Kirsty was in a place she hadn't visited in years, and frankly? It was a scene that she was all to eager to forget about.
"That's Rebecca's body." Kirsty thought as she saw her mom lying on the ground. "But that makes no sense, mom was buried not long after I was put on trial! I wasn't allowed to attend her funeral because I had just been tried for her murder and it wasn't wildly known that I'm her daughter yet but…" Kirsty's thoughts trailed off when she heard footsteps accompanied by muffled metal music and her eyes widened. "OH SHIT!"
"Man, I can't get enough of this Exodus album!" Kirsty's younger self exclaimed happily as she made her way towards the alley, the older Kirsty tried to intervene but quickly realized that she was anchored to her spot by an unknown force, a few moments later the teenaged Kirsty made her way into the alley not paying any attention to the world around her, just jamming along to the music in her CD Player.
"Damn ,it! Open your eyes already! Your about to…" Kirsty's thoughts trailed off as she saw her younger self literally trip over Rebecca's corpse landing in the pool of blood.
"What the fuck?!" The younger Kirsty exclaimed as she realized that she had landed in the blood and gotten it all over her t-shirt, jeans and boots, then she turned around and all colour drained from her face. "Oh shit, no! no! no! NO! This isn't happening!" Kirsty's younger self panicked as she felt around for something to steady herself only to grip onto a knife, as soon as she saw it in her trembling hands Kirsty dropped it in a hurry. "I need to get out of here, now!"
"No! Stay put! The cops will have a much easier time buying your story if you wait for them!" The older Kirsty called out to her but it was useless as she watched the younger Kirsty bolt out of the alley.
"HEY! Watch where your…" Jessie's voice rang out from outside the alley and the older Kirsty closed her eyes knowing what was next.
"I still don't know what's weirder, the fact that that girl helped the police arrest me the day after or the fact that I became friends with that couple way after the fact!" Kirsty thought before something that never happened originally happened, namely Rebecca turning her head towards her. "What the fuck?!"
"Some daughter you are!" Rebecca's corpse said as she slowly stood up. "Didn't even recognize your own mother's corpse!"
"It was late at night, what was I supposed to do?!" Kirsty protested before chains erupted from the wall and ensnared her. "I swear I didn't want any of that to happen!"
"But it did, and now you must pay!" Rebecca added before she lunged at her daughter.
*in the real world*
Kirsty awoke with a scream before sitting up in her bed, it was late at night and she was in her new apartment, not in the alleyway where Rebecca was murdered.
"I literally just turned twenty-one, it's been three years since Rebecca was murdered." Kirsty sighed to herself as she started to calm down. "And I'm still haunted by that night in the alleyway, wonder if I should go ahead and add PTSD to the list?!" Kirsty commented as she blew a stray strand of her messy hair (even messier than normal) out of her face. "Anxiety, high functioning autism, what's one more condition for the list?"
Kirsty sighed before leaning back in her bed trying to get some sleep again, at least until the door to her bedroom was opened and her roommate Stacy stepped in. "Having that nightmare again?" The blonde woman asked Kirsty and the metalhead nodded reluctantly. "Your going to have to mention that nightmare to your shrink one of these days."
"And say what? I've been having bad dreams related to one of the worst times of my life?" Kirsty asked with a sigh as she sat back up. "I owe Doctor Martine a lot for getting for tested for autism in the first place, but I don't think she can help me there."
"You never know Kirsty! I mean you could frame it as the stress of working whilst there's a Serial Killer out there." Stacy tried to assure her friend and Kirsty just shook her head. "Have you had any contact with anyone from your old life? Maybe that's the reason?"
"The only people I've spoken too from the old days are the police and that's related to this serial killer case, besides, Detective Briscoe apparently retired a year ago and they have a new cop as Detective Greene's partner, that guy looks even older than Briscoe." Kirsty sighed to herself as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "And why would I even think about talking to them anyway? The two boyfriends I had back then were pieces of shit, my so called friends were even worse and I spent most of my early teens in jail."
"I know, I know, I'm just trying to help." Stacy sighed as she held her hands up defensively. "What's your schedule like for the rest of the week anyway?"
"My guitar lesson is on Thursday my weekly shrink session is tomorrow evening and that's not even taking into account my shifts at Guitar World." Kirsty responded after glancing over at the calendar on the wall and then turned to her roommate. "Why?"
"I can drive you to any of those, it's no problem." Stacy suggested and Kirsty shook her head. "What's wrong? I'm trying to help."
"I know but I don't want you to put yourself in danger Stace! Besides, my relatives are taking shifts in driving me to and from my destinations, my aunt will be driving me to Guitar World and the shrink's office, Jake's taking me to my destinations on the other days." Kirsty sighed as she shook her head. "I appreciate that you want to help but who knows what could happen?"
"Yeah, you're right, but we should definitely do something together at some point, you've been so busy lately." Stacey responded and Kirsty quickly nodded in agreement. "For now? Try to get some rest?"
"I'll try, but if I wake up screaming again? Feel free to get me my CD Player and a metal cd, that usually does the trick." Kirsty responded and Stacey nodded before closing the door behind her and Kirsty lay back down in her bad. "One of these days? I'll go a night without thinking back to the year where my life changed for the better, warts and all, but if I can't and this is going to be what I'm like for the rest of my life? What's it gonna take for me to sleep comfortably again?" Kirsty thought before she started to go back to sleep.
*the next day, over at NYPD*
By this point a task force had gathered at the NYPD with Van Buren taking charge and Fontana and Green front and centre among the crowd of cops.
"Thank you all for coming, as you all know by now, it's highly likely that there is a serial killer loose in the city." Van Buren addressed the room full of cops as they watched on. "So far we know of three victims., Ritchie Francs, Cassie Richards and Latesha Monroe were killed in Queens, Brooklyn and Harlem respectively, given how far apart these murders are it's highly likely that we're looking at a cab driver."
"Question." One of the cops from Brooklyn asked as she put her hand up and the other cops turned to her. "Do we know for sure that these killings are related? I know the MOs are similar but even for a cab driver that's a long distance to travel."
"You raise a good point Officer Fletcher, at the moment? It's pure speculation, we have more suspects but they were dismissed." Van Buren responded before pointing to Kirsty's mugshot from when she was last arrested. "The first suspect we dismissed was Kirsty Gallagher, a twenty-one-year-old ex-juvenile offender who was the initial suspect in a cop killing three years ago and worked with Ritchie at a guitar store, not only are the crimes she was actually convicted off non-violent but she has an alibi for each killing, that and she's a petite, skinny girl and Ritchie's murder was a dump job."
"Right, how would someone with her build be able to drag a much heavier guy like that?" One of the cops from Harlem nodded as he got the idea. "We also suspected Latesha's ex-boyfriend as they had gone through a nasty breakup a few months ago, but he's currently serving time in prison for armed robbery."
"I was about to get to Marcus Yates, and we've already crossed him off the list alongside Kirsty." Van Buran nodded before pointing to another picture. "The last suspect we have so far is Tommy Hayes, he works at the same mom and pop store as Cassie and has a record for burglary, but like Marcus he's serving time on a parole violation"
"The patrolman we sent to Guitar World identified another possible, Miles Ward, but he was with his girlfriend at the time which said girlfriend confirmed." Joe chimed in and the other cops nodded as they turned to the older detective. "Either way, we need to catch this scumbag before someone else gets killed."
"Couldn't have put it better myself, the killer seems to be targeting retailers who work the night shift but as a precaution we've been sending patrolman to the stores to keep an eye on the remaining employees as Detective Fontana just mentioned." Van Buren responded before she turned to address each cop in the room. "Look, I want no jurisdiction friction between our districts, all I want is this maniac caught and soon, any more murders and the FBI will likely catch wind of this and the investigation will be out of our hands, any questions?" Van Buren asked and the cops shook their heads. "You have your orders, keep in radio contact as often as possible, good luck, because the city of New York is counting on you."
As the police officers dispersed Fontana and Green kept close to each other. "So, where do you want to start?" Joe asked and Ed turned to him. "Are only lead right now is that guitar store Ritchie worked at, and the rest of the employees seem as clueless about his death as we are."
"We should follow up that taxi driver lead, because I don't know how this serial killer is making their way through New York that quickly otherwise." Ed responded as he shook his head. "Maybe the employees use a specific cab company."
"That's a start, we'll stop by and ask them." Joe nodded before they walked off.
*over at Guitar World*
Once again, Van Buren had sent a couple of uniformed officers to Guitar World to keep Kirsty and he rest of the employees safe, and this time around Kirsty was back working behind the counter.
"Okay, that guitar comes to $350." Kirsty commented after ringing up the guitar and the middle-aged couple balked at the price. "You asked for one of the cheaper models to get your son started playing guitar, and the Fender Stratocaster is how I got started playing the instrument." Kirsty sighed when she saw the look on their faces.
"We didn't think it was going to be that expensive." The male half of the couple responded as he recovered from the shock. "Are you sure you can't get it for cheaper than that?"
"This is the latest model of the Stratocaster, there are older guitars of the same model that go for cheaper but you're still looking at the Triple Digits." Kirsty explained before brushing some hair behind her ear. "Look, you said that your son is looking to start a band at some point, right? This may seem steep now but if he makes it big then the investment will be worth it."
"She does have a point there Harold." The wife relented before getting her purse out. "Cash or card?"
"Either's good but the card machine wasn't working that great yesterday." Kirsty responded before she reached over and grabbed the card machine from behind her, this time the card machine worked and Kirsty breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, you're all set."
"Thank you miss." Harold responded before they left with the new guitar. "She'd be a good fit for Danny, wouldn't she? Beautiful girl, nice personality, same age as Danny?"
"No, those piercings and tattoos make her look like a thug." The wife responded unintentionally hurting Kirsty on an emotional level. "Why she would do that to her body is beyond me."
"Oh sure, piercings and tattoos are bad but drugs are A-OK!" Kirsty thought as she shook her head and watched them leave. "Judgmental bitch." Kirsty muttered under her breath before sitting down behind the counter, the female police officer near her just shook her head and Kirsty glanced up at her. "You don't have to put up with that crap right? People judging others because they've had body work done."
"Can't really comment on that but you don't have any gang tattoos so your good." The officer responded and Kirsty nodded as she looked for her CD Player. "Are guitars really that expensive?"
"That was a cheaper model, the more expensive guitars go up to the four digits." Kirsty responded as she shook her head. "And even if they were easy to shoplift, I'd like to see them try with two uniformed cops on the premises."
"Throw in two police detectives and a bag of popcorn and we'd have a show." Kirsty and the female cop looked up to see Fontana and Green approaching the counter. "Any problems so far?" Fontana asked and Kirsty shook her head.
"You just missed me arguing with a middle-aged couple over the price of a cheaper guitar and then them having the gall to judge me because of my tattoos and piercings after I had sold them on the guitar." Kirsty sighed as she shook her head and the two detectives nodded. "I didn't get this much crap back when I was a teenager and I didn't get my first tattoo until I was twenty! Anyway, what brings you guys here?"
"We want to follow up on a potential lead." Ed responded as he stepped forward and Kirsty nodded. "Is there a cab service that Frank uses for employees that live further away?"
"If there was, I've never heard of it, besides since Ritchie's murder I've been getting picked up by family members after my shifts." Kirsty responded as she shook her head. "Miles might be able to help you out, he's been using the same cab service since he started working here, but he's on a break at the moment."
"May I?" Fontana asked as he motioned to the break room and Kirsty shrugged before the two detectives went into the break room.
Needless to say, Miles was in for quite a shock as he saw the two cops enter the break room right as he was about to smoke some marijuana. "Err, hi officers!" Miles said awkwardly once he saw their badges whilst hurriedly hiding his weed. "What can I do for you?"
"You can relax for starters, we're not from narcotics." Ed responded as he shook his head and Miles breathed a sigh of relief. "Look, because of the distance between the victims, we're thinking that the serial killer is a cab driver, Kirsty mentioned that you use a cab service?"
"Err, yeah! Yeah, I can get you their number now." Miles responded with a nervous laugh before getting the number, Kirsty came over to get a better look and shook her head when she saw the weed. "Seriously Kirsty, you had to send them after me whilst I'm on a break?! You know I could get fired if Frank finds me smoking this stuff!"
"I'm not the one smoking that stuff on the job, and besides that I've been picked up by my relatives since Ritchie's murder, what did you expect me to do?" Kirsty asked and Miles just shook his head. "And I'll still take working with a stoner over hanging out with a bunch of violent thugs, including my ex-boyfriend."
"Look kid, just get the number and we'll get out of your hair, getting her out of your hair is another matter." Joe responded as he motioned to Kirsty and Miles shook his head before handing the number over to the detectives, they left Miles alone in the break room and Joe turned to Kirsty. "You know that stuff's illegal right?"
"Trust me, I know but Miles is harmless, besides it's still better than the company I used to take." Kirsty responded as she shook her head. "Just don't report this to narcotics alright? Miles is a decent guy and he doesn't deserve to lose his job over this."
"Can't speak for the uniforms but our priority is catching this killer." Ed responded before looking at the number and name of the cab company. "Their HQ is a few blocks from here, might be our best lead yet."
"In which case, we'll take our leave." Joe responded with a nod before turning to the uniformed officers. "Keep us updated if anything happens?"
"Will do." The female officer nodded before the detectives left.