Trigger Warning: The following chapters depict torture and abuse, reader discretion is advised.
Detective Alexander entered Collin's apartment, it was dark and reeked of chemicals. He held his phone's flashlight up while holding the back of his sleeve up to his nose. He slowly made his way to the wall and flicked on the light switch. The light flickered before it fully turned on. It barely illuminated the apartment, making it so he still had to use the light on his phone to look at certain corners.
He saw piles of newspapers stacked on the side. He went and picked one of them up, the title read "Women disappearing form the red-light district" and it was dated back to 2029. He put it back down as he shifted through the pile, all dated and all headlines talking about women being found, gutted with resin encasing their bodies dating back to 2028.
"Trophies?" he slowly said as the realization dawned on him. He made a disgusted face as the smell hit him again, moving his hand back up to his nose. He took a picture of the newspapers before he turned and continued his sweep of the apartment. He made his way to the fridge, opened it just to see slabs of skin sitting in a substance. There were also jugs of an unknown liquid sitting next to them, old Chinese food and rose petals that wilted. He took a picture with his phone then closed the fridge.
He made his way to the bedroom. He tried to turn the light on, but it refused to click for him. He shone his phone light into the room to reveal a stained bed, piles of bloody clothing and taxidermized animals. He took pictures of the room, walked up and inspected the animals.
These weren't covered in resin, they seemed perfectly petrified, everything still intact, except their insides, they reeked of decay. He placed them down and headed into the living room.
He slowly turned the corner, peeking around it, he had an uneasy feeling that he was being watched. He took his time entering the living room area, the light still flickering showed there to be a table pushed up against the wall with a computer. He went and clicked on the small table lamp, revealing the drawers to the table. He pulled them open, revealing the photos of all the recent victims of the doll house murders.
He shifted through them, making a disgusted face as he realized these women were still alive in the photos. He pulled the photos out of Kore.
"He had his eye on her... for a while" he told himself as he turned the photos over in his hands, inspecting them. He took photos of the evidence he had just found and then placed them back in the drawer. He took a seat in the rickety chair and opened up the laptop. It was password protected. He frowned.
He tapped his fingers on the desk and pulled his phone out, dialing Phillip .
Phillip was hunched over his computer, trying to gain access to Hyperion's phone history. He managed to pull it all up, multiple calls and texts to an unknown number showed up. He typed the phone number into his computer, it flipped through a couple of pages then showed a name that was registered under it. It was unfortunately a dead end for him as the number was registered to Hyperion's. He let out a frustrated sigh as he leaned back in his chair. His phone went off.
"Yes?" he answered. "This is Detective Alex..." Phillip cut him off "Yes... Yes, I have caller I.D, get to the point I'm busy o fílos mou" he impatiently tapped his fingers.
"I need help getting into a computer Phillip " He responded quickly. Phillip groaned "Detective, all due respect but I'm trying to find..." Detective Alexander cut him off "Trying to find Ms. Caterino? Yes, I'm aware and I'm at the perpetrators house with his computer!"
"O fílos mou! Why didn't you say that!" he threw his hands up in disbelief. He leaned forward quickly typing into his computer. "O fílos mou, where are you?" he asked over the phone "I'm at Whispering Whistles Apartment complex, specifically apartment number 66".
Phillip was typing into his system to locate the networks that where registered through Technoloiga, and got a ping on Kore's apartment and then Collins apartment. He viciously typed into the system and pulled up Collins screen.
"Hey! I see you moving the cursor!" Detective Alexander exclaimed over the phone. "Yes, yes, let me work o fílos mou!" he hushed the man as he started pulling up the codes of the computer to gain access to it. He managed to see that the computer had software installed in it to flag keywords that were posted online. He raised an eyebrow 'I'll have to check it out once I get in' he thought to himself.
The laptop flashed random bands of code in front of Detective Alexander, it then logged in revealing a black background. Phillip pulled up the email and anything password protected for Alexander, the detective started taking photos of the emails that popped up, the multiple websites of snuff films and multiple uploaded pictures of his victims. Phillip pulled up an email between the Hyperion's and Zen with Collin CCD in it.
"Jesus! They were all in on it!" Alexander leaned forward taking pictures. The email provided proof that the Hyperion's hired Collin to remove threats from other families and how Zen used him to stalk Kore once she got on his radar. There were multiple pictures sent to Zen of her and Aidoneus together, her leaving her apartment and coming back, and her at work.
The disturbing ones were of her in the hospital as doctors hovered around her. Another email popped up; it was Zen giving Collin a hit on Aidoneus once he was finished with Kore.
"His name... was WHAT!!!?" Aidoneus roared as he snatched the man up off the floor holding him into the air. "It's... Collin... Atropos, he came into our employment when he caught our eye after the 2028 killing" he said pleadingly as he tried to pry Aidoneus' handss off of him.
"Afentikó... Please, we might need him" Peter put his hand on his boss's shoulder, trying to convince the man to not burn the only lead they had. Aidoneus scoffed and threw the man back on the floor.
"I knew that man was up to something," Aidoneus paced the floor back and forth trying to wrap his brain around the fact Kore's kidnapper was literally next door, and he didn't do anything about it.
He tried to recall if he saw any other signs, only to get more frustrated because all he could think of was the memories with Kore.
Adrian stood over with the other guards as Peter and Aidoneus tried to figure out their next move. He felt his phone go off.
"O fílos mou! Anything ..." Adrian was abruptly cut off by Phillip demanding to speak to Aidoneus . Adrian hurriedly made his way to his boss and handed him his phone.
"Aidon! We found out who took Ms. Caterino!" He shouted into the phone. Aidoneus had to pull the phone away from his ear while the man yelled.
"His name is Collin Atropos, he lives next door to her..."Aidoneus pinched the bridge of his nose before he interrupted him "Yes, we know, Vasilios talked."
"Oh really? So, he told you this man's responsible for every doll house murder?" There was silence from Aidoneus as he glared in the direction of Vasilios. "Anyways, me and Detective Alexander looked through his computer and o fílos mou, he was watching her since she moved in here." He paused and then continued "We found all the emails he was CCD in, and he's been working with all the families, but his main employer is the Hyperion family. Zen even hired him to put a hit on you" Phillip chuckled a little bit thinking about Zen being afraid of Aidoneus .
"That's all good and well Phillip but we still don't know where he has her..." Aidoneus paced back and forth. Phillip chimed in "Actually... because of little ol' me, we do".
"WHAT!? Why didn't you lead with..." Aidoneus was cut off "He's located over on North Ophiotaurus, the tower couldn't ping him directly but since you burned down one of the warehouses processes of elimination should be easier for you".
"Thank you... I owe you everything o fílos mou" He went to hang up, but Phillip called out to him "You bring her home and you show no mercy" he said in a low tone.
Aidoneus silently nodded and hung up.
Zen sat there looking at his computer as a notification from his security software popped up. It flagged a phone call from Detective Alexander to an unknown number that couldn't be traced. He gritted his teeth, 'Phillip ', he pushed away from his desk and dialed Hippio.
"It's time brother, we'll give Collin a heads up. Send your best men, I'll send mine" He hung up as he swiftly made his way to the back of his house.
Collin was in the middle of removing Kore's fingernails when he heard a 'Ping!' He sighed and went to go see who was bothering him while he was having so much fun.
Kore let out a small gasp when he was out of ear shot. He removed her nails so she couldn't fight back, her feet had slices of skin removed from her soles so she couldn't attempt to run, her ankle was broken to ensure that she didn't even try to think about it. The wire cut into her hands and her ankles. She was trying to rack her brain on how she'd get out of this, but everything was blurry.
Collin walked up to her. "Oh? Guess the venom wore off" He grinned. He leaned down and grabbed her chin "I wouldn't want you to go off and die now though, you'll miss the finale!" He let her chin go and stood up, heading towards the table.
"You see, Zen put a hit on your sweet Aidoneus . We hopped he'd come and get you, so I could pump him full of venom rendering his power useless so we could, ya know" He made a gesture with his hand across his throat "Cut the head off the beast" he said while sticking his tongue out. He picked up a dart gun that had darts full of venom in it.
"I made this just for him! I prefer the more delicate skin of a woman, but men bring in the most money!" He smiled as he set the dart gun back down. He turned and made his way back to Kore. He went in to bite her to make her immobilized again, just as he got closer, she reared her head back and head-butted him with all her might.
"GAH! SON OF A BI-" He pulled back holding his forehead as Kore spat at him as she tried to pull her hands out of the wire, slicing her skin more.
"YOU'LL NEVER KILL AIDONEUS ! HE IS GOING TOO-" She was cut off by Collin back handing her. "Oh, look what you made me do my sweet doll" he rubbed her bruised cheek as blood spilled from her split lip. She quickly grabbed his thumb with her teeth and bit down with all her might. He reeled back in pain, screaming, she wouldn't let go, he reached his hand out and started to strangle her.
Her vision became blurry from lack of oxygen, and she eventually let go. Collin kept his hand around her neck until he saw her eyes roll into the back of her head. He released as her head went limp. He put his head near her chest to see if he could hear breathing. He did and backed up. "Good, like I said I want you to watch him die." He went to bite her again, put was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up.
Detective Alexander stepped out of his car into the light drizzle, the wet gravel crunched beneath his weight. He stood, arms crossed as he scanned the area. It was dark, and there were three warehouses to check. He didn't want to risk calling for backup just to have the dirty cops show up and throw the search. He un-holstered his weapon and inspected it before choosing a direction to start. 'Maybe I should wait for Aidoneus' he thought as went to the warehouse on the far left. He shook his head to his thoughts and continued forward.
As he approached the warehouse, he could hear some commotion coming from inside. He put his back against the wall as he tried to listen on to what was going on. He pushed against the door slightly to see if he could gain a better view. He slipped on through the back, hiding behind a crate, he kept crouched as he listened for more conversation.
"I don't know how boss expects us to get this shipment out tonight, there's another storm on its way" one man said as he packed up a crate. He picked it up and loaded it into a truck.
Alexander sighed, stood up holding his badge and announcing, "This is Atlas PD, hands up". Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, placing their hands up. He walked over to the man who was talking earlier. "What are you all packing?" Alexander asked as he glanced into one of the boxes.
"Just dry goods sir" he responded shakily. Alexander shifted through the box and found exactly that. "Ok, I have a few questions I would like to ask, then I'll be out of your hair" he holstered his gun.
"Sure boss, whatever you need" the man answered. Alexander pulled his phone out to record the information.
"Do you know anything about the other warehouses?" Alexander questioned as the other workers went back to work.
"Uh… not much boss. One was used for raves quite frequently but as you can tell it burnt down." He chuckled slightly, clearly uncomfortable. Alexander picked up on that and made a note.
"Have you seen any suspicious activity around here? Like someone or something off, not belonging, by themselves?" he looked around the warehouse then put his attention back to the man in front of him.
"Uh… yea honestly I've seen a dude with a limp around here but that's about it I don't really know if he works in warehouse three, that's a lot of products going through there, heavy lifting and machinery ya know?" People shot the man quick angry glances, then continued with their work. He was trying to be vague so as not to give the Detective too much information.
They were being paid off by the Hyperion's after all.
"Calm down sir, I appreciate the information" Alexander said as he placed a hand on the man's shoulder. He looked the man in the eyes and said, "The Hyperion's hopefully won't be a problem anymore". He turned and went back the way he came. The man let out a sigh and continued with his work.
As Alexander stepped through the door, rain started heavily pouring. He went back towards his car, which was parked in front of the burnt down warehouse that held the raves. As he made his way to his car, he saw three cars pull up behind him.
Aidoneus stepped out of the vehicle, the rain steaming around him. Peter pulled out a trench coat from the trunk and handed it to his boss. Aidoneus sighed and put it on as he saw Detective Alexander Walk up to them.
"I take it things didn't go well at the Hyperion weapon cache?" Alexander gestured towards Aidoneus 's exposed body. Aidoneus grinned and shrugged. "I at least didn't kill the arouraíos*" he gestured to the last car that held Vasilios.
*rat*
Alexander let out a slight chuckle. "Well, I did a little bit of recon before you got here and all I can tell you is that the workers in that warehouse say there's just heavy machinery and products in warehouse 3." Alexander looked at Aidoneus and they both responded, "So check out warehouse 3?" With a nod Aidoneus turned and gave his guards direction to enter the warehouse from behind, like they did with the Hyperion's, surprise is key.
As Aidoneus and Alexander walked up to the warehouse, Peter, Adrian the rest of the guards spread out and circled around to the back of the warehouse. Alexander placed a hand on Aidoneus 's shoulder.
"Whatever we see, do not go off the rail's sir. We can't risk the evidence burning down and not catching this man". He nodded at Aidoneus . He could see the pain in his friend's face, the pain Alexander knew all too well of. They both took a deep breath, as Alexander slowly creaked open the door.