Dark Purpose - XIII

Part 1

XIII.

“What do you mean that isn’t him!?” Victoria screamed at Angela and Erika. Angela had relayed to them both that the man they had in custody though he was in the Order and needed to be taken care of wasn’t in fact the Butcher. Erika was just as confused as Victoria but not as angry.

                “I’m telling you, the man I bit, and drew blood from was the Butcher, this guy has no such scar on him. This isn’t the guy.” Angela repeated adamantly.

                “So you’re telling me that we have two men of the Order sniffing around my town? Two people milling about? Is that what you’re telling me?”

                “Not necessarily. We don’t’ know for sure that the Butcher is actually apart of the Order.”

                “What about the signs? The reports we’ve been getting from our undercover? Which by the way I have even better news for you?” Victoria looked from one twin to the next.

                “What news?” Erika asked.

                “Turns out your detective friend has put an all points bulletin out to find you and they have all the cops in the precinct combing the city. You just had to kick his ass and steal his car. You couldn’t just silence him.”

                “Kill a cop? Are you insane? And plus I did what I had to do. I followed protocol. He barely knows anything.”

                “Well he knows enough!”

                “We aren’t the enemies of the authorities.”

                “No we aren’t but they don’t understand the shit we get into, you know that. We work better when they are kept in the dark as much as possible. Why do you think our undercover is a cop?”

                “I didn’t know that.”

                “That’s beside the point. We keep tabs on them so they don’t ever know about us. Does that make sense? I figured you two would have understood that by now. Or do I need to send a report and have you sent back to training?”

                “This is ridiculous.” Angela interjected.

                “Ridiculous? You screw up and I’m being ridiculous? How dare you.” Victoria fumed.

                “You go out in the field then you bitch and put yourself what I’ve been through.”

                “I did my time! I’ve seen things you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams. Things we hope to never have anyone witness under any circumstances. Don’t get on your high horse with me. I still stand taller than you both. That’s why I’m here and you’re out there.”

                “What do we need to do to fix this?”

                “Normally I’d send you away and just let this die down but I can’t do that.”

                “Why not?”

                “Because you failed.”

                “What? But we caught the bastard.”

                “No you caught one of the bastards. One is still out there killing people.”

                “That’s not our job.”

                “Not your job? So help me god if I didn’t need you to clean up this mess I’d recommend you be suspended indefinitely. See if you can survive out there without us.”

                “You just try it!”

                “Angela, shut up! Look, Victoria, the initial report from the undercover said there were strange occurrences that looked like the Order. Whether or not they are related to this Butcher guy. We caught the acolyte, how are we so sure that the Butcher is another?”

                “You haven’t been keeping up with reports. They found shrine rooms at the murder sites. Very reminiscent of an Order shrine, though elementary. No signs of symbology just repetition of some phrasing. Though the other aspect of the case, which I thought you two would pick up on but I guess I can’t rely on you to do, the woman that were killed are all missing body parts.”

                “We know that.” Angela spoke up again. Erika stared her down then looked at Victoria.

                “We know, we didn’t see any significance. They are just trophies.”

                “Perhaps if it was the same body part over and over you could chalk it up to trophies but each victim is missing something different. A left leg, a right leg, a left arm, a right arm, a liver, a pair of lungs, so on and so forth.”

                Victoria looked at Erika and Angela. Erika raised an eyebrow.

                “Not ringing any bells?” Victoria scoffed. She pulled out a notebook from her draw, the same notebook that Erika found at Childress’ apartment, and tossed it to Erika.

                “Turn to the eight page.”

                Erika did so. The words were written in animal blood the pages made from old animal skins.

                “For a vessel of essence to be borne for a new tenant a foundation is built from the flesh of lessers.”

                Erika looked up.

                “Keep reading.”

                “…to achieve this a host must be constructed from the collection of corpses. Old, young, and inbetween, a harvest is needed.”

                “A vessel?” Angela asked.

                Erika’s face went white.

                “A vessel…for him. But that’s no possible. He’s gone, out of this plane.”

                “Looking for a way back and it looks like our Butcher is building him a new body.”

                Erika’s stomach dropped to her feet. The Enigma, the traveler, the shadow, the man, was seeking an entry to their plane. She, like many other Union members, learned of the Enigma from the earliest days of the academy but he was toted as a myth more than anything. An entity that the Order sought to bring to life along with their other machinations, calling upon the Old Ones chief among them. Though she had never heard of the Order actually attempt to bring him back. Even they, from what she learned, feared him. He was uncontrollable, a force beyond scope. A literal demon.

                “Why the hell…” Erika stammered. She couldn’t form words or thoughts. All that eclipsed her mind were the dreams she had of the man. The dark shadows, the red eyes, the lustful yearning, the fear.

                “We don’t know. Perhaps they are desperate. Like you said there are fewer acolytes in each region but they are powerful nonetheless. Maybe they are looking to regain some foothold and want him to help. We can’t let him come back.

                “He’s just a myth.” Angela said.

                “No…he’s not.” Erika answered.

                “She’s right.” Victoria said sitting back down at her desk.

                “We have to stop him.” Erika said passing the notebook back to Victoria. The tension in the room was washed away by the silence but a new feeling was taking its place. A fear from Erika.

                “So you’re saying that all those stories we heard in the academy were true?”

                “Not all but most.” Victoria said.

                “Bullshit.” Angela said sitting back.

                “Even if there is a five percent chance its true we have to stop him. We can’t have him roaming around it’ll be…”

                “Just like Angola. I know.”

                “No, not Angola.”

                Angela raised an eyebrow.

                Erika took a breath.

                “It’ll be like Ashley, Kansas.”

                Angela looked from Erika to Victoria, who nodded.

                “What do we need to do?” Angela asked, all levity leaving her voice.

                “I think the more important question is what do we do about these cops?” Erika asked.

                “Bring him in.” Victoria said.

                “What? Really?”

                “It seems to be our only choice. If you go out there and they arrest you then we’re screwed. It’ll take to long to get another tactical team out here and we don’t have the resources to sweep the city. The connections you have are all we have to go on. So best make use of them. Bring in the detective and we’ll set him straight.”

                “That’s unorthodox.” Erika said slipping back into her normal ‘by the books’ demeanor.

                “We’re out of options. Either we end this now or risk another Ashley.”

                “Alright. I’ll go out and bring him in. What if there are others?”

                “Make it look like an accident.”

                Angela nodded and left the office, Erika stayed behind to ask one more question.

                “What will be done with Childress?”

                “The same thing that happens to all of those we find from the Order.”

                The image of an electric chair, a shoot, and a trash compactor flashed before Erika’s eyes. Disposal was the only recourse. There was no cell for those who dabbled in the dark arts. Not even a grave.

                Erika nodded and followed her sister out letting the door close behind her. They had little time to waste, who knows how close the Butcher was to completing his shrine. How close he was to completing his ritual. How close they all were to death. Hopefully the cops wouldn’t be hard to find if they were indeed scouring the city for her and Angela. Their best bet would be to take the car she stole and start riding around. While that felt extremely reckless the alternative was even more so, call the cops and send them somewhere to find them. At least this way if they stumbled upon the wrong person they could simply flee and try to bump into the right one. If only they could coordinate with the undercover, since they were revealed to be in with the police. But that defeated the purpose of their station, to be undercover know one could know they were in the Union, not even other Union members, save their handler, and their region manager. Erika and Angela would never know the identity of an undercover even if they bumped into them on the street but the undercover would know them. A see and not be seen arrangement. They held all the keys but had no hands in which to act. They served their purpose well now Erika and Angela would have to serve theirs. They were the boots on the ground, hands in the dirt of the Union and they couldn’t fail again.

Riding around with Thorne was the longest amount of time Greed had ever spent not having to hear Thorne’s voice. Part of that came from the urgency of the situation, they had spent two days looking for the woman and Greed’s car with no luck, and the fact that Greed was giving off a strong vibe of “leave me alone don’t ask me questions”. Greed was known to be a rather cold person and shunned off the camaraderie that was usually shared by the other officers as the station, tending to work and spend his time alone. Even his oldest “friends” were distant never asking or pushing the issue. It was always, this is Greed and that’s that. Now though, with his pride and his face shattered, he felt less like his normal quiet self and more like a child scorned by his peers. The meeting for the APB was the most nerve-racking meeting he ever had to give. It wasn’t discussed in words but the thoughts of the men around him were plain to see. You had to be strong, no nonsense, straight shooting, and forceful to command respect. Greed took it a step farther by being stoic and less friendly. His abrasiveness was his shield against the others. Now that shield was broken. If he had been hurt by a man, things would have been a little rocky but a few drinks and a few laughs, by the others with him in attendance would smooth it over for them all. But having the man who was perceived as the strongest man, taken out by a woman, cut right to the core. Not just for Greed but for the others. They had to jettison him socially and assume a new strong man. He wouldn’t be able to survive the aftermath and the idea of leaving what he knew burned in his mind. All that was left now was the end of this ordeal, the rest would be dealt with in due time.

                “Any reports from the other cars?” Thorne said over the walkie-talkie. It was new installation that Greed hadn’t added to his own cruiser. He liked the aspect of being isolated out on the road, not having the damn thing buzzing and crackling. It was making his ears hurt.

                Another voice came across the static.

                “No sir. We’ll inform when we hear something.”

                “Roger that, over.” Thorne said clicking the receiver back on the dash.

                Thorne blew out a cloud of smoke from the cigarette he was nursing to spite Greed. Greed had dropped smoking after the act caused his face more pain. He was itching for a smoke and Thorne knew it.

                They kept riding the same blocks not saying a thing but Greed could tell Thorne wanted to speak. After the third pass by Greed’s house he finally spoke.

                “You don’t need to pass my own place Thorne. I’m not getting out of this car until we find that damn woman.”

                Thorne gave Greed a look then flicked his spent cig out the window.

                “I figured if we bumped into your wife walking out the door you’d be called home.”

                Greed clenched his jaw and slammed his fist on the glove box.

                “Stop talking about my wife!”

                “What the hell is your deal? You know I don’t mean anything ill by that.”

                “You don’t know anything, that’s the issue! Just keep the thought of her out of your head and your mouth.”

                “Fine, Jesus Christ, I don’t see how she can stand you. Especially now.”

                “You know what you sonofabitch, turn here.” Greed fumed pointing.

                Thorne cocked an eyebrow but obliged. Greed stared holes into the man not blinking. They followed the road Greed mentioned it led them to the lakeside bypass. They road in silence once again until Greed said when and where to turn. His directions had them parked in the middle of Roselawn Cemetery. Without a word Greed exited the car and stood before a tombstone. Thorne came up behind him slowly to see for himself. The years were worn but she had been dead a few years. Thorne read over the subscript:

                EVELYN MARYBETH GREED

                           Wife & Mother

                “Mother?” Thorne said looking to Greed. Greed then pointed to the tombstone next to his wife’s. Thorne read that one as well.

                LILLIAN EVELYN GREED

                        Precious Soul

                “She died in childbirth, and our daughter didn’t last the week.” Greed said coldly. Without another word he turned back to the car and slid back into the passenger seat. Pain be damned he was going to have a smoke now. Thorne took his time to come back but didn’t say another word about Greed’s wife. They rode on again in silence this time in solidarity for the dead.

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