Blood Obsidian

Issue 33

Whoso comes from the dark ... - Part 3

Caitlyn had never seen a dead body, not even when Uncle Richard had died. A closed casket had been the only sign that her Uncle even lay dead, the injuries he received in the accident far too severe to see. Now, in this rundown apartment only streets away from where Fiend had placed their hideout in Market Town, she saw the aftermath of a suicide and what appeared to be yet another lair of the villain that had attacked Caitlyn and Alaina, and had threatened yet more violence.

Pho-Boy showed no reaction as he passed a flashlight over the scene, where more of Fiend's equipment sat in various corners of the small room. Not so much a lair as the one-room home of someone desperately poor and unloved. Caitlyn could see one of the flying platforms, several of the multi-purpose grenades, a purple unitard and a latex mask that glared at her, foam teeth grinning at Caitlyn's despair.

Harlan Giordano sat, slumped in a chair, thirty-eight pistol dangling from limp fingers, a hole in his head and blood spattered against the wall behind his corpse. A cell phone sat on the table before him, surrounded by half-eaten take-out boxes, ashtrays filled to overflowing and empty beer cans. Kyle tapped the screen and Caitlyn could see a few words. He nodded, allowing the screen to fade.

"It's fake." With a sigh, he swept the light around the room once again, bringing the light to rest back on Giordano's corpse. "An obvious fake, too. The cops will see that easy enough, but I can't help but wonder why. Why even bother to fake a suicide if you're not going to do a good job about it?"

"Fiend is toying with us. With me." She turned away from Giordano's body, wishing she had never decided to become a hero. "Somehow, they knew we were coming here. Maybe Alden did this?"

She lifted a number of lottery scratchcards, noting they were all winners, never collected. Giordano had once occupied a prized position at Ald-Tech, or so Kyle's investigations had shown, but he had clashed with Alden. Taken it upon himself to perform live bio-engineering tests on human subjects. Ald-Tech had fired him immediately and covered up Giordano's indiscretions. No other company would touch him after that.

A promising career cut down by hubris and ambition. And now his life taken away for no other reason than to send a message to her. Or, perhaps, to Raymond Alden? Caitlyn would always think the worst of the man, despite being more than willing to take on the internship. She had had a pragmatic view that working at Ald-Tech would have opened doors for her. She was not averse to using Alden for that. It seemed possible that Fiend had staged this suicide to put Alden off the track of who stole from his company.

"We should get out of here. I'll put in an anonymous tip to NHPD." He headed to the open window they had used to enter the apartment. "Try not to let it get to you. Because, if you do, it'll never stop. You can't save everybody. Not even Principle can do that."

No, she couldn't, but that didn't mean she shouldn't try. The almost silent escape of gas from Kyle's gauntlet told her he had fired his grapple and she headed to the window, ready to follow him. With one leg hooked outside, she took another look at the pitiful, unwashed, unshaven form of Harlan Giordano and could feel nothing but pity for him. She doubted he had anyone that could mourn him.

-+-

Parkside High, days later ...

Her suspension over, Caitlyn dreaded reentering school. For a number of reasons. Alaina, for one and most importantly. The chance of seeing Rayna. Over the last few days, they had exchanged texts but hadn't talked since that day in the diner, when things had taken a turn for the sensuous. Those texts had bordered on flirtation, but didn't cross that line, leaving Caitlyn a little frustrated as to where things stood. Did Rayna like her? Like, 'like her'-like her? Or was it only in Caitlyn's head.