Chapter One

Cornwall Road, Oxford, North Carolina, August 29th, 2030 around 10:00 PM

A dark colored Camero can be seen pulling up to a white, double story, metal roof house in a small subdivision in the outskirts of Oxford, North Carolina. White, red, and blue police and ambulance lights are flashing all around as other officers and paramedics secure the scene as a group of people are walking up to see what the loud screaming, they heard less than half an hour ago was all about. Inside the car, police detective Garry Stevens sits with his hands glued to the wheel, a state of shock on his face as he struggles to even breathe. 'Breathe Garry, you cannot do anything for them if you pass out in the next two minutes from shock,' he thought as he finally released the wheel as a knock on the window jolted him from thought. "Garry, I am sorry but we need you to identify the bodies." Chief Marcus Stone gently reminded his detective. Garry put the car in park and unbuckled the seatbelt as he finally unlocked the door and got out of the police car.

Chief Marcus gently grabbed his shoulder as he helped him move along a small asphalt path across a large yard filled with various toys, a large above ground pool in the right corner of the yard, and a trampoline in the other corner. As they reach the end of the path, the two officers step up onto a porch leading to a large white door with a knocker on the side and the doorbell. A former security camera can be seen on the ground where it had been ripped off and smashed to pieces. 'Someone did not care about being seen.' Garry remarked absently as he stared at the camera, then looked once more at the door. Shards of wood can be seen everywhere on the ground as a huge hole can be seen where the doorknob once was. A large wood axe can be seen tossed casually to the side of the broken door.'They also were in a hurry, but still knew what they were doing. Cindy would have definitely heard that axe smashing down the door though.'

Marcus stood back and watched silently while Garry continued to analyze the area, wondering why none of the officers had been able to arrive on time to stop the suspect. There should have been two officers on this route tonight, one patrolling from either end. Just as he was thinking that two more police cars arrived, having rushed down the road at high speed. Chief Marcus, his face red and his mouth pulled back into a snarl, rushed down to the driveway just as the cars arrived and the officers stumbled out. "Where the hell have you two been? Garry just lost his family because you two idiots could not get off your ass and move fast enough to stop whoever did this." Marcus roared as he grabbed both officers and slammed them back first into the hood of one of the police cars by their throat.

Officers James Gordon and Jacob Baffrey could say nothing for a moment as their breath was knocked out by the force of the slam. Baffrey recovered first and tried to respond to at least get the Chief to lower his grip but he was not done yet. "Shut your fucking mouth. I do not want to hear your excuses right now. Not when whoever did this may still be out there. Go around the yard, look for tracks, and anything else that may help us find them. Nobody heard a vehicle leave so the suspect must still be in the area. When you get back to the station however, be prepared to turn in your badges. Your done once this is all over, but right now I need every badge on the case searching for the asshole who did this to Garry's family." The two officers instantly shut up and, thoroughly shaken up, immediately started a search pattern around the house.

Meanwhile Garry had finally moved into the house itself, looking first up at the small balcony attached to the wooden staircase to the left of the door, then to the left and right at the kitchen and living room. To the right of the door heading to the kitchen was a small coat rack where the instinct went to place his hat was strong but caught himself, straightening back up and moving along to the kitchen.

Dark marble countertops, a silver stove and a glossy black fridge stared at him as he walked in. A dark red real cherrywood table in the corner and black overhead cabinets completed the look as he looked along the white walls for anything out of place. Plenty was, as silverware, plates, kitchen knives and all sort of other items from napkins to cereal boxes were flung on the ground and knife slashes could be seen in the countertops and table.

'So, he came here first, grabbed a knife and chased Cindy or the girls around. She must have gone for a knife to try and defend herself so far from the bedroom and kids.' Garry mulled over as he continued through the house, noticing a small blood trail leading away from the kitchen. 'Small, just a nick but still enough to cause blood loss.' Garry followed the trail, noticing how it got larger and more erratic the further he went. The trail led up the stairs, growing larger and less sporadic as he made his way to the first bedroom on the right, there master bedroom. There were four rooms up here, his master bedroom on the right, a bathroom beside it. To the left are two bedrooms, one for either of his two kids.

Stopping just outside his room, he prepared himself as best he could for what he knew he would see inside. But no matter how many times you see these, nothing can truly prepare you from seeing your own family murdered. Garry had been on the force for thirty years now, twenty-five as a detective, and he had made his fair share of enemies from locking up all kinds of criminals from robbers to serial killers and mass murderers. He had come to Oxford looking to settle down and enjoy a quieter time on the job, hoping to not have too many more crazy cases and actually be able to enjoy his time at home. On top of that, his wife had mentioned a meteor shower was supposed to come through some time in November, and, once they heard, his kids had begged him to come south from New Jersey to see the shower better.

Now he would have plenty of time to regret that decision for the rest of his life, 'if only I had said no, or waited just a few more months, maybe this could have been avoided.' he thought sadly as he still waited outside the door. Still not wanting to go in and see what had happened to a member of his beloved family. Him and Cindy had been married for twenty-five years now, right after he had been promoted to detective. Nearing fifty now, he was starting to get up there in age, but he pressed on. His two kids, Ally and Shane, would have turned fifteen and eight next month, they just happened to be born on the same day and month, just spread apart haha. Even now, he could still pop jokes, 'that's something at least. I have not gone completely nutty yet.'

Sighing, he gritted his teeth and steel his arms as he pushed his now iron heavy legs through the door. All you can see is red, blood splashed across the entire room like a vampire painter's wet dream. The walls, the ceiling, the bedside table, hell even the tv and dressers had blood splashed against in a morbid sort of art. The walls were slashed up, the tv had a head-sized hole in it, and the dresser had a massive dent in the side.

Finally, to top this miniature version of hell off, his wife was lay spread eagle on the bed, her head completely ripped off like a wild animal had gotten to her. Her clothes were barely recognizable from all the red of what must have been hundreds of stab wounds. They just did not know when to stop, her fingers were gone, spread across the room in a bunch of his wife's candle holders standing up like they were meant to be lit. Her legs were cut off, as he located them holding up the window shades, the actual metal holders tossed to the other side of the room. Her body had been completely ravaged; her breasts had been cut off in as painful a way possible. Her sides mangled, her back looking like a whip had lashed her hundreds of times to where the muscles were visible. Finally, when he got to her head and turned it over to look at her face, he had to catch his breath. They had twisted her smile, her beautiful smile, to look like the joker's. Tendons could be seen where the sides of her jaw had been, and her eyes were gouged out. Her face was all puffed up from bruises littering what skin she had left as her face had been partially flayed and her throat cut. This was a message to him, directly to him. Someone wanted him to know they did this on purpose.

Slowly backing out of the room, he dreaded going across to his kids' rooms. He knew he must, but it took all of his strength to push himself to his eldest's room first. Inside, his daughter also lay spread eagle, also complexly ravaged, but this time, this time the killer just had to make it all worse somehow than even his wife's murder. Jizz could be seen all over his daughter's body. "No, no, no, no, no, no" Garry raged as he fell to the floor, finally having it all sink in that his family, his wife, his son, and his daughter are all dead. Murdered by a psychopathic killer trying to send him a message. The thought brought a look of incomprehensible rage to his face as he snarled out, "They raped my daughter, my precious daughter, they raped her and cut off her head." As he was about to turn and storm his son's room, he caught a sight that would forever scar him even worse than he already had been that night. His son was sitting upright in a corner on a stool with a camera around his neck and his hands nailed into the wall. They had crucified his son and made him watch as they raped his sister in front of him. His fingers were hacked off and stuffed into the hole where his mouth should be, with his eyes wide in fear and pain.

Garry could no longer take it, he rushed from the room, down the stairs and collapsed to his knees in front of everyone surrounding the house and just screamed. All of the neighbors backed off as he just sat there and screamed until his voice went hoarse and all he could do was cry. A normally powerfully built man, brought down to the lowest part of his life in an instant, he could not even find the strength to stand, much less look up as Captain Marcus came up to him. "I am so sorry Garry, but I have to ask for the official record, is that your wife and kids?" Garry just looked at him, eyes devoid of life as he simply nodded. He could not speak, he just barely managed to nod his head slightly in the affirmative before looking down at his shaking hands. Captain Marcus said nothing as he simply nodded back, and went to one of his other officers standing back from the rest holding the perimeter. "Captain Jackson, have those two knuckleheads found anything yet?" The now named Captain Jackson, looked back from where he was watching the perimeter and shrugged his shoulders, "When have those two idiots ever been fast, I still do not understand why we were forced to take them in and not some more experienced officers." Sighing, Marcus pulled his radio and put the earpiece in, "Gordon, Baffrey, report in, where are you two idiots?"