20XX/10/03 – Morning
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With a solemn expression he looked down on the young woman’s corpse that lay in front of him. Her clothes were tethered and stained with blood from the at least a dozen cuts her body had sustained. It had once been an elegant outfit, business like, classy - but without seeming prude. Maybe she had worked in an office, but not the ordinary, boring kind. One that had its employees not only sit behind a desk and receive calls but had them deal with other people or had them go out in the open too. Her style of dress and make-up suggested she had needed to present herself but without losing respect or credibility. Had she been a sales-person?
Hm? What’s that? 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJD7wMwjLX
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An object to his feet caught Leon’s attention. He crouched down to get a better look at it. It was a black fountain pen. Pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket, he carefully picked it up, avoiding the potential destruction of any fingerprints on it. Upon closer inspection he made out an engraving of some kind. It was the name of a newspaper agency together with a phone number. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZICGemzR5z
Might as well… 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrUa0zOHqa
The officer pulled out his phone and quickly typed the number written on the pen. A second later the dial tone could be heard from the other side. It didn’t take long before a female voice answered. He had reached the agency’s secretary and after a short exchange of words he got passed on to the boss.
“Meredith Ramirez speaking. You requested to talk with me?” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxnqP6B60s
“Ah, Ms. Ramirez. Yes, that’s right. This is Detective Matthews-“ 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZydCCmTkZ
“A detective? My, what business does the police have with my agency?” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQF3YHsVEar
“Well, you see Ms. Ramirez, this is a bit of a delicate matter. And I would only reluctantly like to discuss the details on the phone with you. Would it be possible for me to talk to you directly some time today?” There was a pause on the other side and Leon could hear the shuffling sound of paper. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUN2rUvTOc
“Hm, yes… How does 2 pm sound Detective?” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7zMXE0En4
“That would be perfect. Thank you, Ms. Ramirez. I will see you in the afternoon then.” They exchanged goodbyes and soon after he hung up the call. Leon took another look at the pen in his hand. Had our victim been a journalist?
“Leon! Any suggestions on this one yet?”178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqsS0G28Gi
“Urgh…” A pained grunt came from the man in the blue police uniform as his superior hit his shoulder with more force than had been necessary. He quickly pushed the object he had held in his hand into the pocket of his jacket before addressing the detective.
[…]
With a nod Leon watched his superior stalk off. Feeling a little exhausted from the conversation, he let out a sigh before turning back towards the corpse. That’s when his blue eyes caught sight of a woman sneaking around behind the broad stone pillars that supported the abandoned building. He scoffed to himself in disbelief. These reporters are getting more and more audacious these days. How did this one even make it past the tape?
“Hey, Miss! This is a crime scene.” He called out.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EjvY0t1wD
The brunette flinched in surprise at being caught red-handed and her head turned into the direction his voice had come from. She nervously wiped her hands on her blue pair of jeans before giving him a charming smile. “Heh, yeah, well. I know.” She shouted, trying hard to sound nonchalant. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUWTLbzXsh
“Oh? Well, great, if you know, then what are you doing here?”
Seemingly deeming his question as an invitation to come closer she stepped towards him, as she rummaged inside her pockets. Leon raised an eyebrow as she pulled out a notepad before hurriedly stuffing it back with a frustrated groan. Hm? Is she missing something to write?178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBhiekkvTX
Then he understood. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3y6alB1FL
Oh, is that how it is? Could she really have made a simple mistake like that? Well, they all slip up at one point sooner or later… Heh, I guess this one fits the “return to the scene of the crime” stereotype. If I’m correct that is. Guess there’s only one way to find out.
“Ahhh, I see. You’re a journalist!” he exclaimed with a newfound energy. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UbVv9LuOO
“What? Uhm, yeah-“ 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDs9qhZeaP
“Well, why didn’t you say so earlier! Step up, step up!” The woman looked at him confused as Leon walked up beside her and placed his hand on her back, gently pushing her towards the corpse. What she didn’t notice was how he slipped his other hand inside the pocket of her coat, swiftly pulling out her wallet. “Let’s see, let’s see~” With an enthusiastic smile on his lips he crouched down as he tugged out her ID card from its designated place in the black leather pouch. It read Elisabeth Glaze. Age 27. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3ZJTaqQxv
Invisible to her, he slipped both the ID and her wallet into his uniform pocket. The young woman couldn’t see his expression as he was facing the corpse to his feet. Or else she would have noticed the glint that appeared in his eyes. That spark of excitement that would be her downfall only a mere day later.
Well, Ms. Glaze, shall we play a little game?
[…]
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20XX/10/04 – Night
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The loud rolling of thunder echoed through the halls of the empty building. It seemed the storm was now directly above them. Thick drops of rain had begun to fall from the sky and they hit the old glass with loud thuds, as the wind sent them sideways with its unyielding force.
Leon watched with satisfaction as the brunette’s eyes grew wider and wider with shock. As he talked her expression went from stone-faced to one of irritation to a mixture of fear and shear terror. Right now, there was no hint left from her confidence and snark. It was more accurate to say that she looked rather crazy, if not downright deranged at the moment. A normal person would have been scared by the mad glint in her eyes alone. Leon however remained calm. He had seen a lot of different people lose their act of pretense like that, some had revealed even more madness under the mask. After a while one became somewhat numb to it. Another thing he had learned during his many years in the force was that acting dumber than you were could bring you a long mile with criminals. Especially the crazy ones. Many let their guard down when being faced with someone who posed absolutely no threat to their bloody after-hours activities. Bathing in the glory of being the smartest one in the room had caused more than one or two of them to slip up. That’s why Leon had decided to put on this little goofy act, albeit he hadn’t thought it would end up as effective as it did.
He had to admit that she had surprised him more than once with how easy it had been to manipulate her, to a point where he even had started to question whether she hadn’t read through him after all. The officer had pondered the possibility of her playing her own little game with him several times, but it seemed that his worries had been for nothing. After all, she even fell for his little gun trick. Nonetheless, he couldn’t say that she had bored him. No, he had enjoyed their little dance quite a bit and if it wasn’t for her being a ruthless murderer he wouldn’t have minded to play Sherlock and Watson with her for just a little bit longer. Sadly, that wouldn’t be possible anymore and now he had to deal with the actually tricky part of the game. He may have exposed her, but now he had to apprehend her as well. This didn’t seem like an especially difficult deed at first glance, considering their obvious difference in strength alone. But if his theory was correct, and they mostly were, she still carried a certain object with her that could turn out to be a problem for him. Leon glanced at the watch on his arm. Any minute now. I just need to stall her a little bit longer.
The sound of shrill laughter brought the officer’s attention back to the woman in front of him. The terror on her face had been replaced with an insane smile. Her eyes were those of a predator, anticipating to slaughter its prey. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Liz looked like a complete lunatic. A very dangerous and unpredictable lunatic. Then again one would have to be at least somewhat insane to murder their own collaeuge. And not even realizing it, that is. Her connection to reality had to hang on a very thin thread. If it hadn’t already been irreparably cut by those scissors. When she spoke the craziness seemed to ooze from her voice that came out in a weird sing-sang. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUeaoTPsgw
“Hats off Leon! That was quite the cunning game you played here. I must say I’m almost impressed.” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfk1GCQwUR
“Only almost?” he scoffed in pretend offense.178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDX07Wl0aN
“Well, you still made the mistake in handing me your gun, so you’re clearly completely defenseless right now. Making it very easy for me to slice you up.” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM2XV6IpMB
Ahhh, here we go.
With one hand Liz reached into her jacket and pulled out a pair of scissors. The silver surface glistened under the fluorescent light above their heads. She opened and closed them repeatedly in the air. The resulting typical snip-snap sound prompted a certain discomfort inside the officer’s stomach. As if she needed to emphasize what she intended to do to him any further. One may not have been able to discern it at first glance but Leon was sure that the cold metal blades had been sharpened to the max by its holder. After all it was no easy feat to cut through human flesh. And with a dull blade it would require quite the amount of strength, especially considering the number of cuts they had found on the victims. But he was sure she took exceptionally good care of her weapon. Which didn’t exactly raise his chances of getting out of this unscathed.
He gulped. The adrenaline rushed through the veins of his body and all his nerves were on fire. If he didn’t do anything he might end up as sashimi any second. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLebRSMJ2z
“Ms. Glaze, before you cut me to pieces, I just have one question.” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljhyrimUxY
“Of course, you do.” she sighed in annoyance. However, she didn’t make any motion of attacking him just yet. Instead she humored his attempt at stalling. Not like he had any way of getting out of here anyways. “Ask then. But know that if it's another one of those pain in the ass ones- I’ll make sure to start my work by chipping off your tongue.” She snapped her scissors open and shut a few times, imitating the motion of cutting something. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzC4IB1YCCU
How about you don’t? God, this one really has a dramatic streak. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaPVLeSMJw
“Heh, uhm, yeah. Then I’m just gonna ask. What exactly is your motive?” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUB9uDBXK9
“My motive?” she scoffed. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAaYUSBIah
“Yes, why are you hunting these women?” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOo9FXVX9iC
A haughty laugh escaped her mouth. “Well, you’re the detec- no, you’re only an officer, or was that another one of your lies? Anyways, why don’t you guess Officer Enfield?” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgsNSeCtH3
His name left her lips in a mocking tone, as she stretched every syllable of it, devoid of respect, yet alone acknowledgement of his profession. She was clearly taunting him, pleased to be in complete control of the situation now. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6qM6tyIF7
Leon tilted his head to the side for a moment, mimicking a thinking pose. “Well… Earlier you suggested a blonde woman undermined my manliness. Hm, that doesn’t really work in your case. But what was the other thing you mentioned? Ah, right! Something about having mommy issues! Is that-“ 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VvtMzcQUI
“I see you don’t need your tongue anymore!” 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsWTOdO22s
I knew that was the wrong thing to say!
With a mad cry Liz charged at the officer, the scissors raised high above her head. Frozen in place, Leon watched her closing the distance between them, his heart hammering in his chest. Would this be it? Had he miscalculated things this time? Would he meet his end by the hand of the Paper Cut Killer, just like this? 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl08MATNSzl
No. He refused to. This was not where he would die. Not before he had achieved his goal. He had to move. Jump out of the way. Anything- 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCUeyjmjps
That’s when suddenly the world around him turned into darkness. All lights in the hospital had suddenly gone out. Their eery glow was replaced by the black of night.
Finally! Took long enough.
Not a second to late Leon threw his body to the side, feeling the gush of wind as the cold metal barely missed his left arm. He couldn’t see where he was jumping, fearing he would hit the wall facefirst. But instead, he soon felt the cold concrete under him as his body slammed on the ground. A low groan escaped him as the pain of the impact hit him. However, he didn’t have any time to whine on the ground, not with Liz still wielding her scissors. Leon gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up, rushing to scramble to his feet. He turned his head but all he could see was the darkness surrounding him. His eyes hadn’t adjusted yet, although he was sure he wouldn’t be able to see much more even if they did. The outside was pitch black and the only possible light source, the moon, was covered behind the dark wall of clouds. And while there had been a few lanterns on the streets outside, whatever had caused the blackout in the hospital seemingly had knocked the light out of them too.
He only had a few more seconds before he would find himself in a disadvantage. Earlier when they had entered the hospital the young woman’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness faster than his. To no surprise as she was quite a bit younger than him after all. Most likely it would be the same this time around. Not exactly a good outlook for him. Leon could hear the snapping sound of the scissors in the darkness, it seemed as if they were searching for him. Having been deprived of their first cut, they were now thirsting for his blood even more. Or more like Liz was. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULVp4ZgjZe
Seems like I only have one choice here. Time for a tactical retreat!
Not wasting any more time, the officer spun around on his heels and darted off in a run. Slowly his eyes were adjusting, allowing him to at least discern the blurry contours of the hallway. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4tA0rG4Gx
“Ha! Are you running away Leon?” He heard the manic cry of Liz behind him, accompanied by the shrill sound of laughter. “I didn’t think you were such a coward!” Turning a corner, Leon pressed his body against the wall. His breath was erratic and his arms and legs hurt from his fall a minute ago. However, he forced himself to be quiet, suppressing the urge to pant in his desperate need for air. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJY2yOUbv79
“Come on Leon. You know, this game of hide and seek is useless. You won’t be able to hide from me for long. I’ll find you in no time!”
He could hear Liz’s steps as she gradually moved closer and closer to his hiding spot. Tap. Tap. Tap. She would turn around the corner any second now. Leon readied himself. This was his only chance. Another roar of thunder covered the sound of the brunette’s high-pitched laughter. Leon turned his head to the side, expecting to see the glistening metal of the scissors as they were raised high in the air. However, his eyes were instead met with a bright whiteness as lightning struck. Surprised, he squinted, shielding his eyes from the intensity. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnRvMJO0fn
“HYAAAAH!?”
The ear-splitting scream froze the blood in his body as he flinched from shock. His ears hurt and there was a ringing in his head. The sound had come from right beside him. Had Liz-?
Another strike of lightning illuminated the hallway. That’s when he saw her. Right outside the window. The window Liz stood in front, petrified by what her eyes looked upon. Behind the glass, in the dark of the night, she hovered. A woman. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60SRqes68q
It was a surreal sight. Although the pouring rain hit down on her, she didn’t seem to be the slightest bit wet. She should have been drenched from head to toe. Yet her thick black hair fell in soft curls down her shoulders, totally unaffected by the water and the raging storm. Her face was blank, expressionless – completely devoid of any emotion. She opened her mouth as if she was speaking, yet no sound came out. Or was it just drowned out by the noise of the storm? 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIoz0u1mXH
Her whole appearance went completely against any of the laws of this world. It shouldn’t be possible. And yet here she was. Directly in front of the two of them, only separated by the old cracked glass.
“A- A ghost- No!” A distinct fear oozed from Liz’s words as she stammered in bewilderment. She didn’t believe the image in front of her eyes and she didn’t want to either. “That’s- That’s not possible!” The apparition had to be her mind playing tricks on her. That was the only possible explanation. She had finally gone crazy beyond repair. It had only been a matter of time, after all she had done. This was the price she would pay for it. A hallucination in the form of a woman. Appearing similar to her and yet distinguishably different. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNuNq6VZyn
“You’re not real! YOU’RE NOT REAL!!!”.
Leon ignored the mental breakdown his adversary seemed to be facing, too mesmerized by what was behind the glass. He just kept on staring ahead, at the face of the woman. He studied it, imprinting her features into his mind. Her green eyes, her slender nose, the round cheeks that were completely devoid of any color and her full lips that looked like they could brighten up any room if they just smiled once. Or maybe he just thought that they could. Everything of her. He would make sure to remember it, and never forget it. 178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWkD8tTy43
At last, his trademark charming smile reappeared on his face, albeit it held a certain gentleness now that hadn’t been there before. “Finally. Finally, I found you.” He spoke softly, almost gingerly.
It was only when another thundering sound echoed through the city that Leon snapped out of his trance like stance. He felt like some kind of fog he didn’t even know had been there, was suddenly cleared from his mind. A newfound purpose rose up inside him, taking over his mind and body instead. Slowly, he turned away from the window and focused his gaze back on Liz. The young woman was still frozen in her spot. Her back was wide open and defenseless.
Easy.
Leon smirked to himself and the next moment he threw his full weight at her.
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My body's a temple crowded with ghosts178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaAuxsXZco
Hard as I try, I'm never alone
Monsters walk around178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MmM7GxsG2
How did silence get so loud?178Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWDUAYUCXA
Against The Current feat. guardin - again & again
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