Chapter Two: Untraceable

Chapter Two of The Hellbent Series. Enjoy.

Student Lounge: Friday Night: Windsor College Campus Center:

The large lounge was filled with Windsor College students who were staying on campus for the long weekend. Music was pounding into everyone’s eardrums and the scent of beer and teen spirit fondled in the air. It was Friday night and a chilly toxin wavered, causing anyone’s skin to prickle with goose bumps.

Rahne-Scotia and Soranik were sitting at the student-bar, which was not supposed to be handling alcoholic liquor, and talking to each other. They spoke irritated, over the booming music and turned over the topics of the day with delight. The song that was blasting finally came to an end and the DJ was fiddling with his computer to get new music pumping into everyone’s mind. Meanwhile, the television channels were being flipped through by nerdy students, who finally settled on watching the news. The newscast was reporting political news and suddenly changed to a live broadcast taking place in the F.B.I. headquarters of the United States.

A stressed man in a suit took the podium on TV and addressed the cameras. The students in the lounge, still waiting for more music and hype, turned their short attention-spanned thoughts to the television and gazed as the head of the F.B.I. flipped through papers, delivering a speech.

“Today, at six forty-seven, a fellow F.B.I. member died a cruel death which was posted live on the Internet by an unknown source. F.B.I. agent Griffin Dowd’ death was displayed on a site deemed Kill With Me dot com. He was the third victim of this gruesome, unknown killer. As the amount of views increased, Agent Dowd’s death came quicker. We determined that the more viewers who watch, the quicker the victim will be killed. The F.B.I. Cyber Crimes Division and I have concluded that whoever enters this sight will be performing a crime and is subject to arrest. We are the murder weapon! I repeat; we are the murder weapon!”

As the man delivered the speech, the screen switched to a clip from KillWithMe.com, displaying a collage of the killer’s murders. It showed Agent Dowd in a tub full of water and a tank of sulfuric acid with tubes leading into the tub. The screen did not proceed to show the death of Agent Dowd; instead it switched back to the man.

“Our F.B.I. division is working very hard to find the serial killer, but as of now, the website and killer are untraceable. The killings have been taking place in Washington and Oregon. We believe the killer is moving down to California, where the nation’s majority of population is. This will increase the easiness for the killer to perform such killings. Please, we encourage everyone along the west coast to pay attention and take that extra step to stay safe. Thank you everyone.” The man stepped down from the podium.

The students in the lounge stared at the screen in a complete daze. One student yelled out “Another serial killer? We’re screwed!” He took his full cup of beer and gulped it down. As soon as he had broken the silence, all the students grabbed as much beer as they could, with some exceptions. Rahne-Scotia and Soranik remained sober, although they did take a sip of beer. As they turned in their seats, they noticed Owen Reilly sitting across from them on a stool, with his laptop open and a curious, malicious smile on his face. His blue eyes were glued to his screen and his dimples seemed to dig into his skin as his smile widened.

“Well, look who decided to show up.” Remarked Soranik. She grunted in disgust and took another sip of beer. “You know, one serial killer in California is enough, can you imagine two?”

“Yeah, and with our luck, the new killer would be right here in Woodsboro.” Rahne-Scotia replied. They both sat in silence, twirling in their seats.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but whoever this guy is, he’s smart. I almost find it aspiring.” Soranik stared at the tiny bubbles in her beer and then pushed the cup away.

Rahne-Scotia stared at her friend in alarm. “He’s not smart! How can you even say that?” She spat.

“I’m just saying… I like his style.” Soranik mumbled.

“You’re drunk.”

“How could I be drunk? I only had a half a cup of beer Rah.” Soranik said. “Like I already told you, I like his style. You can’t change my mind about how I feel.”

Across from them, Owen gleamed. He smiled with an evil manner. Soranik couldn't help but notice Owen, and as she looked at him smiling contently, still staring at his screen, she whispered. “He’s untraceable.”

Rahne-Scotia pondered for minutes before finally agreeing with Soranik. “He’s pretty smart I guess. Scary smart.”

After a half an hour, the girls noticed Owen had remained alone and his smile had faded. He didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. By now, they were high on life. Everything was swirling and Rahne-Scotia thought that they ought to give the boy a chance to have some fun. Soranik, who strongly disagreed, sat in her seat and watched as Rahne-Scotia skipped around the lounge bar and plopped on a high stool next to Owen. He quickly shut his laptop and stared at the counter awkwardly waiting for her to leave him alone.

Instead, she poked him in the shoulder.

Owen did not move. He continued to stare at the counter in a daze. Rahne-Scotia poked him again. “He-llo-oh?” She said.

Owen turned to her slowly, his eyes now fixed on hers and tilted his head, implicating that he was asking, “what do you want?”

“Hi, I’m Rahne-Scotia, but everyone calls me Rah.” She held her hand out. Owen looked at her hand for a moment and then shook it without speaking.

“So…you’re not of a social person, are you…?” She awkwardly questioned his anti-social-ness.

“No.” He said.

“I noticed you’re wearing a Washington College shirt. My father went there. He was a chemist.” She said quietly as she observed his shirt. Owen looked down at his shirt, unsatisfied. “In fact, my dad just took a chemistry job there.”

“Weird.” Owen said. “My father went there and taught chemistry last year. But…He killed himself on a bridge. I presume your father took my father’s place.”

Rah stared at him. She was completely fazed and didn’t know what to say. “I’m...I’m sorry.”

“I am too. The funny part is that they caught it on tape and played it over…and over…and over for the whole WORLD to see and mock.”

Owen faked a smile and gathered his laptop, mouse, and mouse pad, then preceded to leave the lounge without so much as a goodbye.

Agent Dowd before his death

Author's Note

Hello, author speaking: I apologize once again for any spelling mistakes. I did spell check and nothing came up, but sometimes spellcheck messes up on my computer. I hope you enjoyed!

Reviews

[Tai Ryens]

These pictures are really screwing up my imagery, haha xD I imagine one thing, then I see that picture which is a completely different thing than I had in mind. That's just me though, I dislike having pictures to describe the scene for me unless it's a screenplay. Great write though, I pictured it perfectly (Until that pic xD) and the dialogue was far more interesting than the previous chapters dialogue. Keep up the hard work!