this chapter is short but i swear to you the last chapter is the longest, the fullest and the best of all of them and you won't be disappointed, mark my words. in the meanwhile enjoy this one (yes, yes, after this, there's only one left)
Disclaimer: This story contains violence, gore, sexual content and strong language. Subjects covered might trigger some. If you are very sensible or easily offended, please abstain from reading.
With no useful information, Wade had made it back to the hospital an hour later. Zarah's words had echoed through Quest's mind when he had seen him. But instead of talking about it again, he nodded and continued working.
Not only fifteen minutes later, Tucker barged into the room and dropped a file on the table. Quest stood up and waited for explanations.
"Wiseman, go get the others, they might need to hear this." He ordered as he sat down at the end of the table.
Dallas nodded and left immediately.
"Was it K?" Quest asked hurriedly.
Tucker grunted like he didn't want to admit Quest was right. He waited for Dallas to come back with Zarah, Vani and Vincent before replying to the question that burnt Quest's lips.
"Kimi Lyon. 23 years old. She was found dead in a park in Orlando, Florida."
"I knew it!" Quest exclaimed.
"What did the report say?" Vincent asked.
"A simple but effective stab at the top of the skull was enough to kill her. Apart from that and the numbers 12 and 16 cut onto her cheeks, Alpha did not do anything else to her. They did not find anything that could incriminate someone. The report also says that her arms were placed horizontally and her legs were crossed so that her body resembled a cross, and that her long hair had been neatly draped around her shoulders."
Dallas had spotted the brown envelope in front of Tucker and opened it. He had printed the copies of the crime scene pictures the FBI had transferred. He pinned them down on the cork board in the space he had left for the twelfth victim. Quest looked at it for a few seconds before saying:
"The white cloth on the cross. This is a tradition, people put white cloths on a cross on Easter for the resurrection."
The team nodded.
"That's Alpha." He confirmed.
"That sneaky shit..." Dallas exclaimed. "He went all the way to Orlando for that? That's dedication!"
"But why was he in Orlando?" Zarah wondered. "There has to be a reason. Why there more than anywhere else?"
"Agent Smith told me they didn't realize immediately that it was one of our cases." Tucker continued. "It's when they realized that they searched a bit further, trying to understand why he had killed someone in America. They found out the park Kimi Lyon had been killed at was a few miles away from a hotel. They asked for the hotel record and looked for the last people to check out after the estimated time of death. They found a room registered under the name 'Phil Lester'."
Quest jumped off his seat. His fist hit the table with an incredible force and he threw his coworkers triumphant stares.
"Phil! So Philip Lester is his full name! That's the guy I saw at the grocery store. That was him with Alpha at Emily Fontaine's crime scene!"
He paused to take a breath.
"Is that all they found about him? Did they get any number? Credit card, telephone...? Did they dig any deeper?!"
"They did ask the receptionist of the hotel if they had anything to report on the people in that room. They were two, because two keys to that room had been given out when they checked in. She didn't know much else about them in particular, but she did say that their hotel was hosting an event that weekend and that most people that booked a room had gone to that event."
"That would give Alpha a purpose to go to Florida, then." Zarah said.
Tucker and Quest simultaneously nodded.
"What kind of event was it?" Wade wondered.
"It was called 'Playlist Live'." Tucker announced.
He looked around him to see if anyone knew about that event. When a silence followed, he continued.
"Apparently it's a three days event where internet sensations come together to meet their fans."
The team frowned. That sounded weird.
"And... was he there to meet these people or there so people could meet him?" Zarah asked.
"They had a look through the special guests list." Tucker explained. "They did find a Phil Lester."
Quest smiled from ear to ear.
"Did they find anything on Alpha?!" He asked hastily. "Could they figure out who was in the room with him?"
Tucker glared at him.
"They found Phil Lester under a meet up schedule. He had been scheduled with another person, Dan Howell."
"Dan Howell..." Quest repeated under his breath. "Dan Howell... Who is he? Did they ask about him?" His voice was louder and more hurried this time. "What is their relation?"
Tucker grunted. The tension was so high in the room no one dared to move. The attention was entirely focused on Quest and Tucker now.
"They said they had been scheduled together because they are very good friends and that their fans rarely only like them individually. They said it's always simpler to put them together."
"Is that it?!"
"They added that if they wanted more information they should probably google them."
Without hesitation, Quest pulled out his phone. He typed 'Dan Howell and Phil Lester' into the search bar. When he clicked on the images, everything around him seemed to brighten up. He felt like Alpha's tight hands around his throat had loosened up and like the canvas finally made sense.
"It's him..." He whispered.
He turned his phone to the team. They squeezed themselves to look at the screen all at the same time.
"It's him!" Quest exclaimed, triumphant. "That's Alpha, that's Rupert, the guy at the bar, the guy at Emily Fontaine's crime scene! That's him! And that is Philip Lester! The guy I saw at the grocery store! He was at Emily Fontaine's crime scene too! There it is, our proof!"
"Oh my God..." Wade murmured.
"Quest Kadner, you son of a bitch, you did it!" Dallas exclaimed. "You freaking did it!"
Quest was smiling widely. He was so happy that he was holding it back to stay professional.
"Now, Philip hasn't done anything." Quest said. "His friend, Dan, is doing the dirty work. Phil Lester is not Alpha, Dan is, and he is using him to cover himself!"
Everyone was listening carefully.
"We must protect Phil at all cost. He hasn't done anything wrong. I'm almost a hundred percent positive he helps Alpha blindly. He might know more than we do. Much more. We need to find him. If we find Phil, we find Alpha."
He looked at the people around him.
"You didn't think it was realistic?" He added. "You thought it was all in vain? Well there you go. We have a clue. Do your research. I don't care what you do, as long as he or Dan don't know, I want you to find a way to him. There has to be information about where they live somewhere on the Internet. We'll get him. Oh, yes, we will."
He looked at Wade, a glimmer shining brightly in his eyes.
"It's not over. It's only the beginning."
~
He was frantic. His fingers kept twitching inside his pockets. His pace was fast, his breath was sharp and he felt his grip tighten around the world.
Only two people were left in Dan's pattern. He was so excited for it to be finally completed that nervousness had seized him up and that adrenaline was already rushing through his body. He could smell it from miles away, the end was near. Oh, so near.
He had never seen Phil so close to uncovering the truth. This had also contributed to his anxiety and excitement. Soon he could reveal his work to him. Soon, he could finally understand. Sooner than he would expect.
After buying himself some more time by soothing Phil down, he had quickly left the apartment to hunt for his next to last victim. His urges to kill had never been stronger, it almost felt animal. It was so strong he felt like he wouldn't even have the patience to perfect his art like the others. His mind was a total chaos, every thought was screamed at him in shrill voices, but he didn't care anymore. Kill. That was the only thing that mattered.
"Hey, big boy, tell me what you want and I'll tell you my price..."
Dan was torn from his thoughts and noticed a woman dressed in a small and revealing dress with knee high boots and a thin coat over her shoulders. The voices inside his head stopped, and on the same countdown, they yelled at the same given moment. Dan followed their lead and slapped the woman, making her fall to her knees. Without thinking, he jumped to her throat and plunged his teeth in her flesh. He bit down and ripped her skin off. The blood spurted out and he drank it in large sips.
"Want anything, big boy?" The woman asked with her sensual voice.
Without hesitation, Dan indicated the alley behind her. She nodded, grinned cheekily and turned around, moving her hips with every step. When they were in deep enough, she turned around and licked her lips.
"My name is Olita. I'm at your service, now. What is it that you want, then, big boy?"
"This..."
He pulled his knife out of his pocket in a swift movement and strongly grabbed her by the throat. She started squealing when she felt the hand around her neck and a higher sound came out of her mouth when she saw the blade approaching her lips. Dan immediately sliced each corners of her mouth. She continued half screaming and half choking while Dan carved the numbers 15 and 16 on her cheeks. When he was done, he let go of her neck. She inhaled deeply, but before she could yell at the top of her lungs and escape, he slit her throat in a single movement. She slid down the wall slowly before hitting the ground.
Suddenly, a bright light cast down on the wall in front of him.
"HEY!" Dan heard at the other end of the alley. "Oh my, God! I'm filming you right now! I've got this on video! I'm calling the police! Don't you fucking move!"
Dan looked at the man from the corner of his eyes. The flash from his phone was blinding, and he knew his face had been exposed. He snickered to himself. He turned back to Olita. As the blood gushed out of her neck, he opened his backpack and grabbed the broken glass bottom he had brought back from the bar. He then placed it under the wound and let it pour into the glass.
"I SAID I AM CALLING THE POLICE!" The man yelled. Dan could sense fear in his voice. But he ignored him once more.
He removed the glass now full of blood from under her wound and placed it in between Olita's hands. He wiped his knife on her thin coat and stood back up.
Dan turned around slowly to face the man. The flash suddenly turned off and the man brought his phone to his ear.
"Hi, yes, hello, I'm in an alley and someone has just been murdered..." He swallowed hard when he noticed Dan was slowly walking in his direction. "No, no, the murderer is still there, he's got a hood on his head, I can't see his face, I'm on-"
Dan struck the man's temple with his elbow. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Sir, are you still there, sir? You need to tell me where you are and what is happening, officers will be on their way..."
Dan crouched and grabbed the phone that was still resting in the man's hand.
"Tell Quest to come find me." He simply said into the phone before hanging up. He placed it back in the man's hand, and left after looking at Olita one last time.
~
"Why do they seem like the happiest and most normal people in the entire world?" Dallas said.
The team had begun searching about Dan Howell and Phil Lester on the Internet to gather as much information as they could. Dallas had ended up on their YouTube channels and was watching a few videos. Zarah was reading articles and fan posts and every time they thought an information was worth it, they told Quest who was still writing down theories.
"Serial killers rarely ever look like serial killers." Quest replied.
"And they don't have to be miserable to be serial killers." Wade added.
"But look at them." Dallas turned the laptop screen in Quest's direction. "I don't know what it is. They just look so happy together. I wonder what their real relation is."
"Mmh. Whatever their relation is, Dan is manipulating Phil to protect himself from me."
"Oh also, I found that one video on Dan's channel. It's called 'Psycho thoughts'. It was posted around the time Agana Baldwin was reported missing, and around the time of Bradley Cox's death."
Quest frowned.
"What does he say?"
"Well, basically he talks about daydreams he has where he imagines people dying and stuff like that..."
"Daydreams? This is like my theory about him getting orders from his subconscious..."
"That's exactly it." Dallas confirmed.
"There's not much information about their home address on the Internet." Zarah suddenly said. "There's a few people who say they have found their house but nothing about where exactly. Maybe we could find the IP address of one of their tweets?"
"Not now."
Tucker had just entered the room and he was sliding his phone back in his pocket.
"What is it now?" Dallas asked.
"The police station just received an emergency call. A man called in because he was witnessing a murder still in action. He said the murderer was still there but that a hood covered his head so he couldn't see his face. Then he tried to say more but they heard a weird sound and then someone else spoke into the phone. They said to tell Quest to come find him."
"Alpha." Quest whispered. "I have to go now!" He exclaimed, gathering his things and throwing his coat over his shoulders. "You two, come with me. Tucker, tell Vincent and Vani what happened but they have to keep analysing. Send other forensics for this crime scene. In the meanwhile, Wade, find the IP address. But wait for me before taking action. I want to be the one arresting his ass."
Everyone nodded and followed the orders without adding a word. Tucker gave the police information to Quest before heading to the morgue.
~
Phil had spent more time than he would have liked to admit staring at the recording device. Immediately after Dan had left, he had ran back to his room and had grabbed it in the hope of finally building up the strength to listen to it.
He had stared at it, unable to start it. Had put it down, paced around his room, grabbed it again, stared, and stared, still unable to listen to it once and for all.
Finally, after a long time of battling himself mentally, he hit the play button quickly. There was no going back.
At first it was silent. Phil remembered he had placed it earlier in the day so he wouldn't get caught by Dan. So he fast-forwarded until he could hear something else than the crippling sound of nothing.
Suddenly, he heard a loud voice. He stopped, rewound and hit play again.
He heard footsteps approaching, and the door closing. He could hear Dan breathing heavily. Slowly, his breaths turned into laughter. The laugh grew bigger and bigger, and soon it was hysterical, psychotic, even.
"I love to see you dance, Quest..."
Phil's body went numb. He had mentioned Quest. After his laughter died down, silence came back. Phil could only hear footsteps, shuffling of sheets and a few piano notes. He decided to fast forward again. He stopped when whispers started coming through the speaker. They were very low and sequenced, Phil could easily tell it was Dan sleep talking. But, unlike the last time Phil had heard Dan sleep talk, his words were clear and vivid.
"Quest... Quest, you'll find me... It's... It's me... You're looking for me... Alpha... I'm right... Right under your nose... You were so close... But... But I'm not... I'm not done... No... Not yet... The revelation... It needs... It needs to be done... Before... Before we meet again... Alpha... Alpha is alive... Quest... Two... Two left... O... Fifteen... P... Sixteen... Sixteen... Sixteen... Sixteen... Sixteen...! Sixteen! SIXTEEN..."
Phil stopped the recorder. He set it aside slowly, not a single limb able to feel a thing as sweat drenched his entire face. As he lifted up an incredibly shaky arm and adjusted his hair on his head, the rate of his heart got abnormal and the urge to scream bloody murder grew bigger and bigger.
It finally crashed upon him. Dan Howell, the man he had beloved and shared a room with for 6 years, was the infamous Alpha he had been scared of since the beginning. And he had only two victims left on his pattern. O and P.
"I am P..." Phil whispered in a distressed voice.
As Phil contemplated running away, far, far away from this place and never looking back, he heard the front door of the apartment creak open.
Dan was back.
~
When they arrived, Quest almost busted the car door to get out and run to the crime scene. A police car was already there and they were closing the perimeter with the familiar yellow tape. He could hear the ambulance's siren ringing far away.
Zarah's car pulled right next to his a few seconds later and she and Dallas joined him on the scene.
Quest first noticed the man on the ground, with the phone in his hand. He seemed uninjured, but he was still unconscious. The officer that wasn't setting the tape was crouched next to him and tried to earn a response from the man.
About five meters away, a woman was sitting at the end of the wall. He could see from where he was the amount of blood on her body.
"Was there anyone else when you arrived?" He hastily asked the officers.
"No, just these two." One of them said.
Quest nodded. "After you're done with that tape you should go check around, maybe some other people saw him."
"On it."
He indicated his team to follow him as he approached the corpse.
"The corner of her mouths were lacerated." Quest observed out loud.
"Just like Muna Nejem and Nitika Oliver." Zarah finished off.
"So this is..." Dallas begun.
"The Third Angel." Quest confirmed. "Ready to deliver the message."
"Oh, what is this in her hands?" Dallas snapped a picture of it.
"It looks like a broken pint. With blood inside." Zarah said after looking closely. She gasped. "Wait, could that be Alpha's actual pint that Quest tried to get from him at the bar?"
"That's probable." Quest replied.
"But what does that mean?" Dallas wondered.
Quest stayed silence. He thought for a few seconds.
"If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath." He finally quoted.
"Wow." It was all Zarah could think of.
"How does anyone know that much about religion?" Dallas thought out loud. "From what I saw on the Internet earlier, he seemed like the least religious person out there. Not even Jesus knew that much about religion."
"Quest knows a lot." Zarah simply said.
"Yeah, but he did some research before. Alpha started killing on an impulse, I suppose he didn't have time to check on bible.com to get the details." He explained. "I don't know. It's just all weird, man."
"Start sampling." Quest ordered. "Do your thing."
At the same time, a second police car arrived. A tall woman got out and noticed Quest looking at her.
"Agent Kadner!" She called when she saw him.
When she got closer, Quest finally recognized her. He had seen her once at Guy and Howie's crime scene.
"Agent Mir." He greeted her with a handshake.
"Have you got anything so far?" She asked.
"We arrived only a few minutes ago. An officer is out looking for possible witnesses."
She nodded. A silence stretched between them while Quest waited for Agent Mir to word the thoughts he could see were running through her mind.
"Does it happen often that serial killers ask for you to come find them?" she finally asked.
Quest paused. He looked at the corpse from the corner of his eyes.
"It doesn't happen usually." He replied. "I find them before they ask for me to get them."
"Alpha's pattern is one person away from being done." Agent Mir pointed out.
Quest glared at her. He stopped himself from snapping and simply breathed deeply.
"Don't worry. I've got this under control."
She nodded her head, seeming unconvinced. Quest tried to ignore it. He turned away from her to continue his analysis of the crime scene.
"Olita Pocklington." She then said behind him.
"Pardon me?"
"The victim on the ground. Her name is Olita Pocklington." She clarified. "She has history with us. She was arrested innumerable times for soliciting in public places. When she was released, she would simply move a few blocks away. I guess she asked the wrong person today."
"The man on the ground, do you know him?" Quest wondered.
"No." She said. "He must've just been walking by."
Another silence stretched as Quest continued thinking.
"Bit risky to kill at such an open place." Agent Mir cut Quest's thoughts once more.
"It's because he doesn't care anymore." Quest answered, annoyed. "He is so close to the end that everything inside of him must feel like he's about to burst. His goal is so close, the only thing he'd be wanting to do is to finally end it."
Agent Mir was about to add something else, but the officer that was still next to the unconscious man finally earned a response from him. When he noticed the man was moving, Quest ran to his side.
"Sir, I'm detective Quest Kadner, I'm with the MI5, I have a few questions to ask y-"
"Agent Kadner, you should probably give him some space..." The officer said.
"I need to talk with him right now otherwise his memory will be corrupted!" He retorted. "Sir!"
"I'm..." The man looked very confused. "Oh my God..."
He looked behind him to see Olita Pocklington's dead body. He gasped and started panicking.
"The man! Where is he!? He was- He was just t- he was just there! He- He-"
"Sir, calm down, it's okay, you're safe now." The officer tried to reassure him. "What is your name?"
"Hunter..." He said in between two big breaths.
"Hunter, you need to listen to me very carefully." Quest explained as calmly as he could. "Do you remember anything from the man that attacked you?"
"N-no... Not really..." He answered sheepishly as he rubbed the side of his head.
Quest crouched and grabbed him firmly by the shoulders.
"Agent Kadner..." The officer warned.
"You've got to remember something, the smallest detail!" He exclaimed, almost angry. "What was he wearing?"
"Um, a lot of black, I can remember..."
"Okay, that's a start, did he tell you anything?"
"No, it was all very quiet... And suddenly he turned around and started walking towards me slowly..."
"Did you see his face?" Quest asked firmly.
"No..."
"Did you see it? You must have!" He was getting a bit aggressive.
"Agent Kadner..." The officer repeated.
"No!" Hunter said. "B- but..."
"You walked in on Alpha murdering someone and you're still alive, it's impossible for you not to have seen at least one bit of his face!" Quest was angry now. He retrieved his own phone from his pocket and showed him Dan Howell's picture.
"Does this man ring any bell?!"
"Agent Kadner!" The officer warned once more.
"Wait..." Hunter begun. "I filmed him!"
"What?!" Quest exclaimed.
"Yes, before calling the police I filmed him! I filmed the killer! I think I got him when he turned around!"
Quest stood back up excitedly. He turned to the officer.
"Where is that phone?" He asked him hurriedly.
"Your girl, Mello, sampled it."
"MELLO!" He screamed. "COME HERE!"
Zarah turned her head around, startled.
"What is it?" She asked when she joined Quest.
"This man's phone, get it out of its seal. There's evidence on it."
Zarah did as she was told. She provided both of them a pair of gloves and then proceeded to ask Hunter to unlock it. After that, Quest snatched it back, found the video and played it.
The bright light of the phone's flash revealed the brick wall with Olita Pocklington, her throat already slashed, and a man, about six feet tall with a black coat, a hood on and a bloody knife in his hand.
"HEY!"
That was Hunter behind the camera.
"Oh my, God! I'm filming you right now! I've got this on video! I'm calling the police! Don't you fucking move!"
Alpha turned his head halfway. The light was so bright that even the shadow of his hood couldn't hide his face. Quest' breath caught in his throat.
Alpha then turned back to Olita and grabbed a broken glass bottom to then place it under her wound.
"I SAID I AM CALLING THE POLICE!"
Alpha continued his work. Quest was on the edge of his seat. After removing the glass now full of blood from under the wound, he placed it in between Olita's hands. He wiped his knife on her thin coat and stood back up.
And, finally, he turned around completely to face the man. There was no denying it anymore, the face under the black hood was definitely Dan Howell.
Alpha's face was showed for only a second before the video ended. When it did, Quest turned back to Hunter.
"After that you proceeded to call the police?" He asked.
"Yes, then he knocked me out..."
Quest had never smiled brighter.
"Alright, Mello, seal it back. This video is an even better proof than the hotel thing."
"Wait, are you just going to leave with my phone?!" Hunter exclaimed.
"Sorry, it's got precious evidence." Zarah explained. "You won't be able to have it back until we catch Alpha and this whole case is closed."
At the same moment, the ambulance arrived.
"You should probably go get checked." Quest advised. "Thank you for your time."
As he walked away from Hunter, his phone rang in his pocket. Wade was calling. He picked it up.
"Wade, there was a witness! He's still alive and he filmed Alpha in the act! We have everything to arrest Dan Howell now."
"Perfect, then. Local police just received a second distress call."
"Wait, what?!" Quest exclaimed, his heartbeat increasing.
"The caller specified that Alpha was in his house and then hung up. After retracing him, they called Tucker and turns out the address the call came from corresponds to the IP address I found on both Dan and Phil's twitter profiles. The best part is that he asked for you to come."
Quest's entire body went numb.
"Philip! P! He's the last victim!" He shouted.
Zarah and Dallas' heads turned in his direction, as well as everybody else on the scene.
"We have to go right now, if we want to catch him before he ends his pattern it's now or never!" He continued, running to his car.
"Tucker and I are already on our way along with police cars. I'll text you the address, hurry up!"
Quest hung up and dove inside his car.
"QUEST!" He heard from the other side of the scene. It was Zarah. "What's going on?!"
"ALPHA! We've got him! We've got him!" He yelled before driving off, leaving behind him the entire flabbergasted crew.
see you for the end of psycho