“Shoot. Do it. Now. Shoot her. Quick. Before she hurts someone. Before she hurts you. You have to shoot her. Now!”

The gunshot pierces the night. The thief drops to the ground, her butter knife of a weapon clattering against the tiles.

“What did I do?” the policeman exclaims in a panic, running his fingers through his hair and staring blankly at me for answers.

“The right thing. You saw her. She was going to hurt us. You had to shoot. There wasn’t an option. She could’ve taken an eye out with that thing. She was certainly deranged. You could see that, couldn’t you? You did see that?”

“Yeah, yeah, deranged...” he trails off, muttering to himself that he had no choice.

I internally grin. “Why don’t you check on the residents? I’ll stay here. I’ll report it in. I’ll tell them what you did. They’ll all praise you. You’re a hero, Ronny, a hero.”

“Yeah, hero.”

He stumbles away, mumbling inherently. Poor guy. I’ve really done a number on him. I give it a week max and he’ll be kicked from the force. Maybe they’ll even chalk it off to stress. They never think to blame me. It’s always been my partners. But they’re stupid. They don’t think of me. It’s like they can’t see it. Doesn’t help that I’m whispering in their ears too. I’m the perfect officer. There’s no reason to pin it to me. No reason.

It’s a good thing we were assigned this emergency. I’ve been searching for this woman. I heard she quit her job. Not the kind of job you’re allowed to quit. There’ll be people who’re glad she’s properly handled. They won’t reward me. That’d be absurd. But they’ll watch me now. And they’ll notice. Notice what the cops haven’t. Notice how those around me start getting a little ... trigger happy. They’ll be interested. And interested, I can work with. Interested I can manipulate. Manipulate like these badges.

It’s not that hard. Plus it’s rather fun.

Worming my way into someone’s mind. Finding their fears, their trigger points. Learning where they draw the line. And nudging them, pushing them, shoving them so much that they can’t tell when they’ve passed the line weeks ago. It breaks them. It tears them apart from the inside until they become mere fragments of their former self. Then they’re even easier to control than Jonny here.

But he’s rather close. So very close. Once I report this little incident in, I’m sure he’ll be there. I’ve built him up into thinking he’s some sort of hero. It’ll be hilarious to see him realise that the world thinks him a villain. Meanwhile I’ll just be a nameless shadow in the background. Someone who was merely there, when it went down, by no way involved. I’d love to see how they’d all react when they realise the truth. But that’d spoil the fun. So I’ll wait, wait until I get the other side’s attention, wait until I have them hooked on my every word, then I’ll let the truth come to light, and it’ll be marvellous.

*

“You shot an unarmed thief?” Sergeant Wilson confirms, her voice dangerously low.

Jonny squirms in the chair beside me. “She had a knife.”

“A butter knife,” I clarify.

Jonny jumps up. “She was dangerous! I swear she was going to attack us. You could see it in those eyes of hers. Those damned eyes. They were dark as coal.”

Sergeant Wilson scowls. “Yet the photo that you provided shows her light blue eyes.” She ignores Jonny’s stuttering and turns to me. “Andrews, please compile your report while I handle this.”

“Of course.” I pat Jonny’s shoulder on my way out. “Good luck,” I whisper.

He barely acknowledges me, a good sign that he already believes he acted of his own volition.

I sit at my desk as the Sergeant’s voice echoes through the station. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW? WHAT KIND OF OFFICER DOESN’T KNOW HOW THEY ENDED UP PULLING THE TRIGGER ON AN UNARMED THIEF? SHE WAS BREAKING AND ENTERING NOT ROBBING SOMEONE AT GUNPOINT!”

Isabelle whistles lowly from her desk, “Damn, that’s almost as bad as Matthews shooting that charity worker in September.” She eyes me off with a smile. “I guess 2017 is a bad year for your partners. Maybe the new year will bring someone a little less unhinged.”

“You offering? I heard your partner quit this morning.”

Her smile widens. “She couldn’t handle the demotion. That or me hassling her.” She tilts her head towards the Sergeant’s office. “Still, I didn’t drive her to shooting some common thief.”

“I’m sure that Jonny just couldn’t handle the stress anymore. Or maybe I really am making my partners lose their minds.”

Isabelle scoffs. “I doubt it.”

And that’s exactly why you’re going to turn out just like him, just like all of them.