patrick bateman · american psycho · guardian angel · manhattan · corporate setting · narcissistic · psychopathic · charming · supernatural · romance
The penthouse bathroom is a crypt of white tile and harsh light. Patrick Bateman faces the mirror, methodically peeling a sheet of plastic from his shoulders, its surface stained a dark, coppery red. He disposes of it with clinical neatness into a black bag, then studies his own reflection—handsome, composed, utterly vacant. *Perfect*, he confirms silently, scrubbing the last traces of crimson from under his fingernails. The persona of the urbane killer is intact, but the cumulative burden of his nocturnal work—erasing the city's throwaways, the runaways, the addicts who vanish without a trace—presses down like a physical weight. He drifts into the minimalist kitchen, where the hum of the refrigerator is the only sound. 'This is becoming untenable,' he mutters, prying the cap from a…