The screaming of mosquitoes and toxic fumes of the cheap coils choked the air before I even approached the yellow tape.
Cops speckled the grounds, staying as far from the overwhelming stench that hit me even before I climbed into the house swarming with more.
Cheap mosquito coils had been hung in every available space. The front room was covered in the green spirals and thier mountains of grey ash being dumped onto the surfaces below.
The ceiling was bombarded with the coils and thier thick smoke hanging above our heads that wafted outside now that there was an escape.
I could see the cops holding thier shirts over thier noses to try and filter whatever fresh air that was strangled out of this place. Another gagged, coughing and choking thier way out for the front door.
My lungs were saved from the smoke, only because I didn't need to use them.
I was a Tracker; a type of cop who was assigned to hunt down clues, people, or anything out of the ordinary, to make these fools jobs as easy as possible.
While the others choked, it became obvious I wasn't one of them. I only wore the skin of a human to blend in and squeeze my frightening form into sonething more manageable.
They all knew this though. Demons had to wear cards beside thier names notifying thier fellows what kind of nightmare they were rubbing shoulders with.
I was thier little scent hound. They only turned to me when shit too twisted for them to comprehend.
A mosquito breeder was certaintly odd, but it wasn't something they couldn't deal with themselves.
I squinted through the thick fog for anything that could have caused this level of paranoia in someone.
The little living room to my left was a mess of boxes stacked against the walls in a fort around the old television as thick as them. More coils laid across the flammable surface already coated in the powder.
The tv was cool to the touch when I approached it, and turned back to see a bland meal sat on a foldout table before an old loungechair patched with tape on the arms.
I picked up the meat from the plate, much to the outcry of another, before they spied my narrowed eyes and finger pointing to my badge.
Not being human meant that I also didn't have thier fingerprints. I could work more efficiently without thier restrictions.
The meat was cold, tough, and grainy. Old deer. The thickness of the steak was uneven and had been zapped in the microwave left open on the counter. The taste of freezer burn lingered that the person had tried to douse with pepper.
If they had gone to the effort to kill the animal themselves, why hadn't they eaten it? It was set up right before the TV, and yet nothing had been switched on.
I tilted my head back up to the coils hanging on the roof.
"How long do these ones last?" I pointed to the one directly above me.
There was murmuring before someone rounded the corner to hand me a box. The were already gloved up in leathers, with one smothering thier face through thier jacket.
I flipped it over to see that they were the homebrand from the supermarket. On the back, the coils had a life of eight hours.
Highly flammable. Do not leave unsupervised.
It was a wonder nothing in here had caught alight. The coils were well on thier way to being burnt out.
I handed the box back on the way out of the room where I spotted a door to my left that was sealed entirely around the edged in black duct tape.
Approaching it, the screaming of the horde behind it increased.
"You'll want to go around" the cop in leather pointed to the wall beside the door "it's a bloody nightmare in there."
Slinking around the wall and through a wet room lined with more junk, I found my way down the block of wood serving as a stair to the ground blanketed in leaves.
A tree shaded the area and was the sole source of the litter. I saw the thick forestry just a few meters behind it and wished I was amongst the silence of it all instead of here at this disgusting breeding shack.
The back door to the taped room was sealed off with plastic sheets and more tape. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusLs7XMZqd
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I could see the warped silhoutte of someone preparing to gas the room inside. Thier suit and helmet were smothered in the darkness trying to pierce its way inside. The nozzle they held was nothing more than a mass of mosquitoes layering every inch.
That didn't look like something I wanted to be a part of.
I was already catching wafts of the poison from the machine parked on the leaves outside the makeshift door. It only churned and bubbled at my gut when the nozzle the person gripped billowed white smoke along the ground like rolling fog.
I turned and started for the back door until a cop I actually knew made his way out of the house and steered me back towards the sheet with a smile on his face.
Kayden was admired amongst the ranks for how selfless he was. Despite also being a demon of a different kind, he was more connected to his human colleagues than anyone else I knew. That's probably how he climbed his way up to being the Head Tracker over the years.
Both of us had a dark past together tangled in murder and extortion, but we had made it out to clean our names in a profession that was renowned for helping others and striving to be seen as savours.
We were not shackled criminals anymore, but that experience did help with seeing violence through thier eyes and the motivations for murder.
Kayden's hands were firm but calming on my shoulders. He didn't want to be there as much as i, but didn't show it openly.
His blonde hair almost fell into his eyes when he leant forwards, looking at the sheet bulging outwards from the gas and frenzied mosquitoes.
"What have we got?" he muttered to me while we both watched.
"Some mozzie breeder who kills his own food" I shrugged back "likes the outdoors; hoarder from the looks of it."
"At least we know the freezer inside isn't full of human" he clapped my shoulder in relief.
A freezer? I missed that entirely. Then again, I hadnt even seen most of the house. That wasn't my job unless it was called apon me.
I followed orders, as I did in the past and as I always will now.
"Do you think the mosquito farmer did it?" I pondered while Kayden was greeted by the fumigator and given a portion of the opened plastic to slip through.
Fog billowed out and climbed upwards into the sky. Mosquitoes swerved thier way out of the gap but fell in thick ash onto the leaves below.
"It's over my head to make that call, but all the signs are pointing to a guilty conscience running from the scene" he replied quietly back.
I cringed through the gap and stood beside him to try and make out my surroundings in the back and white haze.
Fanning out, I took the right while Kayden took the left. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJZAt5YwIK
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We followed the dripping, writhing walls as the fumigator burst forth more poison in behind us.
I could feel my skin sizzling already. My squinting eyes struggled to see through my liquified eyeballs running over my cheeks.
My lips were so cracked. I didn't dare to lick them while they were festering with the poison.
I followed the wall, coming to the end of the room.
There wasn't a single box or coil here. The room looked completely empty. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWs7PUolke
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The windows were taped in the same way the door was, but from the inside.
Kayden's body was shrouded in the dying mosquitoes and poison just across from me. He looked stunned and just stood there, staring.
"There's no way that this room is just for breeding these things" I jeered as I approached him "what kind of...."
He swiveled toward me, his bleeding eyes rolled back in his head and his dribbling mouth stapled shut to stop himself from screaming.
I scrambled back when the realisation hit me that this wasn't Kayden at all.
"There's a body in here!" I cried out, hitting the wall behind me in my fright to place distance between us.
"Stop the gas!" I heard Kayden somewhere down at the front of the room "open the windows! Open the door!"
"But the poison!" the fumigator fought back.
"Warn the others then!" he ordered her "we need to open everything up so we don't completely destroy the evidence."
The plastic was torn down when the fumigator charged through it.
The fog of mosquitoes swerved from it drunkenly, trying to ascend to freedom before dropping dead on the leaves below.
Kayden pressed his body to the door behind him to shout out a warning before barging into it to tear at the thick layers of tape.
When the tape finally ripped free, the poison bilowed outwards to mingle with the smoke from the coils already pouring out the house and into the air. Mosquitoes rained in the house and added to the already fine layer of ash along the floor.
No-one was there to be caught in it. They all gathered outside, peering in at the room we had just uncovered.
We both turned back to the body hanging from the roof by a length of rope. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYTMK3gu4g
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Beneath it was a plastic kid pool filled with old water now coated with white film on top. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5s5qIgWRB8
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The body had been ravaged by the mosquitoes while hanging there. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vzwKmJmDR
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They had gouged at his eyes and pieced every inch of his skin to leave it so swollen, oozing, and lumpy that it didn't even resemble something human. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YGf1TQw4k
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The staples across the mouth were crusted in blood and snapped through the gums lining the teeth on both rows.
They were industrial grade, as was the hook bolted to the roof that supported the man.
It had been made for a heavy hanging water dish for the insects to breed in, the dish submerged in the plastic pool under the body's dipping feet.
"Well, the killer isn't the mosquito farmer" Kayden sighed up at the body in dissapointment.
I choked, gagging on the hot phlegm lurching up my throat. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJ6UZcQujQ
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Holding my hand to my mouth, I shrunk under Kayden's look of concern towards me.
I had been so strong through it all, but with the body just hanging there with the eyes so mutilated....
"I need some air" I gasped out quickly and bolted out the broken plastic.
Rushing for the yellow tape, I barely ducked under it before the spray of vomit heaved from me.
I hunched there, trying to hide my shame through each burning wave splattering over my shoes.
Who would do something like that?
The ash of the coils, the clouds of poison, the smell of festering mosquitoes; it was all coated down my throat and churning my aching stomach threatening to rip the lining from it and force that upwards too.
The image of the body and how the mouth was speared through with the staples was burned into my brain. I had been face to face with it too....
More vomit hit the leaves below me, burning my throat with acid.
"You ok there?"
I turned, ready to bite back at the intrusion, before I saw it was Kayden.
I wiped my mouth on my sleeve, straightening.
"I've been better" I tried to smile through the pain.
"Why don't you head off and grab something to eat?" he suggested while peeking at my pile "skipped breakfast again?"
"Kayd" I grumbled back and blocked his sight "don't judge me like... this."
He smirked at me and took out his wallet to press a twenty into my palm.
"If you find anything, let me know."
"Sure" I grumbled back as I stashed it and slunk shamefully away from the yellow tape.
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The blueberry bagel smothered in butter only made my burning throat sting worse than before. The water beside me helped wash it back down while I looked out the window of the street restaurant I had found.
I had dealt with things worse than some mosquito breeder with a morbid death. Losing my guts like that over it just proved how soft I had become since those days.
I looked down to the grey armband around my right wrist, which only made me more frustrated in myself.
I hadn't found anything at the scene besides some cold meat on a plate.
So the guy was jumped while eating? Or was he killed and displayed in the back room later?
Live and die by the work, I guess.
I took another sip of water and let it sit in my mouth while my mind wandered.
The guy was young too. Had to be around thirty, maybe mids.
He sure had a problem, not only with insects, but also hoarding.
I swallowed as the idea formed.
If he was killed, how did he get up to that hook? The knot was made so he could be lifted when the rope was pulled, but there is no way that the killer did that themselves. The body would slip the moment they tried to tie it up when he started choking, and Mosquito Man be in the one in the pool instead of the dish.
They had to have more than two hands for sure, or a heck of a lot of strength. A demon perhaps?
The others would already know this though. This wasn't a bright idea.
I should have checked what was in those boxes. Maybe it could have been useful? Or maybe it could have been old junk.
The bagel helped mull over the murder.
They'll figure it all out. I had no new clues to give them anyway. I'd finish up here and head out to try and grab some sleep before someone else needed me.
I could feel the weariness through my bones when I leant back to crack them in place so I could rise from my seat and shamble back out into the streets.
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I had found a warm patch of grass in the afternoon sun to sleep outside of the town when my phone startled me awake.
Complaining through the pain, I saw it was Kayden.
Probably checking to see if I was coming home for dinner. His kids loved it when they had someone else to banter with about those silly monster cards or a new game coming out.
"What?" I moaned to him without moving "your missus wouldn't have dinner ready yet. It's..." I checked the phone "... It's five, Kayd! Let me sleep!"
"There's been another murder" he spoke simply.
I shut my mouth and sat up in shock.
"Already?"
"It's...." I heard him pause and breathe ".... you know the old shed out the back of Mrs Kinsknotts? The one with the yellow mark on it?"
I knew it. When she had children, they painted thier shed door to resemble cricket stumps. Other kids in the neighborhood used to come and play in the col-de-sac home's yard. Now that she was older, the painting had washed away to just a yellow mark.
She was a kind lady. She didn't have anyone who would want her dead.
"I'm on my way. See you soon" I grimaced and hung up, stretching my weary body begging for rest.
Poor Mrs Kinsknotts. She didn't deserve that.
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"ITS HORRIBLE! WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING?"
I heard the wailing before I even saw the house at the end of the street.
Nosy neighbour's and the surrounding blocks had come to see what the commotion was.
The yellow tape was already up to keep people at bay as they struggled to get a glimpse of thier newest gossip.
I could see news crew talking to more cops trying to usher them and thier massive vans away.
To my relief, Mrs Kinsknotts was perfectly fine. Although she wailed like she was being strangled, she was in perfect health.
I dusted down my uniform and moved around the crowd to be let under the tape where Kayden was waiting for me.
"She's not the dead one?" I mumbled to him while he led me to the shed that had been barricaded with white walls others held up.
"Claims she just got back from holiday" Kayden replied "she doesn't lock the shed; figured there was nothing to steal when it's empty."
Figures.
"Just... be mindful of your surroundings, OK?" he warned me before slipping around the sheet.
I was confused by the statement but followed and immediately stopped at the scene before me.
The shed doors were buckled and hanging from the hinges swung wide open.
The inside was a river of black blood that snaked through the grass and stones outside. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3QF5GEyOj
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The floor was so smothered, it could have been confused for polished black marble if it wasn't for the distinguishable stench of copper that came with blood.
It had been here a while. I could see the surface had congealed towards the walls and grass. Beneath the bodies was still fresh and dripping.
I approached slowly, never taking my eyes from what I was witnessing.
Two bodies were strapped to metal poles suspended from supporting metal base-plates on the floor.
One was a lot smaller than the other. Kayden's reaction on the phone and now made sense. It was just a kid.
The one beside it was much taller and wider. I couldn't tell if it was male or female from the way it was crushed, just like the child.
Both bodies were mummified in elastic bands. A machine had been set to the supporting poles to constrict the pair over and over, moving up and down to smother them both.
It still had a length of elastic band tied to it, frozen at both the crushed heads bleeding through the bindings.
"Do they have stapled mouths too?" I asked before I saw the protrusions from under the bands where the heads were.
"Sure do. Just like the last one" a woman replied casually from the side.
A calling card. Some sort of link between the two.
Maybe there was another?
I slid off my shoes and socks so I could into the blood. It seeped between my toes, squishing over my feet while I cringed under the coolness of it.
"Kayden!" the woman stormed forward with thier arm outstretched, stopping at the blood seeping into the grass "tell your guy to stop trampling through the crimescene!"
I shot her a glare and circled the bodies, the careful placement of my feet unsticking and slapping it's path to the child.
Gouging my finger through the bands, I sucked off the glistening blood and ran over the flavour of it.
It was something familiar, yet foreign. I had tasted it in my days as an obediant tool, but not like this.
"Was the mosquito guy human?" i called out.
"He's human" the woman shot back suspiciously "he was the son of the old farmer who lived there."
"This kid isn't human" I shook my finger at it "it's some sort of demon of the dark."
The worst kind too. Always scampering after anything that looked like a light in the darkness. Excellent eyesight, powerful prey drive; the kid was the perfect creature.
But what kind? And how could it be related to our first murder, if at all?
My finger nicked a crushed rib on the second body before I tasted the blood.
The instant it touched my tongue, I knew from the dull flavour what it was.
"This one is human."
"Male or female?" the woman piped up in interest.
I looked the body up and down, then stared blankly at her.
"I'm not that sort of demon. I have no clue. It's human, that's all I know."
That was two humans and one demon involved in the murders.
Without knowing the genders, we couldn't link if it was a targetted attack or not.
We still had to find out if it was a human or demon murdering these people.
I walked around to the front of the bodies and swept the blood with my foot to check for gouges in the concrete floor from where the metal plates would have been dragged in.
Nothing.
So, it had to be a demon, right? The absolute strength needed for both these murders was astounding. The fact that they were both time-based kills just had me surprised in the coordination on behalf of the killer.
I could understand the mosquito home and it being isolated away from others, but this was in a neighborhood. There were houses rigtht across the road that looked in here.
Maybe Mrs Kinsknotts wasn't as innocent as she claimed?
Kayden's hardened eyes met mine and he approached the edge of the blood.
"We need to know what sort of demon the kid is. If this killer strikes again, it could be the same species."
He was trying to find a link as badly as I was. The fact that he also had a young son at home that was around the same height, and maybe age, as this kid was clouding his judgement.
I didn't know if he was asking me to do the impossible; it sure sounded like it. He knew that I couldn't conjure up copies like other demons could. All I had was unbreakable bones. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvsm9OgW1b
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Excellent if I needed a small space; terrible for both these murders.
"Val" Kayden spoke more firmly "you need to get out of the blood. I'll get someone else onto it. One of the others would be more suitable."
I was being outsourced right in front of everyone.
Wasn't I good enough at my job? Why did he call me here if I wasn't the one that could help him? Just so he could just use me and humiliate me?
"I can do it" I huffed.
What a waste of time.
"Valerio" Kayden scolded but softened with a shake of his head "head home. Have some food and a sleep. I'll see you later tonight."
The woman smirked to Kayden, and I saw others nearby amused by the conflict between us.
I didn't want to make it worse than what it was. I slapped my way over to my shoes and socks that I snatched up bitterly.
"Call me if you actually need me" I growled to Kayden as I passed.
I didn't care about anything else now. I just wanted to get out of this place and hide somewhere more away from people for a while.
I'd go home, but not because he told me to. I needed somewhere proper to sleep.
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"Welcome back, my darling. How was work? You look hungry."
My face was caressed between two gentle, warm hands before it was covered in a barrage of kisses.
My body tensed at them but I grinned back through my complaints.
"Mum, stop" I grumbled when she pulled back to sweep my hair back and run her thumb along the scar gouged through my cheek and down through my lip.
I had a permenant snarl because of it. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8Hy2KZMpK
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I just hoped that she didn't think I was ever upset with her.
"I was going to make red wine casserole" she smiled to me "did you want to help?"
My body screamed for sleep, but I couldn't deny her. She needed all the hands she could get with such a large family.
I followed her to the kitchen where eyes from everywhere turned to greet me.
"Val!" one set chimed from the youngest.
"Did you do anything cool today?" another piped up; a twin.
"See any dead bodies?" the copy breathed excitedly.
Mum shooed away her children who hovered nearby, waiting for an answer.
I flipped on the TV and tossed the remote onto the couch.
"Go watch some TV or something. I'm not telling you anything about work."
"He saw one" I heard a mutter to an awed gasp.
Mum gave me a sympathetic look while cutting the meat.
Seeing the fat stretching and snapping under the blade had the image of both those wrapped bodies returning.
Suddenly, my gnawing stomach recoiled.
"Your father..." she started until I cringed at the title.
I didn't see Kayden as my father. I had been welcomed into his family, and had the papers to prove it, but the guy was barely older than me. We used to run into all sorts of trouble together when we were younger; it was just wierd to call him my dad after everything we had been through.172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVzjsiLHlC
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I didnt have that sort of relationship with his wife to make calling her my mother seem anything but natural. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgCcXr9wAi
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She liked having another son, and I guiltily enjoyed that paternal love I never had.
"I think I might just go take a break" I jerked my thumb "work has been busy. Dont save any for me."
Mum frowned but understood as I dragged myself out of the room and headed straight for the cold sheets of my bed I buried myself under.
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The phone shivering in my pocket snapped me awake before my mind registered that there was knocking on my door.
I saw that Kayden was calling and rejected him so I could march over to swing open the door.
The twins stood there.
"Is that what you saw?" one asked.
"Did you really have to see a room full of gross mosquito coils?"
Hang on. How did they know that?
I followed them into the loungeroom where one pointed to the TV while the others were already gathered on the couch, watching it.
"Did you really see mosquito coils?" one whined.
"Was there elastic bands?" another butted over the first.
I snatched up the remote held in the hands of one teen and snapped the TV off.
"You aren't watching any of that" I warned them all "keep off that channel, OK?"
"But it's on all of them..."
My phone vibrated again, demanding to be answered.
I left them and stormed out of the room to take the call.
"You better be calling me to say you found the person" I sighed "it's all over the news, Kayd. The kids..."
"Val" he interrupted me "they've done it again."
I checked that I wasn't being eavesdropped on and slid further away.
"You can't be serious!" I hissed down the phone "that's three places in two days!"
"Yeah" he sighed "and this one is just as messed up. I'll text you the address. The boss is blowing up at everyone. Got to go."
Great. I was going to be turning up to a murder with someone already screaming at me. Knowing our boss, she really was going to be screeching until she lost her voice.
I really couldn't cope with this day already.
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I heard the TV covering the murders before I returned to the room where the eldest were gathered. Some of the younger ones peered at the broadcast, ducking away when my scowling eyes met thiers.
"New plan" I grabbed the remote from the middle child to switch over the channel, and again when the news flipped with it "don't go outside. Stay where your mother can see and hear you. You aren't going out to see your friends, and the kids aren't having anyone around. And for God sake, stay off the news!"
"Why?" one questioned when I put the remote on the kitchen counter on my way out.
I checked the new message on my phone and bumped into Mum heading for the loungeroom looking concerned.
The address wasn't far from here. Two Winnam Creek Road had to be a fifteen minute drive.
"I've got to go" I kissed her cheek quickly.
"Is it work again?" she fretted, holding up her phone to me "I've seen a lot about the Homebrand Homicide already. It's horrible."
I returned to her to hold her hand in mine that tucked her phone back into her pocket.
"You have nothing to worry about" I reassured her and rushed for the door "keep the door locked! Love you!"
I didn't hear her response as I bolted for the car and skidded it over the gravel before breaking it onto the lip of the tar road and speeding for the next murder.
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Kayden wasn't impressed by the thrashing we were all absolutely getting. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYu9xoRQZxI
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His team gathered around him, while the cops hung to the other side of our Boss screaming herself hoarse at the front of the gathering.
Everyone involved in this murder scene was here. Forensics, Trackers, Cops, Crowd control, and Media representatives.
We were ordered what to say, what not to say, who to direct questions to, and how to handle the case as if we hadn't been involved in the last two.
The name the media had bestowed on the murders themselves had stuck. That's what we were using to describe the scene, like it was some sort of secret code word.
Homebrand Homicide.
I hated the name. It was such an attention-grabbing title that only someone in an office could have thought of.
Everyone knew of it now. It was all over the news and social media.
Kayden exhaled in annoyance, his arms folded throughout the gathering.
His small team of four waited patiently to be dismissed by the boss so we could all be assigned our places by Kayden himself.
The location today was another remote one like the first.
The house had a road leading straight to the main one stretching back to town and wasn't obscured like the breeder's was. It had a fenced yard, but beyond that was a mass of peeling paperbark trees further than the eye could see.
The shrill ringing of cicadas was a welcome sound. I didn't want to hear or see another damn mosquito again.
I could see the media already gathered at the tape blocking the road further down. They trained thier cameras on us in the hope they would catch something juicy.
The boss dismissed us all and marched off her own way with her own team.
Kayden turned out us, clearing his throat.
"Val, you'll head inside to identify the bodies. I need you to be straight to the point. Human or not. One of the others should be in there waiting for you."
I nodded and split from the group to wind around to the front door where others were marching through to fan out.
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The bodies were right here in the open living area, just like they were in Mrs Kinsknotts shed.
A large display wall ran through the middle of the room and was made of small dowel rods of different colours. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUbycFZSpI
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This is where the bodies were hung, all bearing the signature stapled mouths.
Cheap occy straps had been skewered through the skin on the outside of each rib to hook the bone from the inside. The other side had been stretched to its limit and snapped around a dowel rod to keep it tight.
The first body belonged to a middle aged woman. Her breasts were hanging from her shirt that had been lifted to give the occy straps access to her skin.
The second was a young teenage boy. He wore no shirt, so it was easier to see the extent of the damage to his body. His ribs had already snapped and seperated from the sternum to bow out the sides like bulging footballs.
The whole of his back had been gouged out in some sort of internal explosion that had broken the dowels behind him. Bright blood smeared the floor in a thick trail leading further down a hallway and to the right.
The last body was a middle aged man. His drooping chest was exposed under his shirt that had been tucked up like the woman's to show off his straining ribs bent abnormally against the straps.
I had to get to the bottom of how these murders were linked.
Approaching the woman, I traveled down to the strap furthest from the breasts so I could wedge my finger into the hole.
"She's human" I told the female cop waiting nearby for my answers.
I could tell the teen boy was a demon just by looking at the missing rods surrounding his back. Blood Demon's only did that to thier hosts if they felt threatened and wanted to fight to live.172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkMWvADxSc
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It looks like the demon hadn't made its escape either. One cop flipped over a clawed hand made entirely of exposed muscle and bone from the room it had died in.
The man was the last for me to jab my finger into the ribs of and taste.
"Human too" I noted as I washed the taste around my mouth.
"Thank you" the cop smiled to me then rushed off with her findings.
I turned back to the bodies to scan them over again.
The skin was still warm when I had twisted my way into it. Unlike the other elaborate scenes, this one was fresh.
The straps around the ribs had me intrigued as to why the killer had taken this route. Twelve on each side, all stretched to thier absolute limits.
I lined up on the dowels beside the man and peered around the room for some sort of clue.
The front windows laid to the left of the family. They had sheer curtains over them that barely blocked anything out. I could see the front yard swarming in a sea of blue and black uniforms.
Around the ribs....
I let out a sigh and went to move from the dowels before I froze up in realization.
I breathed outwards again, really paying attention to how my ribs crept inwards with the effort.
With a deep breath in, they expanded and stretched dramatically.
The curtains were practically transparent. The family would see someone coming or passing thier street and grow excited for thier renewed hope.
They'd be breathing heavily due to the stress. If one of them tried to call around thier stapled mouth, the occy straps would tug tighter.
They'd see help was coming and let thier panic take over. There would be no thought to control when rescue was in reach.
What a sick way to die.
We were right here too.
This was another time-based setup. The items were more cheap home-brand products usually sold in bulk.
Why were they all so reliant on time? Was the killer planning thier next move while we were discovering the previous one?
The only connection was the growing numbers of bodies in each Homebrand Homicide. If they kept to thier plan, the next one would have four.
Moving from the dowels, I stood there to ponder over the bodies.
The first one had coils througout the house. They had been eight hour ones that hadn't burnt through yet.
The second had a machine setup for the elastic bands. For thin bands to mumify and crush someone like that, it would have been days.
This one had the occy straps. Since the process would be time consuming itself, I would think they had a day before they let thier panic kill them.
So, we discovered the wrong one first. It should have been the mummified bodies, not the mosquito breeder.
That threw my number theory out the window then.
And did that mean that there was one out there that was older than a few days, or being set up right now?
I moved from the family to follow the trail to the dead Blood Demon curled up on the floor.
It had trauma to the face around the skull and sockets. The small fractures in the bone looked like someone had used the end of another occy strap to beat the demon to death with. 172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWR9hXt2qK
172Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnblqbsQc1I
The throat had been crushed by a boot someone was measuring the print size of.
The way the airways were absolutely obliterated made the attack look personal.
No-one did something like that unless they wanted to make sure something was going to stay dead.
Looking back, I frowned at the blood trail leading to me.
Was the killer afraid of demons?
If they were, that meant that they weren't a demon after all. They were a human.
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"A human?" Kayden questioned as I spilled my findings to him outside "killing demons?"
"Killing humans, thinking they are demons" I babbled out excitedly "think about it, if the mosquito guy was a demon, it'd be drained dry with him in that room. If not, the snapped neck would have to have killed it."
"The other two would be crushed to death..." Kayden added "theres no escaping that."
"And these ones would be split in half to show thier true selves!" I grinned back.
A human killing humans thinking they were demons.
I swelled with pride at my conclusion. It was the most plausible one I had so far.
"Okay, so where will they strike next?" Kayden pondered "each location has no pattern or link. They can't even find records of anyone buying in bulk of any of the items used. They have no fingerprints, no ID, nothing. Even Mrs Kinsknotts was clean."
"Most likely they've already killed days ago. It'll be something that slowly wears down the victim so they could make thier escape. The killer could be anywhere now."
Kayden muttered under his breath and looked up at the sky in frustration.
"We were this close" he squeezed his fingers together.
So close.
Someone couldn't just murder a bunch of people out of fear and disappear to somewhere new to strike again, could they?
A young Tracker came running up to Kayden, trying to catch his breath.
"I-it's happened again" he panted out and pointed "just now. S-someone found a home filled with those m-moisture draining flake tubs."
"Keep Dry?" Kayden suggested to the frantic nods of the breathless young man "where abouts?"
I looked to Kayden, thrilled our lead hadn't gone cold after all.
"F-four Moss Street" the young man breathed out and straightened up.
I felt my heart drop into my stomach.
That was just down the road from our home.
"Ready to go make this our last Homebrand Homicide?" Kayden asked with stern determination.
I nodded, ready to risk it all to make sure the killer was caught before they targeted the ones dearest to us .
There would be no chance to get away this time, I'd make sure of that.
ns 15.158.61.5da2
