[NSFW]

I walked out of the complex and into the massage parlor. At the front desk was a sultry looking asian woman, however after seeing me she didn’t look very sultry anymore.

“Hey, it’s all good. This is just a Halloween costume I'm wearing so no one can tell who I am.”

I wiped the blood off of my clown mask and showed it to her.

“See this? I made it with red dye and vaseline. Anyways, I heard that you guys have special services?”

She looked at me some more and after a moment of contemplation she spoke.

“Follow me.”

She led me into another room hidden away behind a doorway and sat me down. From out of nowhere two tall and burly men emerged from some random door and stood behind her menacingly.

“What are you looking for?”

I motioned for her to lean in and when she did I leaned forwards and whispered to her.

“Listen to me very carefully, I’m going to ask you a very important question. Do you understand? Nod if you do.”

She nodded and I asked.

“Are you being forced or are you doing this willingly? Think carefully before you answer, the blood on my mask is from your buddies in the other building.”

She quickly took a few steps back and shouted.

“He’s undercover!”

This is what I got for giving people a chance I guess. I pulled out my pocket knife and slipped past the guard to the right, after doing so I sliced the back of his knee open and when he collapsed I finished him off with a swift stab to his throat. The other one didn’t panic and continued throwing his punch towards me, I returned a punch into his fist and watched as his knuckles crumpled inwards and a satisfying crunch emitted from his hand.

I kicked his leg out from beneath him and lifted the knife into his throat as he fell. I pulled my knife out and he gurgled on the floor for a little bit before losing the light in his eyes. What was I going to do with this woman? It was possible she had her reasons for betraying me, to be fair I wouldn’t believe that some random clown could kill thirty or so human traffickers alone either. Whatever, I’ll just take her for judgment by the others.

Seeing as she was paralyzed with fear I simply grabbed her by the leg and dragged her around as I checked all the mysterious rooms for hidden bodybuilders. The only things I found were beds for massaging and random cleaning supplies. I lifted her back up and gently slapped her face.

“Look at me, we’re gonna go check up on the girls, walk on your own. You might die if I drag you up the stairs. Also, you got a phone?”

She reached into her dress and groped around clumsily until she eventually presented a phone to me. I took the phone from her and shoved her in front before leading us back to the complex. As we went through the complex she glanced into the rooms and her blood drained from her face. On the second floor I remembered about my little piggy. I led her into the room where the small girl still lay in the blanket I had wrapped around her. I opened the oven and a melted ball of flesh popped out.

Thump!

From behind me the woman collapsed and began trembling uncontrollably, almost like there was a small earthquake localized directly inside her spine. I shoved the ball back inside the oven and turned up the heat to the maximum for around thirty seconds before shutting it off. It would be a shame if I did all this work only for everyone to die from a fire… or would it? I turned around and found her still sitting on the floor, except with a puddle around her.

“You idiot, it’s not like I'm going to shove you in there. Stop crying, we have more important business to attend to.”

I lifted her up by the dress and dragged her up the stairs to the third floor. I opened the closest door and showed her to the victims inside.

“Who is this?”

Everyone stared at me like I was some clown in a circus, wait…

“If no one wants her to live I’m just gonna kill her, if you owe any debts to her now’s the time to repay them.”

Everyone continued to stare in silence until I pulled out my pocket knife and was about to stab her.

“Don’t!”

I redirected my gaze towards the one who spoke and found a teenage girl. Unlike the others her eyes were full of life and her clothes were in much better condition than the rest, but what surprised me the most was how clear her english was.

“Why? You don’t have to worry about the other guys, they’re all dead.”

“… She’s like us.”

“Are you sure you aren’t being threatened?”

“Yes.”

I stood the woman up properly and gently pushed her in the direction of the teen. I also took out the phone and gave it to the teen.

“Call nine-one-one, tell them to come here.”

She took the phone from me and dialed a number.

“Hello… we are in the complex next to the fantasy massage parlor. We have been kidnapped and are being held on the third floor.”

“That’s not how you do it. Give me the phone.”

I took the phone from her and spoke to the operator.

“Yo, this is the police right?”

“Yes, who is this?’

“Doesn’t matter. Send as many ambulances as you can to the location she just mentioned. There are women and children in urgent need of medical care, ignore all the bodies of the men, they can’t be saved. If the police aren’t here within ten minutes I’ll just kill everyone here to put them out of their misery.”

I turned around and pretended to swing the knife at some nearby women. Their screams were loud enough to pierce into the phone.

“Did you hear that? If anyone dies the one responsible will be you, this conversation has been recorded and will be released after their deaths. I hope your family isn’t drowned with hatred because of your failure to save them. I won’t be hanging up.”

I handed the keys to the teen and gave her some instructions.

“Go unlock all the doors, there are still some women and children on the second floor so don’t forget them. There are bodies everywhere so cover the eyes of the children when leaving this building. Don’t let anyone leave until the police have arrived and don’t open any of the ovens. Do you understand?”

She nodded and I was about to leave but then I remembered something important.

“Don’t freak out if you hear gunshots, it’s just me.”

I ran downstairs with the phone and out of the complex. After that I took out both the guns that had partially been used and rapid-fired them into the ground. I put the phone to my ear and spoke again.

“Did you count how many shots that was? The same amount of people just died. I guess you don’t care about people's lives until they’re lost do you?”

“Stop! Please calm down! Police are already on the way!”

“Really? I don’t see them! Let’s have a race then, who’s faster? My knife or the police?”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Despite saying that I could see the easily distinguishable flickering lights of a police cruiser rapidly approaching.

“I’m begging you! Please stop! Don’t hurt anyone!”

“Just remember that it was all your fault, it wasn’t me who killed them, it was you who failed to protect them.”

With that I crushed the phone beneath my heel and tossed the guns aside before sprinting away while flashing lights speeded towards me.

***

The night was surprisingly calm. Maybe a little too calm. She felt something gnawing away at her mind, usually this meant she had missed a crucial detail. But what had she missed? If she thought about it from a broader perspective the culprit had done everything in order to destroy the gang. They could’ve just found a bunch of innocent people and massacred them but instead they chose specifically to get rid of the gang.

Was it a vendetta? A personal challenge? Pure business? Whatever it was there was a reason why they had targeted that gang and she would find it no matter what it took. From enemies to victims to people simply in the general vicinity she would go through each and everyone until she took this madman off the streets.

What had Vaun been up to? Despite what she had said she was sure that he was planning something. Not once had he asked to see his family, that kind of behavior wasn’t very common. Even the way he had reacted was strange, an intense anger rather than a mind crushing sadness. Whatever the cause it would more than likely make him take action. If she could, she would assign someone to monitor him twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. One psycho on the streets was already more than enough for them to handle.

“Shooting reported on Sherwood and Pine please respond.”

She and Andrew along with every other police officer in their department all consecutively had the exact same thought. One of the worst neighborhoods in the city, it was a perfect place for someone like the killer to go hunting. They turned on their sirens and sped towards the scene, this could be their last chance to catch the killer.

…

As they approached the scene they heard numerous police sirens approaching along with them. When they finally reached the location of shooting it was already crowded with bystanders, police cars and ambulances. Pushing their way to the front of the crowd numerous corpses were revealed to them. At a glance she could tell that there had been a gunfight.

Before she could finish observing the scene she noticed all the cops rushing back to their cars and speeding away. What was going on? Andrew quickly rushed over while shouting.

“Another shooting! Another shooting!”

They both bolted back into their cruiser and zoomed to the next site following the instruction of the dispatcher.

…

Chaos… that was the only thing in her mind as she looked at all the bodies splayed out in the alleyway. Most of the sixteen victims were shot in the back of the head, it wasn’t execution style, it was like they had been desperately trying to escape the pursuit of someone before they died. The fear they felt was still frozen on their lifeless faces.

“There’s another call a couple blocks away. Something about a little girl and a man with a gun.”

That singular sentence filled her with hopelessness. Another child, harmed because she was unable to catch a single person, not just her, her entire department. He wasn’t even hiding it anymore, he was blatantly executing people on the streets. Even then they were unable to catch him. It was unfair! How could he possibly be everywhere yet nowhere at the same time!

How were there absolutely no traces!? What made him better than them!? Did she not work as hard!? Did she not train as hard!? Why was an insane maniac like that gifted with so many abilities? Even a random freak had been able to easily overpower her. For the second time in her life she felt an overwhelming powerlessness, but this time she couldn’t pick herself up like back then. This time she had done everything humanly possible to become stronger but was still knocked down just as easily as she had been the first time.

Why? Why was the world so unfair? Even when she had done everything… had she really done everything? If she had time to complain about how weak she was then obviously she hadn’t been training with everything she had. It was embarrassing what she had just thought, giving up because she couldn’t overcome a small struggle. She picked herself up and wiped away the tears that had crawled out of her eyes.

“Everyone split up and search the surrounding area! We will sweep this entire district if we have to!”

Off in the distance she could hear the police chief shouting. She dusted off the dirt on her pants and returned to the cruiser.

“Let’s go Andrew, we’ll start where he left his last trace.”

“Sure.”

Once they arrived at the store she got the statement of the witness from another officer.

“He was dressed in baggy clothes with a clown mask. He walked in with a man on his shoulder and holding the girl's hand. He then pointed a gun at the clerk and told him to call the police, threatening that if the girl was harmed he would kill the clerk and their family. After that he left.”

What? That was the exact opposite of what the killer should have done. Was he just trying to throw them off?

“Was the girl harmed?”

“She had bruises and cuts but they seemed to be from a few days ago.”

“What about the man on his shoulder?”

“We aren’t sure about that man but the rest of the bodies had tattoos affiliated with a trafficking ring we’ve been trying to bust.”

If it was the same killer then that man had probably been interrogated and the killer was probably already at his next location.

“What is their main method of operation?”

“The last time we caught them it was at a massage parlor.”

“Are there any massage parlors nearby?”

“If there are, they aren’t registered legally.”

“How about the clerk? He lives around here, does he know?”

“There’s a code of silence around here, if we could get people to talk we wouldn’t be struggling to bust traffickers.”

“Let me see the clerk.”

“He is still being-”

“If whatever you were doing could work we wouldn’t be here. Let me see him.”

“He’s over there.”

With renewed vigor she pushed and shoved until she reached the only witness, immediately closing in on him and lifting him by the collar.

“Listen to me carefully. The man who just pointed a gun at you is completely insane, he’s killed no less than thirty people alone, ranging from cops to hardened criminals. The fact that you’re alive is no mistake. The people you’re protecting? They’ve probably been attacked by him already. Do you want to know who the last person he had contact with is? It’s you. If you aren’t on his hitlist it's probably because he knows you’ll be on theirs. It would be fine if you had witness protection but frankly, we have no reason to protect someone who has no evidence to give. I’ll be sure to pay respects at you and your family's funerals. I can guarantee, without a doubt, that you will not live to see next week.”

Now she turned around and walked away.

“Wait! I’ll talk, but you have to give me protection.”

“That can be arranged, just tell us who and where they are.”

“I don’t know who they are but everyone knows about it. There’s a massage parlor that people go to for special services, I’ll take you there.”

She led him back to the cruiser and opened the back door.

“Hop in.”

He contemplated for a moment before stuffing himself inside. She got in the passenger seat and motioned for the man to begin giving directions.

“Go straight until you reach the next intersection then turn left and keep driving.”

“What’s your name?”

“Jeremy.”

“How old are you?”

“I'm turning nineteen next month.”

“How many people are in your family?”

“Including myself there’s six of us.”

“Where do you-”

“Incoming. A hostage situation has been reported on the third floor of the complex next to the fantasy massage parlor. Location unclear, general location has been triangulated to Alcine Park.”

“That's us! Hurry up Andrew! How far away are we Jeremy?”

“We’re almost there! Turn right at the next intersection! It should be on one of the streets to our left.”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the distance they heard the loud booms of gunshots.

Vrooom!

Andrew slammed the already completely depressed accelerator and the intercom buzzed.

“Shots fired! Shots fired! All officers be on the lookout for a massage parlor!”

“This is thirteen mary to dispatch, we have arrived on scene. The address is Three-five-nine Thurston Avenue.”

She relayed their location to command and as soon as they reached the massage parlor their cruiser screeched to a halt. She slammed the door open and rushed inside the complex with her gun drawn. All the doors on the first floor were busted open and at first she saw nothing. The second set of doors held within them numerous corpses, all arranged in the same order. One at the door and the rest on the couch.

She ran up the stairs and as soon as the second floor was visible she saw a disemboweled man with intestines jammed in his face. She resisted the urge to puke and continued up to the third floor. What she saw there confused her to no end. There were numerous women and girls all holding and comforting one another. They didn’t seem to be panicked at all, in fact seeing her seemed to have surprised them more.

“Where is he!? Where is he hiding!?”

Her shouts had frightened a large majority of them. From the crowd a teenager slipped through and stood in front of her.

“Are you the police?”

“Yes. Have you-”

“There are injured women on the second floor who need first aid, take these keys and go help them, I’ll stay up here and keep everyone in order. Don’t open any of the ovens.”

She grabbed the keys and ran back downstairs, despite having unanswered questions she couldn’t allow anyone to die because of her own hot headedness. She bumbled around with the keys for a short period before finally unlocking the first door. The overwhelming smell of burnt meat instantly punched her in the face. In the middle of the room she discovered a girl wrapped in a blanket. She unwrapped the girl to check her injuries and immediately noticed the damage caused to her genitals.

She ripped off a piece of her uniform and wrapped it over the injured area. She then bundled the girl back up in the blanket. At this point she couldn’t get the smell out of her mind, why had she been instructed to not open the oven? She went over to the oven and checked if it was turned off before opening it. A burnt ball of flesh rolled out of the oven and onto the floor, it would have been upsetting had it been a woman but she could still discern that it was a man.

Good riddance.

Even if she hated the killer she had to admire his method of killing rapists… She was excited to do that to him one day as well. Done with this room she went to the door opposite and checked inside. This time she found a woman sitting between two dead men staring blankly. She walked over and found that the woman didn’t have any injuries of outstanding concern. She left the woman there and paced over to the third door, upon opening it she was greeted by two women who seemed to have been eagerly waiting for the door to open.

“Are you here to save us?”

“Please rescue us.”

“Calm down. Is there anyone else in there?”

“He’s already dead.”

“Follow me then.”

The fourth door was wide open and the door had fallen off its hinges. The sight inside the room could’ve been pulled straight out of a cult ritual. Numerous corpses of dead men surrounded a clearing within which a woman and girl were placed. She rushed over to them while tearing strips of her uniform off. They had, without a doubt, definitely sustained massive injuries. Without even checking she began to wrap their genitals up and tearing more pieces of her uniform off to form more bandages.

“Put your hands up!”