A Descent into Darkness

A Chance Encounter

"So... what are we doing?" Eve asks as we head along the Lakeshore trail situated next to her apartment.

I sigh in exasperation before making sure no one is close enough to hear my reply. "I told you, recon."

"What recon? For the last hour you've just been walking around the park. To be honest, Erin, it seems like you just wanted to take a nice romantic walk with me."

I admit to myself that is probably partially true. I won't say it aloud though. Yet.

I stop and gesture around me to the grass areas surrounding the path. "What do you see?"

Eve looks around. "Um, trees. Grass. Families having picnics. Couples out for the day. I see the lake through the trees over there. Oh, and also the downtown skyline."

I nod. "Alright, focus on the people."

Eve looks again. "I thought you didn't kill kids?"

"Keep your fucking voice down!" I whisper while lunging at her and holding her lips shut, even though she could probably easily fight me off. "Not the families, and you know that. Think about it, though. With bars and nightclubs and other indoor sites closed and spring arriving, summer not long after, what's likely to become one of the premiere social gathering spots in a city renowned for its Lakeshore parks?"

"Oh, I see." Eve nods, understanding now. "So, you're hoping that these outdoor parks will serve as replacement hunting grounds for the nightclubs and bars."

"Exactly. But I haven't spent much time along the parts of the shore like that with lots of people. Hence, why I need to start recon now if I'm going to come up with a viable action plan to take people undetected, the next time I do this."

Eve looks toward the water. "I thought you dumped body parts in the lake?"

Again, I sigh with her using such blatant language where lots of people could potentially hear. And she's definitely doing it just to piss me off. She's smart enough that she knows this is a topic she should be quiet about.

"Sometimes," I explain, "but not this part. Not where there's so many people." I look around. "One benefit of this place is the lack of security cameras. Though my usual method of picking victims may be hampered."

"You mean predators or other assholes?"

I nod. "Yeah. I mean, sure there will be people like that around here too, but without a bar or designated spot to get their drinks or meet up with people, it will be harder to narrow them down."

Eve shrugs as we continue to walk. "So what? You've killed innocent people before. Remember that woman in the street outside Nate's house you stabbed to get away from the cops? Sure, she survived, but I doubt you were taking care to ensure the stab was non-fatal."

I sigh, having suspected that Eve knew about that, even if she had never said anything. "Obviously you looked at cases where Nate was involved."

"Oh yeah. A clever but risky gamble, stabbing an innocent bystander to draw the cops. Though what were you thinking calling them at all? The detective on the case thinks you were trying to get either Nate or his friend arrested and leave the other alone and vulnerable."

I hide my head in shame as we turn a corner in the trail. "I thought maybe him and his friend were fighting, and that if I could eavesdrop on the situation I would find an opening. I never thought that cop would go to the trouble of a follow up on the spot."

Eve laughs. "You gotta be really careful when they're involved. While I can say most cops, morality or implicit racism aside, are generally competent, a few will genuinely go above and beyond. Believe or not, we still have some true believers who think they can make a difference."