The rain was now steadily pouring down on the crime scene where the body of Delilah's last victim was discovered. The victim's corpse was already packed up and taken to the morgue for further examination, but to try and save as much evidence as possible from the elements, the police have pitched a tent over the surrounding area.
Standing near the police tape holding an umbrella over his head, a detective stood away from the crime scene while he took a cigarette break. He was an older gentleman roughly in his mid-forties, but despite his age he still had a good physique and a handsome face that made him seem much younger than he actually was. He had dark brown hair, warm brown eyes with heavy dark circles underneath his bottom lids and tan skin.
He also wore a tan trench coat on top of a white button up dress shirt and black work pants with brown loafers. He was the leading detective for this case in his precinct's homicide department. As soon as he finished his cigarette, his junior partner ran up to him with an umbrella of his own and a stack of paperwork which he handed over to his superior.
"Detective Morante! I just came to report that we have reviewed the security camera footage from the local shops as well as the CCTV footage from the highway. So far, there has been no suspicious activity that we can find. We asked for the records tracing back to at least a month ago, but still, we found nothing." Said his younger partner.
Morante started flipping through the notes, reading all the important highlighted bits before he folded the stack of papers and placed it underneath his arm. "Well I didn't think we'd get much of a lead from that anyways. The body has been there for a long time, so it's going to be hard to determine just when it was dumped. But, I do have a suspicion about how the killer was able to drop off the body without being detected on camera."
He started walking back to the scene of the crime and scanned his eyes over the surrounding area with his partner in toe. After he found what he was looking for, he raised his hand and pointed west of the beach where a boat dock with shipping containers could be seen not too far from where they were standing.
"That place has long been abandoned so there wouldn't be any workers there to disturb the killer. And it's secluded and quiet enough for them to commit the murder without someone intervening. Not to mention it's really close to the dump sight. I think it's best we focus our attention there." He called over some cops and told them to expand their search over to that area, and afterwards he and his partner walked on foot to where the shipping containers were.
The area was rather large with multiple buildings that easily could have been used to commit the evil deed. But he caught a lucky break when he found a blood trail that had been neglected to be cleaned and hadn't been washed away by the rain yet. "Well well well, look what we have here." He said with a smug tone as he knelt down to examine the trail more.
They followed the trail to an abandoned warehouse near a peer where cargo ships used to come to deliver global goods. When they examined the door, they instantly noticed that the thick chain and lock that used to hold the door firmly closed, had been broken, proving that someone had been coming in and out of there.
As a precaution, Morante drew his gun and gestured for his partner to do the same before they breached. "On my signal, you understand? Okay, one… two… three!" He kicked the thin metal door open and walked in with his partner watching his back to make sure that no one else was in there to ambush them, but thankfully they were alone. Morante holstered his gun and sighed of relief. And when he turned around, he was met with a truly gruesome sight.
"Looks like my hunches were right. But in cases like this, sometimes I wish I could be wrong. Because this is some truly sick shit." He declared disgustingly as he looked in the middle of the room where a singular chair sat underneath a dim lamp and an unimaginable amount of blood pooled around the floor. But it wasn't just a pool of blood, there was also a lot of blood splatter which shows that the murder must have been extremely violent.
The blood flung in crazy patterns feet away from the chair which was telling the detective that the killer was not holding back even a little. Every strike they made was deliberate and messy, with the intent of trying to cause them harm as much as possible rather than finishing them off quickly.
His partner, who was named Peter Dunnam, couldn't handle witnessing the disturbing scene, let alone the thick smell of metal from the dried up blood that clung tight to the air and assaulted his nostrils. Without even a warning, Peter quickly ran outside as he threw up everything that was inside of his stomach.
"My god sir… What kind of sick bastard could do something like this to a person?" He said as he coughed and wiped away the spit and vomit that dangled from his chin. Morante wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead and took out his phone so that he could start taking pictures for evidence. Unlike his partner who was still new to the homicide department, he was a veteran and had been in this line of work for almost two decades.
He had seen a many number of gruesome murders, but this was one that he definitely wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. But he wasn't exactly surprised by their discovery. He had been chasing after the Loveless killer for the last year and a half and knew just what this murderer was capable of, but that didn't mean it made it any easier to see the aftermath in person.
"Who knows what goes through these fuckers minds. All I can tell you is that they're sick and deranged. I don't think even they know why they do this… It's unnatural. To want to hurt someone. But our job isn't to understand them. It's our job… no. It's our mission to capture them and finally lock them up so they can't do anything like this ever again!"
Morante's cool demeanor started to crack as he had a flashback in his mind of one particular case from his distant past that would haunt him forever. It was the one time he failed to incarcerate the murderer, and it bothered him even to this day that they were still somewhere out there, causing harm. But there was nothing he could do about that now.
Maybe that's why he worked tirelessly and never took any time off and that was the reason why his life also fell apart and he lost everything. To atone for his sins, he worked day and night to arrest every blood thirsty murderer out there, and that maybe one day, he would finally find the one that got away.
But enough about the past, he thought to himself. No matter what regrets he had, he had to remember to focus on the future.
"Peter, call up the forensics lab and tell them to send a team down here as soon as possible. It's obvious the killer didn't take any time to cover up their tracks so I'm sure we'll find some kind of clue here. This could be the big breakthrough in this mystery that we've been waiting for." He said before he started walking out of the warehouse, but before he could enter back out in the rain, his phone started to ring in his pocket.
He sighed due to his frustration when he looked at the collar ID. It was the chief of police, and if he was calling while he was in the middle of an investigation it could only mean that there was more work to be done. Which sucked for him because he was getting excited about calling it quits for the day and heading home for some well deserved rest.
He picked up the phone and answered with as much respect in his voice as he could possibly muster, but he wasn't going to lie, the sleep deprivation was starting to get to him.
"Detective Morante here. What can I do for you chief?" He said as he lit up a new cigarette. On the other end of the phone, his boss sat in his office chair as he flipped through the new report concerning the call they had received earlier in the night.
"Sorry to bother you detective, but I had no one else to call. You and your partner are the only people I have on duty right now. And you're a capable man so I know you can handle this quickly. But we got another call about a possible homicide. It's concerning a college soccer team and one of their members was found dead at the bottom of some stairs. The report is kind of flimsy because of the lack of witnesses, but that shouldn't be a problem for you, right?" He said with a sugary sweet tone.
Morante sighed again as he pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation. It was just what he expected, his boss was throwing another small fry case his way to keep him busy. It was known to the entire precinct that him and the chief had a shaky past and that's why he overloaded him with a heavy workflow.
"Understood chief. We just discovered the murder sight so we were going to let forensics take the lead for now anyways. Me and the kid will be on our way as soon as you shoot us the address." He said before he hung up, with his partner rejoining his side with a worried look on his face. "That was the chief right? What did he say?" He asked perplexed.
Him and Morante hadn't been working together for too long, but he did have a soft spot for his senior. Morante was without a doubt one of the best detectives in the entire department, but he also had a nasty reputation amongst their peers. He would be often volatile and obsessive and that's why no one ever wanted to work with him, but in Peter's eyes, all he saw was a hard working man he looked up too and had a strong sense of justice.
There was no person he idolized more than his partner and he always felt bad that he was always dealing with the chief's bullying. "Yeah. He was informing me about another job. A college student was found dead at the bottom of some stairs, but if you ask me, he probably just got drunk and took a nasty tumble. I don't keep up with sports but I did see a tweet about it. The soccer team for Cranston University in downtown ended up winning their home game.
"If I had to take a guess, they went out for some drinks and the idiot fell to his death. But that's just what my intuition is telling me. We should still go check it out regardless." He said as he walked outside and flung his cigarette away. The two of them then went back to their car and started driving away from the beach, following the GPS with the address that the chief had texted to him.
Back at the Korean Barbeque place, everyone was crying at the loss of Chris despite how much of a fool he was being earlier. He could be a pain in the ass and kind of a pretentious jerk, but he was their teammate nonetheless. Amos, who was the one who came and told everyone how he found Chris's body, was being consoled by his best friend as he sat down in a wooden stool and sobbed into his hands.
"I can't believe this happened! And the last thing between us was that stupid fight! If I hadn't gotten him so upset, Chris would still be… He would be!..." He bolstered out loudly while he continued to cry, selling his performance perfectly.
"Stop talking like that! It's not your fault dude! Chris was wasted, we all saw how he was acting tonight. Him dying was purely his fault, okay? So stop blaming yourself!" Bryce boasted as he continued to hug his inconsolable friend. Off to the sidelines, Lila carefully observed Amos as he played his role as the guilt filled friend. She was the only one that knew the truth about what actually happened tonight.
Of course, she would never say anything about it. After witnessing Amos savagely kick Chris down the stairs, she felt a twinge in her heart that she had never felt before. It wasn't her first time falling in love with somebody so quickly, but this time she knew that it was different. Her and Amos were kindred spirits, and because of this, she was going to protect his secret till the very end.
"I can't believe this is happening. We were all having so much fun until… Well, you know." Said Stacy with sorrowful eyes. She clung tightly to her roommate's arm and even though she wasn't crying like everyone else, she couldn't stop herself from trembling which Lila was quick to pick up on. Lila was just like Amos; she wasn't any better than he was.
She herself killed a handful of people with her own two hands, so the idea of death was not foreign to her, but to everyone else who was considered normal, it was something that was hard for them to deal with. She knew she couldn't cry for him and maybe that made her seem weird, but she knew why someone like Stacy, who didn't even know Chris before this night would be so shaken up by this whole mess.
It was okay to be upset about a total stranger dying after all. But she just couldn't relate. She didn't feel bad about him dying at all, which only brought some questions to her mind. How was Amos so easily able to cry like he was?
It was like he genuinely felt bad for the loss of his teammate even though they both knew that he was the one that murdered him. Did she even really know him? The Amos she saw playing during the game and the Amos she saw kick Chris down the stairs were totally different from each other. Just which one was the real him? She didn't know, but she wanted to find out.
Through the windows of the restaurant, everyone witnessed as red and blue lights started flashing from outside. The police had finally arrived. While still crying into his best friend's shoulder, Amos peaked up to see the colors flashing too and only for a moment did that icy cold look appear in his eyes again.
He had no doubt that his story would be believed by the authorities, but he needed to make sure that his performance was absolutely perfect. He was honest about finding the body because he knew that if he said he was a witness, then he would be marked off as a suspect since murderers never reported their own crimes.
He exited the embrace of Bryce's arms and wiped away the tears from his eyes at the same moment Morante and Peter walked into the restaurant.
"Hello everyone. My name is Detective Alphonse Morante, and this young man here is my partner Peter Dunnam. We received a call about someone passing away. And let me just say, I apologize in advance for your loss." He said as he bowed in respect, with Peter following his example. Bryce walked over to stand face to face with them and they stood back up straight before they proceeded with their investigation.
"Thanks for coming. But can I ask, why did they send a detective? It's not like he was murdered. It was just some stupid accident." Bryce said, showing off his hostility.
"Don't think too much about it. We only came here because that's standard procedure. We need to clear up all other possibilities before we decide what to do next. Whether this was an accident or a homicide, that is what we are here to figure out. Now then, we heard we have a witness? I would like to speak with the person who discovered the body." He said as he walked past Bryce, bumping shoulders with him. He hated young stallions like him with an attitude problem.
It's not like he came here to stir up trouble for them. In fact, he was here to do the opposite.
And it was because of him that his fowl mood for the night turned even more sour. Amos was still sat in his stool but he raised his hand to signal that he was the person that Morante was looking for. "It was me sir. I was the one that found him." He said between sniffles. Morante saw him and started to approach him, but stopped momentarily as he got a better look at him.
He swore that he had never seen this man before in his life, but there was something oddly familiar about him. He didn't know what it was about him that drew his attention, but his pale skin, black as night hair and piercing blue eyes ingrained themselves into his brain. But where did he see someone like that before?
"I see. Well then, I need to take your statement. May I ask for your name?" He said as he pulled out a notepad and pen from his coat pocket. "My name is Amos Kade. I am twenty two years old and I'm a student at Cranston University." He stated with a shaky voice. Morante started writing down everything he said, but there it was again. That familiar feeling. As soon as he said the name Amos it was like he had heard it before from somewhere.
It was a pretty unique name that he knew he wouldn't hear often, but that just confirmed to him that maybe it wasn't just his imagination and he really had met this young man before. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. As a detective, he had learned to follow his gut instinct. And right now, his gut was telling him that something wasn't quite right with the boy in front of him. But it was still too early to tell.
"I see. Okay then Mister Amos, I'm going to need a run down about what happened tonight. Can you start from the beginning please?" He said as the three of them took a seat at a table together so that they could collect his statement. Amos didn't leave out a single detail. He told them honestly about how they all came out there to get a couple of drinks and food after winning their soccer game and how Chris got the most drunk out of all of them.
And in his drunken fit, started yelling at him in front of everyone and caused a huge scene. Not long after that he went out to use the bathroom and to smoke a cigarette and only half way through his smoke did he see Chris's body at the bottom of the stairs, but of course he wasn't being completely honest with his story.
"Hmm, from the sound of it, it might have been an accident after all." Said Peter with his arms crossed as he nodded his head in approval. "It seems you were right with your hypothesis from earlier. It sounds like he just had way too much to drink, tripped and fell." But Morante didn't believe that one bit.
He was starting to realize why this was all starting to sound so familiar to him. Because this was a story that he had heard before. From Amos's first name to the similar cause of death with the narrative of it being an accident, it was too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Fifteen years ago back when he was only in the homicide department for five years, he had received a case just like this but it involved the death of a young seven year old boy who had drowned in a river while they were playing one day on his friend's father's estate. The only witness to the boy's drowning was his friend who was also a seven year old boy.
And as he looked at the man in front of him, he realized that him and the boy from his past looked exactly alike, but of course he was much older now. The boy from back then was also named Amos, and he had the same features with the black hair and pale skin, but his most prominent feature was his cold, emotionless blue gaze.
When he was questioning the boy, he instantly recognized that there was something different about him. For a child, he didn't act normal. He talked about his friend's death like it was no big deal and he said everything like it was a matter of fact and he didn't understand the concept of empathy.
Most kids should have been balling their eyes out and would have been an emotional wreck after discovering what death was for the first time, but not him. He didn't shed a single tear and that's what scared Morante the most about him. The fact that he was so young but didn't have even an ounce of remorse. He didn't smile or cry; he wasn't even angry. There was nothing inside of him almost like he was just an empty husk.
He knew that the boy named Amos had something to do with the death of his friend, and even when he tried to bring it up to his superiors, they had all brushed him aside and blamed the kid's actions on trauma. But he knew better. There was something evil about that child, because his gut was never wrong. And there was no mistaking that that same child who got away all those years ago was now right in front of him.
He had become a full grown man, and once again found himself in the center of a possible murder. But unlike his younger self, this Amos seemed capable of emotion. Either Morante was mistaken, or Amos had honed his skills and learned how to blend better into society. But there was a slight difference between him and the kid from his past, and he figured that maybe he could use that as a way to get some sort of reaction out of him to confirm his suspicions.
"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet Peter. Yes, that does seem to be the case right now but there are still things we haven't explored yet. For example, you said that you and him had a fight. Don't you find it kind of suspicious that you two had a disagreement and yet you were also the one to find his body? To me, it seems like a motive right there." He said as he scanned Amos's facial expressions, but he seemed unaffected by what he was implying. His friend Bryce however had suddenly appeared by his side, looking more angry than he was.
"What is this, some kind of interrogation?! If you're suggesting that Amos killed him then you're dead wrong! He would never do something like that! You don't know anything about him, so cut the crap! Amos is the best of us and a really great guy. If it weren't for him, I would have smashed in that punks face but he stopped me! Isn't that a motive too detective? Shouldn't you be pointing your finger at me too?" He said with a sharp glare at Morante.
"So before you start making dumb allegations, you better stop. You got all the answers to your questions. So hurry up and leave before we call a lawyer. If he's not under arrest then he doesn't need to talk to you anymore." And just like that, the rest of the soccer team started to surround him too, almost as if they were trying to put distance between their star player and the police.
Morante smirked before he clicked his pen and put it and the notepad back in his coat pocket. He must have built up quite a positive reputation for himself if his friend's were willing to stand up for him like that. Even if he wanted to arrest him, it would be difficult since they did have a point. From the sounds of it, they all had a reason to dislike Chris from the way they talked about his nasty attitude.
They mourned him, but it was clear that he wasn't in their highest regards. Not like how Amos was. "There's no need to be so hostile. We get the picture. We will continue our investigation, and when we make a break through or come up with a conclusion, we will contact you accordingly. Come Peter, it's about time we left."
He said as he stood up, but before they left, he walked around the table and stood next to Amos and leaned down so that he could whisper something in his ear. "Just between you and me, it's not nice to lie to the police. You said your last name was Kade, right? But I think you meant to say that you were a Mister… Cavendish?"
As soon as he heard that name, his innocent façade dropped momentarily as he shot him a nasty side eye and Morante immediately recognized that killer look. It was the same one he remembered all too well from the eyes of the child who ruined his life. The Amos from his past was actually named Amos Cavendish, not Amos Kade. That was the difference between him then and now.
It was a long shot and he would have been embarrassed if he was wrong, but he got the exact response that he was hoping for. After seeing that deadly stare, he stood back up with a complacent smirk across his lips. "Or maybe I'm wrong. Oh well. Don't mind me… I'll be speaking with you soon Mister Kade. You all have a good night." He said as they finally left.
With their backs turned to them now, Amos continued to glare daggers at them as he watched them leave. This was something that he didn't foresee coming. Nobody should be able to know his real name. His father made sure of that, so how in the hell did that detective know it? He knew that he didn't have any emotions, but here he was, finding himself becoming annoyed.
This pain in the ass detective was supposed to just show up and leave after hearing his story, but it has now come to his attention that he wasn't planning on leaving him alone anytime soon. Especially since he had some kind of connection to him.
"Man, fuck that guy. Don't worry about it buddy. We all know you didn't do anything wrong. The moods ruined anyways so let's all just go home for the night and sleep it off. We'll all feel better in the morning." Bryce said as he patted his best friend on the back and then walked over to Stacy, inviting her to stay the night with him instead of her going home while she was still upset.
After everything was finally settled, everyone started leaving to head back home for the night with Amos being the last one left and Lila who was stalking him from afar.
Amos was back at the smoking area as he took another long drag of his cigarette and tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. He stared up at the moonlit sky, his blue eyes almost looking like they were glowing in the pale light. Making them seem almost iridescent and otherworldly. He just couldn't stop thinking about that detective, and how he really didn't want to be chased around by some old fool who should have retired a long time ago.
But he wasn't just upset at the detective who arrogantly called him out like that. He was also upset with himself because of how careless he was. He tried so hard to maintain his perfect image, but he let one petty comment get to him. It's not like he really cared that he acted on his urges since he truly believed that the bastard deserved what he had coming to him. It was the fact that he chose to kill him in such a public location that was the real problem.
But it had been so long since he had taken someone's life that the minute somebody set him off, he just couldn't hold it in anymore. He wanted to hurt him so badly for trying to oppose him. "Damnit… This just became one giant shit show. I need to be more careful from here on out." He said with his eyes having that same killer look in them.
From afar, Lila watched with a loving gaze with a blush spread across her face. She thought he was handsome before, but when he had that look on his face, he was just that much more irresistible to her. She really wanted to say something to him, but now wasn't the right time. So she was going to do what she always does. Watch him and follow him until she was ready to confront him with her feelings.
Morante was behind the wheel driving so he could take Peter back home before he headed home himself. Peter gulped as he sat in the passenger seat and couldn't help but notice the misplaced and eerie looking grin on his partner's face.
"Uhm, what's got you so happy? I don't think I've ever seen you smile before." After he said that, Morante started with a low chuckle that quickly evolved into a full blown fit of laughter that only creeped out the young detective more.
"I finally found him! The kid that ruined my life! It was because of him and his father that I lost my chance of becoming chief of police after his rich daddy paid off the precinct and swept everything under the rug. But I never forgot… I know what that kid's capable of and now is my chance to put him behind bars where he belongs. I'm finally going to set everything right that went wrong in my life. And it all starts with finding out the truth about him."
There he goes again, Peter thought to himself. This was the exact reason why no one else in their department wanted to work with him. He always had a bad habit of obsessing over things and would refuse to let it go. He still didn't fully understand the situation and what set him off, but it must have been something big for him to start acting weird like this.
"Hey, don't do something that you'll regret. I don't know what's got you riled up. But don't repeat your past mistakes. If it has something to do with that Amos guy then you need to do things by the book otherwise you'll get in trouble again." He said as he looked at his partner with worried eyes.
But Morante just fanned his hand at him to dismiss his worries. "I'm not scared about getting in trouble. Because this time, I'm right. I know he's the one I've been looking for all this time. I'm going to reveal to everyone just what kind of guy he actually is. He was involved in a murder case a long time ago, but he got away and now the case has been closed. But I need to get it reopened again. And to do that, I need evidence. So I'm going to do what I always do best." He said as he tapped his finger on the steering wheel.
Peter sighed as he dragged a hand through his hair. There was no point in trying to talk some sense into him when he got like this. "Oh yeah? And what is it that you do best?" He could already tell that he regretted asking that question the minute it came out of his mouth. With that smirk still on his face, Morante looked at him with determination and mischief shining in his eyes.
"I'm going to stake him out. I'm going to follow him and figure out what his daily routine is like. And then hopefully, he'll make a mistake and I'm there to witness it and finally put that kid in cuffs!"
But that was easier said than done. It has been a little over a week since Chris was killed and Morante started following Amos around. He must have been trying to keep everything low key after Morante outed his secret, and he was starting to get frustrated because Amos hadn't done one suspicious thing in that entire time.
In fact, he was beginning to get bored following him around like he was. He did the same thing practically every day. He would wake up with the lights to his apartment turning on around five in the morning. He would then leave and take a quick jog around the block before heading back up to get ready to go to school. He would then leave his apartment to head to campus at seven in the morning.
After his classes were done at two in the afternoon, he would then leave to go to the on campus gym to work out before meeting up with his friends to attend soccer practice. He stayed there from four in the afternoon to seven before heading back home to no doubt do his schoolwork and then go to bed. It was the same thing every day and it was only on rare occasions when he would go out to hang with his friends. At this rate, he wasn't going to get any evidence!
"Geez, for a murderer, he's pretty cookie cutter… He doesn't bring any women home with him, he wakes up early and goes to bed early too, he has a healthy lifestyle and he's apparently popular and a good student." He started grumbling to himself while munching on slice of pizza he had bought from a pizzeria down the street.
He wasn't going anywhere from just watching Amos's actions outside during his everyday life. The evidence he needed was what he was doing and what he had lying around inside his home. For someone as clean recorded as Amos, Morante knew that he probably still had a skeleton in his closet somewhere. All he needed to do was take a quick peek inside.
He knew his everyday schedule from when he left to when he came back and knew the right times when the place would be unoccupied. All he needed was a clue… Anything if it meant him getting one step closer to revealing his true nature and finally arresting him. He looked at his watch and saw that Amos wouldn't be coming back to his apartment for another two hours since he was still at soccer practice.
If he was going to do it, then now would be the right time. He promised Peter that he wasn't going to do anything too reckless, but his patience was starting to wear thin. Besides, everything would be alright if he made it quick and was in and out before the brat came home. So what could possibly go wrong?
He pulled his car to the side parking lot of the apartment building Amos stayed at before stepping out and heading inside. Amos lived on the third floor of the five floored building in flat 10A. He knew this because when Amos gave his statement, he had no choice but to put down his address if they ever needed to make a house call.
He entered the elevator and made it to Amos's floor and stood in front of his apartment; pulling out a paperclip from his wallet which he was going to use to open the door. He tried to turn the doorknob and not to his surprise, it was locked. So he straightened out the paperclip and jimmied in into the small hole on the handle, jiggling it around until he heard a click.
"Hah! Bingo, we're in… That was easy enough." He slowly started opening the door and entered the small apartment, failing to notice the small piece of folded bright yellow paper Amos had jammed into the door frame to alert him of an intruder entering his home. He looked around and so far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
It was your regular run of the mill bachelor pad, albeit his room was much cleaner than the other kid's rooms Morante used to know back when he was in college himself. It was kind of weird how clean and neat his home was. Everything had a place and was meticulous and spotless. He had sticky notes with simple things like when his next assignments were due, to doctor's appointments and test exam dates. He even had a calendar with markings all over it which showed how he planned his days out.
Everything Amos does in his life was well thought out, like he never did anything on a whim. He was controlling, and preferred things to be just the way he liked them. It was a clear sign of someone that had control problems. But having a clean house was not enough to prosecute someone with murder.
"If I didn't know he was a killer, I'd have hired this kid to clean up my own place. It's freaking crazy how nice it looks in here. But that's besides the point. I know he's hiding something in here… But where do I start looking?" He said to himself as he did a quick sweep of the living room but found nothing of importance. He then went to his kitchen and started shuffling through his cabinets hoping to find anything from an assortment of poisons or to the extreme, some severed body parts. But again, he was left with nothing.
"Damnit, I hope I didn't sneak in here just to leave empty handed. This is starting to become tiresome. He has to have left something in here, anything!" He said as he groaned loudly, but stopped talking when he heard a loud thump coming from Amos's bedroom. What the hell was that? He asked to himself.
There should be no one else in the apartment so what could be making all that sound? He walked over to the bedroom and put a hand over his holstered gun, just in case he needed to draw it. He cautiously started opening the door, with it creaking loudly as he did so. When he opened the door, he found the room to be empty but the window for some reason was wide open. He was starting to have a bad feeling.
Was the noise he heard earlier the sound of the window opening? He walked in and started doing a thorough sweep but seemed like no one else was inside. So what the hell was going on? "I don't like this atmosphere… Maybe I should just hurry up and leave. If I need too, I'll just come back a later time-"
He felt his blood run cold when he walked back into the living room and heard footsteps coming from outside the apartment and what sounded to be like Amos's voice. Could things get any worse?! The brat wasn't supposed to be coming home for another hour!
Considering how strict he was with his routine, he just had to choose to break in on the one day that Amos decided to go off script. He needed to hurry up and find a place to hide before he got caught! Outside the apartment, Amos stood in front of his door as he searched inside his backpack looking for his house keys while he talked on the phone with Bryce.
"Stop worrying about me already. I'm fine, really. I just wanted to leave practice a little early cause I was feeling a bit tired. I think the stress of the investigation is starting to get to me. But I should be fine by tomorrow." He said before he laughed, no doubt laughing to something funny that Bryce had said to him on the phone. But he stopped laughing however when he looked down at the ground and saw that yellow piece of paper he wedged into the door frame, no longer being in the place he had left it.
That cold, blank look took its place back in his eyes and his smile faltered.
"Hey. I'll call you later. Something just came up." He didn't even bother saying goodbye before he abruptly hung up the phone on his best friend. He twisted the door handle open and saw that it was unlocked which he remembered locking before he left for the day. "It seems I have a dog sniffing its nose around in places it shouldn't be in…" He growled lowly to himself.
He pulled the door open and slowly walked inside, taking note of how all the lights in his apartment were still off and everything was as it should be. But he was no fool, someone was in here considering they didn't bother to lock the door behind them, which could only mean one of two things. They were careless, or the intruder was still here.
He closed the door and locked it behind him before he strolled over to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife he could find.
Only moments before Amos came back, Morante barely had any time left to find a place to hide. It wasn't good by any means a good hiding place as he chose to conceal himself inside the kitchen's walk in pantry, but he was hoping that Amos would overlook him and when the opportunity presented itself, he could make a quick escape.
If he did get caught, he had already thought up the story that he was going to tell. He was just going to say that he came for a house call and had already found the door open and that he only went inside in case there was an intruder. Or something along those lines.
He knew the story was full of holes and this whole idea of breaking in was just one giant dumb decision. But it was too late to turn back now. It was already the worse case scenario and he just had to pray that Amos would believe him.
Amos scanned around his dark apartment before he flipped the light switch on, illuminating the tiny space. He twirled the knife around in his hand and started whistling as he glided around his living room. "I know you're in here. You underestimated me… Did you really think I didn't take any precautions in case someone broke inside my home? I don't know who's in here, but I think I have a guess. So just come out and we can talk about it like adults."
He pulled the curtains open to his balcony and aggressively swung the sliding door open with his knife gripped tightly in his hand, but no one was there. "I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to hide in such an obvious place like this… But oh well. It was worth a try." He closed the door and walked back inside his apartment, giving it another look around.
He then smirked and started walking around the kitchen while Morante watched him through the cracks of the pantry door with sweat dripping down from his forehead. Morante didn't know why he was so scared of this kid, but the aura the college student was exerting began to make him lose his edge.
He was a trained police officer for Christ's sake! But the way Amos spoke, to the way he eagerly searched for the detective like a child hunting for eggs during Easter started to make Morante feel incredibly on edge. Amos was only a few feet away from him, rummaging through his drawers with his back turned to the pantry. Spit started welling up inside Morante's mouth knowing that that psycho was just steps away, and he gulped with anticipation.
Almost as if he heard him gulp, Amos turned quickly on his heels with his eyes widened and that murderous intent burning with a passion as he ran over to the pantry and yanked it open with his knife raised. "I found you." He declared coldly. Before Morante could even speak to begin explaining himself, Amos swung his knife at him in a strong downward motion, with Morante barely having any time to dodge as he received a large gash across his cheek which started to bleed with blood dripping down the left side of his face.
"Attacking an office is illegal I'll have you know!" Morante said in a joke like manor, but even though he was trying to deescalate the situation playfully from the outside, on the inside, he was panicking. He knew he was going to get in trouble, but he didn't think he was going to be met with this level of retaliation.
Amos smirked before he started swinging his knife with all the strength he had. "And breaking into someone's home is just as illegal… You're an intruder. I'm just defending myself. I'm not doing anything wrong."
Self defense my ass, the detective mentally screamed to himself. This nut case wasn't just trying to protect himself! The psycho was trying to kill him!
So this was that brats true colors; Amos wasn't the angel he tried to make himself out to be. He was a blood thirsty murderer! Morante could tell from how he swung that blade. There was no hesitation at all, and if he were to get hit with that knife, he would have definitely received fatal wounds.
Morante boasted out a battle cry before he tackled Amos to the ground and Amos groaned as his back slammed into the hardwood floor. "I knew there was something wrong with you! You might have everyone else fooled, but not me you crazy son of a bitch!" He said as he tried to restrain Amos's arms, but the young man was much stronger than he looked.
Amos smirked again as he swiveled the knife around that he still held in his hand to the side of his body and plunged it deep into Morante's thigh, who let out a scream. With his attention drawn away from him, Amos was able to kick him off of him and stood up while the detective clutched his bleeding wound.
"You're being too hasty detective. I think I remember you now. You must be the guy who tried so hard to fight against my father when he paid off your little precinct, right? You mean to tell me you still hold a grudge over me after all these years? You're pathetic… Truly." Amos said with a dark chuckle, but Morante wasn't amused in the slightest.
He went to pull out his gun, but Amos saw what he was trying to do and kicked the blade deeper into his leg, causing the older man to scream out in agony and cry. "Now now. There's no need for all of that." He said as he knelt down and grabbed the gun away from him. "You're a god damn monster…" Amos smirked and then flashed him a mocking smile.
"Would a monster plan to let you leave alive?" After hearing that, Morante stopped crying as he looked up at him with confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? You're not going to kill me?" Amos placed a finger up to his chin as he thought. "You think I would, but no, not this time. I don't need more cops on my ass if the one in charge of my case were to suddenly go missing."
"So let's just call it even. You broke the law by coming into my home, and I broke the law by causing you harm. We both have something to lose don't you think? So I'm willing to just let you go for now. But…" He said as he cocked the detective's gun and put the barrel straight against Morante's forehead.
"If I catch you invading my space again, I won't be so forgiving next time. So come on then, up you go!" He said as he hoisted him up and wrapped his arm around his shoulder before he started helping the detective hovel to the front door where he then roughly tossed him outside after making sure that the hallway clear.
"You better head on home before you start bleeding to death. Oh, and if you even think about trying to report this incident, I'll show the police my home security footage of how you broke into my apartment. Nod if you understand." He said as he crouched down to eye level with the older man. Morante glared at him but knew that he had been defeated.
It was humiliating, but he should count his stars that he was being allowed to leave with his life. He nodded his head with some slight hesitation, but he received a smile from Amos who tossed him his gun into his lap. "Great. Now, have a good night… Detective." He said eerily before he yanked his knife out of the detectives leg, causing him to scream out in agony one more time before he closed the door.
While sitting in the hallway, all the adrenaline finally started to leave his body and the fear started to sink in. He gripped his heart as a panic attack started to settle in after remembering that terrifying, deadly stare. It was crazy how he was so easily overpowered by a man who was half his age and size.
He looked down at his hands which were now covered in his own blood and they wouldn't stop shaking. "Fuck… fuck… fuck fuck FUCK!" He screamed out. That was such a close call… He was nothing more than a pawn in that freak's game. He then ran his hand over his throat which was dripping with blood, not realizing that there was a gash going right across his throat.
During their tussle, he must not have noticed how Amos was able to get a good attack on him like that. If it was any deeper, he would have died for sure. "He was really trying to kill me… Peter was right. I should have just done this the right way…"
He pulled out his phone and started to call up his partner who instantly picked up. "Hey, it's me… I'm in some pretty bad shape. I can't go to the hospital… So, just come meet me at my place and bring the necessary stuff. Don't ask me any questions. Just do what you're told… Please…" He said ashamed before he hung up and started hopping back to the elevators so that he could leave and get some treatment.
Inside the apartment, Amos stood towards the door with a smile spread across his face. The only time he ever felt anything was when he was in the mood to kill. It was exhilarating knowing how he could so easily dominate someone like that and put them in their place. He loved watching the look of fear on that detective's face.
It was almost like a work of art seeing their blood and hearing his victim's screams. There was no better feeling in the world to him than when he was ridding the world of scum. He wasn't like everyone else, he thought to himself. He was better than them. In the face of humanity, Amos considered himself to be closer to what was a god.
That was what the real Amos Kade was like. He wasn't the fun loving, happy jock that was nice to everyone purely out of the kindness of his heart. The truth was, he was a serial killer with no connection to human emotion. His biggest goal in life was to obtain power and have everyone beneath his feet one day. While he was lost in thought, he failed to notice the extra presence behind him.
It wasn't until he heard a feminine giggle did he decide to snap back reality and he turned his head over his shoulder to flash the new intruder a cold glare. Behind him, Lila, who had an aroused look on her face, breathed huskily as she stared at the man she loved with a lust filled gaze. "Amos… I love you." She said before she took out a knife of her own.