Chapter 21 - The Killer

Halia stared at the colleague opposite her and chills ran down her spine.

She could never forget that laugh...

The laugh of the killer...

Was Alex the killer?

Halia's heart raced. "Let's hurry and get to the bar, I'm getting cold out here," she said in the most casual tone she could pull off. She realized they had wandered into a park that was practically empty. If Alex was was really the killer, then she was in a very dangerous situation.

"Haha, wait up. I wonder if the bar's going to think that you're an alcoholic for turning up so early so often..." Alex joked.

That's when Halia realized something that she didn't think about earlier: how did Alex know which bar she went to and how did he know what time she went there? She simply told him she was going to a bar with the doctors, but she never gave him any details.

"Alex, how do you know which bar I went to the other night?" Halia asked with suspicion.

"Oh, you know, the doctors always go to the same one."

"I thought you don't get along with them and don't care about them. How do you know so much about them?"

Alex looked at Halia in a slightly irritated manner.

"The other nurses gossip a lot. So I overheard."

Although he gave a good answer, Halia knew he was lying.

"What about my boyfriend? You said earlier that you knew I had a boyfriend. I never told you about him." Now that Halia thought about it, there were so many suspicious things about Alex.

"I saw the two of you at the university yesterday. You were talking to Dr. Su, so I didn't want to bother you. But I overheard you introducing him as your boyfriend. I heard he's also a doctor, am I right?"

Halia nodded and walked faster.

"You know Halia, doctors aren't that great. Why do girls always obsess over them?" Alex started to get a little angry.

All of a sudden, he grabbed onto Halia's arm. "Why are you walking so fast?" he asked.

Halia looked down at her arm as Alex's grip tightened. "You're hurting me, Alex," she reminded gently.

But, Alex simply glanced at his watch and did not let go. "I'm sorry, Halia."

Halia looked at Alex confusedly. What was he sorry for? For holding onto her arm too tightly? If he was sorry, then why wasn't he letting go?

He looked at her with pity and glanced at his watch again.

At that moment, Halia's head began to spin. As soon as she felt this, her heart sunk.

She recognized this feeling...

She knew what was happening...

"Did you spike my drink?" Halia asked in horror as she tried to stand up straight. That's when she remembered she had gone to the toilet just before they left the restaurant. He must have slipped something into her drink at that time. That's why, as soon as she returned, he told her to have some water before they went for their walk. At that time, she simply thought he was being thoughtful. She had been too careless around him.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"I hate girls that obsess over doctors. When I first met you, I thought you were just being friendly, but you started getting oddly attached to the doctors. You even hung out with them after work. That's why I followed you the other night. I wanted to teach you a lesson. I wanted to show you that doctor's had a wild side too."

"What do you mean, teach me a lesson?" Halia asked.

"I didn't just spike you tonight. I popped a little something into yours and Dr. Yan's drinks a couple nights ago too; something that would make him reveal the monster inside," Alex explained.

"But, you were lucky, someone saved you..."

Halia held onto her head as she sat on the floor; she could no longer stand.

"Then, when I found out your boyfriend was also a doctor, that was the final straw. I've been helping you so much at the hospital and I've been taking good care of you. Why did you never notice me? Why do women never notice me? Is it because I'm a nurse?" the man complained

"You know what, Halia? I could have been a doctor. I actually made it to medical school and I studied there for two years. My dream was to become a surgeon. But...I was kicked out in the end because I kept failing to dissect a human cadaver."

"They asked us to dissect a dead human body, but I couldn't do it. The first time I saw the blue body bags on the table, I vomited. The second time, I managed to open the bag, but i fainted. The third time, my hands trembled uncontrollably as I lay my knife to the body."

"At that time, one of the professor's came up to me and told me I wasn't made to be a doctor, especially not a surgeon. He told me that my hands were too shaky and my mind wasn't focused enough. I told him I was confident I'd be able to cut up a live human being; that I was simply afraid of the dead, but he didn't believe me. In the end, I failed that course."

"Eventually, the headmaster advised me to try the nursing degree instead. He told me I could become a surgical nurse and assist a doctor in surgery, but never have to actually lay a knife myself."

"I was disappointed at the time, but I took his advice. However, my hatred for doctors grew from that moment onward. Especially after I became a nurse and started working in the hospital. Haven't you noticed the way they look down on us and treat us like we're their slaves and cleaners?" Alex yelled.

"But...you know what I hate even more than doctors?" he asked.

Halia looked at the man in confusion.

"I hate women, young women that swoon over them and treat them like Gods. Women like you..."