As he spoke, John Coster eagerly presented his "love poems" to the psychiatrist.
When she saw the severed head floating in a clear glass jar and an eyeball preserved in another, she let out a terrified scream. "Ahh..."
"HEY HEY HEY!! Why are you scared? I.. i love you so much... so fucking much that it hurts..."
John knelt in front of her, hurt evident on his face as he watched her recoil from him in fear.
"Maria… haven't you felt my love?"
"P-please… let me go, I'm begging you!"
Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded with him, the man who had once been her patient. "I have a fiancé. I'm getting married soon. Please… please let me go."
"Huh.. What did you say? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY!!"
John, who moments ago looked wounded and pitiful, suddenly had his eyes turn blood-red the moment he heard the word "married."
"Damn it.. damn it.. DAMN IT ALL!! WHY? Why would you ...do this?! I love you so much, and yet you're going to marry someone else. This is betrayal—BETRAYAL OF MY PURE LOVE!!"
Maria trembled, retreating as John's expression twisted into something feral.
But the iron chain around her ankle yanked tight, and John dragged her back toward him.
"Hah.. haha.. hahaha... you want to marry someone? BUT! I will never allow you to marry anyone else. You're mine—you can only be MINE!"
John Coster pulled a dagger from his waist.
The moment Maria saw the blade, she screamed in terror. John roared back, "Shut up! Only when you're dead will you truly belong to me alone!"
He raised the dagger and brought it down toward her—
But at that critical instant, the warehouse door burst open. Lynn and George stormed in with their pistols drawn.
"Stop!"
Both shouted at once, guns trained on John as he froze mid-movement. He immediately yanked Maria upright and pressed the dagger to her throat.
"Don't come any closer, or I'll kill her!"
"John Coster, calm down!"
Seeing the blade against her throat, Lynn and George exchanged a quick look.
George moved sideways, drawing John's attention. "John, put the knife down. You love Maria, don't you? If you really love her, how could you stand to hurt her?"
After working together for so long, the two men understood each other with just a glance.
George would distract him—Lynn would take the shot.
"Of course I won't hurt her," John shouted, eyes wild, "but I want her to belong to me forever!"
John, lost in his delusions, couldn't be reasoned with through normal logic.
So George followed along with his twisted thinking. "You're right, John. Doctor Maria does belong to you. With such beautiful four-line love poems, she must be very moved."
"Yes… she should be very touched."
John pressed the dagger tighter against Maria's throat. "Are you touched, my love?"
As a doctor—and having calmed down the moment she saw Lynn and George—Maria quickly understood what they were trying to do.
She nodded hurriedly. "O-of course I'm touched. I was just scared earlier."
"Really?"
John's face instantly lit up with surprise.
Seeing the opening, George continued, "Look at that—Doctor Maria is deeply touched. She must want to marry you. And since you love her so much, shouldn't you give her a perfect wedding? Let her wear a beautiful white dress and carry flowers when she becomes your bride?"
"Right! I like this guy's suggestion! Hahaha.. my sorry, my love."
John nodded vigorously, completely convinced. The dagger slowly drifted away from Maria's neck.
"I should prepare the most beautiful wedding dress for her… She was scared just now because I didn't prepare a wedding dress…"
Bang!
The moment John's dagger moved away from Maria's neck, Lynn pulled the trigger without a shred of hesitation.
The bullet ripped through John Coster's head instantly.
Lynn rushed forward and pulled the terrified Maria into his arms.
"Ah!!!"
Realizing what had happened, Maria clung to him, her whole body trembling violently.
George exhaled in relief and gave Lynn a thumbs-up.
Lynn winked back at him, gently patting Maria's back to calm her.
But the next second, Lynn saw John Coster's translucent soul—glowing with a deep purple obsession—float out of his corpse.
The soul stared at Maria in Lynn's arms with aching longing… and then glared at Lynn with bitter resentment.
And that resentment wasn't because Lynn had killed him.. It was because Lynn was holding the girl he loved.
Feeling the lingering obsession clinging to John's spirit, Lynn could only shake his head helplessly.
Love truly was the most eternal theme—even when it was painfully one-sided.
After Maria finally calmed down from her panic, Lynn had George help remove the shackles from her ankle.
Meanwhile, he walked over to John Coster's corpse.
John's translucent soul drifted after him, glaring with vicious hatred.
Using his ability, Lynn instantly understood the obsession clinging to the soul—John wanted him dead, simply because he had held Maria in his arms.
"Haah.. What a pity…"
Lynn murmured softly. The next second, golden light flashed in his eyes.
A ripple surged through the once-still air.
Dozens of evil spirits materialized out of thin air, swarming John Coster's soul and tearing into it.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
John's spirit screamed, but Lynn acted as if he heard nothing at all.
Within moments, the soul was completely devoured—nothing left behind.
"What's there to pity?"
George approached, draping his jacket over Maria's shoulders. "Mental illness or not, he still murdered four innocent women."
"And you fired to save someone. It's fine that the killer died."
George assumed Lynn's "what a pity" referred to John's mental illness—believing Lynn felt sorry that someone like that ended up dying.
He had no idea Lynn's real regret was that he had finally encountered a spirit with a purple-level obsession after days… and still couldn't absorb it properly.
"Alright, I've already notified the others. They'll arrive soon."
"Let them process the scene. You and I will head back to write up the report, and then you can take administrative leave."
"Mm."
This was one of the reasons Lynn actually liked working for the NYPD.
Once he shot and killed a criminal, state law guaranteed him at least a week of paid administrative leave.
As for Internal Affairs…
Please. With George vouching for him, what did he have to worry about?
_______
(づ￣ 3￣)づ
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