Dead By Dawn

Chapter Five:

        On that freezing Saturday evening, the police were suddenly alerted to the discovery of another body. A young female had been killed. Stabbed and beheaded, the killer had struck again. LeAnne McCarthy.

      The young girl's distraught parents sat in an interview room at the police station, having to tell them when and how she'd been found. Brutal.

      The mother could barely speak through her tears and shuddering breaths. The father was outraged. He was making a fuss, saying they should be out looking for the killer instead of questioning them.

      "We are doing everything we can, I assure you Mr. McCarthy. I know how hard this must be, but you should know we are doing all we can, sir." Is all they kept telling him.

      Their house was now a crime scene and so they could not go home. They planned to go back to the motel for tonight while they made arrangements with relatives to stay with them.

      It was all over the news on Sunday, and the whole town was talking about it. There was no doubt now that there was a serial killer on the loose. And he was targeting certain young girls.

      But at the moment, the detectives couldn't find any other connection between the victims other than the high school they had attended.

      They questioned the teachers, and other pupils close to the victims. But nothing was adding up. Who could have such a hate for such a random pick of young girls?

      He knew.

      He went about this Sunday as normal. Popped out to the shops for some necessities; Food, toiletries... As he walked down the cleaning supplies aisle of one shop, he overheard a young girl gossiping with her friend.

      "...It's all girls from our old school. I heard Kady Nightingale's neighbour was murdered about two or so days ago..." Did this girl know Kady? If so, could she be the next victim?

      A thought occurred to him as he drove back to his house which he shared with his eighteen year old son and their pet dog Rico, an old German Sheppard, on his way out, bless him, probably only a year or so left in him.

      What truly is the point in all this? Even if I do rid the world of everyone who wronged Kady, eventually I will get caught, and I will never have her in my life again. I will spend the rest of my life behind bars. Having Christ knows what happen to me.

      But the urge was just too damn strong. He's started, so he couldn't stop now. After the last victim, the blonde lady whose house he'd been near when he saw Kady leave with the rest of her things, then drive away with her dad, he wanted to stop. But he knew he couldn't. Not until he knew Kady would never be hurt again...

*****

      Kady spent the whole day with her dad. They ate dinner, watched TV, the usual for a Sunday at dad's house. But when they heard the news about LeAnne, suddenly Kady's phone burst into life with a text followed quickly by a phone call from Benji.

      "Hey..." Her dad heard her say. "Yeah, I just heard. It's awful... yeah I knew you knew her... What? I never knew she liked you?!... You had a 'thing'? what the hell is that supposed to mean?...Ooh, that kinda 'thing'. Ookaay, right, I get you...Okay dude, I'll message you in the morning...Okay. Bye!"

      "What was that about?" Steve asked.

      "Turns out Benji had a thing with LeAnne at one point a couple of years or so ago. I never knew about that, though. That'd probably be one of his flings before he met Carrie."