"Those of you who have failed to hand over the Jeffrey Dahmer report by today, I wish you good luck for your future. You'll be needing it when you're flipping burgers at McDonald's for a living."

Her words sliced right through the silence in the lecture hall, in a manner quite similar to that of a serrated blade.

A certain number of people sitting in the hall thanked the heavens, the full throated sigh of relief that left their mouth, the evidence.

A small fraction of students however, were only just letting the professor's words sink in, scowling queasily at the fact that they had practically failed the semester.

They should have known that Professor Turner didn't play around.

While at the age of 39, she was much younger than most of the other professors in the faculty, she was quite the infamous name for running a tight ship.

Most professors at the Westfield University were of a placid, lenient nature;

Not Professor Turner, no.

She never played around.

Now Tahlia however, being a good student for over a year, had come to be acquainted with this fact quite well.

On the day of the announcement of the project itself, Tahlia made sure she had more details about Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood on hand, than any professional forensic team might have ever bothered to.

Even though the impulsive sinking of her teeth into her lower lip and the incessant tapping of her foot might have suggested otherwise, Tahlia hadn't felt one bit of a nervous fibre in her body coming in today.

After all, she was the first person to submit the report, per usual.

"Guess who isn't flipping burgers anytime soon?"

Tahlia turned to the side, coming to face with her best, only friend.

Jace Montgomery was notorious for a lot of things.

But being a heartbreaker may have just been on top of that list, hadn't it been for the even more ludicrous things he had pulled in the past.

Had their lives been some sort of a fiction meant for someone's entertainment, it could be said that Jace used to be the stereotypical jock back in high school, with the word promiscuous practically tattooed onto his forehead.

Tahlia cocked her head to the side, eyebrows raised, "You did the report?"

Oh, and not to mention, he was the last person anyone as much even expected to bother doing a full blown report.

"You bet your ass I did."

"Oh yeah?" She challenged, a grin beginning to tug at her lips, "What was the main method Dahmer used to kill his victims?"

Jace let out a huff, the purely awkward kind. "He skinned the women and made coats out of them. Duh, everyone knows that."

Tahlia rolled her eyes.

Of course.

"Okay, A) Jeffrey's victims were all male. B) He killed them by strangling them or injecting acid into their skulls and then dismembered-"

"No. I'm sure the dude skinned hot girls and placed some butterfly shit in their mouths or something."

She gave her ditzy friend a knowing look.

"Are you sure you're not talking about a fictional serial killer from a Jodie Foster movie?"

"They're not the same?"

She sighed, shaking her head full of curls at the insensate boy, and turned away to continue taking notes.

"Alright, fine. I copied it off of Tara Hayworth. She lets me do anything." He smirked, his blue eyes glinting, "And by anything, I mean anything."

Tahlia scrunched up her nose in disgust. Sometimes she truly did wonder how a quiet, reserved introvert like her landed up being best friends with the loudest, most crass guy in school.

By proxy, she also wondered why other girls simply couldn't seem to resist him. Perhaps it was how he was so effortlessly funny, the crudeness blurred into charm. Then there was the fact that the bleach blonde boy was unquestionably quite attractive.

"Mr. Montgomery, one more word out of your mouth and you may remove yourself from this hall."

"Sorry Miss T."

Although it wasn't very difficult to see her jaw ticking at being addressed as 'Miss T', Turner didn't acknowledge him in the slightest, instead stepping down from the podium, and walking over to her desk briskly.

"Okay, listen up everyone. Or at least, those who care enough to graduate conveniently." Professor Turner stressed, all of a sudden.

"Your next project is what makes it or breaks it for you."

If possible, Tahlia's attention managed to pique a new level at the Professor's words. She leaned forward in her seat mechanically, anticipation settling in her features.

She couldn't help it.

"It always stumped me that being criminal psychology students, you're never really expected to interact with a criminal; only sit in classes and plagiarize reports with documented data. Which is why I've fought long and hard with the board to introduce a new assignment in your course, and here we are. Your last project required for you to work the brain of one of the most infamous killers in history."

She took off her rimmed glasses swiftly, placing them near a pile of blue files.

"For your next, you'll be analyzing murderers of the present time."

She grabbed one of the files hoisting it up in the air.

"Inside these, are the details of the subjects that have been assigned to you. You'll be visiting and observing your respective patients after classes. The local prison has very kindly agreed to accomodate most of you. This will take place over a span of two months, starting from tomorrow; after which I expect a full report on my table."

Whispers and groans broke out from the students.

Of course, Professor Turner ignored those. "Any questions?"

"Do you think there are any hot female killers in Westfield?" Jace asked, leading to everyone erupting into laughter and wolf whistles.

"Those who lured men and then dismembered them with screw drivers, yes." Professor Turner shot back, making Tahlia chuckle inwardly.

Jace playfully hit her in the side. "You're supposed to be on my team."

She rolled her eyes at him playfully, turning to get back to her notes, when her sight landed on the pile of the blue files.

Her mind shifted, simply not registering anything else that may have infiltrated her attention.

She knew she had to ace it.

She just had to.

However, that being said, Tahlia couldn't deny that there was something in the air that was making her heart beat faster and heavier than usual.

As it struck her brain that they were being asked to physically interact with a murderer, she felt a noxious feeling in her stomach she couldn't quite put a finger on.

A project like this would, in all probability, require prior training and experience, which they hadn't had yet.

The closest they had ever been to an actual murderer physically, was when they had been taken to the local prison to talk to the head criminologist about a few notable cases.

They hadn't even as much as caught a glimpse of any felon.

She wondered what kind of a person her subject would be.

Westfield wasn't much of a very happening place.

The most this little town of 11,595 souls would experience once in a while, might be a case of mugging in some shady area.

As if suddenly, a vague recollection tugged at the back of her head.

Those murders.

She furrowed her brows, trying to focus hard on what exactly her mind was trying to bring in to her consciousness.

"Earth to Tahlia?" A voice rang. That's when she noticed her arm being vigorously shook.

She broke out of her thoughts and noticed Jace motioning towards Professor Turner.

"Tahlia Meyers." The Professor called out in a dreary voice.

Tahlia shot up awkwardly, almost knocking off the stationary that was on the desk.

The walk towards the Professor's desk was not in any way long, yet her legs seemed to be betraying her, stumbling at every step.

Professor Turner handed her one of the files, offering a small smile, an occurrence likely rarer than flying fish.

Being a hardworking student for a year and a half had earned her a soft spot in Professor's stoic heart, she had found.

She returned the smile and made her way back to her seat.

Never in her life had Tahlia Meyers been afraid of assignments, yet now, her heart was threatening to pound at her ribs.

It's just an assignment, she reassured herself, sitting down.

Her fingers brushed the tip of the file, finally turning the leaf open.

Name: Hunt, Logan

Observational setting: Westerly Sanatorium for the Clinically Insane

What a stupid name, she thought, sounds made up.

Logan Hunt.

The name played several times in her mind, more than she would have liked, leaving her with irrevocably unanswered questions.

She had hoped the file would say more about the patient, like number of victims or at least age. But all that it contained along with the name was some guidelines and paperwork for the sanatorium.

"Seminar is over for today." Professor Turner stated and turned on her heels, leaving.

She turned around, talking to a few other people she knew, realizing most of everybody's patients were in the Westfield Prison and not the sanatorium like hers was.

That's when it hit her. She wasn't just dealing with any criminal.

She was dealing with a clinically insane killer.

Tahlia turned to her side to see Jace gone. She swerved to the back, only to see him sitting by Tiffany LaShae, saying something so incredibly funny that had Tiffany throwing her head back in flirty laughter.

She shook her head, gathering her belongings and the new file.

It was just paper and malleable plastic.

Yet, holding the file, Tahlia Meyers knew not everything was going to be same from that point onwards.

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