Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Turning away from the chaos outside I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. The acrid smell of smoke from the burning generator mingled with something else - something sickly sweet and unmistakably wrong. Death had its own scent, and it filled this place. My heart pounded in my chest as I took in the foul odour.

“Come on, Raven,” I muttered to myself, “You've seen bodies before. This is no different.”

But even as I thought it, I knew it wasn't true. This was the twelfth victim. The twelfth body left posed and mutilated by a killer who’d been one step ahead of everyone for months. And, for the first time, I was seeing everything first hand, not looking at sterile photographs taken after the cops had completely destroyed the scene.

The interior of the tent was dark but for the glow from the burning wreckage outside. Shadows danced over the white plastic walls, distorting and twisting with every movement of the flickering flames. In the centre, hastily covered with a once white sheet, was what was left of the body. Laid out like some macabre exhibit, evidence of the police's ongoing investigations scattered around.

I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. Part of me wanted to turn and run, to forget this whole insane plan. But I couldn't. I had to know what the killer had done this time. What clues he might have left behind that the police would inevitably miss.

With leaden feet, I forced myself to take a step forward. Then another. The sheet-covered form grew larger with each step, and I could make out more details. A curve that must be the head. The rise of shoulders. The swell of hips.

My hand trembled as I reached for the edge of the sheet. A voice in the back of my mind screamed at me to stop, that once I looked beneath, there would be no going back. I hesitated, my fingers just brushing the fabric.

“Just do it,” the same voice chided, “you need to see.”

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the sheet, steeling myself for what lay beneath. With one swift motion, I yanked it back, and…

Oh gods - The face staring up at me with lifeless eyes was hauntingly familiar. A face I'd known for years. A face I'd never expected to see here, not like this. My breath caught in my throat as recognition slammed into me like a physical blow.

I don't remember moving to her side or grabbing her hand, don't know how long I knelt there staring at her face, my tears running freely as I sobbed silently, grief consuming me entirely. I was certain they wouldn't be able to identify her but that wasn't going to be a problem for me, even if it had been several years... she was, had been my sister.

I don't know how long I stood there, frozen in shock, staring at my sister's lifeless face. Time seemed to stretch and warp around me, the world narrowing to just her and me in this nightmarish bubble.

It was the sound of approaching footsteps that finally broke through my daze. Heavy, purposeful steps crunching on gravel, growing louder by the second. My heart, which had seemed to stop at the sight of my sister, suddenly kicked into overdrive.

Move, Raven! You need to get out of here!

But my body wouldn't respond. I remained rooted to the spot, my hand still clutching the edge of the sheet, as the tent flap was thrown open.

"What the," a gruff voice exclaimed, “bloody press!”

I turned my head slowly, as if moving through molasses, to see two police officers silhouetted against the opening. Their flashlight beams hit me full in the face, momentarily blinding me.

"Don't move!" one of them barked, his torch lowering as his hand moved to the taser at his hip.

I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the spots from my vision. As my eyes adjusted, I could see the shock and suspicion on their faces as they took in the scene—me, standing over the uncovered body in my underwear, still dripping river water.

"Drop the knife! Step away from the body and keep your hands where we can see them," the other officer commanded, her voice tight with tension.

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. My throat had closed up, choked with rising panic as adrenaline flooded my system and my flight or fight instinct finally kicked in.

"I said, step away from the body!" The male officer's voice rose, edged with nervousness and aggression.

My eyes darted around as I weighed up my options. Part of me wanted to run, to dive past them and disappear into the night. Another part wanted to fight, to lash out at these interlopers who’d dared interrupt my grief.

In the end, I did neither. My legs felt like jelly as I took an unsteady step backwards, raising my hands slowly.

"I... I can explain," I finally managed to croak out.

"Save it," the female officer snapped, moving towards me with handcuffs at the ready, "You’re under arrest. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when…"

I tuned her out as she recited the usual caution, my gaze drawn inexorably back to my sister's face. How had this happened? How had she ended up here, another victim of this monstrous killer?

"Hey! Eyes on me!" The male officer's sharp command snapped my attention back to him. "What's your name? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Raven," I said, my voice sounding distant and hollow to my own ears. "And that's... that's my sister."

Confusion flickered across their faces, quickly replaced by scepticism.

"Your sister?" the female officer repeated, looking between us, "You expect us to believe that?”

"It's true," I insisted, feeling hysteria bubbling up inside me. "Her name is... was... Lily. Lily Chen. Please, you have to believe me!"

The officers exchanged a look I couldn't quite decipher. Doubt? Concern?

"Alright, miss," the male officer said, his voice a bit softer now. "We’ll sort this out down at the station - You've contaminated a crime scene, at the very least."

As they tried to pull me away from Lily, the full weight of what had happened crashed down on me. My sister was dead. Murdered. And now I’d been arrested, my one chance to find her killer slipping away. Fan-fucking-tastic, I thought, from secret investigator to prime suspect in under five minutes - my career in detective work was off to a truly stellar start.

The room started to spin, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision. I could hear the officers talking, their voices seeming to come from very far away. My legs buckled, and I felt myself falling.

The last thing I remember is strong arms catching me before everything went dark.

***

Oily darkness crashed over me, thick and viscous. A suffocating weight that filled my lungs, choking off my scream before it could escape my throat. The darkness seeped into every pore, every crevice of my being. It wormed its way into my mind, extinguishing thoughts like candles snuffed out one by one.

Panic clawed at my heart. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think. Then, suddenly, flashes of light burst through the gloom, each one revealing a fragment of a scene, like a broken film reel skipping and jumping.

Flash

Lily, her face contorted in terror, backing away from a shadowy figure.

Flash

A glint of metal, a knife's edge catching the light.

Flash

Blood, so much blood, spreading across the ground.

I wanted to scream, to reach out and help her, but I was paralysed, forced to watch helplessly as the nightmare unfolded.

The scene shifted, the fragmented images coalescing into a dimly lit room. The walls were bare concrete, damp and cold. In the centre stood a large cage, its metal bars gleaming dully in the low light.

A figure stood before the cage, his back to me. Even without seeing his face, I could sense the malevolence radiating from him. Inside the cage, I could make out the huddled form of a woman. Though I couldn't see her clearly, something about her felt achingly familiar.

The man spoke, his voice a low, menacing purr. "My dear, why do you insist on making this so difficult? All of this can stop if you just cooperate."

The woman in the cage remained silent, but I could see her trembling.

"You have a part to play," the man continued, pacing slowly in front of the cage. "A very important part. The world is changing, and you... you could be at the forefront of that change."

He leaned closer to the bars, his voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried clearly to where I stood. "Think about it. No more hiding. No more fear. You could help usher in a new era."

He reached through the bars, and I saw the woman flinch away. "You can make it all stop. The pain, the loneliness, the fear. Just play your part. That's all I ask or…"

As he spoke, I felt a chill run down my spine. There was something in his words, a hidden meaning I couldn't quite grasp. And the woman... why did she seem so familiar?

I took a step forward, straining to see her face.

The man's head snapped around, his eyes locking onto mine. I felt a jolt of terror as his gaze, cold and inhuman, bore into me.

"Well, well," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "It seems we have an uninvited guest."

He took a step towards me, hand outstretched. "I'm afraid, my dear, that you've overstayed your welcome."

His fingers brushed against my forehead, and pain exploded behind my eyes. I felt myself being hurled backwards, tumbling back into darkness.

The cold seeped into my bones, a chill so deep it burned. My lungs screamed for air, but there was only the inky blackness, filling me, becoming me. I was dissolving, my very essence being consumed by the hungry dark.

In that moment, I understood true terror. Not the fleeting fear of a nightmare, but the bone-deep horror of oblivion. Of being unmade, erased from existence, leaving not even a memory behind.

I jerked awake with a scream caught in my throat, my heart pounding wildly. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, confusion set in. This wasn't my bedroom. Cold concrete walls surrounded me, and I was lying on a hard, narrow cot.

Reality crashed back in as I took in the steel bars across one wall. I was in a police cell. And somewhere out there, I was certain, the monster who’d killed my sister had another woman trapped in a cage and was busy putting his plan into motion.