✓ 𝐒𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐍'𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 | 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐰

1 | adultery or hate?

The sound of church bells echoed in Celia's head, slowly getting louder and louder. The screech of women and children, a mother's sob. She could see a man in her vision, a man dressed in all white as he stood next to a casket. He yelled prayers, and finally after the repetition of "Repent!" over and over, she woke up in a jolt, sweat caking her face and brows.

She'd had this dream for the last month, the image of her late husband's funeral. Except in her dreams, it was dramatized to what she thought should have happened. His mother never actually showed up, and neither did his father. It was only her and a couple of devoted Christians from the last town she was living in.

He was a sinner, a cheat, and a fraud to God. The church didn't even want to have a funeral for him. But Celia insisted, saying it was crucial to the start of her new life.

Now, she lives alone, forgetting about what she had in the past, and now, looking to what she had in the future.

She wiped the sweat off her skin, spinning her body until her feet hit the cold wooden floor.

After she told her last boss she was moving to a new town for a fresh start, he was sympathetic. He was an Atheist, so he never believed in the concept of sinning. He had connections with the police department in the new town and made some calls urgently. Because of him, Celia was now the head detective of the new town, demoting the previous one to "Detective's Assistant."

She took her time to get dressed, making sure everything was perfect before she showed her face at the crime scene she had been called about just as she had gotten out of bed.

The final touch, a dark red lipstick.

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"Detective," The head police on duty starts as he approaches Celia, "We're glad you're here."

Behind him, a tall woman exits the house. She was elegant, dressed in all black, and she looked creepily familiar.

He steps aside, letting the woman approach Celia.

"You must be the new detective. I'm Ms. Cooper," She takes her hand, shaking it firmly, before huffing, "I was the previous detective."

Celia purses her lips, shaking her hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard good things about you."

She steps back, sliding her hands into her pockets as she stands tall, "I'm sure you did. Shall we get started?"

Celia nods her head, taking off her sunglasses and sliding them down the middle of her shirt before she follows Ms. Cooper into the strange house. It had a musky smell to it and there was dust floating around everywhere. It was as if time had stopped in here.

Ms. Cooper leads her into the living room where she saw a horrendously bloody scene. On the couch, a sitting up body of a middle-aged man with thinning white hair. Chained, literally, to his lap was a girl, much younger than him. It was a disgusting sight and Celia could image exactly what had gone on here.

This was planned.

What was worse was that the girl's mouth was wide open around his genitals, and the remainder of his wrist was lying on top of her bloody mat of hair. His hand was cut clean off, stuffed deep down his throat.

Ceila stared at the man, her weight on one leg. The mans hand, the one that was cut off, now in his mouth, had a wedding ring on it.

Celia nods, crossing her arms, "Adultery." She says without a stutter. It was an easy conclusion.

Ms. Cooper looks to her.

"It's obvious what the killer was trying to do here. He's telling us this man was having an affair."

Ms. Cooper nods, "Okay... but what else?"

Celia's eyes were locked on the man's eyes. His iris' were cloudy and his skin was pale, drained of all signs of life, "She was forced."

The two women pace around the bodies, studying every aspect of it.

"The chains... she wasn't allowed to escape. She's chained to him. This was some sort of abusive relationship. Do you see it? The killer is using this... as some sort of art."

"Art," She chuckles, "I don't think a killer is creative like that. This is pure evil."

She could agree on that, but there was more to this than what meets the eye. This wasn't just some messy murder of a random person. The killer knew him. The killer wanted to tell us that this wasn't just for no reason, but there was a purpose to this.

─┉┈◈†◈┈┉

Celia sat in her car in front of the station, an almost burnt-out cigarette between her fingers. She puts it out on her leather seat, turns off the car, then starts walking toward the building.

She was greeted warmly by the staff, and then led to the back where all the police and detectives on the case were. They all gathered by a large table that was scattered with pictures from the crime scene. All of it was very gruesome.

She found a spot next to Ms. Cooper, giving her a small smile before she directed her attention to the pictures on the table.

"Mrs. Collins, you told Ms. Cooper you think it was a crime committed because the man was an adulterer. Expand on that."

"Well, officer," She starts, "It's easy. The man was obviously married, the ring tells it all and the chains, well they explain the relationship the two victims had."

"You say he was married, then where was the wife in all of this."

She nods her head a bit, crossing her arms, "I don't know."

The officer nods his head back, his attention going to Ms. Cooper, "What's your conclusion?"

She speaks confidently, her body tall and straight, "This was an act of hatred. This killer obviously had some sort of relationship with the girl, and he hated to see her move on."

She was wrong. She was so beyond wrong.

"Thank you, detective. Now let's start ruling out possible suspects."

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Celia sat on her bed, another cigarette between her fingers as she flipped through the newspaper that was thrown onto her doorstep.

Small Town Killer, Still Not Identified

...Was at the top of the first page. It reported on the crime they had just investigated, but of course, it was structured like another news article. Except for one detail. The author seemed to have the same idea as Celia. That this was a crime against the man, labeled an adulterer. The author was unfortunately anonymous, but at the bottom of the page, a phone number.

Celia found herself reaching for her phone, unconsciously dialing the number. With a couple of rings, someone finally answered the phone.

"Hello?"

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Author's Note !!

I apologize for such a short and uninteresting chap, but I promise it gets much better and spooky from here !

I hope everyone enjoyed and I can't wait to introduce my husband !