Slowly opening his eyes, Nathan was gripped with a primal wave of terror. With panicked breathing, he looked down to see his body–stripped down to his boxers–restrained on a cold metal table. With all his might, he tried ripping his wrists out of their straps, but for some reason he was helplessly weak. The nodes stuck to his chest pulsated ominously. Something was covering his face, to the point where he could only barely make out the brightest of lights through its fibers.
“No!” he screamed. “Let me out!!!”
Not that he could notice, but the room was not unlike a normal doctor’s operating room–yet one could inexplicably tell it was far more sinister.
Nathan whirled his head around to a large glass panel on one of the walls, to the observers on the other side that to him looked like fuzzy black forms. There were three men, with uniquely strange appearances; yet he felt he knew them from somewhere.
One was on the shorter & heavier side, wearing a lab coat with a floral shirt & khaki shorts underneath. Another was tall & built, wearing a furry blue parka & baggy green cargo pants; it could’ve just been the lighting, but his skin looked almost blue. In the middle was a figure whose evil presence could be felt the most, one who Nathan was all too familiar with. He wore a dignified suit & tie, with glistening jeweled rings adorning each finger. He was leaning on a cane with a pure-black sphere at the top. With his other hand, he waved at Nathan; his hearty laugh could faintly be heard through the glass.
Without even a moment to shout at the men directly, immeasurable pain shot through Nathan’s body as electricity lit up the room. Convulsing and screaming, his vision started swimming. As his consciousness slipped away, Nathan stared at the figures in the window, his contempt as strong as ever.
---
“Nate!”
“Nathan!”
“Dude, wake up!” Ravi shook Nathan, snapping him awake. His eyes were wide with fear.
“Must’ve been some nightmare.” Alex said as he looked on in concern.
“You OK, man?” Ravi asked, helping Nathan to his feet. “You were freaking out in your sleep.”
Nathan looked around. The three of them were on the train, with Ravi and Alex standing in front of his seat. They all had their skateboards in hand, having made trips like this one numerous times.
“Y-yeah, I’m all good.” Nathan said, wiping the sweat off his face. “Just a bad dream. Must be cuz I barely slept last night. How long was I passed out?”
Alex gestured with his chin to the display at the top of the train doors. “Basically the whole ride. We’re here.”
Ravi patted Nathan on the shoulder as a robotic voice on the intercom announced the train’s current stop. “C’mon, skatin’ will make you feel better.”
“Yeah, I got a new trick to show you guys anyway.” Nathan grinned.
“And here I thought you’d already discovered all the ways to fall.” Alex smiled.
They all laughed as they hopped out the train. But Nathan scanned the carriage before he left; it was almost as if he still felt those figures’ eyes jeering at him.
---
“Psst!” Detective Perry whispered, catching Detective Graham’s attention at the coffee machine he frequented. Her long black hair, which was usually kept in a neat ponytail, was starting to frazzle. She had a wild look in her eyes, and bags underneath them.
Graham quickly surveyed his surroundings, looking for an escape, but saw only the usual monotony of the 8th precinct office. Sighing, he took his coffee mug and went to Detective Perry’s desk. “One of these days, I’ll get a partner who’s normal.” he muttered.
“I’m on to something.” Perry said with artificial, caffeine-fueled energy. “Look at this.”
She gestured to her desk, which was cluttered with photos of crime scenes and sticky notes attached to them. How she was so proud of such a mess, Graham had no idea.
“What, uh, what am I looking at?” Graham asked. “And just wondering, you slept last night, right?”
“Look. Notice a difference?” Perry excitedly grabbed two photos. “This one is the one we saw the other day, where all but one of the suspects were killed. And this one is a similar scenario: a mugging in a back alley.”
Graham reluctantly played along with Perry’s sleep-deprived logic. “I’m assuming you found another case of excessive blunt force.” he observed. “Another dark, secluded place–any trace of the perps?”
“None!” Perry exclaimed. “I had to do some digging to find another case similar to ours, I don’t know why it was buried that deep. Anyways, a few days ago two men mugged a young teen boy, but were suddenly attacked & brutally killed. Like the car thieves last night.”
“The mugging victim, was he killed too?”
Perry shook her head. “He was too scared to escape, but he wasn’t harmed at all. We questioned him afterwards.”
“And?” As much as he hated to admit it, Graham’s interest was a little piqued.
“The victim mentioned similar things to what our guy said–a sudden temperature drop, being unable to get a good look at the assailant, and glowing red eyes.”
Graham put his coffee down & rubbed his chin. “In both instances, the murder victims were all criminals. The kid wasn’t attacked, & the guy from last night wasn’t either since he managed to get outside. We’re looking at someone or some people with equipment capable of mangling bodies around, & a particular motive to use them. Could be gang-related…would explain why the attackers want to avoid attention.”
“What about the witnesses’ experiences?”
“They both said they felt cold, probably just shock. As for the eyes, the attackers must have LEDs on or something, might be how they see in the dark. But it sure as hell ain’t a ghost.”
Perry smiled. “I didn’t say anything. But I think we should keep our minds open. There’s no easy explanation for how in both cases the attacker or attackers were able to overpower multiple armed men.”
“Not yet, there isn’t. We gotta go out there & catch an attack in progress.” Graham said decisively.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Alright.” Perry jumped out of her seat and started towards the exit.
“But not right now, it’s 10 AM for God’s sake.” Graham groaned.
“I’ll drive.” Perry said cheerfully.
“Ugh, you’re killin’ me, man.” Graham shambled depressingly after Perry. “And I gotta drive, you zombie.”
---
“Alex, you, uh, you sure we can’t just skate at the usual park?” Ravi asked, trying his best to hide the quiver in his voice.
“Trust me, guys.” Alex said confidently. “This place is dope. Plus we already took the train all the way out here.”
“Look around us though, dude.” Nathan said, scanning their surroundings warily. “Nothin’ this deep in the Mile is worth anything.”
“Oh you of little faith.” Alex smiled. “Just wait till you cowards see this halfpipe.”
By some miracle, he had convinced the others to follow him to a secret little spot he had discovered. According to Alex, this holy land was the best spot for skating in the entire city, with no one else ever there to get in the way. The only caveat, which he had forgotten and/or neglected to tell Ravi and Nathan, was that it was well within the part of New Valence no one had any business messing around in: the Deadwood Mile.
It was daytime, but Ravi was still shivering with every step, eyes darting back and forth.
“Here’s a shortcut.” Alex said nonchalantly, ducking into an alley.
“OK, now you’re just fuckin’ with us.” Ravi said. He hurried after Alex so as not to take up the rear.
Nathan laughed to himself as he followed suit. He was about to mock Ravi when something on the alley wall caught his eye. He stopped for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the shade; not noticing that Alex and Ravi had kept going.
It was a bunch of posters, showing the names and pictures of people who had recently gone missing, as well as numbers to call should anyone find them. It was clear that this wall had been used for this purpose for a long time. All ages and all walks of life could be found up there, like a mural made in terrible taste. Most of the posters were tattered and yellowed, with the newer ones stacked on top of those who had been gone long enough for all hope to wither away. It seems these pleas for help have gone unheard for years.
Nathan’s eyes immediately darted to a certain poster partially concealed by others. He knew exactly who it was, without having to move the other pictures out of the way.
His insides began to burn. Then, they began to boil.
The gravity of his rage crushed his carefree expression, yet it didn’t break the surface. He stared up at the picture with a loathing glare, through dark & sullen eyes like those of a dead man’s final glimpse upon his killer. Behind his subtle frown, he clenched his teeth until they felt like they were going to break. His fists shook with how much pressure he was squeezing them, his fingernails digging into his palms.
“Yo, Nate, you wanna stay here or somethin’?” Ravi called from around the corner. Nathan was suddenly jerked out of his silent anger.
Staring at the poster a moment longer, he finally turned to follow his friends. His demeanor quickly returned as he caught up with them.
The picture and name on that poster were both his.
---
By the end of the day, Graham had done his job the best he ever had in his life, and he hated it. Patrol after patrol, questioning after questioning.
The sun was beginning to set, and the city’s neon lights started switching on. Perry was passed out in the passenger seat, enjoying a peaceful sleep Graham envied deeply. With a furrowed brow, he was driving back to the precinct, without the breakthrough they should have had by now.
He glanced at Perry. So naive, he thought. She had only been in New Valence a few weeks, & he hadn’t gotten a chance to explain some things to her yet. Here, there’s plenty of things going on in the dark that can’t be explained, & for some reason no one’s trying to find those explanations either, not even the cops…
Graham was always cautious when driving through the Deadwood Mile. There were no bright lights, no vibrance. In their place lay piles of trash on the corners of decaying buildings. The people one would encounter here would either be honest, unlucky types trying to stay afloat, or the less honest types who prey on anyone unfortunate enough to find themselves here.
Yet for Detective Graham, there was one shining oasis in this stagnant swamp: Greasy Granny’s Sugar Emporium, home of the guiltiest donuts, churros, and cupcakes anywhere in New Valence. Since Perry was too asleep to protest, he was about to make this entire stressful day go down easy with a soothing triple chocolate double-decker cupcake.
A block away from Greasy Granny’s, Graham immediately stopped the car on the side of the empty street. The last thing he wanted to do was more police work, yet his instincts were telling him this was something he couldn’t miss.
He spotted the faint shine of a flashlight dancing across an alley wall. Without a word, Graham got out of the car and hurried towards the alley, drawing his pistol and flashlight. As he got closer, he could hear a woman’s muffled scream.
“Shut up, bitch.” snapped an unsettling voice.
“This won’t take long if you play nice.” came another.
Graham’s heart began to race as he crept to the corner in front of the alley. He clenched his pistol tight, moving a finger onto the trigger. He reminded himself to play it cool, or else both he and the poor woman would pay the price.
In one swift movement, he turned the corner, pointing both his flashlight and gun at the assailants. “NVPD, freeze NOW!” he yelled.
Yet the two criminals paid no attention to him. In fact, they weren’t even facing him. They stared into the darkest reaches of the alley, suddenly quiet.
There, glaring back at them, were two glowing red eyes. The irises’ glow challenged the perps’ flashlights, which started flickering uncontrollably. The would-be assailants, their would-be victim, and Detective Graham all stood stunned, mouths agape.
A subtle cold wind gripped Graham’s spine. His mouth trembled as he struggled to let his voice out. He felt like convulsing. His own flashlight started blinking too. What is this? This sudden, overwhelming wave of fear wafting from the back of that alley? Why can’t he move?
“W-What the fuck!??” one of the criminals finally screamed. With shaking hands, both he and his partner swiped their handguns from their pockets, but before they could use them the outcome was set.
The eyes blurred with intense motion as they danced across the alleyway. One criminal went down, then the other, both with horrific injuries but both suddenly too dead to scream.
Graham found himself a spectator, frozen in place. He kept his own gun trained, but the thought of doing anything with it never crossed his mind. The woman shrieked & scrambled to cower behind Graham, snapping him out of his fear.
Silence returned to the alley. The eyes stopped to survey their handiwork of shredded skin, exposed bone & pooling blood. Graham swiveled to hide behind the corner next to the alley, motioning for the woman to stay quiet.
He would shoot the attacker from behind once it came to the sidewalk. And he’d get a good look at the individual while he did so too, thanks to the streetlight shining down on him. He switched his faulty flashlight off & waited with baited breath for the red-eyed individual to walk out.
A heavy footstep echoed through the alley. Then another. The figure walked ever closer to Graham’s position. He could feel the woman gripping his arm, shivering in shock. It took him all he had not to do the same.
Graham blinked, & then gasped. Right in front of him, peering down from a height a few inches taller than Graham himself, were the red eyes, now fully illuminated by the streetlight. And to his horror, it was just the eyes. Where there should’ve been a head & a body attached to it, bathed in brightness, there was nothing. Only a blood-red stare.
Graham made eye contact, feeling like a dagger was stabbing his heart. He gritted his teeth & pointed his pistol at the eyes. “Freeze!” he shouted.
The eyes shifted their gaze to the police badge on Graham’s shirt, and then back to his face. The pupils relaxed.
All of a sudden, with quick yet deliberate footsteps, the eyes walked past Graham & the woman. When Graham whirled around to face it again, it had vanished. The air felt warmer.
Almost immediately, Graham breathed a heavy gasp. He turned to the woman still clutching his shoulder, who was staring at the nothing where the eyes should be, stunned in terror.
“It’s gonna be OK.” he assured in a hoarse voice, patting her hand. “It’s over.”
The woman started crying. ‘What was that thing!?” she wailed.
“I–I don’t know. But whoever they were, we’re safe now.” Graham looked back into the dark alley at the gruesome aftermath. He had never let fear get the better of him on the job before; he felt humiliated.
Detective Graham didn’t consider for a moment that he had just seen a ghost, despite all the unexplained factors overloading his brain. There was not an ounce of doubt in his mind that he had just made eye contact with a fellow human being. He could feel an intense emotion emanating from the red-eyed figure’s presence, a searing, unrelenting rage.
The most human of all feelings.