Chapter 22: Chapter The 5th Victim

Shannara had taken the keys that Mr Marquis had had on his person for Trisha’s apartment, though even if they didn’t work she had all rights and a warrant now to enter and search her apartment. Things were once again moving.

Arion had found a freed three other girls who were being held in a dingy basement under the house, it looked like the wife’s role was just that, a role that one of the girls were playing. The whole ordeal was sickening. The girls were now at the station and being treated kindly probably for the first time in a long time. Arion had commandeered the residence’s vehicle and driven them all back. She didn’t even want to think about if he knew how to drive.

Her house was still being processed and now another team was being sent to the Marquis’s home as well. Desmond approached her with her phone in an evidence bag.

“Did anything-” She stopped as he shook his head.

“He’s very particular and good at hiding his tracks. The only thing so far that we have documented is a half-formed shoe print outside the laundry window. Most likely his entry point.” Desmond’s mood seemed glum as he half-heartily smiled passing her the phone.

She exchanged hers for Jessie’s. “You headed back to Jessie?”

“Just to drop off his phone, I’m on the second house duty. Not a lot of us here so we are spread pretty thin at the moment. I take it you’re headed to the apartment that belonged to Trisha?”

She nodded. “I’ll call if I find anything.”

Arion walked up to the two having finished up with his side of the processing. “That was...something.” He raised a brow. “It’s normally that much paperwork?” He questioned.

“Yep!” Shannara and Desmond answered in unison.

“You did a good thing man, even if you can’t drive.” Desmond frowned. “Sorry about writing you up, it’s just how it works.”

“I’m definitely used to different modes of transport.” Arion confessed raising his hands in surrender. “And it was a team effort!”

“What?” Shannara was confused.

“He nearly took out the back entrance, and went right over the bollards.” Desmond was shaking his head.

Her temples began to ache, she gave him a look as if to ask if it were true.

“I may have thought the petal that made you stop was the wrong one. We were propelled forward instead of stopping. An honest mistake I assure you!” He tried to defend himself.

“Please don’t let him in the driver’s seat again,” Desmond warned before leaving the two.

“Noted.” She shook her head at Arion as he sheepishly smiled at her. “Let’s go, next stop.”

The car ride wasn’t silent, Arion was very keen on sharing his adventure with the steel beast. She couldn’t help but smile had his enthusiasm and excitement. Though it did make her wonder.

“How did you make her tell you those things?” She quired.

“Just a little charm enchantment. Comes in handy at times to make people speak their minds.” He retrieved a small carved rune from his pocket. “I just touched her arm with this and she spilled whatever she was hiding.”

“That’s pretty handy.” She admitted.

“One-time use type of deal, not many of them around anymore. We usually save them for sentencing when needed. Not a lot of people left in my realm that can make them.” He smirked putting it back in his pocket.

“Why waste it on this then?” She questioned slightly confused.

“It’s in my beneficent to help you reach a conclusion, is it not?”

She couldn’t deny it. “So those are rare?”

“Indeed.” He nodded. “And they only work on someone that is actually hiding or lying about something. So there’s a chance you can waste it.”

Arriving at the apartment address an ominous feeling set in. She hoped she wasn’t too late and yet that pit in the bottom of her stomach was telling her otherwise, preparing her. Turning off the car she sat for a moment trying to think objectively.

She felt a hand touch hers still resting on the gear shift, catching her attention. She looked up and across to Arion, his expression was strained forward, sternly on the door of the small apartment that was sandwiched between a number of others.

“She’s there isn’t she.” She asked.

“She is.”

“She’s... gone.” She really had hoped that she wasn’t too late this time.

“There’s a lot of blood.” He commented as he wriggled his nose.

She let out a soft sigh. Giving his hand a light squeeze she steeled her mind and body. Getting out of the car she suited up knowing full well she was about to walk into a crime scene. Arion followed suit.

“His scent is fresh here.” He commented as he cringed.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s trying to mask himself with pheromones, it reeks.” He rubbed his nose. “It’s doing the opposite, making him more obvious. And yet it’s working in the sense that I can’t pinpoint his location at the moment.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I could hazard a guess, but it may just be me being obnoxious.” Shaking his head he pointed to the door. “This is more important for now, he could still be here.”

They were quiet as they exited the vehicle. Swiftly reaching the door she tried the key, with a light click it unlocked. Twisting the door handle she gently and slowly opened the door just enough to see inside. She heard a light scurrying and proceeded to throw the door open.

“Police! Make yourself known!” She pulled her pistol holding it before her as she advanced inside.

Arion’s head snapped toward the sound as he flexed his fingers, his nails elongating to claws as his own weapon. He lunged forward heading for the kitchen; where the noise was coming from. His body abruptly stopped as though it had collided with an invisible wall.

“What the fuck!” He remarked looking around in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Shannara asked inching closer one step at a time.

“Devils trap, I’m stuck. It’s him, don’t let him get away.”

Increasing her pace, the gun still raised she rounded the corner into the kitchen. A man stood with his back to the sink with a smirk on his face. She remembered his now seeing him clear as day it was like a fog had been lifted. She’d seen him around town and in the cafe several times. Why was she just remembering this now?

“Hello detective care for a chat?” His voice was the same, she knew it was him. He raised his bloodied hands as though surrendering.

She fired on him. Telling herself that she’d take the suspension and whatever else came her way for killing him. The shot on sight order was still being revised since they did;t actually have an ID of the killer. The loud bang of the gunfire repeatedly making her ears ring as she emptied her pistol into him. Her reload was swift and quick, readying her gun again in case she had missed, which she knew she hadn’t.

He’d dived for cover of the small center table. Little droplets of blood remained where he once stood.

“Detective! Isn’t that against all your codes?” He shrieked as though he were surprised by her actions.

“Fuck the codes, you’ve made a mistake.” She slowly advanced on the spot, small dots of red leading her around the counter. She sidestepped with the gun at the ready but he had already moved.

He dived for the entrance to another room cradling his arm. It seemed she had only nicked him, her aim had been good, it hadn’t made sense why she missed. When he had ducked out of the way of her shots her vision had gone cloudy for a moment, the unexpected feeling in her mind affecting her aim. He came face to face with Arion’s animalistic growl, he gasped taking a few steps back. “It worked,” he muttered slightly shocked. “You’re real!” He remarked.

Shannara acted fast. He stepped right into her hold in his distracted state. Her hands were forceful as she yanked his arms behind his back, cuffs already in hand with her pistol holstered. That was her mistake, she should have just shot him there.

He dropped to the ground taking her by surprise and knocking her off balance as she was also thrust downward. She hadn’t gotten the other cuff on yet and her hands slipped as he flung his head back. The impact had her seeing stars and she fell back, the ground beneath her damp and slippery. Blood, not her own, soaked into her clothes and coated her arms and back. His latest art piece she could see from the corner of her eye, but only he mattered at that moment.

Retrieving her pistol she attempted to take aim, but her vision was foggy, clouded. Every time she lost sight of his face her mind was doing strange things. She fired anyway, one shot after another. She managed to get herself up into a kneeling position as the world was still spinning.

“Okay, that’s enough!” He shouted sternly, clearly aggravated by the fact that she wanted him dead.

She felt a solid object impact her head, a trickle of blood ran down her forehead and into her eye, focusing it shut. The strike was causing her to struggle to stand further, her stance wobbly. She’d dropped her weapon, trying to blink the blood out of her eye she saw a blurred image of something flying at her again. She caught it, yanked it toward her and collided her knee into the asshole’s stomach as she forced herself to her feet in one swift movement.

Her hand released the now sprinted wooden lampshade post and clenched firmly in his clothes, her grip powerful as he tried to struggle free.

“Bitch! Let me go!” He tried to yell but he sounded winded.

He did the unexpected, his hand on top of hers he bent his head down and bit down hard on her slender wrist. She screamed as his teeth sank deep breaking the skin. Releasing her fist from his shirt she attempted to collide it with his face but he’d taken a step back and lined up a swing.

The lampshade base slammed into her jaw and her head was brutally twisted to the side, her body went limp as all light faded, and she could hear Arion screaming her name as she hit the ground and blacked out.

🗡🗡🗡🗡🗡🗡

“Shannara.”

She could hear her name, but her brain couldn’t register where or who it was coming from.

“Shannara!”

Her head lulled to the side as she groaned.

“Thank the heavens, can you move?”

She hissed and she attempted to roll over, her jaw had been dislocated. Sitting up she popped it back into place with a disturbing crack sound and a grunt of pain.

“Barely.” She muttered breathlessly as the encounter came flooding back. He’d gotten away.

Her eyes were straining and she had to wipe blood from her face to be able to see properly. Arion was crouched down beside her still in the same spot.

“Two questions. How did he know how to stop you and how to i get you... unstuck?” She eyed him with a deadpan stare. This wasn’t his fault and yet she had felt he had been useless.

“The journal, it would have ways to detain the summons. They work on all demons, we use them in prisons. Being able to use magic means you need some form of preventative measure.” He eyes drifted to the lip of the square rub he was standing at the edge of. The edge was soaking up the blood that had been split on the floor. “There is a rune engraved on the floor under the mat, you just need to break it, destroy a line on it.”

She sighed. It would be best to free him before she called the others, but she wasn’t sure how she would explain that the two of them couldn’t subdue one man.

“He held me hostage and knocked you out, then tired me up and ran off. I’m not a trained officer they’ll believe it.” He offered “Forever reading my mind.” She muttered as she lifted up the side of the rug. As he described a circular symbol had been carved into the wooden floor, pulling out her small pocket knife she scratched at one of the lines.

Once she had made a deep enough groove in the wood Arion reached for her, finally able to move outside the circle. He studied her jaw, gentle of the clearly damaged areas, she was already bruising. And her wrist, which the asshole had managed to tear flesh from. “I can heal it, minor flesh wounds like this. But not the jaw, you have a fractured mandible.”

She shook her head and smiled wide. “No, it’s perfect.”

He furrowed his brows, clearly confused by her statment.

She pointed to her wrist, a clear indentation could be made out of his teeth. “We have his dental records and his blood now. Arion we have evidence to ID him, something we never had before.”