Undying Devotion

Shannara found herself sitting at her desk in the station once again, a stern look on her face.

Masie was perched on the side of the table with a shocked look on her face. “Today just keeps getting better...”

A parcel had been delivered addressed to her, she’d opened it and immediately called for Jessie.

Her hunch ended up being correct, Jessie confirmed it for her as he began examining it for prints and trace evidence. It was Kayla’s, it hadn’t been dumped or tossed but instead sent directly to her. Any attempt made so far to track it had been futile as it appeared to be switched off, except for the one call she had received on Danni’s phone that was.

She looked at Jessie with hopeful eyes as he dusted the device. He met her gaze and shook his head and she sank back into her chair with a sigh. Was it too much to hope for, that this person or persons involved would slip up?

“Holly shit!” Jessie started flicking through the photos on the phone.

“The process was documented?” She queried.

He nodded with a grim look on his face.

“Get them examined, I want to know where she was killed, where she was taken and when. I want a full timeline.” She also handed him Danni’s phone. “Better log this one too.”

“You want copies as well?” He asked.

She eyed him sternly with a slight tilt of her head. That was a stupid question and he knew it.

“Right, right, I’ll get them downstairs and processed, then to you right away.” He scurried off phones in hand.

“What kind of sicko snaps photos of dead people like that?” Masie folded her arms over her chest.

“You do it almost on a daily basis.” She retorted.

Masie gave her a disgusted look. “That is my job! I don’t enjoy doing it, I do it for a purpose.”

“So does this person, I don’t believe they do these things for the reasons we might think. There’s no sexual drive, no mistreatment of the victims, no malice. They are being killed and yet oddly they are being respected. These are not crimes of passion.” Shannara was rambling as she became lost in thought. “Or are they? It’s like there is a passion in the way that he displays his victims after death. He’s sending a message with each of their deaths... Who is the message for.”

“You’re going down a rabbit hole again.” Masie stifled a laugh.

“Sorry, it’s just... baffling.” A message popped up on her laptop screen, the results of the coagulated substance were in. Sliding her chair forward she clicked on the report.

Masie hopped down and was looking over her shoulder, reading along. “Huh, strange. It has the genetic markings of blood but nothing in the database matched it, animal or humanoid.”

“Is it contaminated? Maybe they need to test it again.” Shannara frowned, It wasn’t making sense.

Masie pointed to the bottom of the report. “Looks like they did already, several times, but the results were the same.”

Shannara groaned, clearly disappointed. Was it a fake hoax of some sort? Had it been deliberately manufactured and placed at the scene to throw them off?

Masie’s phone chimed. “Ah! The foods almost here, I ordered for both of us, figured you’d need the energy, given that you didn’t actually eat lunch.”

Shannara also began to click through the photos Jessie had just sent up. “Good call. I don’t think I’ll be leaving here until late tonight, there’s a lot of things to go over since all the files and reports are coming through now.”

“The lab seems to be working pretty quickly when it comes to these cases,” Maisie commented dryly like it wasn’t a normal occurrence.

“Stuff like this doesn’t normally happen in this town, I imagine everyone is on edge and wants to catch this guy.” Shannara could understand her frustration, but she had been pushing all the teams working on the case pretty hard.

“You’re not wrong, it’s definitely a change of pace from cleaning out dead old ladies from their apartments.” Masie made a disgusted face.

Shannara cringed, she did not envy Masie’s job in the slightest. Through she admired the girl’s tenacity and drive to do good.

“Is there a Masie here, I have her order.” A delivery guy asked an officer just outside her office stall.

Masie immediately ran for the door. “That would be mine. Thanks!” She retrieved the brown paper bag from the delivery guy as she happily bounced on the spot. She dove into the bag. Pulling out a log-shaped silver-wrapped object pocking out of a small napkin. “I got your favorite.”

Shannara grabbed the tinfoil-wrapped sandwich with a half-smile. “You’re too good to me.”

Masie shrugged her shoulders. “What are friends for? I’ll head downstairs and help out the boys with processing. Catch ya later!”

“Thanks Masie, take it easy, make sure to get some sleep.” She called after her.

“Back at ya!” Masie exited the small office with a short wave goodbye.

Placing the food down next to her keyboard Shannara continued to click through the disturbing pictures. She stopped when she came across one where a man was standing over Kayla’s body, scalpel in hand. His face was cut off and he wore a surgical apron.

“Overconfident much? Or did you not expect to lose the phone...” She spoke aloud to herself as she jotted down notes on his appearance.

Picking up her sandwich she began to unwrap it when a small folded pink note slid out. Probably the receipt, she’d pay Masie back later. She unfolded it and stopped dead, her face draining of all color. She bolted upright and ran for the front of the station dropping the sandwich, it bounced on the corner of her desk and fell to the floor. Uncaring she forcefully pushed officers out of the way in her frantic state.

“Hey, Jesus! What the fuck Lankis?” Someone yelled as she collided with them.

“The delivery man, was he around 5′2, solid build and wore a large golden ring with an insignia on it?”

“Yeah, that sounds like him, why?”

“He’s the fucking killer and he’s mocking us!” She spat angrily. Everything was so meticulously placed in the photos, that it seemed as though this killer enjoyed giving off these little clues. It was a form of mockery.

The officer’s eyes widened in shock. “I’ll get the surveillance footage and get an APB out on him right away.”

The note, in the same handwriting that had been in Kayla’s bag, had read;

Catch me if you can, gorgeous. We’re waiting for you.

“I’m going after him.” She burst through the double doors into the soft rain of the night.

Frantically she scanned the street. She caught a glimpse of someone resting against the brickwork at a side entrance to an alley only blocks away. He lifted his hand and waved at her before turning and disappearing into the darkness.

The bastard wasn’t going to get away. She ran for him, unhitching her state-issued pistol, a Glock 22 that was strapped to her waist. Skidding to a halt at the entrance, gun raised, her eyes darted to the only movement she could see in the dull light. Her breath was heavy in her chest as she put one foot in front of the other and approached the man who appeared to be hunched over another form.

“Police! Put your hands in the air and turn to face me.” She warned.

The man did as he was told, raising his black leather gloves into the air he turned his wet head of hair toward her. His eyes pierced into her, in the dull light they appeared completely black, empty, and completely void of life. He smiled at her, sidestepping the body beside him.

She cursed, the young body of whom she assumed was meant to be their actual delivery man lay slumped against the cold stone walls. Blood was smeared along the wall behind him, the rain slowly washing away the red substance as it pooled on the ground and ran into a nearby drain.

The man kinked his head to the side. Her finger at the ready, her gun steady. Normally she would wait to be attacked to actually fire on a civilian, but as rage filled her, her finger simply... slipped. Or that was what she was going to write in her report, or maybe that he had lunged at her. Regardless, she was not going to let this man get away.

She fired, shooting him as she confidently strode forward. The loud bang of the weapon echoed through the night as the pitter-patter of the rain began to hammer down around them. The impact of the shot jolted the man’s shoulder back, she had aimed for his heart and hadn’t missed. But he didn’t fall to the ground, instead he took a step toward her seemingly unfazed.

She fired again, twice this time, aiming for his chest and abdomen, was he wearing a vest? He didn’t go down and his pace quickened until he towered over her, the barrel of her weapon pressed firmly against his chest, a croaked smile on his lips as his eyes never left hers.

“I was surrendering.” His voice made every hair stand on end. It was like nothing she had ever heard, it was a man but the voice screamed monster.

He was too close, her heart was pondering in her chest so loudly, it was deafening. She attempted to step back while raising the gun to the man’s head but she wasn’t quick enough. His hand clasped the weapon, twisting it out of her grip with a strength far beyond her own.

“Though it won’t kill me, it does sting a little, so please stop.”

She gasped as she was forced to drop the weapon, it landed with a splash at her feet. She reacted mostly by reflex, lifting her knee to the man’s stomach impacting quite hard. His grip tightened as though unfazed by the kick. She grimaced as his strength bit into her wrist causing pain to spread. She ducked under his extended arm in an attempt to free herself from his grip and gain the upper hand. She twisted his arm behind his back, her other hand finding a fist full of his hair as she pushed forcefully against him, hoping to slam him up against the alley’s walls.

He laughed a deep and mocking sound. “I admire your determination. Yes, I think you will do nicely.”

Her mouth and eyes opened in shock as the arm holding his wrist was yanked and pulled from its socket. She screamed out, the sheer force of him retrieving his arm from her grip slammed her into the wall. She’d had a good grip on his hair, managing to tear out a handful as she was flung to the side like a rag doll. Her breath left her lungs as she could hear the sound of boots slamming into the ground, moving toward her. She needed to move, but the pain was blinding.

His fist slammed into her stomach and she saw white. She heard a crack as her body was impacted, had her ribs just broken? She slid to the ground as her weight proved too much for her body. “That’s for messing up my hair. oh, but don’t worry, I’ll see you again real soon.”

“What are...” She muttered while blinking to try to get her vision back.

“Hush now princess, I’ll come for you once you’re healed. I can’t be getting in trouble now.”

She heard him leave, not in rush, he simply walked away from her. Leaving her alone and broken in the alleyway.

“Detective Lankis!?” A shocked voice boomed.

She still couldn’t see, her breath coming in short sharp gasps, she was completely unable to speak as the officers rushed to her side.

“Jesus christ!” Another said as she felt someone reach around her back and pull her to her feet.

She was seeing stars as she fought the urge to cry out in pain as they moved her. Shapes were slowly coming back to her vision as she fumbled for the person’s hand. She shoved the strands of hair she had ripped from the man’s head into the officer’s grip.

“You got him as good as he got you, huh?” A hand closed around hers as she was helped back to the station. Gods she only wished that were true, the man hadn’t even been phased by her or her gun.

She felt a sting above her eye and an ache in her chest as the shock of the encounter began to wear off, the adrenaline draining leaving her open to feel the extent of the damage. She still couldn’t breathe deeply, which only confirmed she had one or more broken ribs. Rather than taking her to the hospital, since she wouldn’t let them, they called for a doctor to come to the station. They had a lead now, and she wasn’t going to waste any time.

“You need to run...” She had to pause to take small breaths in between words. “The DNA, this guy he’s some kind of bodybuilder... or on steroids at least. Branch out... not just locally. Send the DNA to other branches to try to... find a match. Could be... ex-military.”

“You really need to stop talking and catch your breath.” Masie was by her side now, concern in her eyes.

Her arm hung limply at her side as the doctor examined it. She couldn’t open both eyes as blood ran down her face, the impact with the wall slitting open the side of her forehead. Masie placed a compress on it in the hopes of helping, but it needed stitches.

The doctor laid her down on a cleared desk, grabbing her wrist, reading himself and her to put her shoulder back in place. Pulling her arm toward him he firmly and slowly raised her arm until it slipped back into place with a light pop.

Her teeth ground as she felt and heard her bones realigning. Next, he flexed her elbow and gradually rotated her shoulder outward while gently pushing until the joint fully relocated into the correct position. Sitting her back up he put her arm in a sling. She hissed as he applied the disinfectant to the cut on her forehead and he frowned at her.

“You make noise at that, but not me putting your arm back in place?” He questioned with a raised brow.

“It stings, what... can I say doc.” He attached some gauze to her head sealing the cut.

“I would highly recommend a minimum of 4 weeks rest to allow the bones and muscles to heal.” He told her.

She looked at him not saying a word as he left her with some painkillers and anti-inflammatories. Giving her set instructions for the care of her wounds. Also insisting that she come for an x-ray first thing to check on her broken bones.

“He’s not wrong, you need to rest.” Masie helped her to her feet as the doctor packed up and headed out.

“I can rest when I know we have this guy. Masie you didn’t see him, what he could do.” She was breathing a little better now, but the pain was slowly draining all her strength, she was starting to feel like she might pass out.

“Can I at least take you home while we run the tests and wait for results?” She pleaded.

“Only if you promise to keep me informed.” She groaned as an uncomfortable feeling set in, it hurt to move. “Did Andrew get a picture from the surveillance?”

“He did, but it’s not the best image, maybe I could send a sketch artist to your place tomorrow, then we can really get people on the lookout for him.”

Shannara agreed. “Can you bring me the files tomorrow? I don’t think I will be able to drive.” She admitted as she was ushered into Masie’s car, her ribs screaming at her to stop talking.

“You got it, anything you need, I’m on it.”