Tenebrous Game

Case #02 - Red Room, part II

Driving through the city, Raven tells Andrew to get an exit to a deserted avenue. He starts to get concerned about where they were going since that way would lead to an abandoned community of homeless people. He tries to deflect his mind out of those thoughts by starting a conversation with the detective.

"So, this man who helped Collins get into that bus lives around here?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah... I told you that 5 minutes ago..." Raven says, with a suspicion tone on her voice. She knew that Andrew was a little uncomfortable with that route.

The commander has been through crazy missions, but that was one he wasn't understanding. His short black hair was already gray on the sides. His face always had a neutral expression. His physical wasn't that muscular for a high ranking military man, and he had no facial hair. On his left hand, a golden ring on his finger, depicting his marital status. His clothes, always social style, wearing pants, shoes, a shirt, and sometimes a suit, but always with a holster beneath it all. Andrew parks the car in a dark alley and gets out of it, along with Raven. The detective leads the commander through narrow streets in that particularly dangerous neighborhood.

"Raven...?" Andrew says, calling the brave detective by her first name for the first time.

"What is it, commander? Don't tell me you're scared." Raven replies.

"Of course not. It's just kind of stupid coming here like this." He says.

"What do you mean?" Raven asks while they keep walking through dark alleys.

"Even though we are skilled law enforcers, we are only two. I've just seen dozens of junkies with guns bigger than their bodies staring at us with an unpleasant face." Andrew replies.

"Relax... They all know me." She says, with no worries at all.

"They know you...? All of them...?" the commander asks, confused.

"Yeah... Look..." Raven says and immediately whistles loudly. The people who were stealthily observing suddenly started to show themselves completely and go directly toward the detective. There were tons of homeless people coming out of the shadows in that abandoned community. Covered with dirt and a putrified smell, they all seemed to have a different type of deformation on their bodies. As they all approached Raven, one of the hands she kept behind her back started coming forward, in a repeated action of caressing some of the children's on their heads. Andrew was simply astounded with what he was just witnessing.

"What in the world is this...?" the commander's eyes semmed like they would pop out of his head. He couldn't understand at all what was happening. It looked like Raven was some sort of "Mother Teresa."

"Pull yourself together, commander. These are just poor homeless people. They couldn't harm an ant..."

"Well, that's because guns don't scare ants, but they do frighten humans."

"Just follow me. We're almost there."

The two of them continue walking until they get to an improvised big old tent, with a faded gray tone and a lot of stains on it. Weird noises seem to come out of it, but as they approach, it becomes clear that some of them are just like moans, and as the tent looks like it's moving a little, it's safe to assume that the people inside are having a little fun. One of the kids go inside the tent to call whoever was in there, and that leaves Andrew speechless. Why would a child go inside that place when it was clear of what was happening? And why would anyone let a child go in there? The kid leaves the tent right after, and all the noise and movement cease at all. A teenage girl, approximately 16 years old, also leaves the tent, and then, right after, a man on his 60s.