"December 10th, 2032
Today, we witnessed something incredible.
Patient 0003 who was in the earliest of phase three when he was brought in three months ago, entered another stage of transformation, the fourth phase .
Amidst a routine check-up, the patient's eyes suddenly turned a vibrant black. His pupil expended covering the irises and sclera of the eye.
Then an abnormal voice talked to us.
It introduced itself as the Specter residing in patient 0003's body.
Perhaps because the Specter had already observed and learned the language through its host, we were able to communicate with it and obtain priceless information .
Of course, we can't ascertain the credibility of its statements, whether it was the truth or misleading lies , it was us researchers to confirm that , here is what it told us :
They are beings that existed even before the humans. It was their earth , their homes. Something apparently occurred to their race which put them in a weakened state.
Through the years as humans appeared, the Specters figured out that the only way to restore their strength was to enter the human body and feed from it. The creature was vague about this part , but us scientists had already our own guesses. We believe that the Specters feed from human's emotions, the negative emotions or maybe from the human's mental breakdown and madness which may explain why the Specters push their hosts into committing awful crimes.
Unfortunately, the time we had with the Specter was short, apparently, the Specter can only reveal itself in a certain period of time , 7 minutes, before the host take back the control .
Dr.Moon , Journal of the unknown
Page 3
To be continued …."
After finishing her report, Chief O'Hanly received a phone call.
A call from the Astral Union headquarters and the caller was no other than her direct superior Captain Lark Xunder .
"Good morning , sir"
"Oh, It's not a so good morning , Chief O'Hanly" The voice on the other end sighed " I just received the reports on case R0345 , yesterday incident can't be overlooked , the public is alarmed , the mayor, pressured by the victims' parents , keep pestering and harassing the local police officers to find the murderer , and even worse, rumours spread about the ineptitude of the police and its inability to catch criminals"
Captain Lark Xunder's voice turned grave as he added "The public is fed up , twenty high schoolers were brutally butchered in the middle of the city under the nose of our Order , if we don't do anything sooner or later , chaos and riots would arise , so I called expecting some good news from you , I heard that there were a survivor this time , How was it ? You must have identified the Slaughterer by now"
Hearing the last sentence, Chief O'Hanly's expression hardened as she responded regretfully "Sir, I'm afraid that no much progress has been made on the case"
"What? How come?"
"Collins interrogated the survivor, but his memories of the Slaughterer weren't clear, we couldn't get anything new besides the slaughterer's stature and gait"
"This is inacceptable!" The voice from the other side grew angrier and louder "Did I overestimate your capabilities, O'Hanley ? You have been in charge of this case for two years and yet you have only barely crossed the starting line"
"I'm sorry, Sir…" Chief O'Hanly didn't know what to say.
This case have been a thorn in her side . She was once a rising officer with a promising future. If it's not for the Slaughter's case, she would have long ago been promoted and sent back to the headquarters.
Yet , here she is, still stuck with the same case for over two years.
Chief O'Hanly used all the resources in her hands to solve the case .She even managed to transfer a diamond grade detective from the main office to Xia city just to catch that Slaughter .
Yet , the man was like a ghost. He just appears in seemingly random places and disappears into thin air as soon as he finished his massacre .
No matter where they looked, they couldn't find a single clue on his identity and the place he stayed in.
No evidences, no witnesses, absolutely nothing.
The case file was just filled with information on the victims and nothing on the perpetrator.
"What the use of being sorry now ? Things have escalated to this , your apology won't solve the situation , the public won't be satisfied with just an apology , the citizen are afraid and the rumours just kept adding fuel to the fire , the public needs a culprit to punish and direct their hatred to , if we don't offer the Slaughterer to them , god knows what they may do , have I been understood, O'Hanly?"
"Understood, sir , I will find new leads and keep you updated "
The voice sighed "I'll give you two weeks, I'll try to stall things for two weeks ,if the Slaughterer isn't behind bars by then , the case will be sent to the headquarters and assigned to a more capable team"
"Understood , thank you sir"
At that , Captain Xunder hang up but O'Hanly didn't immediately put down the phone, she was deep in thought and worried .
If her case was snatched from her, her position as a chief would be questioned and she would be threatened to lose her current job .
O'Hanly put the phone aside and looked at her report, recalling her superior's words.
"The public needs a culprit to punish and divert their hatred to …a culprit ….yeah I need a culprit"
An idea swirled in her mind as she sat quietly in her office, planning her future steps.
*****
One week later,
Leonard woke early as per his routine. He left is home , welcoming a new day at work .
However, that morning he received a summon from O'Hanly , so the first thing he did when he reached the office was to go to Chief O'Hanly's office.
He knocked on the door .
"Come in "
Leonard turned the doorknob and entered.
"Good morning, chief O'Hanly" he looked at the woman standing by the window , eyes focused on the traffic below "Did something happened ?"
O'Hanly didn't respond with words and just pointed at a piece of paper on her desk .
Leonard was puzzled , he went up, picked up the document and read it .
'Order of conviction'
Leonard eyes opened wide when he saw the name writing on the paper .
"What is the meaning of this ?" Leonard's face darkened.
"We don't have a choice , detective MacGrath , if we don't find a culprit to appease the public's ire, the order would slump"
"And you're ready to throw anyone in the pit just to keep this said order ? The kid, is just an unlucky boy who survived a tragedy , why do you want him to shoulder the Slaughterer's crime ?"
"He is not as innocent as you think" Collins who just entered the office responded calmly " This week I have went through Logan Farley's memories and I discovered something unusual"
Collins didn't wait for the others to speak and continued
"On the 23th of July , twelve years ago ,a robber broke in a warehouse not far from sunlight orphanage but that night he didn't steal anything , he run to the nearest police precinct claiming that a monster was in that said warehouse"
"I found the robber and checked his memories of that night , and I saw the five years old Logan Farley standing in the warehouse , whole eyes turned blood red"
Leonard was startled .
"The unusual thing was when I looked into the boy's memories of that night I didn't find anything , giving me the wrong impression that he was just sleeping in his bed that night, but it turns out ,Logan Farley, is a possessed, and thus his status has been updated from witness to potential threat"
"That's why" O'Hanly chimed in "I intend to keep him under our watch , safely away from the Slaughterer's reach and observe the evolution of his state"
Leonard wanted to say something but stopped.
The other two had already made up their minds, no matter what he says , they wouldn't listen to him.
Leonard bit on his lower lip, fists clenched.
'sorry kid…'
*****
The evening of the same day, a group of police officers barged into Logan's house to arrest him.
News of his arrest went wildfire. Articles , interviews , tv programs , they all talked about the 17 years old murderer who slaughtered his classmates .
Public opinion lashed out at him and demanded his immediate execution .
"Why things turned out this way?" Logan looked at Leonard from behind his bars "I didn't kill anyone, how can I do such a horrible thing"
Leonard lowered his gaze and clenched his fist " I know"
"You believe me ? Then why did you arrest me , detective" Logan cried out " If you know that I'm innoc…"
"I know" Leonard loud voice cut off Logan's cry.
The detective looked up , straight at Logan's eyes "I know that you're dangerous, dangerous enough to be kept away from society"
His words stunned the boy , he couldn't believe what he heard .
How was he dangerous? What did he do to be labelled as dangerous ?
"Look , I came here today to tell you that after your trial tomorrow you would be sent to Ricken Prison after that you'll be transferred to another location , when that time comes you'll understand why we did what we have to"
Leonard left the room and closed the door behind him.
Bam! He hit the wall with his fist.
'Understand why we did what we have to… Bullsh*t' even him didn't understand why they have to do this . Leonard loathed it , but what he hated even more was is own helplessness .
He had to catch the Slaughterer , that the only way to clear the boy name and bring things back on track .
******
Meanwhile, in one of the city motels .
Inside room 304, the tv was turned on , and the voice of the pretty female anchor was clearly heard announcing the hottest news .
However , the man attention wasn't on the tv.
He was conscientiously cleaning his military boots, wiping out the red strains with a wet rag .
Not far for him, was his black rain coat , hang to dry after being washed by the washing machine .
"Today , The police arrested the murderer of the recent high school massacre
The only survivor of the massacre who was found at the scene has been arrested for murdering his classmates and homeroom teacher.."
The man's hand suddenly stopped .
He turned toward the tv . Beside the pretty anchor was a blurry picture of a high school student .
The man titled his head .
He stared at the picture for a moment before putting down his boots and standing up .
He put on a pair of sneakers, turned off the tv and light before walking out of the room.