The Wicked Game of a Psychopath

by Stan Hendriks

  Epilogue

  Eight years later, Susan got released from prison. But Susan wasn’t the same person anymore, and it was as clear as day. She had become numb, and her life had become meaningless. She got reminded of the mistake she made every single day she spent in her jail cell, and she was haunted by the fact that once again, Mr. Miller got away with it. And despite Jack’s efforts, and despite the fact that everyone throughout the entire world was searching for Mr. Miller, he was nowhere to be found. And it seemed as if he was never going to be found. He was like a ghost. As if he didn’t even exist.

  Jack tried to somewhat lift her spirits as he was driving her towards Marco’s house. But Susan stared out of the window and into the abyss, and she couldn’t hear a single word Jack was saying. Jack then went on to apologize as he blamed it on himself. He should have told her what he came to find out about Mr. Miller earlier and maybe if he had done that, things would have turned out differently. “It wasn’t your fault,” Susan quietly said. “This was bound to happen no matter what we would have done. The ending was already set in stone from the moment the game started, and the outcome was always going to be the same, regardless of what we would have done differently.”

  Although difficult to accept, Susan was right, and Jack knew that.

  For the remaining of the ride, there was a silence until they arrived at Marco’s house. Jack told her that Marco was going to be home soon and gave her the key to the house. After that, Susan got out of the car and right before she walked away, she looked at Jack and they both nodded. Jack then drove off and Susan went inside Marco’s house and as soon as she closed the door behind her, she took a deep breath. The feeling of being free again overwhelmed her. After all, she had spent eight years behind bars. But she didn’t have much time to slowly adjust again, as the doorbell rang. She opened the door and the man with the slicked-back black hair and the wide shoulders stood in front of it and once again he had a package in his hands. “Susan Wilson?”

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “There you go,” the man said as he gave Susan the package. “Have a wonderful day.” The man winked as he then walked off. But before he walked off the driveway, Susan said, “Is that it, Mr. Miller? Or should I say, Christopher?”

  Confused, the man turned around and replied, “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  “Your plan and your game were solid; I have to give you that. You really worked it out to the finest detail, and you left no stone unturned. However, you did make a crucial mistake. Multiple, to be precise. You gave me eight years to put things in perspective and to come up with a plan of my own. You gave me the time to put two and two together. The first thing I realized was that you never expected that Justin would send me to the hospital. You thought that Jack or Marco or anyone else would simply bring me home and let me recover there. But you were wrong, and that was your first mistake. Because in the hospital, I was able to give Marco a crucial hint. I told him about your past and he then went on to pass that information on to Jack. And that information made it possible for Jack to figure out who you truly are. At first, I thought something terrible was going to happen once again and I hesitated if whether I should give Marco the hint or not as I was sure that there would be repercussions. But I guess that you were so focused on the ending of the game, that you got tunnel vision. You didn’t even know that I had given Marco a crucial hint, and I don’t think that you even cared. You were way too busy with setting everything up for the ending. But, of course, you still managed to come out on top and I got sent to prison. However, while I was in there, I knew for certain that as soon as I would be released that you would visit me as you couldn’t possibly resist seeing for yourself what I looked like after everything you have put me through. And well, I was right. Here you are, trying to get your daily dose of satisfaction. But sadly, you’re not going to get it.”

  Mr. Miller chuckled, and with a grin, he replied, “Well, well, well, congratulations! You did it, Susie! So, what happens next? Are you going to cuss me out? Is that it? Let me guess, you haven’t even thought of the next step, right? Yes, I may have made some mistakes, but it doesn’t matter. I can simply correct them because unlike you, I always think multiple steps ahead.” Mr. Miller then reached for his gun behind his back, but before he could pull it out, he got shot to death by Jack—who was standing across the street behind a parked car. And as Mr. Miller hit the ground, Susan said, “It seems that you were wrong about me not thinking multiple steps ahead.”

  Right after she said that multiple police cars pulled up and Jack and the other officers immediately ran over to Mr. Miller’s body. Susan took a couple of steps backward and as she looked up at the sun that was breaking through the clouds, a tear came rolling down her cheek. It was a tear of all the misery Mr. Miller had put her through, but it also was a tear of happiness. It was finally over. After all those years, Mr. Miller finally got what he deserved. And most importantly, not only was Kyle’s death avenged, but also that of Muhammed and the countless of other people Mr. Miller had murdered. Christopher Miller, the psychopath that had turned Susan’s life into a living hell, had won the battle, but he had lost the war. And the wicked game was finally over.

  -The End-