Chapter Seven - Witness
Phoenix didn't know how long she'd been flying for; she loved to fly and having wings was a useful advantage against the enemy - it allowed her to get from one side of the City to the other in record time. They made her fast. It also allowed her scout out any dodgy goings on down below. Her eyes were able to focus in on anything - just like a bird of prey looking for small rodents to feed on - she would look for scum bags to kill. New York was an unforgiving place - she had seen a lot of bad shit. But nothing disgusted her more than sex. Rape. It made her feel dirty just thinking about it and that in turn made her angry.
Seeing she was back near base she landed and her wings became arms. That too was another useful little trick - she had many useful little tricks.
It was then that she heard it. Loud groans. It sounded like someone or something was in pain. It was coming from the next rooftop. Jumping the gap she ran as quickly and as quietly as she could keeping to her tip-toes so as not to disturb whatever it was. She wanted to check it out first before she took action. Never did she just rush in to a rescue.
Looking from behind the air-con unit she recognised the figures straight away. It was that weird huge 'costume guy' from earlier and one of the girls. It looked like they were... She looked away and pressed her back to the unit. Yuck. Disgusting. She felt sick to her stomach. At the same time though she couldn't help but look again - like she was somehow drawn... The girl didn't look like she was suffering - in fact she looked like she was actually really enjoying it. The expression on her face, the way she tossed back her head as she straddled and rode her rescuer indicated that she felt nothing but sheer pleasure. Phoenix couldn't look away - she wanted to but found that she couldn't; it was almost like she was hypnotised by the seen before her. Then she began to feel something else - a strange warm tingling between her legs. What the Hell was that? She forced herself to move; to walk away. Then she opened her arms, spread her wings and took to the skies - wanting to get as far away from that rooftop in particular.
The way these bodies had been arranged was something new. It looked like this killing had inspired a new piece of art. Each of the three victims was again burnt to a crisp all except one. And this one was well known pimp Raoul Phipps; he'd had his head cut off, his body burnt and his penis shoved up the second mans ass. Why had the killer left the head for the police to identify? Normally the killer burnt everything so that they would have to use dental records or other ways to identify the body but it was like they wanted this one to be recognised.
Nick Houston had a record of numerous dealings with Raoul Phipps but he had never had enough evidence to pin anything on him. He knew he was involved in trafficking - drugs and girls, and he knew he was a violent and unpredictable man but he was smart. Too smart. Obviously not smart enough this time though...
Nick watched the forensics team taking samples and photographs but he knew that once again they wouldn't find anything. The killer may have changed things up a little but they would still be no closer to finding out who this was and locking them up for good. At least that is what he had thought in the beginning. Yes he had started out the day thinking that this was just another gruesome killing like the others and that they were no where near to solving the crime. He had no future plan and he felt like he was drowning. The press were ever hungry and the Chief wanted answers. The citizens of New York wanted to know who this maniac was and when would he be stopped. They all wanted answers and Nick felt lost.
He sat in his office twiddling with his pen and looking over the photographs from this morning. He looked particularly closely at the photograph of Raoul's head. His mouth was wide open as were his eyes and he looked terrified. Was this because of what he had seen before he'd died? or was this because of what he'd experienced? Getting your penis yanked off can hardly be a pleasurable experience.
A knock at the door woke him from his trance.
"Yes officer what can I do for you?"
"Sorry to disturb you detective but there's a young lady here who wants to talk to you"
O'Neil. He might have guessed she'd be out sniffing for clues. He indicated to the officer to show her in but as the female entered he realised it wasn't April O'Neil at all. The officer shut the door behind her and Nick nodded towards the chair in front of his desk. The female was young - late teens - attractive in a blatant sort of way but she looked like she'd lived. She also looked very nervous.
"What is it I can do for you Miss..?"
"Rachel, my name's Rachel" Obviously she wanted to stick to first name terms only.
"Hello Rachel, I'm Nick, how can I help you?"
She was fidgeting with the strap of her handbag - it looked well worn. "The man today - the dead man - I knew him. I saw him last night"
As a last ditch attempt they had released information about Raoul's identity hoping it may trigger a memory, open a new angle - perhaps it had worked; could he really be that lucky? Nick covered up the photographs and closed the file. He leaned forward, suddenly feeling more interested than he was two minutes ago.
"You mean Mr Phipps?"
The girl nodded "I worked for him" she said simply. All of a sudden she looked young; young and vulnerable.
"What is it you want to tell me?"
"Well.. Raoul had called me last night - asked me to meet him off fifth, said he had a special job for me. I did as he asked but when I got there I saw that he wasn't alone."
"He did have two other guys with him but we haven't identified them as yet"
"I know who they were, they worked for him too, he had a lot of people work for him. She didn't. I'd never seen her before"
Nick didn't know where the female was going with this but he felt intrigued "Go on.." he urged.
"She tortured and killed them all. I saw her do it."
A witness? Someone who'd seen a killing? Nick didn't know about this - something didn't sit right. The girl was nibbling at her nails now.
"I know it's goin' to sound crazy but she wasn't human. I mean she looked human, but she wasn't.." her words trailed off "It was terrible. I know he was a bad man but to see him go through that - it was terrible" He noticed she was trembling.
Leaning back in his chair he took a couple of moments to digest what she had just said.
"You say 'she' - you must have got a good look at this woman then?"
"Yes. You'd think it was nothing. She was tiny, young. She had flames, flames and she had wings"
Now Nick felt like he was entering the twilight zone. 'Flames and wings'? Really.
After listening to her for another 10 minutes he came to the conclusion she must have been on something as her experience sounded like one big bad trip. The paleness of her skin and the way that she shook probably meant she was needing a little pick up; not to mention the subtle way she asked if there was a reward for information provided to the police. But Nick did what a good Detective would do - he took her statement - he took her info and he asked her to get in touch if she remembered anything else. He also told her there was no reward. To which there was no masking that look of disappointment which crossed her face.
Once again alone he re-opened the file and looked at the head. He really thought he had something there. But a girl? For a girl to be capable of such things she would have to be super strong and have a super strong stomach. And why? Why would a girl do this? There was no motive.
Or was there? He picked through the photographs again. Something had to link all these killings - something other than how they were killed. And that link would be where he would find his motive.
Not human...?
A few years ago he would never even consider such a thing but that was before he met the turtles, had witnessed an alien invasion and met one very special young lady: Rebecca Madison.
He felt a twinge of sadness. She was an amazing young girl and to be taken like that was so cruel.
It was then that he had an idea. Who else was it that he knew who could have answers? The one man who had been there at the beginning and was there at the end: Doctor Stephen Baker. If anything unusual was going on surely he would know about it. He would also check in with the turtles - they patrolled the streets at night - perhaps they had seen something new since there last catch up.
He picked up the phone to call April. Now he had a plan he felt more in control and a lot more positive.
"Hi this is April" her cheery voice radiated from the other end.
"April, it's Nick, can we meet up?"
"Sure, you just say when and where!"
It would have to be soon. And the sooner the better.