| |
HUTCH HEARD SOMEONE calling out to her, but they sounded far away. Her eyes were heavy, refusing to open. The sleep her body craved, no needed, kept her just on the precipice.
Hutch felt someone pulling at her body. She felt them grip her shoulders, and her head snapped back. A searing pain ripped through her. Her throat was on fire. She felt as her body crumpled to the ground, and her life ebbed away. She woke up instantly only to find herself looking into cold, dark eyes. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest.
For the first time since her visions started, she could make out his hair. It was a dark brown, almost the same color as the victims. She saw the sweat bead across his forehead. She tried to focus in on his face. This was the first time she could make out any details on his face. With this one vision, she may stop this killer. She watched his jaw clench as he gripped her face. She couldn’t think about what would happen to this poor woman. She had to concentrate on his face. Come on Grace, you can do this. Don’t think about what he is going to do. Take a good look at him. This may be someone you know.
Before she could get a good look at his face, darkness closed in on her. Her last conscious thought was of his maniacal laughter echoing in her mind.
It was the cold that woke her up. It began at her toes and crept up her body along her nerves just before it seeped deep into her bones. Her eyelids fluttered as she slowly woke up from the cocoon of sleep.
Her eyes bolted open. She found herself submerged in the murky water of the bayou. The water moved in and out of the gaping knife wound on her neck. The tiny teeth and pinchers of small water creatures feasted on her torn flesh.
She bolted upright in bed and instantly grabbed her throat. As she relived the vision once more, there was something about the killer’s eyes that kept nagging at her.
She reached for the glass of water she kept on her nightstand as she tried to recall his face. She could still feel the negative energy that surrounded him. This was the first time she came close to seeing his actual face.
Not wanting to wake Mike, she slipped out of the bed. She made her way through the dark apartment to the kitchen. Maybe a cup of coffee would clear her head so that she could concentrate on the face.
Hutch looked at the clock on the microwave and groaned. It was already five o’clock in the morning. There was no way she could go back to sleep. She would be waking in another hour to head to work.
After finishing her coffee, she decided she may as well take her shower. The freesia scented soap with the warmth of the hot spray helped calm her. She tried not to think about the murder, but the killer’s face.
As she stepped out of the shower, her thoughts were still unsettled. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, the face of the latest victim appeared. The hollowed out eyes caught her by surprise, and she instinctively jumped away from the reflection. She scolded herself for being so skittish. She couldn’t afford to lose her focus now that she saw a glimpse of the killer.
She heard Mike waking up in the bedroom. She may as well make them a quick breakfast before they left for work since she was up and dressed.
***
CAPTAIN RON HENSLEY waited for the task force to come in before sending them back out. The call came in just a few minutes ago. A poor fisherman went out early this morning to check his crab traps and returned with a poor catch, and the unfortunate experience of finding a body at the boat landing. Alex Hamilton was positive he left these bodies where they would be easily found to taunt them. He wanted to show them he could get away with murder, and they couldn’t stop him.
He watched as they entered; the stress of the case was etched on each of their faces. Just about every one of them had a steaming cup of coffee in their hand. Some wouldn’t even have a chance to enjoy their coffee before trashing it and heading out while others would try to gulp it down, needing the extra caffeine jolt.
They saw him at the door to the conference room and piled in. Their voices hadn’t yet subsided as he closed the door, “We have another body.”
***
HUTCH WATCHED AS CAPTAIN Hensley gave them the particulars of the case. She was amazed at the lack of emotion he showed as he relayed the morbid details. The discovery of the dead body must explain the negative energy she saw hovering over him when she entered the precinct earlier. She also noticed that Bryant was slouched in his chair with his arms folded across his chest and his features showed impassive stoicism. Maybe she needed to learn from these two on how to keep her emotions hidden. She looked over at Ledet and saw the rage on his face. At least there was someone like her who showed his emotions.
Before sending them out, he stated, “You know the drill, process the scene and interview the man who found the body. Find out what time he arrived this morning. See if he noticed anything unusual. I know it was dark, but there is a chance the body was dropped off after he went out.”
He looked over at Hutch to see if she could verify. She merely shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea if she had the vision at the same time as the victim’s murder or not. “My vision was in the early morning hours, right around four o’clock, but I can’t guarantee that was when he killed her. There are so many unknowns.”
A misty fog surrounded the crime scene. The whole scene looked eerie with the sun dawning behind the dense canopy of trees and the fog slithering low to the ground through the trees. As Hutch climbed out of the car, she brushed off the remaining crumbs from her bagel.
A noise to the left of her caught her attention. As she headed to the area, she saw the spider web, shimmering with droplets of dew too late and walked right into its sticky path. Jumping back in disgust, she tried to remove as much of the web from her hair and clothes as possible. This day was not starting off well.
At the water’s edge and away from the crime scene, was the apparition of the victim. For a moment, Hutch was afraid the ghost would disappear. She called out, “Wait. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Instead of fading away, the ghost just stood there looking at the crime scene. As if sensing that the apparition needed help, Rayne appeared. She took the young woman’s hand in hers before looking over at Hutch, “You must be careful cher. I fear that danger is extremely near as of late. The killer is close I am positive.”
Before Hutch could ask her any questions, Rayne and the victim’s ghost disappeared. The air went unusually still. Hutch turned around quickly. She didn’t see anyone but Ledet, Bryant, the crime scene techs and a few reporters that found out about the most recent discovery.
She reminded herself that she needed to pull it together. She had work to do, after all. Still, she surveyed the crowd once more hoping to see a black aura surrounding someone here at the scene. She was almost certain that the killer was here. There were so many areas for him to hide though that it would be impossible to search the whole area without more to go on.