Autopsy of a Mind

Sebastian POV:

Three kidnapped victims. Three assailants. Two of them were proved serial killers while the third was playing with the law and helping killers get away with their crimes.

I was up against the worst of the worst and that was saying something with all the cases I had seen.

As I sat in the front passenger seat, I looked at the scenery outside. It blurred and morphed as the journey continued.

"Have emergency services been called, yet? We will need ambulances at the scene. At least one of the three kidnapped have undergone severe physical trauma."

Knowing Evie, she would fight her hardest to make sure none of the other two victims were harmed. I prided her for her presence of mind, but I didn't know how she would react. A part of me was sure she was going to use herself as a shield to protect the others.

She would probably not think of saving herself and throw her body in front of a bullet to protect another person. She wouldn't be able to stand seeing a victim hurt after what she thought of herself all this time.

Would she remember my face before she did it? Would I be important enough for her not to give in to her need to protect others?

I doubted it.

A better man would say that he would be proud his fiancé helped others survive. But I was a selfish man. I didn't care for those others. I just wanted Evie alive and unscathed. I wanted her unharmed. If I could but erase the memory of the torture she had seen the others go through, I would hope and pray that she survived in place of others.

I dared not tell anyone this. Not because they would think poorly of me, but that Evie would find out. I wouldn't pretend or lie to her. I didn't care about those others. Only her.

I was only concerned about those primarily important to me: my family and friends. Among them, Evie ranked first.

"Yes, Dr. Butler. We have four ambulances following us," the officer sitting behind me answered. I turned over my shoulder to see his expression and found him staring at me with mild horror. I anticipated that my quiet calculation scared him. I was calm in most things, but now, I was fuming. I was plotting. For people who didn't think like me, it was unfathomable and monstrous, and I understood that.

"That's good," I whispered before looking away. "Keep them on standby. At least one of them has resuscitation technology, right?" I added suddenly, the thought coming to me like a stab in the chest.

"Yes, Dr. Butler. For such a big and sensitive operation, we have the high technology medical ambulances come out. You don't need to worry about that. The SWAT team is on standby as well. If the architecture of the building is hard to penetrate or dangerous for us, we will have the SWAT team send in their robot investigators inside for a better look," he informed.

Ah, yes. The robots that could go into houses. Fascinating things. But I feared I couldn't wait out for another team to come out while Evie was probably dying inside.

I didn't trust myself not to burst in.

But I wasn't going to let anyone know that. I would have to throw them off me.

The buzz of civilization slowly died down with the tall buildings giving away to smaller houses and then fields. I could see the industrial area in the distance and braced herself.

"What is the estimated time of arrival?" I barked, slowly growing impatient.

"Around seven minutes, Dr. Butler," the driver spoke. I rested my head on the seat and looked down. In the distance, I could see a small object nearing. The figure shimmered but seemed to be moving in our direction.

I squinted at it until I was sure it was human. The area was deserted, not even cars came here. What was this human…

My heart thudded in my chest. The image of Evie stumbling into the police station with her gashes and bloody clothes, asking everyone to help her came to his mind. He shuddered.

It was a girl.

"Someone is running in this direction," I whispered.

"I see them too," the others cried.

The car stopped a distance away from the girl. The poor little thing stiffened and stopped running, looking hesitantly at me as I wrenched the door open and made my way out.

She cried out as I neared but I didn't have half a mind to tell her who I was. "Are you Gene? Gene Winter?" I yelled as I closed the distance between us.

She quaked and took an involuntary step back. Only then did I regain some semblance of consciousness.

"I am Sebastian Butler. I am… I am here to get you." Should I Have said Evie's name? I was almost scared to know how this girl had escaped and the others hadn't. The last time this happened, everyone else was either killed or close to it.

"Are you the police?" the little girl called hysterically.

"Yes! I am with them. Do you know Evie?" I was desperate for an answer.

Her body jolted and she nodded. "Yes!" she chanted. "Save Evie!" she yelled.

I sucked in a breath as I kneeled down in front of her. "You came from the building, right? Can you take us there? Do you remember?" I asked. My eyes must have looked wild with worry because the little girl threw herself at me.

She cried. I grew limp as I let her hold me. I didn't have time to waste.

No time to waste. "Please… can you lead us there?" I whispered. "You don't need to go inside. You can tell us what happened. We'll save them all, okay?" I promised. But I didn't know if I could make it happen.

She sniffled and nodded.

My body moved on its own accord. I picked the girl up and ran back to the car. I placed her inside and slid into the front seat.

"Go go go!" I yelled.

The girl was a blubbering mess, but I could piece together a story. I clenched my wrists together as I heard the girl speak.

Stupid Evie.

Brave, beautiful, loyal Evie.

What was I going to do with her?

Throwing herself into the fire. Eating extra drugged food to save others. Did she not fear that she would overdose? Or had I misunderstood? Was she still looking forward to a silent death?

I shook at the thought. I wouldn't allow it.

"Was she okay the last time you saw her?" I choked out.

The girl sniffled but nodded.

"She asked me to hide behind the metal door and stood in front of me so that even if I was exposed, I wouldn't be hurt."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "They… they had guns. All of them. Evie took a gun from the woman, but she… she is probably going to get up."

The memories must have hurt because she cried louder.

I saw the ambulances catch up with us.

"There are injured people. With bullet wounds," I squeezed out. I didn't have a gun. And I doubted these policemen would go in when they knew people inside had guns.

They wouldn't die to save others.

"Is the SWAT team coming? They have guns." A lot of guns.

"Yes. They will be here ten minutes after we arrive," the driver announced. "I just received a message from the station," he added.

We arrived, but there was no way I could go in.

"There are floors. We were down below ground in a room. A short staircase leads down into it," Gene said when questioned.

"Dr. Butler, we have to wait until the SWAT team arrives. There is no way we can go in without the robot," the older office announced.

"We can start with asking them to come out, right? Proper procedure?" I exclaimed.

The officer nodded.

The microphones were brought out and the warnings made. There was no answer. These buildings didn't have a view inside, and I could only see the gaping front door. The limited view inside told me that there was nobody on that floor. But they could be hiding and out of sight.

Every second felt like a lifetime, but the ambulance was on standby and the SWAT team arrived faster than expected.

"We broke a lot of laws to get here!" the captain yelled. The robot was sent inside and with the help of Gene, it made down the stair. I didn't need it to go all the way down there to see the blood and the bodies.

I cried out, my body out of control. I think I heard people calling me, but I was sprinting into the building. I had seen Evie lying there. She seemed to be writhing in pain, but I hadn't heard a sound from her. The other man who looked to be moving was slowly starting to stir.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I jumped stairs until I reached the end.

The bleary-eyed man in white looked at him, his eyes unfocused with pain. I sprinted to him, my sole purpose was to kick the gun as far away as possible.

But it didn't end there.

With the gun sliding away, I found myself consumed with rage. I said words I didn't remember. I kicked him in the stomach where blood pooled in his shirt.

"Dr. Butler!" someone screamed. I heard the sole unscathed figure in the room cry in fear, but I paid them no mind.

This was the end. There was no escaping. There was no way he would get away with just a bullet wound. I wouldn't allow that.