"Six people! Complete strangers to each other a that. At the same compound? How will we even go about finding them before this psycho?".
I had suggested we as the law, offer refuge for the potential victims listed on the serial killer's profile. I felt it was our civil duty as police to protect those who would soon be affected.
I suppose the lieutenant had a valid point though; how would we hope find six people who are placed far apart from one another? All of this seemed hard to accomplish when taken into consideration, but it wasn't to be labelled 'impossible'.
After careful analysis of our present issue, I came to a conclusion:
"How about we sent a group of six men, each one of them to retrieve one of our potentials. That way, we could cover more ground and get the job done much quicker."
I had already compiled a list of the six officers we would send.
"Ok... But how do we find them? We only know their names and not their locations".
"Aha! Already got that part figured out, Sir. See, I was scouting the socials as usual last night, and as I had anticipated, the soon-to-be victims were trending like crazy".
God, I love social media. I mean, yes, it is a force that could lead to devastating consequences if not handled properly, but in the hands of someone as skilled as I was, it was a nexus at the center of piles of useful information.
"You see sir, numerous profiles on the web have started a trending movement, which in turn allowed me to accurately pin-point the location of the victims".
As soon as we got the court order to proceed with the witness protection initiative, we immediately deployed each of the six men to their stations to retrieve the victims.
At this point, the internet had began making memes and jokes out of a very delicate situation. The web was invented to get people closer to their loved ones, but it was reduced to a ring of virtual assault and a safe haven for hypocrites and bullies.
Out of the six potential victims, there was one who seemed rather calm and relaxed about this whole situation. One Carol Unthers, who went by the username "c.unt_hers" on Twitter. She had a very large following and was your usual social media troll. She made a number of posts and comments about the whole matter, even went as far as letting the killer know that she wasn't at all scared, and that she dares him to try.
I had to admit, that was pretty bold of her.
I personally asked Gary to be the one who would retrieve this fellow. I believed only he had the necessary skills to successfully convince Ms. Unthers to be brought to a safehouse. She seemed like the kind of person who would require a lot of persuading, and who better than the chief negotiator at our station?
Gary and the other left as a unit, but would eventually part ways as they were searching for people who lived in different parts of the country.
Moving on, I went passed the Narrow Times, a the very same news agency that was approached by the killer. I had made an appointment with the chief editor, hoping we could discuss the case.
"Good afternoon Mr. Walkers".
"Yes, good afternoon. I assume you're the one who requested this meeting?".
"Yes sir. I was hoping we as the police would work hand-in-hand with you guys to successfully apprehend this vicious killer".
"I understand, Mr... ?".
"You can call me Jules".
"Yes, Jules. As much as I and my staff would love to aid the police, we can't because we run a newspaper and a news broadcast, not an investigation".
"Yes Mr. Walkers, I only came here to ask you to redirect any messages you get from the killer to us at the station before publishing and broadcasting it. We would like to avert a panic as much as we can sir. Respectfully".
"How about I think about it, then I'll get back to you, yeah?".
"Alright, I'll expect to hear from you".
"Oh, and by the way, are you sure we haven't met before?"
"No, why?".
"I don't know. Just that your voice sounds vaguely familiar.".
"I'm pretty sure this is our first meeting.".
I couldn't really say the meeting went well, but it did not go as bad as I had initially anticipated.
I received a call from Gary, telling all of the guys were coming back. They were headed to the safehouse.
"Are you sure you weren't followed?".
"Relax Jules, I'm no freakin' amateur".
"Hey man, you can never be too sure, but you know trust your judgement. Later!".
I decided not to rush to the station. Usually this would be because I just needed some alone time, but this time it was because of what Mr. Walkers said.
That was rather strange. At first I thought he was just joking around, but the kind of person he was? I don't think he ever cracks any jokes. I wonder why he got the impression that we had met before.
I was so deep in thought that by the time I got out of my head, I had already arrived at the station. The whole trip felt short, but as I peeped at the time, I had lost way more time than I thought.
I headed to my office. As I got to the corridor that leads to my office door, I caught Charlie trying to put one of his pranks into motion.
"Son of a - ..."
I flew at him with a fist across the face. I was really not in the mood for one of Charlie's stupid games accompanied by his stupid voice as he described his 'brilliant' pranks.
A group of officers came to his rescue and stopped the fight. But I realized it wasn't really that much of a fight as I was the only one throwing punches.
Worse, it turned out Charlie wasn't at all up to his usual tricks. He was actually delivering a parcel I got from Gary.
The rules of the safehouse urge anyone there to not use phones or any gadgets, so they would only sent messages via mail. Gary had sent one, letting me know that they had successfully arrived at the safehouse.
I was called to the lieutenant's office as soon as the fight was put to a halt.
"I'm sorry to say this Jules, but I think you should go home for the rest of the day and rest. I shall not tolerate such demeanor from someone of your caliber.".
Those words from the lieutenant cut deeper than any knife I've ever seen at a crime scene.
On my way home, I was called by Mr. Walkers to a press conference. I then called Lieutenant Davis and he gave me the go ahead.
At the conference, I kept my statement short and to the point.
"... and if anyone hears or sees something, anything, don't ever hesitate to give us a call".
I went home immediately after and logged in to my socials. I saw various posts and tweets about my statement, mostly being positive statements.
Naturally, night called, and sleep was the only answer.
[italics]
It was a dark night, hearing screams of mothers. Mothers crying for their dearly departed children. Children who had been brutally murdered by the careless acts of the half-asleep people on social media, who were blinded by likes and comments from their followers. It was blurry for a good five minutes, I then closed my eyes, hoping to see clearly when I open my eyes. I did. I saw, ever so clear: Two groups, separated by a road that seemed to lead to the hellish dimension. A hell unlike any other. One of the groups was of six able-bodied individuals under the youth category, the other group, was, wait... It was, it was the victims of the serial killer, dead and covered in blood. But one of them, standing, with a light shining on her, yes, a she. Who later managed to utter a few words: "You are not too late!".
I woke up, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, wondering what it all meant. I eventually came to the conclusion, that we may have been played. The serial killer never intended to kill those six people. It was just a clever diversion to keep our attention focused on them while he went after the real target! A target I must save, before it's too late...