Now, Michigan
Several days of fruitless questioning and near round the clock scanning of the small city and the surrounding area led Cal to nothing.
He decided to take a break and enjoy a meal with Nila and the toddler at an old fashioned American diner.
Well… not entirely nothing. There was one tiny lead. A gossamer-thin strand that might be connected to… something.
“There was one guy. A fighter type. Something was off with his memories.”
“The cabal? Or the murderer?” Nila said.
The little guy muttered something that sounded too close to the latter word for Cal’s liking.
“Maybe we don’t use those words?”
“Oh?” Nila raised a brow. “Who’s worried about language now?”
“Me. I am,” he replied flatly.
“Hypocrite,” she smirked.
“Hippos?” the little guy looked around and pouted when he didn’t find any giant, fat animals in the diner’s outdoor dining area near the sidewalk.
“Sorry, dude. No terrifying super mammals here. Much too cold.”
“Yeah cold,” the little guy nodded in agreement.
He was bundled up in a thick jacket with a wool cap, much like Nila and unlike Cal.
“This good!” he beamed with a greasy, gravy and curd smeared face as he thrust a thick fry into the air.
“You like the poutine!” Nila smiled as she took a napkin and wiped the little guy’s mouth and cheeks. Tossing it next to growing used pile on the table.
A look of grave concern crossed the little guy’s face. “It… poop? No!” he shook his head vehemently.
Cal laughed. “No it isn’t,” he agreed.
That appeared to be enough as the little guy resumed stuffing his face.
“So…” Nila continued, “what was off with this guy?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t do a super deep dive, but he wasn’t being deceitful. Answered all the questions truthfully to his best knowledge. That sort of thing. There was just something weird that I can’t articulate and I’m struggling to move beyond the conceptual.”
“Oh? How vague and unhelpful. Was it similar to the blank thing you found at the dance studio?”
“Nope. Completely different. It was like the absence of nothing,” he raised a hand, “I know, vague. Also, it could’ve been magic.”
“You say that for everything you don’t have an answer for.”
“A Skill?”
“Or super powers,” Nila wiggled her fingers.
He mulled it over while she took another chunk out of her quad-stacked cheeseburger. He absentmindedly worked through his pile of chicken tenders and fries as the other diners kept shooting glances over.
This time it wasn’t the way they looked, well, maybe in his case, considering the cold wind blowing through the street while he was clad in a t-shirt.
It definitely wasn’t his prosthetic, he kept that on his lap underneath the table.
Process of elimination suggested that what drew their interest were the piles of food on the table.
“I’d rather not do it but I’m going to have to invade that guy’s privacy more than I already have,” he sighed. “Too much is at stake. Or am I being all ‘the means justify the ends’?”
“Why not both?” Nila shrugged. “You’re the one that has to make and live with the decisions.”
“Thoughts?”
“I’m glad I’m not faced with the decision,” she smiled sadly, “but, whatever you do, I’ll always trust it. If I ever have concerns… I’ll tell you.”
“And in this case?”
“The Vitiator and the Cabal are doing harm to others right now somewhere out there and there’s a serial killer in this city. I hate it, but who else is going to stop them?”
“Thanks, Love.”
“While you keep playing detective, me and the little guy will check out the festival.”
“I thought that doesn’t start until Friday?”
“Yeah. We’re going to watch them practice.”
“The carnival?”
“I think it’s technically a circus.”
“How’d you get the invite?”
“I asked the not-Mayor. Me and the little guy have been getting bored sitting around in the RV for most of the day.”
“What? I thought you guys were doing some small town exploration?”
“We finished two days ago. A behind the scenes look at the circus should be fun for us. Plus, I’m going to try to make friends with the fortune teller girl. She predicted that poor woman’s murder. I want to see if I can get something out of her since you’re staying away.”
“They asked nicely. Apparently, I scared her,” he shrugged. “It’s a good idea. In case she gets another vision then maybe you can stick close to her and catch it right way?”
“Her name’s Holly, right?”
“Yup, billed as ‘The Clairvoyant’.”
“We’ll see how legitimate she is based on her reaction to me,” she regarded the little guy, “do you think it might be dangerous if she is legit. She might be able to see his, uh, origins.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. Remember, there’s nothing in him physically, mentally, or magically that is connected in any way to the fog.”
“Hopefully, he finds it fun. Maybe we’ll ride the elephant or a lion.”
“Meanwhile, I’ll be busy watching a guy and invading his privacy. If I don’t find anything then I’ll give the area another check. I probably won’t see you guys until tomorrow morning then.”
“Maybe you don’t need to patrol throughout the night anymore. We’ve missed you the last several nights.”
“Missed you too. Have to do it though. I can’t miss the chance to catch the murderer if they decide to strike again. I could save a life. And if my vigil is what’s keeping things quiet then it’s worth it.”
“Well, you haven’t slept since we got here.”
“I’m fine I’ve got at least a few more days before I start getting sleep deprived. Even then I can compartmentalize my thoughts to stretch that out for weeks without any real bad side effects popping up.”
“Right, but you don’t want to be compromised in case we do find the Vitiator.”
“I’ll take a nap tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.”
“No nap! Eat…” the little guy yawned.
“You’ve got a lot to finish,” he gestured at the plates of chicken tenders, fries and burgers.
“No! That you! This mine,” the little guy pointed at the plate in front of him. Then he looked to Nila for confirmation.
“Yes it is,” she smiled. “Are you going to finish?”
“Going finish,” he nodded.
Cal relaxed for the rest of the hour it took to clear the table.
Then he had to bid two of his most important people goodbye as he paid the bill and took to the sky.
He spent the rest of day and into dinner time scanning the entire city and surrounding area once again.
There was nothing to indicate the presence of the Cabal or the murderer.
Observing and scanning the guy he had singled out earlier hadn’t change anything.
No signs of wrongdoing or anything suspicious aside from that strange feeling he couldn’t articulate.
So, he decided to try a straightforward approach.
He knocked on the man’s door.
The man was in the middle of dinner. He grabbed a shotgun before heading to answer it. He looked through the peephole and frowned. He took several deep breaths. Looked at the gun in his hands for a long moment before leaning it against the wall. He composed his features. Then he opened the door.
Cal saw it all through his mind’s eye.
“Um… is there a problem? They told me I was done with the questions,” the man said.
“Yeah, you were, but I found something I’d like to follow up with you. John, right?”
“That’s right. What’s this about?” John hadn’t opened the door fully. He was positioned in a way that he could slam it shut or grab his gun in an instant.
The man was nervous.
Paradoxically, his thoughts contained nothing that accounted for it.
Like looking into the mind of a man who was telling the truth with nothing to hide.
Cal’s instincts sang a warning.
He placed a hand on the door.
John tried to shut it but found himself trying to shove a mountain.
“Why are you nervous?”
“Cause you’re creeping me out, man. Please leave.”
“Don’t go for the gun.”
“I wasn’t—” he scowled. “Leave me alone. I answered all your questions. You said I was good.”
The man was starting to sweat.
Cal could sense his heart rate spike, yet the thoughts remained calm. “Then why are you freaking out. If you have nothing to hide then you won’t mind answering a few more questions.”
“Fuck you! I don’t have to do anything. You’re just some outsider. When Min finds out—”
“I imagine he might have some questions for you,” he pushed through the calmness in John’s thoughts.
Nothing.
The mind didn’t match the body.
He didn’t have time to be nice. He grit his teeth and pushed forward.
“Listen, John. I’m not a nice person when I’m after even worse sorts.”
“You’re talking about that cult. I told you I have no idea what this cabal even is.”
“That’s right. They’re dangerous. Outright evil and I understand that there is a certain nuance to human beings. Fortunately, pure evil is a rare thing. They’ve done and continue to do terrible things. They spread pain and suffering wherever they go. Do you want that?”
“No!” John snapped. “Why the fuck would I want that? I fight monsters and shit! I risk my life!”
“Then a few questions shouldn’t be too much for you.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“I—”
Something broke in John’s thoughts.
The calm was replaced by turmoil.
Regret.
Guilt.
Memories suddenly appeared.
Clandestine meetings with mysterious individuals from outside the community.
Promises of power.
Then nothing.
They had vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared.
“I didn’t know they were— I didn’t know they did all those things you said.”
John sat on his couch while Cal regarded him from the other side of the living room where he leaned against the fireplace. The distance eased the man’s fear so he had given John that much.
“And you did nothing beyond listening to their recruiting pitch?”
“Yes! I swear! If I knew what they were really like I’d never—” John pleaded.
Truth.
“I believe you and I’ll tell Sadiiq as much. Why didn’t you say anything when the murderers started?”
“I don’t know. I was freaked out. I thought if I did then I’d be next.”
“All of the victims were well-known members of the community. Do you know if any of them were approached like you?”
“I have no idea, man.”
“So, these mysterious people showed up out of nowhere, recruited you. Then disappeared at around the same time that the murders started.”
“I think so, I mean, we found the first body a few days after the last time I spoke to one of them.”
“And there’s nothing else you can remember?”
“I think so… at least right now. I’ll try to think more.”
“Alright. Thanks for being honest. Let’s go,” he moved toward the door.
“What?” John gaped.
“You’re going to have to tell Min everything. The retelling might loosen your memory. Maybe you’ll remember more details around people you know and trust. I’ll also want drawings of their faces.”
“Drawings?” he blinked.
“Of the people that tried to recruit you. You know, like wanted posters.”
“I—”
“C’mon, man. You want to make amends, right? Min will probably be pissed, but I’ll vouch for your honesty. Even if it was a little late.”
John hung his head for a long moment. “Can I finish my dinner?”
“Sure, I’ll just wait here,” Cal plopped down on the couch. “Seriously, dude. You’ll catch some shit but I don’t think it’s a career killer. Probable confirmation that the cabal isn’t tied to the murders is good.”
“How can you know that for sure?”
“I don’t. At least not yet. The more info I get the closer to the truth. And you’ve helped with that.”
“You’ll tell Min that?” John ventured.
“I already told you that,” he nodded. “Now eat up. I can wait, but my patience does have limits.”
----------------------------------------
“You don’t really have to do this, Sir. I can observe and take notes. Not that I’d do any better than the official report they’ll give to you,” Bailey said.
Sadiiq would rather not watch the autopsy on the latest murdered victim, but he owed it to Kimberley as he did for all the previous victims and any other member of their community. “It’s fine, Bailey.”
The driver turned into the parking lot and pulled up right at the entrance of the Walmart.
The not-Mayor followed his bodyguards inside.
He waved and exchanged quick greetings with the people grabbing food and other supplies. Despite having to use one of the freezers in the back as a temporary morgue he didn’t close the rest of the store. That would’ve been too much of a disruption for the people.
As they neared the walk-in freezer, he noticed someone run in from the open loading door way in the back.
The young woman rushed up to Min, who stood near the freezer with a small group of people.
He picked up his pace in the hopes of catching what was being said. He didn’t like the look on Min’s face.
“— I don’t know what else. He just brought John in and said that you needed to hear what he had to say,” the young woman said.
Min noticed his approach and gave him a curt nod.
“Something wrong?”
“Possibly, but I need to hear it for myself,” Min replied. “Sorry, but I need to head back to the office. Nando will take you through what he discovered,” he gestured toward the nervous man standing to one side.
With that Min and most of the gathered fighters departed leaving him with Nando, Bailey and his bodyguards.
“I understand you reached a breakthrough?”
“Yeah, Mr. Mayor,” Nando said.
He suppressed a sigh. “Please, show me.” He didn’t have the time to waste on correcting the man. With the festival set to start soon he was busier than ever.
“Are you sure? I mean I did all the uh… autopsy stuff. I could just tell you and there’s also the report I’ve written up.”
He reconsidered his stance on viewing the actual body.
Did he really want that to be his last memory of Kimberley.
The woman was one of the instrumental pillars of their community’s survival and success.
“You know what… yeah, that’s a better idea. I don’t need to see… her. Just give me what you’ve learned.”
Nando let out a breath. “Right, um, follow me. I’ve got my notes in the office.”
He followed the man to an office near the loading docks. His bodyguards took up positions just outside the office and on the loading dock. The outdoor lights lent a warm-looking glow to the cold night air.
Bailey pulled up a seat next to him while Nando rustled through the pile of papers on the desks with shaking hands.
“Relax, Nando. I’m not judging you or anything like that. You’re the closest thing to an expert on this and all you need to do is tell me what you’ve discovered. I understand you experienced a breakthrough with your class?”
“Um… I’m still a student, but I leveled up,” Nando replied defensively, “and I got a Skill. Novice: Identify Murder Weapon.”
“How does that work exactly?” Bailey interjected.
Nando explained briefly.
“Hmm… so not a hundred percent accurate. What’d you put it at?” Bailey continued.
“It feels like around thirty percent.”
“That’s not very high.”
They couldn’t accuse anyone with that.
“What’d the murderer use to kill her?”
Nando placed a piece of paper in front of him.
He regarded the sketch. “It’s a kitchen knife…”
“Is that to scale?” Bailey said.
“Yeah, based on my Skill and examining the wounds.”
An average-sized kitchen knife.
How had that been enough to murder someone with Kimberley’s magical ability?
“I’m not sure about this, but I think that I can use the Skill to actually identify the murder weapon if I had it in front of me,” Nando said.
“At a thirty percent accuracy?” Bailey said.
Nando shrugged.
Good news, but not great.
It was an avenue toward finding the murderer. Not a smoking gun like he had hoped.
“What else did you discover?”
“Um…” Nando rustled the papers on the desk. “Most of the stabs and cuts look like they were done after Kimberley— after she was—” the man swallowed visibly. The muscles of his jaw clenched.
Sadiiq waited patiently.
“Sorry…” Nando shook his head. “Most of the wounds were done after she was already dead. I think there are a few defensive stab wounds on her arms, which makes sense. But the ones that really did the most damage were stab wounds in her back and stomach. Going by the feeling I got from my Skills is that the stomach ones are what killed her.”
“Can you elaborate?” Bailey said.
Nando spent a long time going over his thoughts as they were written done on several sheets of paper.
A lot of it was conjecture based on Skills more than the man’s own limited knowledge of the science. Nando prefaced everything with the admission that he had only been a studying to become a forensic scientist for a little over a year when the spires had appeared.
Sadiiq couldn’t really follow much of what the man said.
Bailey’s hand didn’t stop moving as he took notes.
“Well… good job,” he said as Nando finished and gazed at him with an expectant look. “Keep at it. That accuracy rate will improve the more you improve and level. You might even be able to lead us straight to the murder weapon eventually.”
“Yeah, but I can only do that by doing autopsies and obviously, I’m not looking forward to more because that means people are getting murdered,” Nando said.
“I know this might be morbid, but what about the… uh… her,” Bailey pointed back to the freezer on the other side of the warehouse. “I mean, you can keep examining her, right?”
Nando scowled.
Sadiiq sighed at his young assistant. “It’s been long enough. Kimberley needs to be buried as soon as possible.”
“Right, sorry,” Bailey said sincerely. “Sir, we’re kinda running long,” he whispered, “you’ve got that meeting with the festival committee.
“Here,” Nando thrust folder into Bailey’s hands. “My report. I guess that’ll be all I have to say on it.”
“Let Min know right away if you have any other insights.”
Sadiiq rose and shook Nando’s clammy hand.
The man led them to the door and suddenly stopped as soon as he opened it. He drew his pistol and gestured for them to move back.
“What—”
“Shh… your bodyguards— they’re gone,” Nando whispered.
He looked over Nando’s shoulder to see the empty and dark warehouse.
It hadn’t been like that earlier.
“The lights…” Bailey said.
“Oh man. This isn’t good,” Nando muttered.
“We’ll follow your lead,” he tried to keep his voice calm.
Nando carefully closed the door and backed away from it.
The office had a small window but looking through it was like staring into a black void.
“But we’re inside a claimed building. It can’t be a monster there’d be, like, a notice or something, right?” Bailey hissed.
“You guys are armed, right?” Nando said.
Sadiiq drew his pistol. As did Bailey after a nudge.
Once a week practice had never felt so inadequate as it did in the moment.
“Maybe the lights went out and they just went to check it out?” Bailey ventured.
Sadiiq shook his head.
“The entire team wouldn’t leave.” Nando gave voice to Sadiiq’s thoughts. “I think we should wait in here. Only one way in and they’ll come looking when you don’t show up for your meeting and I don’t go back to the office like I’m supposed to.”
“What about the people getting food?” he replied.
“Probably safer than us,” Nando shrugged. “I’m no fighter, at least not even close to someone like Kimberley. Trying to cross a dark warehouse with a murderer waiting is suicide.”
“Yeah, but how do we know it’s them?” Bailey said.
“It’s the logical assumption,” he said.
“If it’s okay with you, sir, I say we keep our eyes on the door and window. Then blast anyone we don’t recognize,” Nando said.
“That sounds—”
The office lights winked out followed by the sound of breaking glass.
Something heavy hit Sadiiq and knocked him into the desk.
Cries of alarm ushered him into unconsciousness.
----------------------------------------
They hurled the body through the window then dropped to the floor as the bullets went flying through the flimsy office wall. They activated a Skill to let them see their potential victims through the wall.
The three men’s hearts beat bright and red as the terror surged through their bodies like a burst of electricity.
One of the men slumped to the ground and fell still while another rushed over screaming.
The third emptied his pistol and reloaded frantically.
They drew power from the fear.
They had never been more powerful.
Killing the bodyguards had given them a level in their class. A part of them wanted to run straight to the spire to pick their bonus reward.
The Quest to sow terror in the community had yet to fail to provide dividends.
There were many VIP targets for them to take out. One of which was in the office.
While another was a threat to their secrecy.
Killing the former would definitely draw every resource the community had down on their head.
They debated letting that one live for now while they slowly crept to the side of the office.
The latter had to die.
They climbed up the side of the wall like some kind of skittering insect.
A gun barked and bullets just missed them.
They weren’t as silent as they had thought.
They moved quickly, slamming the axe into the thin roof.
The gun replied angrily but they were already on the move.
They slipped through the window like an acrobat and slashed their knife into the man’s throat.
He went down clutching his neck, gurgling his life away.
Another pistol spat hot lead that hit them in the shoulder and sent them spinning.
The pain lanced through them but it was a small matter. They could take much worse and they healed quickly.
The flash revealed a young man’s face bared in a rictus of equal parts rage and terror. Tears glistened in the young man’s eyes as he frantically tried to track them as they rushed forward and struck.
They clubbed him in the temple with their knife handle.
The young man crumpled over the already unconscious older man.
The not-Mayor, Sadiiq, one of their prime targets.
Kill him now and reap immediate benefits in points and progress to the next level or wait and use him for potentially greater future gains.
Despite the darkness they could see the two unconscious men with eyes like a predator’s.
They made a decision in an instant.
One needed to be decisive in their position.
They stalked over to the desk and found a blank sheet of paper.
They took up a pen and scribbled a quick message.
They pinned the paper to the dead man’s forehead with one of the few remaining nails from the ones they had used to kill a couple of the bodyguards outside.
Now all they had to do was set the trap.
The outsider had scared them. Their senses normally gave them a good idea on a person’s vulnerabilities, how best to hunt and kill them. Not so for the man. He had been like a blank wall.
The other outsiders had not been the same. Those cultists had been dangerous despite the silliness of late night meetings in abandoned basements while wearing those ridiculous robes. They had only triumphed through surprise. That had been some time ago and they had grown progressively stronger with every kill.
So why, at the height of their confidence, had one single man shaken them so much?
It was a leap of logic that the outsiders were connected to each other. Still, they couldn’t discount the possibility. Perhaps they could use it to their advantage.
They decided that until they knew more about the man then it would be in their best interest to avoid a direct confrontation.
Perhaps the things in the lake could take care of him?
It’d take some doing to get everything ready before someone found the note, luckily they were much stronger than they looked and had the ability to walk through the dark streets without attracting monster or mutant animal attention.
They tossed an unconscious man over each shoulder and rushed out of the warehouse into the night.
As always, time was their greatest enemy. They couldn’t be gone for too long otherwise someone might notice.