Behind The Hood

Gasping for breath, Caroline kept running as fast as she could. The man she was chasing seemed to out run her. She knew that he knew the park too well. He knew when to avoid every branches and stones, obstacles that kept slowing Caroline down. She swore she will not let him escape. She ignored all the bruises she got for running after him. The fog was getting thicker by the minute and the pine wood was getting denser, but she still won’t slow her pace.

***

When Caroline decided to join homicide department, she knew she would see ugly things men did to other human being. However, what she saw six months ago was beyond ugly, it was the most gruesome murder she had ever witnessed. The man was lying on his back; he was wrapped tightly inside a plastic bag. She thought the plastic bag was to prevent the man from struggling against his capturer. Then she saw his face or what left of it, there was blood everywhere but she still could see that there was no face underneath that blood. The whitish part of his skull was clearly visible. Whoever killed him had taken away his face. Further investigation reported that the victim was still alive when the perpetrator peeled the victim’s face. Caroline almost threw up on the scene but she managed to control herself, she had to maintain her dignity as a tough cop.

The investigation was going nowhere as there was almost no clue about the killer. Two months later, another body with the same condition was found not far from the pine wood forest. The founding of the second body made the killer known as Faceoff Killer.

Caroline and her partner, Nick, were in charge of the investigation. They could hardly find any similarity of both victims, except the fact that they no longer had face. The first victim was a banker and the second victim was a homeless. They didn’t have similar face or facial bone. One thing that connected them both was the place, both were found near the Pine-wood park.

Two months after the finding of the second body, the third body was found South part of the Pine-wood park. The third body was of a young handsome man. Caroline saw evidence that the man had struggled hard against his capturer. There was a stabbing mark on his stomach and bruises were found all over his body. She could see clearly that the cutting off of his face was not done in neat way as before. She secretly admired that young man and somehow wished she could have met him before the incident.

The two months interval gave them new lead. Policemen were found patrolling near the park, no one was allowed to go near the park till they captured the killer. Caroline and Nick were one of the police that patrolled near the park.

“I am going to find us some coffee,” Nick said, “You wait here and don’t try to be a hero, kay!!”

“Okay Dad!” teased Caroline.

Half an hour later, she heard a scream. She tried calling Nick but there was no answer. She told headquarter that she heard a scream and went to check it. She went to the direction of the scream but found no one. She kept searching and finally found a baseball bat with blood on it. She was both terrified and excited. “I am going to nail this son of bitch” she thought.

Without waiting for back-up, she walked into the park. It took almost half an hour for her to find the thing that will haunt her dream forever. What she saw chilled her blood; a man in long cloak with the hood covering his face was kneeling on top of a man. There was blood around the victim’s head. The hooded man, the Faceoff Killer, had a knife in his left hand and a lump of bloody meat in his right hand. She looked at the victim, he no longer had face but she recognized his clothes, it was Nick’s. She was too shocked to move, she couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed.

The killer felt her presence. He suddenly stood up and ran leaving her behind. Caroline finally snapped out of her shock and shot the killer. It didn’t hit him. Caroline chased him into the park ignoring all the dangers that laid ahead.

***

Through the thick fog and the dense wood, she kept chasing him. She hated him so much. She would not let him see another day. “Damn this fog!!” she whispered between her breath. She didn’t realize that tears were falling from her eyes. She liked Nick a lot, he was her best friend. She would rather die than letting the killer got away.

She almost lost him because of the fog. “Where the fuck are you?” she whispered while scanning the woods around her. She heard a twig being stepped on and resumed her chase; little did she know she was being led by the killer.

Caroline finally saw the killer. He was standing with his back on her. She could see that there was cliff in front of the man. She aimed her gun at him.

“Turn around, asshole!!” she shouted.

The killer turned around slowly. Blood was dripping from the meat he was holding in his right hand, the meat was Nick’s face. Seeing Nick’s face angered her even more, however there was something about the killer that terrified her so bad. Her hair was standing out of fear.

The killer lifted his head.

“Oh my God,” Caroline whispered breathlessly. “What are you?”

The hooded man, the faceoff killer, had no face underneath his hood.

Note: a painting of the man> http://adamsart.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/100_5238_faceless_oil-pastel_11x14_9...