by Amanda Grace
The two men were both of similar build, and appeared to be in their early forties. Their heads had been shaven, and they both had the same tattoo inked on the left side of their skulls, only visible when the area was shaven – it was a circle in which six arrows emerged from the centre. Under their robes they wore normal hiking gear. It was clear they hadn't wanted to be noticed or memorable in any way should they have met anyone else while on the trail.
"They had to have changed into these robes somewhere near here. That means they would have had to have brought some sort of packs to conceal their equipment and gear. We'll need to search for that as well, see what else they brought with them," Danni commented standing tall over the man who had so brutally tried to stab her.
She gently pulled his robe aside, and began to rummage through his pockets, trying to avoid covering herself in blood. His pockets were empty, except for a single pair of zip-cuffs. Danni threw the cuffs to the ground in disgust, "Nothing!"
Carlsson used his foot to roll the second man over. The man's face had been frozen and contorted in horror. Kneeling he pulled the robe open, trying to avoid any unnecessary contact with the blood soaked cloth. The man carried only an additional set of zip-cuffs and a fairly new looking mobile phone.
"I've got something," he called to Danni who immediately jogged over.
The phone looked almost brand new, yet it was entirely and uncharacteristically empty except for a series of text messages. No contacts, no email, no call history. The text history showed that the conversations was one directional, and that the men had only ever received orders, never responding or questioning what they were told to do. Danni and Carlsson scrolled through the phone reading each of the messages.
The phone made it clear they had been spotted days earlier, and that whomever was in charge of The Order was getting information regarding their movement much more quickly than he should have been. Danni's heart sank to think that they had been under surveillance, and that she hadn't been able to pick up on it.
The string of messages outlined that Dr. Malakai Carlsson was not to be injured, but rather captured. He would be held and tortured for several days, before being ritualistically slain and placed on display, as a gruesome statement to the world. Danni was only ever referred to as "the woman", and was regarded as worthless to the organization. If they could capture her they would, but if she put up any struggle then they had permission to kill her, and dump her body wherever they saw fit.
After reading through the messages Carlsson was overcome with a sense of dread, and Danni with an instinct of survival. This was a situation she'd experienced, in a way, before, and it was one she wasn't going to lose. She gathered the two pistols from the second man, checking the ammunition and load – each gun missing three rounds. She emptied one magazine to fill the other, and reloaded the gun, placing both of the confiscated pistols in her bag.
"We need to call this in," Danni muttered, "How's your phone on battery? Mine's practically dead."
Carlsson pulled his phone from his pocket, turning it on. "Battery's fine. No signal here though. We'll need to head back toward town before we can contact anyone."
A cool mountain breeze began to blow through the forest, as the pair decided they would hike out to the trailhead, calling authorities from there, knowing that had been the last place they where they had any signal.
They grabbed their bags, leaving only the large rifle behind. Uncertain of what the hike out might have in store for them, Danni wanted to be ready for anything. She also liked the idea of arming her partner with something more substantial than a six-inch hunter's knife. They also decided to take the phone, hoping that it would provide them with a few additional clues as to who the two men were, but more importantly who had wanted to see them captured.
The hike back to the trailhead was far more onerous than the one earlier in the morning. The pair carried the burden of knowledge with them. An uncomfortable and overwhelming knowledge that they were no longer the hunters, but rather the hunted; that they were the targets of an organization that preferred to see them hacked apart rather than remain whole.
Danni and Carlsson had been walking for approximately twenty minutes when the dead man's phone chimed with a message. After a moment it chimed several more times. They took a moment to stop and check the messages. The red LED atop the phone flashed incessantly – the screen showed they had received three new messages.
So you've managed to get the phone. Congratulations. How nice for you both.
Don't worry. We won't give up. You've only bought yourselves a minimal amount of time.
Also, don't forget to run… I like a chase. It keeps me entertained.
How the sender knew that they had managed to gain possession of the phone and remain uncaught they didn't know, but the longer they stayed in the woods alone, the greater their chances of being attacked again. They quickened their pace, each of them constantly surveying the surrounding ridges, straining to see through the dense wood for any movement.
It wasn't long before they closed in on the trailhead, and Carlsson checked his phone. He still had barely any signal, though it would be enough to make a call. For a moment they both discussed the best strategy for how to approach the authorities. Finally they agreed that the less information they turned over to the police over the phone the harder it would be for the wrong ears to hear what had happened back at the cemetery. After all, to this point, Eldenberg hadn't quite provided them the escape from danger that they'd expected.
After phoning the police, they continued to make their way to the parking lot from which they'd taken off. They were told they'd be met by a group of three officers who would have all terrain vehicles, and that it would be approximately an hour and a half. They were to lead them back to the sight of the bodies.
It didn't feel as though they'd waited long after the call, when the officers finally arrived in the gravel parking lot. They pulled up in a large marked SUV, pulling a trailer loaded with three all-terrain vehicles. As they'd been assured three officers exited the vehicle. They were in uniform, though not that of a traditional beat officer. They wore tan canvas pants, each pocket down the leg filled with equipment. Their shirts were beige with brown shoulder bars, and their badges shone in the midday sun.
They asked the two a few questions before unloading the trailer and checking their gear. Danni rode with the front officer, leading the way back to the cemetery, while Carlsson rode with the last. The trip was far quicker on the vehicles than it had been walking, taking only about ten minutes.
When they arrived back at the cemetery the group made their way, single file, through small the gate. Danni and Carlsson lead the officers to where the bodies should have been. Unfortunately when the pair there, the two dead men were gone, barely even a trace remained that they'd been there at all. Someone had visited the cemetery while they were gone. They cleaned the ground of the many gun casings and personal belongings that had been littered about, as well cover any signs of a struggle having taken place. There were still the two patches of damp soil where the blood had pooled under each man, and the leaves and pine straw had been dyed red from the blood. Though there wasn't enough to support their claims that two men had died here.
The officer's looked around the cemetery, but due to lack of any physical evidence were unable to confirm that any crime or real struggle had even occurred, after all each piece of physical evidence had been removed. The only thing the officers could say for certain was that most likely something had lay on the ground bleeding.
"Are you sure that what you saw were men," one of the officers asked sceptically, "we get a few hunters out here shooting deer out of season. They could have used this as a sort of holding area for the meat. It's possible that they might have come to retrieve their kills while you were waiting on us."
It wasn't worth either Danni or Carlsson's time to disagree or ague with the officers about the incident, nor was it in their best interest to cast suspicion on themselv
es by elaborating on their story. They both conceded that they may have made a mistake, and called the authorities too early, mistaking animal carcasses for that of men. Trying to explain exactly what had happened, and implicating themselves in the deaths of two men whose bodies were now missing, would have served only to delay what they were working toward trying to solve.
The group mounted the ATV's and made their way back toward the parking lot. The stolen phone in Carlsson's pocket chimed, barely audible above the load roar of the three two stroke engines of the ATV's. His stomach knotted as he imagined what the message might say.
"How could this person know we had brought in the police? How could they know we had just left the scene? Perhaps it's all just a coincidence, some sick move in this game of cat and mouse… Why is he toying with us?" he wondered silently to himself. All doubt was cast aside, when he reached into his pocket and retrieved the phone.
We couldn't have let the authorities find our little friends. After all how would they react at two of their friends dead in the forest? I want you... And I can't have you locked up in a cell, where would be the fun in that?
Anxiety and dread began to build in the pit of his stomach, as hundreds of questions raced through his mind. He wanted nothing more than this whole ordeal to be over, to be able to return home, and make his way back to the library, where he felt most comfortable. He wanted life to return to normal, to spend time with Danni, and to get back to his research. But for now he had to suppress all of these thoughts and feelings, and try to focus on the situation at hand.
The officers loaded their vehicles and gear back onto the trailer, and they offered the pair a ride back to the village. Danni and Carlsson thanked the men for their offer, but politely declined, as they had already phoned the shop owner to come pick them up.
The warm afternoon sun beat down mercilessly on the empty parking lot as Danni paced nervously back and forth, turning suspiciously toward every unexpected noise. Carlsson sat attentively reading through one of the many of the books he had brought from the university – a sort of encyclopaedia of secret societies. He had recognized the tattoos on the men as belonging to another of secret organization, though he actually knew little about them other than their name – 'The Guardians of Sin'.
He had come across them only a few times in his research, and scholars didn't seem to know much about them. One of the many lectures he had attended in Rome the previous year had mentioned The Guardians briefly. He recalled that the presenter had cited evidence that pointed to the group having had vanished in the mid-nineteenth century.
From a distance Danni could hear the aged van bounce up the road, and it wasn't long until it pulled into the parking lot. She moved quickly to retrieve her bag from the fence post that she had hung it on. Carlsson, having been engrossed in his reading, failed to notice its arrival until she tugged gently at his shoulder, pulling him from his book.
THE END
TIMOTHY J.
Other Book
THE COMPLETE SERIES OF Brutal Slayings MYSTERY 1-7
1 COLD EXIST
2 CHASED
3 THE GUARDIANS OF SIN
4 THE DISCOVERY
5 THE DARK PUZZLE
6 TAKEN
7 TORMENT