The Statue Killer

   

    Police had begun investigations months ago. The dissapearences of young, attractive women, within the area, had become noticeable to an alarming extent. There didn't seem to be a connection linking these women, as well as much physical evidence, which made their job very difficult. An up-and-coming detective by the name of Jake Brandons, had been assigned to the case, including two others. This was his first big case and he was determined to prove people right for trusting him with such a task. But he needed to work, and work hard. Whoever the suspect was, he was safe for now.

   *BEEEEEP*, *BEEEEEP* , *BEEEEEP* . The sound of the alarm clock wakes him up, like usual. He slowly opens his eyes and shuts it without looking. It rests on top of a female figure's abdomen, posed in a bridge position. He had painted over the cement with a black-colored paint, and it looked as good as the day he made it. Her upside-down look was a frozen mask, with no emotions, or thoughts. Sure, when she was alive she might have lots of those, but now, she was just his bed-side table. He didn't even glance at it, nor the two artful forms of his mirror, as he walked with lazy steps towards the bathroom.

He flicked the light open, the amazon-dressed woman on his right waited for him like every

other morning. He took a toothbrush and toothpaste from a glass placed on her welcoming hands, and begun his morning routine. He got on his bath tub, either side of it decorated by two nude feminine forms, each on the ground, with her legs open, up against the tub's sides. They were painted fully gold, which matched the tub's white surface. He showered quickly, he needed to be at work in about 50 minutes, and it was a long way from home.

Work was boring as usual, but he was used to it. After returning home he made some food and then spend the rest of the day taking care of his pets. It was starting to look like a reptile zoo, from the amount of creatures he had living with him. But he didn't mind. Their hissing calmed him, and their skin was nice to pet.

But, the problem was, he was again feeling jaded. He hadn't acquired any new statues for months, and it wasn't because of any pre-caution. The thrill he received at first, had subsided, and his statues, had become mere household objects.Sure, he still was proud of them, and would probably sculpt them all over again if he had to, but excitement was once agan missing in him.

Desperate in his sadness, he thought he would give actual people another chance. Who knows? enough years had passed since he last tried to converse with someone. Maybe things would be different. Maybe he'd even find someone who understood him.

   Jake looked down his notes for the hundredth time. They didn't gave him any new ideas, just like the last time he looked at them. The leads he had were not many. He looked at the photos of the victims, each one smiling at him, a happy memory that was now just a reminder of the tragedy these women had suffered. No bodies had been found, so technicaly they might still be alive, although by his experience, he knew chances were not on their side. He took another sip from his coffee and continued looking through the files.

   He had taken Felix with him. If it was too much too handle, he at least had him for company. The barman shot him a dissaproving look, but didn't say anything to him. He had seen lots of hipsters with their exotic pets come here, and he wasn't gonna start pissing them of now. The man ordered a beer and sat in the corner table of the bar. He had a cool vibe to him, and liked to wear colorful shirts. The place wasn't very crowded. A few groups of friends, scattered around enjoyed their night out. Then his eye caught a woman, standing alone in the bar. She had long blue hair, that were a really cute match with her black tank top and skinny jeans. She seemed to be looking at her watch, dissapointed. She turned and looked towards him eventually, then her eyes locked on his pet iguana.

"I love iguanas!" she said to him with a contained excitement. "What is his name? or is it a she?" she asked him. "His name is Felix", he answered her, a bit startled, but still soft spoken. "I have three of them at home, they're the best, right? I'm Felicia by the way", she said and put out her hand towards him. "Jared, pleased to meet you, Felicia" he replied.

They talked for hours that night. Jared couldn't tell if he was actually enjoying himself, or was it really that long since the last he got out for a drink. Her company was ok, though. She was always with a smile on her face, and her blue hair made her quirkiness  make kind of sense. She was pretty, too, but that usually didn't face him that often. They exchanged phone numbers and arranged to meet again. That night, Jared slept with a rare satisfaction inside.

   They met at the weekend and then the one after that. Jared was confused as to why this girl was so attracted to him from the start, but he didn't complain. He liked getting out of the house, and just watch Felicia talk about her day, or more accurately, watch Felicia. She had beautiful pale skin, it caused him thoughts, thoughts that grew to the point he couldn't ignore. How lovely would she be, set up on his living room wall, or maybe outside in the garden? "no! stop it!" He'd try to stay focused, but the temptation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

"Fuck!" Jared yelled at himself after leaving her outside her door. It was their fourth date and they had just kissed for the first time. That should have been a reason for anyone to be happy, but not for him. It made things worse, much worse. He had to do something drastic, right now!

   A few weeks have passed. Jared continued to see Felicia. He seemed a bit calmer now, more at ease. He never was a big talker, but she didn't mind. She enjoyed his company. Where some women might have found him a bit creepy, she saw him as mysterious. He had mentioned to her that he always was a bit anti-social and an introvert, and she took it upon herself to help him. They went to music shows and cinemas, and basically spend more time together as days went by. She had fun with Jared. She had strong feelings for him.

   Jake was searching the super-market's parking lot for a while now. The last girl to dissapear was a cashier at the store. He was praying for a mishap, just a simple error could get him the break he was looking for. "At last! He shouted, even though no one was around at the time. "It looks like mud", he thought as he examined the foot-prints he found. "No, it can't be, its frozen solid"! The sample was analyzed and found to be a chemical substance used mostly in construnction and sculpture. With no construction site near the area, Jake assumed the killer was using it on his own. After days of searching for purchases of large quantities of the product, on the internet and on hardware stores, he finally had an address in front of him. He wasn't gonna let anyone get credit for his work.

  

   Jared was becoming exhausted. He wasn't getting much sleep, and the darkest side of his mind was starting to take over. He was out with Felicia, looking down at his meal with a blank stare. "What's wrong, is it not good?", she asked him. "No..it's fine..listen, you wanna go home? i'm not feeling very well tonight", he said with a sudden energy. "Eeh, sure, my roomate is there, though", Felicia replied. "No, i meant my place.." he said. "Oh, ok!" she hadn't been to his house, yet, and she always wanted to check his pet collection.

They drove to the small cabin, the sun had already set when they arrived. Jared opened the door and let the young blue-haired girl step inside in front of him. What she saw made her heart stop. Before she could utter a scream, a blow to the head knocked her out cold.

She felt a tight pull on her neck, upwards. Instinctively, she tried to raise herself, to loosen the noose's pressure, but it wasn't easy. Her limbs didn't give help her at all, since they were tied tightly with rope. "Aaaah", she let out a moan, hurting herself. "Do you like my latest piece?", said Jared, as he held her neck rope in his hands painfully tight. His eyes had a mad shine to them, this wasn't the man she had met, or was that monster him all along? "It's a centaur-girl! Isn't it majestic?"

The description was very accurate. In front of them was a statue of four women, joined together to form a grotesque sight. They were fully nude except for two pairs of boots that made their heels stand like hoves. They were attached to each other, hands, legs, heads and genitals, all part of a greater design. Felicia tried to call for help, but her tongue was trapped between two wooden sticks and nothing intelligent came out of her mouth. She tried to keep her balance to avoid asphyxiating. "I have something really special for you, though.." she heard his voice behind her.

    Jake was on his way to the strange address. It must be somewhere near the park, cause there were not many houses on that street. He drove quickly towards the destination, while nervously checking if the gun was still in its holster.

He had already ripped her clothes off with a pair of scissors. Her struggles had subsided and she was now whipping uncontrollably, completely on his mercy. He tapped her mouth shut to avoid a headaque and picked her up in his arms. He carried her outside. It was dark and cold, as he navigated throught the woods. She jerked from time to time, but the ropes were not giving any slack and she'd tire after a few seconds. They moved through the trees, into the deepest parts of the forest. Certainly, no one could hear Felicia's moans, there. Then, Jared stopped. In front of them was a pedestal, with two steel poles on either side. They had hooks, where tied pieces of rope dangled from. "A special place for a special piece!" he yelled and begun tying and pulling ropes here and there, until the girl was bound in a standing spread eagle position. Then, he produced the cement spray and got to work, its hissing sound muffling Felicia's desperate wails.

The police car stopped. The lights were already turned of. Jake was hoping to surprise the suspect and catch him of guard. He walked slowly towards the only house on sight, then noticed a small cave on the side of it. His curiosity rose when he witnessed the same marks leading to the cave's inside. Determined, he stepped inside. Darkness surrounded the man as he made his way deeper and deeper. He made sure he was alone, then switched his flash light on. What he saw the next moment, made his skin crawl. It was like a nightmare coming to life. Encased women were covering the entire walls of the cave, to the point where you couldn't tell where the walls ended and their lifeless bodies begun. They were in all sorts of nude poses, and all had painted blue hair, the only thing the man had colored on them. Jake reached for his radio, and called for back-up, in complete shock.

    He was done. After a few minutes, Felicia was totally covered in the hardening substance. The cold air helped it stiffen fast, and she was soon encased in the gray prison. "Now, i'm going to attach your feeder" he said to the helpless woman. "It will pump liquid food through your nostrils, i think i have enough to last six months for starters." Two small tubes were coming from beneath the pedestal, which also facilitated the use of her food storage. He took them in his hand and jammed them in the girl's nostrils. She could still breath through a separate tube, but they were very uncomfortable. He turned the feeder on, and left her there. "I'll visit you tomorrow, and everyday, believe me. You're my greatest work!"

Jake had just walked inside the suspects house and had found even more incriminating atrocities. All those girls, disgraced like this. What person could be this inhuman? he thought to himself. As he turned behind him, his eyes met those of a man. For a split second that felt like a thousand years, both men were stunned. Then, Jake raised his gun straight at him. "Don't move! Put your hands in the air and DON'T MOVE!" He yelled as assertively as he could. "I just wanted to keep their beauty", Jared send as he kept slowly walking towards the policeman. "Stop right there! I'm warning you!" Shouted Jake. "They look so wonderful like that, don't you see?", he didn't stop. "Stop right now! I'm gonna shoot you!" Jake was really panicking now. The man wasn't more than three feet away from him now. "So beautiful, forever, they're foverer now" he mumbled. *BAM* a single shot was fired. Jared looked down at his bleeding chest, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

   The police identified all the missing women on Jared's house, and most of the ones on the cave. Felicia's dissapearance was reported two weeks after his death, since she wasn't working anywhere at the time. No one knew that she had any relations with him, and so, her case was not associated with his. No policeman would think to check the forest for any clues, and so, Felicia was trapped in a living hell, kept alive through her programmed feeding box, her silent screams heard by no one. A true work of art come to life, with no one to marvel at it.