Nathan woke up, his back still against the door...did he really fall asleep against his damn front door? ...Jesus...I think that's the expression...whatever... Nathan stood up and walked up to his kitchen to make himself a simple peanut butter and banana sandwich, a human tradition, I guess...Nathan always did one every morning.

Suddenly, Nathan saw the silhouette once more, standing before him down the hallway that went to his room. The figure felt so familiar...but why? Where had he seen this man? The human mind wasn't able to create new faces after all...so where exactly had this face been seen? Could it be... No... Nathan had been blinded in the car crash that took his wife away that night... so it definitely was not the man who took her? Unless his brain saw the man in his peripheral vision and he did not even realize it?

Nathan finished his sandwich and walked up to the hallucination, staring at it in the eyes... Nathan showed no fear despite the fact he was staring at someone he didn't know... But he will...soon... Nathan sighed and picked up a pencil to draw the hallucination on a piece of paper in case it would give him a clue for the kidnapper's identity...if this hallucination was them.

The sketch wasn't perfect...but it was at least recognizable as a face... It had a creepy smile...its eyes were hollow as if it was watching from outside its head, and its body felt empty yet filled with organs... This hallucination was simply creepy.

Nathan walked over to his fax machine and sent the drawing to Gabriel Brooks with a small note saying that he keeps seeing this hallucination and he would like him to investigate it and try to put a name to the face in case it was tied to his case.

Nathan quickly got a call back to his landline phone from Brooks, who simply told him that they would have to meet quickly because he knew exactly which name was attached to that face.

Nathan gasped as soon as he heard the name on the phone. It was the name of a famous serial killer who was supposed to be dead for the past 20 years... So since the human mind wasn't able to create new faces...that meant one single thing.

Nathan had met him.

Nathan quickly hopped on the next bus to get dropped at Gabriel's office; he did not even wait for the bus to stop before jumping out and rushing into his office. This matter was more than urgent; they had a goddamn serial killer to find... Man, you should have seen just how panicked he was...

Nathan could have broken down the door leading inside of the office with how strong of a ram he had used to open it; he quickly caught his breath before glancing back up at Brooks, his eyes wide open and slightly fearful. Why would his brain ever make him hallucinate a serial killer? Just...why? Brooks dropped a file right in front of him about the serial killer...that name on it... It sent chills down Ashcroft's spine.

The Watcher in Rags

This serial killer worked in a specific way... He would kidnap his victims after accidents to make the kidnapping look like the victim had simply run away after their accident, to leave no trail, and then he would torture the victims in the most gruesome ways possible until they couldn't even beg for mercy. That is when he would kill them. But the big thing that puzzled Brooks so much was that...he had killed him 20 years ago. This man was supposed to be dead, so how in the fuck was he back and living?

Nathan's eyes widened as he read the file... A serial killer who was supposed to be dead is back to haunt the city once more? ... Or was there something more to it...? Was Brooks telling the whole truth? Did he actually kill him? ... Nathan's gaze ran up and down Brooks's face, seemingly analyzing him, trying to find out if Brooks was hiding something... But...it looked like he was being fully truthful.

There was one thing, though: Gabriel clearly seemed like he did not want the info of the serial killer to be back to life and was willing to take the risk of finding the killer with his own hands... He did not even ask for Nathan's help and simply pushed him out of his office. He definitely knew more than he was letting on and did not want Nathan to know... He wanted to take the killer out again...but in silence... He was taking justice into his own hands? ... Well, well...Brooks might not be that good of a guy, huh? Nathan thought to himself.

Nathan knew he couldn't let Brooks just kill someone, no matter who they were... The priority had to be justice.

Nathan, instead of going home, walked to the local police station to ask for the records on the Watcher in Rags case to understand why this was so personal to Brooks. He froze at the door...what if Brooks found out he was snooping behind his back? What would he think...? Oh, this doesn't matter; he had to make sure justice was served correctly, so he walked in. The cops did not even question him; they probably thought he was a journalist.

Nathan was given access to a pile of files. They were all about the killings of the Watcher. There were about 20 files in front of him. Each of them was about each of his victims...well, only those that the cops were able to tie to him... All of them had died gruesome deaths... None of them were found the same year that they had died. They were only found because the Watcher had revealed the location of his dumping site to Brooks seconds before getting shot... Weird...Very weird.

Nathan sighed as he noted down some crucial information about the cases, like the way the killer operated and the type of places he would normally dump the bodies of his victims... Nathan wanted to try and understand the way that the Watcher thought.

He wanted to catch him by thinking like him.