The Vile Deed of the Good Doctor

  I have done it, I have finally won, my mind is at ease, his death has silenced the screams of hatred that had turned my spirit black and my heart cold. It has been a mere three days since the deed was carried out and already I feel I must tell some one about my glorious work, though I know that writing is all I may do to record what I have done. The feeling of adrenaline pumping through my body even now makes my hands shake, for his body is still in my cellar and nobody will ever know until I am dead and this document found! I was once a man of class,a man of power, a man that was looked at as a god! Yet he was able to turn the king to a petty, vile murderer... but I have had the last laugh! It seems so long ago now since the thought of murder first began to drive me into madness. Alexander L. Abendroth, the child who was able to destroy me, leaving me nothing more than a rambling madman. It's almost humorous, he became a guest in my home by my own allowance. In the winter I received a letter addressed directly to me, it read-

Dear Dr. --------------------

Greetings, my name Is Alexander Ludwig Abendroth, a young philosopher. I have read your works since I first began my studies and can honestly say that you sir, are the single greatest mind alive today. I have just recently turned 22 and wish to continue my studies, so I plead you to allow me to live with you for a few months, allow me to go places with you and see how the world's smartest man lives. I will pay for my own meals,and I will help with any house work I can. I eagerly await your response

Signed,

Alexander Ludwig Abendroth

Ah to be young and still see men as omniscient, a feeling I remembered all to well,so because of that I took a special interest in this boy and I allowed him to live with me. When he arrived I eyed him from his feet to his head. By the way he dressed it appeared that he was indeed a scholar. He wore a new pair of wingtips and was dressed in an olive green suit that was a bit too small for him, and a tie that was too long. His complexion was so pale that If I hadn't known better I'd say he never left his home. His hair was a mess, down to his ears, brown and simply disgraceful. And if nothing else, what gave him away as a learned man were his bifocals, which fell off his nose now and again only to have him quickly push them back into place. I welcomed him in to my home and watched as he stared in awe at my parlor. Over the next few days I began to get to know this boy, and he was one of the most well read people I have ever met. On the third night in which he stayed at my house he came to me and began to talk about his main purpose for coming.

“ All my life I had been smarter then my peers, and because of that I was mocked, horribly. I became a shut-in and lived my life with my books. Which increased my knowledge by ten fold! If not more!” He said upstarting. “So when I found the courage to once again brave the world of the mortals what happened to me? I was cast aside! For I was but a 'meager, unknown, youth'. So I realized that if people knew I had been taught by the great Dr. ---------------then the world would then finally take me seriously!”

I got up from my seat and laid my hand on the boy's shoulder

“Do not worry child, I will help you in any way I possibly can”

At this point murder was the last thing that had crossed my mind so I told him “We must begin to get your name out there, I spend very little time I my home nowadays for I am either being called upon by someone for help, or I have some sort of gala or banquet to attend. Next time I go out come with me! I will begin to introduce you to all the people of this fair town. Your name will spread as if it were wildfire!”

He then stood up and hugged me crying“Thank you! Oh Thank you! My prayers have been answered! My destiny revived! Oh Thank you sir!”

I had underestimated how much people would like him, he became the talk of the town in a few weeks! Soon everyone knew his name very well! And... they... forgot... mine. Nobody came to me for help anymore, they went to Alexander, no party invitations came to me anymore, they went to Alexander, I was no longer the glimmering jewel of the town, no, it was that dammed Alexander! To add on to the pain he was still a guest in my home, so I had to watch as the whole town came to my door, entered my home, looked in my face and asked me “Where is Alexander?” Week in and week out my anger grew and eventually I knew I had to end his presence in my town. I allowed another week to pass before I confronted the child.

“Alexander!” I said “Alexander! We must talk”

“Yes?” he replied “What is it you need sir?”

“Alexander I have allowed you to live in my house for a little over a month now, and I believe it is time for you to move on to a different town” here I paused for a moment “..To spread your name even further!”

With a disheartened look in his eyes he said “But sir... I am still learning so much from you... you are the smartest man alive! I am nothing compared to you, would you truly throw me out into the cold streets where I would be a nothing again?”

His humbleness sickened me, but here I was confronted with the teary eyes of my last follower. I was prepared to tell him to leave again more forcefully but then I realized that if I, an honorable host, simply tossed out the most well-known man in the countryside I would be seen as nothing more than a cruel miser... degrading my social status even farther. I could not let that happen.

“...Alright...Alright, alright, alright,... I will permit you to stay with me for a few more days...”

Perhaps if I didn't care what the town thought he would still be alive today... Ah! But one can not change the past! It was at that point I knew that to keep my reputation alive I would have to kill him and dispose of him in secret. I spent a long time thinking on the matter and I realized that if I were to kill him I would have to out wit a man who was smarter then I. I had but one advantage, you see he was limited by sanity, which by this time I had all but lost. The next day I told Alexander that I was not feeling to well

“O Alexander.” I said “Alexander my child, come here”

“Yes sir?”

“ Alexander I fear that I am getting rather sick and so that you my remain healthy...” -at this point I could barely keep from grinning- “...I am going to confine myself to my room for a few days”

“Sir” he said “You are to good to me. May you have a quick recovery!”

“Haha, yes,may I have quick recovery!” I said this as I was walking away. I would not see him until the night before I would commit that most horrid of deeds.

The first night I spent only in deep thought. Two questions quickly presented themselves to me. First of all, how am I to kill a man in my home without making myself a suspect? And second, How do I dispose the body of the most beloved man in town? I paced the room until I gave up for the evening and went to sleep. My inspiration would come to me the next morning, as I looked outside and saw a casket being brought to the cemetery. William... something or other, had apparently passed away and the funeral was proceeding to the cemetery.
“Ah, William is taking the eternal sleep in there only to be hidden, out of sight..” I said to myself
Then it hit me, a casket, sleep, out of sight. I realized how I was to kill and dispose of Alexander. The plan was set. I got back into bed and began to call for the boy
“Alexander! Alexander!”

The child was immediately at the door
“Good morning sir. Feeling any better?”

“No I'm afraid not, I didn't sleep a wink last night. Listen to me boy, I need some sleeping medication. Go to the drugstore for me please, and since I shall not need it until tonight, I insist you stay out and leave me to, at least attempt to dream.”
“Oh... Alright, I shall return by nine then with the medication is there anyth-”

“Thank you, now please be off”

I pulled the blanket over myself and pretended to attempt to sleep. It was obvious the child didn't truly understand why I wanted him out of the house, but the fact is he would be gone until this evening, and I had time to work.

I waited for the slam of the front door and then proceeded down to the wine cellar. I had just, received a shipment of wine from France which arrived in an enormous crate. I took all the bottles out and moved it to the corner of the cellar, where there was an empty space in which the light never shone upon. Ha, I didn't even realize that as I write this I am drinking a glass of wine that came from that same crate, how amusing. Now that I was done in the cellar, I started to cook a dinner made of the most expensive and delicious food I had. It was the child's last meal after all! He came home at nine, with the medication, gave it to me and then began yelling at me, saying I was in no shape to cook dinner, that I should be in bed, and a few other things that I forget. I allowed him to yell at me, but I could tell from how he looked at the food, that he was starving. Hesitating, then no longer, I took the medication to the kitchen, where I proceeded to put it in his glass of wine. He drank, got tired, very quickly, and passed out at the table. It was as simple as that. I stared down at him on the floor and began to laugh a cold, broken, laugh. I took the utmost pleasure in carrying him down to the cellar and with all my might I placed him in the casket that the wine previously inhabited. I closed the lid, nailed it shut, and went upstairs, locking the cellar door as I left.

You who read this may be thinking to yourself, Is that all? Yes. That was all. That's all it took to end one's life. I recall hearing shouts of horror and panic coming from the cellar even yesterday night but the cellar door is far to thick to allow the demented cries reach me upstairs, or outside. I haven't heard anything from the cellar today, which filled me with such delight I felt the need to write all of what you have read today. People did come looking for Alexander, but I told them he never returned to my home after he went out. A few didn't believe me, and were curious, but man is apathetic and they quickly either forgot, or stopped caring. By the time this is found I shall be dead. By the time this note is finished, he shall be dead. Thus is the destiny of man, to die. Nothing more, nothing less. That is why, I shan't be punished. I merely helped another man achieve his destiny, in the process reaching my own.

Signed,
The Good Doctor