Silhouette

[La Ekuyik]

A single spaceship could be seen blasting away from a rapidly disintegrating planet. Distinctively shaped like an imperfect diamond,the construct wasn't what one would expect a spaceship to look like.
Looking a little closer,a dark figure,disguised by black shadows visibly convulsed as his hand was placed on a single glowing spaceship broke the sound barrier,rapidly approaching the speed of light in seconds. An anomaly occurred, the spaceship exceeded light speed. A wormhole appeared,the ship blasted through it and emerged at the opposite end.
It decelerated even faster,still rocketing towards a planet dotted with green and patches of blue. It entered Earth's atmosphere,visibly out of control. Black shadows pooled forming a bubble around the unknown pilot.

***
​

The ship crashed moments later,the blast creating a shockwave and a passed before the pilot crawled out of the wreckage,overwhelmed by the crash and the energy supplied to the ship. It struggled to attain a vertical position succeeding after a few attempts. The ship had crashed in a forest,trees destroyed and animals killed in the aftermath. The alien began stumbling out of the forest,emerging in a few minutes. It stood a little stronger upon exposure to sunlight. A few miles out,a small town could be sighted. It's denizens had been appropriately disturbed by the last ends of the shockwave coupled with the sound of the explosion. The alien continued it's journey towards civilization,it was soon stopped by an investigating squad car. Two policemen emerged,both gawking at the sight of the stranger. It was clearly not human though it's outline was human like in shape,it lacked any other human traits such as eyes and a mouth.
One of the cops,a potbellied bearded white male drew a gun,his hands shaking around it.

"Don't come any closer or I shoot!" he yelled.
His comrade called for reinforcements,keeping one hand on his gun.

"What do we even call a situation like this,dammit!" he muttered.
"...we've spotted what seems to be...an alien...on the way"
"Yes" he shouted.
"Requesting for immediate backup." he said.
"Yes!" he shouted again,becoming visibly frustrated at the speaker on the other end.

The first cop cocked his gun as the alien continued forward,ignoring their actions.
He pulled the trigger,firing a bullet at it. It took the shot,retreating a step. Confusion could be read from it's body language. The cop kept firing,the alien stumbling back and falling to a knee. A copy of the gun materialised in it's hands in a second. It fired,copying his actions,a bullet went into the cop's shoulder.
The cop screamed,bending over because of the pain. His comrade visibly blanched, stopping his attempts to request for backup. He attempted the same as his partner, firing two shots at the alien which were ineffective. The alien returned in kind,firing through his forehead,it's aim improving with each shot. He slumped, blood pooling from the hole in his head. The pistol vanished from it's hand as the alien look curiously at it's victims.
It cranked it's head to one side,before a mouth grew disturbingly on it's face. It tested it's newest organ,finding it satisfactory before kneeling before the first cop who was still alive.
...
...
...
It placed a hand on his head and the cop's whimpers were silenced.
A couple of miles away,a black shroud emerged from the debris cast by the crash. Shadow given form,it dispersed into the air and moved towards the town. The clouds darkened becoming sinister and rain began to fall.

 

[La Ekuyik]

Chris Hendricks glanced at his shoulder,which was now bullet free,no injury shown probably as a result of the creature in front of him.
Their former surroundings had been replaced by the white landscape he now stood in. Looking around was nauseating as the white went on and on without any apparent end. Instead, he focused his eyes on the alien,curiosity written in his expression
.
"Where am I?" he asked.

"A blank region of space created by the connection between both our minds." the stranger replied surprisingly. "My attempts to communicate with you psychically were unsuccessful,hence my reaction when you two fired at me with the projectile weapon." he continued. The words resounded in his mind,the lips the alien now had not making any visible movement.
Chris suppressed his irritation at why the alien could communicate now. Deciding, the logical step was to not aggravate the creature that had displayed the ability to shrug whatever was thrown at him and return it in kind.

"...and what...are you?" he said,after brief hesitation.

"My kind is called the Gal Luen or simply the Luen" it started. "I am the former prince of our planet. As the result of an...unfortunate event it was destroyed and I managed to escape to Earth during the aftermath."he said,noticeable discomfort in his tone after the brief pause.

" Well,I won't ask why you attacked us,that's kinda obvious" Chris replied,laughing nervously. "At least, everything's okay now" he finished.
"No" the alien said,a hint of regret in his tone. "I had not expected your species to be so fragile when it comes to damage and I am not a healer amongst my species."
"That can't be!" Chris said,whose eyes had been slowly widening throughout the alien's explanation. "I can't be dying" he stubbornly refused.

"In the real world,you're slowly bleeding out. I've managed to calculate an estimated time of five minutes to death from your progressive degeneration here." the alien said sadly.
The man looked down following the lead of the alien's pointed look. He finally noticed his body slowly fading,particles dissolving upon separation. An expression of calm acceptance appeared on his face as he realised he didn't have much time left with only part of his torso and arms remaining.

"...so what now?" he finally said.
"Now that communication has been established,I know I can communicate as such upon close contact but the difficulties are very much apparent..." he droned off. " request for your knowledge of this planet before our time runs out.
"How would you even do that?" Chris said,curiosity noticeable in his tone despite himself.
"It's a simple process my kind employs...employed to prevent information loss throughout generations." the alien said.
"...you'll have to do something for me too" he said, a smirk gracing his features.
"And what is that?" the alien replied.
"Account for your actions by becoming a superhero" the man said, a wide grin now apparent on his face.

The man only had a neck and a head remaining at this point. There was a pause encompassing a few seconds in the shared mindscape before the alien replied.

"And what is this super...hero you speak of?"
"Huh? It's kinda expected that you don't know what that is,given your recent arrival but..."Chris said,a bit surprised.
" Superheroes are kinda like...heroes with powers and unique abilities that protect the innocent from external and internal attack"
"Would my becoming a superhero make your passage easier?" the alien asked,intrigued.
"Yeah...just promise to keep an eye out for my daughter,the name's Lana Hendricks. She's eight." his tone becoming a tad reflective.
"I promise on my honor as a Luen" the alien said with conviction.

The blond haired man's head moved forward,the alien reciprocating his actions before a white glow surrounded them.

***
​

The thick black gas entered through the window,moving morbidly towards it's target. The carpenter continued his work,humming ninety-nine bottles of wine on the wall not noticing the disturbance. He turned,some sixth sense warning him a little too late before the gas entered his body through his gaping mouth.
He slumped for a moment,body wracking in pain, his circulatory system turning green visibly through his now translucent skin. He stood slowly,his green body lacking any visible human traits,before letting out a disturbing groan.

 

[La Ekuyik]

Back in the real world, the alien known as Siluet Eó moved his hand back to his side. The action coincided with Chris' death,the Caucasian male falling onto his back,dead before he even hit the ground.

---

A myraid of black strand like energy split from Siluet's body forming a shroud of energy around him. His body was obscured from the view of any imaginary onlooker and remained so for a couple of minutes. Suddenly, the energy vanished and the alien's new form was revealed. A six feet two tall black man,estimated age twenty-three,of average build. Hair falling down in a messy fringe obscuring one of his eyes,non-descript face that hadn't completely lost the baby fat of childhood. The alien's new form wasn't one you would glimpse and remember, a form that fitted in the shadows...appropriate.
The only problem with the form was his glaring lack of clothes. He paused in thought for a moment before rushing to the town at an impressive speed.

---

The information revealed from the deceased father had been revelational. The dominant species on the planet being the homo sapiens,which he believed he could pull off after acquiring Chris' knowledge of humans' accepted social norms and actions.
The only perceived setback he admitted was the side-effect of absorbing another's knowledge. He had not been as precise as he would have been with one of his own specie,and as such his new attachment to his...Chris' daughter.
Even as his mind urged him to acquire clothes and properly settle into this new civilization, his heart rebelled in it's insatiable desire to reach Lana. It didn't hamper his ability to make rational thought,his experience sealing off his emotions during battle had made sure of that. His heart still throbbed when he thought of the girl's reaction to her father's death.
Slipping into Briartown,he utilised some of his soulforce to melt into the shadows around town. His human body was now unnoticeable to anyone approaching. The action though unbelievable to humans was mundane in it's application to him. He travelled through the shadows,finding a relatively quiet store and snuck in. He melted out again cautiously,slowly gaining found the store owner asleep,a bottle of human alcohol beside her. He found appropriate casual clothing,ripped jeans and a muscle shirt. He put on a pair of sneakers and moved to leave the store. Rethinking his action,he grabbed a bag and stuffed it with some other clothes. He slipped out again via shadow.

***​

A diminutive girl,blond hair cut short in a bob,glared at the teenager in front of her. The teen girl had been employed by her dad to watch her for the weekend while he was out. Her regular babysitter,old Nancy was indisposed and she had to settle for this make-up wearing,button pressing...
Her limited vocabulary couldn't bring her anger into fruition,so she had to settle for a glare that would kill if she had the ability. She wanted to visit her dad at work but the older girl had forced her to stay in,moaning inconveniences and acting like she was dumb. She was a big girl and she could take care of herself. All this could have been avoided if her dad had let her take care of herself like she always wanted.

---

The teen went to the bathroom,keeping an eye out the open door for any escape attempts form her. She would like to but realised any such attempts would be easily foiled. She settled for sulking instead. She frowned when she didn't hear from the babysitter for some minutes,moving to check on her she found water tainted green flowing from the tap and the teen writhing on the floor and moaning. She watched in shock as her complexion turned sickly green before her eyes. The teen stood,staggering slightly and groaned. The teen...thing stumbled towards her slowly,arms outstretched, and Lana was finally shocked out of her momentary paralysis by the feel of the thing's cold hands on her. She twisted out of it's surprisingly strong grip and ran screaming. Luckily,it wasn't very fast and even with her short legs she managed to outrun it and escape the house.
The situation outside her home wasn't any better as she found the denizens of the town in the same state as her former babysitter. Her frantic escape had alerted them to her presence and they turned towards her and started their slow approach. Her shock at their appearance forced her to take an involuntary step backwards and she fell into the outstretched arms of the thing she had left behind in the house.

---

She squirmed trying to escape it's seemingly superhuman grip,she felt disgusting breath on her neck and felt the worst pain she had ever experienced around her collar bone. She arched her back at the pain,eyes closed as she screamed in pain. She slowly felt something in her changing and groaned in desperation. She never noticed the thing behind her lose it's head and collapse to the ground.

***​

A pair of axes materialised in his outstretched hands and he continued his path of destruction through the zombies around Chris' home. Springing back,he replaced the weapons with two machine guns firing into the small crowd. It was all over in a few seconds as the remaining zombies fell at the damage inflicted to their brains which had been infected.
"Fuck!" he thought,trying out the human curse word.
Thoughts flicking from how they had followed him here to anger at their daring to touch what was his to if he still had enough time to save her. Falling to his knees beside her,he concentrated, creating a vial of the antidote from nothing but his held her down as she trashed and forced the antidote down her throat. She relaxed for a few seconds and he signed in relief. He was soon perturbed once more as she continued her convulsions and her skin rapidly changed to light green. He paled,mind working rapidly to fix this. He realised the problem was in the biological differences between their species.

---

Thinking fast,he cut himself open with a blade before vanishing it and replacing it with another antidote vial. He uncorked the new vial letting his blood flow from the wound into the vial even as it slowly closed up from his soulforce's attempt to return him to tip-top condition.
The impromptu blood transmission worked as he watched fascinatedly as she regained her normal skin tone and the injury slowly closed up. He sighed in relief and stood,happy that he'd kept his promise. Grabbing her comatose body,he turned and sprinted out of the town. He deposited her body far enough out of town to escape what he was about to do.
These creatures were one of the reasons his home planet had been destroyed and he knew just how dangerous they were. Confident in his reasons,he set out to do what he had to do,as inhumane as it was.
Four of his soul clones,perfect in their similarities except for the distinction of having only one weapon each and the inability to heal themselves split themselves from his main body heading to the four cardinal points of his town.
He headed to the centre,hacking through a couple of zombies as most had started heading out of the town they had completely turned.

---

The centre of the town was a fountain with a maiden from whose mouth water leaned over the edge before creating a metal orb with a light green throbbing core and depositing it. He felt the drain in his soulforce and gasped,feeling weaker than he had felt in a long while.
He headed back out careful to avoid any zombie stragglers as he wasn't sure he could handle a single zombie in his state. His clones fights and the creation of the orb had taken a toll on the alien. He escaped town, leaping into the trees and taking a deep breath as he balanced on a branch. He waited a few minutes before realising his clone's attempts at herding the zombies back in had been successful. His face wore a wry smile as he stared at the sign outside of town. It wrote Briartown,population 2000. His clones dissipated,their job completed and he grabbed Lana and rocketed off the branch and into the forest.
...
...
...
...
...
Seconds later,the town was engulfed in a briliant explosion. The shockwave broke through a few trees as the town was engulfed in green flame. The town was unnaturally quiet...all groans,all sounds had ceased.
Siluet remembered the emotions and the incidents he had shared with the people of Chris'...his town and finally let a single drop fall.

 

[La Ekuyik]

He'd left before Lana could come to. The knowledge of his ship and the town's...destruction would bring whatever weird superhero organization running. He'd left immediately after checking up on her and stabilising her condition. Leaving the eight year old beside the wreckage of his spaceship wasn't his brightest moment but he'd injected her with a suppressant to keep her under till help arrived. His decision may have been slightly influenced by the fact that her proximity to the ship would buy him some time before whoever found her caught on. He buried the guilt threatening to surface,convincing himself they would take care of her when they found out she was human-with a few DNA strands from his species of course. It'd buy him even more time before they figured out her identity as a fellow citizen however.

---

He jumped from branch to branch heading west of the town as fast as he could-which was pretty dam fast. It only took him a couple of minutes to reach the highway,from which he hitchhiked to the nearest town. He buried his regret and channeled energy into doing what he did best-surviving.

***
​

A helicopter hovered above the former Briartown and a rope ladder was dropped. Six figures clad in black outfitted with all sorts of gear climbed down it. The leading figure stood apart from the rest,a bow of all things on his back.

"What in the world are we seeing here, Hawkeye?" one of the figures directed at the man with the bow.

Fragments of buildings, scattered body parts,glass shards and brutal destruction described the sight in front of the agents.
All of the forementioned agents were in shock,having expected to find the Unidentified Foreign Object that had been glimpsed piercing earth's atmosphere only to find the remains of the town situated near where it's location.
The agents separated beginning to search the rubble for survivors while Hawkeye contacted Nick Fury.
He'd accepted the situation more calmly than Clint had expected him to. In retrospect,it was kinda expected from him. Fury told him to investigate the UFO for any possible connections between it's arrival and the catastrophe. Clint left his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D brethen behin and made his way to the forest. He sighted the squad car but only after spotting vultures hovering over the bodies beside it. He inspected the bodies,disgust carefully hidden on the expert's face. The second seemed to have died from a bullet wound straight to the head and the other from one to the shoulder. He couldn't find the bullet from the cleaner kill neither could that of the other.

---

Hawkeye was dumbfounded,most killers wouldn't go so far as to retrieve the bullets to prevent tracing but this one had.
He changed his opinion upon further inspection and realised that the wounds had not been toyed with later,indicating that the bullets had simply...vanished. Another thought process was that the injuries were from energy blasts which would leave no projectile. He quickly shut down that train of thought,the size and similarity of the injuries to what he'd dealt with was too glaring a loophole. He left the corpses and headed through the forest heading to the obvious location of the ship. Made obvious by the telling signs of it's crash.

---

It took him a couple more minutes before he stumbled on it. The ship didn't disappoint, an obvious diamond shaped structure even in it's state. A state which was remarkable for an object crashing down at such speeds,it was obviously more durable than any common earth metal. He tore his eyes away from the spaceship,spotting a small curled up figure some paces away from it. He cautiously approached it,drawing an arrow and aiming it at the figure. He breathed a sigh of relief upon finding the obviously human figure unconscious. He stayed on guard though,Thor an ally though he was had also appeared very much human too. Checking her life signs,he confirmed her unconscious status before laying her head back carefully again.
He removed a reading device and approached the ship again. The expression on his face was telling,a scientist he was not,but the energy readings from the ship were way lower than they had any right to be.

"That was a job for the relief team" he thought,shrugging.

He was buzzed soon by one of the other members of his team.

"Yeah?" he asked,stilling himself for the information that his squad was sure to have gleaned.
"We're done investigating the site,sir" the female speaker at the other end said,voice lingering questionably at the end.
"Is that all?" Clint asked.
"No,sir" the agent took a deep breath before continuing. "There seems to be a foreign substance in their blood,sir!" she said.
"..." he remained silent,waiting for further info.
"It's green,sir" the girl finished and Barton's eyes widened.

***​

In a dark basement,six teens gathered,four standing in a circle around the body of another while the last held a thick book with a black cover in her hands. The body in the circle was placed in a circumscribed triangle. The teen's arms were crossed in the popular dead man pose.
One of the teens spoke up at that moment,his voice faltering as he did.

"I-I don't think this i-is a very good idea..." he said,stuttering slightly.
"It's just a bit of fun,the one with the book said. It's not really possible to call up Satan,he doesn't even exist" she joked.
"Unless you're chicken?" she voiced.

---

The boy quieted,linking his hands with the others,a clearly unwilling participant in the morbid ritual occurring. They all drew knives,cutting their palms and spilling a few drops onto the boy in the circle. The leader spoke up,chanting in some foreign language while the already dim lights started flashing erratically.
The boy gasped and tried to unlink his hands but stopped when the leader's glare was fixated on him. The other teens chanted along sans the one in the middle. The nervous boy joined and they chanted the verse for a few minutes before the lights slowed in their flashes and stopped completely.
They stopped the ritual,awaiting the actions of the teen in the middle.
...
...
...
...
...
...
The tension was cut as he shot up laughing and the other teens also laughed except the nervous teen who realised that he'd just been pranked. He soon joined in in the laughter nervously and all was right with the world.

***​

Sometime later,somewhere in the same town, a scantily dressed female figure hobbled along. She swore obviously agitated at her lateness,she was done with her unsavory duties and was heading home in the early hours of the morning. She'd wrapped herself up in her cloak to avoid further approaches from any potential client.
A man cut her off as she was about to pass by an alley,clutching her arm and pulling her in.
She swore and tried to pull free,the point being "tried" of course. Her attempt was not successful.

"Sorry,asshole. I'm done for the day." she said as she struggled.

Her eyes widened as she saw the glint of steel. She never had a chance to voice a scream...her neck was slit and she was choking on her own blood before she had the opportunity... a moment passed before she slumped over dead.
The figure bent over her...and spent a couple of minutes hovering over her rapidly cooling corpse. He withdrew from the mutilated prostitute,a blood covered kidney in hand.

 

[La Ekuyik]

The revulsion he used to see in the eyes of his people had diminished. Elected as head of the resistance over his brother,Siluet was barely coping with things as it was. Most of the time,he saw his powers as a blessing but times like this when people stared at him,seeing the darkness in his soul he could almost change his opinion. His brother, Tchãid hadn't exactly agreed with the people's decision and after months of discontent fled from the resistance. Siluet created an energy blaster,the original weapon fueled by the darkforce of the undead. He gave a signal to the leaders of the four other five man squads before approaching the facility head on. Tracking down his brother hadn't been easy,Tchãid covered his tracks pretty well.

---

Firing the weapon he vaporised the door of the facility, letting his squad members go around him and encircle the machine in the centre.
The other squads encircled the building and waited for his command. Siluet sighed in frustration and lowered his weapon and called out.

"I know you're here,Tchãid!We've never truly been able to hide from one another." he called.
"You really think I'm hiding from you" a voice said and the Resistance members visibly tensed.

The room's temperature lowered as a figure emerged from shadows that weren't visible before. Siluet remained calm,using his species' inbuilt telephatic abilities to communicate with his brother alone.

"Surrender, brother. We've foiled whatever plan you dreamt up. Follow me...let's-"

He was abruptly cut off by the interrupting voice in his head. He realised it was reverberating in each and every one of the Resistance members he'd brought.

"But I've already put it to action...all I'm doing...is stalling for time." Tchãid said.

Confident and mocking as easily gleaned from the surface of his soulforce emotions. Tchãid let the intruders feel the multitude of emotions running through him as he released his illusion. The complex machine with a visibly glowing green core vanished replaced by a top model spaceship.

---

"Wha.." Siluet paused,unable to understand what was going on.
"I'm going to blow our little planet to bits,brother." Tchãid said,leaning his head to one side.

Siluet paused,wondering what kind of madness had possessed he brother before calling for an attack. He rushed forward as his agents opened fire,the webs of his deceit continued to be spun however as Siluet's telegraphed punch passed right through his brother followed closely by the rapid fire blasts from his teammates. The figure shimmered before falling apart...revealing itself to be an illusion.

"I'm doing this for all of us" Tchãid's parting words haunted him to the day. Feelers from the ship grabbed him,stuffing him in it's pilot seat before blasting through the roof of the facility. It blasted through the atmosphere in seconds as Siluet placed his hand on the command modul desperately trying to reverse it's course.

His actions proved futile as he rocketed further away from his home planet. Even as far away as he was,Siluet felt the heat and energy wave from his rapidly disintegrating planet...He channeled more of his soul force,black strands of shadow energy began to encompass him-
Siluet shot up from the bed in the cheap motel room he'd paid for. Cold sweat gathered on his brow and a single visible tear dripped down his cheek.

***​

Denizens moved to and fro,none noticing what was going on in the dark alley down the street. A white potbellied male with a sinister grin bent over the corpse of a stripper. Her throat was slit,face savaged by what seemed at first to be a wild animal...but the cuts were too clean,too of her murderer's discerning features were hidden by shadow.
"Two kidneys and now one uterus..." he cackled as he talked to the corpse. "It's nothing personal dearie...four more days" he mumbled,going silent for a moment as he tore out an organ.
"No fault of yours...I just like to...ahem...rip things,you see?"
The next morning, the officers at the precinct would be mailed another unpleasant surprise

 

[La Ekuyik]

He strode past the crowd gathering at the scene of his art. Already,law enforcement officers were directing traffic away from the scene. The body sans a uterus had been discovered hours after the heinous act. The mutilation done to the body displayed the graphicness of the assault the woman had endured. He stopped walking,pausing mid-step and twisting on his heel to stare at the scene.
"Disgusting" he muttered,an expression of profound disdain written across his features. The object of his ill intent was a curly haired Negro female. Slight of frame and attractive in a comely way,the man's reaction was not spurred by her color or features. Standing at the crime scene with two officers,she wore gloves and carried a forensic kit.

---

Her name was Ellen Worton,forensic scientist at the precinct for five years now. It was filth like her that he was ridding the world of.

"You know I've never liked cigarettes,Tom" she commented.
"You've kept saying that for the past five years,kid" a white bespectacled male with a chiseled jaw and homely features responded. His uniform marked him out as a police officer.
"Last I checked I'm still a year older than you"
"Semantics" Tom said,grinning after a particular long draw on his cigarette.
"I'd be surprised if an idiot like you knew the meaning of the word" she shot back.

The two's attempt to distract themselves from the disturbing scene in front of them was remotely successful. The other officer who had not been drawn into the conversation had visibly relaxed after a few moments of this.

"I've never seen something like this in all of my long and fabled career" Tom muttered,still trying to make light of the situation though his body gave him away.
The forensics expert stopped examining the body and stood,closing her kit and packing it up.
"What have you got?" the other male officer finally said.
"We were called in a few hours ago but the victim was dead a few hours before that. I'll try and dumb this down for you two..." she drawled,drawing out a smile from her two compatriots.
"Just like the other two victims of the last two nights,she's missing an organ,her uterus to be exact though that's pretty obvious because of the damage caused by the assailant." she continued,pointing out the guts of the woman strewn about like a slaughterhouse

"The blood splatter and pattern determine that the "operation" was carried out while she was still alive. It was most likely performed by the same culprit,the same ability and vendetta to keep the "patient" alive despite the severity of her injuries...yes,this most definitely was not a copycat. " she finished.
"We'll know when we head back to the precinct,won't we?" Tom said.

***
​

Tom ran his hand through his head as he stared at the package, containing a uterus. It's sender had the decency to wrap the organ. In foil no less,but at least it was something. This confirmed Ellen's theory,the problem with the case wasn't with connecting the victims or finding out the perpetrator,it lied in the fact that they just couldn't get him.
He had been identified as Timothy Richardson,senior of sixty years living off his pension with his family of four...until a few days ago at least. His fingerprints had been picked off the body and they'd run it through the database until they'd found a match. Their attempts to bring him into custody had been unsuccessful however,he'd gone missing around the time the bodies started dropping. They'd done everything, checked with his friends and family for possible hideouts. Released his picture to the news media to speed uo his capture. To make it worse,citizens had seen the man,tipped them off,they'd even chased him once...but he always seemed to get away. Tom sighed in frustration,thoughts turning to their only actual "lead" on the man.

---

Apparently his motives and modus operandi were similar to that of the pseudonymous criminal, Jack the Ripper. That was all they'd been able to glean of his actions. The results of the post-mortem analysis had come in and it matched their ongoing theory.
Tom was shocked out of his reverie by a scream and raised voices in the direction of the receptionist's desk. He drew his hand back from his holster after realising it was a common disturbance.

"No,you have to-" he could barely make out what the words being spoken were,but they'd managed to spark his curiousity.

He dropped the package and headed out of his office. He stopped just before he could enter the lounge and listened in.
"No!You don't understa-"
"I think,I understand quite well,young man" he heard his Chief of Police say in response to the words of a bespectacled young man of below average height. His entire frame screamed "nerd".
The boy pushed up his glasses,trying to fight off the officers' attempts to lead him out of the station,he was remarkably unsuccessful as the officers slowly but surely dragged him out.

" I and my friends caused this! It's some sort of demon of darkness or something,it wasn't supposed to wor,it was just a prank. But when we heard about all the bodies dropping-"he shouted, raising his voice through out his rant.
"Now listen here young man,we get all sort of folk trying to get the credit for capturing or being this perp. You're just another one of them...I've dealt with crap like you making light of the law and-" his Chief said.
"Please,you have to listen to-" the boy interrupted,his eyes locked with Tom at the last second before he was escorted out of the premises.
"And out!" his Chief thundered.

Tom stood in place shocked by the despair in the boy's eyes,his Chief walked by him muttering under his breath.
"Get back to work,Tom" he said before entering his office.

***​

Tim realised that his taste in his victim had been right once again. An onlooker wouldn't notice anything strange about the heavy set man wearing a man. Under the clothing however,spot like acne had spread over his body. The only thing differentiating them from a remarkably bad case of acne was their severity,the spots looked like burns one would find on someone used to smother a cigarette. The round marks visibly steamed from time to time though the 'man' showed no outwardly pain. His frame which was never one to look at had become disturbing. There was just something off about him that steered people away as seen by their unconscious attempts to get far away from him. He stared at the house that the forensic scientist,Ellen. The light had been switched off in the bedroom and his now more sensitive ears could pick off the disgusting sounds of sex from the room.

---

After the lights came back on,Tim made his move. He approached the car that the foolish woman had left unlocked. He entered the backseat and closed the door behind him. Sliding to the floor of the car,he reclined and waited for his prey.
Ellen kissed Anthony good night. They'd spent most of the night together,taking advantage of Ellen's husband's meeting outside of town. She hadn't been satisfied in forever since she'd married Kurt and after hooking up with Anthony a few months back she'd realised he was just the escape she needed. A broad shouldered,blond haired Adonis,he was five years her junior and great in bed. She blushed recollecting what he'd done just a few moments before. In her state of dampened awareness reminiscing great sex,she never noticed the figure laying prone at the back of her car.
She opened the front door and slid in. She put the key in and attempted to start the car before she felt a hand clamp around her mouth. The shock of the moment prevented her from screaming in terror as she felt the cold kiss of steel around her neck. It was so close that any slight twitch of her neck would make a cut. Her pulse raced as she locked gazes with her would-be captor through the mirror. She couldn't make out feautures under the hood he wore but her thought shifted from one morbid one to another.
"I'm gonna remove my hand in three seconds,if you make any attempt to run or scream I will slice your throat,got it?" her assailant said,voice raspy with disuse.
He removed his hand from her mouth and pressed the knife a little deeper to get the point across.

"What do you want?" she muttered.
"The total eradication of filth like you" he said...her eyes widened and he continued "But we can't always get what we want,can we?"

He never noticed Ellen's left hand entering her left pocket and pressing a button on her recorder while he was talking.
He pulled his hood down and leaned forward before speaking into her ears in a loud,grating manner.

"I want you to apologise for what you did"
"What I-" she muttered confused.
"Don't act like you don't know,whore." he shouted, eyes widening and face twisting in rage.

The hypothetical switch was turned off,a second later his face settling back into it's normal state of apathy.

"What you did with that man in that house" he finished
"Y-y-you mean 'sex'?" she said,trying to get as much as she could from the 'conversation'.
"Yes,you moron" the man growled.
"And you're gonna die for it" he said,beginning to apply more force to her throat.
"W-wait,why are you doing this? Who are you?" she said desperately trying to stall for time for a passerby to notice what was going ,none did the time of the day and the area of town not helping her cause.
"...huh...the thing is even I don't remember...but...you can call me... 'Jack'."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...

---

The strange man started singing...

"Ceasar's don't fear the Reaper"
"but do the wind and the sun and the rain"
"We can be like they are" he rasped

He rendered her unable to voice her throat by making a precise cut. She was still alive but her vocal cords had been slit,Jack's knowledge of the human body was remarkable in it's chaotic precision.

"Come on,baby"
"Don't fear the Reaper"
"Baby take my hand"

He dragged her body to the back seat,her attempts to struggle feeble in comparison to his inhuman strength. He started his work,slashing the knife this way and that across her face.

"Don't fear the Reaper"
"We'll be able to fly"
"Don't fear the Reaper"

It was blatant that if she was still able to,Ellen would have been screaming. He held her down and grabbed her hair. Parting her hair,he made a clean round cut on it as she struggled feebly. The clinical cut opened a round patch of skin which Jack removed.

"la la la la la"
"la la la la la" he trailed off.

Her struggles slowly weakening,Jack's intensified as he cut through at inhuman speeds. He placed his hand in her head,Ellen's eyes were going distant but she was still alive for every minute of the act...
...
...
...
...
...
...
She obviously felt the pain before her lights went dark as her brain was...yanked out if her head.

"Don't fear the Reaper" he simply said as he stared at her vacant eyes.

The windows parted at the house providing Anthony ample view of Ellen's car. Wondering why she hadn't left yet,he raced down the steps realising something was wrong. He opened his front door,his worries seemingly confirmed by the flash of blinding light in her car. He sped up and reached her car and opened it's door...Anthony fell back suddenly,the sight in front of him rendering him unable to speak for a few moments.
Ellen lay with her eyes glazed over prone in her car,a patch of skin lying messily in a pool of quickly congealing blood.
Anthony screamed.

***​

Tom's features looked decidedly haggard as he listened to the recording from the device procured from the crime scene. He was withholding evidence from the other officers on the case but at this point he could care less.

""...huh...the thing is even I don't remember...but...you can call me... 'Jack'."

He heard a thud and heavy breathing,probably from her assailant. He heard the bastard start singing "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult chillingly and he crushed the styrofoam cup in his hand in a fit of rage.
He heard the car door opening and the man that Ellen had been cheating with,Anthony scream.
Just like he'd thought,the man had been innocent though they had already taken him in for questioning.

"I'm going to get...no,I'm going to kill that murderer"

***​

Siluet stared at the television screen in the motel room that he'd closed himself up in for the last few days. The local news channel he was on was showing footage of a forensic scientist sans her brain,another victim in a recent string of attacks.
He'd been recovering from his recent fit of manic depression following his arrival at the town. The supposed tales of his species' supposed fragile state after disaster was right.
"It's about time I-" Siluet grabbed a recently acquired trenchcoat from a hook before wearing it over his human form.
"get back to work" he finished.