His victim kept running, but he could tell that she was already weary, judging from the pace at which she ran. Suddenly, she stumbled and fell. He increased his pace and before she could lift herself from the ground he caught up with her and pierced her heart with the kitchen knife.....

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be be published, rewritten or produced without the authorization of the writer.



CHAPTER ONE
Christopher jerked from his bed as his phone rang. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall, It was past two In the morning. He did not need anyone to tell him who could be calling at that time of the morning, neither did he have to guess the reason why; he already knew. He got off the bed and picked his phone off the bedside table, while dressing up hurriedly.
"Hello Jake, another one yeah? Send me the location, I'm on my way". He said as he stepped out of his apartment. He sped through the deserted streets all the way downtown. He screeched to a halt beside two parked police cars on Walter street and raced down the alley where the crime had happened. As he reached the end of the alley the gory sight stopped him In his tracks. One more look had him retching. Never In his career as a cop has he seen so much blood. He gave himself a mental shake and walked up to Jeremy and Jake.
“What’s the 411 on this one guys?” He asked as he bent by the corpse and examined it.
“Victim has been identified, She works In a café by the corner. Her name Is Betty May, thirty four, single.” Chris continued to examine the body as Jake reeled out her details. The cuts on her body were deep, It looked like the killer had a grudge to settle.
“Any eye witness account yet?” He asked
“One, boss. A homeless dude saw the whole thing. According to him, Betty was about to walking out the door when a dude walked in. He said the guy was acting weird, but a lot of weird stuff goes on around here so he just ignored. He got alarmed when he heard Betty yell, and when he looked through the window, he saw the dude with a knife. Betty managed to run out of the café, but the guy chased her down this alley. The result is here for all to see.” Jake concluded grimly.
Chris stood up and faced them “and what did this homeless guy do when he saw the killer with the knife?” he asked Jeremy but It was Jake who answered.
“He said he bolted across the street and knocked on the door of the house right In front of the café. The occupants were scared of him and dialed 911. Jeremy was in the area on patrol so he responded, If he had gotten here sooner the disaster would have been averted”
“What do you mean?” Chris asked
“Well Chief, when I got to the house I met the homeless guy, his name is Dick by the way. I met Dick and he yelled at me to follow him. We raced in this direction and found the killer running out of this alley with a bloodied knife in his hands. I tackled him and wrestled the knife from him. He is in my car” Jeremy finished.
“What the…” Chris said as he raced to Jeremy’s car. He looked into the back seat and saw a guy In his mid-twenties, fast asleep. Chris looked at Jake and Jeremy quizzically.
“What’s going on here?”
“Beats me Chief” Jake shrugged.

On the way back to the station, Chris rubbed his throbbing temple with his free hand while the other gripped the steering wheel. Years ago, when he signed up for the Police force he did not imagine he would be faced with such mysterious cases. The county had its occasional drama, with feuding sides, amidst other vices but those were quickly wrapped up. The rate at which murder was being committed gave him great worry, the Inadequacy he felt at been unable to unravel the recent killings made him feel useless.
He drove into the parking lot and headed for his office. Sherry, the officer on duty greeted him with a mild smile. She knew when to exchange banters; now was not the time. Chris instructed that the suspect be moved Into the Interrogation room and while they run a background check on him. In five minutes they had all the data they needed on him and joined him In the Interrogation room. The young man looked like hell, but Chris and his team was unfazed, they had seen that same look of recent, and they were bent on getting to the bottom of the whole thing.
“Enjoy your nap, Mason? You seem like you have seen the devil” Chris began. “Why did you do it son?”
Mason started to cry. “You have to let me go, please. I can’t go to jail”
Chris smiled grimly “That’s where you’re headed son. Your offense attracts capital punishment, and no jury would let you go easily. So tell us, why did you do it? She turned you down? Was she your ex? She got dirt on you?” Mason continued to shake his head. This angered Chris and he banged on the table “Answer me dammit”
“I swear, I never met her in my life. I mean, I knew her but not personally. ” Mason cried
“Your words don’t add up son” Chris said sternly
Mason dried his eyes, took and deep breath and continued “Officer sir, what I mean is I have seen her a couple of times, when I hang out my friends at the café, but I never said a word to her personally. She took our orders sometimes, and other times we were served by the other attendants”
“So why did you kill her? Do you do drugs? Do you belong to a frat? Did they ask you to do this? You know what son, spill the beans and I will convince the jury to go easy on you. We will also put you under witness protection, so no one can hurt you”. Chris said kindly but Mason shook his head still.
“Officer sir, nobody asked me to do It, I don’t know why I did It. Am a good kid” He pleaded.
“Yeah, and my mother Is a virgin.” Chris smirked. He turned to Jeremy “Take him to the cell, he will stay there till he Is willing to cooperate”. Jeremy nodded and led a crying Mason out. Chris sighed heavily. “There goes another dead end” he said to Jake who had been silent the whole time. He moved towards Chris and patted him on the shoulder.
“We will get to the bottom of this Chief” He assured Chris
“Oh yeah we have to, and real fast, I have a feeling we are yet to see the last of this” Chris said uneasily.

writingking:
just passing by

i hope you come back

nice story... following bumper to bumper

TWO MONTHS EARLIER…….
Online survey reveals that there are over 1.2 billion game players all over the world, out of which seven hundred thousand is played online. The small town of Hill county was not left out, as both young and old trooped into the arcades every now and then. One arcade close to the shore particularly was always busy from open hours till shut down. It was owned by Mr Radcliff, and the arcade had been run by his father. It always had a new game was Installed every now and then, so It was the town’s favorite arcade. The store owner was elated when The Man walked Into his shop and offered him a virtual reality game, complete kit for free, little did he know of the havoc that was about to be unleashed....
The Man smiled in satisfaction as he walked down the street In front of old man Radcliff’s arcade. He blended in so perfectly, no one would suspect him of having any ulterior motive. He passed by and peered into the arcade. A teenager sat In front of "Wanda", playing happily. The Man turned and walked back in the direction from which he came. Project "Wanda" was going on just fine....
********************************************************************
Christopher sighed in exasperation. There was no head way in the case, and it was driving him crazy. Family of the victims were crying for justice on one hand, while on the other the suspect's family pleaded for leniency. What baffled him most was the mystery surrounding the killings. The suspects had no prior record of violence, and the drug tests came out clean. He looked at the files In front of him and sighed again, as he reached for the glass of water In front of him he heard a click and the door opened.
“Hey baby” Maxine’s sonorous voice rang out. He smiled broadly. Her presence had the ability of bringing light rays on stormy days. His smile deepened as she walked towards him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“How are you?” He said, looking at her lovingly. Standing at five feet eight, gorgeous blue eyes with wavy hair, Maxine always turned heads wherever they went. The duo always presented a sight for sore eyes whenever they went out together.
“What are you working on now?” She asked as she slid into his laps
“A murder case. We have recorded about five in the past two months. Do be careful out there babe, there is something mysterious lurking In Hill county, till we crack the case I suggest you watch your back” He said as he tucked the files away.
“They will need an army to take me down, I got the best training in self-defense” She smiled as she tickled him seductively. “I brought take outs, you hungry?”
“Yeah, I am but will not for food” His hand reached under her blouse and brushed the strap of her bra while he kissed her lightly.
“Easy there tiger, I gotta shower first. Had a long day today” She said as she pushed him away laughing. She stood up, slid her skirt down her legs and walked seductively to the bathroom. Chris watched her gstring clad rounded bum shake seductively and he felt himself rise. He briskly jumped out of his clothes and raced to join her In the bathroom.
After dinner, with Maxine sound asleep in bed Chris resumed work at his bedside table. For the sake of his beloved County he had to wrap up the case before disaster deals another blow.

“Hey mum, check out this really cool game” Bryan dragged his mum towards Zombie Apocalypse game set in the arcade.

Mr Radcliff smiled. That’s a pretty cool game you picked, guess what? It’s new. Only few people have tried it and they said It was awesome”

“Can I play mum? Can I?” Bryan pleaded but his mum looked at the set skeptically.

“I don’t know Bry. It seems a little violent, don’t you think? I don’t want you having nightmares” She replied but Bryan crossed his arms stubbornly.

“I’m not a kid anymore mom, I’m almost twelve” He pouted his lips, so his mum obliged.

“Fine, you can play it, but don’t you come running to me when you got nightmares” She said to a happy Bryan. He grabbed the virtual reality googles and started shooting at the zombies. His mum turned to Mr Radcliff.

“Quite gory for kids, don’t you think sir?” She asked as she stared at the screen. Mr Radcliff shrugged.

“The kids are playing them these days ma’am. Very soon they will be very affordable so every child can have a set at home. It Is up to parents to control the kind of games they play then. Not to worry ma’am, your kid’s safe” He winked at her as he walked back to the counter. Bryan’s mum sat at a coffee table and watched as her son played happily.

Thirty minutes later, she dragged a reluctant Bryan out of the arcade. He brightened up after she promised they would be back the next day. He skipped to the car and they drove off.

On the highway, she stepped on the gas pedal and headed home. Bryan was quiet so she spoke up.

“Bry, what’s up? You don’t wanna talk to momma?” She said but he did not respond. She glanced in his direction but his head was drooped, so she thought he was asleep. She nudged him lightly. He slowly lifted his head and looked at her. The terror on his face made her screech to a halt. “Bryan, you okay? What Is It?” She said to him, but he screamed in fear. She quickly jumped out of the car and ran towards his door, but before she could reach him, he had alighted from the car and started running away from her. She ran after him shouting

“Bryan, stop it this minute you hear me? It’s not funny, you scaring me.” She yelled but he continued to run. A man driving past stopped and got down from his car.

“Ma’am, you okay? What’s the problem?” He asked as he trotted after her.

“Please help me, help me with my son. I don’t know what’s wrong he’s acting all weird” The tears were streaming down her face now. The man overtook her and ran at a full trot. In no time he had caught up with Bryan. He gripped him by the shoulders and held him tightly.

“Hey boy, stop it. You got your mum scared” He said as he held Bryan firmly to prevent him from running but Bryan screamed even louder. He dug his teeth into the man’s hand and ran across the road. At that same time a truck passed at full speed. Bryan’s mum screamed when the truck hit him, the Impact had him flying into a nearby bush…..

The highway was crawling with cops in no time. Mercifully, someone had dialed 911 amidst the confusion. The ambulance was about driving away when Chris arrived.

“How is the kid?” He asked Jake who had arrived at the scene earlier.

“He’s dead boss. Kid was hit at full impact, even a grown man could not have survived it.” Jake said sorrowfully. Chris cursed under his breath.

“And the driver? Was he under any influence?” He asked as he turned towards the truck.

“No sir. He’s sober, but he will be taken to the lab for further tests” Jake replied. He led Chris to the patrol car, where Bryan’s mum sat, wide eyed.

“Is she okay?” Chris peered into her face.

“I don’t think so. She was sedated, but she is fighting it. That’s the kid’s mum, she saw the whole thing” Jake summoned a man towards them. “Chief, this is Monroe, he is an eye witness. Please recount everything you told me”. Monroe narrated the ordeal to Chris, who stood thoughtfully.

“So let me get this straight, the kid was running away from his mum when this happened? Men, she has a lot of explaining to do” He said as looked over his shoulder towards the patrol car.

“Well, he was running from me too. At first I thought he did not want to be caught, but when I did catch up with him, the look on his face scared the shit out of me. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Shit was weird” Monroe added. Chris kicked a stone in frustration. He could not wait for Bryan’s mum to come out of her temporal coma, she had a lot to answer.

Doing great

dammyd46:
nice story... following bumper to bumper

Thank you

KweenAngela:
Doing great

Thanks Kween

Chris continued to pace the hospital hallway, impatiently waiting for Bryan’s mum to snap out of her comatose state. Something told him what had happened tonight was not unconnected to the recent murders in Hill County, he could feel it in his gut. A man sat on a bench close to the room, it was her husband. He held his head in his hands, deep in grief. Jake walked up to him with a cup of coffee in each hand. He handed one to Chris who muttered “thank you” as he collected the coffee. Jake offered Mr Miller the second cup but the latter refused.

“Mr Miller, so what you are telling me right now is there was never any disagreement between Bryan and his mum?” Chris asked. The teary man looked up at him, sad eyed.

“None, Chief. Bry adored his mum. They were besties. She had taken him out to that arcade, the one owned by old man Radcliff because he had aced his tests in school. He was pretty obedient, never got into trouble with anybody, least of all his mum” Chris looked through the glass into the room where Mrs Miller lay.

“Whatever happened tonight, she’s the only one who can tell it us” He checked his watch and spoke to Jake. “I will stop by at the arcade to have a little chat with Radcliff, perhaps he saw anything. Keep close watch, if she wakes up you let me know” He said as he walked away briskly. Jake nodded in affirmative as he took watch beside the door to the room.



When Chris arrived at the store, Mr Radcliff was about closing for the day. He saw the patrol car stop in front of the store so he paused.

“Good evening Sheriff” He greeted as Chris got down from the car and walked towards him. “What brings you here?”

“Good evening Mr Radcliff….”

“No, no I will have none of that. Do call me Tom. Everybody calling me Radcliff makes me feel old” Tom objected with a broad smile. Chris looked at him closely, the man was surely cheerful, he had to be about fifty years old.

“Okay Tom, I have a few questions to ask, wouldn’t take much of your time I promise”

“Sure sure, come on in” Tom said as he opened the door. He led Chris to the back office and they both sat down.” So tell me what you want from old Radcliff here” he laughed.

“Gee, he sure does laugh a lot” Chris thought to himself before speaking up. “I believe these people came into the arcade today?” He asked as he held up a picture of a smiling Bryan with his mum. Radcliff put on his glasses and looked at the picture for a while.

“You know a lot of folks come by here, but I think I recognize them. Yeah, yeah I do. Boy came in with his mother, they left a couple of hours ago” Tom said thoughtfully.

“Did you notice anything unusual?” Chris asked carefully, his eyes never leaving Tom’s for a second.

“Well, nothing unusual really. She brought him to the arcade, they argued about his choice of game for a minute, she thought he was not old enough but she obliged after a while. Nothing unusual there though, we see that all the time here” Tom said, smiling.

“And what happened afterward?” Chris quizzed. Tom rubbed his forehead, trying to remember.

“Well, they left after a while”

“Did you notice any friction between them?”

“None at all, they left normally. I remember her telling me they will be back” Chris stood up

“Thank you Tom, you have been of great help”

“Is anything the matter?” Tom asked as he walked Chris to the door

“I’m afraid so, the little boy is dead. We are investigating the cause of his death. I advise you lock up and head on home real fast, for security reasons. Goodnight sir” Chris said as he got into the car and drove off leaving Tom with a shocked look on his face.

No comment to encourage the writer, not fair

Maybelconor:
No comment to encourage the writer, not fair

it will come, beside it jst got started, go on and update,

commentators will surely arrive,



this story is, hmmmm

more update pls

Taylor rode his bike quickly down the street. His mum didn’t know he had climbed down the window of his room, if she did he would be in big trouble, his dad would probably ground him for life. He jumped off and raced into the arcade.
“Hey Mr Radcliff” He said as he handed him some cash in exchange for game coins. He walked round the arcade, indecisive on which to have a go at first. Finally, he stopped in front of zombie apocalypse. “Rad game” he quickly slotted a few coins in and put on the virtual googles, and picked up the virtual gun.
“Neat” He screamed as the game came on and some zombies approached him. He shot at them erratically, adrenaline pumping through his veins. After a while, his session expired and he slotted more coins. Soon he was out of coins, so he left the arcade but vowed to come back for more. He rode home quickly and climbed up his room window and jumped into bed. He picked up his ipod was soon singing along to the latest jams.
“Taylor, to bed now” His dad yelled as he climbed up the stairs but Taylor did not hear so he banged on the door. “Taylor, go to bed now” He repeated.
Taylor sat up, he thought he heard banging on his door. He turned off the music and listened again but the house was quiet. He made to put the earpiece back on, but the banging on his door resumed. Suddenly the door burst open and at the doorway stood creature. It’s monstrous head devoid of eyes with the upper lip missing. In place of fingers, it had stubs and its chest was ripped open halfway down his torso. Taylor rubbed his eyeballs to make sure he was not seeing things, but when he opened them the thing was still there, in his room!!! As the thing advanced, Taylor yelled and rushed out of bed. His baseball bat was lying on the floor beside his bed so he picked it up and took a swipe at the head. He heard a guttural sound so he took another hit. The thing fell to the ground so he continued to hit, screaming. He stopped screaming, but the sound did not stop. He fell to the ground, but before he passed out he looked towards the door and saw his mum standing there, her eyes filled with horror….

do4luv14:



it will come, beside it jst got started, go on and update,

commentators will surely arrive,



this story is, hmmmm

more update pls

I hope so, the story is what?

Maybelconor:


I hope so, the story is what?

hmmm abeg free me small ah go too as e dey go

J

I love mystery, nice one op..I'm hooked

souloho19:
I love mystery, nice one op..I'm hooked

Welcome on board sir

waow!!! hunted and bursted...u are doung a nice job here bro....

Well-done.....I guess the game is making d kids misbehave

Wow!i hardly comment here but this is ur second story am reading and it's just 'wow'!!!keep up,nice one.

abeg oooo b4 I start reading pls is it going to b free...I hope it won't land on akada books

Hope this is not another story dat will be purchased on okada book, cos if it is u better let us know now.

finally, feels good to be back here

Chris slumped wearily on the bench beside Jake. His talk with Mr Radcliff did not yield any results rather, it confused him even more. Bryan and his mother were on good terms before they left the arcade, knowledge of whatever happened in the car rested solely in the hands of Mrs Miller but she was yet to regain consciousness. Jake sensed that his boss was tensed so he quietly eased out of the hospital waiting room to get more coffee. On his way, he checked on Mr Miller who refused to leave the front of his wife’s room. He sat gloomily on the chair, his head propped in his hands. Jake passed him without saying a word and headed to the car. Voices blasting commands from the radio had him racing to the car, there was an emergency. He picked up his walkie talkie and called in the station. In no time information was reeling in from the other end.
“Damn, Chief won’t like this” he said as he stumbled out of the car, his quest for coffee forgotten.
Chris was almost dozing off when he heard someone cough beside him. He opened his eyes slowly at the same time Jake walked in briskly.
“Boss, there has been a distress call. Location is Mayor’s lane. Some cops have been dispatched, but you might wanna be there first hand” Jake said, looking around grimly. Chris jumped to his feet and walked towards the reception. He instructed the nurse on duty to call the station as soon as Miller comes around, and left with Jake at his heels.
Soon, they arrived at the scene. The cops that arrived earlier had sealed the house with the yellow tape, and there was a woman crying hysterically in front of the house, she was held by a young woman who was also crying. Chris passed through the tapes and walked in to the house. One quick look around and he was back outside, and approached an officer.
“Walden, what happened here?” He asked, looking at the hysterical woman. He saw some attendants lift two bodies into different ambulances, and he beckoned the officer to follow him while he walked over to the ambulance. On the first bed, he saw a young boy, possibly eighteen or nineteen, unconscious. He walked over to the next one and lifted the cover.
“Jeez, Walden. What in the hell happened?” he cursed as a battered head stared in in the face. The skull was cracked open and the brains were visible for all to see. Chris for one was thankful he had been too busy to eat dinner. The sight was too gory to keep anything in.
“Well Chief, the young man on the other bed is Taylor, the deceased was his dad. His mum walked into Taylor’s room to find him wacking his dad with his baseball bat. Afterwards, the kid passed out”. Walden summarized. Chris pointed towards the crying woman
“And I suppose that is the mother?” Walden nodded in affirmation. Chris strode over and knelt in front of her.
“Ma’am, I am sorry for your loss. Right now, you have to come in to the station to answer a few questions” The woman looked at him, as her lips continued to tremble. The young woman spoke up.
“Sir, my mother is in shock here. She just witnessed my brother kill his father, her husband” She said pointedly.
“My condolences once again. She is not under duress, but she is a prime eye witness to all that happened here. We need to take her in, not as a suspect but as an eyewitness” He repeated firmly. Taylor’s mother sniffed.
“It’s fine Hailey, the good man is only doing his job. Taylor, he killed him you know” She started to wail again. Chris shifted uncomfortably, this was an aspect of the job he hated, but it had to be done so he stood his ground.
“Do you know why he did it?” He asked but she shook her head
“It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t. Taylor loved his dad, they always took each others’ side in the house, but the look I saw in his eyes” She trailed off. Chris perked up
“What look ma’am?”
“He looked like he had been confronted by a demon. It was horrifying, I didn’t know who to run to, him or my husband who lay in a pool of his own blood on the floor” She whispered faintly. Chris signaled the paramedics to give her medical attention
“She’s in shock” He said to them as he moved away. He turned to Jake, who had been listening all the while and said in a low tone
“Pray to God, if you believe in any. An evil has been unleashed on Hill County.”

Wow#following#thanksfortheupdate.

Chris looked around the conference room grimly. A group of police officers stared back, blank faced.
“Officers, I guess you all know why we are here so let’s get straight to the point” He gulped as he looked at the able bodied men before him, they seemed to sink lower into their seats.
“Murder rate has increased in Hill County, and the people are loosing faith in the force. For every crime committed we have been able to round up the perpetrators, but what beats my socks off is the motive, can any of you tell me what that is?” He asked but they all kept mute.
“Because there seems to be NONE!!!” He yelled in exasperation. Jeremy coughed silently, Chris looked at him and sighed deeply.
“It all seems so easy, a crime is committed, suspect is arrested and charged to court but believe you me it goes way more than this, and I want every man to be on his feet, we must get to the bottom of it. You may all return to your posts” He dismissed them but signaled Jeremy to stay behind.
“Jeremy I need you to get Jake. The first trial for Mason’s case will be held today. I need you guys to stick around that court room, pay attention to everything, I mean everything that kid says. We are dealing with a bigger force here, and my gut tells me this is just the beginning”. Jeremy nodded and walked away. Chris watched him for a while before taking his seat. Only then did he realize he had been standing for close to an hour. He picked up the six files in front of him and looked at them. Somehow, the cases were connected, but he could not link the dots. He had to find the missing link. He wearily opened the first file and started to read.

“All rise” The clerk’s voice rang through the court as the Judge made her entrance.

Jake nudged Jeremy slightly, nudging towards the Judge. Jeremy smiled in response. Judge Jody was well known in Hill County. She was ruthless, and hated any form of dramatic display in her court.

“I hope the kid got himself a good lawyer, would be too bad to have your lawyer in jail with you for contempt” Jake laughed. His laughter turned into a fit of cough when Judge Jody threw a frown in his direction.

“Before we proceed, I would like to warn every one of you” She looked at the plantiff before moving her gaze to the accused. “I will not tolerate any sudden outbursts in my court room. I expect the best behavior from both sides. Anyone who wants to act contrary to this should please use the exit” She pointed her hammer at the door. Nobody stood up. She surveyed the courtroom for a minute. “Very well, we may now proceed”

***************************************************************************************
Back at the station, Chris looked at the notes he had been taking. He placed each note beside the other and looked at them critically. He rubbed his forehead in frustration, he was back to where he started. He peered at the noted one more time, then it hit him.

“RADCLIFF’s ARCADE”

He raced out of the hall towards his car, pausing only for one minute to bark instructions at Sherry at the front desk.

“Reach Jeremy to meet me up at Radcliff’s arcade. He’s in court for the preliminary hearing of Mason’s case”. In no time he was in his car, he revved the engine and headed towards the arcade.

*************************************************************************************
The Man hissed In Irritation from a safe distance across the street. He saw Mr Radcliff been taken by the cops. It meant the arcade would be closed for a while, since it was under Investigation.
“Damn It” he shouted as he kicked at a trash can angrily.
“The cops are onto something, can’t let them burst this gig so soon” He walked back to the house and planned for phase two.

Following solidly. I want more

Oh my God!!!!!
I'm so hooked
Pls mention me when u post an update
Nice work op