DEATH AND HAVOC. PT:2

CHAPTER TWO.

******

Logan sat tiredly on his desk while lazily flipping through documents of missing persons. There has been quite a frighteningly increasing number of Missing persons in the last months. All ranging from children to adults, men, women, old, and young, none is an exception. This has left Logan with more questions than answers. No one has been able to bring any information. All he had were bizarre statements from the loved ones of the said missing person/persons. One statement seemed so ridiculously meaningless, it almost sounded like a lazy prank by an amateur.

'I heard her scream in her bedroom and when I got into her room she had disappeared, only her shoes were stuck between the bathroom glass doors as if she had placed them there on purpose but where could she have gone? I looked everywhere around the house but couldn't find her. She's just six years old, she could not have jumped out her window by herself and with that scream, she let out, it's more than twenty-four hours and I have not seen my daughter.'

Logan sighed, wiping a hand over his face in frustration as he closed the document and shoved it to the side while picking another. All these statements didn't make sense. But the cases are all real. Real people have gone missing, some were snatched away from their homes, others from their cars, and some people had reported they had seen them walking down the road and the next second they were gone. Like they blinked and the person walking before them is gone. Disappeared into thin air. It all didn't make a single sense to the young Detective. He needed to double up before angry parents and families began to swim around the station. It was already beginning to happen. As he spotted a few sitting out front waiting for news when he arrived at work that morning. But, how would they begin to search when no one could give a reasonable statement on what happened before their person/persons went missing? Numerous search parties are sent out daily but they all return bearing the same sad frustrating news. While flipping pages, his phone beeped and he sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, rubbing his eyes as he read the message flashing on his screen.

'I'm sorry, Logan, but the court denied your appeal to adopt Ellie... I'll give you more details at dinner tomorrow.'

A loud sigh escaped his lips as he shut the screen off before tossing his head back into the seat. Logan was hoping the court would change its mind today, he really wanted to keep Ellie. She's lost everything. He is the only family she has left, although he had only been going out with her mother a few months before she met her untimely demise, yet he felt the need to protect her, to keep her safe, but now it seems he won't be getting that chance. He will never see Ellie again. The tears threatened to well up but he quickly blinked them away and instead, leaned forward on the desk. It was time to think positively. He will get through this and Ellie will too. They just need to be strong. He will try to reason with his Lawyer, and see if he will be allowed to at least pay her a visit on her birthdays.

His office door tore open and he looked up in time to see Conan walking in. The older man flashed him a warm smile and Logan forced one of his. "Hey, Conan," He greeted him. "What's up?" Logan asked as he rose from his chair. Conan waved his hands around in a dramatic fashion and grinned widely at the other.

"Avery's autopsy came out," He began as he walked around the desk and sat in the seat opposite Logan.

"Finally!" Logan breathed as relief washed over him. "I was starting to wonder why it was taking too long," He muttered and shook his head.

"It's three weeks, Logan, that's fast for a death like that," Conan chuckled, "You didn't by any chance forget what state we found her body in, did you?" He asked and smiled when Logan shook his head negatively.

"Well, what did the result say?" Logan asked. "Did they find anything unusual or did they come back inconclusive?" He pressed, as he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. Conan took his glasses from his bag and slid them up his nose. Then he opened the file in his hands and flipped through.

"The results are inconsistent," He began. "There are several possible causes but nothing definite.'' He stated, placing some paper on the table for Logan to look through. "They ruled that there wasn't evidence of a struggle but she appeared to have been stabbed at least sixty times... but get this..." His voice dropped in volume. "The stabs didn't match with any knives, anything you can possibly think anyone would stab someone with, nothing came out, the closest to the object used to stab her is pointed and curved, like a horn..."

"A horn?" Logan asked, puzzled and Conan nodded before continuing.

"Yes, sharp and serrated,"

"Serrated? For horns?"

"It's confusing, take a look at the pictures," He gestured to the files he laid out on the table. "Doesn't it all seem confusing?"

"Nothing about anything happening in this city makes sense anymore," Logan muttered, as he looked through the files.

"I wonder what kind of an animal the horn belonged to or even the sick person who would think to use something like that to kill someone," Conan mumbled and rubbed his chin.

Logan furrowed his brows in confusion and looked between his partner and the file. Something was definitely wrong with the case, it just screamed wrong and he couldn't put his finger on it. "What about her limbs that were torn apart?" He asked, flipping through the file.

"You would see there that she had died at least an hour-thirty-minutes before we found her and where we found her wasn't where she died, something had dragged her there and it was ruled that the limbs were torn by a wild animal which seem both odd and senseless since there are no such animals within fifty miles from where we found her more so from where it was she had died at,'' Conan explained. Logan raised an eyebrow before looking at the file again. "Which does not explain how her daughter got to the scene. If her dead mother was dragged to that abandoned building then who took little Ellie there? It all doesn't make sense."

Logan bit his lip and stood up, walking toward the filing cabinet. He opened the drawer and pulled out two files, one blue and the other pink. "So the cause of death was the stab wounds?" He asked as he crossed back toward his desk where he dropped both files beside his computer. Logan booted his computer and then grabbed his pen and notebook.

"No, she died of cardiac arrest," Conan replied as Logan scribbled something in his notebook. "Which makes the stabs post-mortem," The Detective added.

Logan gave the older man a blank stare then wrote more in his notebook. "This is making me sick to the stomach, I can't believe someone had done something so horrible to such a peaceful woman," Logan muttered, feeling his heart ache in sorrow, knowing that Ellie was just six years old, she didn't deserve any of this. Logan glanced at Conan who also looked uncomfortable and pensive. "This doesn't add up!" He cried, smacking the pen down on the table and getting on his feet. He ran his hand through his hair as he paced around the floor. "Doesn't make any sense, none of it..." He muttered again and again.

Conan stood up from his seat and walked around his desk to meet Logan in front of the door, grabbing the younger man's arms. "We'll figure this out, together." He reassured him, then wrapped an arm around him.

Logan swallowed hard then nodded but didn't release himself from the embrace. "Thank you, Con," Logan choked out before dropping his head onto his partner's shoulder.

Conan gave the man some time to calm down before asking. "How did it go with the court hearing?"

Logan removed himself from the other man and wiped his sleeve across his face before turning around and facing Conan. "Not good! They rejected everything I brought to their attention!" He ranted, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"Reasons?"

Logan sighed. "They said my work takes my full time and I wouldn't be able to care for a child more so one who just lost the only family she had left. Ellie will be needing twenty-four-seven attention and care and they say I would not be able to provide her with that. They have her in a Care Home until a suitable family comes for her, they say."

"Wow, that sucks,"

"Tell me about it,"

"But... isn't that good though?" Conan asked.

"How do you mean?"

"That she finds a home where both parents would attend to her needs? She's very distraught and would need a lot of attention. I know you care a great deal about her, still, it's not like you are related to her," Conan said and watched as Logan clenched and unclenched his fists and stared at the ground in irritation, obviously trying hard to contain his anger.

"I know she's not related to me in any way but I was going to marry her mother had this not happened, we were already on Daddy/Daughter basis you know, she calls me Dad now, this hurts too much..." Logan admitted and let out another shaky breath. "Plus, I don't even know whether or not I'm allowed to continue seeing her..." He whispered. "I don't want her to go through this alone." He turned towards Conan, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

Conan placed a hand gently on his partner's shoulder and squeezed lightly as he let out a sigh. "Look, I understand why it bothers you, but you need to remember that we need all the time we can get. If we are going to get to the root of all these happenings in our city then you need to let her go, she will be fine and I'm sure they will grant you visits with her sometimes." Conan reasoned.

Logan looked up at his partner and tried to muster a smile, but the emotion on his face betrayed him. "Okay." He simply agreed. "So, what next?"

"Next? Well, we have got ourselves a handful of Missing person cases to solve, including two homicides, and three suicides... Looks like we have got our work cut out for us." Conan mused and Logan sighed.

"Looks like it, huh?" He laughed weakly.

"Don't worry though, I will call in a few helpers to assist but for now you need to get home and sleep, you haven't slept in two days and I can tell it's starting to take its toll on you." Conan insisted firmly, giving the younger man a firm pat on the back.

Logan winced slightly at the pressure against his sore back but still managed a small smile. "Alright." He said softly and stepped back. Conan smiled brightly back at him, his face lighting up with the same joy that filled his eyes before. "Good night now, see you in the morning, Captain," Logan replied.

"Good night," Conan responded and gave him one last bright smile before heading for the door. Once he reached the doorway, however, the detective stopped in his tracks. "Oh! Before I forget! We're going to talk to Chief Barton tomorrow." He informed the younger male.

Logan nodded his head. "Roger that."

******

The night was one of those nights; black as pitch and cold. There wasn't even a cloud in sight, the weather was gloomy and gray and even the stars were hidden behind dark clouds. It seemed almost like the world itself was mourning the loss of deceased and missing persons. As Logan drove along the darkened roads, he was silent, his brain wreaking havoc with questions, doubts, and worries. Everything was so blurry, he could barely make out the road and traffic lights and he was certain that if his eyesight should fail him, he could drive off the road and die on impact. He thought of the way Avery's body lay lifeless in that coffin. The blood pooled around her, and her limbs lay beside her like a decoration, and he felt a sudden wave of nausea hit him. Logan quickly pressed on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt. He turned the heaters up high as he sat in his car, waiting for the wave to pass. When it did, he sighed loudly, taking a few deep breaths. His mind wandered to the autopsy result and how nothing made sense to him. All the reports and documents stated what was found and what was reported, but when he looked into the details and read the transcripts, he couldn't find anything, nothing that made any semblance of sense, and that scared him more than anything else could. The fact that nothing really made any logical sense terrified him more than the idea of a serial killer lurking in their city and snatching up victims. It was Madness.

The rest of the drive home went by smoothly with no more incidents and as soon as he drove into his driveway and got out of his car, a loud gasp ripped from his throat when he spotted those familiar burning red eyes, glaring down at him through his upstairs bedroom window.

Nearly dropping his keys the detective stumbled back a few feet, crashing into his car, his eyes stayed locked with those demonic eyes bearing down on him. He swore he could hear them whispering, taunting him, and mocking his fear. He shook his head vigorously, attempting to shake away the feeling of being watched or the idea that someone was in fact staring at him.

"It isn't real..." He chanted, his breathing picking up speed as he struggled to pull himself together, the voice whispering in his ear sounding less and less amused with each attempt he took to calm himself. "It's not real... It's just your imagination running wild again... None of it is real Logan ol' boy... You're not seeing things... you're not crazy..." He fell to his knees, shaking violently yet his eyes stayed locked with those glowing crimson orbs, the whispers never ceasing. He was hearing voices in his head. Like the eyes were trying to communicate with him but in languages, he could not understand and by the gods, it frightened him more and when it felt as if his head was going to explode from all the voices ringing in his head, it went dead silent.

Logan blinked several times before looking up at the house, expecting his vision to clear. But instead, the red eyes remained, watching him, silently. His mouth gaped open, his tongue dry and his lips trembling. He couldn't breathe. His heart raced and thumped in his ears as he began to hyperventilate when he saw the eyes begin to draw closer and closer to him. Like it was coming to swallow him in its burning red flames. Logan crouched down in fear and waited for the worst to happen.

But, it only made it a little closer before it disappeared, leaving Logan muttering to himself and trembling on the cold ground. The young man waited for a good ten minutes before he mustered enough courage to get back into his car and drove speedily back onto the highway.

The eyes that have followed him since he was young have returned and this time, it isn't as friendly as it was when he was a boy.

This time it looked as though it wanted him dead.

And tonight, he's sleeping in a Motel and maybe he will have to move again.