Punch Drunk

Dodging Danger

—

Chapter Seven

Dodging Danger

—

Louis Bulters had not actually been listed as a missing person. With only the occasional phone call back to his family to catch up, it was only the boy's closest friends who had noticed his change in habits. He was not a particularly bright student, at least in regard to his grades. He got a basic pass, usually turned up on time and rarely stayed for the tutorial groups after the lectures. Still, he seemed a good kid.

Florian put in the call to the police station immediately. This was the freshest lead they had. He had only really been missing for two days. There was a chance, albeit a slim one, that he was still alive. The human kills had all been methodical. Time-consuming was one way to describe the insane mess that had been left behind by the killer.

This kid could still be alive. Maybe. If only the fucking traffic would move out his fucking way!

'Can't they hear the fucking siren!?' Florian howled as a cab driver crawled along in front of the police car. Bailey leaned hard on the horn, but the noise just added to the street's natural cacophony of horns and shouts of the average Thursday night theatre. Bailey swore, using some truly creative terms that Florian intended to steal for himself.

'Are you sure the address is correct?' she barked, turning her frustration on the only other passenger trapped with her. Florian fought down his natural cat instinct to flex his canines at her.

'Hey, don't you turn those fiery browns on me! I didn't ask for this shit to happen during peak hour traffic!'

'For fuck's sake, we could have walked there by now!' Bailey shouted, punching the horn a few more times to vent her frustration. Florian leant his head out the window and squinted up at the buildings.

'You might be onto something there. That's the university's apartment complexes,' he said, pointing to three tall grey buildings tucked away behind the next multi-storey carpark. The traffic halted at yet another red.

'You know what? Fuck it. Go,' she said.

Florian looked at her. 'Seriously?'

'Yes, get out! If that kid is with the killer, then his life is literally ticking down. Go!' Bailey shouted. Florian didn't hesitate. He swung from the car and wove his way through the juddering, stinking cars at the stand still until he reached the pavement. There, he broke into a hard run. Were they being reckless? Well yes, obviously. But shit worked differently in this city, especially after the merge with the cats. No one was going to complain if they got the kid back alive.

Sadly, it wasn't that unusual to see a full-grown man sprinting down the street these days. Most just avoided his gaze and moved out of the way. He slithered a bit as a drain overflowed out on the footpath, making it slimy with gods only knew what. He cut through the multi-storey carpark, ignoring the startled cry from a stunned security guard in the parking booth. He went over a wall and down a flight of concrete steps that had seen better days. He was soon racing along the back of the apartment buildings. The police station had called ahead and gotten the door code from the university. A member of staff had offered to meet them but not for another couple of hours. Unsurprisingly, Florian and Bailey had decided not to wait for them.

The apartments had an old but well-kept appearance. The buildings were simple in design, but functional with mottled grey walls and narrow rectangular windows chasing up the side of the towering faces. Florian didn't even bother with the lift. He took the stairs, counting the flights as he went. On the fourth floor he paused very briefly at the fire evacuation sign, his eyes frantically tracing the floor plan until he found the apartment number he was looking for. Ominously, it was right at the end of the last corridor, away from the rest of the students and situated near the other fire escape.