Tainted: Origins of a Psycho

True Colors

Jordan stood outside the door with a beautiful bouquet of roses in her hand, ignoring the dread that danced inside of her mind.  Eight years ago she met her police partner for the first time, and she was immediately consumed by the intense chemistry they shared.

After only a few months of working together, they began having sexual encounters.  She was fully aware that he was a married man, but the passion between them was so real that she wanted to hang on to it as long as she could. 

She came to her senses this morning and knew that she needed to break it off with him before Vera found out.  She worried that her actions would hurt their professional relationship, but she knew it would be better for everyone.

Victor opened the front door and looked down at her with a smile on his face.  "Well, this is an unexpected surprise.  Are the roses for me?"

Jordan felt her knees buckle beneath her as he placed his hand on her cheek.  She became lost in his touch for a moment, then forced herself to snap out of it. She gently pushed his hand away and said, "May I come in for a minute?"

"This isn't really a good time." Victor started, then he noticed the troubled look on her face. He stepped out of the house and closed the door behind himself, returning his hand to her cheek. "What's the matter? You seem tense."

"We need to talk." She said, looking down at her feet so she wouldn't have to see those deep blue eyes of his. "Can we go somewhere?"

Victor shrugged his shoulders and pushed the front door open, placing his hand on the small of her back to usher her inside. They stepped into the living room and Jordan looked around to make sure no one else was in hearing range.

"Relax, baby." Victor cooed, placing his mouth right next to her ear. He unfastened the top button of her blouse and snaked his hand down to one of her firm breasts. "Vincent is sound asleep in his bedroom and the girls are in town running a few errands. No one will hear us."

The roses fell from Jordan's hand and she tried to pull away from him, but he secured his other arm behind her back. She released an aroused gasp as he leaned in and started planting playful kisses on her collar bone.

She lost herself in his touch for a moment, then she reminded herself why she was here. "Stop it, Victor. I need you to be serious."

Victor tore himself away from her and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Fine. Just tell me what's on your mind and go the hell away."

The cruel tone in his voice nearly knocked the wind from her chest.  She took his face into her hands and gave him a tender kiss on the lips.  "Please do not be angry with me.  I just don't want Vincent to walk in and see us like this."

"I told you not to worry about the boy."  Victor said, his face softening.  "Now then, what is it that you wanted to talk about so badly?"

She sucked in a deep breath and said, "Well, it's about us. I think we should-" The words perished in her throat when she heard a rather strange commotion coming from the back of the house. It sounded like muffled screaming.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, already turning on her heel to go investigate.

Victor grabbed her by the arm and offered her an innocent smile. "Vincent is probably puking again. The poor kid got food poisoning today."

"That sounds pretty bad." She said, "I think you should go check on him. He may need to go to the hospital."

"Alright, but wait here. You don't want to see the gross shit that's coming out of him." He released her and started walking down the hallway. "I'll be right back. You can have seat on the couch while I tend to him."

Jordan sat down as she heard the sound of the bedroom door closing. She glanced down at the roses she had brought and heaved a weary sigh. She was so close to breaking the news to him, and now she found herself wondering if she could muster up the courage again.

The sound of choked screaming ripped her from her thoughts and a bad feeling swelled in her stomach. There was no way that was the sound of a child vomiting. It was too pained, too desperate to be heard by someone else.

Something was wrong.

She bolted from the sofa and made her way down the hallway, pushing the bedroom door open to find that her instincts were correct.

Her eyes widened when she saw Vincent and his mother lying on the floor, bound and gagged, while Violet hovered over them with a pocket knife in her hand.

"Oh my God!" She shrieked, running towards them until she was grabbed by Victor.

He shoved her against the wall and dug his fingers into the sides of her face. "I told you to wait in the damn living room! This is none of your business!"

She squirmed underneath is grasp. "What in the name of God are you thinking, Victor!?"

"What I do with my family is none of your concern."  He answered with a glare.  "They disobeyed me and needed to be punished."

The love and respect Jordan had for him was instantly dashed to ribbons. For the first time she was seeing him for what he truly was.

A cold hearted monster.

Adrenaline kicked in with a vengeance and she was able to twist herself out of grasp, kneeing him in the groin before she ran over to his prisoners. She reached down to pull the towel from Vera's mouth, but Violet lunged at her with the pocket knife and sliced her hand.

She cried out in pain and back handed the evil child across her face, sending her flying down to the floor. She attempted to help them again, but Victor managed to shove her back against the wall before she had the chance.

"You should never have come here." He said, caressing her cheek as he reached his other hand into his pants for the weapon stashed inside.

"Victor..." She whispered as his eyes burned into hers.

The deafening sound of a gunshot filled the small bedroom and the intense pain in her stomach caused her to collapse in his arms. 

She uttered a pained cry as she stared down at the pool of blood that covered her blouse, her vision swiftly fading into darkness. 

The last thing she saw before her life came to an end was her partner gazing at her with tears in his eyes.