“ How do you know so much about this Alistair?” Klecko asked him.
“ Our paths crossed, we bonded deeply, he taught me many things.” Nothing more was said.
“ How are you and I connected to this.” Klecko said to him.
“ Casey was the start of it all, Detective, she pushed her father to find a solution, a cure, an end to the hunger. We’re all connected to her, Alistair's path, your path, my path. We’re bonded to together, different times, different years, but nonetheless connected.” His voice raised with jubilation. “ This hunger we have, it’s all set for a something bigger, something more, I know my path, and soon you’ll know yours as well.”
“ The path you keep speaking about it, something to end the hunger, how is that possible?”
“ Ask yourself this, Detective, can you tame a dog not to attack, not to kill?”
Klecko was a bit dumbfounded and confused, he wasn’t sure what this was leading to. “ Maybe, depends.”
“Yes or no?”
Klecko sighed. “Yes, you just need to train the animal.”
“ Exactly, Alistair believed to conquer the hunger inside us we needed to train ourselves, make friends with it, understand it. It took some years, but he found the answer to our problem.” His voice raced with excitement. “ It wasn’t the blood that called out to us, it was the pain brought upon us that made us seek it for comfort. It brings us a sense of euphoria, it allows us to unleash are anger at the world, Though it’s never the answer to the problem.
“ You need to know what you’re after, what caused it all, what made you into the wild animal you see in the mirror, then find a way to end the cycle, only this time the blood spilled is not an anger, but in salvation and redemption. ” His hand came out from the darkness to point at the seven graves. “ This was her cure to the darkness.”
“ Seven deadly sins?” Klecko thought upon it for a few seconds. “ She needed to kill the seven sins that her father cast down on her, to free her soul?”
“ Indeed, with each kill she felt less dependent of the hunger, she was coming to terms with her life, the bad monster was being forced into the corner, never to be seen again.”
“ Until she met you.” Klecko fired the truth at his Guardian. “ I’m guessing she was the cure to your darkness.”
His Guardian walked back into the darkness, out of Klecko's sight. “ I freed her, I didn’t kill her.”
“ She’s still alive?” Klecko said in shock.
“ Of course, I love them all too much to harm them.” His Guardian said to Klecko.
“ But you said the blood was the cure,” Klecko clarified. “ if she isn’t dead, then how are you freeing yourself.”
“ We all have different methods, Detective, different ways to figure out our darkness. I’m almost at the end of mines.”
“ Then what, what happens after you complete your mission.” The whole church fell silent, Klecko stood there waiting for his God to answer. “ Tell me, what happens?” He pleaded.
“ I disappear, Detective, I become a forgotten memory.” Those words were heartbreaking to Klecko.“ But, I won’t leave yet, I plan to help you find your calling, the path to free yourself from the darkness that has you caged in.”
“ Thank you.” His Guardian wouldn’t know how much those words really meant to him.“ That’s all I can ask for.” A tear drop fell down his cheek.
His Guardian’s footsteps grew closer. “ I have a victim for you detective.”
Klecko‘s eyes lit up with joy. “ Who?” He asked.
“ That‘s a secret. But you need to prepare when the time comes, you need to study upon what you’ve seen today. Prepare yourself for what’s to come.” Klecko wanted to ask him more questions, but felt the presence of his God disappear into a darkness. Leaving him alone in that church, knowing the truth to one half of the missing story.
Chapter 67
OPEN THE FLOOD GATES
He knew the church lay out better than anyone, and the exact spots to make a fast getaway. He knew the Detective would stay put where he left him, still digesting the truth that was told to him. He walked briskly down two blocks for his waiting ride home, his driver a young woman with colorful pink hair. She exited the car as she saw him approach. “ Is he free?”
“ He’s still blind from seeing the truth, I was hoping this would have done the trick.” The young female slammed her fist on the roof of the car. “ But rest assure my dear, this was the crack in the wall that we needed. Now it’s just a matter of time.”
“ You promise.” Her eyes called out from the truth and he was one never to lie to her.
“ I promise, my dear.” He said with a smile.
Chapter 68
Lady Of The Night
If there was anyone’s soul Peewee could curse it surely would be Karen‘s, it was her insight that led them to this raining night on the streets of the Bronx, flashing the photo of the would be and real Janet Morales to each street hooker they could find. Each one spitting profanity at them for wasting their time, threatening to call their pimps if they took another second of their time.
With the whole rain pouring down on them and Maggie’s vanishing act, Peewee didn’t have his heart in this case. He knew he had to tell Karen about it, but he could tell she had her mind preoccupied with other thoughts at well. Both dealing with the misfortune that had fallen upon their heads, but neither were open to the idea of sharing at this point. “ How much longer do we have to be here?” Peewee yelled over the pouring rain to Karen.
“ All night, if that’s what it takes.” After what had happened in the alley with the detective, Karen didn’t feel like having any free time to herself, the case was the best remedy for it all. “ Don’t give up little buddy, don’t give up on hope.” She could see the frustration on his face clear as day, something was gnawing at him, she wonder if asking him would be the right course, but she knew one of them had to have the clear conscious. “ Out with it.” She yelled back to him.
“ What are you talking about?” He picked up his pace to catch up to her.
“ You know damn well what I mean, you’re holding something back, I know you. So, let’s save us both some time and just come clean.” She huddle under a nice roof tent of a worn out pawn shop to find safety from the rain, also it gave them the chance to talk this out. “ The only way we’re going to find this son of a bitch, is to have everything out in the open.” Not quite true, as Karen knew she had no intention in telling him about the standoff she had, she would deal with that obstacle on her own.
“ She’s gone.” Peewee said.
“ Who?” It was the shift in his eyes that gave it away. “ I’m sorry, did Maggie tell you why?”
“ Karen, she just vanished, out of sight. Left her job, didn’t even give a reason.” He took a deep breath and exhaled, letting out a plume of white smoke. “ What the fuck are we doing here? ” He shouted, getting some working girls to run away from him.
Karen gesture to keep it down. “ You know why we‘re here, it‘s to find Lisa's killer.”
Peewee rolled his eyes at her. “ What if Maggie finally figured it out, what if there isn‘t a killer, what if that girl just ran away.” Karen shook her head , apart of her never believe to hear those words come out of his mouth, after all he was the one that dragged into this case begging to find the truth. “ And here we are in the freaking rain, looking for a ghost, ” He pulled out the photo of Janet. “ Maybe she ran off on her own too, maybe all this was for nothing, months and months of hard work and it was all for nothing!”
“ Maybe she got homesick, have you called her husband?” It took her a few seconds to remember the history. “ Stupid, question. Still doesn’t hurt to call to see if she’s back.”
“ Can‘t,” He brushed the droplets of rain falling from the edge of roof. “ what if she is there?”
“ Then you should be happy she found peace.” Karen placed her hand on his shoulder.
“ I‘m tired
of people leaving, Karen.” His words drenched with sadness, knowing how it felt to lose a close friend, see another cut herself out of his life, in his dark hour Maggie had come into his life at the right moment, at the right time. her burden allowed him to find some balance. His need to find Lisa was just to see one broken soul find some happiness back into her life, even if it meant he would never find his again.
Before he could utter another word, a young hooker came walking up to them, she had a hello kitty umbrella that was protecting her from the rain, her pink her stood out in the night, as did the rainbow socks. She smiled at them as she passed them by. “ You two looking to buy?” She said with a wink.
Karen could see it a mile away, this girl was a fresh body, not a lot of miles added to her, just enough to call her a street virgin. “ No where not, but maybe you can help us with something?”
“ If it’s sexual, it’s going to cost you.” She placed out her open palm, gesturing them to pay before they went any further.
“ Sadly, I wouldn’t be able to afford you on my salary.” Said Peewee who was telling the truth.
Karen walked up to the girl and showed her the photo of the Janet Morales double, hoping one of these girls here would recognize who it was. “ Have you ever seen this girl before?”
The young girl flipped Karen off and spat in her face as she turned to leave. “ Get lost, wasting my time with some bullshit, I‘m here to get paid not talk.”
Karen was at her point, the milk of mother’s kindness wasn’t coursing through her body at the moment, too much on her mind, too much on her shoulders. She raced behind the girl, who was half way down the street, grabbing her arm and thrusted her to the spray painted wall, causing the pink hair girl to drop her umbrella. “ We’re not pigs, we’re private detectives !” The rain itself wasn’t enough to drown Karen’s screams, Peewee ran towards hoping to defuse anything that could get out of hand. “ Now, look at this photo, do you remember this girl.”
“ Take it easy.” The young woman yelp, frightened to see the demon in Karen’s eye.
Karen shook the girl once more in anger, knowing getting violent could bring some unwanted help from her fellow co-workers. But right now she wanted this little pink haired twat to fear her, beside it was a little pay back for being spat on. “ When I ask a question, you answer, is that clear?” The girl shivered from Karen's grasp, she managed a short nod just to clarify she understood. “ Good.” Karen said with a smile, pulling a the photo of the real Janet Morales. “Look at this photo, do you know who this girl is?”
The pink hair girl nodded her head. “ That’s Lulu.”
“ We got a name,” Peewee patted Karen’s back, startling her a bit, she never saw him come up behind her. “ Now we just have to find her.”
“ You won’t,” They both stared at her waiting for an explanation. “ She’s dead, they found her body dumped at some rail road tracks, she O.D.” Those words were the worst devastating blows either of them could hear.
“ Did you know Lulu, personally?” Peewee asked her, as Karen released her grip.
“ Yeah, we worked the streets together.”
“ Did she tell you anything?”
“ Na, Lulu was selfish, she would keep everything on the down low.”
“ He must paid her well to keep her mouth shut.” Karen muttered to Peewee as she walked away from the girl.
“ It’s a dead end, isn’t it?” He asked her, knowing the answer to his question.
Karen walked up to the girl once more, the young pink hair hooker flinched as Karen reached into her pocket, handing her a few bucks for her troubles. “ Is there anything else you can give us?” The young girl just shook her head. “ You got a name?”
“ Jasmine.” She stuttered, Karen reach down over to grab her umbrella, handing it back to the rattled girl. “ Thank you.” She grabbed it and took off running down into the dark alley, never turning back.
“ The hooker who happens to look like our victim, ends up dead, why don’t I believe that’s just some sort of freak coincidence.” Peewee kicked a can on the street, sending it flying into a puddle of water. “ This fucker is real, he’s not just a ghost.” Peewee stared down the streets, feeling less at ease and more in fear, knowing somewhere out there laid a serial killer hell bent in not being stop by any means. “ Wasn’t sure if I was right or not to start with, maybe it was just something I was forcing to paste together. Not anymore.”
Karen tugged on his jacket, getting him to snap out of his daze as they walked back towards the car. “ We go back reading the diary, that son of a bitch has to be somewhere in those pages. Peewee, We’ll read all night if we have to, but we will find him.”
Chapter 69
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The end of the heat was a pleasant welcoming, after what was a busy past week, so many things interlocking with this man’s fate. But alas he was coming closer in accomplishing in his goal to cure the madness inside of him, turn a new chapter in life and finally being able to let go of the demon that was held inside him for so many years.
He sighed as he entered his apartment to find his bloody clothes still on the floor, he meant to clean up before he left, but there was such little time, the Detective was calling. He picked up piece by piece and began to toss them in the bathtub, to give them a scrub down. He knew he should of done this at the studio were he had more privacy but the last thing he wanted to do was risk driving with a car full of bloody clothes.
He was about to toss his pants in, when he felt something bulgy from the pocket. “ I almost forgot about you.” It was the phone he took off Maggie Donner. She had seen her daughter and the beauty she became apart of, but she just couldn’t understand. It was all over her head, she used words like freak and monster, the common reaction, to a common fool. She had no clue the beauty that Lisa had given her sisters and the inner peace he had brought her daughter, something Lisa’s mother could never give to her. He even told her the story how they met and the way they fell in love with one another at first sight. All of it was for Lisa, she loved her mother and that was the only reason he held back from ripping Maggie’s jaw off as she screamed those obscenities at them.
He was about to destroy the phone, only to catch himself at the last minute as he saw the phone flashing with seven missed calls, he checked the voicemail to see who it was. “ Mag’s, it’s me, where are you? I just stop by your job, they said you haven’t shown up for three days, what's up with that? Let’s get together right now and have lunch, I got some great news, we’re getting closer in catching the bastard, call me back.” There was something about the caller's voice, he had heard it before, he just couldn’t put a face to it just yet.
“ This could be a problem,” His mind wander of disposing of Maggie tonight. “ Let’s not be too haste.” He sat down on the floor to ponder what action should be taken, only to have that cut short as the phone in his pocket began to ring.
He answered without saying a word. “ We have a problem.” The voice on the other side, sounded winded and scared.
“ I already know.” He simply said.
Chapter 70
The Road Travel Thus Far
Looking for the hooker led them to a dead end and a dead witness. But it gave them hope and life once again. The moment they returned home, Peewee began to read the diary non-stop. Karen poured herself coffee as she lurked through the archives of information they had on every suspected victim. Pushing through the night and the into the rising sun. They had no attention to stop, not until they found something that led them down another path.
“ This is interesting.” Peewee said out loud to himself, grabbing Karen‘s attention. “ Listen to this.” He cleared his throat before reading page one hundred and twenty-five in Cindy Hall's diary. “ Casey, that’s all the wind says, can’t figure out why the wind so infatuated with this sweet flower.” He bit on his lip knowing he heard this before in another page.
“ Just say it.” Karen said, kn
owing that mind of his was gnawing at something.
“ The wind, it’s not the first time she said that.” Peewee flipped back through the pages, until he stop on sixty-eight. “ The wind howled like a demon, it does not want to be followed, or seen, but who can follow the wind, it has no shadow.”
Karen chugged down her cup of coffee, trying to subdue the yawn that was working it’s way up. “ Sounds like a poem, except, for the first one you read. It sounds like she’s describing someone's feelings.”
“ What lies ahead for us.” Peewee scrolled back to where he left off, reading the new pages ahead, until he came across another short poem, with the word storm. “ A storm came, like lighting, like fire, brighten the day, pouring life to broken soil, that had no flowers to bloom, no joy to give, now this field gives it all to mother earth.” Peewee flashed the book at Karen’s heavy eyes, pointing at the day on the book. “ Want to take a guess when that happened?” He said to her with a mischief grin. “ On this beautiful day in March, forever March 3rd.” Peewee slammed the notebook on the table. “ She just fucking confessed to everything.”
It took Karen's sleepy mind a few seconds to remember that day. “ Son of a bitch.” Karen blurted out. The day the page was written, was on the same day when Cindy rapist had been murder in his home. Her poem was just a mere confession that she had met their charming man and perhaps even witnessed him commit the act of murder. “ This is the proof we need.” She clapped her hands to rejoice.
“ Still doesn’t give us any detail who he is, all we got is Cindy confirming she was with him at the time.”
“You’re half right there, all we need is …“ It struck Karen out of the blue, but she couldn’t believe it as it crossed her mind. “ Oh my fucking God, get out of here.“ She jumped from her seat with joy, stomping her feet on the ground, she was lucky the old wood didn’t give underneath her.
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