"Get some sleep, Rowan..."
I shivered as I left the cave. The sun was so bright today. My camera swayed around my neck loosely from its strap. My neck was sore. I put a hand to it and felt nothing. There was no scab or wound to speak of.

It was noon by the time I came to work. Brady was there looking tired and worn as ever. He handed me a styrofoam cup of black coffee.
"You look beat, kiddo." Brady remarked.
I smiled weakly, and took the cup, "Thanks." I slowly sipped the coffee.
"Up all night chasing leads?"
"Find any details?" This came from Brooks the police chief from the first murder.
I shrugged, "I followed a lead on a local tattoo artist, Dez. You ever heard of him?" Brooks said nothing only shook his head. I continued, "He said he was pretty close to Star. He mentioned a gang she got caught up in, said she got into the wrong side of the culture and she found out some secrets better left dead. I don't know what he meant."
Brooks' blue eyes stared out the window. "Secrets? Sounds like our guy knew a little more than what he led on."
Brady looked doubtful, "Maybe I should pursue this one, you look a little uneasy, Rowan."
"I've got this one, Brady," Brooks said. We watched as Brooks left down the hall and into the blinding sunlight.
"Something bad happen, kid?" Brady asked pouring himself another cup of coffee.
"No, I just feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of the murders. There's more out there."
"How do you figure?"
I shrugged, thumbing through my journal. "I don't know." I got a sudden flash back of the cave and the way the moon glimmered off the water. There was more to this case than what anyone was telling me. David knew something, so did those other creeps he hung with.

I was out again that night at the boardwalk.
There was a girl working at a piercing booth, she had red hair and half of it was shaved, her name was Beckett. We talked about the missing girls. Her sister had been a victim, Tatiana Bordeaux. "Tatiana was seeing this guy, I don't know his name because she never brought him by, but he was... average build, kinda wavy dirty blond hair, weird laugh and crazy eyes."
"Paul," I thought to myself. "How was Tatiana's behavior before she went missing?" I asked hearing my stomach growl audibly.
Beckett didn't seem to notice. "She was secretive. Very reserved, I guess you could say. She would sneak out of the house at night to go to clubs and parties... I guess. She never told us, just came and went at her own time. Then one night I had just come home from work and Tatiana was about to leave the house. I stopped her and asked her where she was going to, but she didn't even halt. She just walked right past me, got in her car and left. I tried following her but she got away, took some strange back roads and disappeared in the night. I waited up all night for her. I would drive out in the night and go looking, I could never find that guy of hers though." Beckett paused and looked around, "If you ask me it was that guy, the one she was dating. Because when they found her body they said she had been sexually assaulted, and her throat was torn apart... Just like the other ones."
There was a guy who seen my press pass and asked if I was reporting on the missing girls. His name was Akito. He was almost six feet tall and had shoulder length black hair. His lip was pierced twice, and his arms were covered in tattoos. "I used to know Star," Akito admitted. "She was hanging out on the boardwalk a couple nights back in October she was cool. We were gonna get a pizza when these guys rolled up who were in with Star. Apparently, she was dating this guy with ultra blond hair..."
"What was his name?" I pressed. Akito shrugged, trying to remember. "David?" I asked before I could stop the words.
"Yes," Akito replied. "That was his name... Star left with them after that David guy offered to race me. I turned them down, I figured she wasn't worth the trouble. I stopped seeing Star and eventually she turned up dead." Akito shivered, "I never really thought about it much, but maybe I could have saved her."
"How was her behavior before she went missing?"
"She was really mysterious, kept to herself a lot. Quite a few guys knew her and they said the same, she teased them into following her until those guys showed up, and they either went after them or stayed away. The guys though, the ones who followed her when they came back they were always a little shook up, acted strange. Some went missing too, when their bodies show up they're a lot worse off than those girls. Like an animal got to them...ripped them to pieces."

It was then I decided to go after David. He seemed to be a key component to all of this. I just needed to stay away from the cave and keep my cool.
I heard laughter a little way up the boardwalk. Paul was there talking to a pretty blond girl in cut-off jean shorts. He said something to her that made her face turn red and she giggled again. I walked up and gave Paul a cool glance.
"Rowan," Paul beamed.
"Hi," I said coming closer.
"Beat it," Paul said to the girl in the shorts. She gave us both a sideways glance and walked off. "What are you doing back? Looking for some action?"
I shook my head, "What do you know about Star? And these missing girls?"
He glimpsed my gray press pass and shook his head. "I knew you were working for the pigs!"
I shrugged, "C'mon, Paul. What do you know?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," He grinned playfully. I glared at him and started to walk off. "Ah, don't give up so fast."
"What do you know about Tatiana Bordeaux?"
His eyes grew serious, I knew I had him. "Yeah, I knew Tatiana... nice girl, tall, slender, gorgeous eyes... She went missing back in November I think."
"How so? What was her behavior like?"
Paul winked, "I'll tell ya when you're older, Rowan." He started to walk off and I grabbed his shoulder.
"Tell me more. Tell me all you know."
He shook his head, "You don't really want to know, some things are just better off dead, you feel? Have you ever heard about letting the dead stay dead?"
"Some would rather have justice."
"What's justice worth to a girl like you?"
I flicked the pass, "It's my job. Some people would rather have closure than questions."
"Closure?" This came from David. He was behind us both, slowly smoking a cigarette. He grinned at me, and flipped the ashes off the orange tip. "Hi, Rowan."
I blushed, even though I couldn't imagine why. "David," I said quietly.
"What's all the talk about closure?" David asked taking a drag off his cigarette. Next to him was Marko and Dwayne.
"What do you know about Star? And the missing girls?" I said impatiently.
His face was calm, hiding any notion of what I was referring to. "Star..." he repeated. "Yeah, we knew Star."
"I've heard a few leads mention you guys, so what are your ties with the missing girls?"
"I used to date Star," David said finishing his cigarette. "She didn't have any family, so she stayed with us. Some of the others did too, but they came and went."
"And you have no grief over their deaths?" I said growing more impatient.
David grinned, " Of course I miss her, sweet kid, she just disappeared one night. Horrible things people can do."
"You're full of shit," I said rolling my eyes and walking away at the sound of laughter.
"Why don't you come back with us, Rowan." David said alluringly. He leaned back against the railing. "I'll show you something spectacular." A little twinkle, a glimmer of mischief shown in those eyes.
I shook my head, "I've got a job to do."
He appeared next to me, "I insist," he said with a half-smile.
"Where are we going?" I asked dreamily.
"We'll go somewhere private," he replied, "Just me and you."
"Hmm... as romantic as that sounds," I picked up my pad and pen, "I have other obligations."
"What have you got to lose?" he asked, so close to my ear now. He nudged the lobe with his lips. He started to walk off the boardwalk and glanced back, "Follow me."

It was dark in the cave. I knew I shouldn't be here.
It was dimly lit with candles, the orange light flickering around the room. Some birds flew about, the crashing waves outside roaring. We were on the bed, David sat on top of me as we made out. The night wore on and we were laying next to each other staring at the ceiling. We hadn't had sex, though I wouldn't object to it. I rolled on to my side as I stared at David.
"Still wanna know about the dead girls?" he asked. I nodded in response. "Truth is... I don't know anything. You're better off letting the story go."
I glared at him. "What are you hiding, anyway?"
"Nothing," he responded lighting up a cigarette.
"Who do you think you're fooling?"
He kissed the tip of my nose, "You, apparently." He sat up and I watched as he walked around the cave. Under a black sheet he pulled out a tall glass bottle, ringed with red jewels, silver and gold held them in place. He tipped the bottle back, closing his eyes with each sip. "Your turn," David said offering me the bottle of dark red liquid.
I stared at it doubtfully. "What is it?"
"You ask a lot of questions."
"I'm a journalist. It's in my nature."
He gave a wry smile. "Drink and find out."
I tipped the strange bottle back and drank deep. It was odd. The taste was similar to strawberry preserves. It was like staring into another world. I could hear the world around me, voices echoing. I heard David mutter something, than unfamiliar voices of girls. First came laughter, than mumbled words, and at last crying.
I pulled out of that place draped in red. David was sitting across from me, holding the bottle under an arm. "I think you've had enough, kiddo."
"What is that?" I asked feeling my head grow fuzzy, my arms tingled and my eyes were heavy.
David only smiled back and watched as I sunk into a dream.

That night I dreamed of the place I had seen while drinking. It was a red beach, red sand, red water and black skies. Girls were there. There were many of them, twirling about on the shore mumbling words and bubbling laughter. I stepped onto the sand, they didn't look at me, their eyes were distant. I reached out to touch them, and watched as they dispersed into mist. Forming again after minutes of being gone.
I continued further down the shore, the landscape remained the same, speckled around with girls and a few guys. There was one lone girl sitting by the waves. She had thick curly brown hair, and thin white clothes with a clingy dark skirt. I came up to her, observing her features. I sat down next to her and felt the cool water lap over my feet.
"Don't trust David." She whispered. Her lips were bleeding. Her eyes were staring off at the horizon. "Don't trust David... he's not like you. He's unnatural." She shook as if cold, and tears formed in her eyes. Blood began to stain her shirt, and the laceration on her neck expanded. She reached for the cut and wailed, "You CAN'T go back! You can't go back!" Her head toppled to the sand, her eyes clouded over.
The girls and guys whipped around, staring directly at me. They began to weep, and blood covered their clothes. Their necks torn apart, blood, blood so much blood everywhere. I kept running even though no one was chasing me.

And then I was back in the cave, lying on the bed with my neck throbbing in time with my heart.
I was terrified from the dream.
David wasn't there. The room was empty aside a few fluttering birds. Music was playing from upstairs, I saw a ladder leaning next to a huge opening. I reached for the ladder but I stepped back. I took out my camera and began photographing the inside of the cave. I found the bottle under the sheet and took several pictures of it from different angles. If I could just unravel this secret I knew the mysteries of the dead would come flooding in.
My dream was an omen. A warning from the dead. I figured that everyone I seen on that beach had been victims of the murderer, those missing girls all turned up dead. And something inside of me screamed that the identity of the girl who warned me was Star...