Prologue
"The first body was found by a back road division east of Highway 99, three miles from the southern city limits."
The powerpoint flickered to a screenshot mapping the area in question, a red bubble circled the point in which the Director was addressing. "Found by a couple of unfortunate tourists just trying to find a fast way to the nearest burger joint. The victim was wearing a dark green hoodie with black pants, pretty hard to spot if you weren't paying much attention. Recent rainfall sped up the decomposition process quite heavily, making the scene even harder to scout for evidence that usual."
With that the projection changed once again, this time to an image depicting the scene of the crime in somewhat grainy quality. A young woman lie facedown in a muddy ditch, her bluish-pale face visible only from one side; fluorescent police lights illuminated the background of the image, causing the already dark room they sat in to turn an almost demonic reddish color.
"An autopsy performed the next morning ruled the cause of death a cervical fracture, most likely occurring due to a traumatic blow from a metal object. Several lacerations were found along the victim's back and shoulders, one in particular on the right shoulder blade depicting the initials D.A." The slideshow continued, exposing official images from the autopsy. The carved initials appeared almost menacingly deeper than the rest of the cuts. "The report confirms the lacerations were made before death.
The second body was discovered almost 2 weeks after the D.A. murder went public, this time found along the northeastern city limits; found by law enforcement themselves in fact. The mother of the victim had reported her missing in the general area, being a minor meant the process went much faster, but unfortunately not fast enough. The 17 year old was found by the sniffer dogs in an abandoned house, just a couple miles away from the last live sighting of the victim. The autopsy results were a bit less forgiving towards this young lady."
There was uncomfortable shifting in the room when the autopsy images were displayed.
"The cause of death was determined a strangling, as you can see, the lacerations of the back flesh were considerably deeper this time around." The initials had changed from the first victim's deep crimson color, to jet black slices still lining the shoulder blade. "It is believed our guy decided to cauterize the initials as he was cutting them into this girl, a heated knife is the suspected weapon.
The final body was found under much different circumstances, this time in an alleyway among the downtown area. The victim was a middle-aged male. Cause of death was the easiest to determine out of the three, several stab wounds in the abdomen meant the victim suffered severe blood loss before death. Although the lacerations, along with the initials along the right shoulder blade remained. This would be the final death in the D.A. strand of murders."
As the slideshow ended with the male's autopsy photos, the lights in the room were turned on, dimming the projection. Hiccup immediately rubbed his eyes in an attempt to make them adjust a bit quicker, before glancing around the near-barren room at the small group of officials staring at him. He then looked to the Director, Mr. Oswald, in the front corner. The gray streaks in his short, dark hair and well-kept beard were more vibrant in the harsh fluorescent light. His dark suit contrasted the beige drywall behind him in an almost unsettling manner. Oswald then turned the projector off with the remote he carried, he spoke as he leisurely began to step towards the table Hiccup was stationed at.
"Well Mr. Haddock," Oswald began, stopping about a foot in front of the opposing man. "Fill in the blanks."
Hiccup leaned back in his chair a bit, eyes meeting the grayish metal of the table before him. Studying how the ceiling lights reflected almost perfectly compared to the actual source; all the while attempting to simply get his thoughts in order. The story clicked into place within his mind and he looked up to meet Mr. Oswald's soft blue, but somewhat intimidating eyes.
"He was arrogant. He didn't start out that way, but after the initial taste for blood was quenched, he craved more, and he wanted to be stylistic about it. Hence the lacerations and letters."
Hiccup then leaned forward and rested his arms on the surface in front of him, the metal chilling his skin even through his long-sleeved dress shirt.
"Over 70% of serial killers' first homicides involve someone they shared a relationship with, however small the interactions they have may be. He probably knew these statistics, so he dumped victim 1's body in the most conventional place he could find. Somewhere far away from where the murder took place. Victim 1's name was Mary Retner, a college student attending SSC and living in an apartment not far from campus. Which is why the next victim popped up on the other end of the city.
He likely didn't know her, Irene Westmore was a high school senior who always went jogging before her morning classes. She was last seen on the edge of her neighborhood, where our guy spotted her before making the abduction. He then took her to the abandoned house he had scouted, before mutilating her flesh best he could while she could still feel it. He left her body so close to home because he wanted people to know what he was capable of." Hiccup eyed the other members of the room as he continued speaking, "He wanted people to know they weren't safe."
"So why the change of pace?" Mr. Oswald asked, folding his arms in front of him. "What made Victim 3 so different?"
Hiccup looked back to the man before him. "Our killer didn't have a preference for any specific type of person, he wanted people to know that he would go after anyone. So his target changed. Michael Dell was a man who regularly commuted by foot, often in the evening. This gave him ample opportunity for abduction, but he didn't want to go about it the same as the previous two. Michael was either forced, or possibly lured into the alleyway before being stabbed repeatedly. Our killer then made the lacerations, the only one of the three to be performed after death. Some think he was trying to confuse law enforcement, possibly staging the crime to look like a sloppy copycat. But he never did anything unintentionally. Anything."
Oswald eyed him a bit more, before continuing with the questions, "Why was this the final murder?"
"Formally speaking, karma killed his ass before he could commit any more." Hiccup stated with a bit more sturdiness in his voice, confident with his profile so far. "Larry Emerson was killed after being struck by a drunk driver the month following Michael's death. After all the publicity the D.A. Killer received, the coroner was pretty quick to spot an odd looking scar on Larry' s right heel. It looked like the letters were carved into his foot at a pretty young age, meaning he was holding back for God knows how many years.
Police raided his apartment after they got the information. An apartment that just so happened to be in the same complex as Mary's, our first victim. It was speculated he kept some kind of record regarding his killings, and the speculation was true. Police found a journal depicting the murders in pristine detail, all the while pentagrams and inverted crosses lined the pages. That's when they finally found out what the initials meant."
Hiccup couldn't help the proud feeling blossoming in his chest as he gave his final statement, "The Devil's Associate murders took place from March to April 1989, before our killer was met with a sudden, and in my opinion, justified end."
Mr. Oswald gave a bit of a side smile before turning to the other officials in the room, which consisted of three other burly men in suits. They nodded lightly, but all barred a similar, uninterested expression.
"Not bad, Agent Haddock. I see you've been doing your reading."
oOo
Hiccup stepped into the warmly lit hallway, allowing himself to release a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding as the heavy door closed behind him. He'd been warned something like that would happen eventually. Rumor among new agents was that the head of the branch, Mr. Oswald, liked to take in new hires straight from the academy and test their knowledge. Usually over local crime history, mixed in with giving a clear profile of the suspect. Although, he'd been told it would be a while before he was tested, if he was tested at all. Needless to say, Hiccup wasn't expecting a pop quiz his third day in the branch.
As he walked down the quiet hallway towards the elevator, he took notice of all the framed portraits of officials along the wall. Their names, ranks, and memorable cases they'd contributed to. Hiccup smiled, after four years of University, and months at the FBI training academy, he'd made it. It felt pretty awesome.
Stepping into the elevator, he glanced down the hallway once more, looking at the rows of photos and wondering if he'd ever make it to such a memorable place.
The lower floors though, were a bit less inspirational. Stepping into yet another hallway, professional-looking individuals in pantsuits and armfulls of paperwork scurried around him. He could hear the distant ringing of office phones and copiers echoing down the hall. Eventually he made it back to his cubicle, he sighed at the large stack of paperwork that had been dropped on his desk while he was away. He dramatically sat down and began to shuffle through the folders.
"Hey, muttonhead-"
Thwack
A wooden pencil bounced off his head and landed on the files in front of him. Hiccup tensed his neck and shoulders as it struck, before looking upwards with an annoyed glare at the culprit.
"They done pimping you? Bet you totally choked." Snotlout said with a smug grin on his face, not very visible considering his head was barely stretching above the cubicle wall.
"They..uh, weren't pimping me." Hiccup replied, trying his best to sound uninterested in the irritating man.
"I told you it would happen! Really soon though, honestly, I was surprised at first. They probably just figured it's best to size you up soon as possible," He laughed, "I mean if I hired someone as scrawny as you I'd be sure he had at least something going on between his ears; what else would he be good for?"
"Snotlout, it's funny hearing someone make appearance jokes when the person talking is so short they have to kneel on their desk just to see over the cubicle wall." Hiccup heard Fishlegs mention in space to the right of him. Though he couldn't see the large man's face, he knew a smirk was plastered across it.
"Ah-ha, very funny Fishface. But I'm not the fresh meat around here, your time's probably coming soon you know." Snotlout mocked, "Do well under pressure?"
"Snotlout knock it off. You've only been here a month, who are you to talk?" Hiccup asked, glancing upwards once more. Snotlout scoffed.
"How do you even know that?"
"People around here like to talk about the days they could come to work without their migraine medication." Hiccup said, an unamused frown still sculpting his face.
Snotlout growled a bit before lowering himself back to his desk, making a loud plop when he hit the chair.
"Just saying little Hic-cup," Snotlout intentionally choked on the word. "Around here there are alphas among a sea of omegas, I think we know which one you are."
Hiccup shook his head, ignoring the sly comment and trying to get back into his paperwork. Before he saw Fishlegs roll his chair from behind to cubicle wall in his peripheral vision.
"Don't listen to him Hiccup, you were the top of our class back at the academy!" Fishlegs projected the last part a bit louder, intent on Snotlout hearing. Hiccup continued staring at his papers when he spoke.
"We didn't go through twenty weeks of hell to do paperwork all day, Fishlegs. I-I don't know," Hiccup brushed a hand through his messy hair, "What if it's like this forever?"
"Hiccup, it's been three days. Give it time, everyone has to start somewhere." Fishlegs then rolled back behind the light gray wall.
Hiccup looked around him, all the bustling people carrying case files and minute crime reports. Running everywhere, going nowhere. A large window along the far wall exposed the dark outline of the building parallel to them. As droplets of rain visibly hitting the thick glass, Hiccup's mind began to wander. He imagined himself out in the field, solving real crimes, helping real people.
His mind flickered back to the gruesome autopsy photos that displayed not twenty minutes prior. Bad people were out there, "humans" that wanted to see the world burn, and he'd sworn to protect as many people as he could. He'd be damned if he wouldn't do so. A slight smile formed on his lips as the proud feeling from earlier returned once more.
F.B.I Agent Haddock.
Maybe Fishlegs was right.
Hey everyone! It's been ages since I've written a fanfic so please let me know what you think of this one so far. I have a lot planned for this particular story! This story is rated T (for now anyways) but will probably change to M later on. I'm on Tumblr under the same name I have here and will probably be posting about new chapters there.