Chapters 6-10

CHAPTER 6

“At two in the morning we’re scrapin bodies off the pavement. And three hours later were eating pancakes before sunrise! This is why they call it the land of opportunity.” With that Silver took a mouthful of syrup covered pancakes before washing it down with almost a full glass of Dr Pepper. He set the glass at the edge of the table to signify he needed a refill before continuing to stuff his face.

Staziak prodded at his eggs with his fork, He wondered why he didn’t just order them scrambled. Even over easy they looked liked gushing eyes to him right now.

“What do you think he does with them anyway?” Staziak asked.

“What ye talkin bout now?” Silver mumbled with his mouth full. He signaled to the waitress and started making very creative gestures toward his drink. Staziak couldn’t think of another living person he knew that could do something so blatant but comical and get a positive response except Silver.

“One day you’re going to lose your charm with the ladies and one of them will piss in your cup when you ask for a refill. “ Staziak finally managed an awkward and almost nauseating bite of his eggs.

“Eh. I say ya don’t know till ya try it. Who knows maybe ill thank the lady later for introducing me to my new favorite vice?” Silver smiled at the waitress as she refilled his drink before taking a big chomp of his bacon.

“Nothing ruins your appetite does it?” Staziak found himself nudging the food around on his plate.

“Ye need to not take this s**t home with ye. We’ll find this b*****d. Nuttin he’s doin makes him anymore a bad a*s than anyone else we’ve put away before him. You’ll see he has a method to him like all the others and once we figure out what it is we’ll get him.”

“After at least five murders that we’re aware of and three disappearances which all seem connected to this guy don’t you think it’s a little odd that we’ve come up with next to nothing?” Staziak managed another bite of his food.

“Ye remember all the hype from those two snipers that were shooting their targets from a low angle inside a van and everyone was lookin for em on top of buildings? It’s s**t like that, simple misdirection is what it is.” Silver swallowed down another glass of Dr Pepper as it chased down at least half his plate of pancakes.

“I suck at the Heimlich maneuver. Don’t make me have to use it.”

Silver chuckled. “So what’s our next move brainiac? We gonna look for Miss Jane Doe from the locket or ye got something smarter in mind?”

“I was thinking we could stop to see the coroner after we get some shut eye. Maybe we can get another look at that body since it’s the only one at this point that breaks the pattern.“ Staziak said.

Silver was gesturing to the waitress for a refill again. Staziak questioned whether there was an obscene subtlety he was missing after seeing her blush before coming and grabbing the glass.

Staziak continued. “Maybe the Coroner has found something to add or has at least identified who it is by now. That could also give us the lead we need.

 Silver nodded and mumbled something incomprehensible as he worked vigilantly to finish his pancakes before the sun peeked over the mountains.

Staziak could only shake his head and stare.”I’m beginning to think your love of pancakes is a stand in for this Donut addiction that’s so common among the police force. “

Silver nodded triumphantly as he cleaned his plate. The waitress came back just in time with his refill of Dr Pepper and it was urine free.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 7

‘It’s out there….’ The boy thought with immediate dread. Tap Tap Tap, against the glass from the window behind him.

The boy sat still. His hand began to shake, he tried to ignore the sound behind him and focus on his drawing.

TAP TAP TAP The window insisted. The boy didn’t know when the tapping started. He didn’t even remember why he was familiar with it, but he knew who was tapping. 

Bringing his attention back to the drawing as if refusing to acknowledge the problem would make it go away the boy found himself staring down at a pair of huge bulging eyes. The eyes belonged to a man with jagged razor sharp teeth, teeth so sharp that he had apparently bitten off part of his own lip.

The boy didn’t remember drawing this, but he also didn’t remember when he had sat down to draw in the first place. His heart sped up and tears filled his eyes because he knew that something very similar to this character he had outlined on the page before him stood there tapping… It waited eagerly at the window behind him.

He wanted to cry out for help. At the age of ten he was certainly not too old to cry or ask for help….regardless of what his father said. But he knew no one would hear him. His mother worked the late shift….and his father….he didn’t remember where his father was. He only knew that he wasn’t here.

Running from the room would only make it enter the house. Somehow he knew he would never make it out the door before it came through.

‘It can be fast if it wants to be’ He thought bitterly.

TAP TAP TAP This time the sound was louder the glass vibrated and the panel shook.

The boy could no longer pretend to ignore it. He rose from his seat giving the drawing of the creature one last glance, the enormous eyes and toothy grin taunted him.

At last he turned and faced the window and the pitch blackness beyond. There was no one there. At least that’s how it appeared but he knew better.

He begrudgingly approached the window. He wanted to avert his eyes. He was afraid of what might jump out at him if he did. One blink and the monster might very well magically appear inside the room with him. So he stared out the window, eyes unblinking as he approached.

It seemed an act of bravery but he was scared. He wanted to cry, to run and hide and scream and maybe piss himself not all in that specific order.

He stopped just inches away from the pane of glass.

Outside the world was covered in a blanket of thick darkness. The boy could see nothing beyond the glass. No street lamps or moonlight the backyard was nonexistent. It seemed that nothing existed beyond the window in the blackness except the soft whistle of wind that occasionally made the window shake.

He stood in silence. Somehow he found the courage to reach out and place his hand against the glass. The logic seemed sound. If he could touch the window and nothing appeared then there were no monsters outside and he could go back to doing something less adventurous.

With his palm pressed flat against the cool glass he finally noticed the eyes peering in at him. Shrouded in the darkness they were hard to spot at first. Slowly they rose from a kneeling position to an upright stance. As they got closer a whole face began to take shape.

A tall lanky figure now pressed against the glass. His face appeared deformed and grotesque but smiling. The huge gushy circles that were its eyes left slime in their wake. Its hands glided along the transparent barrier as if beckoning its prey.

Surprisingly the boy was not afraid. He didn’t know why, At least he didn’t at first. He felt rage slowly building as he watched this creature taunt and threaten him to come and play its morbid games.

The creature peeled its lips back to reveal a huge smile of jagged teeth. TAP….TAP….TAP against the glass.

The boys rage came to a boil. He was bright for his age and all his common sense said he should run. His instinct said otherwise. He remained still as if frozen. He breathed heavily as every obscenity he knew sat on the tip of his tongue. His eyes locked on the beasts enormous pupils in a death glare.

The monster leaned its face down closer at head level as if to ask ‘Is the lil baby gonna cry? Or did it already s**t itself?’

Raising one thin bony hand deliberately to draw the boy’s attention the monster taunted once more against the glass with the tip of its nail….TINK…TINK…TINK.

The boy shook with rage. His anger erupted in a scream.

“YOOOOUUUU WANT TO PLAY YOU STUPID F**K!? YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH ME?”The voice surprised the boy with its deep adult tone.

It was in that moment the boy realized he was an adult. He had been for some time…He looked down and noticed his childish features were gone, replaced with familiar adult features. He slowly rose to full height as if he had been partly kneeling this whole time. He was now on par in size with the now surprised creature that stared at him beyond the window….except he was now getting bigger than the creature, his rage burning brighter with every inch.

Now the creature was startled and its wide eyes and jagged teeth distorted into an unfamiliar expression of fear. It pulled back swiftly attempting to bolt into the night….but it was too slow.

The boy who became a man and was now becoming something else was now far too fast. He slammed his fist through the glass creating a hole of jagged blades. He grabbed the fairy tale monster by the face, his hand now larger than any man’s. The skin of his hand began cracking and tearing revealing grayish yellow veiny skin beneath. Twisting tumors of muscle began to flex as razor sharp talons emerged from the finger tips and found themselves embedded in the fairy tale monsters eyes.

The creature screeched in pain like a wounded cat. It pulled back causing the boy hybrid to lunge face first into the shards of razor sharp glass to keep his grip. The glass tore into the boys arm, shoulder and face.

As the flesh tore open blood began to gush and slowly more of the abomination within was revealed. More thick veins pumping dark inhuman fluids along with twisting flesh and undulating muscle with spines of jagged bone.

Slowly the boy hybrid s skin began to slough off in chunks as the monster now turned victim cried out in agony one last time as it tried feebly to pull away. The boy leaned in with what was left of his partly human face. Blood trickled from his eyes as his pupils split in two.

His lips peeled back the rest of his skin came off in chunks of meat, gore and bile revealing the dark beast within in all its glory. His large crackled inhuman eyes looked upon its prey in triumph. With amazing inhuman strength he now easily overpowered it, dragging it into his den, halting momentarily as it made one last petty attempt to hold onto the windowsill.

“NOOOOOO” He hissed informing that there was no escape. Then he used his free hand and snapped the puny beasts fingers back to the wrist with a sickening crack before dragging it into true darkness.

***

He woke up from the dream with a start. Sweat trickled from his back and forehead in streams. He reached up and felt the sores on his face as he noticed the shafts of moonlight peeking through his window blinds. Looking down at the sores on his hand and arm he smiled as a chill rippled up his spine with a slight touch of euphoria.

He had to get up, he had work to do.

CHAPTER 8

Staziak and Silver arrived at the coroner’s office. Night had fallen and their shift had started. Silver had slept like the dead as always. Staziak’s mind on the other hand had been spinning all night with thoughts and questions. It was usually a good thing since it meant his mind was on to something he could not yet put into words. Unfortunately this time it just gave him a headache.

When Silver had arrived to pick him up the witty Irish man in him was compelled as usual to express his newest observation of the day. “Ye look like s**t. I told ye to leave this crap at work. Ye don’t take it home unless it’s female and she is willing to show ye some sexual pleasures because she thinks she’s in love with ye. ”

Staziak quirked a brow wondering how much of that was advice and how much of it was Silver venting. “It’s just the price I pay for being the strategist of the team.” Staziak said jokingly.

Deep down Staziak knew Silver offered some food for thought. It wasn’t exactly fair to say Silver didn’t contribute to the think tank but Silver was the man of action. Fast cars, guns, and a touch of rough stuff once in awhile was what he needed. Staziak was the one who strategized and did the planning most of the time. He was more focused and usually better at organizing things mentally. But when necessary Staziak was no push over when it came to the other parts of the job either.  

They entered the elevator and descended into the morgue. Staziak found this place strangely relaxing. In another life he could have done this job for a living. Examining bodies to identify clues, or preparing the dead for viewing or simply for burial seemed systematic, logical and predictable. He also knew that eventually he’d get bored and he would be aching for excitement, dying for someone to throw that unexpected curve ball at him. Technically Staziak hated curveballs but he loved a challenge and that was the beauty of being a detective in Homicide, there was always a curve ball.

The Coroner Dr Vaan greeted them with a big welcoming smile. His stereo typical college professor like appearance with thick glasses brown hair with a touch of gray and matching beard and mustache always struck Staziak as a little too jolly and upbeat for a place like this.

A look of disgust crossed Dr Vaan’s face as he pulled the file on the John Doe. “At this point no one has come forward to identify the body. I suppose in this day and age it’s not uncommon for parents to let their teenage son disappear for a few days without a word. It will probably be a few weeks before they file a missing persons report on him and dental records would take some time to match if a match was even out there.” 

Staziak was not surprised. He had hoped for a different outcome. He wanted a lead and soon. “Did you get around to examining the body?”

Dr Vaan adjusted his glasses with a smirk. “Of course I did. What do you think this is a police station? We take our work very seriously here. No slacking allowed. Were also better than most hospitals, we don’t keep our patients waiting.”

“Nothin like some witty jokes at the morgue to start off the day, if ye got any material on zombie midgets I’d love to hear that too” Silver chimed in.

“No…No zombie midget jokes today Mr Dupre.  Perhaps when the staff at this establishment reaches a higher level of intelligence to conceptualize that which entertains you, alas we’re not there yet.”

Silver looked at Staziak with a huge grin. “Oh ye owe me this time. I could be havin such fun following up with that comment. Yet here I am showin some amazing restraint.”

“I know you are’ Staziak grumbled. “ So doc. Did you find anything that stood out during your examination?”

“Actually I did. There was nothing to give us a name and address to the killers door but something fascinating and useful none the less. Follow me gentleman.”

Dr Vaan led them to the meat lockers. He marched over to one centered on the far left of the room. “The lacerations found on previous victims appeared to be the result of a stabbing weapon with a hook like point or perhaps the teeth of a hunting knife. With this victim it appears the attacker used a different method. Honestly it would be difficult to surmise what type of weapon was used this time.

Dr Vaan pulled the locker open and pulled the table out. A black body bag lay before him. His gestures were vivid as though he were a magician about to show them a magic trick. “But all the injuries to this victim tell us a much more thorough story then what we previously procured. Hopefully I can give you a better idea of what were looking for.”

“You mean who were looking for?” Staziak grumpily corrected.

“Yes of course. Although I must say this one must be a beast of a man. Honestly I’ve never seen..” Dr Vaan trailed off as he unzipped the body bag and revealed the corpse within.

Suddenly the Doctor didn’t appear so much like a gesturing magician as he appeared to be a baseball pitcher throwing a curve ball.

Both Dr Vaan and Staziak stood in speechless surprise. Neither could find the words to express what they were seeing. Luckily Silver was never made speechless by anything. “Hey. Didn’t this guy get to keep one of his eyes? I thought he only lost one.

Dr Vaan finally spoke. “That is correct Mr Dupre. As of a few hours ago he still retained his left eye if I’m not mistaken.”

“So what was the point of pulling out the other one?” Silver asked casually as he pulled out a stick of chewing gum and popped it into his mouth.

“They didn’t” Staziak replied. “They also didn’t do this.”

Staziak pointed at something beside the left side of the victims head. It had been out of Silvers line of sight as he stood on the right side. Silver stepped around to get a look. He didn’t appear as startled as the others but his chewing slowed. He was still far from speechless but it was obvious to Staziak that he was carefully choosing words this time.

“Ok. This is a f****n joke right?” asked Silver

Written in the corpses coagulated blood on the metal slab to the left of its head was the word THEIF. Below it was a misshapen smiley face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 9

He had claimed what was rightfully his and then returned home swiftly to unite the pair and add the new piece to his collection. Tracking down his trophy really wasn’t that difficult, not for him. Sneaking into the hospital to get it, especially one where homicide victims were normally taken and police propagated was a bit more complicated but manageable.

He opened the freezer and a smile crossed his lips from ear to ear as he stared at the different pairs of colorful eyes he had gathered. Each had a story of triumph and each was a step to fulfilling his goal of spreading a message to the community. The authorities may attempt to contain it. The news reports may not print it. But slowly it was getting out there first as rumors, later as facts and very soon as warnings.

He wrinkled his nose as he looked at his new pair of brown trophy eyes. The news report had already aired. Sadly only few would know in what way this one behaved to earn his punishment. He felt his rage swell at the thought. The example made from this punishment would have been a good one. The f*****g thief got what was coming to him. In other places they would cut off hands but he punishes all of them the same.

The rage grew. It bothered him that this example got wasted on cops and they tried to avoid spreading the word. Then again it could be that he was left with another pair of brown eyes. He had been hoping for some green ones. He knew there was no shame in taking pride in his collection while he worked. He looked out the window and he felt like something called to him. The night was still young. The pines from the tree outside blew past his window after being dislodged by a strong gust of wind. He felt excitement flow along with his rage and he felt the ecstatic chill rise up his spine that usually came when he thought about fulfilling a task he had been savoring.

There was someone he felt compelled to go visit. He put his eye collection away and rose from his seat. The rage subsided but the smile remained as he headed for the door. He had more work to do.

CHAPTER 10

“I looked at this body no more than three hours ago. ” Dr Vaan looked perplexed.

Silver smirked at him. “So ye say there are no slacker’s here eh doc? Me thinks ye should come up with a new recruitment pitch.”

“Someone mutilated this body from right under our noses and you think this is funny???” Vaan grumbled as he began to scowl.

“You bet yer arse I do. This guy finally screwed up. Ye said it yerself this body had one eye at least three hours ago. That’s a time frame we can work with. “

Staziak was slow to react and he found himself nodding even though for a reason he couldn’t yet explain he didn’t fully agree. “Whether this was an inside job from someone that works here or the b*****d is daring enough to try and sneak in and pull this s**t there will be security footage. If someone didn’t belong then there will be witnesses. Someone will have seen something in the past three hours.

Silver arched his brow. “Ye don’t sound very certain of yerself when ye say that.”

“Unfortunately I’m not. My gut tells me that something isn’t right. The Perp was willing to risk being seen just to make sure he left his calling card? He has never left a finger print, or any form of DNA on the premises at any crime scene. He is meticulous. He did this to taunt us. The new smiley face feature tells me that much.”

Silver rolled his eyes at Staziak before turning to Dr Vaan. “How bout ye fill us in on what ye learned from the injuries on the body and then show us the security tapes before one of us starts to believe were chasing the unholy ghost and the other is forced to destroy his superstitious views with lots of sarcasm.”

“How do we even know that this person is not still in the building?” Dr Vaan interjected.

“He wouldn’t stick around here. We do know a little about this guy. It’s not his style.” Silver said confidently.

Dr Vaan adjusted his glasses and lab coat. He changed his gloves as if he was worried that somewhere in the confusion of learning that a murderer had been sneaking around behind his back he might have missed a step in protocol.

  “Ok. So based on what we could gather from remnants of pre digested food, Genetic markers and.. sorry Silver yes I am prattling. What we have is a Hispanic male, he is likely sixteen years of age based on his physiology.” The doctor paused and opened his folder as he skimmed his notes.

“And now we have the fun stuff. His dental records are made more difficult to gather with at least nine of the victims teeth shattered along the left side of his upper and lower mandible. His lower mandible also sustained a nasty fracture from a powerful bludgeoning strike. Had he lived he would have likely been deaf in his left ear from the impact.”

“So what kind of weapon was used? Did Mr Perp kill him with the lead pipe in the driveway?” Silver interrupted with a prize winning grin. “What you guys never heard of Clue?”

Staziak said nothing. The doctor paused but was obviously not amused by the joke.

“No Mr Dupre. That’s the bizarre part I was about to cover if you can remain quiet long enough to hear it.”

Staziak shot Silver a glance indicating he wasn’t in the mood then he turned to Vaan. “Don’t worry about him doc. I’m listening to you. So thrill me.”

 Vaan continued. “I couldn’t tell you what kind of weapon was used. It was bigger than a lead pipe or a baseball bat. The circumference was large enough to cover above the victims temple all the way to the lower mandible or as Mr Dupre might say it in his terms the lower jaw bone.”

Dr Vaan flipped through a few pages and withdrew some pictures taken at the crime scene. “What is most concerning here is the Attacker did not by standard definition beat his victim to death in the driveway by bludgeoning him numerous times. It appears these injuries occurred in no more than two or three hits.”

“That’s not so odd. With the right weapon and enough strength aimed at the right spot two or three hits could easily be enough to cause these injuries. ” Staziak replied.

“No the injuries to the head appear to have been made In one hit. The Attacker struck his victim in the head. He then struck him in the chest breaking three ribs and partially cracking two more. It also appears this was the hit that dislocated his shoulder and fractured his collar bone.”

“So yer sayin what were lookin for here is a big guy who’s pretty strong and likes to swing heavy objects at people? Fair enough.”Silver said.

“Not just big. The attacker would have to be quite the athlete to manage this. The strength behind these hits would have to be immense to cause the injuries as there are no signs of degenerative bone issues with the victim. The injuries also indicate the attacker was taller than the victim. He struck him at an angle that suggests he is perhaps 6 foot five in height and as irrational as it sounds that may be a conservative figure. Its hard to say conclusively but he is certainly not the average.”

 “So yer saying we’re lookin for a body builder that’s around 6 foot five to seven feet tall?” Silver whipped out some more gum. It was obvious he’d rather go back to his old smoking habits right about now.

“Conceivably the attacker could have been shorter or of equal height to the victim. It’s possible he leaped at him and struck him in mid air although the velocity and angle to cause these injuries suggest more likely that the attacker was running at him when he hit him. In either case without more information his height is debatable. However make no mistake. He is extremely strong, dangerously so.”

“Nothin I haven’t seen before doc. Meth heads do some amazing feats of strength. Psychotics don’t even need drugs to pull off s**t like this when there in the zone. “ Silver added.

Vaan smiled. “Well from his track record there is nothing to suggest that were looking for a sane man.”

“You said three hits. What other injuries did he sustain?” Staziak asked in a distant voice as he attempted to take all this in. His mind was trying to piece together something from all this new information.

 Vaan flipped to the next section of his notes.“Yes hit number three. This was when the victim sustained the stab wounds. He was stabbed on his left side with an unknown weapon. The previous victims appeared to be cut with a blade with a hook like shape to it. This time there was no set pattern. The attacker may as well have cut his victim tore him open with his bare hands. He sustained damage to the left kidney and small intestines from this injury.”

The doctor flipped the page once more before continuing. “He was also stabbed in the chest with smaller stab wounds that appear more like the ones in previous cases. Lastly he sustained three stab wounds on the right side of his head which with the most probability occurred when the killer went to cut out the victim’s right eye. Perhaps the victim wasn’t remaining still enough?”

“Was that a joke at the end there doc?” Silver asked.

“A meager attempt at one yes but in some situations it’s the only way to deal with some things and continue onward.” Vaan replied.

“I couldn’t agree with ye more.”

Staziak was silent for a moment. He appeared troubled as his mind continued to whirl. He had been hit by one more curve ball but had also found some puzzle pieces he might be able to use. “Ok Doc. Let’s go see if we can spot a big muscular brute skulking around the morgue on the security tapes at some point in the last three hours. Silver I want you to go around and find out who was in the building during that time frame. Workers, visitors, I want a list ASAP. Also ask anyone and everyone if they saw anyone out of place, someone big, muscular or just plain creepy. Lets see if anyone stood out.”

Silver chomped on his gum as he looked Staziak over as if he was analyzing him. Staziak figured Silver was thinking over some questions of his own that he didn’t choose to voice at this time.

“Yes boss is there anything else ye be needin of me while I’m at yer disposal?” Without waiting for an answer Silver left the room and headed for the front desk to start his search.

“You two are quite the opposites aren’t you?” Dr Vaan observed.

“We usually work better together then most people would think.” Staziak replied matter of factly.

“Perhaps it’s just an off day then.” Dr Vaan said as he gathered his notes back into the folder and placed the body back in its freezer.

“Something about this case has been eating me. I guess I’m usually the calm logical one but this time I’m starting to feel a bit out of my element. The curve balls keep coming.” Staziak paused.

Dr Vaan smiled reassuringly. “I’m sure the mysteries will reveal themselves in time Mr Staziak. They usually do.