But all those people, maybe they didn't deserve to live. But they didn't deserve to die either. That's exactly what I told Xara.

She smiled sadly. "I'm glad you understand my point of view. But you should know: Death is part of life. There's nothing sinister about it. It's natural. Happens to all of us eventually."
"Well it's over now," I announced. "You'll be spending some time here. And don't think for a second I understand you. You murdered two innocent people. My best friends. And you seriously want me to sit here and say that their death made the world a better place."
Her face darkened. "Oh, it's far from over. Getting arrested merely halts the process, like taking a break. I'll be out of here in a week. And when I am, I'll move to a big city. Those places are full of dodgy criminals posing a hazard to society. Just you wait."

The officer who let me in came through and said my time was up. I said goodbye to Xara.
"This won't be the last you see of me," she whispered.
"I wouldn't be so sure," I replied ominously.

And with that, I left Xara alone in her cell.