Mortals' Edge

A Vulture in the Home

An ear-splitting scream breaks the silence of the cold winter night. If the scream was at any higher of a pitch, it would shatter the ice hanging over the edges of the roof and make them shatter on the ground below. The two parents run into their daughter's bedroom to find her huddled in a corner of her bed with her phone tossed to the other end of the room. The mother quickly runs to her daughter, hugging her tightly, while the father creeps to the phone as if it could explode at any moment. It may be an ordinary cellular phone, but whatever the screen contains it's enough to send his daughter reeling in pure terror. He picks up the device carefully and looks at the small screen. His daughter had received a text with a picture attached.

My love knows no bounds. I would sacrifice all I have for you...

For our love...

- Your secret admirer

He selects the folder and instantly regrets his choice. He drops the phone and starts to retch from the sight of a maggot infested corpse of what was a common house cat. He crushes the inferior device underfoot in righteous rage and disgust.

"Fuck! This is the third time this week! Who is this demented bastard?!" The father curses so that his voice travels outside the house into the streets where a figure dressed formally in all white, excluding his powder blue tie, stands; leaning on a light-pole observing the house.

The father looks outside and sees him. He instantly bolts out of the room, gripping a bat from his younger years. He storms outside and yells at the top of his lungs, "HEY YOU SON OVA-" His threat cut off when he finds that the figure had vanished completely. All that is there is snow and ice; the same as everywhere else. He goes back inside since he is not properly attired for the cold and locks the door behind him.

Back in the room the girl continues to cry in her mother's arms demanding to know why she had to endure this torment. Her mother only holds her tightly and says, "I don't know Millie... I just don't know..."

The father returns sighing, "The bastard got away again. I swear, if I see him again I'm going to break his jaw and shit down his mouth!" The man of the house is now fuming with anger so much that his body is overly tense now.

"Calm down Robert! You can talk to the police in the morning, but please don't yell. Things are already hard as it is for Millie as is! She doesn't need you to barge in here and yell!" Her eyes share more of the terror over the safety of her baby than the anger that her husband exhibits. He eventually find the ability to calm down and leave the room.

Early the next morning finds Millie and her father at the local police station with Millie in the waiting room and her father shouting at the detective behind the desk. "How much longer is this fucking shit going to last?! My daughter can't sleep, she can't eat, she can't even leave our fucking house! Why aren't trying to catch him Nate?!"

"Mr. Mann-"

"Don't you 'Mr. Mann' me!"

"Fine. Robert. First off, we're doing our best to find this guy. He's a tricky bastard. He knows how we operate and what we're doing. We're trying to stay one step ahead of him. I know its frustrating but-"

"Are you fucking shitting me?! " Robert lurches up, making the chair he was in fall over to the floor. "We need to catch this bastard now!"

"We will Rob. Don't worry." Another detective enters and closes the door behind him. "We're getting closer to finding out who he is." He speaks in a very groggy tone and looks like death.

"Damn Rogers, you look like you slept under a bridge." Nate says looking his partner over.

"I might as well have been." He says in his usual cynical manner and sits at the table. Do me a favor Skippy and get me some coffee. Black."