Ghost In The Dark

Double Funeral 2

The day set aside for cheers and excitement for Nate turned into a day full of tears and regret and for not only Nate but for Blake, Christina, Mr and Mrs Jackson, the entire police force and Mrs Davis, who flew all the way with her son to attend the funeral of her daughter.

There were no happy cheers today. No one could manage a smile on their face, even if it was to make others feel a bit comfortable or less hurt. Everyone was equally hurt and wounded.

A valuable member of the police force and the daughter of a preacher met the same gruesome fate at the hands of the Murderous Ghost who took pride in killing. As Nate, Blake and Christina got ready at their individual homes, Mr and Mrs Jackson prepared their hearts and mind to say goodbye to their beloved daughter.

It was 7am at the church where the service for both women was held. Their coffins open at the front of the church as several members of the county gathered, dressed in black, filling the pews of the church. The members of the police force also gathered in their uniforms to give honour to their fallen comrade.

Mr Jackson, the father of Marina Jackson was a man of faith, in his green robe and golden cross on his neck stepped forward to address the congregation.

"Shall we rise as we pray for the souls of the fallen" He said as he stepped on the alter

Everyone arose and bowed their heads to pray, eyes closed all around and there was total silence

"Dear Lord we want to say thank you, for our lives Lord we say thank you. We thank you for your daughters that we know are rested in your bosom. We ask Oh Lord that you bless their souls and forgive them any and all of their sins" He wiped a tear from his eye as he continued to pray "We ask that you give strength to the families that they may be able to carry on through this tough period and we pray dear Lord that You protect them and keep them safe from harm's way, In Jesus name"

"Amen" The congregation echoed as they took their seats.
Christina, Blake and Nate sat down in the front seat of the church. The silent cries of Mrs Davis who sat down behind them was nothing but pure torture for Nate who knew exactly how she felt. After losing her husband and also her daughter who chose to pursue the same career as her father did even after she tried to stop Heather, It wasn't something she could take quietly

"We are gathered here today to bid our goodbyes to our daughters whose lives were cut short by the evil that has befallen this once peaceful county. It is not something any of us had seen coming and it isn't something we can quietly accept" The voice of Rev Jackson broke as he spoke "But we would have to live on and continue to remember them as they live on in our hearts"
He cleared his throat and wiped at a tear before he continued to speak "Now I would like to invite Mr Nathaniel Ross to say a few words"

Nate stood up and climbed the little steps onto the altar as everyone watched him with heavy hearts. Blake had never seen Nate cry before until that dreadful evening when Marina's body was found and now he would have to watch his friend break down and there was nothing that he could do to help

Nate pulled out a piece of paper from his coat pocket, he placed it down on the podium in front of him, cleared his throat as he prepared to read out the words inscribed on them. He hesitated a little trying to find his voice before he finally spoke

" 'I live so I can make a difference'. Those were the words Marina said to me when I asked her why still fights on even when things may not look like it matters. She was a strong willed and intelligent soul who dedicated her life to helping others. It's weird now that I say 'was' and not 'Is'. She inspired me a lot and I wanted to be that change that she sort for in the world. Nothing could beat her fighter's spirit. She had a resolve that can never be outmatched and that's what I loved most about her. She will continue to live on in my heart and I will not rest until I bring whoever killed her to justice"

When he was done he pulled out a second piece of paper and placed it on the podium as he read "To Heather, I will give you the justice you desire as well. I will put Ghost to the ground and I will make him pay for what he did to you, to Marina and to everyone that he has killed. I'm sorry I couldn't save you but I will avenge you"

He stepped down from the podium and walked back to his seat, not as the sad person he was when he first got here but with hate in his eyes. Christina reached out and grabbed his hand as she tried to muster a smile to him.

Rev. Jackson came back up and as he said some final words. Mrs Davis walked up to Heather's coffin and placed a single white rose inside before kissing her daughters forehead "Until we meet again" She said as she walked back to her seat wiping off her tears.

The service concluded as both coffins were closed and carried off down to the cemetery where they would be laid in their final resting place.

Though the day started off bright and sunny, It soon became cold and windy as the leaves in the trees danced in the direction of the wind. The flag was folded up and then handed to Mrs Davis as she clutched it to her chest. Heather's coffin was lowered slowly into her grave as the officers fired shots into the air. Meanwhile Nate, Mr and Mrs Jackson were on the other side of the cemetery as they lowered Marina's coffin down.

Nate grabbed a rose a threw it in, his eyes teary and heavy "I was supposed to marry you today but I'm burying you instead. Ain't life a bitch" He chuckled as he crouched down to look at her brown wooden coffin "I love you"

BLAKE'S P.O.V.
"Have you seen Nate?" I asked Chris as we walked out of the cemetery

"Last time I saw him he was with Marina's parents" She said
I turned around and saw Nate as he walked towards us

"Are we ready to leave?" He asked reaching for the door handle

"Yeah" I said

We got into the car and drove back down to the station. We walked into the Tech department to meet Tony as he still searched the eyes for a possible match.

"Do we have a hit?" I asked

"None" He said

"How's that possible?" Nate snapped at him

"Whoa calm down Nate" Chris said as she rubbed his shoulders

"Well there are two possibilities" He said as he got up from his seat "Possibility number one, Those aren't his real eyes"

"And what's the other?" I asked

"He's not from the county" Tony said as he raised two fingers up
"Not from the county?"

"That's not likely. Because he has been very careful with camera's as he moved around" Chris said as she walked to look at his screen

"Then the most likely answer would be that he wears contact lenses and those aren't his real eye colours" Tony said pointing at the screen "I ran the possibilities with everyone we have on our system and there wasn't a single match"

I could see Nate as he tapped his feet frantically. He was agitated and impatient. A feeling I could very much understand. The sooner Ghost was captured the sooner he would have gotten his vengeance for Marina.

"Have you compared the eye colours from both videos?" I asked

"Yes I have and they're the same." Tony said as he glanced over his computer

Just then Officer Mark walked into the room

"Has there been any reports from the officers patrolling the streets?" Nate asked

"None yet sir" Officer Mark said "Detective Blake, The captain requests your presence in his office"

"Okay" I said turning to face Nate "Let me know If anything comes up"

Nate sighed before nodding to me

NATE'S P.O.V.
There's nothing worse than having expectations and getting disappointed. I glanced over my watch and watched the hands as they moved, mocking me. I felt even more agitated as the time went by and I haven't been able to achieve anything, Ghost still wandered the streets as he mocked the reputation and dignity of the force.

I walked out of the tech room leaving behind Officer Mark and Tony as they talked between themselves. If only I could catch him in the act then I would be so pleased right now.

I walked into the conference room, taking a seat and resting my head. In silence and with no voices around to talk to me about what was wrong and what we haven't being able to discover, my mind ended up wandering and thinking about Marina, what she must thought during her final moments. Though a lot of things seemed off though, like for the fact that there was no sign of a break in or a struggle inside the house, everything seemed to be in order.

I lifted my head and massaged the back of my neck, calming down the twitching nerves. I got up and walked around the room as I created different scenario's in my head. I turned around to the sound of the door as it creaked open

"Hey, are you alright?" Christina asked as she walked in

"Yeah. I just needed some alone time" I said

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked as she took a seat

"Talking now doesn't change the fact that she's gone and I owe it to her to catch whoever it was" I snapped

"Okay" She said as her smile slowly faded

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little bit on edge" I said as I took a seat next to her

"I understand. So let's come up with an answer to the riddle that is ghost" She said turning to face me

"Okay"

"I have been thinking about something though" She said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear

"What's that?"

"Marina's murderer seemed to have left a clue in there. But there are one of two circumstances that led to it" She said as she got up from her seat

I arched an eyebrow as I stared and watched her pace about the room

"One: She was captured as soon as she was done with her shift and was on her way home" She said lifting a finger "But that would be unlikely considering he would have been seen. Which brings me to my second theory"

"Whoever it was that came in and killed her was someone that she knew" I said

"Yeah" She turned around and locked eyes with me "Ghost is someone that we all know"

I remember Blake saying something like this a while back but I didn't put too much thought into it but now it all makes sense
"The most likely fact would be that whoever it was that murdered Marina wasn't a stranger, It was someone she knew and trusted enough to let into her home so late at night, letting her guard down too" I said as I got up from my seat

"And he might be very close to all of us, close enough that we won't suspect but far enough that we won't see him coming" Christina said

I wonder If Blake had thought deep into this possibility
"I saw Blake in his office resting his head on the desk" Chris said as she walked towards the door "We should go talk to him"

We made our way down the hall to see Blake in his office with his head pressed in his hands on the desk

"Are you okay? What did the captain say?" I asked tapping on his table to wake him up

"The captain? Oh yeah the captain. He just wanted my opinion on your state of mind and if you should still be a part of this case" Blake said as he leaned back on his chair

"It's kind of understandable considering you're now emotionally attached to the case" Christina said turning to look at me

"And what did you say to him?" I asked

'I told him that I trust you to make the right decision when the need arises" He said as he ran his hand through his hair

"Thank you" I said breathing out a sigh of relief that I was still a part of the investigation

"We wanted to ask if you've given any thought about who you think Ghost is? We both suspect He is someone we all know" Chris said as she turned to Blake

"No, nothing." Blake said getting up from his seat "At a point I thought It was Nate because after we found Anna's body he started acting strange"

I turned to look at him but I had no words because he was right. I was acting strange for a while and they know nothing about it. I sighed before opening my mouth to speak

I finally told them about Sophie and what happened to her, how she was raped and how she took her life. I told them everything and It felt like a heavy load was taken off and I don't have to bear the burden alone

"I'm so sorry" Christina said as she sat down next to me

"I'm sorry I doubted you" Blake said as he walked close to me

"What time is it?" Chris asked as she looked at her empty wrists before realising she didn't have her watch on

"It's almost 6:30pm" Blake said

"I have some things I need to take care off so I'll be heading out" She said

"I'll ask officer Mark to accompany you" Blake said turning to Chris

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was a call from an unknown number

ME: Hello?

UNKNOWN CALLER: Is this Nathaniel Ross?

ME: Yes, who is this?

UC: It's Charlie Favyer.

ME: Mr Favyer? It's being a while

CHARLIE: Yeah It definitely has. I heard about what happened. I am truly sorry.

ME: Thank you.

I mustered up a smile even though he couldn't see it.

CHARLIE: I would like to speak to you if you have the time

ME: I can spare a few minutes

CHARLIE: I'll be at the coffee chop after the cemetery. See you soon

ME: Okay

"I'm heading out for a bit" I said as I got up

"Field work?" Blake asked

"Personal work. I'll be back soon" I said as I walked to the door

"Okay. Be safe out there" Christina said as she maintained a worried look on her face

"I will"

I drove down to the coffee shop which was a thirty minute drive from the station due to the traffic on the road, everyone trying to get home on time. I parked outside the store before walking in to see Mr Favyer seated at a table across the room sipping on a hot cup of coffee and munching on biscuits. Mr Charlie Favyer, age 56 used to be my mentor back before I finished high school. It was with his recommendation I was able to be recruited into the academy. He was the detective in charge of the case to find the people who raped my sister half to death but there was no luck because they had fled the county some days after. Mr Favyer still maintained his thick brown hair on his head despite his advancement in age. A man standing at around 6'3,  brown eyes, perfect white teeth and a recently trimmed beard

"Nate" He said excitedly as he saw me walk in

"Mr Favyer" I said walking into his open arms to receive his hug
I broke out of his bear grip before taking a seat on the chair opposite him

"How have you been?" I asked

"Well I'll be retiring from the force in a few years so I'm peachy" He said with a smile on his face "How's your mom?"

"She's alright. Manages the cemetery now" I forced a smile onto my face

"I see" He sighed, drank from his cup before looking back at me "I wanted to talk to you about your sisters case"

"My sister's case?"

"I know it's been ages and you asked me to let go of it because it seemed like there was no hope anymore but something came up after so many years"

I felt crushed remembering the incident that transpired years ago and I wasn't in the mood for another suspicion leading to another wild goose chase

"We caught them" He said with a huge smile on his face
Those words bounced around my ears as I still can't believe. I pinched myself just to be sure that I wasn't dreaming and maybe I would wake up and see Marina next to me again

"You did what?" My voice and pulse elevated

"Well we caught two of them. They were both arrested a few days ago at Greendale for grand theft and arson before they were transferred to central where their DNA was taken. I've been running matches on any and all criminals that were caught from outside the county ever since and well It was finally a match"
I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as he handed me their case files. Finally something good happened in the midst of all the chaos.

"While they were being booked they gave me something else. The name of the third party that was with them that night"
I looked up at him as he spoke

"Marcus Bane." He said

"Wait what did you just say?" I gripped the papers in my hand as he uttered out the name

"Marcus Bane or Mark as they referred to him as" He said "I looked into him and it turns out he's a police officer now"

I felt the sudden burst of rage as he handed me the file containing Officer Mark's information. It was him. He was there when she was being raped and now he came back to laugh at my face. And now that I think about it he has always been there whenever we searched a scene or found something. He was the one that found Heather as well.

"He's Ghost" I exclaimed as I jumped from my seat

"The serial killer?" Charlie asked as he got up as well

"Chris!!"

I ran out of the coffee shop and into my car, reversing on to the road and driving off, sirens blaring loud. I picked up my phone and called Blake who didn't pick up until the third ring

ME: Why didn't you pick up?

BLAKE: My phone was on silent. What's wrong?

ME: Where's Chris?

BLAKE: I asked Officer Mark to take her home

ME: Are they still there?

BLAKE: No, they left about an hour ago

Shit

ME: Where are you?

BLAKE: I went to the bathroom, I just got back into the office

ME: I have reasons to believe that Mark is Ghost. Christina's life is in danger right now

BLAKE: What did you say?

ME: Mark is Ghost

He hung up. I dialled Tony as I drove through the roads, overtaking other cars and avoiding other police cruisers

ME: Tony, I need your help

TONY: If it's about Detective Rogers, I'm already tracking down her phone signal. Detective Hunter has filled me in

ME: Any luck?

TONY: None

ME: Try tracking down Mark's phone

I heard his fingers mashing the keyboard

TONY: No signal. Detective, reports of a police car on fire just came in

ME: Where is it?

TONY: I'll text you the address

He hung up and then the text message icon on my phone appeared. I clicked the screen to see the location sent to me before accelerating in the direction. I got there in about ten minutes to see other police officers as they had already established a barricade and yellow tape around the car.

The fire department just finished extinguishing the flames. Several media house reporters were already on scene, taking pictures and looking for the scope of the morning.

I walked under the tape after showing the officers my badge. The car halted to a stop in the middle of the road leaving burnt skid marks on the ground. It would seem it suddenly came to a halt as they were driving. He didn't want to waste too much time.

The glass windows on all doors are shattered, probably due to the intensity of the flames. Just the driver door and the car door on the left were open. He must have pulled her out from there.

"Detective" I heard one of the officers call me

I turned around to see Officer Peterson as he walked towards me with a burnt object

"We found this bag in the backseat of the car" He said

"Christina's handbag"

I grabbed a pair of gloves from him and collected the bag. Her bag and its contents were completely scorched. I reached into the bag and pulled out her phone which was half melted but fully damaged.

I handed the bag and phone back to Officer Peterson when I saw Blake as he drove and parked behind my car

"Is she there?" He said as he ran to meet me.

His voice shaken, full of fear and worry

"There's no one there. He has her" I said before Blake fell down on his knees