Obsession Read Count : 100

Category : Stories

Sub Category : Horror


You’ve seen similar cases like this before. You’ve handled cases before when a failing relationship would deteriorate. You’d seen how exes would become enemies to one another and how the nasty exchange of bitterness between the two would always end in a court child custody battle.


But this case, however, wasn’t the same. This was a case that would haunt and plague your nightmares. You had been warned before about the severity of this case, but you didn’t necessarily know just how notorious it would be. But nothing would prepare your mind for what you were about to see today. 


As a highly respected, successful attorney of King County, you’re famously known to tackle some of the most destructive cases. You are, however a highly respected, successful attorney and it is simply your job to tackle these atrocious cases. 


You check in into the King County Correctional Facility. The receptionist recognizes you instantly, with a warm and friendly,” Hello, Mrs. Brooks!” You, as well return her a smile and a greet. The warden holds the huge double doors and you sudden feel uneasy. The kind of uneasiness that fills you with immediate fear and those familiar goosebumps swallowing up your body and your hairs stand up on the back of your neck. 


You’ve been hearing these nasty rumors and speculations for days now and hearing them has started to wear on you. The perpetrator is of course eighteen. He’s not a minor anymore and legally, can be tried as an adult with the most brutal sentences. 


This young man, this fragile young, brunette man with eyes so ice cold that they almost appear black, due to their void of warmth. Your uneasiness intensifies as you stare intently as he is being led in by the warden with his hands and wrist shackled in manacles. He now has a reputation that even you don’t like. 


“Hello,” you say as you take your seat. This young man only stares warmly back at you, as if he has nothing to hide. Nothing to own up to. For a split second, you are somehow convinced it is so until your mind takes you back to those ugly crime scene photos and then suddenly…you are not convinced. Sitting before you is a cold-hearted, dangerous killer, but that is beyond the point here. 


One of the wardens look at you then begin to talk,” Mrs. Brooks, we will be leaving now. But we will be watching this interview, alright?” 


“Sure, of course. Thank you.” 


You suddenly feel fear rising up within you again as your mind fully contemplate the actual idea that you are now in a room with a well known dangerous inmate. Alone in a room with the disreputable Wyatt Hotchkiss.  Something about watching the wardens close the door behind them filled you with that insecurity again of bare exposure to danger. 


You keep telling yourself that your sole source of security and it’s guaranteed that you’re safe…but something tells you otherwise and you’re unsure of yourself. You know you have no real logical reason to feel like this. You watched with your own eyes when the wardens shackled the man to the interviewing table.


“So…I’m Linda Brook; your uncle hired me to be your attorney for the nearing trial. How has it been for you here?” 


You are met with a warm smile…but with the eyes of a complete sociopath and silence. 


“Can I get you something? Maybe something to drink?” 


Wyatt just shakes his head and remains silent. 


“Alright…shall me start then? Do you mind telling me what happened?” You ask as you prepare your notepad and ink pen. 


“I…I really don’t want to discuss this right now, ma’am. I hope you can understand that.”


You’ve  dealt with clients like this before in the past. You gaze intently at Wyatt Hotchkiss and you are only left with the pervading question of how a young man could have it within him to commit one of the most disturbing crimes. You gaze at him and think back to your own high school years and after graduation. People like Wyatt Hotchkiss wasn’t supposed to end up like this. Not going to prison before his life started. Wasted youth had always been your pet peeve, your weakness. People his age, by now should’ve already been heading off to collage and making plans for the future such as opportunities of life’s bliss when meeting your husband or wife and starting your family of your own. 



“How about we start with your parents? How is your relationship with them? I know it was your uncle who was the one who hired me, but how is your relationship with them? Am I at least correct that your mother and father are traveling missionaries? They own The Hotchkiss Assembly Of God Church?” 


Wyatt nods slowly., but his bright blue eyes stay focused on you. 


“My…my—“ 


“I won’t judge you. I’m here to help you plead your case. You can talk to me. You can trust me.”


“That’s correct, ma’am. My parents own the Hotchkiss Church.” 


“Do you not like the Church?” 


“No.” You are taken aback by his abrupt quick response.  


“They’re the reason for all of this happening and the townspeople finding out. My uncle…he’s been the only person who has supported my lifestyle and…who I am, ma’am…and I love him for that.” 


You suddenly feel confused and you could swear up and down that you seen a wrinkle appear on Wyatt’s temple to indicate anger. 


“What..what reason, Wyatt? What did your parents do? What were they responsible for?”


The room becomes eerily quiet and you can see his eyes darting back and forward, looking at nothing. You can tell he had been feeling utterly ashamed about something. 



“Let’s talk about Cole Nixon. Is this him?”


Shuffling through your briefcase, you sigh in irritation at the unorganized mess. You know that you are far more organized and professional than this.


 You pull out a photograph of a boy then offer it to Wyatt. He happily accepts and his face lights up in exhilaration in a way that you’ve never seen it do before since your arrival of the interview. The boy in the photograph is that of a handsome boy with sandy blond hair with the golden eyes of honey and the figure of a Abercrombie model. 


“Yes..that’s him.”


“What was it like going to high school with him? Did he ever bully you in any kind of way? Was Cole Nixon ever cruel to you in any way, Wyatt?”


Wyatt nods lazily as his eyes still scan the picture before he passes it back to you. 


“He was alright, I guess. Everybody at school liked him. He…was quite popular and had lots of friends. He was never cruel in any type of way to me, but…” 


“…but?” 


“…but…word got around the school after this rumor got out at my mother and father’s Church. The kids there…they were all just so cruel to me. They teased me for weeks and weeks until I just couldn’t take anymore. It was to the point that there had been days I just skipped school altogether.” 


“Tell me about those rumors that started at your church then somehow got out at your school?” You asks, concerned. By now, you had been feeling very uncomfortable about where the conversation was headed. 


“My parents…they confronted Cole’s parents one day during a Wednesday evening church revival. They blamed him for everything, ma’am. And it wasn’t…it wasn’t his fault. It was my parent’s  fault, you see. They—“ 


You suddenly see a sudden transformation in Wyatt’s now saddened face. 


“They what? I need you to be completely honest with me about everything. Wyatt, I need your compete honestly if there’s a fighting chance that you win this case and I plead your case. What did your parents do?” You asks, impatiently as you still study the disturbing, but saddened look on his face. It is a mixture of both now. A mixture of sadness and anger. 


“They…my parents found the letter. The letter I had been hiding from them cause I knew they’d freak if they found out. They…they blamed Cole about it all and said he was a bad influence over me then…confronted his parents. Sometime after that, the Nixon’s stop attending the church. That’s when word got out around the school. I guess you can say I sorta had those feelings back in high school about him. I just didn’t acknowledge it. I thought if I suppressed these feelings…they’d just go away…but they didn’t. They only got worse.” 


“Tell me about the kids at School. How did they treat you at school? How about you tell me about Alison Kelly. I understand she was apart of the cheerleading team and she treated you quite horrible. Did she bully you, Wyatt?” 


Wyatt shrugs lightly, but you can’t read his facial expressions anymore. 


“The whole school did after they…found out that I had a crush on Cole Nixon. He was the school’s popular boy, but..Alison Kelly was the worst.”


“Hmm hmm, I see. Tell me about the incident at school that day where you ran home from school crying? Alison Kelly came up to you while in front of the whole school then kissed you and slid your hand under her bra. Tell me about that?”


Wyatt had now somehow appeared innocent, like a kicked puppy, who’d been betrayed again and again by its owner.


“She told me she wanted to put a queer  in check. She told me that she was going to show me what it felt like to be with a real woman…but I couldn’t, ma’am. I didn’t feel anything. I know…I was supposed to, but I didn’t. As a boy, it would have only been natural to even feel something…but I didn’t. I wasn’t feeling turned on or anything. I just felt..nothing.”


“And at this point, this is where you discovered your romantic feelings for Cole Nixon?”


Wyatt nods. 


“Yes, ma’am. No one but my uncle would understand. He was disowned by the family, too over twenty years ago because they disapprove of his homosexual lifestyle. He was shunned years ago and went to live in New York. My parents refused to pay for a lawyer for me…and when he heard about what happened…he hired you. “


It is now that you delve right back to that question before And it all make sense now. 


“Let’s talk more about your relationship with Cole Nixon? How did things between you two start and what did you do to him?” 


Wyatt clears his throat. 


“Cole hated me for a long time. He blamed me for what happened between my parents and his parents that night at the church…but I still had these feelings about…him. They weren’t going away, ma’am. I couldn’t fight them and I was completely sure Cole liked women. But…he didn’t. I found out he was bisexual. This was something he hid during his high school years because he knew it’d bring shame to his family’s name…and he couldn’t have that. So he hid it. It wasn’t until after graduation when we had been both eighteen when he would confess these feelings for me. I guess after all these years…I was surprised and even happy he had noticed me. I waited for so long To see this day. I loved him. I really did, ma’am.  We started dating each other shortly after we ran into each other at a local bar. “


You sigh. 


“Tell me more about your parents?”


“What about my parents?”


“How is your relationship with them now?” 


Wyatt hesitates and nods slowly. 


“We don’t talk much,” he finally admits. 


“I cannot help you if you don’t be completely truthful with me. Tell me the truth about your parents? Did they disown you?


Wyatt hesitated, the shame rising up within him. 


“I would always tell Cole to come over to my place every Thursday when I knew I’d be alone. I had to see him. I needed to see him. He would come over and—“


“And?” 


“And we’d…” Wyatt could barely finish his sentence. “We’d do it. At my house every Thursday when my parents would be gone. My parents once told me how they had a distain for people who love differently—“ 


You suddenly shutter then cut Wyatt off, confused at this statement. 


“Love differently?” You asks. 


Wyatt nods.


“Yes, love differently, ma’am. It’s a softer term to describe queers and lesbians. I wanted to spite the bitches for everything they did to me over the years…so i…we would often do it…in their room…in their bed.” 


“Tell me about the day that your father caught you. The day they disowned you?” 


One of the most devious smirks formed across Wyatt’s face and a sheer stream of rage filled your boiling blood. You felt nothing but enraged by this. You wanted to also slap that stupid smirk off of Wyatt’s face. 


Wyatt let out a light smile. 


“The day they disowned me. One of the best fucking days of my life. My father caught…me…us in the act…in their bed, in their room. That was supposed to be the place they made love….but instead I made it about me…my passion. At last I was finally able to spite them hard by committing one of the ultimate sins; adultery.” 


“What happened after your sexual affair with Cole Nixon had been discovered by your parents?” 


Wyatt still had that devious smirk on his prideful face. 


“Well…he wasn’t very happy. I was disowned and they kicked me out. I went to stay with some friends afterwards. Cole and I both did. I found out his family was upset with him…but they’d later forgiven him. The relationship lasted for a little over a year…until something happened. Cole started to change. His visits and calls became fewer and fewer. I didn’t know what to do…but I knew I was losing him. 


“Tell me about the night you kidnapped Cole? How did you kidnap him?” 


Wyatt is quiet for a little while. 


“He broke my heart. After all that time together…Cole told me it was over. He started saying he felt tied down and wanted to see other people. He was seeing somebody. He was seeing Alison Kelly! 


“And that is when you started to plot his demise, isn’t it? It was when Cole told you the relationship was over is when you completely lost it!


Wyatt swiftly shakes his head. 


“I couldn’t lose Cole. When I saw him…with her…I completely lost it. I knew Cole, at this point was bi, but seeing him with…her hit differently. She betrayed me and I suffered because of her for so long! It was disgusting and unbelievable that’d he’d go and be with…her. I never wanted to hurt Cole, ma’am! I didn’t want to lose him…but he made me so angry! He kept telling me to go away…but I wouldn’t, I couldn’t ! I wasn’t ready to lose him!”


“Alison had already told authorities how you’d harass Cole for weeks. How you’d leave voices messages on his cell phone. She said how you’d do this for days and days.”


You never meant for you voice to come out so afraid, so submissive. 


“By this time I…I knew I wasn’t going to be able to lure him out to the family’s private property. There was just no fucking way! Cole was smarter than that. That’s when I decided to—


Wyatt paused and you could see the utter shame rising up within him again.


“What did you do to him?” You ask, almost nervous to hear his response. It had been clear you had been talking to a complete madman and all senses of having any rational, had been gone. 


“So I decided to…wait. He was working a night shift that night. I watched him for hours that day before nightfall. Gawd he was lovely! I waited for him to walk to his car that night. It had been dark and I had been alone in the empty parking lot. Cole finally completed his shift and I watched as he walked to his car while he had been on the phone with someone. He had been talking to…her. He’d been talking to Alison Kelly. I heard him laughing and confessing his love to her. I had remembered everything when seeing those two together, how she’d hurt me and made my life a living hell in high school and I wanted revenge! I waited for him to get off the phone that night and then I…I hit him over the head until he fell unconscious.”


“Please, Wyatt, I need to know everything that happened.”


The room becomes quiet. Nothing can be heard but the constant humming of the air conditioner. 


“What did you do to Cole after you knocked him unconscious that night?” 


“I…I…took him to my family’s private property to an old cottage. I tied him to an old table and I left him like that for hours after he had woken up. He begged for me to let him go…but I wouldn’t. I wanted to feel…forever connected.”


You suddenly feel an uneasy sensation rising up within your stomach and you have a urgent need to vomit. And you’re almost afraid to ask, but you know it’s a necessity that must be done. 


“Connected? What do you mean you wanted to feel connected?” You asks nervously. 


“I wanted to punish him for the pain he caused me so…I…I would torture him when he’d misbehave. Every so often, he’d call me horrible names and insult me and I’d always punish him. I would…I would use the scalpel to…to cut him then…I…I would also pour lemon juice on the cuts. Of course, he’d shriek in pain and beg me to stop…but. But I didn’t stop.  His begging became a sound I liked to hear. All that power…that I had over…him. I fucking loved it! For days, Cole fell at me, just begging and begging me to spare him. I’d offer him food and water…but only if he had been good to me. I would give him a few kisses on the neck. Something I knew he always loved. He just continued to beg and fell at my feet and did what I told him to do. But then there’d be times he wasn’t so nice…then he’d spew hateful things to me again. I…I would sometime just hit him out of retaliation, ma’am. I would hit him hard repeatedly sometime…just to see him shriek in pain and to be at my mercy. I wanted him…dependent on me for these things, ma’am. But I felt I had enough of him. He betrayed me and he wasn’t worth having around anymore so…I..I finished him. “


“Wyatt…I need you to tell me what you did! What did you do? What did you mean about wanting to feel connected? I need you to start talking to me and stop wasting my time!” 


“I’m sorry about Cole. He may have been a jerk, but I made sure apart of him stayed with me…forever,” Wyatt gloats blissfully. 


In all of the years of your career as an attorney , you’ve never wanted so badly to hit one of your clients. 


“Enough!” 


“It’s true, ma’am. I tried so hard to make that relationship work and keep us together…but Cole wouldn’t allow it. He was just like everyone else and I hated him for it! He was a backstabber just like all of the rest of them.  Just like everyone I’ve ever known. So…I…I took my scalpel and…and started to slice through his chest…while he…he was still alive. It was pitiful to see him in that state, actually. He screamed in pain…and I remember seeing so much…blood. That’s how Cole Nixon quit existing that night.”


“What did you mean about being connected to him forever? Tell me!” 


Wyatt grinned and that same cold gaze stared back at you. In this moment, you had been glad this criminal had been restrained. It was your only defense. 


“There was no other way to be connected forever so I consumed his heart. Don’t you get it? His heart was mine. It was always mine. It belonged to me. Sometime I felt like the heart wasn’t enough. There was so many parts of the body I could’ve kept—“


“Enough! I don’t want to listen to any more of this!” 


“The head would’ve made a perfect piece. It could’ve been like my own mannequin version of him that I could’ve woken up to every morning—“


“ I don’t want to hear no more from you! Be quiet!”


Wyatt smiles a menacing smile as his cold, dead eyes stay fixed on you. 


“Jesus Christ,” you say as you turn away from those icy blue eyes that was void of human warmth. 


“I really am sorry, ma’am. I’m sorry it had to be this way. I really wish Cole would’ve been better as a human with a heart. He wasn’t, though. He had become just the thing he truly was; a heartless bastard.” 


As a human with a heart…


Those disgusting and hateful words…


Your mind takes you back to that night of the crime scene photons at the Hotchkiss’ cottage. All the gore, the lifeless, lacerated corpse of Cole Nixon who had been covered in blood. You can’t get rid of one particular haunting image that is clear and vivid in your mind. This image in itself is enough to fuel your nightmares at night.  That terrifying, hateful, repellent image of the gaping hole that had been void of life where a human heart should’ve been. 

Comments

  • Mali Mgazi

    Mali Mgazi

    There's nothing here..

    Feb 13, 2022

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