Disclaimer: See chapter one.
Chapter Eleven
Wally's a stubborn ass.
At least Roy actually had experience with criminals. All Wally knows about is their stolen cars.
As for Tim, well…it's his plane we're in.
Wally let out a low whistle as he sat back in one of the leather chairs.
"Now these are some nice digs, Tim," he complimented my younger brother with a wide grin. "You think Bruce wants to adopt another kid. Cause I'd be happy to call him dad!"
"Yeah, the only problem is you're twenty-five, have a job, a wife, and a set of twins," I told him. "The latter two will probably be worried sick about you, so how about we drop you off at home."
"Sorry buddy; no can do," Wally replied, still smiling. "Besides, your little bro is coming along and he's younger than us and has a fiancée waiting for him back home."
"What do you think about being a dad, Wally?" Tim changed the subject. A look of confusion crossed Wally's face.
"It's okay right now," he finally answered with a shrug. "I'm happy I'm a dad. I'm just not happy about changing diapers. It's such a hassle and my kids go through so many of-"
"Cass is pregnant, isn't she?" I asked Tim, looking over at him. This is the second time he's asked that question and, at the funeral, it did look like Cass had put on some weight. She must be at least three months along, because she's begun showing.
Tim just looked down at the floor and Wally's grin got so big that I'm surprised his face didn't split in two!
"No way!" he yelled. "Little Timmy's gonna be a daddy?"
Tim's face just got red.
I got up from my seat and walked to the mini-bar in the back. Wally and I aren't big wine drinkers, so it took me a while to find a few beers. I grabbed them, popped the tops open, and handed one to Wally and one to Tim.
"Welcome to the club, Tim," I told him before taking a large gulp.
"And best of luck to ya," Wally told him before also chugging his beer down.
Tim just smiled and laughed before joining us.
Well, he won't be laughing so much in a couple of months.
When we finally landed a few miles out of Blue Valley, Nevada, Tim had his driver take us to Wally's parents' house. They had agreed to put up with us for a few nights.
We stayed in Wally's old room and I began to set up my stuff.
"So what's the plan?" Tim asked as he and Wally sat on the floor and continued to their quick poker game.
"You two stay here and let me do my job," I told him as I pulled out Blood's file.
Roy had just gotten killed. I'm not gonna let the same happen to either of them. I'm not going to let two other people I care about, die.
"C'mon Dick, you know we can help," Wally persisted.
"Yeah; you can help by letting me do my job," I shot back, slamming the folder on Wally's old desk.
Why the hell am I even wasting my time here? I know where Blood is, and waiting will only allow him time to know I'm here. He basically has the whole town under his little spell. If I go now, I will still have the element of surprise.
I stood up from my chair and started toward the door.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Wally asked as he and Tim scrambled to their feet.
"Out," was all I said as I walked out the door and slammed it shut behind me.
There's just one last thing I need to make sure I can take Blood down. I walked into the bathroom that was down the hall and began searching through the drawers. Wally's mom had to keep a small mirror somewhere around here.
Blood hypnotizes victims by having them look into his eyes. He has to catch and try to hypnotize me. I know that's what he'll do, because I'll be putting up a struggle. Then I could use the mirror to have him hypnotize himself.
I finally found a small, square compact in the cabinet and tucked it into my pocket before running out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door.
They're following me. I know Tim and Wally. They're following me. I can't lose them either. This is where Wally grew up. He knows the town like the back of his hand. If I lose them, they'll just go straight to the church.
I have no choice but to allow them to follow. For now.
I snuck into the church and ducked behind the last row of seats. The room was full of people.
Once the door opened again, I saw Tim and Wally hesitantly walk into the room, but no one looked back at them.
Blood definitely got to them.
I quickly stood up and grabbed the two idiots before pulling them behind the wooden benches.
"You do as I tell you," I ordered them, before glancing over the top of the bench. Blood had entered the room and was speaking with a woman at the podium.
"What's that on his head?" Tim whispered over to him.
"A skull he probably worked into a crown," I whispered back. Suddenly Blood's face was scrunched up in anger. Kory had described this to me, but I've never actually seen it happen.
Blood glared up at the woman he had most likely named his mother, and suddenly tackled her to the ground. Then, like a viper, his face moved as quick as lightning toward hers and in moments, blood was pouring down her face as she screamed. Her hands immediately went to her face as he stood and began chewing her nose in his mouth.
"Oh. My. God," Wally choked out, terror in his eyes and his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"W-what did h-h-he just do?" Tim stuttered out in horror.
Even my eyes were wide, though I was left speechless at the sight. I finally forced my eyes down, unable to stare at the scene any longer.
How could I have put Kory through this?
I should have put my foot down the moment she offered. I should have fought harder to try and get her to stop going. I should have done a lot of things…and now, my wife has to pay for those mistakes in her dreams. Now Wally and Tim are added to the list.
I finally looked up again to see the room being emptied. Most of the people were leaving, but a few were leaving through a door at front of the church. I stood up and snuck behind one of the people that were leaving and grabbed the base of their neck. After squeezing it, the man went limp in moments and I pulled the deep scarlet robe off of him.
I was about to put it on when I noticed the light reflect against something in the hood.
What the hell?
I looked inside the hood to see a silver band inside. It was large enough to fit over a person's head. Most likely a mind control device so no one can escape Blood's control.
But he'd never be smart enough to make these on his own…
Only one person would be able to help him make these.
Mikron O'Jeneus.
He'd never let Blood have the main controller, though, which means he has to be around here somewhere.
"Okay, both of you," I whispered to them, "I need you to look through the rooms upstairs. If you find a small, bald guy in one of the rooms, and he's laughing evilly, knock him out quick and destroy any little gadgets he may have on him. Actually, it's better if you strip him down." I pulled out the extra pairs of rubber gloves I kept in my back pocket and handed one pair to each of them. "Make sure to put these on. He wear's a suit under his clothes and it has an electric charge to it. It only works once so when the shock goes off you can pull off his equipment and make sure it's out of his reach. Find something to tie him down with and keep a good watch on him."
They nodded slowly before sneaking out through the doors.
Well, now that they're taken care of, I can go deal with Blood.
I stood and walked to the front of the church. The blood was already beginning to set into the carpet, which was a similar color. I had discovered Blood did that purposely so whenever an officer would drop in, they wouldn't be able to see any evidence of blood on the floor from the victims that were killed in that very room. After I cut up a patch of the carpet, though, I could see the blood stains on the bottom. They had even gone so far as to being to stain the concrete floor underneath.
I went to the door and slowly turned the knob. They left it unlocked. I definitely have to keep my guard up now. He must be expecting me, but how? How could he have found out I was here so-Ahh!
Dammit. Stairs turned into a slide. He definitely was expecting me.
Once I reached the bottom of the slide, I was immediately grabbed by two of Blood's zoned-out followers. I looked at both and they were just staring off into space like idiots. Their grip wasn't that tight, however, and both seemed to be pretty out of shape. That, I doubt Blood knew. The little bastard's smart, but he's cocky and overconfident in his abilities. It's what causes him to make mistakes. Picking these two to hold me was the first.
"It seems like you've done a very terrible job of trying to surprise me, detective," he said with a malicious smile. Psycho kid. Plain and simple. He stared directly at me, and his smile widened immediately as his eyes seemed to grow a bit larger.
He was focusing on me now. I quickly shook my arm out of one of his followers' hands and pulled the compact out of my pocket and put it directly in his line of vision. I kept it there for a few seconds until I was sure he had hypnotized himself.
"You're going to listen to my orders," I told him clearly to make sure he understood. "Tell you're followers to let me go."
"Let him go," He repeated the last of my words mechanically.
"Tell them to all go back home, and, when they arrive, remove and destroy their cloaks."
"You are all dismissed. When you arrive back home, remove and destroy your cloaks."
When I had first done this to him, I had thought that it was too easy for me to trick him. I'm a little more relaxed now, having gone through it once before, but I'm still ready incase he learned any new tricks to get by this.
"Now, where's-"
"Dick!" I heard Tim cry from behind me. I turned quickly to see him running down the-now normal-staircase. "We've gotta get out of here. Before Wally and I caught him, that little bastard imp started up a bomb. The place is gonna explode in less than a minute! Wally already grabbed the guy and left."
I turned to Blood. "Lead us out of here through the quickest possible way, right now."
He took off running toward the other end of the chamber. That's when I finally spotted the large pool in the center of the room. He sure collected a lot of blood during his stay here. He must have been working subtly over here since he was broken out of jail.
I looked back at Tim who had gone extremely pale but kept his gaze purpose away from the pool. He'd seen it too.
We took off after Blood through a passageway at the other end of the chamber. About halfway through it had gotten pretty dark, until we both finally saw a light ahead of us and a powerful…stench reached our noses. Tim didn't know what it was that was causing this great odor, but I did. I smelt the same thing when a group of cops and myself were searching for the bodies of some of the people Blood had killed. We found out that he liked to burn some bodies, while others he would have his hypnotized followers drop off into a large, open ditch that lay outside city limits.
By now, I know both of us are pretty far away from Blue Valley. I just don't know how far. We sure as hell can't go back, since the explosion would have caused a cave in that covered the chamber with the pool of blood and the entrance to the tunnel. We have no other way out.
I stopped and turned to Tim.
"There are going to be a bunch of holes up there," I told him, keeping my voice even. The next words came out as an order. "Do not look in them. You've already seen too much as it is. I don't care if I have to take your shirt and wrap it over your face, then take your hand and lead you all the way back to Blue Valley. Do NOT look in those holes."
He nodded before we both climbed out of the tunnel. Once we were outside, he closed his eyes and I grabbed his shoulder and pushed him along, around the open.
This kid has no respect for the dead. Just dumps them in a hole in the ground and leaves them to rot.
I have to remember to put him in a nice tight chokehold before the cops show.
Until then, he still has to lead us back to Blue Valley. Of course, once he steps foot inside the town lines again, he'll be arrested.
Easiest one so far.
Whoever broke these guys out is obviously saving the best for last.
A/N: Well, here's that cannabalism chapter everyone was waiting for. Sorry it took so long to update this, but I had a pretty busy week and weekend. I did promise Green Gallant that I'd update before I leave for work, though, so that's why I updated so early.
Next chapter we'll have a little talk between Dick and Donna to put some closure to Roy's death. You may even see a small guest appearance from a new character!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review!