by BG Archer
Arthur hung up and looked at himself one more time in the mirror before he added the last items to his outfit. His weapon and his badge, which Arthur slid into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. Arthur clipped his leather holster to his right hip, as he always did. He tapped the butt of his Glock and considered it for a moment. Arthur realized to his horror that he hadn't been to the firing range in over two weeks. Ideally he went at least once a week. It was important to never get complacent, and to always keep his skills sharp. Monsters kept their skills sharp, and he had to always be ready to face them.
Maybe the next day he would give Katie a call and see if she wanted to hit the range with him, but as soon as the thought occurred to him, Arthur waved it away. The day before his baby started classes and he was going to try to distract her into spending time with him? That was not going to help the whole letting her spread her wings and fly thing, nor was it something he expected her to actually want. There was no denying it, his little girl was growing up, and Arthur had to be okay with that and let her. Katie was ready for it, and more than capable.
Arthur just wasn’t so sure he was ready for it.
10
2:28AM Sunday, Sept 23rd
The police tape and patrol cars started on the third floor of the parking lot, but waved Arthur through without him needing to pull out his ID. There wasn’t a sea of police when he parked one floor up, just the familiar black SUV’s of his peers.
Fields and Tapscott where already there, waiting for him. Arthur ignored his team and moved past them to the latest victim.
The first thing Arthur noted was her race. She was Latino, and she couldn’t be older than twenty. She was strapped to the hood of a green Subaru Outback, this time with Para-cord. Just like Tori Watson, she was stretched out in the same manner; legs bound together, her arms spread wide. Just like Tori Watson, she was naked. Cut marks were similar as well, and looked like even the same knife could have been used. There was however, one major difference between the two victims. Her neck was slit from ear to ear, and the wound was deep. Blood had stained both her chest and the hood of the Subaru.
Arthur stared at her for a long time before moving around the car. The driver’s door was unlocked and he could see a set of clothes neatly stacked on the passenger seat.
“We have an ID?”
“We have an alias. Goes by Charity. Night watchman knows her. He’s also the one that made the call,” Fields said.
“We have him?”
She pointed at one of the SUV’S.
“He’s in the back. We already questioned him, but I figured…”
“Good. Any official ID?”
“We haven’t run her prints yet, so just the alias. He says he sees her pretty often, couple times a week. This is her area.”
“She’s so damned young,” Tapscott added, his face a cloud.
“That she is. She’s also in the age range,” Arthur said.
“You think it’s the same perp or just someone trying to imitate?” Fields asked.
Arthur paused and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “It’s the same. Now tell me a story. What do we know?”
Tapscott piped up. “The Outback belongs to one Juliet Cruise. She reported it stolen yesterday morning. Lives in suburbs, about thirty minutes from here. Nobody saw them take it, she woke up and it was just gone from her driveway. That’s off of the registration in the glove compartment, plates were switched.”
“What about the cameras in the garage?”
Fields spoke up this time. “Checked the video. At first it appeared like it didn’t capture anything. Simple system that goes right back to the hard drive in the guard’s station, which made me suspicious so I double-checked. Somebody jacked into the system and it’s been playing a loop all night.”
“Somebody online?”
Fields shook her head. “Not possible. Closed system. When I questioned the guard, he said when the change over happened there was an incident which drew both guards away from the box for maybe five minutes.”
“What sort of incident?”
“A drunk guy smashing bottles. He ran away and they called it in. It’s in the logbook and 911 has the phone call, but local patrols didn’t find him. Not sure how hard they looked though, there was a stabbing over on the West side and that drew most of PD’s attention this evening.”
“Okay. So we have something. What else?”
“Uh, guard says she was okay when he saw her earlier tonight. Showed up at 10:45PM, he called it in at just after midnight,” Tapscott said.
“He get a look at her passenger?”
“I showed him all five guys from the nightclub, he identified Seaborn,” Fields said.
“Anything else?”
“Guard doesn’t recall any vehicle leaving after 11:30PM,” Fields replied.
Arthur checked his Citizen. “Okay, but Charity here was killed closer to midnight.”
Tapscott said, “You sure?”
“We can wait for the ME’s report if we feel like wasting time,” Arthur said.
“Why do you think Seaborn killed her so shortly before the guard showed up?” Fields asked.
Arthur pointed at the neck. “He didn’t want to cut her throat. That was rushed work,” Arthur looked up and around, his eyes fluttering. He was seeing what the others did not, could not. Arthur and the killer were almost one in that moment, him stepping as close as he could into the copycat’s shoes.
“This was a good spot for a kill. At a first glance it seems risky. Busy and loud. But the freeway ramps what, four blocks South?”
“Yeah, and the bridge is three East,” Tapscott added.
“Plenty of exits. Only the guard was unpredictable. He thought he had more time with her to enjoy. He didn’t, so he rushed it.”
“So this was what? More impulsive? Less planned?” Fields again.
“No. He didn’t get careless here. He was on a fixed schedule. Now that stopwatch has been started, he has to stick to a routine.”
Arthur looked around and started to shake his head before he finally turned back to the other two agents. “He planned this just as well as he did with Tori Watson, but this time he was interrupted and had to improvise. He did good too. He didn’t kill the guard; he just took her out and bailed, without a trace. Boom. Faded back into the dark.”
The younger agents looked at each other.
“Okay, but you said a timetable. What timetable?” Tapscott asked.
Arthur checked his watch again. “Because nothing important happened on Sept 22nd. But it’s been Sept 23rd for just over two hours now, and that date does have significance.”
Tapscott still looked confused, but realization was dawning on Agent Field’s face. She snapped her fingers after a few seconds. “Wait, that was the date of…”
Arthur nodded. “Yeah. First victim after I was assigned to Martin was killed on September 23rd. We now officially have a pattern, boys and girls.”
“Jesus,” Tapscott muttered.
“So … What’s our next move?”
“You tell me, Agent Fields.”
“Doing what we always do. Standard procedure. We already have a BOLO for Seaborn. We have to find out who she was. Also look at any cameras within a six-block radius, ecetera.”
Arthur gave her a thumbs up. “That is one of most effective ways of hunting a demon. You two know what to do. So do it.”
Tapscott started off, but Fields continued to stand there, looking at the senior agent. “What’s the other way?”
Arthur put a hand in his pocket. He looked oddly regal in the sickly green parking garage, like a British gentleman out of time.
“Of hunting a demon?”
“Yes. What are you going to be doing while we’re off running around doing what we always do?”
“Sometimes to catch a demon you have to talk to one of it’s own. So I’m going to go talk to The Devil.”
11
8:30AM, Sunday, Sept 23rd
The only thing Katie co
uld hear over her ear buds was the sound of her own breath, coming in deep and urgent gulps as she circled the track. It was her twelfth time around the giant loop, and as her feet crossed the white line on the outside lane, Katie finished her fourth mile and started into her fifth.
Even though it was Sunday morning, Katie was surprised to not see another soul on the school track. School didn't start till Monday morning and most of the athletes that would populate the track wouldn't arrive till that afternoon at the earliest. Either she had already missed the freshman athletes or they had been busy partying the night before while Katie had slept. Either way, it left her to enjoy the brisk morning air all to herself.
At least it had been brisk when she had started but the only shiver Katie would get now would be from her own sweat. Katie wiped her wet brow with the back of her forearm. I’m On One by Drake ended and Kanye West started rapping angrily over an industrial beat, pushing her to pick up the pace.
Katie was fully drenched in sweat as she ran through mile five, but she kept going, enjoying the sound of the bumping base that was almost in time with the thump-thump of her heart. Katie loved to sweat. It was a strange thing certainly, but it was the truth, especially from working out. Just sweating from overheating was not her favorite, but when it was a little planned ahead, or when it was from her and Luke spending time in bed…
She increased her pace and kept going hard, tapping her phone to skip to the next song. The current one wasn't fast enough, at least not to help her keep her rhythm. The music was supposed to help her tune out everything else. It was just supposed to be Katie, the music, and the track ahead.
As soon as she thought about Luke though it was like a virus. Multiple thoughts about him came pouring into her mind, and Katie couldn’t help it.
She ran faster.
Katie was frustrated and unsure what to do about Luke. The cramps weren’t doing her any favors either, and her mood in general was irritable. Running was supposed to help, but no easy solution to her relationship came to mind. The run wasn’t doing what it was supposed to. It was supposed to calm her, clear her mind. If anything, Katie felt more muddled than she had when she had started.
She ran faster.
They had gone through so much together, and he had been such a strong support system for her working through … Well, the dark times. Luke had been there, a stoic good luck charm, standing firmer even than her father. The truth was Arthur couldn’t be there for Katie, no matter how hard he had tried. His other love, his job, hadn’t allowed it. After all, even back when things had been simple and Katie had just been some naive teenager, they used to joke, and all three of them around the dinner table about how Arthur was in two marriages. One with Katie’s mother and one with his job. Not that Katie wanted to think about that. Her brainstorming was supposed to be about Luke, her rock for the last two and a half years.
She ran faster.
Deep down she already knew what she was going to end up doing. It was just the doing it, the when she would do it Katie hadn’t settled on. Still, she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to admit that to herself, even if she had made a decision in her heart of hearts. Knowing what was inevitable and making it happen were two very different things.
Katie had planned on only running five miles, but when she started to slow down she realized she had run six. She stopped, bent over and tried to regain her breath. The last lap around the loop had been a full sprint and her legs were burning. She glanced at her iPhone on her armband and her eyes got big. She had run just under a 10K in just under forty minutes, beating her personal record by a solid five minutes.
Her breathing returning to normal Katie made her way to the bleachers where she had tossed her gym bag and water bottle.
After gulping half her bottle, she took a seat on the bleachers, pulling her phone free from her armband. Katie took a sip from her digital cocktail: seven Facebook posts from her friends bragging with self satisfaction about their own particular schools of transformation they were currently attending across the country, two annoyed political rants, one social political rant, and one from her old favorite lab partner only bragging about eating at the best burger joint in the entire world.
Katie took another digital sip. Plenty of the usual on Twitter, though one of her best friends who was at Sarah Lawrence had tweeted missing the old days with a picture of all of them, from a camping trip long ago. Six friends, gathered around a bonfire on the beach, huddled close, laughing.
She stared at the picture for a long time, mildly stunned at how much younger she looked. So much lighter too. If anything, Katie now weighed less than she did then, give or take a few pounds, but it was the weight of the world, the weight of events that she carried.
Katie liked and re-tweeted the photo of ancient history and took another drink from her bottle, before blowing a strand of sweat soaked red hair out her face. Her stomach grumbled. Food at some point in the future did sound good, but a shower sounded even better.
The rest of the day went by in a bit of a blur. A shower and breakfast followed by more exploring the campus and running into some other friendly freshman at the coffee shop consumed the rest of Katie’s morning and early afternoon, and by the time she went back to her dorm room the only thing Katie wanted was some peace and quiet.
Tiffany had set up her desk in a very similar fashion to Katie's except that on the window directly between the two desks she had placed an iPhone music docking station, where she currently had her phone plugged in and was playing Taylor Swift.
Tiffany was dancing around in an aqua-colored thong and an oversized T-shirt singing to herself and so wrapped in it she didn't even notice Katie enter the room.
Katie took in the whole scene and started beaming. The music wasn't her first choice, but the charisma fit fine.
Tiffany spun around and saw Katie and paused the music.
Her face went bright red and she grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, I get carried away."
Katie didn't say a word but went over to the iPhone and pressed play, only adding a few clicks to the volume.
She tossed her messenger bag on her bed and tossed off her shoes before she started dancing herself.
When the playlist ended, they both fell on Tiffany's bed in a fit of giggles and hugged each other.
Tiffany went out that evening while Katie stayed to finish catching up on her reading. Her thoughts often turned to Luke as she lay on her bed, listening to utter silence as she read, but she did not call or text him, and for once he did not call her either.
Katie went to sleep around midnight and Tiffany was still not back.
That night she dreamt of her mother, smiling at her and reaching out, whispering something Katie could not hear as she ran toward her, and only when she got within arms’ length did her mother grab her by her shoulders and lean in, her words no longer a whisper but a yell, but Katie heard the loud crackle of TV static blocking out whatever her mother was trying to tell her, and the pitch of the static hurt Katie’s ears. As Catherine started to yell at her daughter, her eyes began to bleed, long drops of blood spilling out like tears down the older woman’s smooth skin, at first just a few droplets, but quickly her cheeks were stained a ghoulish hue of black and red.
Katie did not remember the dream the next morning.
The next morning after she had finished her run, Katie was slick with sweat as she finished her stretches. Just as Katie was wrapping it up she noticed two others had joined her in the stadium. They were on the other side of the track in the opposite bleachers. One was a student who was a strikingly good-looking jock. The other wasn’t a student, but clearly a teacher. It took Katie a second to place him. It was Kyle Briggs, the football coach. She had seen his picture on both the campus and around campus. They were arguing and it was obviously quite heated, with Briggs yelling in the jock’s face. The jock just shook his head and walked away from Briggs. Katie watched as the coach clenched and unclenched his hands several times and
then walked in the opposite direction of the jock. Neither of them seemed to have noticed Katie Bell watching them.
As Katie walked back to her dorm room, she saw an athletic Greek god dressed in black running pants and a dark green sweatshirt heading in the direction she had just come from. He was wearing ridiculous green Volt Nike's everyone had worn at the Olympic games back in July. Katie had read an article saying how since Nike wasn't an official sponsor at the games they had given away the shoes to the athletes instead, since the color was scientifically tested and researchers had found the human eye spotted it before any other color. Apparently other sponsors had been furious at the marketing gimmick and the article had taken the tone that it was all a little dirty. Personally, Katie was impressed and would have loved to talk to whoever had thought of the marketing strategy.
However, being impressed by a sales strategy was not the same as actually buying the shoe in that color and then flaunting it. Did the Greek god really think he was hot shit or something? Probably. Because of course he was.
Katie considered not going by just his shoes alone, but by the time she was done showering after getting back to the dorms she felt utterly silly for the thought. She was not one to judge a book by its cover and it wasn't like he had approached her. It had completely been the other way around and now she was thinking of bailing on a party because of what kind of exercise shoes he was wearing? She seriously needed to relax. Or get laid. It would certainly help with the relaxing part, and the cramps.
Thursday, Sept 27th
Katie leaned back against the streetlight and exhaled. A cloud of smoke spread around her and she closed her eyes. Katie was waiting, waiting for her iPhone to ring. She took another drag on her cigarette.
The first week was going about as smoothly as she had expected. If anything Katie was surprised at how slow her classes were to get going. Tiffany and her were continuing to get along swimmingly. It was just … There was burr in Katie’s mind, and one that she had to pick.
