Rule #29: When you meet a rival, don't get defensive, embrace the challenge to better your skill

Saera was pacing back and forth, chewing on her nail as she waited behind the one way mirror behind the interrogation room.

She never understood why police officers even bothered with the ruse since she was positive that every criminal must know that there are people on the other side.  A month and a half ago, she was on the other side of the glass, getting questioned by Mark and Jackson about her 'visions'.

But that wasn't the point.

She had been informed that Mark and the others had made an arrest which meant that any minute now, she was about to come face to face with the man of her nightmares.

She wasn't sure if she was ready for that.

And she wasn't sure if she was ready to have everything that she suspected, come true.

But there was a part of her, that was more nervous about seeing Mark.

She figured that he would be elated for making the arrest and he wouldn't understand how much she would hate it.

He wouldn't understand what this meant for her.

Her heart rocketed up when she heard a storm of footsteps echo outside the room. She heard static from one of her security detail's radio and looked over at the him with unease. The man listened to the words being said to him before giving a short 'copy' in return.

He met Saera's gaze before nodding, "They're coming."  

She held her breath when the door opened.

-----

She saw his eyes first and that's when she knew everything she had feared had come into fruition.

It really was him.

The man from the picture.

The man whose existence was only an urban legend to her until now.

The man who she got to see live for the first time today.

Her heart sank as she watched him walk over to the chair. He remained standing and stared chillingly straight at her, as if she could see her standing on the other side of the glass.

One brown eye and one blue.

A part of her wished her theory was wrong. She wished it was all some misunderstanding and that she could be cleared of all the guilt. She hoped that fate was on her side.

But this did nothing but prove her right.

He was the man from the bakery.

Her eyes darted to the small cut on his wrist.

He was the man who helped her with her spilled purse.

Why was she even surprised anymore?

She knew.

She now knew every single thing there was to know about The Collector and every single crime he had committed.

And she couldn't even say a single thing without implicating herself.

Her eyes flickered to the other man in the room and felt her heart skip a beat and grow heavy at the same time.

She couldn't help but smile proudly when she saw Mark push the man down on the seat and clip his wrists to the chains that were attached to the center of the table and his ankles that were pinned to each of the chair legs.

For a second she pushed away her fears and stared proudly as all of Mark's work paid off in front of him. After all the years and gruelling work, he finally did it.

You caught him.

You did it.

I'm so proud of you.

"You're a hard man to find." Mark's voice was tense as he stood across from him.

The Collector, tilted his head up with a smile, "What can I say? I like to make people work for me."

"You can use all the mysterious words that you want but that won't change the fact that your done. You have nowhere to hide, nowhere to go and your fake persona can't save you from yourself."

Saera felt goose bumps grow on her skin when she heard the animalistic growl that ripped through Mark's throat as he braced his hands on the table and leaned forward.

He was terrifying.

"I'd love for you to elaborate." He sang teasingly.  

"You're cocky." Mark said with a laugh, "That'll make this all the better. You're going to be locked up for a really long time. You won't have an audience any more. You'll just have yourself."

The Collector raised his  brows and leaned forward, "I guess I'm not the only cocky one here."

"You can't get to me anymore." Mark said quietly, "You lost. Game over. And now you'll have to spend the rest of your life wondering where you messed up and when everything you thought you could get away with, came crumbling down."

The Collector chortled, "What proof do you have, again?"

"Did you forget? You gave it to us on a silver platter. We have everything from your trailer. Every box, every picture, every strand of DNA, we have it all." Mark growled as his eyes darkened. "I'm going to make the rest of your life so miserable that you're going to wish that Saera shot you in the head and not the shoulder."

"Your 'evidence', means nothing to me." His blue-brown eyes curved up, "Speaking of which, where is this pretty Saera? I haven't seen her in a while and I'd love to say hello. I'm dying to meet her."

Mark's whole body went rigid and it felt like flames were ignited throughout his body.

"Don't ing say her name." Mark snarled as he grabbed The Collector's collar. "I will murder you before you even make it to your cell."

Jackson slipped into the room with Saera and handed her a file, "I brought you a copy. We don't have much about him. He has no prior convictions, not even a parking ticket."

"How is that possible?" She muttered while flipping through it.

Seo Sang Min.

Jackson rubbed his face, "It's easier to break the law than to abide by it. He probably wanted to have a clean record so that he wouldn't raise red flags."

Jackson was right, there wasn't a single smudge on Sang Min's record, his life was almost non-existent.

He looked over at Mark and raised his brows, "What did he say to Mark?"

"What do you mean?" Saera said as she looked up at Mark whose knuckles were turning white.

Jackson shrugged, his face tired and haggard, "Mark doesn't lose his cool. Ever. Especially in interrogations, I wonder what the face said to him--"

"You so much as breathe her name and I'll make sure the last thing you see is the barrel of my gun." Mark roared, seconds away from bashing his skull in.

Jackson's eyes widened before a small smile crawled up his lips. He gave Saera a side look before nodding, "Now that makes more sense."

Saera's shoulders stiffened before she looked back down at the file, "Why are you guys even bothering with an interrogation? What more do you need from him? You have so much evidence against him, can't you just arrest him?"

"We can." Jackson said, "But before we do that, we need to get as much information as we can get from him. There could be crimes and victims that we've never known of. He's going to go to trial and we want to make sure we get as much as we can before his lawyer shows up."

Saera looked at The Collector who was grinning broadly at Mark who released his grip on the man's collar, "He has a lawyer?"

"Even the most ed up ones come prepared."

-----

"You're quite fond of this girl, aren't you?" He said with a laugh.

Mark put his hands behind his back and dug his nails into his palm, hoping not to lose it and strangle the man chained up in front of him.

"You're not asking the questions here. I don't want to waste time on you, I have better things to do. Just admit that you're The Collector. Just admit that you killed all those women and make it easier for the both of us. Maybe if you cooperate, the judge might give you 5 life sentences instead of 25." Mark snapped.

Sang Min just smiled, "I did not kill those women."

"So explain to me why you have pictures of your victims before and after they were murdered taped around your trailer? Or why don't you tell me why you have over 2 dozen metal boxes that are an exact match to the ones your victims are delivered in?" Mark shot back.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "If I knew those answers I would tell you. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's too late to lie, We have everything we need." Mark fired back.

He raised his brow, "If you have everything you need, then you shouldn't need a confession from me. I'll just let the law take the wheel."

"The law isn't your friend right now. So if you want to at least get the chance to avoid solitary confinement I suggest you start talking." Mark hissed through his teeth.

Sang Min just quirked a brow, "You want me to start talking?"

"I wasn't asking. I was telling you to." Mark's eyes narrowed as he started at him.

Sang Min's eyes glittered in amusement.

"Then bring the girl in here."

Saera's eyes widened and her heart stopped as she stared at The Collector. Her hands began to shake and her whole body locked up.

What did he want with her?

Mark laughed incredulously."Excuse me?"

"If you want me to talk, then bring the psychic in here and leave the two of us alone. She's the only one I'll talk to." He said with calm smile.

Mark felt his eye twitch, "Over my dead body."

"Be careful what you wish for." He said with a laugh, "Especially with this serial killer that you're running after."

Mark ignored his threat and kept his gaze steady, "You're not in any position to be asking us for favours. I'm not letting you anywhere near her and let's be honest, in a few hours, you'll be locked up until you get charged one life sentence for every girl you killed."

"There's a fine line between confidence and naivety, it would be a shame if your naivety becomes you biggest downfall." Sang Min said gently.

Mark's whole body unwound as he took a new approach. He let his face fall expressionless with no emotion and just blinked coldly at the man in front of him.

"I hunt monsters like you for fun." He said chillingly.

Sang Min's smile dropped into a firm, straight, line, "Do you think monsters are born that way, or are they raised into monsters?”

"It shouldn't matter." Mark said deftly.

"Murderers must have problems be they natural or learned, and their tendencies could be the result of a brain malfunction or something in their DNA. Basically, if murderous intent is a disability, is it right to punish them?" Sang Min asked calmly.

Jackson shook his head with an angry growl, "What the is he doing? Why is Mark even indulging him?"

Saera just watched, conflicted, as Mark faced off with a man so psychotic that he didn't seem human

“Even if someone has problems in their brain or if they was raised in bad conditions, they chose to kill even though they knew it was a crime. If they chose to commit a crime, they should be punished.” Mark said as he watched the chained man lace his fingers together.

"I would like to speak to Saera, now." He said calmly.

Mark launched at the man, gripping his collar and yanking him forward so that his head almost hit the metal table.

He twisted his collar so that it cut of his airflow, "I told you not to say her ing nam--"

The door  slammed opened causing Mark to turn his head. Sang Min's eyes flickered to the door before a wide, beaming smile grew up his lips.

Saera's eyes were frozen over and her nails dug into the door as she stared the heterochromatic eyes down.

"Mark? Can you give us some privacy?"

-----

"What are you doing here? You can't just leave her in there with him!" Jackson exclaimed when Mark walked into the room.

He didn't say anything and leaned against the table with his arms crossed watching as Saera locked the interrogat