Chapter 35

Viv opened the envelope, dread in her heart. There was a feeling of evil to it. Sliding open the flap, she tilted the envelope, not wanting to reach inside. Photos of dead people spilled out. Some of the photos were clearly old, they were in black and white but were yellowed and a little grainy. Some were polaroids. Others were more vibrant, newer. There were men, women, even a few children. All of them horribly, painfully dead.

Don’t worry. These are some of my copies. I still have all my originals. I can’t wait to add you to my collection,the note that fell out with the photographs read.

Viv picked up the phone.

“I’m on my way,” Liam said in lieu of a greeting, hanging up quickly.

She used a ruler and gently pushed the photographs back into the envelope. She would let Liam look through them all. Maybe she needed to start wearing gloves when she opened or accepted mail, she vaguely thought. Not that they had had much luck pulling prints or fibers from anything so far. The guy was smart, she admitted. But maybe he didn’t use to be so smart; some of these pictures were very old. Maybe they would get lucky and find something on one of them.

It took about fifteen minutes before Liam and Gina ran in. Viv nodded to the envelope.

“It’s pictures this time. They’re rather graphic,” she warned. Both to prepare them, but also to let them know to be careful not to let the library patrons see. Gina nodded, pulling on a pair of gloves and laying out a plastic sheet. Liam pulled some on as well, but let Gina touch the envelope.

“Any other incidences today?” he asked.

Viv shook her head. “No. Not even a phone call. Every call has been normal. The delivery driver dropped this off a few minutes ago. There’s a note inside with the pictures. Some of them look quite old, others are clearly newer,” Viv said. She fell quiet, letting them look through each one, flipping them over, looking for notes, blood, pieces of hair, anything that might be an additional clue. She noticed they kept everything over the plastic, probably to collect anything that might fall off.

Gina sighed and slid the photographs back in the envelope, sealing it in an evidence bag. She slid the plastic sheet and their gloves into another one. “Nothing obvious I can see, other than this guy is sick. There’s no pattern, nothing that I can see that ties them all together other than the assumption that they’re all human. We don’t even have a lot of bodies to do DNA tests to confirm that. At least the photographs will give us a chance to try to close some old missing persons reports. I’ll send copies over to cold cases and the FBI, see if they can get started on them.”

“I have a patrol car passing by the library and your neighborhood, day and night,” Liam told her.

Viv nodded, not sure what else to say. The cops were mostly human and wouldn’t stand a chance against him, but there were a few nonhumans like Liam and Gina on the force, so maybe he had assigned one of them. “Thank you.”

Viv drove past the library, slowing down to turn into the parking lot. It looked like something was on the sidewalk near the parking lot entrance. It was still a little dark out, making it hard to see and she wasn’t dumb enough to get out of her car to look at it. She pulled inside the lot but parked close to the entrance. It had looked like an animal, and she wanted to make sure it wasn’t hurt. She would stay on the warded side of the property but could at least call animal control if it needed help.

As she walked closer, there was a strong smell and she had a feeling about what she would find. She gagged, holding a hand in front of her mouth when she saw the poor animal. She thought it was a cat, but it was so mangled and torn apart that it was hard to tell. The head was sitting a few feet away from its body, the spinal cord still attached. It was like someone had ripped it out. Viv sobbed, knowing it was the stalker/serial killer.

Pulling out her phone, she called Liam.

“Hello?” his groggy voice answered.

“There’s a… I don’t know. A cat maybe. It’s been killed in front of the library,” Viv told him, tears still running down her face.

“Viv, I’m sorry a cat died, but that’s not really my jurisdiction,” Liam said gently, still sounding half-asleep.

“This one is. It’s been mutilated and it was left close to the parking lot entrance on the way I turn into the lot. I think it’s a message from the killer.”

“Are you outside the ward?” Liam asked, sounding much more alert.

“No. I’m on the safe side. People are going to start coming in soon. What should I do? Should I go out and try to clean it up?”

“No! That’s what he wants you to do, to leave the safety of the property. Gina lives close by and runs in the morning. Let me see if I can reach her. Do not leave the property. Do you hear me?” Liam asked, sounding like he was pulling open dresser drawers.

“I’m not dumb, Liam,” she pointed out.

“I know. But he’s trying to find your weakness. One of us will be there soon.”

Viv looked at the phone. She had maybe fifteen minutes before her regulars appeared. She didn’t want to leave and have someone see it or even have the killer clean it up before Gina or Liam could get there.

“Viv!” she heard a voice shout a minute or two later. Looking down the street, she saw Gina in workout clothes running toward her. She was sweaty, clearly having already been on a run. Viv waved, letting her know she heard.

“What do we got?” Gina asked as she came closer.

“Dead cat, but I don’t think anything normal killed it. I’m going to have patrons coming in soon and wasn’t sure what to do.”

“Liam’s on his way, but it might take him a while depending on if he hits traffic. Do you have anything in your trunk we can cover it with until he gets here?” Gina asked.

“I have a tarp. It’s still in the package,” Viv offered.

“Can I have it? I’ll buy you a new one,” Gina said.

Viv nodded, running to her car to grab it. She also grabbed a pair of latex gloves from her first aid kit. Rushing back to Gina, she handed her the gloves first. “I had these in the first aid kit, if you need them.”

“These are great, thank you.” Gina pulled them on. Using the flashlight on her phone, she looked at the scene. There was blood and pieces of fur and guts everywhere in a six-foot area. “Shit,” Gina muttered as she crouched down to look at the head.

“What?” Viv asked.

“There’s a homemade collar; it’s a piece of string with one of those plastic square key tags on it. The kind you can label to tell your keys apart?”

Viv nodded, her stomach sinking. She had a feeling what Gina was going to say next.

“It says Viv.”

“Did you get my gift this morning?” the raspy voice asked.

Viv regretted answering the phone, but it was part of her job description.

She didn’t answer, just waited for the asshole to say something else. She pressed the record and trace button that Liam had set up for her.

“Don’t worry. I left your mate one too. This one was an old one I was keeping around, but figured she’d be better used this way. I’m afraid he’s going to be too busy to come help you.”

“I have plenty of help,” she told him, trying to keep her voice from wavering. “I still don’t understand what you consider the sin of what he’s doing. He’s trying to help people and stop them from being harmed.”

He chuckled. “Is that what he told you? You poor na?ve idiot. He just likes feeling important and feared. Not unlike me. I love the fear in their eyes. His sin is not embracing who he is, letting his darkness come forth, from trying to hold the rest of us back from our destinies.”

“His destiny is to stop monsters like you,” Viv countered. “He loves protecting and making people feel safe. Everyone has the potential for darkness; even if he has some, he controls his. Maybe you should give that a try,” Viv snarked back. Stupid! she scolded herself. Don’t antagonize the crazy.

“Nah,” he drawled. “I’m good. I like what I do. I’ll see ya later. By the way, I think you need more sleep. It looks like you’re getting bags under your eyes.”

Viv stood holding the phone, the dial tone sounding in her ear. She blindly reached out and shut off the machine. She knew the recording was going to be sent directly to Mac and to Liam, as would any location information. He must have been watching to see if she stopped to look at the poor animal he left behind. Viv knew he was already gone, but she still walked over and looked out the window. Liam was there, an official-looking tent covering the area where the poor animal was. It was big enough to have a person or two inside it, but Liam was on the outside of it at the moment. She saw him look up from his phone, searching the area. He must have gotten the recording. He might not have even been that close, she realized. He could have been using binoculars or seen her somewhere else on her route in to work. Maybe he even had a camera facing the library.

Seconds later, he turned and ran toward the library, shouting something at Gina over his shoulder. Liam rushed over to the desk, his hair a mess, his eyes shadowed. “What’s wrong?” Viv said.

“Just got a text from Mac. He had another tip called in and went to investigate. This one panned out. The killer has clearly been leading them on a scavenger hunt, and finally gave them something to keep them busy. I don’t know if it’s a ploy to keep Mac away, or if he’s getting bored and wants to make it more challenging for himself. Mac sent me an update of what he has so far.

“It’s bad. It looks like one of his kill rooms, but why he would let us see it, I don’t know. To gloat? It hasn’t been used in a while, so it’s not from his more recent victims, but he left the body there. It wasn’t particularly protected with the windows being busted out and a leak in the roof, which means it’s going to be a mess trying to identify and collect evidence. They’re cautiously optimistic that he might have left something behind; she had something under one fingernail. There are pictures everywhere of what he did, how he stalked her. I have increased patrols and I’m going to give you an escort home, just to be on the safe side. He’s never allowed evidence to be found before, so I’m not sure why he’s had such a change in his pattern, but I don’t trust it,” Liam said.

Viv nodded, glad her shift was almost over. They closed early today and she was off tomorrow. Thank god. She had received a call, a delivery, or sometimes both, every day this week. She was ready for a break. The house would keep him away and the wards wouldn’t let anything harmful through. Unlike at the library, she would have D there to run interference with the mail.