Fall River, Massachusetts
Dark clouds rumbled in the distance as the Mercer family moved furniture into their new home. It was an old house, probably built in the 1800s, with a fresh coat of white on the wood siding. The light blue shutters, dulled by the thick cloud cover, gave it an almost innocent face. Frank Mercer had been apprehensive at first to move to such a small town, but he'd needed the money from his new job. Frank surveyed the house with a hopeful heart, he saw his wife in the kitchen tinkering with silverware and glanced up to see his son pasting a rock n' roll poster on his closet door. The thunder rumbled louder, signaling the arrival of the storm. Frank gazed around the yard to be sure everything had been put into the house, the moving van honked once to confirm they were leaving. Frank waved and began to walk back the house as the first crystal cold droplet fell onto his shoulder. The heavens opened and chilling rain began to patter lightly on him, he ran to the door and pushed it open with a creak. It was truly a dreary day.
Ten Miles from Fall River
The sheriff walked over to the tree clearing where the two deputies were kneeling.
"What do we have here, gentlemen?" he said bending to get a better look at the victim.
"Female, Caucasian, and possibly 5'5 feet," one of the deputies said holding a clipboard.
"She was found this morning by a couple of bird watchers, it appears that something dumped her here," the other stated flipping through a notebook.
The sheriff looked incredulously at the two men, "Possibly 5'5 feet? 'Something' dumped her?"
"Well…yes, sir. You see, the victim's head hasn't been found yet and her body's been hacked at with a semi-blunt object. Also, we say 'something' because there are slash marks found on trees near the resting place of the body," one said uneasily glancing at the other for support.
"Let me see her," the sheriff sighed pushing past the two men.
He stopped dead at the sight of the mutilated body. It was the worst case of body mutilation he'd ever seen.
"Dear God, who could have done this?" the sheriff gasped taking a step back.
The Massachusetts Border
A young man with short brown hair and sharp blue eyes stood leaning against a black car. He had been thumbing through the Massachusetts newspaper when a particular story made him stop:
"Local Woman Found Dead"
An unidentified woman was found viciously mutilated in the forest near the town of Fall River. Police, at this moment, have not released cause of death or any suspects. More details as this gruesome story unfolds.
Sighing, he closed the newspaper and gave his dark leather jacket a sharp tug. Leaning into the black car, he jabbed the other occupant roughly.
"Hey, Sammy. Wake up. I found us another job."