London Calling.
"(…) London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls (…)"– The Clash "London Calling".
Warnings: Crime and everything that comes with it.
Timing: 2016, a year after "The Cabbala"
Rating: M.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen original comic books © Allan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. Neverwhere © Neil Gaiman. Atomic Robo © Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegner. Stargate Atlantis © MGM Studios. Hellboy (in character of Karl Ruprecht Kroenen) © Michael Mignola. Slenderman © Eric Knudsen (as Victor Surge). The story © Archer Black.
Dracula (in character of Wilhelmina Murray) by Bram Stoker. Allan Quatermain by sir Henry Rider Haggard. Orlando (or his/hers alike) by Virgina Woolf.
The name of the Enemy, p1.
?
The Feldsher's Study.
Kroenen and Taylor locked themselves along with Slenderman inside of the small operating room where they proceeded to perform the autopsy of the latest victim. They were taking their time in happy treasure digging inside of someone's insides so long that de Carabas dozed off due to sheer boredom while Spike decided that he had enough time to meditate. Atomic Robo was pacing back and forth the whole time.
The door to the OR or what passed for OR in London Below; had a large milky glass in it. The glass combined with well-lit room allowed anyone outside to see movement of those inside. Dark shadows were dancing across the glass but there was nothing to the movement that would betray what was really happening inside. At some point Door returned but Marquis was still off, Spike didn't even stir and all that Robo did was to give her a short nod and return to his pacing. Door sat down next to de Carabas and observed the door.
Door's eyelids were getting heavier and heavier with every passing moment and she was closer to following in Marquis' footsteps when the door finally opened revealing all three individuals, all three of them looking indifferent. Though perhaps Slenderman was simply not impressed at all – he was only invited as an assistant because aside from his two long arms he also had many tentacles.
Their emerging snapped Door from her state of drowsiness and Spike from his meditation. The woman elbowed de Carabas to wake him. He jumped in surprise but regained his composure momentarily – he had an image to uphold after all.
Spike didn't have to worry about his composure; he only opened his eyes and glared while Robo merely stopped his pacing.
"And what's the verdict?" The man-bot asked without any enthusiasm. He didn't expect much anyway.
"We certainly know how she died and what killed her." The Feldsher sighed. "And we can tell how her last moments looked like too."
"Well?" Atomic Robo pressed.
"Doctor, perhaps you will?" Taylor turned to Kroenen, happy that for once he wasn't forced to deliver the grim details or write the report for Lady Door.
"I can confirm that she is the victim of our killer. She was hit in the head with the same type of tool that other victims and the blow were not lethal, it only stunned her." Kroenen explained. "The cause of death was haemorrhaging from the evisceration. Her eyeballs were removed only after she was dead."
"But why have he tied her to the fence? Couldn't he just gut her while she was lying down?" Robo questioned. He lived long enough to see great many things that were simply gruesome, but some things still made him uneasy.
"He had to keep her upright so that the gravity would do its job. The act of anthropomancy depends on the entrails falling on the ground randomly, they cannot be just thrown around, they must fall out of the body." The Occultist explained. "And our examination on the crime scene suggests that she was also awake when he was cutting her open, she did try to break the bonds but al she did was to brat her skin with the ropes."
"By The Charter!" Door's eyes grew round with awe.
"She would be the first case where we can confirm that the victim was wide awake during the murder." Feldsher added.
"But if she was awake, then why no one heard her screams?" Spike asked.
From his own experience with feeding he knew that humans could scream loud and long. Of course the pain of feeding rendered some mute, but there was no rule and he didn't know how pain of being fed upon correlated to the pain of being gutted alive. If he was to wager, he'd say that having one's stomach cut open and the intestines falling out was definitely more painful than being fed upon. But just how much more painful it was he wouldn't bet.
"We have found some threads between her teeth." Taylor revealed. "This may be proof that she was gagged."
"Gag doesn't really mute, one can still scream, it just prevents from talking." Door shook her head.
Slenderman stepped forward and directed himself at Spike. It was the first time in a while when the tall creature seemed to be willing to communicate.
"He said it depends on the type of gag." Spike once again served as messenger.
"Yes. If you'll shove a rag into someone's mouth and then just tie a rad over their mouth, it will mute much better than just simple rag squeezed between teeth." Atomic Robo confirmed.
"And it may just be the case here. There was no irritation in the corners of her mouth that you get from being gaged by simple rag." The Feldsher nodded. "I wasn't looking for threads in other victims' mouths but it is possible that the killer used the same method on some of his other victims."
"But why? Why keep her alive until the very end? Wouldn't dead one work just as well?" De Carabas asked. He was voicing an unspoken question that some of them were pondering about ever since they found the poor girl.
"I suspect he wanted her alive and if the gag is any indication, also awake. To what purpose? I do not know. Perhaps grimoirs will shed some light on that." Kroenen put his hands behind his back and leaned slightly forward. "Her missing eyes may also be a clue – they were removed gently, so the killer has some use for them."
"This is ghastly!" Marquis stated with frown.
"Ghastly or not ghastly, it is a clue." Robo reluctantly agreed with the German. "And we don't have many of those."
"And we won't get any more of them by sitting here idly and ramble. Doctor Kroenen wants to consult written knowledge so we should return to my home and allow him to do so." Door decided. "My library contains rich collection of books that may be of help. Mr Taylor!" She turned to the Feldsher. "You know how to proceed from this point on. Make sure that her family is found and notified."
"Of course, Ladyship." The Feldsher bowed his head.
?
House of Arch. Moments later.
Richard was awaiting them in the vestibule they walked through to get to the main house. The vestibule was one of the few places that were available for the outsiders, but only for those who knew how to enter it. Richard still had the knife the Hunter gave him, the one that unlocked a passage back to London Below so he could return. Naturally that very same passage could only be fully opened from the other side, so Richard needed Marquis de Carabas' small help. That same knife served as Richard's own key to open the door to House of Arch's vestibule. But it only got him that far because the vestibule had no other doors, only pictures of the rest of the house.
Door could easily skip that part of the house, and she did so often, but somehow she always knew if there was someone waiting for her.
"Richard!" She greeted her trusted friend. "What brings you here? I hope it is nothing serious? You look upset."
"I've just talked with one of the traders. It looks like it was decided with the Guilds that the next Floating Market will take place as per the pre-killer schedule, this evening." The Scot sighed heavily. "Merchants and craftsmen are tired of what they call 'wild goose chase' and want to return to their usual business." He rubbed his forehead. "And it's stupid. The killer is out there and doesn't respect the Market Truce. What are they thinking?"
"It is dangerous." Door nodded. "But I understand that the people want to get back to their normal lives. And should we be able to catch the killer earlier, this wouldn't be an issue."
"And how were we supposed to do that? We just got here." Spike asked silently. "Your kind lacks the patience of the Wraith."
"They lack police forces and government." Robo corrected.
"The Wraith don't have police forces, and we lack central government as such, each Queen has the power over her own Hive, and the Primary rules over lesser Queens, leading her Alliance." Spike said glaring at the robot. "And yet we govern ourselves efficiently."
"You also don't have serial killers." Atomic Robo pointed out.
"Enough. This is not a political systems' contest." Door walked between the two arguing men. "There is nothing we can do about the Floating Market, it is not our decision and it is not under our authority. All we can do is work to catch the killer as soon as possible."
"Then I would like to see that library. The sooner I will start, the sooner I may find something." Kroenen stepped forward.
"Naturally. And the rest of us can calm down a bit." Door nodded and walked to one of the pictures on the walls.
"Slender says that he could help Doctor Kroenen." Spike nodded at the faceless entity.
"If Doctor Kroenen doesn't have anything against it, I don't see any problem with that." Door rested her hand on the picture but didn't 'open' it.
"I will accept any competent help." The Occultist agreed.
Door nodded and 'opened'. Two of them could search the books faster and Kroenen probably already knew what to look for. Door herself wasn't that fluent in such things but kept the books just in case she would need them. Her interest laid in different place, but a good library in Below's noble house would never be complete without at least some occult titles. And House Portico's library was considered rich in comparison to some others… The only other library that could compete with theirs belonged to the Earl's Court. Even though Earl not always knew what he had – the man was old and a bit gaga.
?
Later.
Robo was glaring mindlessly at the ceiling. It was a nice ceiling, high, white, clean. All that someone could expect from a ceiling.
Spike was meditating. The Wraith looked as if he fell asleep while sitting and perhaps it was even true, but perhaps it wasn't, and it was impossible to tell, except perhaps for Slenderman. The Wraith would snap his eyes open just the same if he was merely meditating as well as if he just woke up and no one would know better.
Richard dozed off sitting in a comfy armchair, he was snoring silently but no one seemed to mind that. He would be dozing away like this even longer if it wasn't for Lady Door.
"Okay everyone!" She exclaimed waking Richard and pulling Spike out of his presumed meditation. "Finally, we have some results!"
Robo blinked and looked at Kroenen and Slenderman standing behind the young woman. Slenderman held some thick, old, heavy looking books.
"Sure, why not?" The robot shrugged. At this point he was ready to accept anything, even the fact that it was the Loch Ness monster in a pink tutu that did it all.
"We'll start with the latest victim." Kroenen decided. "And then we will move to the others and what it may all mean. Slenderman was kind enough to point me to few titles that I wouldn't normally think of, so his input is considerable."
The tall creature gently put the books on the nearest table and bowed his head slightly toward the German in acknowledgement.
"We're listening." Door nodded eagerly. Finally some progress.
"Firstly, the girl from today." The Occultist reached for one of the books and opened it somewhere near the middle. "As I already said, it looked like a case of anthropomancy, but it wasn't exactly that." He searched the text for a moment before he continued. "Earlier we pondered why her eyes were missing, why the killer took them away. I have found the most plausible reason for that."
"And what would that be?" Robo asked.
"Auto-anthropomancy1)." The ex-Nazi answered. "This is rare practice because it misses the entire point of fortune telling from someone's entrails. In fact, auto-anthropomancy isn't even a divination technique at all." He elaborated. "It is however used in certain rituals and occult practices."
"You're an occultist, so how did you miss this entire auto-athropo-something? Shouldn't you know of such things?" Richard pointed an accusatory finger at the masked man.
"Like I said it is a rare practice, obscure. Even in the past it wasn't widely spread, used only in handful of rituals and with extremely narrow use."
"Then what the killer was trying to do?" Spike leaned back in his chair, preparing himself for a lecture.
"To put it simply, it was a form of preparation. The entire point was for the victim to see the future in their own intestines. Their eyes would preserve the vision for the occultist, who would later use them for certain rituals." Kroenen outlined the subject. "This explains the latest murder."
"So, let me get this straight." Robo stood up and paced closer to the man. "The killer caught himself a girl, knocked her cold so he could tie her to that fence, gagged her and waited patiently for her to wake up. When she did, he cut her open and let her guts to fall out so she could see that and when she bled to death; he just poked her eyes out and took them?"
"Yes. In fact you put it together flawlessly." Kroenen nodded.
"Now, that's just perfect." The robot threw his arms into the air in exasperation – it was getting weirder and creepier every moment.
"There is more." Kroenen spoke silently. His coarse voice deadly serious. "The victims that were mutilated all lacked organs and in one case – blood. These were most probably used for some occult rituals. What caught my attention were the victims who were robbed."
"Were the items special?" Spike asked. "I do not recall them to be anything of use. No data storage devices and only minimal monetary value."
"Not quite. The value of these items was not material one, but they were priceless." Kroenen reached for another book. "A pendant, a ring, a pocket watch and an item taken from the dwelling of a victim whose keys were taken." He opened the book on bookmarked page and found a passage he needed. "This book mentions a pendant and a ring that were created in Oberon's Kingdom and transported to Britain before both worlds were separated; a ring created by Faerie blacksmiths roughly during the period of Queen Gloriana's reign and a pocket watch with some enchantment spells engraved in it."
"And the missing item from the flat?" Door asked.
"I haven't found it, but it doesn't mean it's not described somewhere." Kroenen admitted. "I was focusing on looking for the information to prove or disprove of my theory."
"You suspect that this is connected to enchantment and our faerie legacy?" Door guessed.
"Yes. It would make sense. The killer uses occult knowledge. Combine that with the fact that it happens in London Below and it is only logical." The German confirmed.
"But what the killer would want to achieve?" Spike pondered out loud. "Isn't the Faerie Land separated from London?"
"That is perhaps a knowledge that only the killer has." Door shook her head, not knowing the answer to that question.
"Or the killer is simply a loony bin material." Atomic Robo huffed in annoyance. "He imagined something silly and now is driven by it."
"Does it really matter if what he thinks has any merit?" Richard blurted out. "It's what he thinks, so to him it is as real as anything else. It doesn't really matter if it is really true – to him it is and that's what counts."
"Well said." Door smiled.
"Slender says that he agrees with the human." Spike nodded.
"So, what now?" Robo looked around the gathered faces (and facelessness in some cases).
"We're still not sure what it is that the killer believes in, but we may never learn that." Door decided. "But the Lords should be informed regardless. It may not be much, but it is something already."
"Then you will have to call for the Lords to meet." Richard sighed, knowing that it was easier said than done.
"It may take me some time, but they should arrive." Door shrugged. "I will take you to the guest wing now, so you can move freely while I'm not here."
"Maybe some rest and time to think would be in place." Kroenen suggested.
"And dinner." Richard added.
Door agreed with that and led them away, letting Kroenen to take one of the books. He was pretty sure about the items but he was yet to discover what exactly the killer might have wanted to do with the missing organs of the victims. He was positive about the use for occult rituals but he was in the dark when it came to use of such a particular collection. Or were these organs to be used in separate rituals? He just didn't know and Slenderman wasn't any more knowledgeable either. The silent entity could probably make some guesses, but there was no telling for sure.
?
Door was gone for two hours and it looked like she would be gone for couple more from what Richard told them. Gathering the Lords was already a fit, especially when not all would even want to hear about coming and then not all of those who would hear the heralds would actually come. Convincing them to an idea was on the same level of difficulty as understanding quantum physics and staying sane. At least that's how Atomic Robo understood it... But then again, it was only natural – this was all politics after all.
This time the situation was slightly less complicated because of the killer, so all the big wigs were already inclined to hear out whoever needed to tell them something on the subject, whether they would actually listen was another story. And that was also only natural – they were the biggest fishes in the pond, all convinced in their self-importance and high and might and majesty and all that. Come to think about it, they were exactly the same way as politicians from Above.
"When you finally get that, then it is not so different here as it is there." Robo came back from his musings only to hear Richard explaining something to Spike. "It's all money and influence."
"Humans are the same everywhere." Spike concluded without enthusiasm.
"And Wraith are any different?" Richard asked with genuine interest.
"... No." The Wraith blinked. "Instead of money we have territories and ships."
"It is always about wealth. One kind of wealth or another." Kroenen deadpanned. "Wealth gives you influence. And influence gives you wealth."
In that very moment Spike began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Robo asked.
"Slender says that in between the wealth and influence there's plenty of sex too." The Wraith snorted.
Kroenen was about to say something but he was interrupted by a rat. It was hard to tell if that was the same rat as before, or was it a different one. The rodent jumped onto table and started to squeak. The animal was rather calm, but it definitely seeks attention.
It was Richard who leaned toward the rat and winced in effort to understand. He was observing and listening to the rat carefully as if he was trying to understand a foreign language that he was not entirely fluent in.
"I understand, sort of. Thank you very much." He replied to the rodent and the creature jumped off the table and ran away.
"What was that?" Robo followed the rat with his optics and then looked back to the Scot.
"That was Marquis' messenger. Apparently a lot of rats owe him a favour." The man shrugged. "He said that there was another attack during the Market. But this one was failed and the victim escaped."
"We have a survivor?" Robo jumped to both feet with lightness surprising for a robot weighting a quarter of a metric ton. "This is huge!"
"I agree." Kroenen slowly rose from his seat. "This could be a break through."
"We cannot make this victim wait. We must talk to her or him immediately." Robo decided. "We must get as many details as possible while their memory is still fresh."
"But we also must inform Herrin Door about this so she can find us when she returns." Kroenen added.
Everyone stood still for a moment, all eyes fell on Robo. As the second in command he was in charge when Door was gone and it was his call.
"Richard, stay here. When Door'll be back tell her about the victim." He finally made up his mind. "The rest of us will go there and talk to this survivor."
"And how will we leave the house?" Spike decided to be the one to ask the uncomfortable question.
"Slenderman can take us out." Robo pointed at the lanky creature. "By his own admission he can bring us back, at least to the study. So he shouldn't have any problems taking us out too."
Slenderman nodded confidently. He was a teleporter and Door said it herself, that he shouldn't have any problems teleporting as long as it was within Below borders.
"And where is this Floating Market?" Spike turned to Richard.
"At the Green Park." Richard replied immediately. "But the victim is not there. She was only passing by and should be just under the line."
"The Underground?" Robo halted and blinked.
"Yes." Richard replied as if it was the most natural thing.
"I didn't know there were any tunnels beneath Piccadilly Line. I know that there were some shelters made during the war..."
"There are more tunnels beneath London than anyone realises. Some of them pre-date the Tubes." Richard offered. "Or so I'm being told. Also, the tunnel only starts at the tube station; it's not under the line itself."
"How will we find her?" Robo suddenly felt rather silly. He knew London, but he didn't know London Below. It was confusing.
"You shouldn't have problems. It will look very much like an entry to a service tunnel, but it will be old so no tiles or concrete, just old bricks and stone. And it's a tunnel, not a maze, so there's only one way to go." He waved his hand dismissively. It was fairly easy as far as Below went. He was positive that they would have no problems, they were certainly better prepared than he was when he arrived first. If he could do it back then, with little help, then so could they. Especially that unlike him, they knew what they were doing.
?
Moments later. Some underground tunnel underneath Green Park (the park).
It was just as Richards said. Well, almost as Richard said. The first problem was that they had no idea where to find the entry, but then they remembered which direction was the Green Park. The second problem was to actually find the right entry, which they did. Eventually.
The tunnel was just as Richard described it: all old brick and stone. It did have some concrete at the very beginning, near the entrance, but just few paces away it gave to some old, red bricks and then the brick was replaced by some rough, unpolished stone. The tunnel was narrow and low at first so Slenderman was forced to shrink and then walk bent, but then it started to widen. As they walked it slowly turned to be rather spacious – just like everything else Below. Before they knew, they were walking what seemed to be some sort of underground street. An empty underground street.
They started to look around, but there was little light, just few old electric lamps giving meagre, yellow-orange light. The shadows were deep, and the walls seemed to be crawling with darkness. All in all it looked like poorly lit street in Victorian era London.
"Over here." A voice called out to them.
They instantly turned to where it was coming from and saw a lone figure standing near what could only be some deep niche in a wall. Or perhaps it was some passage. The figure was definitely a man and it was covered in a coat with deep hood hiding his face. The man beckoned on them and they walked to him cautiously.
"The Marquis de Carabas said he would send for help." The man said. "Though I believed it would be Lady Door."
"Why her?" Robo asked.
"She is known to be in charge of solving this mystery." The man answered and pulled his hood off.
He was young, no older than his mid-twenties, with short beard and dark, shining eyes.
"I thought the victim was a girl?" Spike narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He had no problems with the low light; his eyes were glowing slightly with pale blue shine.
"My sister. She was attacked just further down the tunnel." The man revealed. "The doctor insisted in calling Monsieur le Marquis because of the recent murders and he decided that it needed attention. They have sent me here to meet you."
"Why here?" Robo looked around. He too didn't need much light to see.
"She was attacked just further down the tunnel. The Marquis thought that you may want to see the place first." The man gestured to the direction opposite to where they came from. "Also we doubted that Lady Door would know where my family lives."
"I see. Take us to the place then. Let's see if there's anything to see." The robot decided.
It wasn't very far and there wasn't anything to see there either. Just few scraps of fabric and couple of drops of blood. The floor was made of stone so there was no chance for any footprints. The only blood there belonged to the girl and it led to the direction where she escaped to. There was no sign of the attacker. Robo thought that perhaps crime scene investigators with their fancy toys could detect something. Maybe some UV light traces. Or maybe a police dog could sniff where the attacker ran off to. But they didn't have any high tech equipment or trained dogs. The place was empty and cold, Slenderman's talents were useless and Spike couldn't sense anything either. Even his sense of smell detected only the girl's blood.
That trail led to the place where the victim and her brother's parents lived. It wasn't very far away, no more than fifteen minutes of walking, but the tunnel was poorly lit and in some places it was simply dark. There were some deep niches and crannies on their way – perfect hiding spots for attackers.
The place wasn't a house, that much was obvious. It was something between a cellar and a dungeon. It had a corridor and small rooms. And it looked old. There were no windows there for obvious reasons, but it was set in a cosy and pretty tasteful way.
The parents were in their fifties, maybe nearing their sixties. The mother was clearly upset, looking as if she spent the previous hour crying her eyes out while the father kept his composure well enough so only his eyes betrayed that he was angry. They looked to be local equivalent of working class, the kind that believed in working hard and taking pride in what they did while keeping one's morals solid. People who stomped on solid ground… even if said ground was below the ground level.
Behind them stood Marquis de Carabas, looking as out of his place as humanly possible. For what little could be said from his face he also looked grim. Even though his skin consumed all light making him as black as a black hole, his eyes were serious and his crimson lips thin and devoid of any grimace.
Next to the Marquis stood an elderly man in old style looking clothes, this had to be the doctor.
They were quickly led to one of the rooms where they have found the victim. She was wearing a night gown, sitting on a bed and looking scared. Her dark brown hair was braided. Her eyes were puffy but she wasn't crying any more. Her torn and bloodied dress lay in a heap in a corner of the room.
They haven't entered the room to avoid upsetting her; they just stood in the door.
"I have given her something to calm her nerves but she is awake and lucid." The doctor spoke in quiet voice. "I have examined her, but someone should talk to her, she didn't want to tell any detail to any of us."
"I wish Door was here." Robo murmured. "It would be easier for her to talk to another woman."
"You said it yourself that we couldn't wait." Spike reminded.
"Because we couldn't." Kroenen backed the robot. 'We don't know when the meeting with the Lords will be over. We cannot make a victim wait."
"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Kroenen and Slender, you two talk with the Doctor." He addressed them and turned to the Doctor. "You said you examined her, so you can tell them the details of her injuries. Kroenen is a surgeon so you should have no problems in understanding each other. And Slenderman… I don't want him to hover around me or the girl; he's creepy enough to scare her." Robo turned to the parents and the Marquis. "De Carabas, stay with the father. And you ma'am, will come with me. I will be talking to your daughter and maybe it will be easier for her to speak if you will be with her." Then he turned to Spike. "You will come with is, listen, monitor her with your telepathy but stay in the back."
"And what about me?" The brother asked. He was the only one who was left out.
"Stay with your father and Marquis." Atomic Robo did his equivalent of shrugging.
"You can find a bag. I definitely want to take the clothes for examination." Kroenen suggested.
It took some time for Robo to introduce himself and for the girl to gather her thoughts. She was nervous and scared but despite the tranquilisers she was collected. At first she didn't want to talk, but then, after some gentle coaxing from Robo, she started to speak.
She and her brother were visiting her parents, as they usually did once a week. She was to return home and her brother was to go to the Floating Market. He offered to walk her home, but she declined saying that it wasn't that far and it was safe, after all the Market was back.
She was almost there, passing some darker area when the attacker jumped out of some cranny. Clearly he was waiting there for a victim to pass by. He tried to hit her with something but she managed to duck, he lost grip of his weapon so he pushed her to the ground and started to tear her dress off, breathing a cold, pale-blue fire as he did so. She was trying to fight him off, but he was stronger. His talons were sharp and iron-like, cutting her flesh when she struggled. She thought it was her end, but his hands suddenly got tangled in the folds of her frilly skirt – very fashionable lately – and she saw it as her only chance to break free. When he struggled to untangle his hands, she kicked him off and ran as fast as she could. She ran to her parents' home that was closer than her own and she knew she would be safe there.
At that moment her mother took over the story. She and her husband seeing the state of her daughter knew that she needed a doctor – her wounds were too severe to deal with them on their own, so the father immediately went to the Floating Market because they knew that a doctor had a booth there for anyone who would find themselves in need of medical assistance, which wasn't uncommon during the Market. It was the doctor that realised that the attack might be connected to the murders. The rest of the story Robo already knew from the poor girl's brother.
The girl sighed and lifted her head to look directly at Robo.
"It was terrible. His claws cut me like knives." She said in shaken voice, but there was strength in her eyes. "I know of the killer but everyone thought that the danger was gone because the Market was back."
"I know kid. And trust me, we just learned ourselves, if it was up to us, the Floating Market would be closed until we would catch that creep." Robo started to rise. There was nothing more for him to do there and he knew he should let the girl to rest.
"You really think it was the same man that killer the others?" She paled when she truly realised what exactly her daughter managed to escape. "I thought that it was just doctor's wild imagination."
"So far I have read reports and seen only two confirmed victims of this killer so it's hard to say for me. But he is cutting his victims, some of them really badly." Robo replied to the mother.
"I was cut. I was cut deep enough that the doctor had to stitch me." The girl spoken again. She reached to her night gown and lifted it to reveal her left leg. "Are these similar to what you have seen?" She asked and undid her bandage, revealing long gashes that have been carefully stitched together.
The sutures were old-fashioned ones, the kind that Robo have seen long time ago, during his time as a soldier, but he could tell that they were put by a professional who had a lot of practice.
"It's hard for me to say it yours are identical because you're the first that I see on a living person and that have been sutured." Robo admitted truthfully. "But you were very brave and very lucky, now I want you to be very careful because I don't know if he will try to attack you again. So just to be safe I need you to stay in your parents' home and don't go anywhere alone until we will catch the killer. Do you understand?"
The girl nodded, covering herself again. Robo didn't say anything or stared but he did notice that she had six fingers in every hand. Then he discreetly looked at her mother's hands – she also had six fingers.
?
As soon as he was done, Robo left the girl alone; she looked exhausted and clearly needed some rest. Spike didn't make a sound as he picked the clothes, it seemed that the girls didn't even notice his presence but Robo didn't ask if Spike used his Wraith abilities or not. Outside of the room Kroenen was done with the doctor as well, so they asked without further delay.
"So, what the girl said?" De Carabas asked. He was walking with them, not having anything else to do with the victim's family.
Robo recapitulated the story, adding that he had little to no doubts that it was their killer, but he didn't know what to think about the description the girl gave.
"It looks like it was failed attack. I wonder what went wrong. Perhaps it was the first victim that he failed to surprise completely?" Kroenen mused. "There's always the first time when the killer makes a mistake and this was certainly his first failure."
"So you really think it was our killer?" Marquis enquired.
"Oh, I am fairly sure that it was him." Kroenen confirmed. 'The Doctor described he wounds with details and they match. It is not an exact match, but her lacerations fit some of the minor wounds of the previous victims. When we remember that the killer failed to stun her with the hit to the head and that she was awake and could defend herself, it is a pretty close match Of course with the exception of the deep mutilations."
"Hmm. That's what I thought. He seemed to be in a hurry. But then again, he lost his club and he needed to act fast with his victim fighting him off. Maybe he panicked? But why rip her clothes off?" Robo pondered loudly.
"Maybe he didn't? Not on purpose." Spike proposed. "What if he just tried to hold her down but with claws as she described them and her actively fighting back, he couldn't get a good grip of her and so he ended ripping her clothes and slicing her?"
"That would make sense. The cuts were on her arms, legs and few on her back." Kroenen nodded. "She was fighting back, so she probably punched and kicked while he tried to hold her and prevent her from hitting. I can see that happen. That would also explain some of the minor lacerations on other victims; they were not planned but accidental"
"But what with that cold flame that he was breathing? That's ridiculous." Atomic Robo spat. "People don't breathe things like that."
"I think I have a suspect. That description sounds very familiar." Kroenen declared bluntly.
"Slender says that he thinks that he knows of what you're talking about." Spike announced.
"What, with all that fire breathing?" Robo stopped in his tracks.
"Exactly with all the fire breathing." Kroenen nodded, sounding very pleased with himself.
TBC.
1) An idea taken from Cenobite comic book, one of the older ones, namely 1991 Epic Comics' "Hellraiser" vol 7. "Devil's Brigade; part one: A Call to Arms" sub story.