Lemony: Hi ya readers! My mentor has seriously been playing games with my emotions recently and I decided to write a story that proves once and for all that I don't rely on my lemons to make me popular.
Wicked: And its murder mystery story? Lemony are you sure you know what you're doing?
Lemony: Of course I am! I sat on my Thinkin' Mat for nearly an hour before I came up with this! I don't doubt my Thinkin' Mat and neither should you…
Awesome: Ok…so what do we have here? A mystery? A Whodunit? I bet I'll be able to figure out who the killer is before anyone else!
Lemony: *grins* As Wicked said this IS a mystery story. If you readers think you're smart enough to figure out who the killer is, have fun! BTW, pay REALLY CLOSE ATTENTION to each of the chapters cause it'll get a little confusing from time to time, ok? Alrightie! That's it from us! Enjoy!
Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
Chapter 1...
In the year 2009 a gruesome murder was committed. The victim, Yoshino Soma, a 31 year old prostitute was found dead in a run-down brothel on the Southside of Karakura town. It caught the attention of both law enforcement and the general public when details about the case were released. Soma was found with her throat slashed from ear to ear; her genital-area mutilated, and had progressive facial mutilations. If that's not brutal enough, the killer even went so far as to remove her internal organs with such precision it made professional doctors green with envy. She was not the only victim. Four more women's lives were claimed by this deranged maniac. Everyone wanted to know: who was this dangerous madman? Was it your kind neighbor? Perhaps your children's school teacher? Or even one of your loved ones? The severity and brutality of the murders sent Karakura town into mass hysteria. No one felt safe walking the streets, both during the day and at night. Mace, baseball bats, and guns were flying off the shelves. The murders continued and the police worked frantically to catch the killer and keep the general public under control, however there was little evidence to go on. The only thing left at the scenes of the crimes were letters written by the killer himself. It was dated and sighed, Jack The Ripper...
~Three Years Later~
It seemed like it would never stop raining in Karakura Town. Now a days, it had become the norm for the inhabitants of what was ruled Japan's Scariest City. The arrival of crime-lords, gangbangers, and petty thieves had sent the once shining town straight to Hell in the past three years. There were some who believed the place would never be the same again.
Rukia Kuchiki had lived in Karakura town her whole life. She literally watched her beloved city be swallowed up by violence and murder. There wasn't much she could do about it but try not to get into anybody's way. You never know what you're going to get in Karakura Town. You could be enjoying a merry stroll in the park when some junkie runs up and steals your wallet. You could stop at a traffic light and some lunatic could blow your brains out for the hell of it. You could even accidently bump into the friendly neighborhood serial killer in the local grocery store.
Things were bad here.
But little did anyone know that things were about to go from bad to worse...
Now here she was, Rukia Kuchiki, a detective and decorated police woman. She'd single-handedly captured some Karakura Town's most violent criminals. Rukia Kuchiki was responsible for the chase and capture of notorious serial killers such as, Chucky Chop-Off, The Skinner, The Moonlight Killer, and The Banzai Butcher. She was well known and highly respected for her amazing skills of deduction and was considered to be one of the greatest detectives who ever lived. She was the lead detective for the Homicide Unit of the Karakura Town Police Department. It was strange, if you would have told Rukia three years ago that she would become a respected police woman, climb the ranks of Karakura Town Police Department, and spend her time chasing after insane lunatics...well, Rukia would look at you as if you were crazy. But now, hunting down criminals had become an obsession, it was her reality, and the only reason she got out of bed in the morning.
The rain continued to fall, landing on earth in giant, heavy plops. If you were to look up, you'd expect to see stars in the night sky. However, in Karakura town, you'd only see swirls of blue and dark green in the night sky, not the full moon, or shining stars. The methane gas being released from factories combined with the oxygen was causing the moon to be blocked out and a foul smell to radiate in the air.
But Rukia merely stared out of the window of the unmarked squad car watching the rain fall.
"Hey Rukia," Her partner and mentor Jushiro Ukitake said snapping her out of her daze, "We're coming up to the crime scene."
"Oh joy..." Rukia replied sarcastically her eyes still peering out the window, Jushiro rolled his eyes. Ukitake turned the unmarked squad car around a corner and the two police officers came upon a condemned building. Flashes of red and blue police lights splashed against the building and the bright yellow "Crime Scene- Do Not Cross" tape was wrapped around the outside.
Jushiro pulled up the building and Rukia cringed when she looked at it. Of course, the damned building was rotting from the inside out; graffiti decorated its festering brick walls, and garbage littered the stoops and alleyways and overturned trashcans were sprawled all over the place. The windows in the condemned building were busted out, most likely done by delinquents. Rukia made a face; she could practically hear the tiny feet of cockroaches and rats scurrying around. To put it simply, Satan wouldn't walk into that place.
"Ukitake," Rukia said turning to the white-haired superior, "What is this place?"
"Some old apartment building," Jushiro answered pulling the car to a stop, "We got a call over the scanner that an officer on duty found a body in the basement."
"Oh great..." Rukia mused aloud, "Another dead person means another murderer...this whole city is just crawling with sick fucks."
"Yeah, but it's our job to stop them." Jushiro replied, Rukia shook her head.
Together, the two detectives stepped out of the unmarked squad car and into the rain.
Tatsuki Arisawa was standing at her post outside the hellish, old apartment building. This hadn't been just another night for her. Although murder was the norm in Karakura town, Tatsuki was still shocked to her core when she was the one who came across the dead body.
It all started a few hours ago, the newly made officer was on her beat. When suddenly a loud crash rang in her ears and a piercing scream ripped through the night. Tatsuki, being the only officer nearby, decided to investigate. Turning on her flashlight and drawing her gun, Arisawa entered the building only to find the corpse of a young woman left in sickening tableau. Tatsuki had only been on the force for a year and didn't want to handle a murder situation on her own. Fearing for her life, the young police officer fled the building and quickly put in a call over the police frequency. Luckily, Jushiro and Rukia had been close by and decided to take a closer look at the alleged crime scene. While she waited Tatsuki was on edge the entire time. Every second that ticked by she became more and more skittish. She wanted to run but knew she couldn't otherwise she'd be abandoning her post and labeled a coward.
So Tatsuki stood in front of the building, gun at the ready, and feeling a little trigger-happy. After all, this was a rough part of town...not even the police were safe...
Thank God in Heaven young Tatsuki saw Jushiro's unmarked police car pulling up. She was even more grateful to see the world famous Rukia Kuchiki was by his side. Tatsuki, like everyone else, knew Rukia's reputation; having her there made Tatsuki feel much better. Rukia's bravery and intelligence made all the police women in Karakura Town idolize her...
Rukia was unlike any other officer on the force. Take Ukitake for example, he dressed like a new-aged detective. Of course he wore suit pants, button up shirts, ties and then a trench coat. Ukitake always pulled his long, white hair back into a ponytail. Then there was Rukia who wore her signature light blue denim jacket, matching skinny jeans, knee-high leather combat boots, a black reverted belt, and a wallet-chain that nearly went down to her kneecaps. Rukia looked more like a biker than a police officer...then again, choosing these kinds of clothes made it easier for her to blend in with seedy crowd.
Tatsuki respectfully straightened up, pressed her feet together, and saluted her superior officers.
"Officer Tatsuki Arisawa, reporting." She said making sure she was standing up straight. Rukia smirked at the younger officer.
"What?" She joked, "Did they teach you how to say 'yes ma'am' and 'no ma'am' while you were at the academy?"
"Uh..." Tatsuki was unsure of how to reply, Jushiro and Rukia simply chuckled.
"That was a joke Officer Arisawa," Jushiro chuckled, Tatsuki was still standing as if she had pole holding her up.
"What are we dealing with?" Rukia asked her tone deadly serious, Tatsuki swallowed upon hearing such command in her voice. To say that Rukia was intimidating would be an understatement.
"I was on my beat and I heard a scream," Tatsuki began, "So I decided to take a look, and I found a stiff in the basement."
Both Rukia and Ukitake nodded. Dealing with dead bodies had become as easy as waking up in the morning for those two.
"Alright then," Rukia said looking up into the sky, rain came pouring down onto her face, "We're burning midnight, let's get a move on."
Together all three officer went inside and descended into the bowls of the building.
"Ugh," Rukia breathed to herself as she covered her mouth with her shirt, the smell of mildew, rusty pipes and mold was enough to choke the three officers. The odor was thick and persistent; then add in the metallic smell of blood...Rukia was fighting the urge to turn around and leave. The retched stench was strong enough to make a maggot gag on its own vomit.
As they walked the officers flashlights bounced of the peeling walls, rust-covered pipes, and from time to time they would see a starving rodent scamper across the floor. The only sound they could hear were their own footsteps and the occasional drop of water dripping onto the floor from the old, leaky pipes.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
They all stuck close together in the damp, decaying place, Jushiro was leading the way, followed by Tatsuki, and Rukia was right behind them.
"Where is the body, officer Arisawa?" Jushiro asked,
"Right down there," Tatsuki replied pointing the way,
A few moments later the group came across a large room. The room not only smelled like filth, it reeked of death. Rukia could recognize that scent anywhere. The two veteran officers approached the crumpled up body on the floor in the center of the room. Strangely, it was the body of young woman; she was naked from the waist down and there wasn't a spot on her that wasn't covered in scratch marks. She looked like she'd been attacked by bear...
"Ok, what do we have here...?" Jushiro mused aloud as he squatted down to get a better look at the unfortunate person, "We have female, approximately in her early twenties, blonde haired..."
"What exactly are you looking for, officer Ukitake?" Tatsuki asked feeling a little squeamish; Ukitake glanced at her and let his flashlight linger on the victim.
"I'm looking for the cause of death," Ukitake replied reaching into his trench coat and taking out a pair of latex gloves. Quickly he snapped them on and went about examining Jane Doe. Jushiro gently put two fingers to the victim's neck. There was no pulse, of course but something was strange...
"She's still warm," Ukitake told both women, Rukia concluded that due to the body temperature their victim hadn't been dead for long. Carefully, Ukitake examined the victim's neck further...
"Look, there are finger imprints here...she was strangled, but that doesn't explain the scratch marks." He said, Rukia swallowed hard.
"Ukitake..." She said, her voice taking on a hollow ring, "Do you think it's...him?"
"Who?"
"You know exactly who I'm talking about!" Rukia snapped getting slightly irritated, "Is it Jack? Jack The Ripper? Do you think he's… back?"
Ukitake shot her a look, "Rukia, Jack The Ripper has been dormant for the past three years. Besides, this isn't his MO. It doesn't fit...I think we're dealing with the work of The Slasher, Rukia."
Rukia folded her arms and scoffed, "That doesn't mean Jack won't strike again…"
At this point she was ready to believe anything. Honestly, the raven-haired detective just wanted to go home and turn in for the night. The elder male officer continued looking over the victim while Tatsuki and Rukia held their flashlights steady.
THUD!
"Could you keep it down girls, I'm trying to look for evidence," Ukitake said his eyes still focused on the body, Rukia and Tatsuki exchanged looks.
"That wasn't us, sir…" The younger officer said,
THUD!
That loud thudding sound was coming from directly above them...At this point Rukia had drawn her trusty Beretta M9 nine-millimeter pistol from its leather holster. What she said next made the other two officers' go on guard:
"The killer is still in the building! Radio for back-up now!"
Quickly, Tatsuki put in an emergency contact on the police frequency, "This is officer Arisawa, suspect is still in the building! Requesting back-up immediately!"
At that point all three officers had armed themselves, pistols cocked and ready, and feeling more than trigger-happy.
THUD! THUD!
There was no doubt that was the sound of heavy, male footsteps coming from above their heads. Rukia motioned to Ukitake and Tatsuki to stay quiet and follow her. The very notion that they were trapped in Satan's building caused fear and paranoia to seep into their psyche. Rukia held her gun out straight forward, ready to fire at anything with a pulse. They left the basement a ascended the stairs...
Rukia was leading the way, using her fear as her power. Her midnight blue eyes were scanning the darkness, her finger twitched on the trigger at every shadow that bounced off the peeling walls. The only sound she could hear was her heart beating against her ribcage, it was loud and roaring. A small bead of sweat trickled from her temple onto the floor.
Drip.
Rukia's entire body was wracked with tremors as she round the corner, and went further up the stairs.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Her breathing quickened upon hearing that sound again. It was definitely footsteps...
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she entered the third floor. There was no time to think or look around. Her thoughts were jumbled and fierce. She was both the hunter and the hunted. She entered the large room cautiously; there wasn't a soul to be seen. Rukia didn't lower her gun. She knew better. Someone or something was lurking around the building...
A sudden crack of thunder caused a terrified yelp to escape from Tatsuki. Rukia spun her heel when the petrified sound was cut off. A flash of lightening luminated the room only for a moment and Rukia saw a hand clasped around Tatsuki's mouth!
She raised her gun, "Karakura Town Police! Come out with your hands above your head!"
Both Rukia and Jushiro peered into the darkness trying to locate Tatsuki. A vicious laugh echoed in front of them. Another flash of lightening. Rukia's muscles tensed when she saw Tatsuki being held around the throat by the culprit.
"Come quietly or we will use force!" Jushiro shouted, finally able to see two figures in the darkness. One was poor Tatsuki desperately trying to scream, but a boney hand was digging into the flesh of her cheek. Another flash of lightening shed light on who was the person behind the Slasher murders recently plaguing Karakura Town:
"Nnoitora Gigla..." Jushiro growled, his eyes glinting, "You're wanted for the murder of seven women, three men, and-"
"And two small children!" Nnoitora cackled, "Tell me something I don't know!"
"Let Officer Arisawa go, and maybe I won't shoot you in the fucking face!" Rukia shouted, the madman let out a rip-roarious laugh.
"Am I supposed to be scared of you? Shut up you little bitch and let the men talk," Nnoitora spat yanking a terrified Tatsuki back and forth. The younger officer could feel something cold and jagged pressed to her throat. There wasn't a need to guess what it was. Nnoitora had her at knife-point.
"Do you know who I am?" Rukia seethed, her words dripping with toxin, "Do you know how many sick fucks like you I've put in coffins over the years?"
"I know exactly who you are..." Nnoitora purred evilly, "You're top-cop Rukia Kuchiki...you know, every criminal in Karakura Town wants your head on a fucking platter..."
"So now that we've introduced ourselves," Rukia said coyly, her finger was still twitching on the guns trigger, "Let's get down to business. Let Tatsuki go and I won't blow your grape-sized balls off."
"Fuck you bitch!" Nnoitora snapped jerking a shaking Tatsuki around, "Here's what we're going to do...I'm going to kill this bitch..."
He paused and his beady black eyes locked on Ukitake, "Then I'm going to kill you old man..."
The madman turned and smiled viciously at Rukia, "Then I'm going to you kill you...and then I'm going to walk the fuck out of here..."
A minute pasted. Then two. Then three.
Rukia and Ukitake were holding their breaths as they kept their weapons locked on Nnoitora. As badly as Rukia wanted to shoot that fucking smirk right off his face, she knew she couldn't. It was too dark and she ran the risk of accidently shooting Tatsuki.
"I am way to unstable for this shit!" Rukia finally yelled, "If you're feeling froggy then leap you son of bitch!"
Nnoitora let out an ungodly roar and all time seemed to freeze.
A crash.
A scream.
Then nothing...
Everything that followed happened in short flashes. Tatsuki hit the floor. Jushiro fired three shots. Nnoitora fled. Rukia chased after him.
The heavy trod of Rukia's boot was the only sound that ricocheted off the brick walls of the building. She was gunning for Nnoitora, determined to put a fucking hollow-point in his forehead. She rocketed down the empty hallways of the building, kicking in doors, and expecting the rooms for her target. Rukia ran as fast as her legs would take her! She was running faster than a cheetah as she rounded the corner and-
WHAM!
That coward Nnoitora hid behind the corner and sent his boney fist flying into Rukia's nose! He used her momentum against her and the hit's power increased exponentially because of her running. The sound of her nose cracking upon impact made Nnoitora think he had the upper hand. Rukia's head went hurtling back and her legs had been snatched from underneath her. Her gun flung from her hand when her entire body went crashing onto the ground! Nnoitora tackled the officer and sent a fury of punches raining down on her. Rukia, momentarily stunned from being hit so hard, was trying desperately to scramble away from the lunatic on top of her. The raven-haired cop was focused on the knife in Nnoitora's hands. He sent the blade flying down in an attempt to stab her but Rukia barely managed to roll away. Nnoitora only cut the sleeve of her jean jacket. As she scrambled to get to her feet Nnoitora let out a hellish laugh,
"Some super-cop you turned out to be!" He cackled, Rukia was trying to focus! All she needed was one lousy second to concentrate! Her vision was going in and out and she tried moving from side to side beneath that crazy bastard to keep him from hitting her. It wasn't working; Nnoitora was beating her fucking brains in. He socked her in her nose, cheeks, mouth, eyes, and forehead.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Finally, Rukia went limp underneath him.
Nnoitora glared down at her motionless body. He'd done it...he'd actually killed Rukia Kuchiki...
Nnoitora snickered...that snicker turned into a chuckle until he finally dissolved in psychotic laughter. She was dead! The bitch was actually dead! He'd single-handed murdered Karakura Town's best detective with his bare fucking hands! He smirked down at Rukia's corpse then looked at his bloody knuckles. Oh this was a grand moment...
Huffing, Nnoitora stood slowly and lingered over Rukia's body. He smiled lavishly, this was what he'd wanted to accomplish for so long. This was better than an orgasm. Suddenly, Nnoitora glanced from left to right. He had to get out of here before that other cop tried to catch him!
"There's no way some white-haired fucker is going to take me down..." He growled as he turned to make his escape.
CLICK.
That sound made Nnoitora freeze right where he stood. He knew that sound...
Unable to believe it, he turned on his heel to see Rukia sitting up holding a gun in her bloody hands. She was smiling at him, blood dripping from her nose, mouth, and forehead. Hot, boiling rage surged through her body and she looked like someone who had risen from the grave.
"Did you really think I was gonna go down that easy?" She purred, coughing slightly.
Nnoitora couldn't believe this, "WHY THE FUCK WON'T YOU DIE?"
Rukia glared at him, "You first..."
POW! POW!
Rukia sent two scolding hollow-points ripping through Nnoitora's chest. He let out a ferocious scream as hot lead cut through him. He flew backwards, landing on the floor with a thump, cringing, and rolling around in agony. Seconds later, Ukitake came sprinting into the room. The white-haired man saw Rukia on the ground, trying to hold herself up and Nnoitora was spread out at his feet, trying to cling to life. Quickly, and almost brutally, Jushiro fiercely kicked the killer and turned him onto the back. Not caring that he had two bullets in his body, Ukitake slapped a pair of steel cuffs on him.
Once Nnoitora was subdued, the white-haired officer turned his attention to his beaten partner.
"Rukia!" He said urgently jogging over to her, "You ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine," Rukia replied as Ukitake helped her get to her feet, she held out her arm to him. "Look what that bastard did to my jacket..."
It was over; Rukia had once again proven herself as the best police officer Karakura Town had ever seen.
Back-up finally arrived. Police cars swarmed the area as uniformed officers flooded the scene. Curious bystanders were standing outside being held off by police and the yellow "Crime Scene-Do Not Cross" tape. News vans and reporters were standing in front of bright camera lights in the rain trying to get the scoop on yet another insane killer being brought to justice.
When Rukia and Ukitake emerged from the forsaken building they were mobbed by the press; microphones were shoved in their face, they were bombarded with questions by annoying-ass news anchors, and photographers were snapping pictures left and right.
"Rukia! Do you have anything to say about tonight's events?" One reporter asked,
"Were you afraid of The Slasher? The public has a right to know!" Another exclaimed,
Rukia kept her head down and avoided the cameras. The flash of lights was making her head hurt. Ukitake put his hand to hold them back, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen," He told them sternly, "But the police don't have any comments at this time."
As they broke through the crowd of spectators, Rukia looked around. Surely enough she saw Tatsuki being loaded into the back of an ambulance.
"Hey! Hold on!" She called to the medics as she jogged up to the vehicle, Tatsuki was laid out on a stretcher but she lurched upwards when she heard Rukia's voice.
Rukia's jog slowed as she began to examine Tatsuki. The young officer didn't look any worse for wear, but she did have a large cut going across her chest.
"You ok kid?" Rukia asked trying to catch her breath, was it her or was the earth rotating faster than usual? Fuck, she was dizzy as hell! She wobbled from left to right before weakly leaning up against the ambulance to aid her balance.
"I'm ok," Tatsuki assured her, "But what about you? You should see a doctor! Your head is bleeding!"
Rukia ran her hand through her hair, when she glanced down her palm was covered in blood.
"Oh this?" She replied nonchalantly, "This is nothing. I've had worse. You try and get some rest, ok."
"I will," Tatsuki said actually smiling at her idol, Rukia returned her grin and nodded tiredly. Just then Ukitake came over to the ambulance.
"Rukia, you need to see a doctor, now." He told her, Rukia shook her head.
"No I'm fine...I promise..." Granted she was lying. Her vision kept shifting and she became top-heavy and lightheaded. Rukia unsteadily teetered from side to side. Her injuries were starting to catch up with her...although, she refused to admit it.
"Rukia-" Jushiro began,
"I'm ok! I swear! I'll just go home and put a Band-Aid on it..."She told Ukitake breathlessly, "I need to lie down..."
"No, you need to see a doc-"
THUMP!
Before Jushiro could even finish that sentence, Rukia hit the ground, completely unconscious.
~Elsewhere~
"Somebody! Please help m- "
The terrified and pained screams of yet another unfortunate woman were cut off by a jagged blade being ripped across her throat. She fell to the floor, completely lifeless as a dark figure loomed over her. The mysterious person cocked his head. If one was to listen closely, you'd hear an eerie chuckle coming from the shadow. His shoulders moved up and down as he laughed in his chest. With a titter, the black figure grasped the dead woman by her bare ankles and dragged her deeper into the shadows leaving a bloody trail behind them. Listen again… shhh…do you hear that? The shadowed figure was singing softly…it sounded like a demonic nursery rhyme…
"The time has come and the end is near…" The dark person sang cheerfully as they dragged the dead woman deeper into the blackness. They laughed slightly and continued to sing,
"Run and hide…run and hide, because Jack The Ripper is here…"
To Be Continued…
Wicked: Oh my…this is quite interesting…and I'm very pleased that you choose to include Jack The Ripper. I wonder who it could be…
Lemony: Really? And I thought it was kinda boring! Yay! I done good! *hugs Wicked* Spank you Wicky Boo for coming up the evil nursery rhyme!
Wicked: *eye twitches* Get off me you blasted idiot!
Lemony: *hugs Wicked tighter just to piss her off* Ok! Hey readers, who do you think Jack The Ripper is?
Awesome: Wait! Wait! Wait! That doesn't tell us anything about who ol' boy might be! There are no clues or nothing!
Lemony: Well not yet! It's only the first chapter, geez be patient Awesome!
Awesome: *glares at Lemony* Don't get slapped.
Lemony: *sighs* *rolls eyes* Anywho readers, that's it for now and one more thing: I PROMISE I will finish all my other stories just let me get through this one, ok? Please don't hate me…REVIEW!