Angel Girl

Chapter 9: Escalation

Elsewhere, at an apartment building, a police officer was getting out of the shower, as he wrapped a towel around himself. He wiped the steam from the mirror and gazed at himself, feeling exhausted after a long day and night of work. He turned on the sink to wash his face but spooked when he spotted the image of a dark, hooded figure behind him. The cop frantically spun around, but there was no one there. When the frightened officer faced the mirror again, the figure had vanished. Confused and scared, the officer grabbed his pistol from under the sink and rushed to find the intruder in his dark living room. He noticed a large shadow in the pale moonlight, and when he turned to his balcony window the figure, clad in a black hooded cloak, was standing outside staring at him. Terrified, the officer hid behind the couch, thinking the intruder might be armed.

He slowly peered over the sofa with his gun ready to shoot but hid again when he saw that the figure was still there. After a few moments of maddening silence, the cop gathered his nerve and popped up in a defensive stance, aiming his gun in the intruder’s direction but, shockingly, the figure was no longer there. “What the freak?” the officer whispered as he retreated to his room and locked the door. Stepping back to the far side of his bedroom, he pointed his gun at the door, waiting for the intruder to burst in. The officer shook with fear and sweat ran down his face and body. He paused when he felt something solid; but it wasn’t a wall. The officer slowly turned around and screamed in horror at the sight of the figure standing nearly seven feet tall over him. The cloaked individual grabbed the officer by his throat and lifted him high off the floor. The officer noticed that his skin was grayish-brown, cracked, and dead-looking. He also wore ripped black pants. 

What shook the officer to his core was that the intruder’s eyes glowed purplish-blue, and he wore a mempo mask that had a menacing skull design. He immediately knew that this was no mere man. “What are you?” the officer asked fearfully. Instead of answering, the hooded individual threw him to the floor and, as the cop tried to crawl away, bound his hands and feet with pure darkness. “Please! Don’t do this, please!!!” the officer sobbed, begging for his life. But his pleas fell on deaf ears as the hooded man strolled over to him and thrust his fist into the cop’s back, inflicting crippling pain. In one swift motion, the hooded man ripped out the cop’s spine as blood pooled on the floor. The cloaked man tossed the remains down and disappeared in a shroud of darkness.

The next day was sunnier and warmer than usual, and children were outside playing with water balloons, water guns, while  others swam at the local pool. At the Lawton residence, Jordan and Ryan were playing ‘Special Forces: Judgment Day’ as they drank ice-cold fresh lemonade and ate nachos. “Anything new on Mr. X or his gang?” the girl asked. “Nah, they’ve been quiet. Too quiet,” Jordan noted with suspicion in his tone. “But don’t sweat it. If they’re up to something, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Have you heard about the cop that was murdered last night?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, I did. According to the police, the dead cop’s spine was ripped out,”- Jordan wheezed- “Pretty brutal. They also found packs of cocaine in his closet.”

“He’s escalating, and the killer won’t stop until every corrupt cop is dead. Maybe the police already know that.”

“Look on the bright side; at least we’re safe.”

Ryan paused the game and looked at him as if he’d said something both dumb and offensive. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I-I-I-I’m just saying. The killer is targeting dirty cops and not civilians. So, good for us.”

Ryan looked at him in disbelief. “Really?”

“Yeah, I can say it without condoning it.”

Ryan rolled her eyes and unpaused the game. “Whatever,” she and Jordan continue playing.