The Hybrid Killer

Blood of Rubies

    The call came in at about 22:47:03 at night. A young hybrid boy by the name of Udqu Unuhzow was reported missing by his mother after he had been gone for over an hour after a late-night trip into the city to watch a basketball game. His friends had bailed on going a few hours before he left, but according to his mother's report, Udqu reassured his mom he would be fine, it was a single night trip, he said to her. What could go wrong?

    What went wrong? That was what Udqu's mother asked over and over while filing the report. The dispatcher immediately sent officers to the stadium and to the highway that connected Lily Rapids to the city while she remained on the line with the mother, attempting to gain more information.

    "Ma'am, did your son drive himself, or was he picked up by a paid driver?"

    With every word, the mother's growing anxiety worsened more and more, "H-he drove himself."

   The dispatchers continued to reassure her throughout her questioning persistently. "Don't worry, Mrs.Unuhzow, we will find your son. Police are already heading to the stadium and the highway to patrol for him. Can you describe his vehicle."

    "I-it's a 2018 Toyota Prius, a-a hybrid car."

    The clicking of the keyboard was barely audible over the phone. "And what color?"

    "D-dark green. My s-son was always fond o-of the color g-green. H-he has orange stripes on the tires, though, c-can't explain why..."

    The dispatcher sighed and paused a moment, her eyes shifting to the glowing computer screen. It was depicted that officers had begun their patrol of the highway, but the cars had stopped in a certain location along the route.

    "Ma'am, I'm going to put you on hold for a moment. It appears the highway patrollers have stopped. I'm going to call. It might not be related to your son, probably isn't, but I'm going to ensure it, alright?"

    The mother's voice was desperate. "Please, do."

    Carefully, the dispatcher changed channels to connect with the officers. As soon as she did, there was audible chatter on the other end of the line.

    "Dispatch to Officer McCreal, Officer McCreal, do you copy?"

    A deep voice picked up in the other end of the line. "Officer McCreal to dispatch. What's going on?"

    "Checking in to see what's with the stop along the highway. Did you find anything?"

    Officer McCreal's voice seemed to drop suddenly, a tone of somewhat dismay taking over. "Car crash. There's only one vehicle, though.

    "Color? Brand?"

    "Brand, I'd have to say looks like some form of green Toyota. It's a hybrid. Looks like someone shot the tire and smashed out the passenger window."

    The dispatcher seemed to be slightly dazed by the news, but other than that was practically unphased, as she'd been in the line of work for a long time.

    "That's the boy's car. Search for tracks or clues as to where he could've go-"

    "There's a bloody trail, leads straight into the woods. Jackson and Smith are already on it."

    The dispatcher sighed. "Well then, let me get back to conversation with the mother. She must be anxious to hear what I've got to say... and is probably gonna burst into tears when I tell her about that trail you boys found."

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    Approximately at 03:24:07 in the morning, about five hours after Udqu had been reported missing, his body was found underneath a bridge on a walking trail. Officers immediately took to gathering evidence at the scene, bagging any objects they found, taking photos, taping the area off. Everything moved so smoothly one might think it was comparable to a well-oiled machine, perfected over time.

    Officer McCreal stepped towards the body, looking down at the boy among the bloodied ground. The body itself wasn't in the best shape. Both the boy's ears were missing, and physical evidence of a fleshy-stringed stump suggested he also had a tail. Neither were found near the body. What was found was a handleless knife blade, coated in blood, and a single bullet casing, which explained the wound to the chest.

   Another younger-looking officer, who was in his twenties, approached McCreal slowly, his face full of confliction. He had been the first officer to arrive on the scene.

    "Awful, isn't it, Scott? To see such innocent youths stripped of their dreams, their lives... It's awful to see the cruelty and hideousness this disgusting world can create and spit out among the streets."

    Officer McCreal nodded, kneeling down by the body slowly. As he bent down, he noticed a marking was now carved onto the victim's body. It was an H, made up of deep slash wounds to the skin, revealing flesh, bone and coated in blood the color of rubies.

    With a sigh, McCreal picked up his radio. "This is Officer McCreal, we just found another victim of the infamous Hybrid Killer."

    A voice from the other side of the radio spoke up. "Wait, did you say the Hybrid Killer?"

    "Yes sir, that's what I said. It's the missing boy that was reported a few hours ago. He's got the mark and everything."

    The receiver noted this, thanked him for the information and hung up. To the officer, there wasn't much they could do. Without a handle of a knife or a gun to fingerprint, they had no way to easily identify who the killer was, and with thousands of people in the city and hundreds of commuters to and from a day, there seemed to be no way to determine the identity's of the infamous murderer.