Note: Whoever's reading this, nice to see you at this junction of this fictional story. Alas, it is coming to an end soon and the roller-coaster will need to come down. Knowing that, I believe the main, crucial thread should resurface in all its glory.
Chapter 9. Risky Sieging
A fair amount of time passes.
"You think they're listening to us?"
"Without a doubt."
Surrounded by cold colors, bleakness, emptiness, the captured males sit on black chairs; one might be able to see identical ones near their local schools theatre/acting hall. The table in front – by no means strong, robust. To Adam in particular, the thought of a detective smashing papers onto it correlates to its destruction.
[In a room behind one sided glass]
"They do seem to possess the mental side to be our killers."
"Though they're ultra-calm. It was hard for me to see any hand movement."
"It speaks of a long-lasting relationship, possibly spanning more than a decade."
The 3 most involved, invested and specially trained people measure the difficulty of these suspects. Naturally, their conclusions up to this point differ slightly. For the female, whose guilt of a recent event rested in chains now, the males are probable havoc inciters. When they were being escorted to the interrogation room, a hint of fear was nowhere to be seen. This easily led to them being labeled as conscious, thorough. Kind of a contradiction, since the duo were sitting in front of her.
[…]
'Don't give them any ammo' – the moto that Adam follows; the urge to check the current time grows with every minute for him. Is it possible that he has pieced together a masterful scheme that he believes is almost the same as the killers' ? Definitely more likely than not. There is a certain 'mindset' that a person must be able to achieve in order to construct this; one might even call it a condition or a state of mind.
[…]
The male detective shared the view of them being somewhat responsible for the tragic events with her; though, responsibility, proactiveness also radiated from them. One particular, identified Blackmore victim had close ties, hinted at great loss, suffering, pain. Atypically, this converged to a point where the duo were voluntarily seeking something important or… someone. To the police officer, who arguably has more emotional stake than the Special Agent, the duo looked either liable to cooperation with the real killers or were truly them. Anyway, time will be judge who had the best involvement landscape.
Abruptly, the trio notice one looking at the other's wrist.
"You see that?" – Jeff asks in a strange casual manner.
"Yeah. He checked the time."
"Which means that either there is something they've planned on the horizon or they're fearful of someone's actions in the future."
Bailey turns to his partner.
"Then we question them."
"Without a doubt." – Fortune retorts looking back with a calm, determined face.
[…]
Safe to say, the moment comes where Adam's bet has to be evaluated. As most intelligent people would guess – none of the arrived smash papers onto the brittle desk. In a sense, it all comes down to who has the 'higher ground'/ dominant position here. The obvious answer – the police. And yet, they, subconsciously or not, know they neither possess the information to save Mis Carpenter, nor to find the criminals from Blackmore.
"Good day." – a newly arrived male says calmly.
Two chairs, placed on the opposite side of the table, become occupied.
"I'm Detective Bailey."
"Detective Fortune."
"And whose the third?" – Adam inquires coldly.
"An aid… on the case."
Obviously, the trio reversed their tactical approach before coming in. The situation demanded it.
"Let's just get to the point. Why have you arrested us?" – Viktor inserts himself into the dialogue with a question.
"For one, we could arrest you for opportunity of abuse."
"The evidence being what,… detective?"
The fact that each of the public servants trace a condescending thrust to the addressing alludes to the males being embolden or bluffing.
"Your pistols being drawn with the door opening."
"Hmph."
Despite constantly repeating within his mind the need of caution, Adam plunges at the opportunity to show the female detective up.
"That was only caused due to you screaming: 'Police!'."
"And don't worry. We have licenses to carry firearms which you'll find sooner rather than later."
Quinn's father shows a weak smile before, surprisingly, expressing ominously:
"Not bad. Yet that is not the real reason for you being here."
"Then what is? Because if we come to the conclusion that you are just wasting our time, then…"
"Don't worry,…"
He puts his elbows on the table.
"… Adam. That will be proven false."
"We've got a witness that states you leaving Blackmore University between 12:00 and 12:30 today."
A punch back – the detectives finally land a hit back at the suspects; therefore, the dominance relinquishes a bit.
"Now do you deny it?"
"If you do, we can easily get a couple of people in that'll take your shoes' imprints."
When one gains momentum, usually, one does not surrender it back to the opposition.
"We were there today. Just not sure of leaving at that time."
"Well, you two are going to have to remember that."
"Why were you there?"
"We don't have to answer that. Our reasons are not public information." – Viktor answers nonchalantly.
Bizarrely, the recomposed female detective leans back into her chair, then looks at the sole standing person within the room.
"Enough?"
"Yeah."
The person moves off the wall.
"They've definitely had interactions with the police before."
Adam glances at the recently spoken interrogator. To him, this female's body language, choice to stay silent up to this point creates an idea of her being of a different task force. Still, said 'revelation' or thought is not enough to deter him from being more proactive than reactive.
"That means nothing when it comes to us being here."
"True."
"The problem you two have is that we've found 3 dead bodies at the University where you were that by our medical examiner places you there at the time of their death." – Chloe states.
"There is also the fact that there are bullets stuck in one of the walls. Care to wager that one of them will be shot out of a weapon that either possesses?"
Clearly, now the dominant position has switched. To the males, the position is unfortunate to say the least. Lying to the police – an offence. Since they've already confirmed them being at the building where the murders took place & cannot deny leaving it in the witnesses' timeframe, the upcoming reply gains crucial status. Both distastefully realize the ever narrowing time they see when to catch Larry's, Cody's and Ray's killers.
"Guessing you had ulterior motives?"
"We didn't kill any of them."
Progression comes to fruition.
"Then you admit to seeing them alive before their deaths?" – Bailey inquires.
"Two of them. The one you found in the bathroom."
"Ray. Our friend that we came in."
"The one you found on the 1st floor."
"Cody. The person who we came to see."
Surprisingly, the aligned trio let silence engulf them for a brief period of time. Later on, the standing female begins to walk around to their backs.
"I'm almost certain there is an especially strong reason for you 3 going to Blackmore on a Sunday morning. Given the fact that one of you is dead, you claim not to be the killers, means that the real killer. If we're to assume that,…"
She stops.
"…Please enlighten us."
Eyes narrow in, become mysterious.
"What drove you there?"
Post-15:00. Tea or coffee? Probably the two most consumed morning drinks; people often prefer one to the other. In Hailee's case, the young female does not really mind that topic, since she is enjoying a cup in the daytime. Well,… trying to enjoy.
"Hmph."
The black leather jacket wearer puts the cup back on the counter.
"Still needs a bit of time."
Abruptly, her phone starts vibrating.
"Hey."
"Hey, Hailee. I trust you're behavior is superb."
"It's on the right trajectory, Angeline."
The younger female takes a sip of tea.
"May I ask what you're working on right now?"
She grasps the tone shift – where before it was just joyous, cheerful, now mysteriousness intermixes in it.
"A vague inquiry from you. Can't see it being anything other than deliberate."
"Cha."
The elder female takes time to applaud the retort in her mind. Its strength, delicateness presses the idea of progress.
"Good to hear you're still learning."
"Don't be evasive to my strikes." – Hailee states coldly, firmly, turning around and barely leaning back into the counter.
"Alright. I have a sneaky suspicion that you've placed yourself in a dangerous scenario. Am I warm?"
"Warm enough. Though you're ability to find this out is questionable."
"You should know by now, Hailee, that I take time in looking out for the people I care about."
The voluntary inserter into the case dwells a little; the next response seems extremely crucial to their relationship. Being too protective of valuable information could lead to its cracking in quick time. Yet, the younger's insight into the dialogue shift after a specific response displeases her.
"So?"
"You gave me back faith in humanity. I value that and you'll always have some amount of respect for that. Its… vibrancy… for lack of a better word."
A small breath is taken.
"It burnt a fire within me to aid people in order to avoid tragedy. That is why I offered my services in catching two treacherous people."
"I get your reasoning, Hailee. Though with due respect, I advise you to leave the… operation be."
"I won't. Not until I see this through to its end."
The voice – cold as ice, unrelenting, will extruding. Knowing this, it is to nobody's surprise that Angeline takes a minute to conjure up a worthy comeback.
"Are you sure?"
"100%. I'll take the risk on."
"I believe you. Just be immensely diligent. You never know what disastrous turns await when dealing with malicious people."
"I will."
"Bye, Hailee."
"Bye, Angeline."
On the walk back to the conference room. The blonde's frame of mind suffers a significant crack when an organized line emerges from one of the hallways at the station. Raw tension emerges, perception of things to come staggeringly adjusts. It takes less than a minute for Hailee to begin a faster walk to 'the arena'; confidence, determination in being there before said line achieves a high level. One would need to search an entire continent to find a sufficient quantity of people who treat a sudden shift in pace casually.
[Inside it]
"…5 bodies already. 5." – Quinn finishes hesitantly.
"All of it has come at 3 separate locations."
"True. But the last one is by far the most bloody."
"What you think, sis? They're becoming even more bold?"
Given the topic, its proximity to their lives, the impulse for a thorough think of a retort is accepted with one's integrity.
"Guys!" – a female shouts, debatably rushing into the room.
"Yeah, Hailee." – Chad says laidback, face beams emotional robustness.
The door is closed; consequently, everybody treats it as a warning sign.
"The two men from my report. Their being led here now."
"That's outrageous!"
"Not necessarily. Maybe they have some crucial info." – Mindy counters.
"Guess we'll see." – Tara voices while looking back from one of the corner's.
In no time, a group of people enter the room in this sequence: Erik, Adam, Viktor, Chloe & Kirby. Quite predictably, the already seated ones, most recent arriver draw their attention to this act. Some harbor positive feelings, some – negative; two might be labeled as neutral. What starts as calmness, collectiveness wastes little time in becoming a passionate sphere as soon as the two suspected males take their seat at the table.
"This is our entire main task force." – Bailey states in a muscular stance.
"Which part you must already know."
"We do."
Adam moves his eyes 180 degrees, carefully examines the assembled crew. Stupendously, everyone around shows respect by letting the process finish its natural course.
"The four of you were at the O.K.B. party. You…"
A visionary lock on the younger Carpenter.
"…Were the center of that evening."
Another turn.
"And you're most likely to be the person who called the police of our… endeavor away from Blackmore."
"You'd argue that you weren't suspicious with the way you left it?"
"No."
"That would be pointless." – Vik adds.
"I agree."
"So does most." – SA assumes.
"Seeing you here like this. It tells me that you're not the ones responsible for the devastation on campus."
"Oh no. We're not responsible for that."
A sharp, callous grin manifests itself.
"Yet we intend to trounce the ones behind it."
"Yeah… there might be complications." – Jeff interjects.
Adam is subtly amused.
"Such as?"
"A…"
"…My sister has been abducted."
Tara's friends immediately glance at her; the majority feeling bewildered by such a forthcoming reply.
"Now that's… a difference." – Adam says, leaning back in his chair.
Pain, doubt welcome themselves to his emotional sphere.
"It means we have less time to waste."
"Damn right." – Kirby highlights that reality.
"You can bet on that."
Detective Bailey is not far behind.
"I'm starting to think… that there is something significant… behind the identity of her sister."
Whether it was pretense or not, Hailee tips the ally/enemy scale way to the positive side. Obviously, in hindsight this might prove to be a fatal mistake. The female, along with other in the room, do not relinquish the possibility of somebody here being allied with the enemy. Alas, time as a commodity looks to be reaching platinum prices.
The 3 leading investigators share moments of eye contact. In a couple seconds, Erik mentions:
"The abductees name is Sam Carpenter."
With that truth, a necessity for analysis come about.
Somewhere else. Can a person enjoy the sight of someone's struggle to escape, keeping in mind the impossibility of that? In these days America, commonality may as well be dead; the deranged, depraved, destructive are in a somewhat demand. In short – yes.
"GRSH! HSH! TSH!"
"Such fun. Seeing someone so dangerous be so helpless."
The joy doubles when the mind retrieves the idea of what is yet to come for the captive.
"It we'll be the most memorable spectacle of the year."
An extremely subdued maniacal laugh achieves dominance.
[…]
"Your not getting shaky feet?" – Chad inquires with a hint of animosity towards the duo.
"No way." – Viktor answers calmly.
"We've seen our close friends raw dead body. This comes short of that and we continued after it."
"Besides, we got to start finding these men before it's too late. I'd suggest to start with…"
"Why it has to be men?" – Annika cuts him off with an inquiry.
To say that Vik distastes the interruption would be a severe understatement. Her action brings three decisive conclusion from the back of the mind. Also, before anyone could step in and deescalate the situation, he rapidly fires back with:
"Because there is almost no shot it being women."
"Ey! That's sexist."
"It's not sexist. It's called being critical, ability to process facts. Both things that leftist leaning people lack abundantly."
As Chad's sister comes to her girlfriend's defense, Adam backs up his remaining old friend. The situation was escalating to ruin before Kirby stepped in with a shout:
"Enough!"
The civilians focus in on the FBI agent.
"We must not let our personal beliefs derail this investigation."
"Agent Reed is telling the truth. We're on the clock as is. There is no need to become so combative." – Fortune continues.
"You both said that our deadline will be today." – Bailey ends.
"True."
"So just let me finish my train of thought. Then… we can assess its value. Not… in the middle of it."
"A more rational approach." – Hailee makes her view on the issue known.
"More practical. I approve."
Everyone closely observes the retracting nature of Annika.
"Now as I was saying – we're almost certainly dealing with a male duo. One of them got Sam's attention while the other crept up from somewhere and grabbed her. Knowing what she went through, how she acted at the party, the chances of it being a female duo are one in a million."
"Alright. In your eyes, what did they do with her? Dragged her to a nearby place or transported her further away?"
"More likely they drove her somewhere where us finding them in time would be close to impossible." – Adam steps in.
"If we're going by that, then we've got a severe problem. We need to know who they are before we're able to identify Sam's whereabouts."
"True. The Special Guest list is long."
"If you understand this much, what do you believe their end game is?" – Quinn asks softly.
"If I was to put money on it, then…"
Viktor takes a deep breath.
"…It would be performing a show of her death."
A brief moment of silence is predictable, even given what some civilians have been through or what the public service has seen.
"Expand." – Erik incentivizes.
"There is some type of addiction within them to explicitly show everyone her fate. Call it a reach – they might be inclined to finish Richie's original ending."
"That's disturbingly insane." – Hailee comments cautiously.
"There. I'm finished."
The FBI Special Agent wishes for a favorable day's end; fully aware that it such a stride is completely based in optimism. For her, seeing Tara shiver of the probable reality where her sister is dead guides the mind to the critical sequence of events in Woodsboro all those years ago. In a broader sense, the lesson is about survivability & its impact on the psyche. One can move beyond a life threatening moment, yet his or her traits, mental state cannot return; blissfulness decreases automatically, inclusively for everyone.
Barely past 16:30. October's end is characterized by a relatively early subtraction of sunlight from some parts of the World; New York resides in it. So the locals are well aware of the emergence of darkness at this time/ point. In this procedure or natural process, a male is casually making his way down one of the main city streets.
"Awareness. Such a wonderful thing to see people lacking."
Some could see this as a mocking of someone or a group of people. A significant sum of people pass through him, whether it be ones going in the same or opposite direction. Then, if positivity had not established a stronghold on his psyche, two familiar faces are seen rushing towards him on the opposite side of the street. A couple of seconds are spent in a silent stance before a call being made.
"Yes."
"You wouldn't believe the person that I see."
"Lay it on me, partner."
"It's her – the film aficionado."
"You see her?"
"Yeah. She appears to be heading to the metro."
"Any lethal companions?"
"Nothing I could not handle."
"Get after her. It'll give our plan a grander appeal."
"Happy to oblige, partner."
The called one shows an immensely wide smile.
"Great. Finish it and be back for the grand finale."
The call ends.
[On a staircase]
Abruptly, one of the before mentioned people stop in a position where one leg is on one elevation, the other – on another. No surprise seeing the other react to this action.
"What is it, Ani?"
"This,… all of it! It puts us in extreme danger, girl!"
Chad's sister moves closer, slowly grabs the petrified one's palm.
"We discussed this at the precinct. Time is a premium now and we've got to be extremely forceful if there is any chance in finding Sam alive."
"There is still a chance of one of them being the killer."
Definitely an example of biasness.
"Then we'll win easily. Ha!"
Mindy chuckles.
"They showed their faces to at least a dozen policemen. It makes getting away hardly possible, right?"
The other female reconciles the fear within her, admires the magnitude of the comeback.
"Alright."
The females go back to the goal of travelling around in a underground train.
5 minutes onward. A smooth running engine propels the vehicle forward; the glazing from the sound it automatically has to produce is sufficient for conversations to be had inside.
"And we're down to 20." – Vik expresses coldheartedly.
"A noteworthy elimination so far."
"It makes the remaining list beatable." – Quinn voices softly through an established line across all of the designated police vehicles.
"There is also the ever working people back at the building trying to narrow the suspect list down."
"I pray our efforts are enough."
"Not just you, Hailee."
"The itchy part is Laura Crane."
"Specifically what about it?" – Erik inquires in his normal voice.
"Her significance in this spree. Was she a pivotal part to it? Does she paint an outstandingly clearer picture of the scenario leading up to now?"
"To me, it all depends on whether another person is found dead."
"Not a great thing to wish for, Adam."
"Fully aware of that, Special Agent Reed. It's just the reality that it would bring us bizarrely close to the truth."
"I think we'd all say that that's risky."
"Most likely, Quinn."
[In a car on the metro]
Due to a variety of factors, including a large amount of people waiting to enter a train, emotions running high, the female duo were separated between two passenger cars. This clearly affected the Woodsboro native more than the New Yorker; not hard to grasp why. Being a horror film aficionado leads to being mindful of the somewhat based in reality horror sins. Separation or definitive isolation in a tense, ominous or brittle environment could be written in as an entry in the list.
"This is… not good."
What was Mindy alluding to? Probably the 2 Ghostface's mask wearing people in front of her on the car. A sense of dread seeps into the emotional sphere.
"Wait."
She thinks she saw a movement of a… knife! In an expected manner, the field of vison moves to confirm the suspicion. Alas,… the fragments, hints of a knife dissipate from view.
"Hmph."
Sparking more foreboding feel – a chaotic arrival of blackness from the ceiling above.
"Focus. Focus."
A split closing of eyes is unwarrantedly pressing of someone to literally centimeters near the face.
"Oh! Sorry!"
Blackness flashes twice again. And then the female gets an injection of anxiousness due to the sight of a particular recently seated person… gone from his or her seat.
"You can do this. Just relax."
Navigating around ideas how to stifle this tension, her phone vibrates. Her girlfriend inquires of her mental state which she replies with: 'Handling it well'. An encouraging retort follows suit.
Later, give or take a couple of minutes, the black haired being shuffles around to the end of the passenger car turns around to face everyone else. A bold maneuver to say the least.
"Just 2 stops left."
Confidence helps, but certain… conditions or scenarios cannot are unescapable. The field of vision scans everyone's spot onboard without striking a red flag anywhere. Then suddenly,… the train enters a continual black zone. That shift correlates to a shift in Mindy's dynamic with the World. How? The possible true Ghostface shows up only a few steps directly in front of her, looking as menacing, callous as most obsessed fans would picture it.
"Oh."
In the upcoming minute, the lack of adequate visibility, possible destructive intentions and relative peril raises her blood pressure, breathing. In one moment – he is closer.
And in another one – he is even closer.
"Hah."
Abruptly & fortunately, the danger subsides with Ghostface disappearing from view. The female is disinterested in claiming to have survived, treating the different approach as an attempt to create 'false safeness'. A rational assessment. For a better offer, the darkness disappears. She still refuses it. Looks for him on the car from the left to the right.
Precisely when the rightest corner is completely assessed,… someone spring up from a crouch position & slams her neck ferociously into the door of the car.
"HRR!"
Too late! The person then pierces a knife through her ribs and despicably turns it three 3 times inside the flesh. Tragically, it takes a few seconds for Mindy to start losing consciousness, energy.