CHAPTER 5 - The Victims

First Victim:

Analise Nesperato, 18 years old. He has curly red hair and green eyes. On probation period for three weeks. The last known associates are the following: Lestine, and Magda. Last seen, walking alone back to the barracks around ten in the evening after having drinks with Delta Selene and Delta Vicky. By eleven roll calls, she never showed up. She was found two days later beside a ravine naked, sliced open from her neck to her privates. All her internal organs are complete and intact.

Eliminates black market organ harvest.

Second Victim

Erika Palace, 23 years old. Short dark brown hair, dark brown eyes. On probation for 29 days. The last known associates are Emily and Ben. Last seen, in the town dancing with humans. She was found after three days inside the garbage dump, her eyes and mouth sewn shut. Both limbs are intertwined with silver barbwires laced with wolfsbane.

Hopefully the last victim,

Alexis Mar'tine, 21 years old. Blonde mid-length hair with dark blue eyes. On probation for 2 weeks. Last known associates everyone. Friendly in nature. Last seen, attending the garden before the rain started around four in the afternoon. Discovered two days ago. She was found bolted upside down in a tree. Her eyes were wide open.

Commonalities:

All of them are Omegas.

All are still on probation.

All are female.

Differences:

They don’t have the same appearance.

Everyone has a different hairstyle and color.

"Do these three Omegas know each other?" Velmont asks.

"Yes, we only have one barracks for all probations." Alpha Qillalon respond.

"I see."

"I think we need to speak to the last people who saw them alive. Let’s start with Selene and Vicky," Gertrude suggested.

"Yeah. Good, old, tedious detective work. Are these people awake right now?"

Alpha Qillalon frowns then says, "They are not here at the moment, but they’ll be back later in the day around noon."

"Great, let’s take a rest for now. At noon, I will resume with the witnesses." Velmont says.

Alpha Qillalon nodded and then left them. He stayed outside for a while to listen.

"Silencio!" Gertrude mumbles. A clear bubble shows up and covers the whole room. It’s her magic so that the wolves can’t hear them.

"What do you think about that one?" She asks while glancing at his face, waiting for any reaction.

"Well, it's too early for that. We can’t trust anyone. We are in the middle of a place littered with wolves. They could kill us here and no one would even know."

"What do you think about the case? These girls". She asks while staring at the photographs of the Omegas before and after they were found. "Poor souls."

"Whoever did this is insane. We need to move fast to find this killer before he gets another victim."

"That’s the same thing I have in mind. I’ll walk outside for a while to where the bodies are found and see if there’s magic involved in their deaths."

Alpha Qillalon stood near their room for more than ten minutes but heard nothing. He finally left afterward.

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Gertrude discreetly walks outside to the tree where Alexis' body was found. She can still see and smell the blood. The hole from the bolts that were used to hang her body upside down can be seen on the tree. "A tree." She mumbles. "An innocent thing witnesses a gruesome crime and can’t even tell the complete story."

She circled the tree and mumbled a few incantations, but it turned to nothing. Based on Qillalon’s records, there’s no forensic evidence found on the body, bolts, or the tree. The rain might have washed it out and, unfortunately, she can’t find any magic evidence that might help catch the killer or killers.

She then moved to the ravine and repeated the same incantation. It returned nothing either. Lastly, she tried the farthest and dirtiest place. The smell of filth, rot, and mud engulfs her. She repeated the same incantation while she fought the urge to vomit. After a while, a faint color shone in the middle of the dump. She walks close to it and uncovers a small golden charm that looks like it is part of an old relic. "Time for research." She mumbles to herself.

*

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*

Velmont walks the same route Analise took after she drank with the Delta. He found that the route had a lot of turns and everything was obscured by trees. The walk also takes almost twenty minutes in a normal phase, which means the killer has a lot of time and a chance to abduct any prey. He tried checking every tree as he walked back to the main building and found a piece of garment, black silk, on one of the branches. He took it and put it in an evidence bag for Gertrude to use her magic. Wishing magic can lift the footprint of the killer.

While Velmont and Gertrude are busy investigating. A shadow lurks in the Omegas chambers. Walking from one room to the other as if looking for something or someone. Then, in the last chamber, he opened it wide, and all four occupants woke up almost at the same time. The smell of alcohol and tobacco punches them awake. They all stared at the man at the door. His shadow is menacing, his aura is dominating. He entered the room and his face was finally shown. It’s Alpha Cain.

"Who among you is Vesper?" he yelled.

She raises her hand. "I’m Vesper, Alpha Cain." She says in a weak tone.

"Come here!" He demanded.

She immediately stood up and walked towards him. He held her by the neck, almost lifting her from the floor. Her eyes widened in horror, she did not speak as she was scared that her voice might irritate him even further.

The other three occupants want to follow them, but they are frightened. They can only stare at each other in confusion and fear.

In the next few minutes, the whole barracks heard the loud sound of a whip hitting the pavement. As if telling them that something was about to happen and it did. The next sound is a loud outburst of pain. Cry for help. As the whip hit Vesper’s bareback. Almost taking parts of her flesh on every strike. Followed by the smell of blood in the air. All Omegas tremble. Even Gamma Sevy, who was watching, pitied the bloodied girl. The whipping lasted for half an hour, and they already lost count of how many times they heard the whip penetrate her flesh.

Vesper Miles was left alone in a dark cell in the basement. In a kneeling position, both arms are chained in the opposite direction. Alpha Cain never explains why he did it, but she has an idea.

Shortly, the scent of the Alpha vanished, assured that the coast was cleared, she began to gently dislocate her hands to remove her chains. Trying her very best not to make too much sound as her bones began to break into fragments.

“Ahhhh.. Shit!” She says in a low voice, almost whispering. Both of her arms are bloody and dislocated, her thumbs hanging for their dear life. Her movement accidentally removed the ring on her forefinger, and it rolled on the floor, stared at it for a moment. Soon a low sizzling sound emerged in the four corners of the basement room. In an instant, her hands were back to normal, and her pale face and sunken eyes changed to rosy cheeks and dark mesmerizing eyes.

She sighs deeply then marches towards the ring, picks it up, and wears it immediately. Shortly, her face turns pale and sunken again.

"Things I do for justice." She says to herself as she discreetly leaves the basement to continue her night watch.