Case Files of Detective Kenneth Cohl

Case File Six: Rival and Friend

"Get back here!" Kenneth said chasing down Richard Blair, a heavy set balding man that lived in the address left by Alister.

The chase led into a warehouse district of Zimmerville, as Kenneth chased the man through all the twists and turns until finally cornering him in an alley.

"Ok, now you are going to answer my question. Who is Alister Crowley?"

"I will never talk to you, you scum."

"That man put me through hell earlier today, than left me your name, so you are going to tell me what I want to know. Obviously if he gave up your name, you are expendable to him, meaning he is probably going to kill you, come with me, play nice, and you may be able to live."

"I don't care if he kills me, I will not tell you anything!"

Suddenly the sound of a gun being fired broke the silence of the night, and before Kenneth's eyes Richard fell to the ground. He ran over to the body to find a bullet hole in his head, blood dripping out the front and back. As Kenneth began to move away, an arrow was fired that pierced into Richard's heart.

"So close, yet so far away. 140 Tomarossi Lane.

~Alister Crowley"

Kenneth pulled up the maps on his phone to find this new location, which turned out to be just a few blocks away from him, he began running following the map to the address. When he got there he put his hands on his knees; his ribs were hurting, his legs burning and he was struggling to catch his breath. The cold air of the night helped him recover a little easier as he looked up to find the address was an old run down building, four stories tall. He started walking towards the building, as he got closer he could see that the door was open just a crack. Despite all his better judgment screaming out to him to not go in, he was too curious and decided to walk inside. The first floor was empty except for a flashlight in the center of the room, when he got closer he could see there was a note under the light, he picked it up and shined the flashlight on it to read.

"LOOK UP!"

Kenneth shined the light and looked up to see a masked man dressed like a ninja diving down from the ceiling towards him. He was barely able to roll out of the way before the man pulled out twin katana blades and slashed with both of them before hitting the ground. He tossed one at Kenneth, who was able to dodge and catch as the man charged towards him. Kenneth defended himself the best he could, the swords continued to clash as the sounds echoed through the empty building. During the struggle, Kenneth noticed paper wrapped around the other blade's handle. While Kenneth allowed himself to get distracted for that split second, the man was able to stab Kenneth in the left arm, but Kenneth quickly recovered and in the same motion, spun around and stabbed the man through the stomach. He fell to the floor struggling to breathe, Kenneth tried to help him but as he got close, the body began to get electrocuted. The man died with smoke rising from him. Kenneth moved over to the sword and removed the note.

"All life is expendable to me; move up to the next floor if you wish to continue."

Kenneth grabbed the flashlight with his right hand, and dragged the sword in his left which has already started to go numb. Kenneth forced himself to walk up the stairs and to the second floor; he shined the light and looked all around including up but could not find anyone, there was just boxes stacked all over the place. He started walking over to the opposite side when someone came out of the shadows and attacked him on his left. This person delivered a punch to Kenneths shoulder which caused him to toss the sword away as he pulled his arm across his body to hold it in pain. He looked up and standing in front of him was a man with muscles on his muscles, he had no weapons, but had his hands and feet taped up for combat. He attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. Kenneth was barely able to dodge the attacks due to the pain he was already in from the sword wound in his left arm and then this man's tremendous punch. The attacker came down with an axe kick towards Kenneth's head; He blocked the kick with his right arm, grabbed hold of the leg, and flipped him to the ground. The man rose off the ground and prepared to strike again, but suddenly in mid-charge, he stopped and dropped to his knees. Then he looked up at the ceiling, lowered his arms and placed a note on the ground. Like before, the man was electrocuted. Kenneth balled his right fist as he walked up to the note and picked it up.

"Pawns are the most wonderful thing in the world to have. Continue to rise, the third floor is empty, I am awaiting you on the fourth floor.

~Alister Crowley"

Kenneth cautiously made his way to the staircase and up to the third floor. When he arrived he walked slowly, again checking all sides and stopping after every step. It appeared Alister was telling the truth as there were no surprises waiting for him. He made it to the staircase leading up to the fourth floor, he shined the flashlight up the steps to see if anything was there lurking in the shadows. When he saw nothing he let out a sigh and started walking up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he saw nothing but windows around. The room was silent, there were no signs that anyone was up there besides himself. When out of the blue, a hole appeared in the ceiling which let a stream of moonlight enter the room, and in the small amount of light coming in, the shadow of a figure appeared. Kenneth began walking towards the figure when a spark flashed from the shadow. Kenneth fell to his right knee after having a bullet go through the left. He screamed out in pain as the shadowy figure started walking towards him. From his back, the figure drew a sword and held it to Kenneth's neck. Between the combination of the darkness of the room and the pain he was in, Kenneth was having too much trouble seeing and couldn't get any details on the person other than he was male and slender, everything else was just too blurry.

"I could finish you off right now if I wanted to."

"Then go ahead... do it."

"But then, I would no longer have any fun. Having you chase around my devices earlier, and now leading you here tonight, that has been the most fun I have had in a long time, and I mean a really long time, last time I had this much fun, well I think was seven years ago."

"You're sick...you know that."

"Yes yes I know I am, so here is the last game for now." Said Alister as he pulled a remote out from his pocket "If you can escape, you live, if you can't, you die, pretty simple, don't you agree."

He went back towards the hole in the ceiling and a rope lowered for him. He pushed a button on the remote and the room filled with glowing "10s". After he was lifted from the hole, the numbers began counting down.

9...8...7...6

Kenneth tried his best to get up off the ground and escape, but with the bullet in his knee, he was having too much trouble moving.

5...4...3

Suddenly someone grabbed Kenneth from behind, lifting him off the ground and towards a window.

2...1...0

The devices blew as the mystery person jumped out the window with Kenneth and opened a parachute right before they hit the ground to soften the impact. The man then called for a car to come pick them up. Kenneth's vision was still blurry and he couldn't make out who saved him.

"Who are you?" Kenneth asked

"Hmm, I don't really have a name anymore; I haven't had one in quite some time."

"Then what do people call you?"

"They call me Enigma, I'm a friend."

Kenneth nodded as he passed out on the ground. When he woke up he was in a hospital bed with a cast on his leg and arm. A doctor that was near his bed told him that he was dropped off by some men in suits but they didn't give any additional information. The doctor informed him that he shouldn't get on his leg for a few days. Kenneth, against the doctors request did force himself up and over to a window and stare out it just wondering; who was Alister Crowley, Enigma, and what the hell did he get himself into, and what's next?