Authors: Jesse Abundis
“Yes, Detective.” His Guardian simply answered.
“How many people in total?”
“Two.” His Guardians voice echoed through the church.
Klecko rubbed his head, trying his best to wrap his mind around this. “ Two, “ He took a deep breath. “ what is this suppose to teach me.” He could have sworn he saw his guardian grin at that question.
“How many graves do you see?” His God like voice spoke to Klecko.
“Seven.” He responded.
“ Why seven?”
Klecko just shrugged his shoulders. “ It’s a lucky a fucking number, who knows?” His temper was getting the best of him, not the right way to earn his Guardians’ trust.
“ Think again, where does the number 7 play a crucial part in the bible.”
Klecko could feel his Guardian’s gaze, he was waiting for him to make the connection. He was a born Irish catholic, the good book was thrown in his face and poured into his head like it was storybook by his grandparents and father. “ Seven deadly sins.” His guardian applauded from the shadows. “ What does that have to do with this?”
“ Everything,” Thunder rang in the background like a timed prop. “ Casey was an evolved form of you and I, she knew how to suppress the hunger, channel it.”
“ Evolved ?” Klecko walked towards the second grave, it was a body of a young woman, still dressed in a short skirt. Klecko pulled out the photo of the young woman in the book he found, there was no doubt in his mind the dead rotting body was her, the clothes were a match. “ Do tell.”
“ Her kills weren’t to satisfied her needs, she did it to cure herself.”
Klecko looked in disbelief, he knew how it felt to take a life, there was no way this girl killed to find a way out. “ Do you believe that, you of all people should know how the darkness is just so overwhelming.”
“ It is,” He chuckled. “ it’s just a band-aid though. Without a calling, you’ll wander this earth like a stray dog, waiting to pounce on anything that comes your way. A bit like you.”
Klecko bit down on his words, he just smiled politely. But every ounce in him felt like pulling back the trigger and shoot off a few rounds into the darkness, who knows, he might get lucky. “ So, you’re telling me she never killed anyone else,” he pointed to the bodies. “ Just these two?”
“ Exactly, her faith kept her in line. Until she knew her mission.”
Mission from God, God’s will, I’ve save them from their wicked sins.
Words from the letter that began to pop into Klecko’s mind. “ She was saving them. . .” His voice thumped against the cold walls of the Church. “ Her father, he taught her how to seek her mission.”
“ Bravo, Detective.” Another round of applause for him.
“ That doesn’t’ make any sense,” Klecko paced around the graves. “ She said her father was on a mission of God, one that kept him away from her. Casey's father Richard was a pastor near their home, the man never walked two feet without them. So who the hell is she talking about in the letter, was it you, was father your code name?” Klecko pointed his finger at his guardian.
He chuckled loudly. “ No, I don’t use code names. They sound too cheap. They’re best left in the world of spies.”
“ That means Richard was a serial killer then ?”
“ No Detective, you’re not looking deep enough into Casey. There’s so much to learn from her.”
“ Humor me.” Klecko said.
“ She was adopted, though you would never know that.” The cloth was being undone from Klecko’s eyes, he was about to get the whole picture on who Casey was. “ Her foster parents did well in keeping that dark little past buried.” Klecko continued to pace around as his Guardian told him the tale. “ Doris and Richard could never conceive a child of their own. Richard in his heartbroken moment turned his back on his faith, how could God be so cruel to a man that wanted the one simple thing in life, a child. Well, divine fate would aid him on this quest.
“ One drunken night he met a man at a bar, this man gives them an idea to solve both their problems. This solution forces Richard and Doris Miller to leave New York and move to Kansas. The details are sketchy how much was paid, but after a three year disappearing act. The Miller’s came back with their new two year old daughter to New York, to reside once and for all. They were desperate, it didn’t matter what they had to do to get her or If they had to re-root their lives and start somewhere new. In the end all that matter was having a child they could call their own. Even if they had to force themselves to live a lie. But, that just goes to show you the lengths some people will go to.”
“ Who was her father ?” Klecko asked.
“ A good man, an insightful one at that. His name was Alistair.” His voice choked. “ He loved Casey, but he couldn’t bring her into his world, not yet, he was still a rabid beast with no path. He was a monster, but he could never harm his daughter.”
“ So he gave her away?” Klecko asked him
“ Yes, Detective.”
“ How did she get in contact with him?” Klecko asked the question to the missing puzzle. “ How did she know about her past?”
“ It wouldn’t be that hard for her to find out that her life was a lie.” He could hear his Guardian pacing around once more. “ Sins of the father passed down to his daughter.” His footsteps echoed like the Gods. “ Alistair feared it, he wanted a better life for her, one free from the blood and darkness.” His Guardian sighed. “ His mistake cost his child such joy, thus he was forced to carry that burden of guilt on his shoulders.”
“ How do you know so much about this Alistair?” Klecko asked him.
“ Our paths crossed, we bonded deeply, he taught me many things.” Nothing more was said.
“ How are you and I connected to this.” Klecko said to him.
“ Casey was the start of it all, Detective, she pushed her father to find a solution, a cure, an end to the hunger. We’re all connected to her, Alistair's path, your path, my path. We’re bonded to together, different times, different years, but nonetheless connected.” His voice raised with jubilation. “ This hunger we have, it’s all set for a something bigger, something more, I know my path, and soon you’ll know yours as well.”
“ The path you keep speaking about it, something to end the hunger, how is that possible?”
“ Ask yourself this, Detective, can you tame a dog not to attack, not to kill?”
Klecko was a bit dumbfounded and confused, he wasn’t sure what this was leading to. “ Maybe, depends.”
“Yes or no?”
Klecko sighed. “Yes, you just need to train the animal.”
“ Exactly, Alistair believed to conquer the hunger inside us we needed to train ourselves, make friends with it, understand it. It took some years, but he found the answer to our problem.” His voice raced with excitement. “ It wasn’t the blood that called out to us, it was the pain brought upon us that made us seek it for comfort. It brings us a sense of euphoria, it allows us to unleash are anger at the world, Though it’s never the answer to the problem.
“ You need to know what you’re after, what caused it all, what made you into the wild animal you see in the mirror, then find a way to end the cycle, only this time the blood spilled is not an anger, but in salvation and redemption. ” His hand came out from the darkness to point at the seven graves. “ This was her cure to the darkness.”
“ Seven deadly sins?” Klecko thought upon it for a few seconds. “ She needed to kill the seven sins that her father cast down on her, to free her soul?”
“ Indeed, with each kill she felt less dependent of the hunger, she was coming to terms with her life, the bad monster was being forced into the corner, never to be seen again.”
“ Until she met you.” Klecko fired the truth at his Guardian. “ I’m guessing she was the cure to your darkness.”
His Guardian walked back into the darkness, out of Klecko's sight. “ I freed her, I didn’t kill her.”
“ She’s still alive?” Klecko said in shock.
“ Of course, I love them all too much to harm them.” His Guardian said to Klecko.
“ But you said the blood was the cure,” Klecko clarified. “ if she isn’t dead, then how are you freeing yourself.”
“ We all have different methods, Detective, different ways to figure out our darkness. I’m almost at the end of mines.”
“ Then what, what happens after you complete your mission.” The whole church fell silent, Klecko stood there waiting for his God to answer. “ Tell me, what happens?” He pleaded.
“ I disappear, Detective, I become a forgotten memory.” Those words were heartbreaking to Klecko.“ But, I won’t leave yet, I plan to help you find your calling, the path to free yourself from the darkness that has you caged in.”
“ Thank you.” His Guardian wouldn’t know how much those words really meant to him.“ That’s all I can ask for.” A tear drop fell down his cheek.
His Guardian’s footsteps grew closer. “ I have a victim for you detective.”
Klecko‘s eyes lit up with joy. “ Who?” He asked.
“ That‘s a secret. But you need to prepare when the time comes, you need to study upon what you’ve seen today. Prepare yourself for what’s to come.” Klecko wanted to ask him more questions, but felt the presence of his God disappear into a darkness. Leaving him alone in that church, knowing the truth to one half of the missing story.
Chapter 67
OPEN THE FLOOD GATES
He knew the church lay out better than anyone, and the exact spots to make a fast getaway. He knew the Detective would stay put where he left him, still digesting the truth that was told to him. He walked briskly down two blocks for his waiting ride home, his driver a young woman with colorful pink hair. She exited the car as she saw him approach. “ Is he free?”
“ He’s still blind from seeing the truth, I was hoping this would have done the trick.” The young female slammed her fist on the roof of the car. “ But rest assure my dear, this was the crack in the wall that we needed. Now it’s just a matter of time.”
“ You promise.” Her eyes called out from the truth and he was one never to lie to her.
“ I promise, my dear.” He said with a smile.
Chapter 68
Lady Of The Night
If there was anyone’s soul Peewee could curse it surely would be Karen‘s, it was her insight that led them to this raining night on the streets of the Bronx, flashing the photo of the would be and real Janet Morales to each street hooker they could find. Each one spitting profanity at them for wasting their time, threatening to call their pimps if they took another second of their time.
With the whole rain pouring down on them and Maggie’s vanishing act, Peewee didn’t have his heart in this case. He knew he had to tell Karen about it, but he could tell she had her mind preoccupied with other thoughts at well. Both dealing with the misfortune that had fallen upon their heads, but neither were open to the idea of sharing at this point. “ How much longer do we have to be here?” Peewee yelled over the pouring rain to Karen.
“ All night, if that’s what it takes.” After what had happened in the alley with the detective, Karen didn’t feel like having any free time to herself, the case was the best remedy for it all. “ Don’t give up little buddy, don’t give up on hope.” She could see the frustration on his face clear as day, something was gnawing at him, she wonder if asking him would be the right course, but she knew one of them had to have the clear conscious. “ Out with it.” She yelled back to him.
“ What are you talking about?” He picked up his pace to catch up to her.
“ You know damn well what I mean, you’re holding something back, I know you. So, let’s save us both some time and just come clean.” She huddle under a nice roof tent of a worn out pawn shop to find safety from the rain, also it gave them the chance to talk this out. “ The only way we’re going to find this son of a bitch, is to have everything out in the open.” Not quite true, as Karen knew she had no intention in telling him about the standoff she had, she would deal with that obstacle on her own.
“ She’s gone.” Peewee said.
“ Who?” It was the shift in his eyes that gave it away. “ I’m sorry, did Maggie tell you why?”
“ Karen, she just vanished, out of sight. Left her job, didn’t even give a reason.” He took a deep breath and exhaled, letting out a plume of white smoke. “ What the fuck are we doing here? ” He shouted, getting some working girls to run away from him.