Marcus POV
The third body this month had no face left to identify, but Detective Marcus Reed knew exactly who it used to be.
I crouched beside what remained of Thomas Chen, the courthouse janitor who'd testified in the Blackwood trial three years ago. My hands trembled as I photographed the scene, the familiar positioning of the corpse making my stomach clench with a familiar recognition I didn't want to acknowledge.
"Jesus, Reed." Detective Lisa Wong covered her nose against the rancid stench. "What kind of animal does this?"
I ran my hand through my dark hair, leaving it more messy than usual. My green eyes looked around, taking down notes of details others seemed to have missed, the claw marks that ran too deep into brick, the way the blood spatter suggested something larger than any wolf, the lunar cycle pattern nobody else wanted to see.
"This doesn't look like any animal I know." I said before trying to stand, then my knees protested the movement. When had thirty-five started feeling this old? "Animals don't arrange bodies like trophies." I said while a thousand thoughts ran through my mind.
The victim was positioned deliberately, his arms were spread wide, and what was left of his face turned toward the sky. Just like the five different murders this week. Just like Ray used to position evidence photos as his signature style during presentations.
My radio crackled. "All units, we have a possible break-in at the warehouse district. Detective Reed, the Captain wants you on scene."
Lisa glanced at me with concern that made my chest tighten. "Reed, you've been working on this case for three weeks straight. Maybe Torres should..."
"Torres isn't working on this case." I said,the words coming out sharper than I intended. Mike Torres had been Ray's partner before me. Torres was someone who still flinched whenever someone mentioned Ray's name, who'd gone soft around the middle and taken early retirement from anything requiring real police work.
I carried my weapon and headed for my car, catching my reflection in the driver's side window. The same hollow-eyed obsession that had driven Sarah away stared back at me. You're married to ghosts, she'd say each time I came home late.. Now,I'm married to Ray's ghost, apparently.
I parked between two abandoned buildings, their broken windows reflecting the streetlights. The call had come from a security guard who'd heard "sounds like someone screaming and something big moving around."
I drew my service weapon, muscle memory from seventeen years of police work overriding the exhaustion I felt weighing down on my shoulders. The sound of my footsteps echoed off empty containers and rusted machinery.
Suddenly I heard a crash somewhere ahead that froze me in place.
There was deafning silence afterwards. Then I heard a low growl. Followed by deafening silence. Then I heard it again, this time louder than the last and it made my heart skip a beat. The sound came from everywhere and nowhere, vibrating through the concrete beneath my feet.
I circled a shipping container before I stopped dead in my tracks.
What I saw next drained color from my face. Blood. Fresh blood pooled around torn fabric that looked like a security guard's uniform. I searched for a body but saw none. Instead, I saw drag marks leading deeper into the maze of containers.
My radio crackled with static when I tried to call for backup.
I heard another growl, it sounded much closer this time. I noticed something moved fom the corner of my right eye. The image was too big, too fast, even faster than my rational mind as it tried to process it. I turned in it's direction and it was gone.
I followed the blood trail deeper into the warehouse district, every instinct screaming at me to wait for backup, but seventeen years of never giving up on a case kept my feet moving forward.
The trail led to an open shipping container. I peeped Inside before letting out a gasp Inside, the security guard sat against the far wall, he looked unconscious at first till I saw the rise and fall of his chest.
"SPFD!" I called out, raising my weapon like I was taught in the academy. "Show yourself!" I said as I ventured into the containers entrance before stepping back to observe the surrounding.
Silence.
Hearing nothing,I stepped into the container to check on the guard, and the heavy metal door slammed shut behind me. All I saw was darkness, complete, suffocating darkness.
I froze for a second, trying to calm my beating heart so I could hear clearly. Just then, I heard something breathing in the darkness with me.
"Hello, Marcus." the voice called out.
Even without my sense of sight,I could tell who the voice belonged to.
"I've been waiting for you to find me." the voice breathed on my neck.
I fumbled for my flashlight with shaking hands, the beam cutting through darkness to illuminate a face I'd been searching for, for three whole months.
Ray Sullivan stood at the corner of the container, he was inches away from the security guard, barely recognizable. He was taller, broader, and his clothes hanged in tatters.
"Ray?" I managed to say after what felt like an eternity. "Where have you been? What happened to you?"
He looked at me with eyes that held no humanity. "I became what I was always meant to be." Ray's smile revealed teeth that were as long and sharp. "What we're both meant to be, partner."he continued.
"Ray, you're hurt. Let me help..." I said reaching out for his arm.
"You can't help me the way I am now." Ray said stepping closer, and I caught a scent that made every red flag alarm in my brain start screaming. He smelt wild, and souless like a zombie but this time, the zombie had fangs. "But I can help you."he said bringing me back to reality.
Just then, the security guard moaned, he was starting to regain consciousness.
"Ray, whatever's wrong, we can fix this. Come back to the station with me. Talk to someone..."I said without stopping,my heart was beating twice as fast now.
"There's no going back." Ray whispered, "But there's going forward together."
He didn't even give me time to react before he lunged at me.
Out of instinct, I fired three shots to his center mass, the sound was deafening in the enclosed space. It made Ray stumble but he didn't fall. He didn't even slow down.
His hand...no, claw, raked across my shoulder and down my arm, tearing through my leather jacket and flesh like paper. I felt pain explode through my body just as I hit the container wall.
"It will only hurt for a moment," I heard Ray whisper almost gently, pinning me against the cold metal. "Then you'll understand everything."
I looked down my shoulder and saw blood run down my arm, pooling on the container floor. The security guard was fully conscious now and he was screaming. Ray's breath was hot against my neck, and I could feel the world closing in on me.
"I'm sorry, Marcus, he said ,but this is the only way to save you."
Darkness closed in around the edges of my vision. The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was the security guard's screams cutting off abruptly, and something that sounded like police sirens in the distance.
But they were too late.
Because whatever Ray had done to me, it was already finished.