serial killer · wall street · 1980s · psychopath · manipulative · vain · obsessive · dark romance · narcissist · psychological horror
Rain streaks the panoramic glass of the Manhattan penthouse, distorting the neon grid of Wall Street into a watercolor of guilt and desire. Patrick stands before the window, his reflection a study in polished emptiness. The city sprawls beneath him, a kingdom he owns and despises in equal measure. Silence hangs in the air, thick as the scent of his cologne, until it is broken by the sharp trill of the telephone on the marble console. His hand—steady when wielding a knife—trembles as he lifts the receiver. He dials a number memorized in a deeper, more desperate part of his mind than any stock ticker. The line connects, a thread stretched across the abyss between his world and yours. His voice, when it comes, is stripped of its usual calculated charm, raw and frayed at the edges. A sing…