You Better Not Be Her Prey 3

Chapter 4: Death and Destruction in Her Wake

'What the hell happened here?' one of the police officers said, stepping over two of the bodies. Bucky looked over the three bodies that were charred to ash completely, still bound to the metal pole. 

'I don't know. This is -' he said slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat. 'This is pure malice. Whoever... whatever did this, this is just a pure monster. Unfiltered evil.' 

'Do you think it's the vampire doppelganger?' one of the officers asked the officer that had spoken first. 

'No,' the officer replied. 'This is something different. The girl hanging up there, can't be much younger than nineteen. Even the doppelganger drew a line at murdering young people, except for the one time she murdered the fourteen-year-old. This is worse than the doppelganger. Far worse.' The officer that just spoke walked over to Bucky, who was still looking with horror at the burned bodies on the stake. 'Do you have any idea what happened here, Sergeant Barnes?'

'No,' Bucky replied, meeting his eyes. 'I don't know who did this. But whatever this is - it wasn't planned. All of these people are - or rather, were, small street criminals within New York, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. This is just pure malice... and some of these people stole and did drugs and other illegal things just to protect their families, or to feed them and clothe them, put a roof over their heads, et cetera.' 

'Do you know for sure who it might have been?' the man asked. 

'No... and I'm not even sure I want to know.' Just then there was a crackling from the man's radio on his jacket. He walked away from Bucky, talking into the radio hurriedly, then he turned to the group. 

'Gentlemen, we've got to move out. There's been another set of murders. Hell's Kitchen this time.'

Hell's Kitchen. New York. 

The smell of death was unmistakeable by the time they'd gotten there. They could smell it even before they walked in the door to the warehouse. Somehow, Bucky's gut clenched with the need to vomit, the scene laying before him being even worse than the last scene that the group had seen. 

'Everyone, spread out and keep vigilant,' the officer in charge said. 'Keep your weapons at the ready.' They fanned out in groups of two, checking every corner and every crevice in case someone was still here. But all they could see were the bodies. At least a good 20 bodies were laid out all over the place. Several were chained to poles in groups of three, and it was an even more grisly scene than the last. The two groups of three that were chained to poles had their throats slit, and their eyes removed, leaving gaping holes where their eyeballs once were. All of them chained to the pole were men, and they all had their shirts ripped open, one word for each burned into their chests. Bucky supposed it was a cigarette lighter that was responsible for that mess. 

The rest of the bodies were hanging from the rafters of the warehouse, and everywhere Bucky looked, he could see dead, glossy, vacant eyes staring down at him. It appeared that their limbs had been broken, and their hands, arms, legs and feet were manipulated in grotesque positions as they hung there, dead from asphyxiation. A few more bodies were strangled with chains, some were burned alive, and yet others were cut open like pigs, their entrails left to spill out onto the concrete. Bucky walked back to where three of the officers were investigating the bodies that had their throats slit and tied to the pole. 

'All of these bodies,' one of the officers said, 'they're all paedophiles. Or repeat sex offenders. Whoever's doing this is taking the law into their own hands. Acting as judge, jury and executioner for the protection of the masses.'

'Execution, quite literally,' another of the officers replied. 'This is quite the scene. What should we do, boss?' The head of the squad walked up to them. 

'Whoever this is, they need to be stopped and brought to justice. The right way. This is far too much bloodshed, even if it's in defence of women and children. I'm putting out a shoot on sight order with the NYPD effective immediately.' The head of the squad turned to walk away. 

'Sir!' Bucky called out, jogging up to him. 

'What is it, Sargeant Barnes?'

'Shouldn't we at least try to get the killer's name, or anything, before we try and take them down?'

'We'll get all that when we bring them to justice. But for now, whoever this is needs to be stopped. These people may have broken the law, but for all intents and purposes, they all are still human beings.' The head of the squad turned and left the warehouse. 'Everyone! Move out!'