Lucifer, remained oblivious to Raven's stunned expression as he examined the victim, his gaze fixed on the ancient torture device used against her. Lucifer's face twisted with disgust at the sight of the "Heretic Fork" - a tool he had not encountered since the Dark Ages. "I haven't seen such a device in ages," he remarked with a forced chuckle, ever conscious of maintaining his detached demeanor to avoid emotional entanglement in the case.
Lucifer's practiced mask slipped, however, when he noticed Raven recoil and sink back in shock. Given her usual tenacity in investigating every detail, her uncharacteristic reaction suggested she recognized the victim. Lucifer realized in that moment that this case had struck a personal chord with Raven in a way he had not anticipated.
Lucifer rushed to block Raven's line of sight, as if instinctively trying to shield her from seeing more of this side of the world. He didn't fully understand his own urge to protect her from that sight. Raven shook her head, her glassy eyes remaining vacant as she walked around the room, completely shut off from the world. In that moment, she felt a sense of determination and anger rather than excitement.
The lieutenant explained, flipping through his notepad, "Marline Jade, a 28-year-old who worked at a nearby restaurant and volunteered at homeless shelters on weekends, had been missing for over 3 days." The lieutenant said.
Lucifer watched Raven's every move with a worried expression, noticing a slight stutter in her normally confident movements as she led him away from the victim's body. "And you didn't think to warn me before I entered the room?" Raven said, her tone laced with uncharacteristic anger and sarcasm. This was a stark contrast to Raven's typical calm and reserved demeanor, which the lieutenant had grown accustomed to over the years they had worked together. For the first time, Raven was addressing the lieutenant with such an agitated tone instead of annoyance.
Rendered speechless, the lieutenant stood in shock, despite his previous barrage of hateful remarks directed at Raven. Though she was often a thorn in his side, unwilling to follow orders, he didn't truly hate her. In fact, the lieutenant had not intended to call Raven a "freak" out of malice, but rather because her exceptional intellect surpassed that of the average prodigy.
Raven's voice was barely audible as she spoke, "There were no visible signs of physical struggle, as she exhibited no bruising, and her nails showed no signs of having been used to fight back." Her tone grew gruff as she continued, "Is that a cross in her stomach?" Lucifer tilted his head, studying the women. He could tell this case had deeply affected Raven, who seemed isolated from it. Lucifer knew Raven was determined to catch the monster responsible, but he was more concerned about how she felt towards this particular victim. Did the victim have a connection to Raven? And if so, why had the murderer targeted one of Raven's subordinates?
As Raven examined the body and the room, a growing list of questions filled Lucifer's mind. Raven spoke bluntly, her expression neutral: "The victim was sedated on multiple occasions, with needle marks visible on her neck and arms." The lieutenant continued, reading from his notes: "She has no criminal history and does not attend church, but did struggle with substance abuse issues, having undergone rehab approximately four times in the past three years."
Raven knew that she was the reason Marlene had gone to rehab.
"Get out." Raven said coldly.
The lieutenant growled, feeling disrespected by Raven's demands. "Who are you to make such requests?" he said, his tone laced with irritation.
Raven responded calmly, "Do I need to make a call? I'm sure your wife would love to know what you do when she's not home." This seemed out of character for the usually patient detective. The lieutenant rolled his eyes and stormed out of the room, answering a phone call and begrudgingly following Raven's orders by leaving the room.
Lucifer started with a gentle tone, his focus solely on Raven's well-being, not a single joke or out-of-place remark. "Detective?" he asked.
Raven responded wearily, "You too," lacking the energy to explain further. She needed to be alone to find more clues. This was no simple case.
"Detective?" Lucifer said in confusion as Raven approached him. Without a word, she firmly pushed him out of the room. "Stay here," she commanded coldly, locking the door behind him to ensure she would not be interrupted until she had finished her task.Raven closed her eyes, blocking out the officer's chatter and Lucifer's cries to be let into the room.
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It was as if a metronome's pendulum was flashing a bright white light across her vision. Before her eyes, the crime scene began to reverse. With each flash, Marline was taken down from the wooden cross, which was then neatly propped against the far wall. Marline's lifeless body lay on the floor, the zip ties that had bound her hands in a praying position now gone from her wrists and ankles.
The heretic's fork lay on the floor beside the wooden cross, Marline's body stretched bleeding out in a tarp. On another tarp were various of tools to open a ribcage such as; an electric oscillating saw, hand saw, rib shears, bread knife, bone scissors, cartilage knife, or large bladed scalpel, a blue sharpie, embalming fluid, hair dye, nail polish remover, and cotton swabs. Raven imagines a large crooked black shadow figure as the unsub, perfectly crafting the unsub steps in Marline's death.
At that moment, time seemed to stand still for Raven as she started piecing together how the unsub had orchestrated this gruesome scene.
The crooked shadow drained most of Marline's blood onto a tarp just days before the crime scene was discovered. The shadow had drugged her, rendering Marline completely paralyzed and unable to scream or move. To ensure her skin wouldn't rot, the shadow replaced Marline's blood with embalming fluid - formaldehyde-based chemicals - through her arteries as she bleed out.
Raven witnessed Marline's pained, drugged state, which filled them with a deep sadness. However, Raven pushed on, determined to uncover the unsub's twisted plans for Marline.
As Marline became pale she slowly succumbed to her untimely demise, the crooked shadow plugged the wounds with deer velvet to keep them flushed and tidy, without the need for medical tools. He then meticulously cleaned Marline's body of blood, vomit, urine, and feces. Using a blue sharpie, the unsub drew a perfect outline of a wooden cross across Marline's nude chest. He then carefully carved out that outline with a scalpel, the perfect size for a bone saw to cut through her ribcage. Finally, the shadow removed Marline's heart and placed it on the tarp as a twisted trophy.
Raven felt like she was going to vomit. While she could handle this with a stranger, the thought of it happening in front of someone she knew personally made her uneasy. Raven coughed to compose herself as she continued.
The crooked shadow then grabbed the wooden cross and pushed the top through Marline's chest, plugging the hole with the wood. The shadow sat Marline forward so the bottom of the cross would hold her upright, placing her in a kneeling position as though she was preying.
Next, the shadow used zip ties to secure Marline's hands over the horizontal portion of the cross, restraining her hands and ankles to keep her in a praying position. The shadow kept her elbows bent at a 90-degree angle to conceal her chest while positioning her wrists over the horizontal beam to maintain her posture during the prayer. The shadow then positioned a heretic form just under Marline's collarbone and submentum, pulling the straps tightly to ensure her head would remain facing out the window.
Lastly, the crooked shadow then held the golden Rolex, gently and neatly, placing the golden band on Marline's wrist before he cleaned up the room to perfection.
The crooked shadow then stood ahead of Raven as though knowing who she was, when Raven clearly didn't know who this Crooked shadow was.
"̶̷̛̪̗̙̦̘̭̹̼̪͇̯͎̗̻͔̬̠̳̗̳̥̭̺͒́ͣ͊̌̒ͬ͗͐ͩ͋̓̏̒̒̅ͪͣ͂͌̕Ḩ̵̧̳̫̞̼͆ͫ̄̀ͪ̀́̑̽ͦͯͬͨ́͟͢è̡̦͓̳̖ͨ͒̓͌͝ḽ̡̦͇̘͓͕̱̫̉̔ͦ̓ͧ̾̇͟l̸̷̖̣͍̹̖͕͔̔͗ͫ͒ͮͣơ̷̟̭̠͚̺̹̻͕̂ͣͩͮͬ̀͐́̋ͧͭ Ơ̶̷̸̡̞̙͚̲̝̦͔̭̝̳͔͙̼͓̑̽ͪ̔ͯ̅̋̽̏ͫ͌͛̃ͧͥ̇̍̌ͣ͐̿ͫ̆͢͜͡ĺ̽̄ͧ_͔̘̝̾̃́͠͡_̡̨͇̟̦̬̖̱̰̖͔̤̹̔̈̊̄̿̾ͣͯ͐̈́̓͒͌̚͝d̙̃̉ͣ́̈̚͜ F̢͍͕͂̈́̉_ͤ̾ͩ̓̔̕͠͡_̨̬̙̃̈͆́͠ŗ̵̸̨̨̛̠̼̙̘̥̬̥͔̥̠̫̙̳̻̱̟͇̾̎ͨ̀̈́ͭ́̎͂ͯ̊̋ͪ̆ͧ͋ͤ̕͢͜͢͠ĩ̷̢̛̛̳̠̦̗̼͍͖̤͉̟̫̣̮̪͈̭͓̩̹̉̎̈ͫ̍ͯ̎ͣ̍ͩ͌ͥ͛̅̀͛̚͜͜͜͝͝e̷̢̛̪̹͈̻̞̲͓̲̰ͧ͂͊ͪ̊ͪ̅̇ͩ̓ͩͯ̃ͯͤ̌̊ͦ̚͢͞͠͝͝ͅn͎ͯ͟ḍ̸̥̻̖̆̑̚͢.̢̬͇̰̦̲͕͂̾́̒̇ͦͩͬͩ͘͢͢͝ͅ"̙̺̖͙̖͎͑͗ͤ́̒ͬ̅̉ͪ̈́́̿̅̏͂͜͡͝
The crooked shadow's voice sounded distorted as if it were a cacophony of voices - those of a child, a woman, and a man - all clashing together to create a distorted, static-like effect.
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Raven's cheeks were stained with tears as she opened her eyes. She rushed to unlock the master bedroom door and fled the crime scene, her features devoid of emotion. Her glassy eyes and pale skin betrayed the sickness she felt from watching the events unfold. Desperate to escape, Raven pushed past Lucifer and the lieutenant, then hid behind Lucifer's 1962 Tuxedo Black Chevrolet Corvette. There, she sat on the dirt, hugging her legs tightly to her body, seeking a sense of security.
Raven's phone buzzed with a notification from the lieutenant. She quickly pulled out her device to read the incoming text message.