The Dancer | Wattys2018 | COMPLETED

17 - Scarlet Red

Madison flipped the card between her fingers, waiting for the Ashborne brothers to come out of the interview rooms.

Straight after seeing the body of Alessio hanging from the tree, they had called the police who had arrived immediately. Yet again, Madison and the boys were under heavy suspicion for the murder.

Officer Keenan had given Madison her card for future use, after finally seeing through the lies that had surrounded her parents' death. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

The first door pushed open and Marcus stepped out. He looked at Austin and shook his head sadly, "It's not good, Madison."

Madison didn't have her crutches with her. The adrenaline that had rushed through her body back in the house when Alessio was missing and found dead had worn off, and so the then non-existent pain had decided to exist again and so she cursed quietly about forgetting her crutches. Just something you do when you find someone hanging from a tree.

Madison hobbled over to him, "What do you mean?"

"This guy is untraceable. The FBI don't know shit and the police are worse. Whoever he is, he's perfected his crimes."

Madison was quiet. She didn't like the sound of that at all.

Two more doors pushed open and Tyler and Sebastian walked out. They looked so much alike, yet they were so different. Tyler had a longer stride than Sebastian, appearing more intimidating. Tyler was sleeves rolled up, Sebastian was sleeves rolled down. Tyler looked you dead in the eye, Sebastian looked away. They were polar opposites.

"You alright?" Sebastian asked Madison and she nodded,

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm okay." He said slowly, "But, we're next. This murderer, he wants us for whatever insane reason, and the FBI can't do anything, neither can the police."

"There's other kids though." Madison said, "I mean, he's finishing what he started, right? So he might go after, I don't know, the Moroccan Sufi dancer's nine kids instead of us."

"They're dead." Tyler said blankly, his voice emotionless.

Madison looked at him, "What?"

Tyler inhaled sharply, his eyes meeting hers, "Foreign intel just came in to whichever officer I was talking to. The FBI traced the other victims' kids and spouses. They're all dead."

"You're telling me the children and spouses of the fifty-five other dancers are dead?" Madison said slowly, in shock and disbelief. 

Tyler nodded, "Funny we only find that out after we've been blamed for this whole entire thing."

How could that be possible though? This murderer, The Dancer, has murdered over one hundred people. Innocent people. Without being caught, without being traced, without even a hint as to who he is?

"So we are next." Marcus concluded, walking out of his interview room, a serious look on his face.

Madison had never felt more sick in her entire life.

***

"The person who had called to report Miriam's death wasn't actually who they said they were." Austin said, a puzzled look on his face.

They were all at the dining table, sitting around Austin's laptop, with notes scribbled on random papers everywhere. Marcus had bought new locks for every door and they had pretty much barricaded themselves inside.

"Officer Keenan told me that Miriam's husband had died as a soldier in action in Iraq, almost five years ago."

"So either The Dancer is her husband and he didn't really die," Sebastian said.

"Or the caller was The Dancer pretending to be her husband." Tyler finished, "Which seems like the most likely option because the FBI checked out her husband's grave, and got a DNA match from the bones."

"What if we're dealing with a ghost?" Marcus joked, "I mean, this guy is untraceable. He's a ghost for sure."

"Then we just spent over a grand on new locks for nothing." Tyler muttered and Madison smiled. A part of her wished she wasn't an only child, and that her parents maybe could have even adopted a sibling for her. But the other part of her was grateful she didn't have a sibling, or they would be next on this murderer's hit-list too.

Austin cleared his throat, "The officer interviewing me told me that a scarlet red mask was found on Miriam's body with a USB."

"Like Dad." Tyler said quietly.

Austin nodded, "On the USB was a video. The video had Miriam strapped to a chair. Blindfolded and her mouth taped. The man behind the camera told a story about a lady who helped her fellow Italians to America, but was left behind by them and betrayed. Then he went on to explain that Miriam was a liability he could no longer afford if he was to complete his mission to, and I quote, cleansing of this world."

"The guy is clearly insane." Marcus said.

"After killing a few hundred people, you'd kind of hope you're insane." Tyler said and Austin interrupted, continuing to tell them the information he knew,

"Anyway, he shoved a blade down her throat and left a mask on her. He even recorded himself calling the police. So that covers everything pretty much."

"He never shows himself?" Madison asked.

"Never. The only description we have of him was from Alessio." Austin confirmed and the table slowly fell quiet.

Alessio. The police and FBI had done Madison the favour of calling his parents who were back in Italy. She couldn't bear the pain of hearing their cries and wails after knowing their son was there to protect her in the first place. His body was to be flown to Italy and the funeral to be done there.

Madison wanted to go, but the police deemed her medically unable to fly. Which was a false reason. They just wanted to keep Madison safe and under their watch.

If only she hadn't have broken her leg at that studio with Sebastian that day.

That studio.

The Dancer.

*** Author's Note ***

Hey everyone, sorry I was away for so long. Had a few family complications, but all is well now. I hope you enjoy this update, remember to vote and comment any feedback. The plot is finally moving forward a massive step, so in the next few chapters I'll be developing the relationships between all the characters.

Thank you all for the support!