"Floor Four" - A Novella of Horror (Haunted)

Chapter 1 - The Mangler

The rain continued to pound the top of Mary Tompkins' car as she talked to her husband on the phone. She needed to finish this business dinner, and after that, she would be done for the week and get to spend time at home, while enjoying a long three-day weekend.

Lightning flashed across the sky as she finished her call. Mary took a quick look at the dreary weather as a loud clap of thunder followed and vibrated in her chest. She grabbed her umbrella, opened the door, and a strong gust of wind slapped her face. As she closed the door and set the alarm remote, she heard the sound of rattling chains behind her. Before she could turn around, she felt a sharp, hot pain in her back. Her head shot back as her back was split apart. A gust of rain and wind blew the umbrella from her shaking hand. It happened so fast she couldn't scream, and her eyes closed as she died instantly, while still standing.

The killer held Mary's body upright with his razor-sharp sickle still lodged in her back. He wrapped the heavy chain around her head and neck and pulled the sickle from her back. Her body slumped and the slack in the heavy chain tightened around her neck as she fell. He dragged her to a dark corner of the parking lot next to a vacant lot, and then down a ditch that disappeared into a small creek. Mary's blood stained the path the killer had taken, but it was quickly washed away by the heavy rain.

It was a perfect night to commit a murder—dark, rainy, and very few people out. Mary Tompkins was the eighth victim of serial killer, David Henry Coleman, also known as The Mangler. His well-planned and violently executed murders took place in different cities and states, leaving authorities with the difficult task of tracking him. Coleman was a violent serial killer, much more aggressive than most. The FBI described his murders as angry outbursts, but Coleman was never sloppy, and he always left a calling card, making him the most feared serial killer in years. When Coleman killed his victims, he took the bodies to a place where they would easily be found. His calling card was the sickle. In each murder, the victim's face was sliced and cut, beaten, and mangled beyond recognition. The sickle would be lodged in the chest, his trademark. It was determined that some of the victims were alive when he sliced their faces. Authorities had their murder weapon, but it never gave them any leads. The Mangler toyed with them and knew exactly what he was doing.

The Mangler's murderous run had gone on for four years. He averaged two killings a year, with his path taking him from the east coast to the Midwest and down south. Mary Tompkins lived in Florida. There was no way to tell when and where he would strike next, and this made it hard to pin him down.

Police got their first break in August of 2002 when they received a call from a resident in Liberty County, Texas. The resident told police a suspicious man had been walking up and down their road late at night. This was a farming community and strangers rarely walked that stretch of road. They sent out a patrol car with the officer treating it as a routine call, but everyone had the serial killer in the back of their minds, especially law enforcement. The police officer didn't find the man or find anything out of the ordinary. A call went out to surrounding counties to be on alert, knowing the serial killer was still out there somewhere.

Coleman chose his victims at random but planned their murders in a very precise way. There was no connection between the victims, no similarities. Half were men and half were women. They ranged from married couples with kids, to single without kids. Those facts, combined with him constantly changing places, left everything unpredictable and everyone on edge. They all waited for him to make an unlikely mistake. The break the police got began with the resident spotting the stranger dressed in black, walking the country road. Without making the communities anxious, law enforcement moved to a higher alert level behind the scenes.

"David Henry Coleman planned his ninth murder in September of 2002, close to the Old River-Lost Lake area here just up the road." The old man began telling the story to the three junior high kids. "A very small, quiet community, Old River found itself in the middle of a major manhunt. Coleman chose the time just after dusk to make his way to the home of a Mark and Jean Ellis. They had just finished working outside around the house and were cleaning up for dinner when Coleman peered into their kitchen window. They didn't see him, they were lucky. The Mangler had not planned this murder like the rest. He rushed it, you see. His need to kill and murder again made him careless. Maybe he wanted more notoriety than he had before or wanted to be taken seriously, but this was his mistake."