Mako's Message: I should have built up to this better. I know this. I just couldn't figure out how to build this up properly while still keeping him mysterious, and of course other mini-plots got in the way. But I've been looking forward to writing this scene for a long time now so I hope you all enjoy it even if it doesn't have the impact I want it to. And I do plan to explain some, if not all, of this in a later chapter.
Here's a hint though. The soundtrack for this chapter is Voices by Disturbed.
P.S.- I reread this before I uploaded it, and after about a half hour of debating if it threw off the tone I was going for, I threw in about a paragraph's worth of description of the guy. Hope it works.
Never before, in all of my life, has what I do left me feeling so…disturbed.
The police found that serial killer hiding out in a warehouse. Probably would have found him faster but the guy really did it right. Never killed in the same place twice, killed right next to his hideout as often as he killed across the city. No pattern. He didn't even stick to the city. But then someone reported someone slipping in and out of the warehouse and when the investigating officers were killed they swarmed the place.
It didn't take Dave and I long to hear about it and we were suited up and waiting on the sidelines just in time to see the SWAT team go in.
The screams started not long after that.
I called Marcus and asked him if he could open a hole in the perimeter for us to get in. He refused of course. He said, "This is what the SWAT team is for!"
I told him we both knew they weren't coming back out.
He said that he wasn't going to let the two of us go into a situation so bad a SWAT team couldn't handle it. That that was what they did.
I told him that this was what WE did.
There silence from him for a moment. During which we heard another scream.
Then he said, "I'll see what I can do," and hung up.
A few minutes later he said he'd passed orders to the officers on the south side to switch with the ones on the north without sending anyone to cover for them. It'd take them about five minutes to have someone covering that side so if we were going to go in we'd need to move fast.
We got in with plenty of time to spare.
Dave seemed nervous, but then so was I. Whoever this guy was, he was good. He'd taken out the entire SWAT team and none of the bodies we found had been shot. Most were either stabbed or strangled. We even found one strung up from the ceiling. It was fucking creepy. It was like we'd walked into a Predator movie. All that was missing was for the bodies to be skinned.
We finally found him on the top floor by one of the windows, looking down on the police blockade.
I don't know what made me hesitate in shooting him. It would have made my life so much simpler. I guess there was something about facing somebody who was this capable. Probably couldn't have done it anyway. He knew we there. If I'd tried I bet he would've known and been gone before I could aim.
Without even looking at us he said, "I've been wondering if I'd face you. Kinda hoping I would. I bet you're real strong."
The floor was mostly open space and didn't have much in the way of cover except for the support pillars and everything told us he didn't have a gun so we stepped out into the open and moved to take him into custody. I really should have just shot him. I'm still trying to figure out why I didn't. I guess I figured the cops would want to handle to be able to take care of him themselves. Or maybe that Marcus would let us help more if we brought him in alive. But if I'd known how much trouble he was going to be I'd have tried no matter how slim I thought my chances of hitting him were, or how pissed I thought Marcus would be.
Dave and I fanned out and I said, "Alright, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
He turned his head towards us then, just enough for me to be able to see that he was smiling…sort of, He was looking at the floor if his eyes were even open and he said, "No. There's only one way we can do this."
And then he whirled on us and sent a knife at each of us with one throw.
I dodged it easily, Dave cut it a little closer but it still missed him. I pulled my gun and fired back at him, but all I hit was the wall and floor. He was just too fast for me to draw a bead on him. He also wasn't a very big target. He was shorter than Dave and really thin. I probably could have seen his ribs if I'd been able to look. It was weird though even though he was so thin he he was really well muscled. I think that's what they mean when they say someone is "wirey" or when they say muscles are "ropey" or "knotted" I don't know. I've never really understood things like that. Having to dodge his knives at the same time didn't make things any easier, and he was wearing this long coat that kept fluttering around behind him and throwing off my aim.
When I ran out of ammo I switched to my throwing knives but all that accomplished was getting them thrown back at me. He was focused on me, but he always managed to keep out of Dave's reach.
Eventually we managed to keep him from picking up any of his knives long enough that he ran out. Dave ran in to try and tackle him, hurling the sheathe to his baton/swords at him as a distraction since we'd both pretty much given up on being able to hit this guy from a distance, and managed take the guy to the floor, but he kicked Dave off of him without any problems and took the unsheathed blade from him while he was at it.
I'd run in with my swords drawn, but the bastard was just too damn fast. Before I could strike he spun in low and back kicked me under the chin taking me off my feet and knocking me back. I don't know what happened then, I couldn't see anything but stars, but I guess Dave got into with him because next thing I know I hear Dave scream and I see him on the floor with his own knife through his leg.
The guy had walked over to pick up one of his knives and I rushed in again. His back was too me and He was kinda hunched over like Dave had managed to injure him so I had reason to hope this would go better than the last time… and it did. Sorta. He was too slow this time and he turned just in time for me to impale him through the heart with both swords
But he didn't care.
I knocked him back but he didn't even lose his footing. He coughed blood on me even as he grinned at me and grabbed both my wrists with one hand. I tried to pull away, but even impaled on both swords, right through his heart( and I can't imagine I missed), his grip on me was too strong. I didn't even try to hold on to my swords, I just tried to pull away. He was bleeding all over me but it didn't make a difference. He just lifted up one of the knives and said, "At least I'll get you."
And then the left half of his face exploded.
I still don't remember hearing the gunshot.
But his grip finally went limp and he collapsed to the floor. I looked over at Dave and he was on one knee with a gun pointed at him. It took me a minute to recognize it as the gun I'd given him for Christmas. He was breathing heavy and he looked pretty pale but he didn't seem to be bleeding all that much.
Then the guy coughed.
I looked down at him, and even though he'd lost an eye and most of his face, all the important parts of his head were still there. He looked up at me with his one eye and coughed up a big glob of blood before managing to smile and say, "Still doesn't hurt."
Then he said, "Don't let me die. I didn't finish."
And then his eye went wide as the pupil contracted into a pin-point and he screamed. He screamed like I've never heard anyone scream. Daddy didn't scream like that when he was burning to death. The guy in the car crusher didn't scream like that. It was the most horrible sound I've ever heard.
I was actually frozen, staring at him.
Dave hobbled over to me and asked if I was okay.
I don't remember answering.
I don't remember calling Marcus to come get the body, or finding a room to hide in, or Marcus coming in to see if I was okay before calling the room clear, or pouring disinfectant over Dave's wound before helping him bandage it up. But that's what Dave said I did.
I don't know what it was that affected me like that; his scream, him taking so long to die, his determination to kill me…Maybe it was everything. I don't know. But something about that was just wrong. Something was really wrong with him…and I think that's what scared me so much.
Marcus has to work late dealing with everything that went on today so Dave said he'd stay with me tonight. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep, but it'll still be nice having here.
