Hell's Detective: Murder

by N. J. Bamford

  Jenne parks her car and brings the groceries inside her office. She doesn’t go into the apartment area, for she didn’t want to invite the intruder in if they fight. Replacing appliances and furniture isn’t cheap.

  “I know you’re here,” she states firmly, “I have much to do today, so show yourself right now or leave.”

  Before she knows it, the office becomes dark and the temperature drops until Jenne could see the exhale of her breath. From the darkest part of the office, a pair of burning golden eyes open before her, the pupils narrowing into slits. They push forward, appearing in the form of a large black cat that slinks gracefully before giving her a grin.

  “So pushy,” the cat speaks with a voice as smooth as velvet and deep as an abyss, “Should you be so to the one that is your master?”

  “Forgive me. Centuries of no contact of any means could leave one forgetful of their manners.”

  “I see. Then again, I have been cursed and insulted by worse, so I’ll forgive you. Child of Minos, do you still seek a way back to Hell, knowing the taste of freedom from its shackles?”

  “You know well my feelings. Even after all this time, they have not change.”

  “So strange of one that was once a pure human. Very well. I shall open my wisdom to you before I take my leave. What you do with it is up to you, so listen well.

  “The Guide of Fate has lost her post. The False One seeks the end, and needs the keys. What you see before you is what you are blind to. Seek the sight before all is gone and all that is left is restless dreams.”

  In a blink of an eye, the office is bright again and the temperature rises almost to the point Jenne is sweating. She looks around for a bit, but the cat is gone.

  “Geeze,” she sighs, taking the groceries into the kitchen, “Can’t you be at least a little more specific? I may be a detective, but riddles are a pain in the ass to solve.”

  She places the groceries away and makes a sandwich for herself for lunch. She returns to her office and sits at her desk, opening a packet of pens before pulling out an old-worn book from a drawer. She'd lips the book open to a blank page and takes a bite of her sandwich before picking up a pen and writes:

  Ann Utgama: Carrier

  The Carrier was found and terminated by both Lilia and myself on November 2nd, 2014. The Carrier was very old, using its Ash to possess other humans once the host became unstable and was about to reach sinfication. Those infected with the Ash went on a killing spree with families that had only one child as their preferred choice of victims. Despite saving the host, Ann Utgama passed away within a few hours. The cause of death was leukemia, a misdiagnosis that the family will be more than happy to capitalize on once they learn of it. Her soul has been damaged badly, but it should be able to transcend to the afterlife.

  The Carrier came to Jamerson City under the guise of needing treatment for breast cancer with its host’s family. Realizing that there were several half-Breeds and human Damned Hunters living here, it knew that it would’ve been found out eventually. The first one to find out was Gary, a Half-Breed that I have been fighting with for the past several years over my territory. Instead of removing it from Ann Utgama and collecting its’ Ash, they struck a partnership to not only take me down, but to infect many humans and turn them into the Damned. Gary hid the fact that he was going to hunt the Infected down to increase his rank among Half Breeds and gain favor from Lucifer, even going so far as to attack those that have not reached the point of sinification. The Carrier infected medical students visiting its host during their class sessions, seeing them as the perfect prey to spread its beliefs further. Medical students are trained to save lives, but ironically are also taught how to end lives if they were not careful. They made barbiturates gas to invade their victims’ homes and killed them. They were careful to time their killings, but the more the Carrier infected, the more killings were made and the timing became off.

  Gary didn’t realized that one of the Carrier’s Infected had arrived in Jamerson City six months ago to help a friend out at his family’s place of business. He snuck out the bags of fertilizer to make the barbiturates gas and continue murdering families with a single child. He became desperate to perfect the gas and took enough bags to be noticed by his friend’s father. Had the cops noticed the dead pets sooner, who were more infected by the gas than humans were, they would’ve tested them to find out that they had died from an overdose. Animals are very sensitive to anesthetics, and any surgery that requires it has to be done quickly and effectively to prevent their death. The other clue was how the victims died. Not everyone knows all the vital blood vessels in the human body to strike in order for someone to bleed to death quickly. Only one trained to know where they were could’ve pulled off the murders like the medical students did. Had Gary knew of Danny and who he was about to kill, he would’ve stopped him to prevent me from being tipped off.

  Danny went to attack Richard’s family and John, and both Ellisaüch and I made it in time to save them. I wasn’t able to stop Danny sinification, but I was able to take out the Ash from him, which was the major clue as to the identity of the type of Damned I was dealing with. The Ash I pulled from Maria became the final clue, or should I say the answer I was looking for, as to the Carrier’s identity. Lilia had went to stop her charge, who had been infected, from killing her bullies, hide Gary was there in disguise to see her do so. Ellisaüch and I intervene, taking out Gary to prevent him from attacking the innocent further and helping the Damned. Lucifer should be having fun with him by now, as he despises traitors. Irony at its best.

  We made it to the hospital with Lilia to prevent the Carrier from escaping in Abraham’s body. It had infected the entire hospital staff to act as its bodyguards in case it had been found out, and it took all three of us and Raiden to clean out all the Ash to get everyone back to normal. The police declared the serial killing case a closed with the medical students they apprehended the culprits.

  The medical students that had killed innocent families for having only one child while under the influence of the Carrier’s Ash will be sent to trial and sentenced to prison. There is no means for them to escape their fate without claiming mental illness or having extreme influence over the court personnel. Each of them had a hint of a need to kill, which allowed the Ash to take root inside of their souls. One of the medical students, Danny, had went through sinification, so I do not know how much time he has left to live. I am uncertain whether or not the other medical students have went through sinification or if they were saved in time. I do know that Lilia’s charge that had been attacked by Gary will have a limited set of time to live. Had the Ash been removed from his body without using his scythe, it would have been a different story. Then again, Gary was never one for saving souls.

  I had received a message from Hell. An encrypted message that has me confused, but on guard at the same time.

  The Guide of Fate has lost her post. The False One seeks the end, and needs the keys. What you see before you is what you are blind to. Seek the sight before all is gone and all that is left is restless dreams.

  I can only guess at this point that it means the End of Days is coming sooner than scheduled. This will pose a problem for the future if my guess is correct. I do not find the end of existence appealing at all. And if so, why aren’t the higher ups doing anything to stop them?

  “You know why.”

  Jenne looks up to see Ellisaüch sitting at her desk, arms and legs crossed. She closes her book and puts it back in the drawer before giving her secretary her undivided attention.

  “The Carrier came close to killing you had the angel not interfere,” she states, narrowing her eyes, “You took enough Ash out of it to benefit forty Damned.”

  “And yet it counts at one towards my punishment, right?”

  “Of course. You have four thousand, fifty-seven Damned to exterminate after this case. Be fortunate that the Carrier was counted this time, for the next time you need help with the Damned, it will not
count.”

  “Was that your call or His call,” Jenne narrows her eyes in suspicion, although she knows the answer to that question.

  “His,” Ellisaüch stretches her arms over her head, “Had it my way, you would’ve been done a long time ago and I’ll be back in Hell with my fellow Hell Watchers.”

  “And you think I wanna stay here? Believe me, I wanna get back to Hell just as much as you do. But I can’t disobey Lucifer, no matter what, and neither can you.”

  “And what of John? With his gifts, he can be a bargaining chip for the rest of your punishment. At the least, he won’t be abandoned by you when the time comes and you both will be together forever.”

  “No,” Jenne snarls in anger, “I won’t do that to him. He is making new friends and finding his place in the world. I won’t take that away from him.”

  “Then, what will you do?”

  “What I always do. Help people and fight the Damned.”

  * * * *

  The Murder charges as fast as he can towards the robed figure, burning liquid spilling from its headless neck onto the floor and setting the carpet on fire. Before it can bring one hand back to strike, the robed figure pierces its chest with his scythe, ignoring the rapidly spreading flames as they engulf the room and follow the carpet to the rest of the castle. The Damned screams as its Ash is devoured by the scythe, transforming slowly back into Lord Babil. The robed figure is devoured into the flames, his clothes burning away to reveal that his attacker is not some divine being from the heavens, but in fact...

  “D-demon,” he screams while pointing at the female demon before him, then screaming again in fright as he realizes that he is kneeling in fire.

  “You’re part right,” Jenne states calmly, the flames licking at her demon clothing and causing no damage at all, “You claim us demons to be monsters, yet I find sometimes that humans are the true monsters in the world. Look at you, letting power go to your head and thought yourself better than God, better than anyone.”

  “I am a Lord! A God among men! Now help me! I’ll give you whatever you want! Gold, children, even my soul!”

  “You have nothing I or anyone else would ever want. Your soul is shattered, and you’re going to die here. I doubt even Hell will welcome you.”

  With that, Jenne leaves the castle as Lord Babil begs her to come back between yells and screams of pain. She doesn’t even give a glance back at the cursed land with its cursed lord.

  Epilogue

  Evening brings a heavy rain that breaks the last of the heat wave that many thought would stay for a while longer. Water slides down the buildings onto the streets, where it joins the small rivers to fall into the drains for the sewers below. Lightning streaks across the sky and flashes the city below, thunder rumbling loud enough to shake the glass windows of some of the buildings. What few people that dare to venture out in such weather are running for shelter as fast as they are being soaked.

  All in all, a good night to stay indoors.

  A young man is watching the storm through the window in his bedroom. He stares outside with an intense gaze, ignoring the cold whispering upon his barely cladded dead body. He hears the rustle of the blankets upon the nearby bed, its occupant slowly waking from slumber and sitting up before wrapping the sheets around her body.

  “Is it still raining,” she asks slowly, sleep apparent in her voice.

  “Yes,” the young man replies with a side glance, “It’s really coming down. Someone has angered Heaven.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “A priest once said to me as a kid that it only rains bad when angels are crying. The lightning and thunder are their anger. Someone has made them both angry and sad.”

  “Mm,” the young woman hums before slowly lying back down, “I wonder who it was that would do that?”

  “I wonder indeed,” the young man turns back to the window and smiles, the flash of the lightning changing his reflection to something demonic.

  The End