Crimson (A SHORT STORY)

Crimson 1

1940’s. A small town just south of Paisley, Scotland. The time; approximately 3:15. Police are investigating a serious case of murder, four murders to be precise. All by the same person, the same brutal monster known as the Jack the Ripper of the early 1940’s; The Crimson Slayer. The crime scene is the fifth they had been to that night. It was like the Amityville Horror all over again, only worse. The four murder victims were all from the same hereditary roots, one family, the Delaney family. Jennifer and Nathan Delaney and their two children Marie and Raquel. 2

Mr Delaney had been brutally stabbed in the shoulder, his eyes had been ripped out and the killer had put pieces of broken mirror in the holes, so he could watch his wife die. Mrs Delaney had had her throat cut and a big slice down her torso, so she would die a long painful death. Both of the Delaney children had been shot in the back, their skin torn from the neck down and their skin was red raw. Their raw skin was bleeding as their bodies had been dragged into the parents bedroom, so their parents could see what he had done. One sick guy, to say the least, he wanted a audience, that’s why he put mirrors in their eyes, just like the dolls up on the shelf, they had reflected panes. 3

Detective Roberts sipped his tea as he wondered where The Crimson Slayer was now, and whether he was committing more of these horrendous crimes elsewhere. He swore on his life that he would be the one to solve this case, his life depended on it. He walked slowly over to a neighbour who was clearly not in a state of mind of which to talk to the police, and so he continued to sip his tea, and leave her be. As forensic teams swarmed the house and charged in to the scenes, we follow in through the front door. 4

The bodies I have already described to you, but the scene, I have not. As you walk in the first thing the detective saw is a wrought iron staircase, spiralling up to the next floor, and a wooden door which leads into the living room. As Detective Roberts put his hand on the door, he realised it was wet, he removed his hand to find it was now crimson. As he pushed open the door, he raised him eyebrow in surprise and pure horror. On the wall were the words: I’LL BE BACK FOR THE REST OF YOU!!! In blood on the wall, and there, in the centre of the rug lay the family’s cat, which had been axed to pieces, the eye sockets also contained mirrors. Next he went upstairs, after finding no more to look at downstairs. 5

The master bedroom looked like a flooded slaughterhouse, a blood bath. On the bed lay Mr and Mrs Delaney, their children on the floor, face down, with raw backs. On all of the walls there was blood splattered everywhere, and a broken mirror, from which I presume he got the ’eye mirrors’. Detective Roberts looked at the thirty dolls sat on a shelf, and he found they had been turned to face the slaughtered family, so they could laugh mockingly, and make the killer feel as though he had an audience.6

The police left the scene as the forensic teams continued work on the bodies, as the coroner arrived. What a shock he was going to get. Detective Roberts returned to his office and sat down in his chair, as he gave a sigh. He already has work to do on the European counterfeits project to do, amidst other projects and documents. He took out the objects he had found at the scene; a glove, made of latex, A small section of gold and bloody knife. The forensics would be furious if they found out he’d taken that. But what could link all of these objects? What was the real motive for this attack, apart from sheer sadism. 7

Next day at lunch, Detective Roberts went to get lunch, when he saw a man, familiar to him, but he knew not where from, he smiled a toothy smile, and a gaping hole was evident between his teeth. Distinctive features, but where did he know him from? Back at the office he tried to figure out the connection of all of these things. He sipped his tea and stared at the three objects laid out on the table, and tried to figure out who this Crimson Slayer was, and when they could catch him. 8

Then the phone rang, it was Superintendent McCall, there was a new murder, just blocks from head office. Roberts grabbed his coat and dived into his car. As he arrived at the scene, he knew what was happening, the Crimson Slayer was happening, everywhere, but he was just too quick for the police, there was no way of catching him, or was there? A big, bold-looking man was the victim, this time, he held in his hand a butcher’s knife, covered with blood. As the police lifted his head, they could see the killer had smashed his head repeatedly into the ground, as little bits of skull fell when the head was lifted. The floor was stained a deep crimson, only one man could have done this, and they only knew because, when they looked harder, they saw the mirrors in his eyes. As he was taken away by police Detective Roberts thought harder and harder about the whole case and the people involved. 9

Just then, there was a rustle in a hedge, and only Roberts had seemed to pick up on this though, so he slowly moved towards the bush, dreading what he may find, the rustling getting louder, and a new sound, a low mumble, a growl. A dog perhaps? Or an angry cat? He reached out gingerly and he pulled the leaves away with haste, he shielded his face, only to find nothing there. Whatever it was had scampered. Roberts didn’t like this case at all, he had not liked it from the start, but he continued with it, as it was his only hope of a promotion. He got back into his car, and headed back towards the office, to work on his various projects. 10

He opened the main door of his office, only to find all of the staff and the people making enquiries had all been brutally massacred, blood ran down the walls, as Roberts backed into the wall, it dripped on his hand as he turned. A flash of metal, and a glimpse of red, he looked around in desperation for something to defend himself with, but this silhouette was not going to give up, or give him an easy time. The silhouette stopped for a moment, he saw the smile with a gaping hole in between his teeth, he realised. The Crimson Slayer was the man he recognised but he was unaware where from. The gold tooth at the scene of the crime, the gloves, that‘s why there was no fingerprints on the knife. Detective Roberts then felt his head bang violently into the white wall behind, he felt it repeatedly, as the white wall began to turn crimson, blood filled his throat, he choked on it, as his sight began to turn red. Crimson liquid filled his eyes as he felt himself becoming light headed, woozy, he knew he was at his end. He tried helplessly to lash out at the man, but it was no use. He reached into his pocket and found his keys, maybe he could get the guy off by etching him with a key. Suddenly, the iron grip which had held him, let go completely as the silhouette fell to the ground. The skin around his eyes and his chest began to split, as his whole skin tore and he turned into a werewolf. The silver on the keys Detective Roberts held frightened the killer, and made him return to his natural state. 11

Then there was a terrible groaning sound as black silhouettes appeared in the air from nowhere and surrounded the werewolf, and grabbed at him. He fought, but they dragged him to the deep, crimson place. Fiery embers surrounded the Crimson Slayer as his hair burned off and his skin blistered and bled. It was raw as he was dragged into the flames and his eyes were torn out and mirrors were put there. They were then ripped out as the sockets where the eyes had been wept crimson. His eyes, just like his victims, their blood, his blood, their bodies, his body, crimson…