Investigation

Rachael and Jessica had just returned to the alley with the police. As the thugs in question were already reported as being armed and dangerous, the police requested that the two girls remain in the police car for their own protection.

However, as the police rounded the corner into the alley, they didn't expect to see the gruesome murder scene that stood before them.

Four of the younger boys had several deep gashes that tore straight through their throats. They would have been dead in just a few short minutes after a cut like this. The eldest of the bunch was another story. This guy was a well known gang member in the area, and the police had been after him for a while. He had no visible neck injuries, but the cause of death was unmistakable as they all noticed his heart that lay outside of his chest.

"Are those girls positive that it was another girl that they grabbed? I don't mean to sound sexist, but I don't see a girl being able to do these kind of injuries." One of the officers asked, not sure what to think of the scene.

Another police officer began walking back to the squad car. "I'll get to the bottom of this!"

As the officer got up to the police car, he opened up the back door where the two girls sat. Immediately they both withdrew further back into the car, in case either of the guys were to escape and neared their location. "I'm gonna need the two of you to step out of the car and answer a few questions please!"

Immediately the two girls quickly shook their heads rapidly.

"Not until we see those guys in handcuffs, and know that our friend is ok!" Rachael demanded.

"Well, I don't really think it will be necessary to handcuff the dead." The officer replied back. "Now please step out of the car so I can figure out what exactly happened."

Rachael and Jessica slowly climbed out of the back of the police car. "Where is Trinity? Where is our friend? Is she ok?" Rachael asked.

The officer avoided the question. "I need you both to start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened. Right now, the other officers are investigating the crime scene."

"And our friend?" Jessica piped up, annoyed that he wasn't answering them.

"Beginning!" He pointed at the two of them, making it clear to them he would not answer any questions until they answered his first.

Rachael sighed. "We had just left the store after shopping, when we came across those guys at the alley. We didn't realize anything until it was too late. The taller guy, he grabbed Trinity and pulled her into the alley with a knife to her throat. The other four wouldn't let us get to her, and kept slashing at us with their knives if we tried to help her. That's how I got this!" Rachael held up her now bandaged arm that the police had helped wrap for her while they reported what had happened.

"And who else was grabbed or entered the alley after her?" The officer asked next.

Rachael and Jessica stared at each other in confusion. "No one! Not unless it was after we ran to get help." Jessica replied.

The police officer sighed. "And your friend, does she have any self defense training, or carry any weapons on her?"

"No!" Both Rachael and Jessica shrieked in unison.

"Trinity doesn't like violence. She doesn't have any weapons." Rachael finished.

"Well, we will be dusting the knives for fingerprints to see which knife did this, and who it might have been."

"Where is our friend?" Rachael repeated.

The officer motioned with his finger. "Follow me, but do not touch anything. You can look, but do not enter the alley."

As they rounded the corner and peered into the alley, Rachael and Jessica both gasped as they saw the five boys from earlier all laying there dead, with no sign of Trinity anywhere to be seen.

"Who did this?" Rachael asked in shock. "Where is Trinity?"

"That's what we would like to know as well." The police officer replied back. "As far as your friend goes, we don't know yet." He looked around at each of the businesses that surrounded them. 'One of them must have a camera that pointed in this direction. Hopefully we can find something that could give them a clue as to what happened here.' he thought to himself.

~*~*~*~*~

Back at the station, the officers had been reviewing the video footage for the past few hours, trying to find anything that may have spotted something.

Most of the businesses didn't show much of the alley. What they did see was evidence that what the two girls had reported, was true. They seen their friend get grabbed from the side, and the two girls trying to race inside before being chased out of the alley. But then, nothing else after that. They couldn't even see the girl leave the alley, let alone anyone else enter.

They had already notified the girl's father of the situation, who was on his way down to the precinct right now.

"Captain, I think I found something! But I don't think you're gonna believe this when you see it! I barely believe it myself!"

The captain came over to the officer who had called him over. "Samantha! What do you have to show me?"

Samantha sat back down at her station. "Well sir, I was looking back over the video of the mexican food restaurant across the street."

"We've already looked over this video already. There is nothing on it to show anything new." The captain replied back confused why she thinks she must have seen something.

"Well sir, it almost doesn't show anything. But there are two occasions in the video where you see a brief glimpse of something. Look here!" She sped up the video to a little ways after the two girls had been chased off. "There!" She paused the video and pointed at the screen. "What do you think that is?"

The captain squinted his eyes at the screen. It was blurry and hard to make out, but it looked to be a thin curved piece of rope, but it was pointed at the end. "Play the video."

As Samantha hit the play button, the camera caught a quick very brief glimpse of a red tail swishing through the air before disappearing into the alley.

"Is that what I think it is?" The captain asked.

Samantha nodded rapidly. "Yeah, that's the demon's tail; and that's not all!" She sped up the video another few minutes before putting it into slow motion. "Look at this here. I can't quite figure this one out!"

The captain shook his head at the video. "It's just the sun reflecting light off a surface somewhere."

Samantha shook her head in reply. "It's not. Watch this light! It moves and shimmers slightly, like a ripple in water. Then you can see it shoot up into the sky and off the screen. I'll back it up so you can see it again."

The captain watched the slight shimmer of a ripple as it moved out of the alley, and up into the air just as Samantha had said. "Well what do you know! It seems this demon can make himself invisible, and I'm betting that is what took the girl! The question is, why!"

"I guess now we know what the murder weapon was for those five guys. If we're right, and this really is the demon, then I would reasonably assume that a demon's claws would definitely be capable of slashing through those boys throats and ripping out the other guy's heart." Samantha speculated.

The captain nodded. "I do believe you may be right!"

Another officer opened up the door to the office they were in. "Captain? The father of the missing girl is here. Would you like to see him now?"

The captain looked up to see a very distraught priest looking around the precinct nervously. "Well this isn't gonna be good news for him! Samantha, please send me that video to my computer!"

"Yes sir!" Samantha replied.

The captain walked out to greet the priest. "Hello Father! I am Captain Renault."

"Captain Renault, my name is Kiran. Please, can you tell me any news regarding my daughter! Have you found her? Is she alright?"

Captain Renault sighed before placing the palm of his hand on the priest's back. "Father Kiran, please follow me into my office. There is much we need to discuss."

Father Kiran followed the police captain into his office. Captain Renault then shut the door behind them and closed his blinds to shut them out from view of the rest of the precinct.

"Father Kiran, we have reason to believe that your daughter was taken by the demon that has recently appeared." He showed the priest the video footage that showed the demon tail and the strange shimmer of light.

"Her body was not at the scene of the crime, nor did she leave the alley on her own. We can only assume that this means that the demon has taken her."

Father Kiran shook his head, refusing to believe what the video showed. "No! I just got her back! Why would he just take her now?"

Captain Renault tapped the tips of his fingers together as his hands rested on his desk. "I'm sorry, but as soon as we can find out any more, we will notify you immediately."

As Father Kiran walked out of the police station, he knew he only had one place where he could go. "I need to ask Amara for her help in finding my daughter!"

~*~*~*~*~

Father Kiran was grateful to find that Amara was out of her room. He explained everything that had happened with his daughter and pleaded for her help, to which Amara graciously accepted.

"Of course I will help you to find your daughter! You can count on me!" Amara replied with a dazzling smile.

A huge weight was lifted off of Father Kiran's heart knowing that she would help. "Thank you so much for your kindness, Amara!" he expressed as he bowed to her.

Amara withdrew into her room again once more. She had been vigorously studying the towns maps, debating on where he might possibly go to hide.

"Why would you take her?" Amara wondered aloud. "Where would you go?"

Before, there was an infinite amount of territory that he would be able to hide. But now that he had taken the girl, she felt that his options were much more limited.

"Taking the girl would only burden you more, and just aides me in finding you faster. So why would you risk it? What do you have to gain from this?" She tapped at the map with her flawless fingernails.

She quickly circled seven spots on the map that she felt he might hide if he had a human with him.

"I will find you, brother. One way, or another. You have already escaped me once when you possessed the girl. You bided your time well, hiding and waiting until I was distracted. But sooner or later, your luck will run out. I will find you! I will need you out of the way, if our plan is to succeed. And I will not allow you to stop us." A conniving smile spread across Amara's lips.

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Books I am currently writing:

- The Forbidden Luna

- Divine Banishment