"LET ME GO!" the young blonde-haired woman screamed as she realised she was tied to a chair. She couldn't recognise the dark, gloomy room that she was being held hostage in; all she could see was a faint silhouette in the corner of the room. She felt very vulnerable.

A snicker was heard from the silhouette's mouth as it walked towards her with a bloody-covered knife. As the shape got closer she saw he was a middle-aged man, if only she could see his face.

"LET ME GO ...." she repeated.

The rest was cut off by an eruption of screaming caused by the sudden tug of her hair.

"Any last words?" the vile man asked.

The woman, who was to afraid to say anything, did not reply.

"Very well".

A nauseating scream was heard as slicing and splattering sounds came from the knife being inserted into her body. Then all fell silent.

******

George Richards woke as the ringing of the phone interrupted his enthralling dream. He rolled over to view the digital clock sitting on his bedside table. It was 3:00am.

George reached over his bedside table to grab the phone.

"Hello, George speaking," he said.

"Mr Richards, sorry to be ringing you at a ridiculous hour but its urgent," the unknown speaker said.

"May I ask who is calling?" George asked.

"Mr Richards, I'm Chief Frank Durman and I am head of the Coleria Bay Police Department. I need you to help me crack a case".

George Richards was a FBI agent who was well known for solving cases in La Revlon and surrounding areas, but he had never cracked a case in Coleria Bay.

"We have a horrible case on our hands but please time is of the essence. The murderer is still out there and if you've seen the images I've seen you would understand the severity of this situation".

George thought back to all of the horrible cases he'd been involved in but none of them sounded as bad as Chief Durman explained this case.

"I'll be there in an hour," said George as he hung up the phone.

*******

"Thank God your here, Mr Richards!" Chief Durman said enthusiastically. "Follow me".

George followed the Chief in to his office. "Now, you know what we're here for".

Frank pressed a button on small remote that was in his hand, which brought up distressing images on to the large screen behind him. George gasped at the sight he saw before him.

"This is one of the worst murder cases we have ever seen here. The worst in my 15 years of patrolling the town. Over 20 women have been captured and killed." said Chief Durman. "As you can see from the pictures, the murderer slaughters them like animals, scattering their body parts over areas of land, sometimes for miles."

"How long has this been going on for?" asked George.

"About a year, whoever they are they definitely know what they're doing."

"Have you found any clues or suspects?"

"Only one suspect but I don't know if she is mentally stable enough to help us with this case. We also know the murderer is a man, from the tests done on the bodies. They had been raped by a male before they were sliced and diced."

George couldn't believe the little information there was; it would be very hard to crack this woeful case.

******

Ms Jane Rhodes lived in a mental institute just 15 minutes south of Coleria Bay. George asked the lady at the front desk for the number of Jane's room which was 21. He knocked twice until he heard a faint 'Come in', then he entered. The room was cold but roomy.

"Hello Ms Rhodes, I'm Chief Richards, I'm just here to ask you some questions about a murder case that has been going on in Coleria Bay for the past year. You admitted to being involved with a man you thought may have been the killer, is that correct?" he asked politely as he could.

"What's it to you?!" She replied angrily.

"Please Ms Rhodes, you could give me information that I need to solve the case".

"Fine! I was dating a middle-aged man named Ted Lavender. In the few months before I left him, he started 'playing up'. Threatening to kill me if I didn't do what I was told. He used to disappear in the middle of the day and I wouldn't see him 'till the next morning. One day, I followed him. He hiked up through the mountains to a hut there which had a cellar. I heard high-pitched screaming from a woman. Then there was a horrible choking sound...." Jane shuddered as she remembered back to that day. "I reported it to the police but I didn't have any proof. No one believed me. Thought I was some girl who had gone mad, so they stuck me here," she said "But I'm sorry, this is all the information I have for you".

"Thank you Ms Rhodes" he said as he walked towards the door and pulled the door closed.

******

George knew exactly where to go next as he drove away in his black Holden Commodore. He was heading for the enchanting mountains to check out the hut. He hiked the picturesque terrain until he reached the hut. Inside, the hut smelt stale.

BANG!

A loud sound came from what sounded like the cellar and George raced down to investigate. He treaded carefully as he reached for the door handle of the cellar. Then everything went black.

When George woke up he found he was tied to a chair.

"Hello there Mr Richards" said a voice.

"Who's there?" George asked.

As the man got closer, George realised it was.

"Ted Lavender, so it was you who murdered these people?"

"Yes, it's about time somebody figured this out, the 'stupid' cops of the town had no clue".

"Ted, I am putting you under arrest for manslaughter".

Ted laughed as he pulled a knife out of his pocket. "How are you going to do that when you are tied to a chair and I'm about to kill you?" he snickered.

As Ted said this George remembered he had a revolver in his right pocket.

"Goodbye, George Richards!" Ted screamed.

George pulled out the revolver and pulled the trigger. The screams from Ted's mouth proved that George had hit his target. Ted fell to the ground and his knife bounced out of his hand towards George, close enough for him to pick it up and cut the rope his hands were entangled in.

George rose up out of the chair and thought back to what he had done and there was no way he could go back to the FBI. He had no idea where he was going but he knew he had to leave here and never come back. He hopped into his car and drove off into the misty night.