Heaven and Hell

Serena began to pace back and forth in the damp police parking lot, like she always did when she was lost in thought. It was past midnight and a mist settled amongst the leftover cars in a gentle dusting. There were several things fighting for her attention in her mind. Her fiancé, Gerald, had just broken off their engagement to be with some harlot he met on his “business” trip to Vegas. She gave him three years of her life faithfully and this is how he repays her! The very thought of him infuriated her now and she struggled to keep her priorities in check.

There was also the Chief of Police cracking down on her about solving this case at the station. A string of murders had been occurring all across town. The seventeen confirmed victims, all varying ages, genders and race, had been killed in a variety of strange ways. The first two was a young couple who were slashed to death diagonally across the chest. The strange thing was, when the bodies were put together, the wounds could meet in the middle and form an arrow pointing downward.

The next day, four more victims were found, two were stabbed multiple times, another with his throat slit and the other with a crushed head as though something heavy had fallen on it. The murders continued over the week, becoming more and more gruesome up until now. This very eve, a child was found dead at a park with a snapped neck, a seemingly clean kill against a pattern of gore. Things didn’t seem to add up. There was only one common thing about each murder. An archaic symbol had been left somewhere on each of the crime scenes. No one had any idea what the symbol was or what it meant, and to top everything off, she had forgotten her keys to her police car. So she was stuck in the parking lot, pacing on the hard pavement until her partner George returned with the keys. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice when he finally walked toward her.

“Alright Serena I got the keys, lets go,” he said shaking the keys noisily. Serena jumped and her hand instinctively reached for her pistol latched at her side. She stopped halfway to grabbing it before she shook her head.

“Dammit George how many times do I have to tell you to stop sneaking up on me like that?!” She brushed her long brown hair out of her blue eyes and looked at him, with her hands on her curved hips. He was taller than her, standing just over six feet tall, lean but muscular. His dark hair was cut short, his skin a light brown. He just smiled his silly half smile and shrugged.

“If you were going to kill me you’d have done it years ago,” he began to unlock the door when Serena held out her hand.

“I’m driving this time,” she said. He lifted his hands in the air.

“Alright, your turn to drive it is,” he conceded. He very rarely argued with her, which she liked. She also liked how he could be quick witted at times as well as reliable. George had saved her butt almost as much as she saved his. She climbed into the driver’s seat and he the passengers. After buckling up they were off.

“So where are we off to exactly Serena?” he asked.

“Meadow park, the scene where the boy was found,” she replied.

“Any suspects?”

“None.”

“Leads?”

“Still working on it.”

“But you think it’s the same guys?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.” The trip to Meadow Park took fifteen minutes. They pulled up to see forensics, an ambulance and two other police cars already on the scene. They stepped out of the car and walked over where the police line had been set up. She could hear the breeze rustling the nearby trees. The air was fresh and cool and had a calming lull to it, which was the exact opposite of what she expected the scene to be. Serena watched as the paramedics took the body of the boy towards the ambulance. The body was covered by a white cloth, but she could see the outline of the boy’s body underneath.

She surveyed the crime scene and sure enough, carved into a nearby tree was the archaic symbol. The symbol of the mysterious murders. The one thing that the murders had in common other than their sheer brutality. The symbol was a small triangle inside a larger triangle. But the large triangle wasn’t complete on the bottom. The three sides also had strange sort of lines at each point. The strangest of all was that the smaller triangle was always coloured red.

She brushed her right hand against the tree, touching the symbol on it. The palm of her hand began to tingle. She looked at it to see a strange symbol appear on her hand, but different from the one in front of her. It looked like a cross that was partially encircled, except on the bottom right, where it was broken. It shimmered brightly as Serena’s eyes widened in disbelief. She had never seen this symbol on her hand before.

A rustle stirred in the bushes. Serena’s gun was in her hand in an instant. Her hand had stopped shimmering and returned to normal. All thoughts of it pushed to the back of her mind. George, who was talking to one of the other officers, Harmony Phillips, about the crime turned and drew their guns to cover her.

“Johnson what is it?” Harmony asked Serena. Her voice was calm and alert.

“I heard a noise in the bushes, I’m going to check it out,”Serena replied. “Jackson cover me,” she indicated to George who nodded. Serena walked cautiously over towards the bushes. George was behind her, followed by Harmony. No one else seemed to notice what was going on.

“Alright whoever is in that bush I want you to come out slowly with your hands in the air!” Serena demanded. There was a long pause.

“Out now!” barked George.

“Or we’ll shoot!” Harmony chimed in. Serena shook her head, Harmony was a rookie officer. You never shoot blind, she thought irritably.

“No need for such hostility officers,” a soft voice replied from the bushes. A man dressed in all black clothing stepped forward into the light, his hands raised. The clothing was ankle long. The man’s shirt had a collar that was cropped upward. He wore white gloves with a cross on each. Around his neck was a bright silver cross. His hair was as black as his clothes, but thinning. He looked to be middle aged. There was also a vague smell of incense mixed with pine trees wafting off of him.

What would a priest be doing here? Serena wondered silently. She kept her gun pointed at him.

“Who are you?” She demanded.

“Father Darren Stephens at your service,” the priest replied calmly, inclining his head.

“What are you doing here?”Serena asked.

“I was taking my nightly stroll about the park and was curious as to what the fuss was about,” he indicated to the crime scene.

“A stroll? At this hour?” Serena raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“Precisely.”

“So why were you hiding in the bush then, Father Stephens?” George inquired. Father Stephens hesitated for a moment.

“I didn’t want to disturb you fine officers at work,” he responded finally.

“Let me see your identification Father Stephens,” Serena ordered. She held out her hand as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tattered brown wallet. He pulled out his health card and passed it to Serena. She studied it for a moment, looking from the picture back to the man who stood before her and back to the picture. At least he was telling the truth about his identity. But that still doesn’t explain why he’s here...she became absorbed in her thoughts again.

“Did you see what happened here?” Harmony asked.

“No, I’m afraid not. I did not arrive until after you,” Stephens replied. “May I put my arms down now please? They are getting rather tired.” Harmony nodded.

“Thank you,” he said relieved. He began to take in his surroundings, as if searching for something. Serena watched him. She noticed his face twitch slightly and he exhaled sharply.

“Something the matter?” she asked.

“Oh no it’s nothing. Just a bit tired,” he yawned loudly. “I really should be getting back to the church now.” He made a motion to leave.

“Hold it sir. You can’t do that. I’m sorry but we’re going to have to take you down to the station to question you farther, you’ve just become a suspect in this case.” George said.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, I’m needed elsewhere,” Stephens protested.

“That’s going to have to wait, come on, lets go.” George gripped Stephens by the arm. Stephens pulled away from George’s grasp. George went to grab him again only to get his hand slapped away. He tried again only to be slapped away.

“Come on man stop fooling around,” George said irritated. He moved to grab more aggressively but the priest grabbed his arm and threw the big man over his shoulder. He hit the ground with a thud. The two women pointed their guns at him.

“Don’t move or we’ll shoot!” Harmony shouted.

“I really hate violence, but you leave me no choice,” the clergyman sighed. With inhuman speed he was beside Harmony, who shot her gun but missed her target. Stephens grabbed her forearm and wrenched the gun out of her grasp. It fell to the ground beside them. She tried to hit him with her free arm but he slapped it aside and struck her in the stomach. She grunted loudly as the blow landed. As she bent over he struck her in the back of the neck, knocking her out.

Serena shot at the man. Again he proved too fast. She shot twice more before he was upon her, dodging each bullet with ease. He smacked the gun out of her arm. She went to punch him, he blocked and returned her punch with one of his own. He struck her the stomach. She keeled over, the wind knocked out of her. He was about to strike her in the back of the neck like he did Harmony but she quickly moved out of range with a roll. At this point the other officers could hear the commotion and had their guns raised. They didn’t shoot however for fear of hurting Serena. Stephens moved towards her as she tried to regain her breath. Before he could take her out, George had come up behind him and put him in a full nelson. The priest head butted George and stepped on his foot. George grunted in pain as his grip on Stephens was loosened and he broke free. He moved away from the large man only to meet an angry and recovered Serena who aimed a kick at the back of his leg. He dropped to the ground yelling in pain. She went around to his back and forced him to the ground pinning him. She then slipped on some handcuffs onto his wrists.

“I’m sorry but you’re coming with us Father Stephens. If that is even your real name,” she told him. She lifted him up an carried him to her car. George followed suit, opening the back door. Stephens didn’t struggle this time. He slipped into the back seat without a word. Serena turned to George.

“Why did you put him in a full nelson instead of shooting him?”she asked.

“I can’t shoot a priest,” he replied sheepishly.

“I doubt he’s a priest.”

“Yeah, well I’d rather not take that chance. At least if I incapacitate him I won’t go to hell...I hope.” He chuckled slightly and climbed into the passenger seat. As Serena climbed into the driver’s seat she noticed that her new prisoner was smiling at her. What was that all about? she thought to herself as she began to pull out of the parking lot.

“I promise I will answer all of your questions in time Serena Johnson,” Stephens said suddenly.

“Yeah well you can do that back at the station,” she replied without looking at him.

“I’m afraid we won’t make it there in time,” he spoke with an urgency in his voice.

“What do you mean?” George asked looking at him.

“I mean we’re all in grave danger.” As he said that a shadow loomed over the police car. A crunch was heard, some shouting, then all went black.