yo welcome again! case is not going so well for quest, phil's concerned and dan has loads of fun! hope you enjoy :)
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.
"Look at this."
Quest threw the newspaper across the table. Wade picked it up and read the headline.
"Alpha?" He questioned. "Is that how they call him now?"
"It would seem so."
Quest scratched his stubble and sat down.
"It's short for 'alphabet' and the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Clever."
He rubbed his forehead and looked at Wade.
"Okay, let's go over all this again." He said. "Every victim met the killer- or should I say, Alpha- before they died."
Wade nodded.
"For Agana Baldwin, Bradley Cox and Emily Fontaine, it seems like it was just an unfortunate encounter."
"Agana Baldwin went out during the night as she usually does, Bradley Cox was intercepted after coming out of the nightclub and Emily Fontaine bumped into him to then bring him to her flat." Wade confirmed.
"Simply, this theory isn't consistent when it comes to Carrie Drysdale and Dave Evans..." Quest retorted. "They were in their house, and Alpha showed up. But why? How did Alpha know that C and D lived in that exact house?"
He paused.
"You said it yourself." Wade replied. "Alpha has the charm to seduce his victims enough to get their names out of them."
"So you're saying he met them before that night?"
"Not necessarily 'met', Quest."
"What, then?"
Wade grinned. He joined his hands together on the table and leaned forward.
"Someone doesn't need to meet another person to get their name." He simply spoke.
"He heard it..." Quest whispered to himself.
Wade folded his arms and sunk back in his chair.
"We didn't ask the right questions." Quest affirmed.
He got up, threw on his long coat and walked to the door.
"I need to talk to Sasha Hoover."
~
"Where are you going?"
Dan came out of the kitchen and crossed Phil in the hallway, his backpack on his shoulders. It was late afternoon on a cloudy Wednesday.
"Out." He simply replied.
"Where?"
"Does that matter?" Phil retorted a little bit too harshly.
"Uh, I guess not..." Dan said, confused. "I just thought I could ask... you know... courtesy?"
"Well, when I'm being courteous to you, you ask me to piss off, so..?"
"I never asked you to-" Dan began.
"Correct, never directly." Phil continued. "But you use really great euphemisms."
Dan rolled his eyes.
"Right, what did I do again?" Dan asked.
"Nothing." Phil said.
"Then why are you being so harsh?"
"I'm trying to show you that it's not because you're depressed and don't want help that you need to be an ass to your best friend."
Dan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He rubbed his forehead longingly, processing what Phil had just said.
"I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore?" Dan reminded Phil.
"We did, but it doesn't erase the fact that I still believe that you're depressed and that I care about you."
Dan's breath cut. A silence settled, in which they stared into each other's eyes longingly.
"I just want you to be happy, Dan." He finished off, his harsh look wearing off.
Dan was speechless. He stood in the hallway, inert.
"I'm going out with a friend." Phil finally admitted. "I'll probably be back late."
Dan nodded slowly, still processing what had just been said. Phil fondly placed his hand on Dan's shoulder and shyly grinned at him. He whispered a quiet "bye" before exiting the flat.
When he heard the door close, he placed his own hand on his shoulder, where Phil's had been resting.
"You make me happy..." Dan softly replied, staring at the end of the hallway where Phil had disappeared from.
A laugh arose in the depth of himself. It grew bigger, stronger. It erupted from his lips, and echoed throughout the whole apartment. A laugh so cold, so full of malice. It was so loud that he was convinced that the whole building, the whole street, the whole city could hear him.
"Just watching you dance under my nose makes me so, so happy, Phil!" He exclaimed. "I'll do some art tonight, thanks to you for giving me the opportunity!"
He joined his hands together and inclined his body forward.
"Seriously, thank you, Phil." Dan thanked, smiling from ear to ear. "This couldn't have been better. I really thought at first you were going to be a burden, trying to keep you away from the pattern and stuff, but you seem to be a big part of it. Yes, yes indeed. You don't realize it yet, but you're helping me. You're helping me a lot. This is great."
He stopped for a few seconds. From this point on, Dan was imagining a conversation with Phil just like he was in the room with him. Talking to himself wasn't too weird coming from him anyway.
"So you're using me to get what you want?" Imaginary Phil exclaimed.
"I wouldn't say I'm 'using' you." Dan said. "You're helping me without realizing it."
"That's what using people is, Dan." Imaginary Phil said angrily.
"Well, a good euphemism is never badly placed."
"I can't believe I cared about you and appreciated you all this time for you to thank me like this! You didn't care about me at all, did you?"
"Oh, of course, I did." Dan replied immediately. "Damn, I do care about you. The things I would do to you..."
He coughed. His Imaginary Phil automatically vanished. He looked at his feet, a very slight feeling of shame rumbling in his stomach at the last words he had pronounced.
~
The door of the cinema pushed opened and let Quest and Wade enter. They walked up to the ticket counter on the right and were lucky enough to find Sasha Hoover on the other side. They waited behind the two clients that were in line and when they finally left, they showed Sasha their badges.
She examined the badges and looked up to see the two faces. She recoiled slightly when she recognized them.
"I'm Agent Quest Kadner and this is Agent Wade Allaway. You might remember us from-"
"The crime scene from last week, yes I do." Sasha cut, her body tensing up. "What are you doing here? I thought I was done answering questions..."
"Well, you see, Mrs. Hoover," Quest said, "we somehow managed to link Carrie Drysdale and Dave Evans's murders to a few others."
Sasha recoiled further.
"Oh no, don't tell me she is- they are a part of that Alpha thing?" Sasha whispered, her eyes getting watery.
"I'm afraid they are." Wade simply told.
She placed a hand on her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She breathed deeply and looked back at the two agents.
"Alright." Sasha said, holding in her tears. "Go on."
"First off, Mrs. Hoover, last time we talked, you said you hadn't seen Carrie since high school. Next thing we know, you find her and her boyfriend dead in their apartment."
"I already told you," she replied, "she came here with her boyfriend, it was pure luck. We recognized each other and we chatted. She gave me her address and told me to visit her the next day."
"Did she say the address out loud?" Quest asked.
"No, she wrote it on a piece of paper." Sasha confirmed. "Does that make a difference?"
"Yes it does." Wade said. "If you write it down, the only person to know is your recipient, unless the recipient isn't careful enough or looses it. If you say it out loud, everyone around is your recipient."
"Are you saying that..?" She began.
"We're saying that Alpha might have been here before killing Carrie Drysdale and Dave Evans, since it is the last place they've been seen at."
"Wait, I'm pretty sure there was no one else when Carrie came with-"
Sasha stopped. She frenetically looked from Wade to Quest in disbelief.
"Do you think I am Alpha?!" She exclaimed.
"That would be rational to count you as a suspect." Quest replied. "But, no, unfortunately. You're out the list."
She exhaled loudly.
"Mrs. Hoover, do you have security cameras in this cinema?"
"Uh, yes we do..." She began.
"We would like to take a look at them, please. I want the tapes from the 20th of January."
Sasha agreed quietly. She led them in a different room, took out the old tapes and slid the right one in the slot. A black and white, blurry image came up on the screen.
"I would just like to specify that there is no sound on the tapes..." Sasha said.
"Alright. Fast forward to Carrie Drysdale and Dave Evans entering the cinema." Quest ordered.
"I reckon it was around 3:30-4:00..." Sasha mumbled to herself.
Sasha fast forwarded the tape until she saw the two victims entering the place. She played it and all three of them stared carefully.
Dave opened the door for Carrie. She walked in, followed by him, and they headed forward. Quest saw Sasha at the counter on the right, admiring her nails. The counter on the left was empty. When Carrie stepped up to the counter with her boyfriend, Sasha lifted her head up and they both recognized each other. Quest could almost hear them squeaking of excitement by simply looking at their mouths. Carrie turned to Dave, pointed to herself and then to Sasha, and Quest deduced she was telling him how she knew her. Dave then shook her hand. Sasha and Carrie talked for a little while until Quest noticed someone entering the cinema.
He concentrated harder and looked at the person. It was a man. He was alone, and his face was pretty much unrecognizable because he stared at the ground whilst walking. Also, the crappy black and white quality of the tapes didn't help. All Quest could tell apart was his depressing black clothes.
He didn't look too old, but again, it was hard to tell. The man queued up behind Carrie and Dave, who were still chatting with Sasha.
"At this point, do you remember what you were saying?" Quest asked.
"Not really... I think I was asking if they were doing well..." she replied. "I know that after that she suggested I come by the next day."
On the screen, Sasha tore a piece of paper off a block note and handed it to Carrie. The man behind them was now looking at his phone. He didn't seem to give much attention to what was happening in front of him. Quest bit the inside of his cheek.
Carrie wrote down on the piece of paper with the pen Sasha had given her and when she was done she gave it back to her. A young man then appeared at the other counter and Sasha opened her mouth. The man behind Carrie and Dave lifted his head up to her. His face was still barely noticeable. He had his coat's hood on his head and it hid half of his features from the camera. Sasha gestured him to move to the other counter. He nodded politely and left to join the other man. He bought his tickets and then left the cinema.
"As I said," Sasha spoke, "there wasn't a lot of people when they came."
Quest nibbled harder on the skin inside of his cheek.
"Rewind to when she writes her address down." Quest ordered.
Sasha did. He looked carefully this time. Carrie wrote down, and the man behind slightly moved. But his head was still on the ground, his eyes were still hidden and there was nothing incriminating Quest could find.
"So?" Sasha asked. "Anything?"
"It doesn't make sense." Quest retorted. "The man doesn't do anything. He looks at his phone the whole time!"
"Well, maybe it simply wasn't Alpha..." Sasha replied with a small voice. "No offence, detective, but there is no way he could've seen the address, Carrie handed it to me right away after writing it down..."
"He could've seen through the gap in between them!" Quest exclaimed. "He moved slightly, right there!"
He rewound again and paused at the moment he thought the man had moved.
"There, he moved slightly. In between the two!"
"He's looking at his phone..." Sasha said.
"But we don't see his eyes, how can you be so sure?"
"Quest, even if this is him, we can't even see his face properly." Wade said. "We would have to get his name, find him, and even if we do, we have nothing to incriminate him."
"Sasha, do you remember what he looked like?" Quest asked, completely ignoring Wade.
"Uh, not really, I saw him very briefly... I remember he had a fringe, though..."
"That's a start!"
"Quest, a fringe isn't the answer to the mysteries of the universe, we-" Wade began but Quest cut him.
"Who was in charge of selling him the tickets?" He asked Sasha.
"Uh, I reckon it was Rad. Should I bring him in?"
"Yes." Quest said frantically.
Sasha left the room and came back with an Asian teenager. He had blond hair and his uniform shirt was way too big for him.
"Yeah?" Rad said when he entered the room.
"Do you remember selling those tickets to that man?" Quest exclaimed, pointing at the suspected Alpha on the screen.
"Uh, not really..." Rad mumbled.
"Come on, try remembering!" Quest exclaimed. "It was last Wednesday, it was 4:00 and you were just getting back to your counter. Remember that?"
"Yeah, I guess..." Rad replied, slightly intimidated by Quest.
"And immediately after you arrived, a man walked up to the counter and you sold him tickets, yeah?"
"Probably..."
"Do you remember what he looked like?"
"Uh... I think he had... A fringe..." Rad spluttered. "Or a quiff..."
He paused. Rad was shaking. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth again.
"Wait, after all I think it was maybe like, you know, just hair falling sloppily on his forehead..."
Quest exhaled deeply, closing his eyes in exasperation.
"If you don't remember what he looked like you say 'I don't remember' and that's it, boy." Quest exclaimed harshly, rubbing his forehead.
"I'm sorry... I... I see a lot of people every day... It's hard to remember all the fa-" Rad tried explaining but Quest gestured him to shut up.
Rad bit his lip nervously and looked at the ground, still trembling.
"Do you at least remember how he paid for his tickets?" Quest asked, trying to contain his irritation.
"Now, I'm one hundred percent sure he paid cash." Rad replied confidently. "You can probably see it on the tape..."
Quest scratched his stubble, trying to contain his anger. He licked the inside of his upper lip and inhaled deeply.
"Alright." He whispered. "That was stupid."
He thanked Sasha and Rad for giving him some of their time, grabbed the tape, put it in his coat pocket and left the cinema. He walked back to the car with Wade.
"Nothing makes sense right now." Quest said.
"Well it wasn't him, and even if it was, how would we know?" Wade replied.
"It's just, it has to be him!" Quest exclaimed. "Otherwise, where did Alpha come from that night? How did he just show up at their house?"
"There's always the possibility that he saw them before that day."
"Is there any other place where the both of them went and gave out their address? And we have already established that Alpha is a male between the ages of 18 and 35, that man certainly didn't look 40!"
"It also could've been just a very, very big coincidence." Wade pointed out.
"Crimes are very rarely simple coincidences."
Wade didn't reply. He put the key in and drove off.
"I'm just saying we should keep this man as a suspect. Even though we know literally nothing about him apart from the fact that he maybe has a fringe or a quiff... or sloppy hair on his forehead..."
Quest hit his hand on the car's door out of frustration.
~
Dan had put everything he would need tonight in his backpack before he left the flat. It was dark outside. He took the usual path and walked until his mind triggered something.
He had his coat's hood on his head and the cold air whipping his face made him feel good. He entered the first Underground station he found and waited for a train to arrive.
A woman with very short brown hair rushed in the station. Dan heard the familiar sound of the distant train. It became clearer and clearer, and just as the train arrived, Dan gave a push in the woman's back. She staggered onward, and fell in the gap just as the train was arriving. It triggered shocked exclamations from the people around, and a grin on Dan's lips.
"16..." Dan said. "Mind the gap."
Dan jerked. He locked his eyes on the short haired lady.
"Gotcha." He thought to himself, grinning lightly.
The train arrived and he stepped in, followed by his next victim. Dan walked to the end of the train and stood in the corner even though a few seats were still empty. The woman stayed near the doors. He kept an eye on her from afar.
The train finally left the station and began its journey. Dan had no idea where he was going. He just stayed in his corner, sneakily throwing looks at the woman to be sure to know when she left.
And finally, a few stops later, it was the woman's station. She had her hands in her coat pockets. She took them out to step forward, and Dan saw something drop on the floor. She exited the train and left her wallet behind. Dan saw the opportunity.
He left the train, grabbing her wallet at the same time. He opened it and looked at her name on an ID card. Favor Gallagher. He smiled to himself before running after her. The woman was still rushing. She sprinted out the station, Dan running up behind her.
"Hey!" He exclaimed, trying to catch her attention. "Miss! Wait!"
She didn't stop. Dan was running out of breath, but he continued. He couldn't lose her.
He followed her on the street, still yelling "Miss! Wait! You dropped something!", until she took a turn in an alleyway. Dan stopped running when he was at the alleyway's entrance. He felt an arm grab him and he was propelled against the wall. Two strong hands were grasping at the collar of his coat and he yelped slightly.
"Who are you?" A feminine voice asked.
Dan looked at the person who had seized him. It was the short haired lady.
"W-what?" Dan spattered, confused.
"Answer the question!" She spat in his face, grasping his hair tightly to make him look at her. "Who the hell are you?"
"You dropped your wallet in the tube..." Dan replied with a tiny voice. "I just wanted to give it back..."
"I dropped my goddamn wallet on purpose, dufus!" Favor Gallagher exclaimed. "I knew for sure you'd follow me all the way here!"
Dan was speechless. Favor tightened her grip.
"Did you have a look inside?" She asked again with an arrogant tone. "Did you see my name?"
Dan didn't reply. He was still processing what was happening.
"Alpha is out of words, I see?" Favor continued, staring straight into Dan's eyes.
Dan's eyes lit up. He finally understood what Favor Gallagher was implying, and he decided to put on the mask. "Lights, camera, action!" Dan thought.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Dan uttered, pulling off his scarily good acting skills.
"Don't act like you're innocent!" Favor yelled.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Dan cried, panicked.
"You've been staring at me since the moment I stepped in that goddamn station!" She screamed again, her face getting closer to Dan's. "I watch the news, you know! They've warned us. Nobody looks at someone for so long like you did after a new like that erupts!"
"I'm very sorry, I simply thought you were a pretty girl..." Dan mumbled, scared.
Favor paused for a few seconds. Her tensed features softened lightly, but tensed again when she opened back her mouth.
"Yeah, that's what you want me to think! I know I'm next in Alpha's goddamn pattern, alright! My name is Favor Gallagher! Are you happy?! Favor Gallagher! It starts with an F! I'm next on your list, aren't I?"
"What..." Dan whined, close to tears. "No... I have no idea what you're talking about... I'm sorry, I'm just a shy guy, I don't really know how to approach pretty girls I didn't want to offend you or seed ideas in your head when I looked at you, you're just really, really pretty... Please, take your wallet and let me go..."
Favor's hands finally let go of Dan's coat. She recoiled slightly and looked at him up and down, disappointed.
"Wow, alright." She sighed. "I'm pretty sure Alpha wouldn't act like such a pussy. He would've already killed me. Give that back to me."
She snatched the wallet from Dan's hands.
"Sorry for the bother." She added. "It's self defence, you see."
"It's okay, I guess..." Dan replied, scratching the back of his head.
She turned on her heels and headed out the alleyway.
"And it's not by staring intensely at a girl that you're going to get a goddamn date, boy." She continued, not looking at him.
Dan zipped open his backpack as quietly as possible as Favor walked out the alleyway. He fetched the syringe that he had already filled back at home from the bottom of the bag. He tiptoed behind her.
"Oh, and, be careful out there." Favor added. "That psycho could be anywhe-"
Dan covered Favor's mouth with his right hand as he shoved the needle in her jugular and injected the liquid. She fought against his grip, but she tensed up and her body paralyzed.
Dan dragged her back in the alleyway and laid her on the ground. She was still alive. He crouched down and leaned over her. He smiled from ear to ear.
"Oh, Favor." He tittered. "Have you never heard of acting? Apparently, I'm pretty good at it."
He giggled joyfully.
"I'm Alpha, by the way, hi. At first, I was pretty surprised that you had spotted me already. But honestly, fooling you was far too easy."
Favor's eyes were terrified. She was looking all around her, and her breathing was getting quicker and quicker.
"Now you must be wondering what on Earth I injected inside of you." Dan added. "Well, let's just do a quick science class here."
He grabbed his backpack and snatched the liquid's bottle. He waved it under her eyes.
"This, little Favor, is hydrogen peroxide. It's a chemical compound with the formula H2O2. It's used for bleaching and disinfecting. Now, I don't know if your mum ever put that on a nasty wound you had when you were a child but, when this little treasure comes in contact with blood, it foams. Great, isn't it? Do you want to know why it does that? I'm sure you do! Inside your blood, you have a cool little enzyme called Catalase. When hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with that enzyme, it breaks it into its pure components, which are oxygen and water. About one molecule of Catalase can create about 200,000 reactions per second. Just imagine all the great things it's doing in your body right now! Clogging up your pretty little veins, making your heart pump more and more blood, faster... faster... again and again..."
Dan laughed.
"It's just beautiful, isn't it? Science, man. You never get tired of that."
Favor still didn't move. Her face was petrified.
"I've never tried it before." Dan admitted. "But I'm pretty positive about the results. I've seen a video of a beetle getting hydrogen peroxide injected. It bam! exploded! Now, I'm pretty sure it won't happen with you considering the little dose I gave you. Your death is sure going to take quite a while. You'll live long enough to feel your heart pump like crazy... until it finally stops."
Dan opened the bottle and sucked more of the liquid inside his syringe. He pricked in the artery under her arm and injected more of the hydrogen peroxide.
"That should help you." He smiled. "You're probably wondering why I'm doing this, you know, killing people and all that stuff, but trust me, it's for a good cause. You're not dying in vain, Favor, it's going to benefit this world. You'll thank me in the afterlife."
Tears were streaming from Favor's eyes. Her face was contorted with pain, but she couldn't move, or couldn't scream. It was too intense.
"This wouldn't be an Alpha murder without my beautiful trademark." Dan grabbed the penknife from his bag. "Don't you think they're stylish? I really think they should bring this into today's fashion."
He laughed gleefully. He then switched the blade and carved "6" and "16" on each of Favor's cheeks. He stood back up and admired her.
"Beautiful."
Dan delicately wiped her wallet with his coat to remove his fingerprints. He retrieved his stuff and put it back in his backpack. He zipped it close. He threw it on his back and looked down one last time at Favor
"Please, do me a favor..."
Dan giggled at his pun.
"Be careful out there, that psycho could be anywhere."
Dan left the alleyway and walked to the opposite direction he had come from.