A Taken Life

Chapter Ten

The dark man strode through the black night, cloaked in the darkness that surrounded him. His pale complexion shone in the moon light, seeming to glitter from its icy whiteness. Shadows stalked behind him as he walked, seeming to bow before him, following his evil lead. His black duster coat seemed to swallow up his bold body. His hat on his head casting a dark shadow over his face, hiding his identity. His hands at his sides flexed in and out of fists as his anger boiled up with him. Slowly he walked on the hard concrete path of the park, surrounded by trees, striding to his destination with purpose. The wind whistled through the trees, blowing furiously as if the air wanted to get away from the shadowed man, scared of his powerful presence. The park was dreadfully silent, the stomping of his huge black boots echoed in the quietness as he walked.

            He kept walking until he reached the yellow tape which surrounded a section of the park. He looked up, his dark brown eyes scrutinizing the scene of the crime that was committed here. Deeply he inhaled, smelling the air as it flowed towards him. He smiled and breathed out, the dark, seductive scent lingering in his nose was intoxicating. Delicious to his senses. The scent of blood. It was drenched in the Earth, soaking into it, casting its evilness. Crimson patches stained the ground, its scent mingling in the fresh pine air.

            Ducking under the yellow tape, which was a bright contrast in the black night, he walked into the middle of the area surrounded by the tape. He looked around him, observing the dried blood on the floor, imagining the bodies that were disposed here, drained of life. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he inhaled deeply again, his face lifted towards the sky. There was something else mingled in with the stench of blood. The scent of somebody. Somebody he knew. Somebody he was after. His mind reeled with thoughts from the scent. The scent he'd grew to love. The scent he would follow to track her down.

            "Excuse me Sir." His thoughts were suddenly cut off as the voice approached him. Looking down towards the floor the mans hat covered most of his face, obscuring him from the strangers view. The stranger approaching him turned out to be a police officer, his hand perched defensively on his gun strapped to his belt. The man didn't look up from the ground at him as the cop got closer, finally stopping beside him. "Sir. This is a crime scene. Would you please leave?" He ordered and gestured towards the yellow tape.

            The dark man didn't acknowledge him, he didn't even move, like a dark statue shadowed by the night. "Tell me," he started, his voice dark and booming in the night. "What happened here."

            "Sorry sir but I'm not permitted to give you that information now please leave." The officer answered. But the shadowed man wasn't going to take that for an answer.

            Slowly the dark man lifted up his head, revealing his pale face from the shadows. He turned his head to the side and locked his gaze with the officer. The officers face went suddenly slack as he looked into the dark brown eyes of the man. He couldn't take his eyes away from his, all thoughts of telling the man to leave were suddenly lost from his mind, vanished into thin air. He couldn't move, paralyzed as he watched the man's pupils grow huge as they concentrated on him. It was as though he was being hypnotized. Under the control of this shadowed man that stood in front of him. His skin was so white, his teeth so sharp, his eyes so dark- that it was completely impossible to tear his eyes away from this  mysterious creature.

            "Now." The man said, his eyes un blinking as he held the officers gaze. "What happened here."

            "Six men were murdered." The police officer reported.

            "How?" The man asked intrigued, his gaze still unwavering.

            The cop shrugged. "All of them died different ways. Some had their throats slit or crushed. One was dropped from a tree. One had his skull smashed open."

            "What else?" He asked. "Were there any peculiar deaths. Something unexplainable."

            "Yeah. Now you mention it, I think one of the guys died from blood loss. But there was no blood left in his body at all. It was as though he was... drained. Somehow."

            "Interesting." The man mused, nodding his head. "Well thank you. I'll be leaving now." Finally the man blinked and his pupils shrank back to normal. The cop blinked multiple times, wiping his eyes as though he had something in them, ridding them of the controlling effect the man had had over him.

            "Good night." The man said and walked away, his duster coat flapping around him like bats wings, leaving the officer dazed and confused as he walked back to his post.

            Walking away from the scene the shadowed man kept smelling the air, the scent getting sharper as he followed it. He stopped and sniffed the air again and chuckled as he looked down at the floor. "You've got yourself in a mess this time." He said to the darkness as if she was right in front of him.

            Brandon looked up at the cliffs that towered above the town a couple of miles away, his brown eyes shone in the street lamp as they peered under his hat. "And now I know where you are." He smiled cunningly at the cliffs. "I'll get you Amelie. And that progeny of yours."

            Brandon chuckled one last time before flitting away into the darkness that cloaked his life. His soul intention to find Amelie. And kill her...