Wanted For Slaughter

Chapter 1

A/N There is gore in most chapters. I will put up a maker ~//~ to mark the start and end of the gore.

' BANG, BANG, BANG!' the sound of the gavel shakes me to attention. I look up at the Judge as she says " this court is in session, Mr. Delgado do you have any evidence to support your accusations?"

"Yes, your honor I do. I present to the court exhibit 'E' which, as you can see are photographs of the deceased that were found in the defendants house." As he is saying this, he puts enlarged photos of the women on the cork board that has the rest of the evidence on it.

~//~

These photos show the victim, Alice Wilson lying on her bed with her wrists bound together and lacerations on her forearms, thighs, and sides. This poor girl had her stomach surgically cut open and her liver, heart, and right lung removed, cooked and placed around her in a fashion that might suggest an offering was made or the killer enacted a sacrifice. The blood splatter surrounding her was coagulated showing that she was asleep when she was attacked, but did not fight back due to her sleeping pills that are shown in exhibit 'A'. There was also a circular blow to the back of her skull with a metal bat which the victim owned which most likely caused a hemorrhage that killed her shown in exhibit 'B'. On the victims chest was placed a single white rose.

~//~

As I am looking around the room, my eyes glide over the jury and land on the killer, Paul Mullins. He is wearing a too big grey pinstripe suit and he has obviously tried to present himself as his hair is slicked back and he shaved since the last time I saw him, at the hearing. He turns his head and stares at me, then all of a sudden, he grins and starts chuckling. " Is something amusing Mr. Mullins?" Mr. Delgado asks. "Yes. Your receptionist. She is definitely my type!" He says still staring at me with his dull gray eyes " She is blonde, thin, and has green eyes, the perfect package. Don't you agree Mr. Delgado?" As he says this his eyes slid off of me and onto my boss, Jeffery Delgado. " That Is Enough!" Judge Morrow says " I've seen enough, jurors please take time in making your decision. There will be a thirty-minute recess."

"Evelyn, are you alright?" Jeffery asks walking over to me. I nod and stand up. As we walk outside into the corridor, he grabs my elbow stopping me. "You don't have to be here you know. I understand that you want to, but if it is too much it's okay." I smile weakly. " Thank you, but I want to see this through as this is such an important case." He nods and we walk to the benches and sit in comfortable silence. After around fifteen minutes a guard comes running up to those of us in the hallway. "Quickly! Have you seen Mr. Mullins?!" He shouts out. "What?! No, we haven't! What's going on?!" those of us nearby in the corridor exclaim. I stand up, remembering his eyes boring into mine, I shudder. "What happened?" I ask the guard. " Mr. Mullins... he well he has escaped. No one can find him. It would be wise to leave so we can efficiently search this courthouse." he says walking away.

"What are we going to do? This was one of our biggest cases!" I ask Jeffery "We are going to go to our houses, leave this to the police and hope that they catch him. He needs to be put away, not to mention I really want that bonus this case was going to give me." he replies. We start walking towards the main doors. "And here I thought you were better than that, but I guess the boss is just like the rest of us." I laugh as we make it outside. As Jeffery says something, I see something out of the corner of my eye that makes me stop in my tracks. I turn my head and see someone- Paul- being chased by the police. As he runs into the woods by the courthouse he yells " I will see you soon receptionist!" I can feel my face draining of color as I jog to catch up with Jeffery. "Hey I'm going to head home; I will see you at work tomorrow okay?" I tell him as I start the twenty-minute walk home. " Oh, Okay. See you tomorrow then!" I wave and turn the corner when the hair on the back of my neck raises. I spin around but find no one there, I shiver as the feeling of dread running through me. As I continue my walk, I can't help but feel someone watching me.

~ THREE YEARS LATER ~

"So you see that's the last I heard of Paul Mullins, but that was three years ago! Now will you please tell me what is going on?!" I plead. " Of course, Ms. Quinn. You see the thing is three women have shown up dead in the exact same way that Paul killed them. Now, we unfortunately do not know if this is him or a disturbed fan or copycat if you will. We do think you are in danger however based on his statement to you as he was escaping. Now, have you heard from Paul or anyone claiming to be him?" The detective-Jane Kingsley- says." Of course not! I would have come to the Police right away if I had." I exclaim. Detective Kingsley nods and says "You are free to go but know we will have officers in street clothes following you at all times." I nod and get up to leave. "Oh, and Ms. Quinn? Do be careful, we wouldn't want anything to happen to you." She says as she leads me outside. As I walk to my car, I can't help but notice that feeling of dread return and my stomach drops.

My blood runs cold as a voice from behind me says "Hello, Ms. Quinn"