CRYPTIC | completed

00

Prologue 00 - UNMISTAKEN CRIME

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!! Notice:_one_(1)_new_file_recieved !!

Open?
_x_yes  _ _no

L o a d i n g . . .  20%

L o a d i n g . . . 45%

L o a d i n g . . . 79%

L o a d i n g . . . 97%

file_crm.doc_loaded_successfully

Open?
_x_yes _ _no

L o a d i n g . . .

Owls cooed sweetly in the night. The cries of the coyotes echoed. Soft chirps of the crickets lulled the children of the town to sleep. A pond held croaking frogs and little water snakes, winding across the water in search of a meal.

I frowned at the dark sky and closed the windows, suspecting a late storm to soon arrive. I nearly jumped when I heard the first thunder clap.

After making sure the front door was locked, I walked to the kitchen to make myself a little tea and honey. As the tea kettle squealed, the lights went out. I frowned and finished making the tea, then putting a jacket on to go check the breaker. Nothing seemed wrong with the box, so I went back inside and locked the door behind me. As the storm carried on, the thunder grew louder and more frequent. Suddenly remembering my tea in the kitchen, I grabbed it and sat down on the couch to continue reading my book. The candle remained alight on the stand next to me as my eyes grew heavy.

* * *

I opened my eyes in the darkness, soreness striking my limbs from sleeping on the small couch. I looked towards the window, seeing lightning flashes outside. It must still be late at night or early morning. As I grabbed the candle, I noticed a black marking on my wrist. Just when I was going to examine it, a loud banging on the door startled me. I yanked the sleeve of my shirt down and walked to the door. It was too dark out to see through the peephole.

"Hello?" A deep male voice called from outside, "I'm sorry, my car broke down. I just need to call a cab and I'll be out of your way again."

I opened the door to see a tall, soaked man taking shelter in my doorway. He held his arms around him, trying to stay warm. He look̵͇͎̼̞̰̈͜ed up at me with bright blue eyes. Most of his face covered by a medical mask. My cousin wore one when she was sick once, maybe he was sick, too.

"Come in. My home̶̻͙̝̟̦͚̦͐͑̐͛͜͜ phone's down, but you can use my cell." I moved to the side so he could enter. I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and lit a couple extra candles. I handed him the towel and my cell.

"Would you like a coffee? Maybe water or a sną̴̜̖̦̘̦͉͈̄̚ͅck? It might take a bit for the cab to arrive." He shook his head as he held the phone to his ear, spoke for a minute into it, and hung up.

"Sorry, they'll be here in ten minutes. We̶̻͙̝̟̦͚̦͐͑̐͛͜͜ather is a concern of theirs." He hą̴̜̖̦̘̦͉͈̄̚ͅnded back the phone with a murmured word of "thanks."

"So, what are you doing in this part of town?"

"Just on a little trip from visiting a friend. I didn't bother waiting until the roads were clear to drive on. I got a wą̴̜̖̦̘̦͉͈̄̚ͅys before the wheels ran over a nail or something and I had to stop."

"That's rough. But the roads suck down here, so I'm not entirely surprised." He chuckled at my comment.

I looked to the door when I heard a honking outside. "That's my ride," he said. "Thank you for your hospitą̴̜̖̦̘̦͉͈̄̚ͅlitỵ̶̯̠̤̯͈̮̩̓̅͆̿͂̽̎́͠."

I turned my head back in time to see him hold up a dark object. I heard nothing as his finger moves backwards. I saw a flash of light and pain erupts in my chest, my mouth gasping for air in ragged breaths. I felt myself falling back̵͇͎̼̞̰̈͜wards, losing control. My head hit the ground. I watched the man sift through my drawers. I watched helplessly as he pulled̴̪̼̑͛̄͊͛ down his mask, giving a final eerie grin to me.

Blā̵̤̙̈́̃͑̊́c̸̳̣̈ͅk̸̟̤̼̋̎̐̈̒͝ cloud̴̪̼̑͛̄͊͛e̶̻͙̝̟̦͚̦͐͑̐͛͜͜d my vi̸̢̦͚̙͎̊̽̿sion. s̸͎̩̩̞͖̯̈́̿̃ͅì̶̢̮͚̹͎̠͎̈́̀̽͒̿͊́̐͝ͅl̴̘͇͂̓̀ȩ̷͔̟̪̦̤̫͌͌̀̚ͅǹ̷̨̖͈̭̥̼̦̻̘̒̍̐̾̊̏͜c̴̳̞͙̠̭̼̒̌̒̑ę̵͉̣͔̪͇̠̃̆͐͊̈́̂̚

!! Error:_file_crm.doc_is̵̡̢̤͉̦̤͇̲͋͗͊͋͛̌̕͝ ̴̹͌͆̐̔͛̈̍̃̾f̶̨̥̞̬̦̣̮̤͊̀͆͝ạ̷̬̈́̋͋̌͐̊̕ͅi̶̧̗̤̣̯̞̥͒͌́̉̂̾͗͘͝ͅl̶̡̢̻̤̖̹͚̒͜͝ͅi̸̢̹̹̫̜̖͖̊̚͜͠n̵̢̢̯̹̝͇̦͙̪͝g̵̢͕̻̙̥̔ͅ !!

Reload?
_ _yes _x_no

Exit Progrȧ̷̡̉̀̀̏̉͑m?

_ _yes _x_no

E x i t i n g . . .

* * *

The officer frowned at the body in front of him. This was the third body he's encountered in less than a week. Blood was everywhere, suggesting a bullet. But they found no bullets or a gun anywhere. Perhaps they could find a bullet with the autopsy.

A second officer joined him, taking photos of the girl on the floor. Candles were set everywhere, all burnt out. Because of the power outage two days prior, they could rule out the possibility of some ritual. There wasn't much to go off of at this point. Forensics had yet to test for prints. All they knew was that she was named Rose, age of twenty-seven based off her photo albums and yearbooks.

The second officer with gloves pulled out a paper from her bloodied pocket. He took a photo of the message before quickly making a phone call.

"Daxton? We got another body, probably the same killer. I'll send you the address."

He placed the note on top of the corpse, careful not to disturb the crime scene (save for the note they now could show on photos). Giving the body a last glance, he continued doing his job and continued searching for clues of the ghostly murderer.

He hunts, be wary of him. -Luca

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UNMISTAKEN CRIME