"Shit!" he cursed, his victim's blood staining his outfit. Frustration boiled as he relentlessly struck the man's face, unraveling a mysterious and tense scene.
The man's eyes opened to look at him, confused but not afraid. He had already made up his mind, as well as his reasoning for why he had chosen this particular victim.
"What did I do wrong?" He asked himself rhetorically while simultaneously asking the stranger.
"Who sent you? ,Why would you kill my family when we did nothing wrong to you?" The stranger tried to hold back a smile as he heard the man speak.
The stranger walked into the bathroom as he washed the blood off his gloves. "No one sent me. By the way, do you remember the experiment that happened years ago—6 years ago to be exact?" He replied as he wiped his gloves on the dirty bath towels.
"Yes, what of it?" The man replied, his eyes darting between the stranger and the floor as if expecting a threat from an unseen assailant.
He was young, maybe in his early twenties. It had been long enough since then that the man could barely recall anything about that night. It was like the events were happening in slow motion, with a faraway and distant sound. He remembered nothing else besides the lights going out in his home and coming back on.
"That experiment is what created me, or don't you remember who I am?"
He could tell by looking into those hazel eyes that this man was about to lose it, and he decided that now might be the time to take his leave before the stranger came back with a weapon of some kind.
If he were to take action, then his own life would be forfeited. He began running away as fast as his legs could carry him towards the forest, making a mental note to find the man again later once he'd come down from his high.
Once he was out of sight of his victim, he looked over his shoulder to see the man still staring in his direction.
He had no idea why he felt so connected to this man, and all that happened since then seemed so surreal. He made an immediate turn towards the woods as he tried not to think of anything that might cause him to panic. "I must stay focused; I need to keep moving."
He was losing a lot of blood, and his head began spinning as he noticed a faint blur pass by him as the stranger stood in front of him once again.
"No, not again." He thought. He turned back to face the stranger, hoping to avoid another attack. Instead, the stranger grabbed his hair and dragged him backwards towards the house, saying, "This time we'll play by my rules."
The man continued to scream in pain as the stranger placed a hand around his neck, slowly suffocating him until there was no breath left in his body.
The stranger released his grip and let the man fall limp on the ground before proceeding to the kitchen and grabbing a drink, making sure to avoid contact with the cup in his mouth. After taking a swig, he grabbed the man's car keys from his pocket. "Is the moon brighter, or is it just me?"
*****
"I'll assume there is a real case today,chief."
"Good luck," the chief said, handing over the files. "Don't let them see you sweat."
The Chief of Detectives was a tall African-American man with the physique of an athlete and the demeanor of a seasoned warrior.
His name was Earl, and he had been the Chief for over thirty years. When he became a detective, he was given this position, and after his retirement, he stayed on to help train younger detectives.
The chief always liked his rookies to take the lead. In his mind, they were the most important part of the team because they represented the future of the department.
"Murder case: whole family of four brutally murdered, no fingerprints left, nothing. I want you to go out there and find the culprit. Agent Chloe will fill you up on the rest."
"Chloe? Seriously, out of all the people you could have paired me with for this case,you picked Chloe? Again?"
Earl was a good boss, but his tastes didn't run far when it came to who he assigned partners to.
The first time he paired Lux with Chloe was during an investigation involving a kidnapping and ransom, which ended in an ambush.
Since then, he has made sure that at least one of them was off in any case that involved Chloe. "She's a bit too hot-headed."
Earl sighed, "I know, I know..." He continued as he walked down the hall to his office.
He knew how Chloe was and knew she was not going to be easy to work with.
Lux already felt like an outsider in the department, and now he had to go and join up with someone she had no prior relationship with.
As he entered his office, he took his seat behind his desk. He reached over and grabbed a box of cigars before sitting back in his chair.
He lit up a cigar, and as he inhaled, he thought, "I wonder how she'll handle the situation."
Chloe was the youngest member of the team, and most of her cases dealt with violent crime. She always seemed to get the case involving the most bloodshed.
On the side, she also worked with the agency to try and track down the remaining members of the order.
After a few seconds, Earl stood up from his seat and walked back into the hallway, where the others were waiting. "Alright, now let's start getting you familiar with the files. We've got a newbie that just joined us, so don't worry if you feel out of place; she's got a way to go."
Earl was about to take his seat back at his desk when he heard Chloe calling his name. "Chief! Chief!"
"Yes, I'm here..." The chief answered.
She rushed up to him with a file in her hand and a smile on her face.
"This is what we're looking for, Chief!"
Earl looked down at the file and then back up to her. He knew exactly why she had this case, and he didn't want to be a part of it. He continued, "I'm sorry, but I have other plans; why don't you talk to Lux?"
He turned and walked away from her before she could say anything. As he closed his office door, he heard her yell after him.
"Hey, Chief!"
"What now, Chloe?" He called back, trying to sound indifferent.
Lux was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the chief's desk. When Chloe entered the room, he stood up, ready to take a shot at her.
"Don't even bother, Detective. This case is way too dangerous for you."
Earl looked at him, asking, "I thought you left?"
"Well, I came back."