Kevin entered the hospital where Mirabel had been admitted. Except for the smell of antiseptic which lingered, the air was crisp and clear. He went into the room and met Mirabel’s mum sitting on the corner of the hospital bed. She was engaged in an interrogative conversation with Alex, who sat facing her in an old, rusty armchair. He was putting down some information, which he considered vital, on a little note—until Kevin interrupted when he pushed the pewter white door open. “I apologise for taking so long,” he said, trotting towards the distressed single mother. “Mrs Lena, who is this, please?” slightly pissed, Alex asked, his eyes following Kevin as he came in and sat beside her. “T-t-this is Kevin,” Lena stuttered, tears trickling down her eyes. “H-h-he is the one I told you about who’s been helping me and my daughter.” “Hello Kevin, I’m inspector Alex Krevoy, head of state security.” He stretched his hand for a handshake. “Hello, inspector.” Kevin grabbed his hand firmly. “H
Kevin left the hospital without informing Mrs Lena—or the Inspector. He made sure not to mention anything about what Landry had said to either of them, especially Lena. He was more worried about how she would react to the news. When he arrived at the park, he spotted a small crowd that’d gathered. Heart pounding against his ribcage, he shuffled towards them, eyes bulging as he got closer. He struggled to move past the throng. As he walked up to the front, his hair stood on end when he saw Mirabel’s body, lying naked in her pool of blood, her face hideously disfigured and burnt. She had multiple stab wounds on her chest and several cuts on her face. Kevin felt a cold shiver go down his spine, his body trembling, his knees buckling. His lips were shaking as tears escaped his eyes, sliding down his cheek softly. He looked down at her little face. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Mirabel’s face was bruised and covered with great blotches. Her thighs and abdomen had been lacerated.
I’ll be back. Be ready when I return. T-Murek said those last words to him before he left. Kevin’s twenty-fifth birthday was in a week. He knew he was going to be seeing T-Murek a lot more often now the deadline was fast approaching. Only a few days were left for his birthday—a few days before T-Murek would finally show up to end his life in the most torturing way. The thought of this made him sweat. He did not want to die, at least not in that way. Kevin realised he was still kneeling before Mirabel’s body amid the crowd that’d gathered. He noticed the crowd had gotten bigger, and he was receiving the most attention. The cops were already present, and Alex led the team. He got down from his vehicle and was accompanied by the rest of the officers who were with him. The crowd fell silent for a moment, then came to life in a burst of conversation. Alex took out his badge and shouted, “Police!” The crowd parted. He put his badge back in his pocket and walked up to where Kevin knelt b
The white-coated lab assistants moved about in choreographed silence, while some stood before a large table drawing pipettes of fluid from tiny tubes and transferring them into a vile. Frank walked into the laboratory, William following behind, barely able to keep up with his swift strides. They entered the same cabin that was labelled, ‘special project’. Just like before, Frank slid a card through the electric door, opening it, and they both walked in. William’s eyes widened at the sight of Eulich lying lifeless on the bed in the centre of the room. Her body had been wrapped in a plastic bag that covered her body just up to her neck, and her eyes were wide open in a disturbing stare. He came and stood at her side. “How did this happen?” “Someone came in last night and strangled her in her sleep. We are yet to identify who it was.” Frank walked to where she lay and pushed the plastic bag that’d covered her body to reveal several scratch marks on her skin. “Judging from the cuts on h
Kevin noticed nothing unusual when they arrived at De-Marie. Everything seemed perfectly normal—maybe too normal. They rushed into the hospital and quickly headed for room 231. When they got to that room, they discovered that the door was locked, and Alex tried to open it.“That’s odd.” His eyes narrowed when it refused to open.Suddenly, they heard a rustling noise from inside the room. “Someone is in there with her,” he whispered to Kevin, taking out his gun from the holster, leaning against the door.Soon, backup arrived; armed police officers trooped into the hospital, making loud noises with their feet. When they’d surrounded the room and secured the exit, Alex signalled to one of them to pull the door down.The officer took the clue. Stepping forward, he fired at the doorknob and forcefully kicked the door down. Immediately, the rest of the police officers swarmed into the room with their guns pointed in all directions.“Freeze!” they hollered as soon as they entered the room, po
William had his gaze fixed on Catherina; his breath caught in his throat. He was as shocked as everyone else in the room. “When did this happen?” “This footage was recorded several hours ago,” Catherina answered politely. “Precisely 9:45 am this morning.” “A masked shifter?” Frank said in total disbelief. “This is going to be very difficult. How are we going to find him if we can’t place an ID on him? Mrs Eulich was our best chance at finding these shifters and eliminating them, but now she is gone, what do we do?” Scott was clueless. He had not a single idea of what was being discussed. After a long, thoughtful silence, William finally answered, “We wait.” His eye narrowed, and he rested his lower jaw on his hands. “The mayor had appointed Lawrence Linus as president to take over command of the taskforce in my place. Lawrence promised to get rid of every shifter here in the city within a week. We shall wait to see how he intends to do this.” ### The sky was a fair maiden with bl
Kevin glanced up at the body hanging from the ceiling. Is this what Mrs Lena meant when she said she was going to put an end to all this? She was going insane after all—there’d been no masked man with her all along. She was losing her mind. Tears trickled down his eyes. We should have moved her to a mental clinic when we had the chance-–maybe then, she’d still be alive. A sick feeling rose in his stomach, and he felt his leg tremble from looking at her lifeless body swivelling from the ceiling. “Mrs Lena…” His mouth moved with great difficulty, as if searching for the right question to ask. “Why?” Kevin picked up the chair that’d been flipped beneath her feet and climbed onto it to reach her. He scrutinized the rope she’d used; it was the clinic tube. He untied her from the ceiling and took her down gently. Her head rolled freely to her shoulder. That was when he noticed her broken neck. As he laid her gently on the bed, her lips peeled back in an unpleasant smile. Kevin felt a
It was midnight, and Kevin sat outside Pittsburgh bar, drinking himself to stupor. He sat there to process all that Leonard had said to him; it was just too much information to take in. Just then, he painfully remembered Lena’s body hanging from the ceiling. He took a sip from the bottle of vodka which sat on the table before him— wincing as the fiery liquid found his tongue. After a moment, the thought of his earlier encounter with Leonard was erased momentarily from his memory, but that of Lena hanging from the ceiling lingered like a parasite that just wouldn’t go away—devastating him even more. Kevin blamed himself for their death; Lena, Mirabel, and Loretta. If he hadn’t shown up in their lives, they’d still be alive. He woozily dropped the sixth vodka bottle, causing the rest on the table to rattle. “Another bottle, please!” he hooted to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper went in to get his order. Kevin felt woozy as he stared at the empty bottles sitting on the table before him.