May
Be
Sharper
Than
The
Sound
It was midnight when I received the call. I couldn't believe that anything could have been more precise than that moment but I was in for a little treat. Right on the dot, I couldn't understand severity of the situation that was on the other side of the line because I was so intrigued by that simple concept. As I rolled out of bed I told the officer on the other end of the line that he had to slow down, he was talking faster than a mind that could consume mass fabrications of information.
'Where is this at?' I asked.
'Off center and fourth, you really must hurry.' And I did. If it wasn't for the entire regions police force at the crime scene I would have received a speeding ticket but I knew that this was big, from the way that it sounded. Everything was so confusing the officer said on the other line, like this was the work of a brilliant mind, someone who knew what he was doing. He had to know the victim personally from what the evidence could provide but I had my own individual theories.
There has been a string of murders that have been happening in cities outside of our own, major populated cities but never in the same county. I guess that is what kept his tracks all neat and tidy that is if it was the same person, all for the name of a cult who sacrifices upon the heads of many. The counties don't speak about cases to one another so what is new for one county is a mystery in another, I knew this, they did not. It was a month into Fall, leaves crunched under my feet from the full grown trees that lined the streets all across town.
By the time I crossed the police line I could see a thin dripping blood trail on the sidewalk and leaves as I was heading to the house. Gradually, it went from a slight drizzle to heaping handfuls that trailed on and off the sidewalk occasionally going into the gutter that separated the concrete from the street. He wasn't walking steady, even someone stupid could figure that out but then it led to the stairway.
Police stood just outside the building right before the stairs. I looked at the stairs themselves and they were covered in blood and little pieces of metal. The blood spill covered each and every step that led up to the doorway and even on the door there was blood but it was more placed than spilled, I could tell this because it was in the form of writing on the door. One word over each other creating six lines spreading from the top of the door to the very bottom. Six simple words to create a very unique phrase yet confusing at the same time. I thought to myself as a few detectives that were talking a few feet away from me started to walk towards me while carrying on their conversation. What did this phrase even mean? As the detectives got in reasonable speaking distance I looked towards them.
'So where’s the body?'
'That’s a good question' responded one detective.
'The best bet is inside but we haven't even dared to take foot on the steps yet.' Responded the other.
'And why is that?' The two officers looked at each other and one kicked his feet into the ground as the other spoke up.
'I know this sounds very unprofessional but we have told everyone to wait for you.' I hid a smile in the back of my mind and I thought to myself that it was a very wise move for them to do that. More police tape crossed the walkway to the first step up to the house; I walked under it and kept my head down as I crouched in front of the first step. The little pieces of metal that I originally saw in the midst of the blood looked shinier from up close. Whatever form they had before was now destroyed because it looked as if it was squished together but with closer examination I thought that they might just be in their original form but it wasn't metal.
From the shine that glowed off of the pieces I could see that it wasn't metal but silver. Each piece had a distinct shape that looked like they laced in with another piece, a puzzle, as you will. I motioned to one of the forensics experts and told him to pick up all the tiny pieces that he could find and I walked away as he started. I walked back up to the two detectives and waited for their conversation to end before I interrupted.
'Has anyone walked on these steps before you closed it off?' They looked at each other again as if they were conjoined twins waiting for approval from another.
'Maybe.' Said one.
'There’s no telling if someone has but no one will now. Everything is locked down and were just a few minutes away to see what's inside.' The forensics expert walked past me showing a little baggy of little pieces of silver and a puddle of blood. I looked back to the detectives and they reached towards their belts as they walked towards the steps and motioned to other police officers to follow them. I took a few steps back and watched as everyone gathered around the steps and the detectives started to debrief them. I looked down to my watch and noticed that it was ten till one as I rubbed my eyes and wished I went to bed sooner.
I took my position on the nearby park bench that was just across the road from the apartment and relaxed. The city smog filled my nostrils and as I breathed in to realize that everything was moving in slow motion. Police officers rushed up the steps to the front door and kicked it in. As everyone rushed inside I looked around me to see falling leaves from the tree branches above me falling into my lap. Then neighbors’ trying to get a glimpse of what was happening from past the police line. Someone was swinging in a swing behind me, chains rattled and squeaked with every moment. Birds flew across the sky migrating to somewhere warmer and before I knew it I heard someone yelling my name.
'Get over here!' Yelled one of the detectives from inside of the house. 'You need to see this!'
_________________________________________________________________________________
As I took my first step inside a deep smell of dampness filled my nostrils. It was more humid inside the house than it was outside and it was even raining. The house looked fairly normal aside from all of the buckets of blood that was splashed on the walls, ceiling and floor. The forensics team already entered and as I turned a corner I thought there was a flash mob of cameras as if my name was irrefutable.
The whole house was one big serial number
for evidence. I wouldn't really be sure if anything here would not be
considered evidence as the solid fact is that whoever was here left his mark on
everything. It only took a mere few seconds later until I heard a 'freeze! in
the distance. I rushed towards where the noise originated and it first took me
through the living room, then the dining room, then a kitchen. Every room of
which was covered in blood and flesh and symbols that lined the walls and
floors. Parts of body parts hung from barbed wire that was placed within the
ceiling of a small hallway, I ducked underneath them to reach another living
room in which where the noise came from.
Several SWAT officers stood a few feet
away from a young man, pointing there guns at every limb of his body yelling
various profanities to inflict damage on his own self esteem but he just sat
there in his knees, praying. Praying with his hands clasped together wishing
for some big outsider to whisk him away from all this madness and carnage—how
sad. He sat in the middle of a circle of blood that was now staining the
hardwood floor that we all stood on. Circle upon circle traced around him with
strange pictures and text; I've seen this before but never while it was still
on motion. I've always been a few days behind this cult but now, now everything
has changed. It's as if I am now walking side by side by the messengers who
offer riddles and puzzles and death.
From the shape of the person’s body I
could tell that it was a young man. Button down plaid shirt, jeans but shoes
less as well. On his face, however, was a plain white mask of an ordinary face
that you see on masquerade masks. He had a shaved head and earrings from what I
could tell but something was off, he didn't move. An officer took a few steps
closer to him and as he reached towards him, a handgun was taken from the
holster and hid it behind his back.
'Give me your hand sir.' the officer said
to the man.' We will make it easy on you if you're easy on us. The man kept his
hands clasped together but moved them so the officer could reach. The officer
reached for his hand and pulled him to the ground forcing his two arms apart
which sprayed blood everywhere.
'Damnit Mathison! We needed him alive!'
Yelled one officer. I began to push myself between the officers that were
toward the man and rushed to be directly by his side. I felt for a pulse on his
neck yet none could be found--great. I carefully reached towards his face and
took off the white mask he was wearing. Porcelain, the mask was heavy as I
prepared to take it off. A red ribbon traced in little slots in the corner of
the mask and a tie laid behind his head. I felt some wetness on my arms and
as I looked down I noticed what was his cause of death.
Steel wire was traced in the long sleeve
arms of the shirt and underneath the skin of his wrists. When his arm was in
the grasp of the officer, he dragged him down to the ground which caused enough
tension underneath his arms which ripped out the steel wire in the mans wrists.
Upon a closer look the steel wire was carefully sewn beneath his veins so they
were ripped out causing death rather quickly. This was on both arms from his
wrists all the way down to his elbows. I looked at his hands for a moment
longer and I noticed something rather peculiar. His hands were small along with
his fingers almost like a woman's. Then I put everything together. I quickly
took off the mans mask and to my surprise, it was a woman.
I heard a lot of murmuring behind me as I
examined the face. Duck tape covered her mouth from saying anything and dried
tears poured down her face. She was crying for help not whispering her prayers.
There were reports of a woman screaming in the house along with that same woman
screaming out in the streets for minute or two before she was taken back into
the house.
'This must be Elizabeth Mahoney.' Said an
officer behind me.
'She was the one who called the police.'
Said a detective that walked in seconds after she died. 'She said a man
abducted her son, two daughters and her husband. Said she was hiding in a
closet and the abductee left the house but that didn't seem the case from what
the neighbors said. A tall man with a white mask, that white mask. She would be
the only one to see her face and she's dead right?' I turned around to nod to
the detective. 'Right. With the help of our mutual friend here we will get even
closer to who is doing this, with the cooperation of the other counties. Thank
you for finding the patterns.' I nodded again and stood up to look down to the
body.
'What we are looking at is a different case from
your normal serial killers.' I cleared my throat and continued. 'Whoever has
done this, he has a ritual through all his kills but he ran out of time on this
one. He knew Elizabeth was here because he took the rest of the family out of
the house, like all the other scenes but this one was different because she was
able to call the police and yell for help. It was something that turned this
easy kill into one big mistake and that's why he left her alive. He wasn't
going to have any enjoyment out of it so he left it for us but it is not
certain if he knew that she would die which would make me believe that he
should still be close.'
'I talked to one of the neighbors and she
said that two men arrived and only one left with the family.' Said an officer
in the crowd. This put everyone on their toes and I saw several others scanning
the room.
'You checked all the rooms correct?' I
asked. The detective straightened out his back and walked towards me.
'All but the attic. This house has one
but we can't find the entrance anywhere.' Just then, all of the officer’s radios
went off and the dispatch on the other end began to talk.
'Reporting to all officers. A man with
blood on his hands has been spotted in a nearby park.' I thought to myself if
that was the person who was behind me, the one in complete darkness. All the
police officials rushed out of the house and I followed immediately after them.
As soon as I stepped outside a rush of people surrounded the swings in the park
and from my position I could see him lighted up from the police helicopter and
car lights—he was covered in blood and so was the sand beneath his feet. He was
melancholy but not suicidal he looked up to everyone around him.
I rushed further up towards him onto the
park bench that I was sitting on from before. As I positioned my feet so I
could see over the surrounding officers I noticed a piece of paper. I looked
back up to see the man talking and several people looked back to me and
motioned me to head over. I jumped down from the bench and hurried towards him
as I heard a few officers saying that he asked to see me, and then calling me
by name. I walked past the crowd to see the young man on a swing with a knife
in his hand pointed at his neck.
'I’m a big fan of your work you know. I'm
surprised to see that you are treating me like this, like a monster. I've done
nothing wrong.'
'This is the first lead you gave us. Why
are you doing this mister...?'
'Cheeky. You're cheeky thinking that I
actually led you to something. That's really cute. You know, I just wanted to
give you some insight, an understanding if you will. Understanding for all the
chaos but you will see that my chaos is peace. To every road there is an end
and one cannot be a individual thing in this end. The end is futile and will
come with of without me.'
'But what should I call you?' I asked
again.
'Why can you not understand what life can
be? I find this thing I have given to you very accepting.'
'Yes I do but I just wanted to know your
name, can you tell me that?' He smiled to reveal his small teeth that were
covered in blood.
'Understanding I only want you to
understand. To no longer be immune to what you want to see.’ I scratched my
head in confusion to what he was saying then responded.
'You want me to call you understanding?'
He smiled again to show off his crooked grin.
'That will do for now. He dropped his
knife into the sand and kept a gaze right into my eyes as police officers
pulled him to the ground and cuffed him. I hurried back to the bench to see the
piece of paper now on the ground. On the outside it addressed my name and on
the inside was several different words varying by length and meaning. None of
the words from that moment correlated to another but certain words in the mess
stood out to me.
Suspension and triangle, sow and knife,
eye and mask. These were some of the words that stood out in my mind though
their meaning meant no significance for me. I sat back down on the bench
confused to what everything means but why me in particular? I've felt the
thrill of the chase and just now I was finally getting somewhere. It's been
years since the first one of these scenes were discovered and although this man
in particular was caught, I doubted that it was over.
Understanding. That's what he wanted to
be called. It somewhat makes sense if you really think about it. He's a serial
killer and the one thing we don't understand is serial killers; why they do
what they do, what controls them, how they feel in the grand scheme of things—I
know I do. I examined the rest of the house after the police officials took the
man away and everything grew more complicated in my mind. Various numbers
littered the walls and various phrases such as 'Light is not eternal', 'Follow
the mask of death' and an even stranger 'She is proud'.
'Give me a copy of every photograph you
take.' I said to one of the forensics team. 'And make sure I get a chance to
see that silver when you are done examining it.' He nodded as I walked away.
There were no marks on the body of the woman till we got here so where did all
the blood come from? And whose body parts are hanging from the ceiling? Most
importantly was where is the missing family?
At every crime scene so far the family
has gone missing and one member was left behind being offered as a sacrifice.
The blood fills in all the crevices of shapes and symbols that were carved
around the left behind victim. None of the other families have been found,
which makes this the fourth missing. No silver pieces were left behind in any
other scene and evidence of a murder only stood on the fact that the helpless
individual was dead. No trace of anyone has been left but now—as I looked
straight into the face of evil and what it brought to the worked upon the blood
stained walls—I feel that I have just found them.
I couldn't sleep when I got home later
that night so I reviewed over the evidence that was found in the previous crime
scenes till the sun came up. Soon as it turned to be a reasonable hour I
received a call that the blood on Understanding was his own. Understanding cut
himself wide open and bled all over himself yet, there were no large cuts over
his body. His fingerprints were taken off by lye and he had no dental records
that could be found anywhere—his identity will remain unknown. Nothing of
Understanding could be linked to the crime scene yet there he was. I was told
that he was to be sent to a mental ward because of his suicidal idealation but
other than that; nothing else could have been done.
'So you're telling me that he is going to
be free? We know he did it why can't anyone else see that?'
'He’s not going to be free.' Said the Sergeant
on the other line. 'He will be in a mental ward for a minimum of four weeks
only if he shows sign of improvement and I doubt that he will. Take that time
to review over what you have and tell me immediately if you find any leads.
He's at the station right now being seen by a clinical psychologist, he's
asking for you again.'
Remember me
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