Prologue
France 2012.
The French police was desperately looking for Maria's murderer. She lived alone in an apartment in Paris and only left her cozy little place to go to work. She was found by a colleague named Avril. Avril Deschamps. Maria was like a lonely wolf who never really interacted with the world so why killing this poor soul? The answer was unknown.
Maria Dubois was not the only body found in her freezer. She was one of many others; Sarah Legrand, Gina Lageste, Ingrid Beaumont, Hannah Edouard and the list continues with no end.
Bodies were found almost everyday by chance or were found by family members who were worried about victims' sudden absence. They were generally found after 2 to 3 months after disappearing, sometimes more, sometimes less. Yet there was no face associated to the murderer.
Rumors about him were everywhere, supposing that the killer was a man. Some said that a dark figure was seen near the victims' houses or apartments each night as if he was hinting that something terrible happened there.
Others said he was a ghost, a supernatural being who came back from the dead to take revenge for some reasons. The most rational one was that he was just a psychopath who was killing for the pleasure of it. It was also believed that he used social media to target his victims. Whoever he was, he was named 'le Givré' by the media.
Some were questioning his existence since there was no proof that he even existed.
The murderer was definitely a serial killer though, ruthless as much as dangerous to the population. He generally killed at night, when all beasts of the forest creep forth, when the streets were hushed, unlighted and perfect for calamities, as darkness is the best veil to hide evildoers.
His methods lacked creativity somehow, there was nothing remarkable about the way he returned the creature to its creator. There was no specific way of killing for him, sometimes he used a knife, other times he choked his victims leading to their doom. Only one thing was repeated on every poor soul that was unfortunately targeted by this clever murderer. He placed them in their chest freezer, folded like a piece of paper with a bag on their heads. His pseudonym came from this particular and unique action of his.
There were only two things that linked his victims to each other; they were all living alone and were women which may be the clue to resolve this case.
Why was he so interested with single person households? Why women? Maybe he viewed them as little sheep who did not have a shepherd to protect them. The archaic French proverb is true when it says: "Aux chevaux maigres vont les mouches", which suggest that it's easier to persecute someone miserable than someone who can defend himself or herself. In this situation, the victims were miserable because they had no one to protect them or even witness their deaths and those who had a family were as safe as a child on its mother's breast.
Concerning Avril Deschamps, she was disturbed and frustrated by her friend's death and was waiting for the day she would be one of his victims so that she may take her revenge. She knew that someday she would be targeted by him so she waited patiently.
It was even deeper than this.
This was not only about her friend but about her mother as well who was brutally killed in front of her when she was 5 years old. The murderer was some guy her mom met on the internet. She never really recovered and so was seeking revenge so that she may feel at peace.
Unfortunately, many others were killed before she could be their hero.
this is good! ❤️❤️
I’m hooked already.
Excellent start! You did a very good job building the mystery involving the killer and a main character. However, I think you doing more telling than showing. This is just a suggest but I think you should focus a little more on the main character, show me how she felt about the victim and the killer. How the system has failed her and why she need to kill the killer herself. Otherwise again excellent job!
le Givre! What an interesting name. Why killing only women that leave alone? Women are always more vulnerable in the world, quite unfortunate. Felt sorry for Maria. Let's see what Avril Deschamps will unravel. Nice start!