Chapter Text
PROLAUGE
1 year ago…
The women sighed as she walked down the dimly light hallway, her heels clicking on the luxury vinyl flooring. It had been a long night full of disaster after disaster. One patient after another, each with their own vastly compromising symptoms and diagnosis. As soon as she finished up with one, another appeared. The only pleasurable part of her night was being able to spend four hours in surgery clipping some women’s aneurysm. While she loved her job, some nights it just felt like she was being pulled a hundred different directions. She placed her stethoscope on the bottom of the locker, then took off her white coat and hung it on one of the little metal hooks that were placed on either side of the metal container. Running her hands through her greasy, brown hair she took a breath in and closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to relax for the night. If she wasn’t careful, she would fall asleep right here standing up. Her phone went off playing the familiar marimba ringtone causing her skin to prickle with irritation. She couldn’t have one moment of silence. She held the phone up to her ear.
“Hmm?” She mumbled, too tired to bring herself to words.
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all night.” The voice quipped on the other end. The women sighed again, this time with annoyance. It was just like him to do this. For as long as she could remember, her husband had always complained about her work schedule. It was always: you’re coming home to late, or, I never see you enough because you’re always at work. It seemed to the crux of all their marital problems. He didn’t seem to understand how important her work was for her. She couldn’t just leave someone with their brain open on the table just because the clock struck midnight.
“Honey, you know how hard it is to answer my phone at work.” She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her purse from inside the locker, then slammed it shut.
“We had a deal when you took this job. Do you remember that?” Her husbanded yammered on.
“Listen, I’ve had a long day. Can we just talk about this when I get home?” She was too tired to even try arguing with him right now. A long-exaggerated sigh came from the other end.
“Fine.” Was all he said before hanging up. She shoved her phone into her purse as she turned out of the locker room. She walked down the nearly deserted hallway as she made her way to the front exit. She always made it a point to leave out the front door at night, it gave her a chance to walk past all the rooms of the patients she had that day. A quick glance in would set her mind at ease, and let her know that they would be okay for the night.
“You headed out for the night?” A nurse asked from the front desk as she walked through the lobby.
She nodded, a tired smile appearing on her face. “I’m going to try and get some rest before my shift tomorrow.”
“Sleep well.” The nurse said sending her a big warm smile. “You still on for game night at my place tomorrow night? There will be free booze.
She laughed walking past the circular front desk that was lined with computer screens and phones. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
As the women walked through the automatic sliding doors, she was met with the chilling, crisp, night air. While the autumn nights weren’t yet cool enough for her to wear a jacket, they still sent a shiver down her spine as she walked through the desolate parking lot. She found her way 2019 Honda SUV. After taking a minute to find her keys, she slid into the driver’s side of the car. As she pulled her seatbelt on and clicked it into place, she noticed something odd about the seat beside her. No one ever rode in her car. She didn’t have kids and her husband refused to ride in her car anywhere. So why was her seat pushed so far back. Her eyes slowly moved upward. The longer she stared at the seat, the more she could make out a figure. It was like he appeared out of nowhere. The he didn’t appear big; he definitely was fit. She could tell by the way his lean body sat perched against the side of the door, with his knee up against his chest, watching her. Before she could scream a huge, bear like hand clamped around her mouth from the back seat and pinning her to the head rest. She struggled for a moment against the hand, then watched as the figure beside her reached into his jacket pocket. She felt an object press against the inside of her leg. She didn’t even need to see it to know it was a knife. Tears streamed down her cheeks as a thought pinged in the back of her mind.
“You’re a doctor, so you know that in one swift movement, I can sever your femoral artery sending you into an unconscious haze and kill you in only a matter of minutes.” The figure said. His voice was soft, almost calming, yet authoritative, like he meant every word of what he said. “My friend behind me here is going to let go of your mouth, but you’re not going to scream or try to run. Do you understand?”
She quickly nodded her head. The hands released. She turned her head, finally able to get a look at the figure sitting beside her. He had bright, icy blue eyes that stood out in the dark night. His hair was short, cut in military fashion. But he wasn’t military, not with the stubble that grew across his face. Her eyes were glossed in tears as fear raced through her body.
“Now Dr, you’re going to do exactly what I say.”
* * *
Present day
Tyler walked quickly through the dark night. His feet hit pounded against the damp pavement as his steps quickened, nearly turning into a run. While his watch read 12:05 am, the city was still bustling. One thing that never ceased to amaze Tyler was the endless energy this city seemed to have. There was never a quiet night in New York. Cars drove up and down the street blaring their headlights and honking their horns, spoiling the otherwise quiet night. Tyler passed bar after bar each seemingly busting at the seems with an overflow of people. Loud music blared outside one of the bars he passed sending a rhythmic thumping beneath Tyler’s feet. As he reached the corner of the block, Tyler turned right heading down yet another long path of bars and large buildings. He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and breathed out watching as a cloud of air formed in the brisk autumn air. Up ahead an array of blues and reds lit up the sky. His eyes squinted, adjusting to the scene in front of him. He counted five police cars along with bright yellow caution tape blocking the entrance of an ally way. A crowd of people stood around the cars each wearing a questioning look on their face as they searched their phones looking for any answers as to why the ally was blocked. In front of the crowd was a line of officers doing their best to contain the of anxious civilians. Tyler slid through the group of people making his way to the front. As Tyler approached the scene, an officer stepped over to him. He wore a grim look on his pale face. His eyes turned downward matching the curve of mouth. He was upset about something, what, Tyler could not tell.
“Thank god you’re here.” The officer said holding up the caution tape.
“I came as soon as I got the call.” Tyler ducked under the tape following as the officer led him to a woman in a dark gray pant suit. Her face was serious as she was talking to another group of officers. While he couldn’t quite make out the words she was saying, he could tell by her body language and discretion that she didn’t want this getting out. As she saw Tyler approach, she excused herself from the conversation. “Detective Amaro.” Tyler greeted her. He nodded as the officer returned to his post behind the yellow tape.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.” She motioned for Tyler to follow her into the entrance of the ally.
“Of course. It sounded serious.” As the walked deeper into the ally, the lights from the squad cars began to dim leaving them only with the light from their flashlights to lead the way. They reached an opening in the ally that was lined with dumpsters and bags of trash spilling over onto the ground. In front of Tyler lay a long, black plastic bag with a zipper running from the top to the bottom. Tyler immediately identified this as a body bag. As they neared the bag, Tyler’s nose filled with the overwhelming smell of rotting flesh. Detective Amaro leaned down grabbing the metal zipped in her free hand. She flashed a look up at Tyler, as if asking if he was prepared for what lay beyond the zipper. The detective pulled the zipper down slowly, then peeled away the top of the bag revealing a face…or what was left of one.
“I have only ever seen this once before.” Detective Amaro said as Tyler peered closer. The body belonged to a girl, but that was all he could determine. Her entire face had sunk in leaving any distinguishing features completely gone. It looked as though her face had been smashed with a brick as every bone appeared to be shattered. Her head was a deep red color that traveled down the rest of her body. A color that could only appear if every blood vessel had exploded. The place where her eyes used to be now, empty dark sockets. Her head lay there in a soggy mess of blood and dirt.
“This can’t be them.” Tyler finally spoke his eyes still analyzing every inch of the poor girl that lay in front of him. “Our analysts placed them outside of the country. We’ve been keeping an eye on them ever since.”
“Who else do you know that could do this?” Detective Amaro asked. “It follows the same M.O. as the other bodies. They’re back Tyler.”
Tyler ran his hand through his gelled hair in disbelief. He didn’t want to believe it, but he knew he had to. She was right. This body was exactly like the others. Any distinguishing features completely wiped away, leaving this poor girl nameless. Tyler could only think of one group capable of such a horrific scene and if they really were back, the Order would have a huge problem on their hands.
“There’s another thing.” Detective Amaro shifted the girls head revealing a small bulge on her neck, beneath her ear. Tyler frowned in confusion. He watched as the detective pulled out a small pocketknife and dug it into the bulge, carefully reopening the incision. Using a pair of tweezers, Detective Amaro burrowed into the gash. She pulled the tweezers out. Hanging from the end was a small chip that looked like it belonged into a computer.
“What the hell is that?” Tyler leaned closer trying to get a better look at what the detective held in front of him. The chip was small, at first glance maybe only the size of his pinky finger and had small wires dangling from it in a gooey mess. The closer Tyler looked at it, he could tell that it was crushed. Tiny pieces of metal hung from the top of it and there was a long crack down the middle.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Detective Amaro responded placing the broken chip in a clear plastic bag. She handed it to Tyler. “What do you think they’re doing?”
Tyler looked back at the girl lying lifeless on the ground. “What ever it is it can’t be good, especially if the Phoenix Society is involved."