Darkness Falls

3

When they got to the police station, John grabbed his things and said goodbye to Samanuel. He then went home to his wife and children. Samanuel grabbed his things from his office as well, and went to go see Jane before he went home. He stopped by her department and looked in to find her desk empty. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 'She must have went home.' He looked at the clock. 'I'll call her when I get home, just to check on her. I'll ask her out then.' He went outside to his 1967 Chevy Impala, and unlocked it. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up and he suppressed a shiver; someone is watching him. He took a brief and discreet glance around the parking lot and saw no one. He sat in his car and started it, but not before checking his backseat for anything that wasn't normally there. He locked his door back and buckled himself in. He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

When he reached his house, he parked in his garage, grabbed his things, and made his way into the apartments' lobby. He nodded at the old woman at the desk, and he got in the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked through his contacts and his finger pressed on 'Jane'. He called her. As the elevator was going up to the 5th floor, he was listening to the phone ring repetitively. When the doors opened, the phone went to her voice mail.

'Hello, sorry I couldn't get to the phone right now. Leave your name and number and I will decide if I want to call you back or not. Have a good day!' There was a beep after that. "Hi Jane, it's Samanuel. I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me tomorrow night? I know I left you last time, and I feel like such an ass still. Please, call me back." He hung up and got his keys out. He opened the door to his apartment and went in, closing and locking the door behind him. When he turned around, he saw his golden retriever, Lucky, run at him. "Hey, Lucky. What're you doing? Hmm? What're you doing, baby girl?" He talked to her in puppy talk. She jumped up on him after he put his stuff on the table beside the door. He pat her back and rubbed behind her ears, then he got up and made his way into his kitchen. Samanuel grabbed Lucky's bowl and opened up a can of chicken and gravy flavored dog food for her. He placed it on the ground and got up to wash his hands as he watched her run over to the food and eat it. He dried his hands and walked over to his refrigerator. He pulled out leftovers and warmed them up. After dinner, he took a shower and laid his clothes out for the next day. He then went and made sure that all of his windows and doors were locked. He walked into his bedroom, plugged his phone up, turned the light off, and got into bed. Lucky jumped up beside him and cuddled into his side.

2 Hours later- 1 A.M.

Samanuel was startled awake to hear his phone ringing. He rolled over, careful not to roll on Lucky, and answered it.  "Hello?" He had a husky morning voice. "Samanuel, get your ass up. You need to come to Daniel's Pub on Main. Please hurry." Detective Yang hung the phone up. Frowning and looking at the time, Detective Johnson wondered why his partner was calling him just 2 hours into his sleep. He rolled out of bed and told Lucky to stay at home. Samanuel pulled on clothes and grabbed his essentials. He got in his car and took off towards Daniel's Pub. When he got there, he saw his partner standing beside a few deputies. When Samanuel approached them, John sent them off. "So, what is wrong, John?" John looked at his partner, and gripped his shoulders. He looked him in the eyes and said, "Sam, I am so sorry." Samanuel took a confused look on his face. "Why? What's wrong? What happened?" He was getting worried. John took a deep breath and said, "Samanuel, we found another victim. Someone was walking home from the pub and stumbled upon a body. We took the victim's identity...." He paused. "It's Jane, Samanuel. Jane is the 35th victim." Samanuel froze and he felt like his world froze with him. "She..... No, she isn't. I just called her earlier and asked her if she wanted to go on another date because I ruined the last one." He paused and buried his face in his hands. "She didn't answer, John. She didn't answer the damn phone when I called her. She was dying and I was worried about making our date up. I'm so horrible, John." Samanuel thought Jane was cute, but he wasn't so sure how far it would go. Now he would never get the chance to find out. He tried to pull himself together so that he could focus on finding her killer. He looked up at John who was shooting pity filled looks his way. "Don't give me those looks, I don't deserve or need them. Let's get to work."

The pair walked over to Deputy Rogers, who was talking to the slightly drunken bystander who found her body. "Hello, I am Detective John Yang, and this is my partner, Detective Samanuel Johnson. Can you tell us how you found the victim?" "Uh, um, yeah I guess. Well I was trying to walk to the street and get a taxi, so I took this back road to get to the main road. I am a little drunk," he paused his slurred speech and laughed. "A little drunk, yeah, and I saw a body on the ground. I thought she was drunk too, so I went to check on her. When I got over there, I saw all of the blood. Her heart was carved out of her body and there was piece of paper stuck inside of the hole." Samanuel turned around and took a deep breath. "Thank you, that is all for now." John turned towards Deputy Rogers and said, "Take him to the station, please. Question him there, and do not wait for us." Rogers nodded and took the witness by the hand. He put him in the police car and they took off. John turned to his partner and hugged him. "I promise you that we will find Dark Shadow, and we will get him to jail, dead or alive. Are you sure you want to help with this one? I understand completely if you don't." Samanuel stood up and took another deep breath, he was still in denial. "Yes. I want to see her body. I need proof or I will never get over it." John nodded and they walked over to where her body was covered with a white sheet. John leaned over and uncovered her body. She was wearing the little black dress that she wore on her and Samanuel's last date. A tear slipped from his eye, and he wiped it away. He had no time to cry right now. He gave one single nod at John, who covered her body back up. John walked over to where the evidence was, and took the note with his gloved hands. He brought it over to Samanuel and they opened it together. In red, which Samanuel hoped wasn't blood but knew better, it said:

'Hello, dear detectives. That was a nice press conference you guys held for me earlier. I'm honored, I truly am. I hope you don't mind that I took one of your lovely women out from under your nose. However, I am sure Detective Johnson will think otherwise. Anyways, this blood is becoming sticky, so I will get to the point. I do have patterns, yes. I am glad you guys are picking up on my little games. I will have a few more for you soon. This is the funnest and longest game I've ever played, how about you guys? Two years, I'm beginning to think I'm growing on the NYCPD. Ta, ta for now!'

Samanuel clenched his teeth in anger. He looked at John, and with a stern voice, he said, "Let's get the motherfucker."