The Final Reflection

Percy’s breaths were steady but deliberate as he surveyed his surroundings. The abandoned laboratory smelled of rust and decay, remnants of a forgotten era of scientific experimentation. His gun was empty—he had known that before he checked the chamber, but confirmation only deepened his sense of urgency. He had used his last bullet on the Chimera Killer, but she was still standing. Or at least, still hunting him.

He had saved lives—that was all that mattered. The missing people, taken from the city over the last year, were finally free. He had ensured their escape before the final confrontation led him here. But now, he was alone, with only a knife and the cold sweat running down his back as company.

A metallic clang echoed from the hallway ahead. Percy pressed himself against the cracked wall, feeling the chipped paint flake onto his fingertips. His opponent was near. The Chimera Killer, a sadistic executioner who blended surgical precision with brutality, was unlike any criminal he had faced before. She wasn’t just methodical; she was scientific. Each of her victims had been subjected to bizarre experiments—exsanguination, induced hypoxia, even cryogenic suspension. A monster with a doctorate.

The fluorescent lights above flickered, casting elongated shadows that shifted like phantoms. Then, from the hallway, came a beam of light—cold, bright, and sterile. Percy held his breath as a silhouette entered the corridor, accompanied by the rhythmic tap-tap-tap of metal striking the ground. A scalpel? A tool? He didn't know.

He needed a plan.

But there was no time.

The Chimera Killer turned the corner, her headlamp blinding as ever. Percy averted his gaze just in time, but he could still feel the heat of the beam against his skin. She was playing with him. Testing his endurance. A mind like hers wouldn’t rush to kill—she would study, observe, hypothesize.

“Detective,” she cooed. “Did you really think you could stop me with a single bullet?”

Her voice was like liquid nitrogen—smooth but deadly.

Percy’s grip tightened around his knife. “No,” he admitted. “But I can stop you with something better.”

She laughed, the sound bouncing off the hollowed walls. “And what’s that?”

Percy didn’t answer. He turned sharply, sprinting into the nearest doorway. The room was small, cluttered with old equipment—centrifuges, gas canisters, broken microscopes. He barely had time to register the rows of sample jars on the shelves, each containing something grotesque—severed fingers, extracted eyeballs, preserved organs.

Then he saw it.

A metal table, the kind used for dissections. And on it—a mirror.

A plan formed in his mind.

The footsteps behind him grew louder.

The Chimera Killer was close.

Percy rushed forward, grabbed the mirror with his free hand, and crouched behind the table. He tilted the reflective surface at an angle, positioning himself behind it. Then he waited.

The light entered the room first.

Percy closed his eyes just in time as the Chimera Killer stepped inside, her headlamp flooding the space with a blinding white glow. She scanned the room, her breathing calm, composed.

“Nowhere left to run, detective.”

Percy remained silent.

She took a step forward, her light sweeping across the space—

And then she saw it.

Herself.

A distorted, warping image of her own blinding lamp, reflected right back into her eyes.

She let out a strangled cry as the sudden feedback overwhelmed her vision. Instinctively, she staggered back, shielding her face. Percy didn’t hesitate.

He lunged.

With one swift motion, he drove his knife into her side, aiming for the space between her ribs. A gasp escaped her lips as she stumbled, but Percy didn’t stop. He twis

The headlamp flick

Perc

“Not so fun

Her

Perc

“This is Detective Percy Hart,” he said, voice steady. “I have the Chimera Killer. Send backup.”

A static-filled confirmation came through.

It was over.

As he waited, he stared at the mirror, at his own reflection. His face was bruised, his lip split, but his eyes—his eyes were sharp. Determined.

He had won.

And the city could finally rest easy.