Now and again I try to come up with something witty to put in these author's notes, but I'm not coming up with too much right now. I'm going to blame it on the paper I just wrote for psychology. It wasn't exactly my best piece of work, but I finished it and that's all that matters for the moment. And tomorrow I get to see how I did on the test I wrote last week. I'm not expecting to have covered myself with glory on that one, just hoping for a pass. Well I'll stop boring you with the details of my life. If you'd like to reach me about the story, or just to chat, (I'll take either. I love getting e-mail) I've two addresses. Mist_dark@hotmail.com or Mist_dark@yahoo.ca you can take your pick. I check both and will respond fairly quickly.
As usual, I don't know the members of Nsync and if any of them are gay, then it's their business. If you are too young or it's illegal in you area to be reading this, then I'd leave. If homosexual themes offend you, now would be a good time to leave as well. Other then that enjoy the story. Until next time, Rune
CHAPTER THREE
"I don't care what you say," the female cop told her partner sharply. "That woman fell over ten stories and landed on a dumpster. She left a fucking dent in the dumpster. It's not natural. There's no way she should have lived through that. And even is she did she should have needed medical attention."
"I know that," her partner told her. "But she did it, so there has to be some fluke that let her survive."
"It's not natural. There's no way."
The man rolled his eyes and turned his eyes to the road. "What time did the doctor want us there?"
"One," the woman replied.
"We'll be a little early, but I think he'll let us in."
He pulled into a parking spot and shut the car off. The two got out of the car and walked through the parking lot toward the hospital. Once inside they made their way to the morgue. A nurse moved to intercept them, but they flashed their badges at him and he moved away. They didn't meet anyone else on their way to the morgue.
"You're a bit early," Dr. Morgan said as the pair walked into the examining room of the morgue. He jotted something down on his clipboard. "I'll be just a minute here."
The doctor ignored them for the next several minutes while he continued to jot things down on his clipboard. Now and then he'd lift the sheet off one of the bodies and then drop it before writing something else down.
"Sorry about that," the doctor apologized. "I wasn't expecting you until later." He pulled off latex gloves and tossed them into a small wastebasket. He extended his hand, "I'm Jim Morgan."
The female cop took the hand first since she was closest to the doctor. "Lynn Corex." Her partner followed suit. "Sam Brock."
"I'll try to keep this fairly simple," the doctor started. "As simple as it can get. It would appear you two are about to have a very interesting future. Your superiors have assigned you to this murder case. Or so I'm told. Either way you'll be the ones I report my findings to."
"Findings?" Lynn asked.
"I'm the coroner for this area. I see and report on every corpse that enters this building. And a great many more that don't enter the building. Anyway all of the victims in this serial killing are sent here so I can study them at length." The doctor flipped through a small stack of papers on the counter next to him. "With the exception of the first victim that was cremated almost immediately afterward all the others are here."
"What have you found so far?" Sam asked. "And how much of what the media knows is the truth?"
"Everything the media knows is true. But they don't know everything and I'd rather not have them know everything until we find out something new." The doctor pulled out a few pairs of gloves and handed them to the officers. "Put these on and try not to inhale directly above some of the older bodies."
The examining room they were in turned out to be one of many other rooms in the morgue. Jim led them through the maze of little rooms until they came to the cold storage room. He made small ticking motions with his left hand as they walked down the length of the room. About halfway down he stopped and pulled out one of the drawers. On the metal bed was the body of William Harker. While Lynn and Sam looked at the young man's remains the doctor moved down the room pulling out more beds. When he finished there were nine beds out of their refrigeration. Six men and three women.
"Where did all of these marks come from?" Lynn asked. She was pointing to a number of deep lacerations that covered each of the bodies. "I thought you didn't have a cause of death."
"We don't officer, that's why we performed an autopsy." The doctor ignored the look Lynn gave him. "These individuals were in perfect health, which everyone knows because the news has told us that much. They have no internal bleeding, no poisoning, no rupturing, no crushed organs, and no blockages in their cardiovascular system. By all rights these individuals should get up and walk away."
"We already know that," Lynn said. "What else is there?"
"I was getting to that," Jim told her. "Now since this does appear to be a serial killing you'll need some sort of pattern to the victims. There aren't too many to work with, but I've found a few. First is all of them are under thirty and in perfect health. Whatever killed them seems to target them based on this, and another factor that I'm going to get too in a moment. Also each of the victims has an animal tattoo. I ignored the first few I saw because they weren't the same." Jim pointed out each of the tattoos on the bodies. Each one of them was an animal of some sort, ranging from eagles to tigers. "That might help you in some way. The victims may be linked through some sort of organization that we aren't aware of."
Sam had pulled out a notepad and was taking notes on what the doctor was saying. "What was the other factor you mentioned?"
"The reports are in my office," he told them. Jim pushed the beds back into their refrigeration units before leading the way through the maze to his office. "Are you familiar with the studies that happened a few years ago on psychic abilities?"
"I heard a little about it," Sam said. "I don't remember how it ended."
"The funding for the project was pulled before they completed their studies. Before that happened though they found a few interesting tidbits. Some of the so-called psychics had a bio-chemical reaction when they were experiencing their 'psychic' abilities. The most notable was a build up of various chemicals in the brain. On a hunch I checked the victims for these build-ups. All of them have the chemicals in unusually large amounts. The studies said that the 'psychics' had levels a few points above average. The victims have levels that are way beyond normal."
"How beyond?" Sam asked.
"The comparison would be something like comparing a drop of water to a cup. These levels should not appear naturally under any circumstances, psychic or not." The doctor riffled through a few more papers and then leaned back in his chair. "Other then that I don't have anything to offer."
"Are you suggesting that someone is targeting psychics?" Lynn asked. "Or that someone with psychic abilities is killing people?"
"No officer I'm not," the doctor said. His tone clearly stated that he didn't like Officer Corex. "I'm only saying that these victims have the same chemical build ups in their brains that the people in this study did. Draw whatever conclusions you want from that. I'm just trying to help you stop these deaths."
"What makes you so sure that it's a person doctor?" Sam asked. He'd gotten used to Lynn's little foibles, but now and again they tried his patience as well.
"It's too specific and widespread to be a disease," Jim explained. "Even if you take into account all of the possible factors that would determine the contagiousness of a disease. We've had ten victims in this city alone. I've put in a formal request to hospitals in other areas to see if they've gotten any similar cases. The reports should come in sometime next week."
"Was there anything else?" Sam asked. He put his notepad away and looked at his watch. "We're supposed to meet our superior in half an hour."
"No that was it," Jim said. He got up to show them to the door. "I do mean it about the media. I don't want them to know any more then they have to. In particular the part about the chemical build ups. We can let them know afterward, if at all. The last thing we need is some sort of hysteria."
"We'll keep this under wraps doctor," Sam assured him.
The office was dark. What little light there was trickled through the closed blinds. You could see, but just barely. A determined looking woman sat behind the desk in the only chair in the room. Her dark hair was pulled back into a French braid. She wore a dark purple skirt suit that set off her complexion. She was by all standards a striking woman, not beautiful, but one that you wouldn't soon forget. At the moment she wore a look of disapproval as she regarded the blonde woman in front of her.
"Katra I'm displeased that you allowed the police to see you leave the alley. I realize that you felt the need to make an example of those guards, however, you should not have been seen."
The blonde woman nodded and self-consciously rubbed the tattoo on her arm. "I wasn't thinking Mistress."
"I thought as much," the woman leaned back in her chair. "This isn't a serious problem, but it will not be repeated." She levelled a look that stated she expected this never to happen again. "We'll have the dumpster replaced and then it will only be the memory of those two humans. If they become to worrisome then they can be eliminated." She flipped through a day planner. "Did you finish your objective?"
Katra nodded earnestly. "Yes. Everything worked out perfectly."
"Good." She closed the planner and pushed a button on her phone. "Andrea please send Ian in."
The double doors to the office opened and Ian walked in. He was wearing the same thing he had when he met Chris and Lance two days before. His snake tattoo was clearly visible beneath his tee shirt.
"You rang," Ian said as he sauntered across the office.
The woman ignored his tone. "Did you complete your objective two nights ago?"
"Yes and no," he told her. "Yes we did meet and scare the hell out of that man. And no in the sense that someone showed up before we could deliver any sort of physical beating."
"Who?"
"Don't know," Ian told her truthfully. "Most certainly not one of us, but he was too good of a fighter to be a human."
"You're human Ian," the woman smirked. "At least you were. Don't underestimate them. They can do some surprising things if they set their minds to it. Did he have any weapons?"
"Just a staff with some strange symbols on it."
"Probably someone from the Order." The woman closed her eyes and narrowed her lips. "Well they were bound to interfere eventually. We'll deal with them later. For the time being Katra you will continue to watch him. I want detailed reports every twenty-four hours. Ian I want you to locate Erin and Kyle. We'll be needing their abilities shortly."
"Anything else?" Ian asked.
"I'd have told you if there was," she snapped. "Now get out. I've work to do."
"There," Heather said. She gently finished applying the last of the ointment to Sheryl's cheek. "It'll be tender for a few days, but it'll heal within the week." She replaced the cap on the ointment and put it back in her bag.
"Thanks Heather," Justin said to the nurse. "Whatever would we do without you?"
"Honestly? You'd have died long ago. I don't know how you managed to make it to this age without killing yourselves." She turned to Sheryl. "Between the two of us I can't count the number of cuts, sprains, burns, and yes even self-induced stitches that I've treated. It's amazing how much trouble Justin and his friends can get into."
"Self-induced stitches?" Sheryl asked.
"It was actually Justin's little stint," Heather grinned as the blonde coloured slightly. "Justin ripped a shirt of his and decided that he could mend it himself. He was doing fine until he sewed it to his leg. I still don't know how he didn't notice the pain. Of course the alcohol might have had something to do with that."
Sheryl turned to Justin in disbelief. "You sewed a shirt to your own leg?"
"It's not something I bring up," Justin muttered. "Though my surrogate mother seems to like to bring it up."
"Someone has to Justin," the nurse told him. "If I didn't ridicule your self- inflicted lessons then someone else would have to. Besides it's part of my pay. You didn't seriously think I became a nurse for the money did you? Half the fun is to be able to poke fun at people who get themselves hurt in silly ways."
"I think I'm going to like her," Sheryl said.
"Which should probably mean that I should try to limit the time you two get to spend together." He caught the evil glint that Heather gave him. "In particular the amount of time you spend alone. I don't think it'd be very good for my health. Or any of the other guys' either for that matter."
Heather grinned at Justin and then turned back to Sheryl. "Would you like to have lunch with me? Justin has to be in a rehearsal, so he won't bother us." She held up a hand to cut off anything the blonde singer was about to protest. "Now Justin, she's a grown woman and she can make her own choices. Besides you mentioned you two have dinner plans and she doesn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. I'm only thinking of you. You wouldn't want Sheryl to be bored while you go to rehearsal do you?"
"I'd love to go to lunch with you," Sheryl said. "Providing you have some more interesting stories to tell."
"I've got plenty," Heather assured her.
Justin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Since you two have your afternoon planned I'll head back to the studio." He gave Sheryl a quick kiss and turned back to the nurse. "Just promise me that we'll be able to look each other in the eye when you're finished."
"Scouts' honour," the nurse promised.
"I'd be more assured if you'd ever been a scout," Justin muttered. "Hell, if you'd even been a girl guide."
"You let her do what?" Joey asked in amazement. The guys had just finished the first part of their rehearsal and were on their break. Joey stared at Justin with shock visible on his face.
"I didn't let her do anything," the blonde defended himself. "Heather and Sheryl went to lunch together. And I had no say in it whatsoever."
"You do realize that Sheryl is going to come back from that lunch with all sorts of interesting stories about us. In particular the embarrassing ones."
"I can guarantee the embarrassing one's," Chris said. "That's the way Heather's mind works. She can be like a mother sometimes, but mostly she's just the older sister."
Josh came over to them with one of their management figures, Rob. He and Rob were chatting as they walked up to the group. Neither of them seemed to be very impressed with what they were discussing.
"What's wrong guys?" Lance asked. He didn't sound overly concerned, but he was certainly curious.
"Bad news," Josh replied. "Rob can explain this better then I can." The brunette singer sat down next to his band mates.
"I'm not sure how this happened," Rob told them. "Actually I don't think anyone knows how it happened. Somehow your current body guards are not longer qualified for the job."
Lance arched an eyebrow. "They suddenly forgot how to protect us?"
"Not exactly. The papers have gone missing for two of them, and the other three have had their licences expire." Rob shrugged his shoulders. "They could have sworn they had another year on their licences, but apparently not. And we can't employ them unless they have those licences up to date."
"So what happens now?" Chris asked. "We sort of need them. We've been lucky so far, but it's nice to have them there when we need them."
"What they're going to do is retake their courses. But the course runs for two months and doesn't start until next month. Until then we'll get temporary guards for you."
"Can't they just take a refresher course or something?" Joey asked.
"The three that have had their licences expire can, but the other two have no way to prove they ever took the course. We can back them up of course, but it probably won't do much for them. Either way the refresher course doesn't start for another two months."
"Why not grab something earlier?" Justin asked. "I mean we need them right away, can't we get the time pushed up?"
"We've already tried that," Rob explained. "The teachers are body guards themselves and can't just drop their assignments until they're finished. You also have to sign up for these courses; they have to do a background check or something. I've tried everything I can think of and the only answer is to retrain them and get temporary replacements."
"Well that just sucks," Chris said. "When do they leave and when do we get replacements."
"Unfortunately they have to leave almost immediately," Rob said. "I'll have gotten replacements by the day after tomorrow."
TBC
How was that? Things are starting to move along now. Starting to work toward where I want them to go. At least that's the plan. Let me know what you liked or didn't like.
Rune