The city was on edge. Another body had been found only a day after the one near the precinct—a young man, this time, barely twenty-five, left in the open like a crude display. The randomness of it unsettled Karon deeply. Each killing that wasn't hers gnawed at her control, challenging her territory, eroding the intricate game she'd designed with Jade as her unwitting partner.
Karon forced herself to remain calm, slipping into the precinct with her usual mask of indifference. But the tension in the office was palpable, the sense of fear among the officers unnervingly satisfying and frustrating all at once. This wasn't *her* doing, and that fact alone was enough to keep her on edge.
At her desk, Jade sifted through files with a furrowed brow, the dark circles under his eyes betraying hours of lost sleep. He glanced up as Karon entered, his gaze intense.
"Karon," he called, gesturing her over. "Take a look at this."
She approached, her face neutral, as he handed her a stack of crime scene photos. They depicted the latest victim—a young man, his face bruised and eyes wide with terror, his body left in a crumpled heap near a dilapidated building on the outskirts of town. A jagged mark had been sliced into his forearm, a rough, amateurish mimicry of her own clean cuts. Whoever this was, they were copying her. Poorly.
"The mark," Jade muttered, "It's like the other one. Looks… intentional, but off. Like they wanted to send a message."
Karon's stomach churned with disgust. The kill was sloppy, the mark amateurish, a taunt to everything she held in her own dark craft. She forced her voice into an even tone. "It's too messy to be the same person. Whoever did this isn't as… precise."
Jade studied her, his gaze sharp. "You really think it's a copycat?"
Karon gave him a thin smile. "Seems like it. They're trying to get under our skin, make us think they're one of us, but it's almost too obvious."
He shook his head, his jaw tense. "If that's true, then this is a sick game. They're not only mimicking, they're escalating. Leaving bodies in places we'd find them? That's deliberate."
She felt a sick sense of amusement rise within her. Jade was so close to the truth, but he couldn't see past the obvious. She leaned in, her eyes glinting with something he couldn't quite place.
"Maybe they're trying to throw us off," she suggested, voice low. "If we're busy chasing after one trail, we're missing another. Whoever this is, they want control. And right now, we're giving it to them."
Jade nodded, clearly pondering her words. For a moment, she could see his mind whirling, processing her suggestion, and it thrilled her to be the one guiding his thoughts without him even realizing.
---
Later that night, Karon stood on the empty streets near the site of the last murder. The air was damp, the dim light from the streetlamps casting long, eerie shadows. She wanted answers. She needed to find this pretender who dared encroach on her game.
As she walked deeper into the dark alleyways, she became hyper-aware of her surroundings. Her heartbeat thrummed with anticipation. She had left her mark on this city; she had chosen who lived and who died with a meticulous precision only she understood. And now, someone else thought they could take that power from her.
She paused near an abandoned warehouse, taking in the silence. And then she saw it—a fresh smear of blood on the wall, trailing downward as if someone had left a message just for her. Her pulse quickened, her eyes narrowing.
She stepped closer, noticing faint boot prints in the dirt, leading into the warehouse. With a barely contained thrill, she followed, her steps silent as a shadow.
The inside of the warehouse was dim, silent except for the sound of dripping water somewhere in the distance. She spotted a figure hunched over, half in shadow, inspecting something on the ground. The figure seemed oblivious to her presence.
Karon crept closer, her movements careful, predatory. She was close enough now to see the person's face—a young man, his expression tense, fingers shaking slightly as he traced the blood-stained floor. He wasn't another random killer; he looked like he was searching for something, as if he, too, was caught up in the thrill of the hunt.
She cleared her throat, causing him to jolt, his head snapping up in alarm. The fear in his eyes was instant, and Karon smiled slowly, a predator's smile.
"Interesting place for a late-night visit," she remarked, her voice soft but dripping with menace. "What exactly are you doing here?"
He swallowed hard, his hands trembling. "I… I just… found something. I was just curious—"
"Curious," she repeated, circling him like a wolf sizing up its prey. "Curiosity can be dangerous. You're in over your head, you know that, right?"
The young man took a shaky step back, his face pale. "I—I didn't mean any harm…"
Her fingers twitched with the urge to silence him permanently, but she resisted. Instead, she leaned in close, her voice a whisper that sliced through the silence.
"Next time you think about coming here, remember—this place isn't yours. The city isn't yours. It belongs to someone far more dangerous than you can imagine."
She turned on her heel, leaving him trembling, his wide-eyed terror a mark of her power. She felt exhilaration bubbling within her, a fierce satisfaction in reminding her would-be rival of their place.
---
By the time she returned to her apartment, Karon's mind was racing. Whoever was mimicking her had better be prepared to face the consequences. They might have disrupted her game, but she was the one who would finish it.
With every passing day, the killings escalated. More bodies were found, each new crime pushing her control further to its breaking point. It wasn't long before innocent lives—young men and women alike—were left as collateral damage in the growing chaos. Each body left her angrier, more determined. No one would take this from her.
Back at the precinct the next day, she overheard Jade discussing the newest cases with another officer. They spoke in low voices, but she caught Jade's words as he reviewed the cases: "It's like the killer's getting sloppy, almost desperate."
She nearly laughed aloud. *Desperate?* If only he knew how close he was to the real truth.
"Harry," Jade called, breaking her thoughts, "Are you still with us? We're going to need your insights more than ever now."
Karon gave him a smile, her expression as calm as ever. "Always here to help, Detective. We'll catch them. Together."
Jade nodded, satisfied, turning back to the crime reports, oblivious to the dance they were both caught in. But Karon knew: this was just the beginning, and the pieces on the board were hers to control.