Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
I should have picked up on that earlier. We all should have, but this case has been distractingly gory and who links murders to discount chain stores. We looked at the victims, mostly male, mostly of a strong build. We thought there might be some connection between them somehow, because when a human serial killer kills, his victim profile is quite often revealing.
Now I am starting to wonder if the only thing in common these people had was looking like a good meal and happening to walk past an alley opposite one of these Red Light Discount locations. We were looking for a human, with a human killer’s motivations. Instead, we’re looking for what might as well be an animal, hunting and killing.
I return to the scene of the most recent crime, a sad and filthy alley which extends the entire block, very narrow. It’s a choke point, and the sort of place most people avoid because it’s the sort of place one could easily be stabbed. The scene has been opened up to the public again, but it’s quite obviously not the sort of place people want to hang out. It smells of piss and worse things besides.
Is this really where the murderer is? Is he so arrogant as to stay near his last meal, slowly digesting the better parts of an unlucky son of a bitch?
Holy shit.
I see him.
Behind some rancid dumpsters, pressed against the filthy wall, wings out, the back of his head nearly flat with the building, he’s easy to miss. In the same way moths are camouflaged when they land on trees, he is camouflaged against the filthy brick alley wall. It makes me wonder if these creatures don’t have some ability to shift their appearance like a chameleon. That would have been useful to hear from Justice.
Rage the murderer must have been here the entire time, throughout the scene examination, while I was here with my party hat on. He was no doubt listening to our conversations, probably laughing at us as we expressed how grossed out we were.
I am not sure what to do. Having found a mothman is one thing but apprehending him is something else. I keep walking, not wanting him to know that I’ve found him. He probably can’t see behind his head, but I am sure he has some form of chimera awareness of his surroundings.
I could go and get Justice, but he can’t emerge during the day, and I can’t risk letting this criminal murderer go. So fuck it. I retreat from the alley, and I call for backup. “As many units as possible, converging on last murder location. No sirens. No lights. Take it easy. Suspect is asleep in the alley.”
Within ten minutes, there are six cruisers, three on each end of the alley. With a normal criminal, this would be the kind of pincer maneuver that helps us ensure there is no route of escape. I’m not so sure how it’s going to work with this kind of criminal. I never tried to catch a mutant before.
“Is the suspect armed, detective?”
“I don’t know. I just know he’s in there. Behind the dumpsters.”
I should tell them that he’s an eight foot plus moth, but my mouth refuses to form those words. I keep hearing them out of other people’s mouths in my mind, and I can’t be one of those people who says those things.
The officers approach from each side, guns drawn. I don’t know why they are bothering. In this tight an alley, facing one another, there’s a far better chance of shooting each other than there is of getting the monster.
I’m starting to feel guilty as they approach the spot I found Rage. I know that what is about to happen is going to change their lives forever. Any moment, they are going to come face to face with a creature unlike any they have ever seen, and I won’t be crazy when I talk about a mothman.
The officers reach the middle of the alley together and look around, clearing the area.
“We’ve got nothing. You sure you had a guy here?”
“He was up against the wall.”
“Well. There’s nobody here.” They look at me like I’ve wasted their time, which I suppose I have. I go down the alley and look for myself. They’re right. There’s absolutely nothing there whatsoever.
The uniformed officers are confused. I am confused.
“Alright, well.”
It’s awkward now.
The officer makes a thumb jerk gesture in the direction of his car. “We’ll get going. Let us know if you see any other murderers.”
I am left looking and feeling like a complete asshole. I walk the length of the alley and back to the spot he was. They’re not wrong. It’s just normal wall. I’m left wondering if I was wrong, if I ever saw him at all.