Dr Frank escorted William into the big science laboratory. He made him wear a clinical mask over his face before entering. Inside the laboratory was buzzing with lots of activities. Many workers moved about from one building into another, wearing long white lab coats and nose masks. “Right this way, sir.” Frank led him into a room labelled ‘special project’. They came upon an electric door, and Frank slid a card through it. The lock clicked. Then he raised a hand to push the door open. They entered a smaller room filled with dim light. At the centre of the room was a clinical bed, and on it lie a lady who was fast asleep. Two doctors flanked her, scrutinizing her body behind large goggles. “I take it this is Mrs Clayton?” William whispered to Frank from behind. “Yes,” he affirmed. “And as you can see, we are keeping her under closed medical surveillance.” “Dr Kent, Dr Stone,” Frank called the attention of the two doctors examining her, “can we have some time alone with Dr Eulich
Dr Frank raised a hand to push the door, but before he could reach the door handle, it slid open and William came hurrying out of his office. “Sir, I’ve got the files on Mrs Eulich’s medical report—the one you asked for.” Frank said, scanning through the multiple files which he held in his hands, searching for Eulich’s medical report. “Good,” William remarked, hurrying past him. “Leave it on my desk. I’ll go through it when I get back.” “And one more thing, sir.” He stopped in his tracks. “What’s that?” “The mayor has asked to see you.” “We’ll have to reschedule that meeting until when I get back. I have to pick up my daughter from the hospital. She’s been waiting all day for me. And if I don’t make it back on time, then we’ll have to shift the meeting to tomorrow.” William hurried out of the building. ### Kevin sat on the bed, frozen in fear. A man wearing a mask just took my daughter from the hospital. Her words kept echoing in his head. He did not know what scared him th
Natasha—struggling to walk, was pacing the room. She grunted with every step. It felt like she was learning to walk all over again. Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside the door and peeked her eyes to see what it was. She caught a glimpse of someone standing outside the door. She could tell from its shadow that it was a man. “Who’s there?” she asked inquisitively, but there was no response. Her eyes narrowed. Felt like she was being watched, and it sent cold chills traveling down the length of her spine. “Hello?” she called out nervously, leaping cautiously to the door. “Dad? Is that you?” A knock sounded on the door and Natasha—frightened, stopped in her path. For a moment, she stared quietly at the door. A thought came to her. Dad doesn’t knock. Heart pounding against her ribcage, she slowly shuffled backward, away from the door. That’s not dad. She froze when she saw the doorknob slowly turn and the door slide open, giving off a terrifying creak. And she saw, standing at the
Climbing out of the car, William glanced about—a cloud of gloom settling over his face at the sight of the mob and several police vehicles parked in front of De-Laurel. He became worried about his daughter.“What the hell happened here?” He spoke in a low voice, directing his question to no one exactly.He got out of the car and walked to an older man dressed in a different uniform from the rest of the cops. He seemed like the one leading the operation. “I am William Martinez,” he introduced himself, flashing a badge at him. “Head of threat control unit.”“Inspector Alex Krevoy,” the agile officer answered, taking out his badge and showing it to him. “Head of city police.” He pushed the badge back in his pocket and tossed an inquisitive glance at him. “Mr William Martinez?” His brows furrowed. “You don’t happen to be related to one Miss Natasha Martinez, do you?”“She’s my daughter.” His interest was piqued, and he became even more worried. “Why? Did something happen to her?”“We got a
The afternoon breeze was musty and damp, sticking to Natasha’s throat like thick, saccharine molasses. She was slowly losing her patience as she sat silently at the back with Kevin while Landry drove. She groaned with impatience. “We’ve been on the road for about thirty minutes now and no one is saying anything,” she kvetched, raising her voice and turning to either of them for answers. “Where are you guys taking me?” “I thought I told you to trust me,” Kevin said, trying to calm her. “Just hang on a bit, we will get there soon.” “How can I trust you if you aren’t giving me anything?” “Okay, okay… fine.” He gave in to her request. “We are going as far away from here as possible.” Natasha shook her head. “That doesn’t answer my question, Kevin. Where exactly are you guys taking me?” “I’m taking you to stay with him,” he gestured towards Landry, whom she hadn’t heard utter a word since she got into the car. “—but this is only going to be temporary.” “What!?” She heard herself scre
Kevin entered the hospital where Mirabel had been admitted. Except for the smell of antiseptic which lingered, the air was crisp and clear. He went into the room and met Mirabel’s mum sitting on the corner of the hospital bed. She was engaged in an interrogative conversation with Alex, who sat facing her in an old, rusty armchair. He was putting down some information, which he considered vital, on a little note—until Kevin interrupted when he pushed the pewter white door open. “I apologise for taking so long,” he said, trotting towards the distressed single mother. “Mrs Lena, who is this, please?” slightly pissed, Alex asked, his eyes following Kevin as he came in and sat beside her. “T-t-this is Kevin,” Lena stuttered, tears trickling down her eyes. “H-h-he is the one I told you about who’s been helping me and my daughter.” “Hello Kevin, I’m inspector Alex Krevoy, head of state security.” He stretched his hand for a handshake. “Hello, inspector.” Kevin grabbed his hand firmly. “H
Kevin left the hospital without informing Mrs Lena—or the Inspector. He made sure not to mention anything about what Landry had said to either of them, especially Lena. He was more worried about how she would react to the news. When he arrived at the park, he spotted a small crowd that’d gathered. Heart pounding against his ribcage, he shuffled towards them, eyes bulging as he got closer. He struggled to move past the throng. As he walked up to the front, his hair stood on end when he saw Mirabel’s body, lying naked in her pool of blood, her face hideously disfigured and burnt. She had multiple stab wounds on her chest and several cuts on her face. Kevin felt a cold shiver go down his spine, his body trembling, his knees buckling. His lips were shaking as tears escaped his eyes, sliding down his cheek softly. He looked down at her little face. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Mirabel’s face was bruised and covered with great blotches. Her thighs and abdomen had been lacerated.
I’ll be back. Be ready when I return. T-Murek said those last words to him before he left. Kevin’s twenty-fifth birthday was in a week. He knew he was going to be seeing T-Murek a lot more often now the deadline was fast approaching. Only a few days were left for his birthday—a few days before T-Murek would finally show up to end his life in the most torturing way. The thought of this made him sweat. He did not want to die, at least not in that way. Kevin realised he was still kneeling before Mirabel’s body amid the crowd that’d gathered. He noticed the crowd had gotten bigger, and he was receiving the most attention. The cops were already present, and Alex led the team. He got down from his vehicle and was accompanied by the rest of the officers who were with him. The crowd fell silent for a moment, then came to life in a burst of conversation. Alex took out his badge and shouted, “Police!” The crowd parted. He put his badge back in his pocket and walked up to where Kevin knelt b
The ghoul responsible for the slaughter of his entire family is back, and bodies are turning up around the city. With Murphy Hartfield’s death, Kevin is perturbed—for Natasha’s sake. He knows it’s only a matter of time before her body will be the next they would find on the streets of Burnout, unless he quells any affection he has for her. Although still mourning the loss of his fiancée, he couldn’t deny this newfound affection for Natasha. And no matter how hard he tried to stay away from her, fate always brings them back together—until she is captured by the same figure that’d taken his fiancée months ago. It could prove fatal if he lost her too. AUTHOR’S NOTE Thank you so much for reading my novel! I’m so glad that you were truly able to immerse yourself in it by reading up to the end. It would truly mean so much to me if I could get many intrigued readers such as yourself to see this piece! You could help me do this by giving me some gems and a review to show support.
The old abandoned warehouse stood, corner lot, like a looming gargoyle; perched on a mound of earth protruding like an overfilled grave. The place looked dilapidated and haunted. For a moment, Kevin looked over the warehouse T-Murek had used to torture Loretta over a year ago. It felt like he was revisiting his horrible past by coming back to this very place. For months, he’d tried to fight off the memories of the past, and now he’s back to the place where it all began, the very building where he sat to watch his fiancée die. He has returned to the one place he’d hoped he would never have to see again. As he climbed up the old broken staircase, Alex heeled him. And when he reached the wooded door, the memories of the past flooded his mind, filling him with great horror. It was almost twenty-four hours after T-Murek had left the room, leaving Kevin tied to the chair. Kevin watched with pain in his eyes as flies buzzed around the opened wounds on Loretta’s lifeless body. His face was
Derik drove into a large conference room beside the police department. He took out his phone to confirm it was the address that William had texted him. Then he got out of his car and walked past the security guards standing outside into the hall. There, he met a large crowd. He marvelled at how big the whole place was. Frank, head of the forensic laboratory, was there. The entire police force in the city was present. And so was Scott. They were all seated in an orderly arrangement. Looking up at the podium, he saw William addressing the crowd. And next to him was TCU’s new president, Sir Lawrence Linus. Beside Lawrence sat a muscular, dark-skinned soldier wearing dark glasses. He had a flagitious look as he stared towards the crowd from his dark shades. He had an M16A1 gun strapped to his left shoulder and was chewing a gun. Derik walked through the attentive crowd, up the front row as he searched for an empty seat. William’s voice became audible as he reeled towards the front. “—
Derik gulped air to steady himself. Straightening his arm at Kevin, he wrapped his fingers around the gun, not taking his eyes off him. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t drop you where you stand.” “Derik, wait!” he hollered, hands raised a bit higher. “I’m not your enemy. I may be one of them, but I’m certainly not a killer.” Derik glared, his fierce eyes filled with rage and hatred. “You pinned a rod through a man’s eyes, how do you explain that?” “Those guys deserved what they got and you know it. Heck, they raped Natasha and walked away free, while she suffers in the hospital. I couldn’t live with that.” “You could have just left it to the authorities.” “I was just doing the cops a favour.” “That doesn’t change the fact that you’re a shifter and a killer. You’re dangerous. You shouldn’t be around Natasha,” he countered. Kevin remained silent. “Does Natasha know? Does she know what you are?” he asked him, his fingers tightening around the gun. “She doesn’t have to know.” His
Landry drove through the large gate into William’s mansion. He stopped in front of a Nissan Terrano II which was parked inside the carport alongside the large apartment. Kevin got out first, then offered to help Natasha. “Thank you. I can get off on my own.” She turned him down rather impolitely. He was taken a little aback by her abruptness. Getting down from the car, she bolted past him, climbing up the mini-stairs on the facade of the large bungalow. She knocked and stood with her arms folded while waiting behind the door. She didn’t turn to look at him. Landry noticed the tension between them but kept silent, making a mental note to talk to Kevin about it later. “Dad! Damien!” Natasha called and stepped back a few paces after knocking. A moment passed and no answer. She climbed up the stairs to hit the door again, this time a little louder than before. “Is anyone home?” She shuffled backward and waited, folding her arms and avoiding Kevin’s gaze. When it appeared no one was c
William went through the files Frank dropped on his desk. “I don’t understand,” he grunted with frustration. “These are the names of every member and officer on this taskforce. But why are there green dots placed beside each name?” “This is the full list of active officers registered in this taskforce that has been tested. The green dot represents the members that came out clean, while the red represents the shifters,” Frank explained. William stole a quick glance at the list, a line between his brows. “But I see no name here attached to a red dot.” “Exactly my point, sir. Every official and officer working in this taskforce came out clean.” William looked over the file, feeling sceptical about its credibility. “I ran a double check on everyone just to be sure. I can assure you, sir, there are no shifters on the task force.” William was silent for a moment, a series of thoughts running through his head. “I was thinking, what if we recreated another shifter just like Mrs Eulich, o
It was midnight, and Kevin sat outside Pittsburgh bar, drinking himself to stupor. He sat there to process all that Leonard had said to him; it was just too much information to take in. Just then, he painfully remembered Lena’s body hanging from the ceiling. He took a sip from the bottle of vodka which sat on the table before him— wincing as the fiery liquid found his tongue. After a moment, the thought of his earlier encounter with Leonard was erased momentarily from his memory, but that of Lena hanging from the ceiling lingered like a parasite that just wouldn’t go away—devastating him even more. Kevin blamed himself for their death; Lena, Mirabel, and Loretta. If he hadn’t shown up in their lives, they’d still be alive. He woozily dropped the sixth vodka bottle, causing the rest on the table to rattle. “Another bottle, please!” he hooted to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper went in to get his order. Kevin felt woozy as he stared at the empty bottles sitting on the table before him.
Kevin glanced up at the body hanging from the ceiling. Is this what Mrs Lena meant when she said she was going to put an end to all this? She was going insane after all—there’d been no masked man with her all along. She was losing her mind. Tears trickled down his eyes. We should have moved her to a mental clinic when we had the chance-–maybe then, she’d still be alive. A sick feeling rose in his stomach, and he felt his leg tremble from looking at her lifeless body swivelling from the ceiling. “Mrs Lena…” His mouth moved with great difficulty, as if searching for the right question to ask. “Why?” Kevin picked up the chair that’d been flipped beneath her feet and climbed onto it to reach her. He scrutinized the rope she’d used; it was the clinic tube. He untied her from the ceiling and took her down gently. Her head rolled freely to her shoulder. That was when he noticed her broken neck. As he laid her gently on the bed, her lips peeled back in an unpleasant smile. Kevin felt a
William had his gaze fixed on Catherina; his breath caught in his throat. He was as shocked as everyone else in the room. “When did this happen?” “This footage was recorded several hours ago,” Catherina answered politely. “Precisely 9:45 am this morning.” “A masked shifter?” Frank said in total disbelief. “This is going to be very difficult. How are we going to find him if we can’t place an ID on him? Mrs Eulich was our best chance at finding these shifters and eliminating them, but now she is gone, what do we do?” Scott was clueless. He had not a single idea of what was being discussed. After a long, thoughtful silence, William finally answered, “We wait.” His eye narrowed, and he rested his lower jaw on his hands. “The mayor had appointed Lawrence Linus as president to take over command of the taskforce in my place. Lawrence promised to get rid of every shifter here in the city within a week. We shall wait to see how he intends to do this.” ### The sky was a fair maiden with bl