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<center>http://www.stormmodels.com/images_mo.../Tanya_112.jpg
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say; or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken image, where the sun beats
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.</center>
T.S. Eliot, "The Wasteland"
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The Hunt -- pt. one
"Why the fuck is she bringing us here?" Detective Gonzalez was a stout man with thick, jaundiced fingers and thin lips; he was an impatient man, disgusted with the job of supervising the psychopath. His partner, Malone, was far less physically offensive; tall and lean, with a mess of jet black hair. Malone shrugged and dragged a grimey hand down his face.
"How should I know?" He grunted his response and trailed at a close distance behind the wraith woman. The streets were empty at this time of night, aside from a handful of hookers that lurked on the corners and lured in Johns with sleazy smiles and short, short skirts. Samara stopped and cut a look back over her shoulders to the two detectives. Startled, they stepped back dropped hands to their sidearms.
"You're awfully jumpy, boys," she drawled out in a seethe. "I heard your mumblin'. You know, you really shouldn't mumble like that -- I can't understand a thing you say when you mumble." A serpentine hiss of words, her fingers clawed at the slender, elegant neck with her boney fingers. "You see, silly boys, you've only been payin' attention to them lil girls. Bu' when I looked into the crime 'round the city I found somethin' mighty interestin'." The two men looked at her with wild eyes and looked between one another before turning back to the Auschwitz thin woman with the empty eyes and hollow smile.
"Well, what did you find?" They asked, stepping forward and dropping their voices. The woman hunched slightly, Malone noticed, and her arms hung heavy at her sides; she was awkward. There was something about her, that neither men could put their fingers on, but it unsettled them. It was a thing of monsters; folklore beasts that lurked in the depths of caves and bowels of the ocean. Monster boned. She giggled like a little girl and clasped her hands over her mouth as if she intended on playing coy.
"T'ere has been fifteen dead prostitutes found. Their deaths were all different, but they happened in the same time period as the murders of them lil girls. Don't cha see? The modus operandi was different each time! No one picked up on it!" Her hands clapped together, quite pleased with herself. The detectives seemed dumbfounded and astounded all at once at the Mad Hatter riddle of a reply. Samara bounced from one foot to the other and eventually dropped down onto her haunches in a flutter of dirty white fabric around her legs. "We gotta think like a killer --" Which she emphasized by tapping her skull with one skeleton finger. "Think, boys, think!"
"Well shit," Gonzalez grunted, "Now I know why they wanted you around."
<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ November 18, 2007 12:31 AM: Message edited by: hunting a witch ]</font>
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The Hunt -- pt. two
Humans are such odd creatures, Boo giggle-gasped into her ear, sending an icy chill down the length of her spine. Too big eyes connected the dots with the heads of hookers until the line pulled back to the mess of wild hair and dirty white dress that was Samara. Funny, but odd.
"And you're not, Boo?" She asked, looking back over her shoulder at him. His decaying skin was pulled tight over butcher bones and contorted sinew. His thin lips bordered razorblade teeth that lined a shark grin and a serpent tongue. He giggled high and hoarse clasping clawed hands to his caved stomach. Her constant companion hovered just a few feet off the ground with his long, skeletal legs bent behind him in an awkward arch. Nine feet of shinigami horror.
I always loved your sense of humor, shadow talker.
The two detectives tracking her looked between one another with raised brows. "Who the fuck is she talkin' too?" Gonzalez snorted toward Malone, scratching at the back of his neck. His partner seemed at a loss and had only one real response to his question.
"Do you not remember where we picked her up from, buddy?"
"Oh, right."
The asylum wraith drudged along ahead of them, chatting on and off with her otherworldly companion. The prostitutes that lined the corners watched the woman with the dirt smudged, ripped communion dress carefully. They'd seen her kind before; holocaust chic with dead eyes. It was a woman wrapped in harlot red and fishnets that Samara targeted, tapping the cold tip of a boney finger to her shoulder. "Excuse me." The dark skinned, red light diva jumped to attention at the touch and batted Samara's hand away with a flick of wrist.
"You gonna be payin' suga'?"
"For what?"
The woman laughed, but Samara only looked confused.
"I just have some questions for you, I'm lookin' fer someone."
"I don't think I can help you with that, dollface." Samara turned to the detectives expectantly, but they just looked at her with blank expressions. With a sigh, she crept over to them and murmured her grand scheme in their ears, to which they each produced a few crumpled bills. Samara returned to the woman and saddled up in her awkward, gargoyle perch on the bench beside her; knees bent up and heels hooked on the edge. The crumpled bills were offered the the sex goddess like a sacrificial lamb.
"Well, I might know somethin'. Whatchu need, babydoll?"
Samara grinned wide and cast a look to Boo, who had landed behind the back of the bench beside her. "I am lookin' fer someone. They be hangin' 'round here. Real shady, y'know? Probably smooth tongued. Invites ladies ta their place ... then them girls don't show up no more."
The prostitute looked contemplative, her fat fingers tapping at her jaw and then her eyes popped wide and her finger wiggled. "Yeah! I seen someone like that. Some lady. Looks lot like you, but blonde hair -- real mangy."
"A woman?"
"Yup. Real skeleton gal too, but she pays upfront and she gots plenty of green."
"Could you describe her? Do you know her name?"
"I don't remember much 'bout her aside from that -- but mah girl she said her name was ... somethin' like Akes...dna? Somethin' real weird."
"Echidna?"
"Yeah!"
"Peculiar! Thank you for your time." With that, she hopped from the bench and motioned Boo and the detectives to follow, though like a good pet Boo rarely needed provokation to move in her wake. Once they were a safe distance from their previous witness, the detectives jogged to catch up to their charge and dropped questions.
"What kind of name is that? Echi...d..na?" Gonzalez spouted off, struggling to pronounce the Greek name.
"It's not her real name."
"How -- how do you know?" Malone countered.
"She chose it for its meaning."
"...what does it mean?" They chirped in unison.
"It was the name of a mythological beast. It's direct translation is 'she viper', but..."
"But what?"
"Echidna was the mother of all monsters."
<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ November 20, 2007 01:05 AM: Message edited by: hunting a witch ]</font>
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Two days earlier
Smoke spilled from her mouth and noosed around her neck in a rope of grey; the uneasy detectives watched the woman dressed in shadow and smoke. Deathly pale with a tumble and tangle of dark hair and deep set, green eyes; the woman looked like something pulled from the pages of a horror story. She looked like she came from Hell. The lead detective, Gambill, knotted his fingers together around rolled papers and cut a look to his partner, Lopez. The creature in the corner dragged her fingers down the window, leaving a smudge of black oil and ink down the center. The detectives looked between one another and finally Detective Gambill raised his voice to speak.
?Miss Morr, do you know why ??
?You want mah help.?
?How ??
?Well you certainly didn?t come fer a tea party ? I read the newspaper. I know ?bout those lil girls. Real shame, isn?t it?? Despite her awkward condolences, she cracked a smile and turned to better face the two. Her knees bent up and her heels settled on the edge of her chair. Palms pressed between her heel to the chair with her cigarette pinched between two fingers. Like a gargoyle, she leaned forward with her face contorted into something ghastly to get a closer inspection of the two men. ?But that dun got nothin? to do wit me.? Smoke veiled her face and the detectives, for the first time since they arrived, seemed frightened of the wisp woman.
?We?re prepared to offer you a deal, Miss Morr.?
?Really? N? what would t?at be??
?A reduced sentence provided you continue your counseling in an out-patient program,? Gambill said, unhappy with the decision of the higher ups, but knowing full well they didn?t have much of an option. The case had been open now for nearly a year and with re-election right around the corner, the mayor and district attorney wanted the killer caught and brought to justice quickly. Politics were something that Gambill didn?t bother with, he found them foul.
?And Imma get outta here durin? this investigation?? Voodoo licked tongue and Dead Sea drawl pulled at her words and sent chills up the spine of decent human beings.
?Yes, but you will be under constant supervision and at night you will be returned here; if you act out in anyway, this deal will be suspended.?
?Interestin?.?
?So will you help us??
?Oh I?ll help you all right.?
The detectives nodded and climbed to their feet, keeping a close eye on the gargoyle queen. They smoothed down their ties and straightened their jackets in the same way that only best friends could match. Detective Gambill sat the papers he had rolled in his hands on her desk, while his partner followed suit with the case files.
?Those are all the files on the case, we?d appreciate if you?d look them over and give us your opinion tomorrow.? He felt something well up in the pit of his stomach when her long, skeletal fingers hooked the first folder and pried it open. The way she looked at the mutilated corpse with glassy eyes made him second guess their decision to come here and when he looked to Lopez, he knew his partner had the same thoughts going through his head. ?Have a good night, Miss Morr, we?ll be by in the morning to pick you up.?
?Yeah, yeah.? The detectives looked between one another and then cast one last look to the woman before they both turned and headed toward the door. Lopez slipped out first and as Gambill moved to follow him, she stopped him with a murderer?s catcall. ?Oh and detective!?
?Yes??
Her smile was dangerous, twisted wide and deviant. ?You should be careful ?bout makin? deals with the Devil.?
