Chapter 1
When No One’s Watching.
October 13th
3:08 am
Officer Nat quietly sat in her car. It was three in the morning and she still had to work until eleven. She had just left from talking to two very intoxicated individuals whose daughter was sheltering a runaway girl. This wasn’t the first time she had to track down this girl, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last time. She yawned and started the squad car. The girl was safe enough and her social worker would figure the rest out. The radio buzzed,
“all available units to Gerrard Street, repeat all available units to Gerrard Street Over.” She reached for the microphone,
“Officer Nat, on the way, over” she sighed and started driving. Getting to the street she noticed a colleague’s car and pulled over next to it. Putting both feet on the ground, she noticed how quiet it was. This was not a good part of town, it was riddled with addicts and poverty, similar to north Edmonton. She had never heard it so quiet or unpopulated.
“Police!” She yelled out as she swiftly walked into the dark alleyway. Hand at her side, ready to reach for her gun if need be. One step forward, two steps forward. Not a sound. “Police!” she called to make her presence known. Three steps forward, four steps forward. She clicked on her flashlight. “What the f-” she slipped and fell backwards. Her vision blurred and she reached to the back of her head. Warm and sticky. Her fingers were covered in blood. She stood and steadied herself. She looked around. What had she slipped on? Blood- not her own soaked into the dirt alleyway. The body of her coworker- and friend lay next to her. She bent down, careful not to slip again and put two fingers to the side of his neck. He was ice cold.
4:32 am
She felt her fingers go numb from the ice pack she held up to her head. The passenger door opened and shut.
“Hey Linz! I brought you a coffee,” Haley smiled awkwardly, “How’s your head? You got a pretty nasty cut up there.” This was typical of Haley, a man was dead and Haley was worried about a minor concussion. Of course she was. “Um, are you going to take it or…” Oh. She was still holding out the coffee for her to take. Hastily she grabbed it and took a huge gulp.
“Thank you,” she said. Half an hour ago they had zipped him up into a body bag. There was blood everywhere, so much so that she had slipped on it, and yet he didn’t have a single cut on him. The alley was taped off now, the forensics van collecting anything and everything they could possibly find. He didn’t have a single cut on him. The coffee was french vanilla, her favourite. Of course Haley knew her favourite coffee.
October 14th
1:26 am
“It’s way too early for this,” Officer Nat slumped into her desk and laughed. She opened up her laptop and checked her emails. Some fishermen pulled a corpse out of the river, they wanted her to find the identity. Yesterday’s case had been passed off to the state police. That didn’t surprise her, this town did not have even remotely enough resources to handle a murder case. Or what she thought was murder case. The details seemed to swirl around in her brain, unsure of themselves. She went to make herself some coffee, looking around to make sure no one was watching her as she poured something a little extra into her drink. She donned her uniform and got into her squad car. Ready for patrol.
11:00 pm
As soon as she awoke, she knew something was wrong. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. It had to be. Her apartment was silent, everything inside was in order. She saw no one outside when she looked out the window. She didn’t have any missed calls. However she just couldn’t shake the feeling. It was this awful nauseous feeling that spread throughout her entire body. She could feel it in her soul. Her hands were shaking, she looked down at them and they were so dry her skin cracked and leaked blood. Soap scum irritated her wrists and a rash was starting to develop. She had to be at work in a few hours, it wasn’t like she could just skip work there was procedure. Forcing down nausea medicine, she opened her pantry to find something to eat. Anything to make her feel better.
October 15th
5:28 am
She felt trapped. Contained by her own mind, unable to move or make a sound. A heavy fog filled her head. Her thoughts fading out. The nausea grew only stronger.
7:03 am
Haley felt like she was drowning. Where was she? Linz hadn’t answered her phone the last four times she called. Linz hadn’t shown up for work. The apartment was empty. There wasn’t even any food in the pantry. She always had food in the pantry. Haley called again. The entire apartment stunk of lemon dish soap. Every single room had the artificial scent. It was so strong she had to step out. Haley called the police department. The answer was immediate.
“Hey Haley,” the man answered, “Any sign of officer Nat?”
“No,” Haley sighed, “I’m getting worried.”
9:30 pm
Walking home she had to take Gerrard Street. Hastily she walked past the alleyway as fast as she could, but then she stopped. The crime scene was gone. The alley was as dark as it was at night. The darkness could swallow you whole if you weren’t careful. She had to get home, no one could see her in this state.
October 16th
3:26 pm
They had pulled another body out of the river, but this time it was fresh. A young woman stretched out, lifeless on the cold metal table in front of her. Haley sighed with relief. She didn’t know who this woman was but she wasn’t Linz. Linz was still gone, but she wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. She had to be out there, she just had to. Linz had only been missing for around two days but that couldn’t stop Haley from being filled with an intense dread and worry. Besides, it was most likely that Linz had just gone on a weekend long bender again. It had happened before, but still the dread crawled under her skin. Something felt off, incredibly off.
October ?th
?:?? am
Warm, thick, sticky blood covered her hands. She blinked over and over, hoping it wasn’t real. Hoping her eyes were deceiving her. Beautiful, funny, smart, caring, amazing Haley sprawled out on the dirt.
“Oh Haley, you would have been perfect to join us.” He stood nonchalantly against the wall. “Well Linz, we better get going. Pick her up so we can throw her in the water.” The boy looked oh so young, but really he was older than the average human. The soft glow of the street lamps was their only source of light. Still in her uniform from a few days ago, Officer Nat breathed shakily, her heart beated aggressively “This is the price you pay for knowledge Linz, you tracked me down against your superior officer’s permission. You show so much promise, I couldn’t just get rid of you.” The boy talked on and on until they got to the river bridge. Everything was completely deserted, so unlike Gerard Street. Linz gasped,
“She’s still breathing,” She sounded desperate, her voice scratched, like nails on a chalkboard. The boy looked at her, his eyes cold and uncaring.
“I didn’t think you’d be like this when I met you, otherwise I would have never picked you.” His voice seething, “Do this now or you’ll never learn my secrets.” The End…
