Tags: Psychological Thriller, Urban Noir, Vigilante, Mature Themes, Serial Killer, Crime Drama
⚠️Authors Note - Mature Content
"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, nations, corporations and events are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real events or persons is coincidental."
Date - 15th December 2019
Character Name - The Owl
Location - Promise City, Ct
District - The Stretch, Tunnel leading to the Wound District
Time - 1750 ( 5:50 PM)
The Wound was dark. All the lights were gone. In the distance circus music played aloud, eerily beckoning to new arrivals who braved the decision to enter DreamLand Entertainments most horrifying experiment. A perimeter thirty three miles that enclosed the entire Wound District, a ten metre wall that stopped the hellscape known as the Wound from spilling into adjacent districts.
Occasionally bursts of gunfire lit up the night sky.
Occasionally an explosion would rock the district.
Both of which pass like average fleeting moments.
Then, there's the Watch Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the whole chaotic district. A stronghold of the Owl's crew.
The old structure was tall. And tonight, the Owl sat far above the rest of the street cradling her son.
'Cold..' he muttered shivering-
'Ok. my sweetheart.' The Owl muttered, taking her own jacket off, and wrapping her son, exposing herself to the elements. Her tanned skin immediately reacted. Exposed to the subzero elements in just a night gown was testament to her love.
'How about-... when you're better we can go and get some ice cream?..' she said calmly with a smile but not her usual venomous one.
This one was real.
'Mama it cold! No icey cream!' he cooed back with a little giggle-
'Ok-Ok my little prince, candy then?' She smiled back practically hugging him.
'NO! Hehe!'
He sniffs-
'Mama you breathe stinky!-'
The Owl let out a sharp bark-
'Sorry, baby, but that's the way I am! I like to smoke and I am not gonna stop!'
She said, kissing his cheek motherly.
'But why…?' He nestled himself into her sternum for safety.
The Owl thought to herself for a moment before a calm smile appeared, no malice, no cunning, not for her baby, just HER.
'There are monsters out there… and it's my job to make sure you're safe my love.'
She patted his pale cheek with a motherly loving hand.
'Now… let's get inside, it's so cold!'
She carried her son inside in her arms like a makeshift cradle.
Meanwhile…
Somewhere in Vault City…
One of the many street corners. An old rundown supermarket entrance. One of many, just a girl, she looks over her bruised right shoulder. Another client? Probably.
Or something worse?
Her tired eyes fell on a rundown grey Cadillac. Conveniently lights off. But…
She knows someone's in the driver's seat. The large shadow loomed, then she saw a slight flicker of light. A camera. It didn't flash, but it did linger.
She walked away, holding her blue purse close to her side. She wanted to leave the area as quickly as possible.
However unluckily for her, the large shadow was very interested in her.
Later on…
The Stretch…
Klick Klick Klick… Klick
The footsteps were like gunshots, the Owl, confident as ever strutted through the long tunnel that was known as the Stretch. The dingy cold rock corridor was cold, not as cold as the weeks before but cold enough.
Her glass heels splashed mud and mush from the melted snow and ice.
Dirt rode up her long white dress from the impact of her heels.
SLAP SLAP SPLASH SPLASH
Due to her short stature, walking through the deep puddles of murky water and black mush was more like wading through water.
With her white dress stained and stuck to her short tanned legs from the moisture she continued to power through.
'Buggy. If you are wrong about this tip, I will drown you in this muck.'
The Owl sneered-
'Ma'am, I-...uh….This tip is from a reliable source…'
'It f*cking better be.'
She continued-
'If I'm wasting the valuable time I could be spending with my son-'
The Owl continued to push further down the pungent subterranean corridor.
Moisture exhaled from her jaws, a cold vapour.
'It's freezing cold…' She muttered, gritting her pearly white teeth.
She flipped her dress's fluffy hood over her shoulder length dark brown hair.
But then-
She stopped-
Draped over the ledge of a walkway laid a body. It was a woman in her twenties.
The Owl's eyes narrowed-
'How long has she been here?' She asked her voice more of a hushed whisper.
'One of the boys saw her when he was on a job.' The henchman handed the Owl a blue purse.
-'She had this.'
The Owl snatched it away, opening it carefully she studied the contents. Occasionally her brown eyes studied the corpse.
'So… her name is Trudy Wallcott… aged twenty eight…'
The Owl moved closer studying the body-
'She was killed recently.'
She moved her head, using the back of her tanned hand to brush the corpse's pale face.
'Alright.' She muttered.
Stepping back she looked back at her enforcer-
Buggy.
'No one goes near this crime scene. I am calling someone in.'
'Understood ma'am.'
Later on…
'You called.' Near's voice was abrasive. He jumped from the steel beams above.
The stretch was an old mining tunnel, and so the foundations, made out of steel, continued to hold.
'I have a possible lead cutie… so naturally I called the man in my life~'
'Hm.' He retorted without a change in his stern expression.
'Oh lighten up!'
'Someone died.'
'Yeah? People die all the time. Why is she so important?'
Near continued to stare-
'Fine. I'm giving an… situational ally? A helping hand?'
'Hm.'
'Fine! My boyfriend?...'
'No.' Near pushed passed the Owl, lightly moving her aside with his broad shoulder.
With a crunch in the mushy snow-
He crouched beside the corpse, his HUD scanning the body.
'Victim number- 12. Including Mr Haines.'
He removed the SIM inside the phone that sat partially out of the purse.
Placing it into his gauntlet, blue text lit up on the HUD inside his balaclava.
'Seems she was being followed. A text to a friend mentioned she was being followed.'
Near's blue eyes widened.
'What is it?'
'Scanning the victim's phone revealed something crucial.'
'Go on…'
'She was a part of a group chat, it's an escort site… it seems all of the members are based in the Vault City Metropolitan Area… chat logs reveal-'
'Hundreds of messages referencing being stalked, tailed… assaulted… these are years old… latest was in 2016.'
More data flooded the HUD. Thousands of files.
'There you are..' Near's eyes narrowed-
Emily Haines is mentioned.
A dozen times.
'Emily Haines was the Madam of one of the biggest sex worker networks on the site. That explains the money…'
He continued to scroll.
'It seems Emily Haines and her husband were going through a divorce after she used the site's services to cheat on her husband numerous times…'
Images of Emily appeared with her clients.
'A message sent in 2016. "Someone keeps following me. Avoid Promise City Bay Area gals.".. Interesting.'
'Other messages suggest the girls running into different guys stalking them, but the same car is mentioned consistently…
-a rundown grey Cadillac'
'He was experimenting with identity change.. Like a chameleon..'
Near stood up. He uploaded the data to his computer and Sunohara.
'I have some data to dig through, I may have a lead.'
The Owl smirked-
'Finally. I knew it would need to be me…-'
'Your knowledge of the underworld is essential, yes. That's what you specialise in.'
She smiled more.
'Now the Ice Thorn Princess-' he turned to face the Owl. Who placed a finger on his covered lips.
'Hush, find this bastard first. I don't want a serial killer in my territory, and you're a goody two shoes, we both win.'
He turned away, and began to walk away. Contempt for now.
The Owl then shouted with casual sweetness, but don't be fooled she was anything but sweet. She was the Queen of the Stretch.
'Remember honey! Escorts disappear constantly. Especially in this hellhole. Different names. Different cities. Half the victims never trusted the police to begin with-'
'I'm not the police.' Near brooded, almost a growl.
'You're looking for aliases, fake IDs and missing person filings across multiple jurisdictions-'
'Noted.'
Eddie's Apartment…
Bridgerton District…
Edward entered his apartment, his muddy boots tapped on his apartment's floor. He immediately unlocked the secret compartment, a false wall slid aside revealing-
his desktop computer, multiple terminals, gadgets in testing, a board covered in case files and across the wall behind his leather desk chair.
His old katana from his time as Near in Japan.
Blue light illuminated from the multiple displays, servers stacked across the wall behind the monitor hummed patiently.
Hello Sir. What can I do for you this evening?
The AI greeted Edward.
'Unusually nice this evening.'
Of course sir, how else should I greet you?
He seemed too polite-
Especially after I deleted your Royal Arsenal reruns and entire queued catalog of anime.
'WHAT?!'
Joking.
'Not nice.' Edward recoiled, taking off his blue hood, and loosened his grey kevlar chestplate. He then returned to the mission on hand.
'Computer there have been multiple updates on the Wedding Ring Slayer Case.'
Do tell sir.
'The earliest messages date back to 2016… stalking complaints… disappearances… multiple states…'
'Emily Haines wasn't the beginning.'
'She was simply the first survivor he kept alive.'
'Until he was bored of her.'
Edward typed at his keyboard.
Click Click Click
'Escorts detail a delivery driver… a police officer… a businessman… this killer-
His eyes widened-
'He became whoever people expected to see.'
Edward then clicked on a CCTV image of the Cadillac in question. A feed from one of the many cameras he has bugged since his arrival in the city.
'One thing he didn't count on.'
He zoomed in-
'Every SINGLE account mentions the same car. We got it.'
Click.
Sir, is something the matter?
Edwards' blood ran cold.
'He has been active for YEARS.'
His mind raced. Dots connected. Rumors aligned. The timeline ballooned.
'His kill count is MUCH higher'
Another girl could be missing already. He stood.
Sir, perhaps it should be Edward Quinn who goes on the hunt for now?
'Good idea. I can gather more information in the precinct.'
Disclaimer
'Apologies for the late upload, it's been quite a few weeks since the last upload.
I have been planning to wrap up the current storyline in Chapters 16, 17 and 18.
And so I have been mapping out how to do so.
I feel as if it's been dragged out by now, and if I do, you are the reader.
So you do too.'