dead pulse

Dead pulse chapter 3 part 3

Cole sat in the car, her head against the window, which was cold on her cheek, looking out into the gloomy sky.  The air was still, but the sky was dark and cruel. Typical for Sickleton.

She had decided not to tell Ashe that she was going to see the guy who shot Angelo. She was still pretty shaken from it herself. She just wanted to find out the motive. If this was the killer they were looking for. An associate. Or just a depraved psycho in the wrong place at the wrong time. About the whole shit that went down at the park four weeks ago. Now she thought about it, Ashe was going to be pretty pissed at her. After all, they were partners. They were supposed to do this shit together.

"Here we are" Sung the cabbie. "That'd be a tenner, thanks love"

She looked at him for the first time since getting into the cab. Ruddy face, with a large, almost rectangular shaped moustache, what appeared to be a brown toupee slipped sideways on top of his head.

She was suddenly aware of the thick stench of tobacco in the car.  She pulled out her purse and fished out a twenty note, pressing it into his hand. "I'm feeling generous" She said, climbing from the car.

Cole was greeted by a large, whitewashed building,  surrounded by electric fences, barbed wire and some large iron gates with a sign outside.

BROOKE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT.

She hesitated. The last time she had come to a mental unit, some mad fuck had managed to get out of their room, and her and was running around the building screaming and attacking everyone. She had asked the people how he had managed to get out of his room, and how he had managed to create a weapon by fixing up a shank using a spork and a razor blade under their noses. Why he had even been allowed a razor blade, being on suicide watch. Their only responses were continuous shouts at her to get out of the building, which she also questioned, as all the other patients were left in there. Eventually, the guy was caught, with the help of her, Ashe and Letton, and put in a more secure room. Didn't stop the guy biting a chunk out of Ryder's shoulder. She shuddered as she remembered all of the injections he had to have as a result. Ryder had... Left the force. A sudden pain throbbed in her chest as she remembered the incident that caused his departure, and her mentor Marcus's death. She shook her head, blotting it out.

Cole walked over to the large iron gate, chewing some loose skin on her lower lip. There was a big metal panel to the left of the gate, with small green button and a microphone.  Above her head, on top of the gates, was a CCTV camera, which was currently focused on her.

She pressed the button. A crackly sound came out of the panel.

"Detective Collette Armstrong here, I believe I've already informed you that I would be coming today?" Silence. There was a buzzing sound, and then a click. the gate opened slowly. She pushed the iron gate, feeling the old black paint come off into her hand, the underside coated in a layer of orange rust.

She took a breath, and walked down the path toward the glass door, and pressed her palm against it, pushing it gently. The door stayed solidly where it was. She wondered if it even was a door, or a window. It looked like a door. She went to push it again, but was startled by a voice behind her.

"It's locked"

She turned to see a man, with a thin, serious face with a crooked nose and wispy white hair watching her intently.

"Oh" She said, blinking twice. He didn't make a move to unlock the door, but simply stood and examined her. She stared back. He was wearing a white, starched outfit that buttoned up on the left breast, reminiscent of a chef's clothing, except for the name of the mental unit inscribed on his chest. She couldn't read his expression. He was completely blank. He had a poker face. His eyes almost seemed dead, grey, almost unseeing.