lose your mind n.s. (discontinued)

prologue

The noise of the old air conditioner sounded over head, making a loud racket. It desperately needed to be replaced. People were filing into the room, one by one, at the command of the chief of police.

"You may be curious as to why I called this meeting on such short notice," He began once everyone was gathered around the small office, "It has come to our attention that a previous suspect may have risen from their unknown whereabouts."

Everyone remained silent, waiting for the chief to explain. They had all been summoned from their previous positions to be informed of the matter at hand.

"Earlier this morning we received a phone call from the manager at West Hills Hotel in downtown Oakland, who had received a complaint from one of their guests. Apparently the night before, the guest had a restless sleep due to noises from the room next to hers."

So far this report had been sounding like nothing out of the ordinary, until the chief continued on with the debriefing.

"The manager sent an employee to check up on the couple who had been staying in the room which the complaints were directed toward, and they found a dead body. After further investigation by our CSI team, this was discovered carved into the foot of the victim."

Everyone's attention was brought to the monitor hung up on the wall next to a bulletin covered in the pictures of past victims. On the monitor was a picture of the victims foot which had a distinct 'H' scratched into it, most likely by a knife.

To most of the police officers and detectives crowding the room, this was no big deal, but to the few who worked on a similar case a few years ago, this picture, on the monitor, brought a spark of excitement, fear, and absolute horror.

"Wait," A voice rang from the back of the room, "Are you trying to tell us that H is back?"

"Detective Styles, will you please save your questions for the end of the debriefing?"

With a loud huff and the crossing of his arms, Detective Harry Styles leaned against the wall shooting a glance at his long time partner, Detective Niall Horan.

Niall knew what that glance meant, Harry was telling him without words that he was back.

This was their case. Well not this case exactly. A few years back, the two were lead detectives on the case of a serial killer. They never solved the case, unfortunately, but this could be their chance to put the sick mind behind bars for good.

"The body was found laying on the bed, with a stab wound to the abdomen, in a pool of blood. The blood was inspected and turned out to not match the victim."

The new found information, Harry thought, confirmed that this was indeed the work of H.

This sick, twisted, being often killed in pairs of two, the first usually found in a puddle of the missing victims blood.
As messed up as that might sound, that's not even half of how he plays his "game."

The second victim may or may not be dead at the time of the first victim's murder. No, they are usually held captive for a random time.

H, played a game of sorts. He left clues. He always left clues.

The game was whether or not the cops would be able to find the other victims in time.

Last time H was up to his games, the police department was only able to save one of the victims out of four. The sick mind liked killing young girls.

"We have found a match with the second victims blood and the search for the young girl has been commenced," Chief continued the debriefing, "Each one of you who i've called into this debriefing have a specific job on this case. Please consult Lieutenant Waters for your job. Detective Styles and Horan I will need you two to stay behind to receive further information on this case. You are all dismissed."

The group of about 15 officers left Chief Thread's office to receive information on their positions within the case, leaving the two co-head detectives.

"It is obvious that H is back, so considering your past experience with this serial killer, I am putting you two in charge of the case. As usual, Officers Bowie and Sade will be assisting the case. Doctor Wolfvern will be the lead coroner. Here are the files from the crime scene. Good luck."

Chief Thread had never been one to sugar-coat things, or even one to hold conversation with, so Styles and Horan took that as their queue to leave.

After sitting in their shared office, Niall spoke for the first time since before the debriefing, "Now we can finally get this son of a bitch."

"Agreed." Harry was already taking out case reports and pictures from earlier that day.

Niall soon joined him, knowing better than to try any sort of conversation with Harry when they are in their office cracking open a case of interest.

It was time to finally stop H for good, and Detectives Harry Styles and Niall Horan were going to be the ones to do it.