Interview With A Killer

Today I am interviewing Franklin Rogers, the "bad guy" in my upcoming novel, The Killing Begins.

Franklin, please tell my reading audience a little about yourself.

"I am eighteen years old and a part of the Kingfisher High School Class of '73. We will be graduating this spring."

Are you from Kingfisher?

"No, I am originally from Luttrell, Tennessee. It is a small town outside Knoxville. My dad got a promotion which brought us to Kingfisher just as I was ready to begin my seventh grade year."

Can you tell my readers something that no one knows about you?

"Sure. But, are you sure you want to hear my biggest secret? It's pretty dark."

Of course, let us in on your deepest, darkest secret.

"Okay. By the time I turned eighteen, I had already killed two people."

Umm, that's pretty dark alright. Tell us, Franklin, what motivates you to kill?

"I know what motivates me now. But, my desire to kill and my first two kills were done prior to the motivation that now drives my choice of victims."

Tell us a little about when you first experienced a desire to kill. Then I want to swing back to motivation.

"The urge to kill came when I was young, maybe nine or ten. My dad was ruthless when it came to disciplining me. He was the first person I wanted to kill. But I guess that is more of a metaphoric kill. It started when a desire to kill began to manifest deep inside. I can't really explain it. But it was almost like... You know when you have an itch that needs to be scratched and the longer you don't scratch the itch, the worse it becomes? That's what it felt like. Only, instead of an itch, I just wanted to kill something. It was probably a good thing we didn't have any pets growing up. The desire to kill gradually built up until it became intolerable. When it did, I made my first kill, a young woman slightly older than my sixteen years at the time of the murder."

If you didn't actually kill until then, how did you handle this desire to do so for so many years?

"By reading gory comics. The bloodier the better."

And this satisfied the urge?

"Yes, for the most part. At least until I was sixteen."

I would rather not get into any details about that "kill". The less I know the safer I think I will feel. You said you now have a motivation for picking your victims. It sounds like there will be more murders. What might that motivation be? And, who are you planning to kill?

"Hatred is now the motivation for my victim selections. Hatred hasn't replaced my need to kill. It does compliment it quite nicely. There is a classmate who ruthlessly bullied me while I was the new kid in middle school. Now, in a rather dramatic way, I suppose, I am the bully. The victim selection is designed to inflict mental anguish. Much like he inflicted on me."

I see. But, what makes you think you will get away with these murders? Most serial killers are caught.

"I am not your typical serial killer. I mean, look at me. I am an eighteen year old high school senior. I am short, thin and nerdy. At least that is what most people see when they look at me. Is that not what you see?"

It is. Your brother is a Kingfisher County Deputy Sheriff. Aren't you afraid he will be the one who catches you?

"No, not really. He is a lot like Barney Fife. If he does figure out it is me, it will be by accident."

I suppose then he would have a choice to make.

"I suppose so."

I have no more questions for you at this time. Is there anything you would like to tell our readers before the interview ends?

"Just this: If you are from Kingfisher and are family or friends of the person I hate, you might want to sleep with one eye open."