Will Lawence was good at his job, some people would go as far as saying that he was one of the best in his league. But he hated it. He hated every second of being a detective. For every case, you were too late. The battered wife has already been beaten, the teenager had already been raped, the dead had already died. You can't undo the past of bring back the victims, as a detective it is your job to find out who did it, with what, and why? As a detective, you are always after-the-fact.
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"Detective Lawrence, I'm so glad you could make it" greeted Chief McCormick.
"Yeah, Yeah, so glad I could come. Who's the vic?"
"She hasn't been identified yet, but we got a team of men working on that" answered McCormick.
"Cause of death?" asked Detective Lawrence.
"So far we got death on impact, but that could easily be changed once we see further into this case"
Detective Lawrence walked over and crouched down, cracking his knees. He put on a pair of latex gloves and lifted the head of the victim up. The victim was laying face down on the pavement. Her arms were spread wide and her legs shoulder width. There was blood marks about five feet around her every side. She was about 45 pounds overweight and wasn't wearing any clothing.
"It's female, looks to be about 50 years of age" suggested Lawrence. He turned over her arms, examining them carefully. "There are burses by the forearm, and abrasions by the wrists, looks to be recent. Most likely self-inflicted. Well, to me this just looks like your average suicide so there is no reason for me." Detective Lawrence stated.
"Wait! Wait! There is something I think you should look at first, come follow me" McCormick directed. Detective Will Lawrence followed McCormick into the 21-story building. They walked across the hotel lobby and waited for the elevator. Will looked around at all the stone statues. He bent down and felt the cold marble floor and the soft velvet rug beside of it.
"Enough examining the floor, our elevator is here" informed McCormick.
Will met him and two police officers in the elevator. He watched the numbers rapidly change as they shot up until "bing", number 17.
"Is this the level of the vic's hotel room?" Will asked.
"Yes, we found out cuz the window was open that we suspect she jumped out of"
They and the two officers walked down the hall. They made about 6 lefts and a right until they turned towards a door.
"987, wow this is a big hotel huh?" commented Will.
"Your tellin' me, so tell us if you see anything out of the ordinary. If not you can go home."
The door was already open a crack, so they just pushed it the rest of the way open and walked into the room. The beds were made, the drawers were pushed in. Everything was as in place. It was like she never was here. Will walked forward looking up at the ceiling. He and the others in the room just froze still. There was a large bloodstain dripping down from the ceiling onto the carpet.
"What the hell? Is that, ohhhh, oh my god? That's writtin in blood" Will ranted on as the two officers and Chief McCormick just starred in aww. As Will got over himself, and tried to figure out wat the blood stains read, the others still were shocked.
"Hey, come on guys. I need your help" Will told.
"That wasn't there five minutes ago when we came up here last" McCormick explained.
Will and him both met eyes in suspense. The door slowly shut behind them revealing a mirror dripping blood down from it.
"Get some men up hear fast!" McCormick shouted into his walkie-talkie.
Will quickly got out his pistol and crept towards the window. He looked behind the curtains and under the beds. By then McCormick had already checked the closet. Will walked to the window and looked out. He could see all the buildings in the city. The lights were beautiful from there. He gazed down and saw the body. It was just a small blur from his height off the ground but he could see the many cars and flairs around the scene. He glanced to the side and saw a small piece of paper, folded and taped to the window. He reached over and grabbed the paper, bringing it back into the room. He unfolded the paper and read it to himself.
"To whom this may concern. Do not worry about ol' Lanour. She is in good hands now. And she was when she was under my care. I took great care of her and did her good. She asked to be cremated in regards to I, because she has no more family left. See she was old and needed help. That's where I came in. Take care."
He opened a zip lock bag and slid the paper into the bag, sealing it shut.
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The door of a small apartment, quietly opened. Will crept inside, putting his keys on the kitchen counter. He took off his over coat, hanging it on the overflowing coat rack. He untied his shoes and tiptoed down the hall. He slowly opened the bedroom door seeing nothing but pitch black. He continued to creep over to his bed until he stubbed his toe on the post. He bit his lip, holding in the pain, and lightly fell onto his warm bed. His head landed on his pillow and he slowly closed his eyes.
"Late night?"
"Ah!, you startled me. Ugh, Joanne did I wake you?"
"I was already awake. Are you ok? You seem jumpy"
"Just a tough day at work. I'll tell you bout' it tomorrow. Go back to sleep"
"Alrighty, goodnight, See ya in the morning love"
"Oh, come on honey, you don't have to get up"
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Will awoke to a loud beeping noise that filled his ears. He immediately rose up and hit the alarm clock, turning it off. He turned the water facet all the way to the right, causing the temperature to reach ice cold. He slowly got in the shower and shut the curtain. When he got out he was purple all over. He walked over to the sink with a towel around his waist and splashed warm water on his face.
The office door slammed shut as Officer Jerry Wright helped himself in the room.
"Chief told me bout' your case. Jesus Christ, what a whack job."
"Oh yeah, the whack-job"
"Do ya' have a lead"
"Uh, no. Not yet. We're still working on that, now if you don't mind I got a ton of paper work to do and a lot on my mind right now."
"What's wrong? You wanna talk about it?"
"No, but I got a lot of work to do so if you don't mind"
"Oh, yeah. No prob'. See around big guy"
Officer Wright left the office and the door closed behind him. Will's head fell flat on his desk. "What a pain in the ass" he said to him self.
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It was 5:00 and Will's shift was finally over. He was happy about his hours. 7 to 5 wasn't so bad, I mean length wise it was a bitch, but the time. He had pal's that worked from 1:00 am to 6. He got up and gathered his stuff. He left his office and was walking down the hall, when out of nowhere.
"Hey there big guy. The chief's lookin' for ya down at the town center. I'd hurry if I was you." Jerry told him. Frustrated, Will turned around and walked to his car.
When he got there, there was a large crowed formed around a barrier of yellow caution signs. He pardoned himself through the huge crowd of pedestrians.
"You got the message I presume"
"Yes Chief, I did. Why do you have to tell that little prick?"
"He was the only one around that I could reach. I know you and him don't' get along, but I needed you here. Come follow me."
He led him to the town monument. It was of Martin Jennings, the man who founded the town. There was a rope attached to the head of the statue. Attached to the rope, the victim. Hanging by the neck, eyes wide opened.
"Cause of death is broken neck" informed Chief McCormick.
"Do ya' think it's suicide?" Will asked.
"We did, until we found this."
He opened the mouth of the victim, revealing a folded piece of paper, stapled to his tongue. Disgusted, Will carefully ripped the paper off the staples, leaving the staples in the tongue.
"I assume that this is the same detective that read my last letter. Before you assume I am his murderer, or any body else's in the matter, I did not murder this man. He wanted to go this way. You know, the head he his hanging from was his great grandfather. How cute. This man was another patient of mine. I had him for quite a short time. He learned fast, and so far I think that you do too. I am still to find out your name. Though I have my ways. This man's younger sister is around here some where. All though her chosen way was not as subtle as his was. Look around, your smart. It shouldn't be too hard."
"We need more officers! There is another body here!" yelled Will.
As men came flooding in Chief McCormick and Will stepped aside.
"How you doin?" asked McCormick.
"Fine, Fine. I'll be right back, I gotta go to the restroom." Answered Will.
He walked over towards the public restrooms. He opened the door, and walked in. Walking up to the urinal he unzipped his pants. As he did so he saw in the mirror's reflection, a young women in the stall behind him. He immediately sipped up his fly. Embarrassed he slowly turned around. When he turned around he noticed tears dripping down her face. Puzzled as to why she was crying he asked her, "Um, are you ok?"
She did nothing. "Are you hurt?" he asked her. Still she just did nothing. Will slowly approached her. As he got closer, she started unbuttoning her white blouse, which was now stained from her tears. Under the blouse she revealed to Will.
"Jesus Christ, that's a, that's a bomb. Holy shit that's a bomb!"
Will sprinted for the bathroom door. He ran out the door shouting, "Bomb! Bomb! Everybody down, there's a bomb!"
As he was running away the public bathroom exploded, destroying everything near it. Will was thrown into the side of a brick convenient store by the blast. Pieces of everything around flew everywhere, into everything. The whole town square was affected. All the nearby towns people where on the ground, with their hands covering their heads; crying looking around for the loved ones.
As Will lied there, next to the building, he looked up and saw in a tall building, a man looking down on the accident. He had that same look that the girl had in the bathroom. Sad, confused, but dedicated. He was in a white undershirt, and kakis. Will jumped up to his feet and ran towards the tower. Everybody else was panicking so he went alone. He pulled out his pistol and ran through the door. He started up the stairs, checking every corner. After about five flights he started to sprint, until he got to the top floor. He found a door that read Bell Room. He kicked open the door and ran in.
"Hey, you. Put your hands up in the air, and turn around." Will shouted.
The man did nothing of the sort.
"Hey! I said put your hands in the air, and turn around. Don't make me shoot you"
The man slowly turned around looking at Will, shaking his head miserably. He leaned back with out looking behind him. Will dove towards him reaching for his legs. Too late, he watched the man fall to his death. As he fell, he suddenly looked like a different person. A person who was free, free from all the hell he has faced.
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Starting his routine as usual, he pulled his car into his normal parking spot. It wasn't reserved but it has been his spot sense his first day of the job. That day was ingrained in his memory permanently. When he found his office, he met his commanding Officer.
"Officer Welter, nice to meet you"
"Officer Lawrence, it's a pleasure."
"What's your first name Officer Lawrence?"
"It's Will"
"Very well, if you need anything my office is the last one on the left."
Later that day, they got a call in.
"Armed Possession" Officer Welter informed Will.
Will breathed heavily, this was his first day and already he was in action. They pulled next to another cop car. And approached a body lying on the ground. It was another police officer, which was shot. Immediately Officer Welter called the station, reporting that the Armed Possession, was now a homicide. Welter soon took action and hopped into his car, pulling away with out Will. The body lying on the ground was the body of Stephen Sell. He grabbed the hand of Will, squeezing tight. Looking straight into Wills eyes, he slowly passed on. Not knowing what to do Will started to run in the direction that Welter drove to. He followed the sound of screams, and tires squeaking. Down the street aways, he saw the police car stopped in the middle of the road. Next to the car was a large building, with the front door opened. Will ran into the building with his gun by his side. He heard a sound from up stairs, and he ran towards it. A loud gun shot came from the room farthest down the hall. He ran into the room and saw Officer Welter lying dead on the floor. He had been shot in the throat. Will jumped out the window onto the fire escape running after the suspect. He was wearing a brown coat, and a black top hat. Landing on a busy sidewalk, the chase continued. In full sprint they pushed aside everyone who was getting in their way. The suspect then pushed a kid off a bike and jumped on. Repeating his action, Will found a bike on a bike rack with no lock on it, and chased after the suspect on bike. Racing threw the streets, dodging cars. It wasn't long till the chase ended. Threw the intersection the suspect road threw, colliding with a city bus. He had no chance of living after the accident. That day Will realized he had scene the worst. Two brutal deaths of two innocent cops, and one brutal death of their killer.
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Will had the same office he has had. It has changed a bit. He has reorganized things, and now he has two windows, instead of one. Once lunch came, he went to the local bagel brewery. He took his seat and prepared to eat his sesame bagel. As he got out his cream cheese, he dropped his plastic knife. He wiped his hands on his napkin and leaned over to pick up his knife.
"Here, I'll get that for you sir." A man picked up the knife, wiped it off and placed it back on Wills plate.
"I appreciate that, thank you."
"Well, I appreciate what you do for our town Detective Lawrence."
The man walked away and left the store, before Will had a chance to look up at him. Puzzled Will continued to eat his lunch and then he returned to his office.
He left his office at around 8:30 p.m. He got into his car to drive to his house. He pulled out of the parking garage, and out on the highway. The lights of all the buildings lit the streets, making it visible. Will turned a sharp corner of the busy road.
"Oh shit!" Will cried. A man crashed threw his windshield. Thousands of pieces of glass flew everywhere, piercing the skin of Will. One going threw his whole arm. Hardly able to movie, Will screamed for help as he gripped his large wound. He looked at the man on his car. His face pale, and mouth closed. His eyes then exploded open, looking straight at Will. He mouthed at Will. He was saying something. "Help me."
Will then kicked open his the window of his jammed door.
"Help! He's alive!"
In the ambulance, Will woke up on the stretcher. He sat up with a breath supporter over his mouth. He took it off, and felt his arm. It was covered with an ace bandage. He felt a pain on his neck and stretched it out. It was cold, and he put his hands in his pockets. He felt a piece of paper. He took it out and opened it. He began to sweat, and shivers ran down his spine. The man wasn't the only victim, Will was too!
"Hello Detective Lawrence. Can I call you William? So, William; I take it you've met my friend Michael. He may come off strong, but he's a nice guy. I hope he didn't hurt you. That would be a shame. Like the others, he volunteered. He wanted to go this way, make a mark or a scar on the man called Earth. It's too bad he had to reck your car. It was a nice car. Maybe you'll get another one anyway. Because you know, you are highly appreciated in this town aren't you?"
How did he, when? It was the man from the Brewery. The man who picked up his knife. He didn't feel anything at the time. He didn't' even look up to see him. Things began to spin very fast, and Will felt very nauseous. The ambulance became very hot. Too hot. Will got up looking for a air conditioner. He pressed tons of buttons but none of them helped the heat. Frantically searching he collapsed onto the ground.
"Good morning honey. How are you feeling?" Joanne said in her sweet voice. Will was so happy to hear it again.
"Joanne? Is that you Joanne? I am so glad to see you," Will remembered something about his ride. "Where is he?" he said quickly.
"Where is who?"
"Is he here? Don't let him in!" Will's pulse was quickening, the machine next to him was beeping loudly.
"Who? Don't let who in honey?" he could tell that she was really worried about him now.
"The man, the man who did this to me."
"He passed on before they even got him to the hospital."
"No, not him. The man with the notes. He's coming for me. Help me!" He exclaimed. Will buried himself in the arms of his fiancé. Hiding from the man who he feared.
"What happened on the ambulance?"
Will just starred blankly into her eyes. The same stare he got from the man in the clock tower: Hollow and scared.
The next day, the doctor came in with the news on Will.
"We are going to let you go today, you need to stay in bed. You cant go back to work for a week though."
"Alright that's fine, let's go honey"
"Wait, there is one more thing," the doctor un-clipped a piece of paper from his board he was carrying. "Here's the address"
"The address to what?"
"Your psychiatrist" he said so matter-of-factly.
"What the hell? Are you kidding me? I don't need any psychiatrist. I'm fine. I'm not crazy. See, 2+2=4, and uh 10x10= 100. I'm fine. I'm fine!" Will really didn't want to see a psychiatrist.
"I understand Mr. Lawrence. It wont be for long, only two weeks."
"Two weeks!"
"Yes, he just wants to make sure you are ok. Now if you need anything just call us. It will be fine."
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"You're up. I wanted you to sleep in. Let me help you up into your wheelchair."
"I don't need help, and I don't need that stupid thing. I can walk fine. It's my arm that bothers me."
"Oh. How's that feeling? That must of hurt." She means it, she always means what she says. Will could see that, and now he felt bad for being so snappy at her.
"Yes, it did. But now I'm fine."
"Well, your appointment is at 11:30. To get there a little early we should leave around 10:45."
"Well I'll be ready, and I can get ready by myself."
He took the same cold shower he always did. Washing his face in hot water, and after his shower Joanne made him some nice scrambled eggs. He didn't deny this gratitude.
The SUV pulled into the parking lot of the large Executive Park.
"Goodbye, I'm sure it'll go fine" Joanne waved to him. Honestly, Will didn't want Joanne there. He didn't want her to see whatever may happen there.
Will walked into the E building.
"Good morning, how may I help you?" the receptionist said the same way she says it to everyone who walks in here.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a…" Will had to pull out the card the doctor gave him to remember the name. "Dr. Decker" he finally said.
"9th floor sweetie. Room 306. You make two lefts, then it's the last one on your right"
Will looked confused.
"It's easy, you're a big boy. I'm sure you'll find it." She said sarcastically.
Will walked over and pressed the elevator button. Surprisingly there was no wait. He stepped in and pressed the number 9. It was a slow moving elevator, but he still would be on time. There wasn't anybody else in the elevator with him, so he was free to move around. He stepped out side and tried to remember the directions the lady at the front door gave him.
"Make two lefts and it's the last one on your right," he murmured to himself. He followed his directions and managed to find 306. He walked in and checked in with the lady at the desk.
"Lawrence, 11:30 appointment with Dr. Decker."
"He'll be right with you."
It wasn't four minutes till he was sent in to his office.
"Hello William, how are you today?" Dr. Decker asked him.
"I'm fine"
"Do you like the view?" he noticed will staring over Dr. Decker's shoulder out the window, but really Will just didn't want to look at him. He was tall and soft looking, where a long white lab coat. In other words, an average shrink. "Me too. You can have a seat right there." He pointed towards a black coach.
"How bout we wait on the coach." If will was going to go along with this and answer Dr. Decker's stupid questions, there wont be any lying down on coachs. That is one thing Will wont allow in this meeting.
"Okay then," pressing a button on the phone that sat on his neat desk. "Susan could you bring us in a chair?"
They waited to begin for the chair.
"Here you go sir." The doctor's receptionist carried in a small chair that looked like it will be very uncomfortable.
"Thank you, Susan."
Will dragged the chair over too Dr. Decker's desk.
" So tell me a little bit about your self William" as if he was really curious.
"Well, I am a detective here for this town. I have a fiancé named Joanne. We'll be getting married this December. I'm a big Cubs fan."
"Why is that, why are you a cubs fan? We don't live any where near Chicago" what a weird question to be asking, Will thought to himself.
"I'm from there. Born and raised."
"I follow the news, so. How is it being a detective now? I've heard about all of the bizarre deaths. And are you okay? I saw the crash on the news." Okay, this is really weird, what type of questions are these? Will didn't understand where this was going.
"Well it's getting tough due to the fact that the suspect leaves no trail, besides a note on every victim." Realizing that he wasn't supposed to say anything about the case to anyone, Will completely screwed up.
"And how are you feeling?"
"I'm completely fine. The crash is why they sent me here. They said I reacted strongly to the crash, but I'm fine." Now Will just really wanted out.
"Well that'll be for me to decide. So tell me everything you remember about the crash."
"Well all I remember is the man falling on my car, and entering the hospital."
"Do you remember anything about the ambulance ride itself?"
"No, not at all. They said they found me on the floor, off my stretcher." Which isn't the truth. Will remembered finding that letter in his pocket, the one that he carries around everywhere he goes now. But Will didn't think the doc. needed to know of that.
"How did you get on the floor?"
"No idea" he answered carefully.
"Well, obviously you suffer from some sort of amnesia state, but I'm not quite sure. Hopefully, every week when we come here, we can talk about it a little bit, and eventually it'll come back to you."
"Hope so, cuz' I'm really interested in why they think I'm psychotic."
"Hmm, well. It was nice meeting you William. This is all the time that we have here together today. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."
Will walked out of the building and found his fiancé in the parking lot.
"How'd it go?" she asked him.
"It was fine" he answered bluntly.
"How was he?"
"He was fine"
"Jesus, tell me something bout the guy. Was he nice, mean, old, young?"
"He was elder, he seemed ok. Kind of firm and strict" Will left out the part about him asking a lot of weird questions.
"Well that's probably what you need in your life. Some one to boss you around and nag."
"Like I don't already have enough of that." they laughed and she helped him into the car again.
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He had to stay home for another two weeks. There was an appointment with Dr. Decker every day at 11:30. A pretty convenient time. He didn't have to wake up at dawn, and he wouldn't be waiting around too long. It wasn't normally crowded there either. 11:30 came, and he arrived at his appointment on time.
"Glad to see that you made it back" Dr. Decker greeted him.
"Thank you, I got nothing else to do."
"That is very true, it's two weeks right?"
"Correct"
"You are a man of your work, I respect that. But it seems to me, that maybe you over do it." That was really none of the doctor's business.
"Who are you to tell me how much I can work?"
"I'm no one, I'm just saying it may not effect you as much as others."
"What does that mean?" Will asked angrily. He hated it when people judged about his work.
"Well you do have a fiancé, right?"
"Are you saying I don't spend enough time with her?"
"No, no I'm not. I'm just making conversation."
"Well enough of that conversation."
"Very well. Now tell me, how often are you intiment with your soon-to-be-wife?"
"What the hell is with all these questions about my 'soon-to-be- wife'?"
"Mr. Lawrence. I am the doctor here, and I only ask you things that I think will help you heal from your mental wounds. I am only asking you what is necessary. Now if you don't mind."
Will pauses. And takes a deep breathe. "About twice a week."
"Now that wasn't that hard. How do you feel after you make love?"
"I'm in love with her, having sex with her is a part of that."
"How do you feel during your love making? Do you enjoy it?"
"Very much." He chuckled to himself. What a stupid question.
"How do you think your fiancé feels afterwards, do you think she enjoys it?"
"She feels great afterwards, and I think she enjoys it." Why does this matter? Will asked himself. It's a little personal.
"That's good. Would you say that you and her have a healthy relationship out side sex?"
"Oh yes, very so. We have dinner together whenever we can. I take her shopping, we go out on dates." He answered kind of sarcastically.
"That's wonderful. Now tell me, what does your wife do for a living?"
"She is a 7th grade history teacher."
"Does she teach around here?"
"Yes, she started her career here too."
"Does she enjoy her job from what you can notice?"
"Definitely, she loves kids."
"While we're on the topic of kids, are you two planning on having any?"
"Well now that we're getting married, we have mentioned it. She can't wait to have kids, but I'm feeling slightly 'iffy'." Will leaned back in his chair; he was really tired of these odd questions, now he's just going along with them. He simply stopped caring about this guy.
"Why would this be?"
"Well with my job now, I'm very busy. My job is also very dangerious, and I have such a big commitment as a detective, not alone the role of daddy."
"Do you think you would be a good father?"
"I think I would be a great father. I would introduce him to the cubs, I'd show him Donald Duck, I'd play catch. It would be great if it all worked out. And Joanne, what a great mother she would be. The way her and kids connect and bond. You'd think that they were hers." He said with a little smile on his face.
"Is this your first relationship?"
"No, I've had a few others. Nothing as serious as this one."
"How long were the others?"
"The longest one was nine months"
"During those nine months, did you two have sex?"
"Yes, we did." Ugh, what is this guy's obsession with his sex life? Will thought to himself.
"Were any of your other relationships with the same sex?"
"No, none. Definitely not."
"Well it looks like our time is up, we'll continue this conversations tomorrow at the same time. Have a nice day William." Don't call me William. He thought to himself.
As before Will's fiancé was waiting in the parking lot.
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When he got back, he was bored out of his mind. He had absolutely nothing to do. He watched "The Good, The bad, and the ugly" again. Actually he watched it twice. Then he decided to try to make a meal. He went for lazana. He got all the ingredients out, and by the time he started making it, he already got bored. Sense Joanne was at work, he had no one to talk to. He decided to go for a "Cast Away" approach. He took a beach ball out of a bag and blew it up. He drew a face on it and hair. He gave it shades.
"Hello Spalding" he said. He felt like a complete idiot.
This conversation didn't last long either. He finally decided he was going to do something about his boredom. The next day after Joanne left, he got showered and changed and drove to his work. He went to his office, dodging everyone, avoiding the long conversations. He took out some paper work and started catching up. He had a lot of catching up to do. He missed 3 days. It wasn't long till his pal Jerry came in to ask him how he's been.
"Hey, how you feeling big guy?" Jerry asked him.
"Oh, I'm feeling much better thank you."
"How's the girlfriend?"
"Joanne, she's her usual great self."
"That's fantastic. Well I better start getting back to work. Oh and there's some commotion down by the local warehouse. I'm sure they need someone experienced."
Will quickly got up, and grabbed his coat off his desk. As he pulled it off, is clock fell, reading 11:00.
"Detective Lawrence. Long time no see"
"Hey thanks Chief. What's the biggy?"
"Well so far no vic. Just a foot."
"Yoach."
"Yeah I know. There's a note next to the foot, we didn't want to touch it till one of you're guys got here."
Will walked over towards bare foot on the ground. It was very dirty and it was missing its toenails. Probably part of the removal. Other wise there were not bumps and burses on it. The victim was definitely African American, and from the looks had athlete's foot. The fungus on the foot was practically jade green. He bent over to pick up the note.
"Hello, I am hoping this is Detective Lawrence. How are you feeling? It's been a while. I'm going to get right to the point. I'd read quickly while the remains of the victim are still breathing. Follow these directions and they will lead you to this person. And please remember another thing, I hate bringing it up but It's true. I did not do this to him, and I didn't do those things to any one else."
Will ran and jumped into his car driving off, leaving Chief McCormick and everybody else behind.
He turned over the sheet of paper, looking at the directions. More of a map. He got on the highway and headed for downtown. Speeding past all the cars, and running through all the relights, he noticed a police car closing in on him. He pulled over as soon as he could, waiting in patiently. The police officer got out of his car. He had no partner with him, and was noticeably over weight. Tucking his shirt in as he approached, he used Will's side view mirrors to check on his hair. He crouched down beside Will's front door and took of his glass's.
"Sir, please step out of the vehicle."
"Excuse me? I was only speeding, just give me a damn ticket."
"Sir, please step out of the vehicle"
"I don't have time for this, there is going to be one more victim if you don't let me go."
"What did you say? Sir, your under arrest. Put your hands on the wheel"
"What? I didn't mean that I was going to kill somebody."
The officer pulled out his gun, aiming it at Will's head.
"What the fuck man, I didn't do anything. Stop aiming that fucking thing in my face. I have a badge, I'm a detective."
He reached for his pocket, in search of his badge.
"Keep those hands on that wheel"
"One moment, just got to get my badge"
"Ahh" The police officer smashes Wills face against the wheel, causing the horn to go off. With The officer's hand still on Will's head, he started the car and began to drive. The officer tried to hang on to the front door as he drove, but Will opened the door, swinging him off. The officer rolled on the ground until he came to a stop.
His car pulled up to the warehouse that the directions, or map, lead him too. It was the only warehouse around, so he was sure it was the right one. His car was the only car there, so the suspect probably either parked down the block, or was on foot. There was always a possibility that the suspect wasn't even at the crime scene. He already left his letter that he always leaves.
He opened his car door, shutting it behind him. As he ran to the warehouse he loaded his handgun. Sliding the large door open, he realized he had no idea where to look. The map only led him to the warehouse, not anywhere else. He slammed the door shut and everything went black. He didn't have a lighter or any matches on him, so he looked around for a light switch. He started to scan the walls for any light switches. Eventually finding one, he flicked it up. Nothing.
"Damnit, the power"
The power was out and he needed to find a circuit breaker. He started to make his way to any direction in the warehouse. Anywhere that would lead him to a different room. He had been in the warehouse for about four minutes now and his eyes began to adjust. He could see a door to his left. He carefully opened the door with his pistol in one hand and the door in the other, and made his way in. He now had both hands on the gun and was carefully progressing; step, by step. It was almost like a hallway what he was in, just a bit wider, and not as many rooms to the sides. He made a right in the hallway, seeing that there was nowhere to go straight besides a big helping of wall. Once he got to the end of the hall, the walls widened and there was much more space. It was a new room, but this one was huge.
"Ow. Cursed table," he said, as he walked right into a working table. There were a ton in the room, and they all had tools in them. This must have been the main labor room. Maybe there was a flashlight, or a left over lighter from when this place used to be up and running. He felt around on all of the tables, being careful not to cut himself on any rusty nail, or old machine. Checking all the tables that were in the row he was in, he found nothing, but a staircase in front of him. As he walked up to the stairs he realized that he had no idea where he was. Well, geographically he did, he was in the warehouse. But physically, where the hell was he? He would have no clue to how to get back to the main entrance. Not a clue. Using the railing to guide him up, he tripped on one of the steps and fell flat on his face, hitting his mouth on the metal step.
"Damnit!" He said, as he rolled onto his back in pain. He gripped his mouth tightly, and when he removed his hands he felt blood. He reached into his pockets in hopes for a clean-ex or a paper towel. For lack of either, he ripped off the end of his left sleeve, and applied pressure to his mouth with it. He really needed to get out of this place.
He pushed open the door at the top of the staircase. Stumbling in, he fell to his knees because he had no balance from his hand on his mouth. He was in the control room, and head office. As he walked in, the door behind him closed. From where he stood, he looked around, squinting his eyes in an attempt to see. Chills ran down Will's spine as he looked around. Short lasting, breeze of warm breath would pass him everyonce in a while. He didn't know what it was from. The chills on Wills spine grew bigger and he twitched.
"Oh, Oh, Sweet child of mine" Will jumped to a startle, catching his breath. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone he forgot he had with him.
"Oh, Oh, sweet love of mine" it rang for the second time. He quickly flipped it open, pulling the small antenna up.
"Hello?"
"Will? Where the fuck did you go? You just darted off"
"Sorry chief, I read a note, and there is another person hear"
"Where?"
"At a warehouse, I forget where it is, I can't read the directions in this dark"
"Well, we found another victim by the Bus Depot, we need you back. There's another note."
"Yeah, will do, but I have no idea how to get out of this place"
"Well that's a problem, use your fucking head, and get your ass over hear"
The Chief hung up, leaving Will on the line with nobody. After realizing that nobody was on the other line, will flipped his phone down, and put it back into his pocket. He put both of his hands on the sides of his head, combing his hair back in frustration. He had no matches, lighters, flashlights, and since his phone went through the was for the second time, the light didn't work. He turned around, back into the direction that he came, in an attempt to retrace his steps.
He got down on his side, so he can ease his way down the stairs. When he made it to level ground, he again had to walk carefully, incase of any sharp objects pointing out. His eyes were well adjusted by now, and he could see the door way in front of him. When he pushed it open, he was able to tell that this wasn't the way he came in, but he didn't want to go back into that large, dangerous work area. He hoped he could get to the main entrance from the hallway he entered. He noticed that as he progressed in the hallway he was currently in, that it got colder. Much colder then any of the other parts of the warehouse he had been in. When he got to the door at the end of the hallway, he had no choice but to proceed, because there was no other doors in the hallway he was in.
When he opened it, the temperature dropped at least 30 degrees right away. The longer he was in that room the colder it got. He grabbed his ears, at the cold feeling. He was just about to turn around, and go back to the large labor room, but when he took his hands off his ears, he heard loud breathing. The breathing sounded painful, it was a harsh sound. He still had his gun loaded, in his right hand, and he made his way carefully towards the sound. It was still very dark in the room that he was in so he had no idea what to expect. He followed the sound of the breathing, and then there was a loud cough. It was practically a pant, it was so bold sounding. That was it, it was definitely a human.
Could it be the suspect, or the victim? Or maybe it was neither, just a person in need of help. Once Will got with in ten feet of the person, he squinted his eyes in hopes of success. With none, he held his arm out in front of him and slowly approached the person. Waving his arm, hoping to feel the person. The closer and closer he got, the sweat he had from suspense, froze on his face. He took one deep breath and touched the person's hair. He felt the soft, short hair and moved his hand down onto the person's face. Feeling the face of the person he asked them "are you ok?"
The person continued to cry. Once Will realized they were crying, he crouched down, and asked what was wrong?
"I didn't want to do this at first." The person said.
"Do what?"
"I didn't want to go through with it, but he said it would be good for me. Therapeutic. But how could it be therapeutic if I'm dead!" he screamed.
"What, what did you do? What did he do? Who. Who!" Will moved his hand down, and felt a warm liquid. There was a lot of this, and he moved his hand around feeling where it came from. It was a leg, and the leg didn't have a foot.
"Oh, shit, oh how did you do this? Why? We need to get you to a hospital."
"That wasn't my idea either. He brought me into this freezer to partially help numb the pain. He still used Novocain, a lot of it, but to help the bleeding. He said that the foot would make you come hear faster. But he though I would already be dead by now."
As he said that he lifted his hand up, showing Will the handgun.
"He told me it would be quick, and that I didn't need to take anymore shit from anybody now. He told me to join him, to help him. That there were others. Are there others?" The man asked Will. "Wait, is that a gun? You have a gun? You must be Detective Lawrence! You are, aren't you! He has told me so much about you."
"Who? You have to remember. Who are you talking about, who told you about me?" Will stressed, he needed to know who was behind this.
"He says that you have to stop taking this personally, you need to take it professionally. If I were you, I would take his advice." The man was still gasping, his voice and breath was very shaky.
The man was right, he was taking it personally. That wont get him anywhere.
"Hold on there. You have to stay with me. I will get you to a hospital, I promise." Will got up looking around for something he could rap the victim's leg in to try to stop the bleeding or at least slow it down. As he looked around he did notice that there was a faint red light in the far corner of the walked over to it. It was a video camera. And next to it a small T.V. just like the ones he saw in the control room.
All of a sudden, the television flashed on with a buzz. On the small screen he saw a women being dragged into a sports vehicle. And the camera followed them into the car. It zoomed into the women's face. The hand holding her head forced her to look at the camera. Her face was tear streaked and she was shaking. The woman was Joanne, his soon-to-be-wife. And then it hit him. It would be Therapeutically? What type of person says that? A psychiatrist, that's what type of person. All of his victims must have been clients of his.
"Wait here." He mumbled to the man without the foot. And ran out of the room running through the hallways, desperately trying to find his fiancé and the man who did this all. He wasn't thinking logically, he just wanted to find her and have this whole thing over with.
All of a sudden he heard rustling and mumbling. "I said shut it!" a man shouted, and then there was a slap and someone gasped out in pain. Will ran to the sound. Running as fast as he ever had before, because there was a chance that this was his man, the one he has been chasing after for what seems like forever.
He rounded the corner and the light in the room blinded him. He had to wait for his eyes to adjust. And they did so just in time to see that there was four heavily built men running towards him. Will must have set down his gun when he was trying to nurse the man bleeding to death in that small cold room.
Will just ran around them trying to get away. On the other side of the very large room he saw his wife on her knees with her hands tied together in front of her. Her shoulders were shaking, and standing next to her, holding the back of her neck with a big grin on his face was Will's psychiatrist.
Will ran straight towards him with those big men right on his tail. "You get away from her!" Will screamed and his order echo in the big room. This room was tall and long with windows framing the ceiling all the way around.
Decker just laughed and said " Now, now, William. I do believe you are taking this personally, again."
"HOW CAN I NOT TAKE THIS PERSONALLY?! You have my fucking fiancé here!" Will was still running towards him when one of the monsters behind leaped and tackled Will from the knees. They collided onto the ground together. Will finally got hold of his bearings and remembered how to fight back. He got his legs loose and kicked his fighter right in the face. The other two came at him, Decker called them off.
Stumbling over to the doctor he asked him on simple question "Why?"
"What do you mean?" and then he called the four men who attacked him over and motioned for them to bring Joanne somewhere else.
"NO! Bring her back over here!" Will shouted. "Where are they taking her?!" he asked the doctor.
"That doesn't really matter right now. What matters is that your backup isn't coming to get you. You're stuck here with me, but not for long. Soon you'll me dead." He said it so matter-of-factly.
"It was a fake. The last note was a fake. You put that last note to distract them , so you could kid-nap my fiancé and kill me." Everything was coming together. Will was starting to understand. "Why do you kill your patients?"
"Its simple: They just don't understand. They don't understand what real pain is. So I taught them. In order to get over the fake pain they were feeling, I created real pain." He said, he was so calm. In a way Will envied him, he was so put together. But if a man like that could do so much damage, he was deeply disturbed. And then he started to break "They came to me, asking for help, they would say that they were really upset or overwhelmed. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT OVERWHELMED IS!" he shouted. He was shaking all over and pulled out a gun. Will put his hands up and slowly and carefully walked towards the man he no longer recognized as his psychosis.
"I understand what you are talking about. Everyday at work, I meet people on the worst days of their lives. Dr. Decker, you don't want to do this." Will was now face to face with the killer he had been chasing for a very long time. He reached out his hand slowly to take the gun from Decker, and at that moment Decker pulled the trigger, shooting Will in the hand.
Will gasped out in pain and jumped onto the doctor. Fighting for the gun. Dr. Decker was about the same a size as Will but will was stronger. Will wrestled him and pinned him to the ground. "Give me the gun!" Will shouted, and punched him in the face. Decker only smiled at this and got hold of the gun again and shot him in the shoulder. Will rolled onto his back because the pain was too much to handle. Then, he thought about what Decker had said about pain.
Will thought around the pain, which was surprisingly easy. He kicked Decker in the face and stole the gun away from him, shooting the light that dangled above them.
Decker struggled into a sitting position laughing. "You missed! Ha-ha! You actually missed!" he was laughing at him, a throaty laugh. Will shot it one more time and it came falling down on top of Dr. Decker, knocking him out.
Will finally got a hold of reality and called his officers telling them to come a soon as possible and that that note was a fake.
As Will wait for his back up team to rush in, and the medics to hurry him away in a stretcher, he lied there, bleeding from a bullet wound he no longer felt. He thought about his boss, colleges, friends, and family. He thought about the furter, if after this, he would remain a detective. Thinking of the feauter made him realize that soon, the man lying unconscious would be behind bars where he belongs. And that showed him that when you are a detective, you may be after-the-fact but you end up helping. You stop the murder from killing someone again, you stop the rapper from raping again, and you stop the husband beating again. In this case, lives have been taken, and now, no more have to by this man.
As sirens flared outside the warehouse, Will smiled at the thought of finally doing something worth-while.
Will awoke in the hospital, happy to see Joanne asleep in the bed next to him. Then he looked closely at her face and arms. Chemical burns, terrible chemical burns. Many murderers use chemical burns on their victims to take away their fingerprints and such.
Not wanting to wake her, he silently stretched and sat up. Unfortunately his IV cord tugged on a vase of flowers, knocking them to the floor. Joanne woke suddenly.
"Oh! Will! Oh, honey. I am so glad you are okay." She exclaimed quietly, still partly asleep.
"I am so sorry, Joanne. I love you so much." He said, so happy that he is finally with her and everything was okay again.
"It's okay, I am used to getting woken up." She laughed a small laugh, it didn't sound like her, it sounded sad.
"That's not what I meant," his voice broke, he was choking back tears. "I am so sorry you were brought into this. You are so amazing." He couldn't hold back the tears anymore.
"I love you, too." She smiled, tearing up as well.
Will couldn't trust his voice, he was so overwhelmed, so he simply smiled and held her hand fast with no intention of letting go any time soon.
*As he wheeled his loving fiancé down the hallway of the hospital, a woman stopped them. She was tiny and looked to be around 60 years old. Her eyes looked tired and worn out. "Thank you, thank you for sending that man to where he belongs." She took an unsteady deep breath. "My son….That man killed my son, and so I am glad that he got what he deserved." The women gave him a sad smile. "You are an honorable man, Mr. Lawrence, and I am eternally grateful for what you have done." with a slight sob she walked away.
"You know, she is 100% correct. What you did out there, what you risked was unbelievable. You amaze me, and thousands of others as well." She patted him on his shoulder gently, and loving gesture, and he continued to roll her through the hospital.
Will couldn't stop thinking about with the women had said about being honorable and thankful, she said it so truthfully, so heartfelt. He then realized what a difference he made, and how great it felt to do so.