Brielle Ronaldi has devoted her life's work to uncovering the secrets of extraterrestrial life. After her world was turned upside down, Brielle finds herself quickly climbing the ranks of the G.L. Brooks Association. A recent addition to the facilit...
"The most recent victim of the grisly serial killer was found in the towns central park early this morning. Like the others before him this person was a man about twenty to thirty years of age, and was found stripped, skinned, and hanging by his feet from a high tree branch. Law enforcement officials are strongly urging everyone to stay indoors after 9:00PM, and if you absolutely have to leave your home after dark, please do not go alone. This is the seventh victim that has been found mutilated in this way within the past two weeks, and officials-..."
She began to tune out the sound of the television news reporter as she looked out the nearby window from her position on the sofa. She was curled beneath her faux fur blanket and sipped on a glass of warm lemon water.
This story wasn't like its predecessors; the six bodies before this one had been found in the woods as if they'd been picked from nearby hunting trails. Some had been missing their heads, others their spinal column...but each and every one had been tied up and expertly skinned.
Many theorized that a modern day Buffalo Bill copycat was on the loose, but why would such a person go through the trouble of removing various body parts if all they wanted from the start was the skin? Some believed it to be a way to deter identification methods, and others speculated that it was just a sick psycho taking trophies to remember the thrills of his murderous rampage and help feed his twisted sexual fantasies later on.
She shook her head free of the wandering thoughts. She wouldn't waste her weekend dwelling on the atrocities of some psychopathic huntsman. She was going to perform her daily routine as usual, and she'd be damned if anyone would try to make her vary from it. After all, all of the victims thus far had been male. What had she to fear but fear itself?
Finishing off the citrus water, Brielle - Samantha - hopped up from her spot on the sofa and headed for the bedroom. There was a little over and hour left before she had to head to the airport, and she had only to change out of her pajamas before leaving.
Her backpack was nestled beside the front door and held within its red fabric walls were several days worth of clothes; it was the same spot she always placed it in when preparing for a trip so as not to forget the bag nor her keys that were habitually placed on a wall hook above said bag.
Opting to use her free time wisely, she moved through the apartment to her bedroom and discarded the skimpy silk garments and slipped into a black tee shirt, blue jeans, and black over-the-ankle boots. Once she was satisfied, she walked through the apartment two separate times to make sure all light fixtures and electronics were turned off before sliding the backpack over her shoulders and grabbed the set of keys from above.
Just as she began to walk out the door, She noticed out of the corner of her eye a black motorcycle helmet resting on the kitchen counter.
I must have been more tired than I thought... She crossed the room and grabbed the helmet, inspecting it with confused scrutiny. I don't usually leave it there. After a moment she shrugged away the thought and finally exited the apartment before turning the house key in both the door knob and dead bolt, shaking the door to verify that it was locked. It was a strange habit, but she believed wholeheartedly that the one time she didn't do this simple thing would be the one time that it wasn't locked properly and someone would just waltz right in and rob the place.
She jogged down the stairwell and exited the building before crossing the courtyard to the parking lot of the complex. Waiting in the spot reserved for #1201 was a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle. It was smaller than her previous bike, and much slower as well, but it got her from point A to point B. It had been a cheap purchase from a local college kid that got in over his head with the payment on top of his other various expenses, and it only had about fifty miles on it when she'd taken the keys.
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She climbed atop the machine and slid the helmet into place before letting the bike roar to life. She let it idle for a few minutes before raising the kickstand, shifting into gear, and cruising away from the residential property. She would go for a quick ride and stop for some breakfast on her way to the airport. The flight from Texas to California wouldn't take horribly long to complete, but she still didn't want to be trapped in a giant flying metal tube with a bunch of strangers with her stomach growling the entire way.
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The park was teeming with all kinds of people. Everyone from police, to news crews, and a white van labeled "Medical Examiner" littered the area. The overwhelming stench was hard to bear.
They had already cut the body from it's elevated position, opting instead to place it in a black bag that zipped from one end to the other. The police had taped off a perimeter and were combing the area for clues that may tell the story of what happened to this unfortunate person.
Clearly he had been skinned as a deer fresh from a hunting trip, but why? What weapon had been used? Had there been a struggle? Who would be capable of committing such a vulgar act of murder?
Steely eyes looked on with lackluster amusement as they all scurried about in an attempt to both fulfil their duties and bring answers to the concerned members of the population. At first those eyes had been filled with anger when his bounty had been discovered, but now they simply watched as the peoples confusion grew and intensified. Their emotions seemed to build with each new occurrence, and they could never seem to make sense of it all.
They would have a new corpse to find soon enough, several in fact, and those eyes longed to see the results of such a masterpiece when the time comes.
