Kill Me At Dusk

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Serenity Williams

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Darkness had descended on the little dreary town like a warm blanket. While the streetlamps' fluresecent lights flickered on, the house lights soon began to turn off one by one, leaving the roads dimly lit with a foreboding aura about them. Maev, however, took no notice of the world around her's new tint or the shiver that crept up her spine as she stepped out of the conveinece store, clutching a small, brand new pack of cigarettes in her right hand and a lighter in her other.

Bending her head down, slightly, she lit the cigarette she had placed between her lips before putting the rest in her coat pocket. The blonde took a long puff, that came out of her mouth in long, winding wisps of smoke, as she looked up at the star-filled sky with a sigh. It was a cold, bitter night even without the subtle breeze of the wind to encourage the cool temperature. Nothing like the nights in Texas, she recalled them being hot and humid, a bit sticky as well. Uncomfortable, yet at the same time like the warmth of a familiar friend. She missed that.

As she trudged along, the woman glanced at her watch for the time. It was 12:36, about the time most people would be slipping into their beds to prepare for another long day of work. Something she should have been doing herself since Chelsea took tomorrow off which meant that Maev had to cover for her...again. That insufferable red-haired waitress was always coming up with some excuse or other to take time off. The middle-aged woman really wondered how she came up with such believable lies and, at the same time, what else she could possibly be doing on her days off. Not like there was much to do in this town, but work, eat, and sleep.

Fishing a small wad of cash out of her pocket, Maev did her nightly ritual of counting the tip money that she'd earned that day. "23...24...29...ugh," the blonde said aloud with a frown. Thirty dollars?! That's it? "God, I'd make more money in an hour as a stripper," she complained to no one in particular as she began to pass an alley way, but stopped when she heard a rustle of noise coming from it.

Turning, she squinted, trying to get a better look. She could just make out the shadow of a figure...no, two figures, one seemed to be holding the other which was on the ground. The moving one didn't seem to notice her, but Maev stepped closer into the dank gap between buildings. "Hello...?" she called out, causing the previously moving figure to become still and then turn towards her. "What're you...?" she trailed off as she saw a thick trail of dark scarlet liquid coming from the creature laying on the ground and her eyes widened at the sight, but before she could even command her body to move, it was just....too late...

A scream echoed through the dusk, piercing it quickly, though cutting off before long as if the speaker were...no more. But no one's ears seemed to hear it...or if they had, they did nothing about it.

~*~A Morning Later~*~

The Thursday morning sun had yet to rise in the still mostly navy blue sky, but streaks of it's yellow light gave hints of it's coming presence. All in all, it was a lovely dawn, but Lindsey Elliot couldn't appreciate it at all. Though this was somewhat understandable seeing as she was currently investigating a murder scene.

The auburn haired detective sighed as she examined the body of Maev Wintergreen, the small town's local full-time waitress, as her partner, Gideon Clark come over to her after taking a look at another lifeless human that lay just a few feet away. "Damn. I liked Maev, too. I would've asked her out for coffee sometime if it hadn't been for her nasty smoking problem," Clark commented. "Yeah, well, apparently something else got to her before the cigarettes could," Elliot replied, apathetically. It sucked that since the community was so small that everyone kind of knew eachother somehow, it just made the job of identifying the bodies harder, but even so, Elliot wasn't going to let that hinder the way she went about her work. "So what do we got?" Clark asked after a long pause. The young woman looked down at her report, "Female, age 31, Maev Wintergreen, found approximently four feet away from the other victim, Tony Hayes, male, age 16," she read off. Clark's fuzzy, brown eyebrows furrowed, "That's strange...killing Maev goes completly against the perpetrator's M.O." he stated with a frown. Elliot nodded in agreement before glancing at the two dead victims, "Typically our suspect's preference is high school students, while Tony fits the bill, Maev doesn't. Poor thing was probably just there at the wrong place and time, caught the killer off guard and so as not to leave any witnesses, he or she had to deal with her," she replied before moving to go take a close look at the body of Tony Hayes, but frowned in confusion when she saw him being zipped up in a black body bag.

"Hey! You can't do that! This is a murder ivestigation and-" she began, obviously upset. "I told them it was alright, Elliot. This is no longer an investigation," a familiar and domineering voice cut the young woman off. "B-but Chief!" she started again, but was, again, interrupted. "No. This case is closed as far as we can tell. There's no evidence or clues that might lead us to who did it, so it's no use," the burly chief officer told her. "But you don't understand! He messed up! The killer messed up! No one was supposed to see him kill Tony and now he has a witness," Elliot exclaimed, excitedly. The chief, Ryan Tobias, looked at his colleague like she was going insane and gestured to Maev's lifeless body, "Yes, he did. But if you haven't noticed, she's currently tied up with the issue of being post-mortem," he pointed out. Elliot nodded, but still grinned, "Yes! But because the murderer didn't count on having a witness, he may have messed up! He was taken off guard this time which means this crime scene could be littered with clues this time!" she explained. Ryan sighed and shook his head, "I have a boss too you know, more than one, and they don't want us touching this case. I'm sorry, El, but my hands are tied..." he told her, clamping a comforting hand down on her shoulder for a few moments before walking off.

The young woman seemed to deflate at this news and went silent even when Clark came over to stand next to her. "Come on, it's career day at the high school and we're required to go and tell these kids why being around dead bodies and solving mysteries give us the thrills," he finally told her after a stretch of silence. Elliot just nodded and let him lead her to the car, her mind still thinking about what the chief had said. Who wouldn't want them to solve this case?

((Hey, new here, hopefully this is what you're supposed to do on the Jump-In section. Join as Gideon, high school students/targets, the murderer, or anyone else in the town. This might become intermixed with some fantasy elements like vampires or werewolves or anything really. So be creative and add in what you want, you won't ruin anything!))
 
Margeret Thompson slipped easily from the crowd gathered around the bright yellow caution tape. She scribbled furiously in a mini legal tab in her hand. She had been following the police's every move on this case. She posted her findings on an anonymous blog she ran by herself. Margeret walked to her car and drove back to school. She was a senior at the local highschool and had skipped morning classes just to come to the scene.

Margeret parked in the student parking lot, making sure to keep her notes well hidden. She stashed her mini digital camera as well. It was good to take pictures of the crime scene without being seen too easily. The only downfall was that it had no flash so any murders found at night she had to rely on her mind to remember. Walking into the main office, Margeret handed them a note giving a bogus reason as to why she was late. She took her late pass and entered her journalism class. It was career day and all of the under classmen would have to sit through lecture after lecture of different types of jobs. Margeret, being a senior, had the option of sitting in on this or not. She decided to go to half. The local police department was coming and she was wondering if they would mention these cases. From what she had seen from Elliot, that woman was very passionate about them. Perhaps I could get some information out of her.

Once her class was over, Margeret stepped into the auditorium where career day was held. She took a seat near the back. If she got bored she could slip out without being rude.
 
"Well... damn," Lex murmured, his green eyes dark as he listened to the news, and he wondered how Jess was going to take it. Tony was her best friend, and she'd worked with Maev... He sighed, running a hand through his dark brown hair, and he shut off the TV restlessly. 'And of course, they're still having school today...' Shaking his head and rolling his shoulders, he trotted up the stairs and knocked on his sister's door. "Come on; if you don't hurry up, we're going to be late."

"Yeah, yeah," Jess murmured in response, and a moment later, the door opened to reveal his twin -- who looked nothing like him. Her long strawberry hair went down to her hands, her pale cheeks were freckled, and her laser green eyes were framed by blue glasses. "Who's driving; you or me?"

He shrugged and tossed her the keys. "My treat," he told her, giving her a small smile. 'She'll need all the good spirit she can get.'

*~*~*~*~*

"What?" Jess choked out, barging into one of the many conversations that were going on in her journalism class. Because of her senior status, she had learned to not listen to the underclassmen, but they were talking about... about murder! That sort of thing didn't happen here! At least, that's what her parents had assured her after moving away from the city scene after Marianna's death.

"Yeah, you didn't hear?" one of them asked. "Tony and some other chick were wasted last night. They found 'em this morning, and --"

Jess didn't hear the rest of what they were saying; her ears were ringing, and she was standing, about to leave... When the door opened to reveal more guest speakers. In her shock, she sat back down into her seat; all she knew at this point was how to be polite.
 
Margeret glanced over at Jess. Must have just gotten the news about Tony. Margeret wasnt friends with the girl, or her brother for that matter. But they were the news of the school when they came. Not everyday you get two city kids, let alone twins. Margeret sighed, she felt bad for all of Tony's friends and family, what they had to go through. Ever since these killings started there was an eight o clock curfew, to which Margeret did not comply.

Her eyes glanced between the science teacher lecturing on the perks of teaching and Jess. Margeret sighed. She knew that girl wanted out. She glanced around before crouching and switching to an empty seat beside Jess. "Hey, I heard what happened. Wanna ditch?" Margeret wasnt the type to ditch things, or go out of her nice little loner bubble but she had a weak spot for helping others. Damn concience.
 
'Dead... Dead... Tony's dead. Dead.' That just kept going round and round in Jess's head. She couldn't believe it, and yet, she couldn't think about anything else. In fact, she hardly heard it when one of the girls from her class began talking to her, and it took a moment before she fully processed what was being asked of her.

'Ditching...' Jess had tried to make a point of being a good girl in this new town; it was a new start, after all, and Marianna had always told her that it would never pay off... "No..." she began weakly.

'But she's not here anymore,' a dark voice whispered in her head, 'and you... you could've saved Tony last night if you had just disobeyed the rules.' A tear trailed down cheek, and she finally glanced at the girl. "Sure," she replied, trying to wipe away the fog in her mind as she wiped away the tear and nodded. If she remembered right, the girl's name was Margaret. No longer hesitating, Jess stood, picking her way through the students and pushing through the door.
 
Margaret led the way, opening the door to the bare minimum to avoid being seen. "C'mon." She took the girls hand in hers and led her out of the school. She pulled her to her car, opening the passenger door before getting in the drivers seat. "Where do you wanna go. I could take you home or somewhere else." Margaret offered gently. What am I doing? I barely know this girl. Actually I DONT know this girl and I'm offering her a ride to butt fuck no where. Great Retta. This is why mom doesn't let you have the car. She mentally scolded herself. But try as she might she didn't regret helping Jess.
 
The high school was a container packed with the typical vast majority of hormonal teenagers and depressed teachers, and Lindsey wrinkled her nose as she made her way through the masses, Gideon at her side. In a corner an unusually large boy was attempting to stuff an unusually small boy into a trash can and, sadly, the smaller boy seemed to be fitting. A teacher came to break up the altercation, but not before Gideon saw and snorted. "You know, I almost forgot how hellish high school was for me. Now it's all rushing back," he chuckled. Lindsey just rolled her hazel eyes at the comment, her face expressionless. She knew her partner was trying to cheer her up, but Lindsey simply wasn't the type to let things go so her mood was probably going to be set on 'dark' until this case was finally closed on her own terms, not the chief's.

When they finally reached the large auditorium, the crowd they founded seated there could be described as all but underwhelming. It was clear that several students had not shown and even a few teachers were out. Lindsey knew the Career Fair had never been a very popular activity, but she didn't remember this many people ditching even when she was back in high school. Then she remembered that morning. Tony Hayes, a student that had attended the school, was dead. People had stayed home to mourn. Not just to mourn a boy who they'd been classmates with, but to mourn a boy who had basically lived across the street from them. Another perk of living in a small town.

"Uhm, hello, students of Westbrooke," Lindsey addressed the crowd when it was their turn to speak. She'd lost a game of rock, paper, scissors to Gideon after they'd gotten out of the car so now she was stuck with the job of delivering the speech. She just had to choose scissors, hadn't she?
 
Jess allowed herself to be led away, using the time to clear her head, and by the time that she was ushered into the passenger seat of Margaret's car, she had successfully locked away all emotion and all thought pertaining to death. She smiled at the girl as she offered to drive her, and she thought for a moment. "How about breakfast?" she asked after a moment. "I didn't get a chance to eat, really; Lex and I were running late..." She shrugged. "I'll pay as thanks for..." she thought for a moment, "caring."

Jess hadn't made very many friends here, and had she been thinking clearly, she would've made a point not to. But, since she'd altered her state of mind in the brief minute from the school to the car, that's precisely what Jess needed.

*~*~*~*

Lex looked at the cops as they walked in, his emerald eyes calculating. Part of him wondered if he should come out and say something... and part of him refused, knowing that it would only bring harm to his sister. They had spent so much time travelling, so much time running... Not that Jess remembered a single bit of it. "Would you look at that," Mike cooed from his post on the wall. "The lifeless crowd becomes lively." Lex turned, eyes dark, and his friend continued, "Morbid, isn't it? They want every bit they can get, even though it's bound to be bad news."

After a moment, Lex shrugged, his gaze never leaving his friend's. "It's just our nature, I think... But, frankly, to me, a murder is just a murder. I didn't know the kid; I'm not nearly as close to everyone as all of you guys are." He searched his friend's dark brown eyes. "I take it you guys didn't get along? You don't seem very upset."

Mike just chuckled in response, and Lex frowned, shook his head, and turned back to the presenters. Already, people were pushing questions upon them, and the girl had hardly begun. "Who killed him?" "Who's next?" "What can we do to be safe?"

Lex sighed, knowing that the woman on the stage wasn't exactly happy to be there, and he brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. "Let the poor woman speak," he told the students, his voice echoing through the now silent auditorium.
 
"Don't mention it....really." Margaret muttered as she turned her key. Her car seemed to roar to life in the eerily quiet parking lot. Margaret pulled out and drove the ten minutes to the closest restaraunt, Kings. Margaret parked in front of the door and let her car idle a bit. "Don't lock it away. It sucks a lot but dont block your emotions for too long." Margaret let it go at that. No one knew but her best friend was the first victim. The one they couldn't identify. The only reason Margaret knew was that Sarah was wearing the bracelet she had given her in second grade.
Margaret pushed the memory back, now wasn't the time. She knew what surpressing feelings like that did/does to a person. She still hadn't fully come to terms and she wasn't sure she ever would.
"You said you were hungry right?" She asked popping open her door with a swift change in topic. Margaret slipped out and stood, closing her door and locking it. She tucked her keys into her messenger back and stood by the front door waiting for Jess.
 
Jess's acute hearing wasn't prepared for the sound of Margaret's car, so without meaning to, she flinched at the sound before managing to recalibrate her ears. She made a mental note to take off the dampener when she got home; Jess could only stand to be so deaf. She glanced at Margaret upon hearing her next common, and it took her a moment to adjust to the even duller sound of speaking.

Her green eyes grew downcast. "I know," she replied after a moment. But I also know what I'm doing, was the silent add on. She smiled slightly at the girl. "Thank you," she found herself saying once again before she stepped out of the car along with Margaret. Closing her eyes, Jess relished in the cold air that nipped at her skin, the light breeze that twirled around her, and the soft sound of winter bird singing their carols. It was all perfect. Except for...

Jess's eyes snapped open, and she turned to Margaret. "Yes, I'm most definitely hungry," she agreed with a soft laugh, and as if to emphasize her point, her stomach growled. She glanced at the sign for the place -- King's. Never been... but there's a first time for everything. She glanced at the girl and beckoned. "Let's go," she said and, without waiting, started for the door.
 
Margaret held the door open as the two entered. The restaraunt was pretty empty. Most people were at school or work. The host was an older man, perhaps thirty, and obviously hated his job. His voice was dreary as he directed them to their seats. The booth was small, obviously warn and used. It wasn't a five star restaurant but Magaret liked the place.
She slid into her place and picked up the menu. "Your names Jess right?" Margaret asked to start some idle conversation. If she was taking the girl to lunch might as well try and be friendly about the whole thing.
Their waiter was an older woman with greying roots and dull brown hair. There was no life in her eyes. That sort of thing beaten out of her from long working hours and stuffy clients. She sighed as she walked up to their table. "What would you like to drink?" Her voice was as lifeless as her eyes, rough from years of smoking.
"Sweet tea please." Margaret ordered eyes trained on the menu before her.
 
"Yes," Jess replied, nodding in thanks, "and you're Margaret." As the host stepped forward to take them to their seats, she smiled warmly at him, and he actually smiled back. "Wonderful morning, isn't it, Mr. Alexander?" she inquired, voice taking on a hypnotic tone of sorts.

"Yes, yes," he replied, and her smile grew.

"Have a wonderful day," she murmured once they were seated, and she gratefully accepted a menu.

"You too, Miss," he replied, and she nodded and scanned the menu once before putting it down and looking at Margaret.

"So, why'd you --" she began but was interrupted by the waiter's question.

Hearing the lifelessness in the woman's voice, Jess looked up and smiled at the woman while Margaret answered. "Good morning," she murmured, meeting the woman's gaze, and after a moment, she got a reply.

"Good morning to you too." Some life was starting to come back.

"How are you?" Jess tilted her head.

"Quite well." The woman smiled. "Now, what can I get you?"

Jess thought for a moment, considering all of the drinks she had noticed, and settled on, "I'll have some hot chocolate."

"Sweet tea and hot chocolate," the waitress murmured with a nod, and she closed her little notepad and smiled -- this time at them both. "Can I get you two anything else? Appetizers...?"

Jess shrugged and glanced at Margaret. "Do you want anything?"
 
"No thank you." Margaret answered kindly. Shewaited until the waitress had gone to ask. "How did you do that?Vicky hasnt smiled in a year. She barely talks outside of hello without being forced to."

Margaret was looking at Jess with mild form of awe. No one had brought a smile to that womans face in such a long time. How did Jess do it?
 
Jess looked at Margaret like she was the crazy one. "All I did was say hi," she replied simply. "Serving others is a thankless job, you know. It isn't often that people will go out of their way to say hello, so I make a point to." She shrugged and leaned back, evaluating the girl before her. "So, back to my original question: why'd you offer to ditch with me?" Her voice was piercing, but her eyes were curious and soft.
 
Lindsey couldn't say she was very surprised by the questions that were yelled at her, but she wasn't very prepared to answer them, after all, she didn't know most of the answers herself. But as part of the local police force and a current representative of it, she had to at least appear as if they had everything under control with the murder spree even if the was as far from the truth as could be. When a boy interjected and helped silence the restless crowd, Lindsey cleared her throat. "I know that the recent deaths of your classmates have left you all uneasy, but please rest assured that the police task force is doing everything they- we, possibly can to get to the bottom of this case. As for staying safe, we'd recommend following the new curfew regulations, locking your doors, and using the buddy system when you go out even in broad daylight. Better to be safe than sorry," she told them in an authoritative voice. As if she was really sure that those things would keep any of them safe.

"That's right," Gideon added as he stepped up towards the microphone as well, "We're actually working on a lead right now. We'll catch this sicko. You guys should just worry about your homework and SATs, alright?"

Lindsey gave Gideon a side-long look. So now they were just flat out lying to these kids? Okay then.

(Sorry for taking so long to reply. Christmas was busy at my house.)
 
Lex's eyes narrowed -- he could hear the disbelief in the girl's voice; he didn't need his augmented abilities to tell him so. And then the man's addition? You've got to be kidding me.

The clamor that broke out covered Mike's low chuckle, and Lex frowned, turning to his friend. "What..." he trailed off, only to find him gone.

"Oh dear," Lex sighed.

*~*~*~*

"Well, aren't you a beauty?" Mike murmured, having passed through some of the walls in the school to arrive in the girl's bathroom. Within was a girl, slumped on the floor, asleep, by the looks of it. He closed his eyes and mentally searched through the smells in the air -- no, she was passed out due to drugs. Part of his heart went out to her -- the girl had a rough life -- but that was quickly overridden by his drive to create chaos.

"This'll show them," he murmured under his breath, and he stepped forward, placed both hands on her head, stepped on her leg to keep her steady, and pulled. The sound of breaking bone and tearing flesh filled the bathroom, and the echoes disoriented him enough that he didn't hear the door open until a girl's scream rang through the air.

Without thinking, Mike whirled, and his power lashed out, dark tendrils wrapping around the girl. Before he could stop to relish the moment, she was gone, reduced to a shower of blood and scattered chunks of flesh and bone. Knowing that the girl's scream was heard, Mike grimaced and passed through the next wall and stepped into the underground tunnels -- he couldn't be seen like this.

*~*~*~*

Lex's blood grew cold at the sound of an echoing scream, and before he had even processed, his feet were moving towards the sound, taking him at a near inhuman speed -- he still had enough awareness to know to limit himself. Less than a minute later, he found himself in front of the girl's bathroom... and blood was leaking out from under the door. "Over here!" he shouted, valiantly ignoring his...urges. Surely the cops had followed him, albeit at a slower pace.
 
"I don't know if it's vampires I don't know if it's demons. All I know is that whatever it is it's hunting and killing on our territory. You need to do something about this Gabe, some of them already have their suspicions about us. We need to find whoever is doing this and end it! Too many kids—" Irritated words were cut off by a disturbing scream and the strong scent of blood. The woman didn't even say bye as she slammed the phone shut. Threatening to break the device. Rushing out of her office the woman moved quickly as a young man's voice called out. She moved fast but she made sure that it wasn't unnatural looking. Arriving at one of the main floor washrooms she looked upon the carnage. Her body truthfully revelled in the scent. But she pushed the urges aside as she attempted to focus on any scents that didn't belong, there were definitely two other inhuman creatures within the vicinity. Well one currently but there had been another scent.

She looked down at the young man who had called out. "How did you stumble upon this?" Her hazel green eyes met his emerald ones. Had the scream been that audible that it had easily reached human ears? She looked at the young man, he was one of her students as was his sister. Their last names escaped her but she was positive that she taught both. The twins had always seemed...interesting to her. Noticing the crowd that was starting to gather the woman stood at her full height and walked passed the young man. "Everyone needs to step back!" She called out and started motioning for people to move. The whispers and mumbles started almost instantly. She looked around as more professors began to approach.

"Rayne! What happened?" A tall thin man moved towards the tall raven haired woman.

"I don't know how it happened Greg but it's really bad. We need to get these kids out of here." She met Gregory Hane's eyes. He was one of the science teachers in the school. "Everything happened so fast I haven't been able to get on the phone with the police. Can you call them?"

"Yeah sure." The man smiled softly and nodded as he went off to call the police.

The dark haired woman turned back to the crowd. Rayne continued to attempt to keep the crowd as far back as possible and as in control as she could. It didn't seem like anyone other than Lex had seen the body so that was a good thing. A school full of screaming terrified teenagers wasn't good for anyone. If this predator was close to what she thought it could be then having such large amounts of fear flowing through the school would only summon it back. There were many creatures of the night that were excited by the smell of fear and Rayne was certainly far from an exception. Glancing over her shoulder one last time she swallowed passed the dryness that formed in her mouth as she almost yearned for the taste of fresh flesh and blood.
 
Lex's mind was whirling, desperately trying to keep himself under control while trying to work out just what had happened. From the scent, there was at least two people dead in that bathroom -- and that's all he could gather with the door being closed, the scent blocked. Part of him wondered about Mike, who had disappeared right before the scream... No, impossible.

He looked up sharply when he heard a woman who was definitely not one of the cops attending career day today, and he was relieved that it was just one of his old teachers. "I heard the scream," he replied quietly. "It wasn't that hard to pinpoint." Thankfully, the gathering crowd prevented the woman from pestering him further -- he doubted that he would've been able to come up with convincing answers.

But, of course, there was the gathering crowd... Which did not bode well. The student body was already reeling from Tony's death; what would another two do to them? Where are those two? he wondered darkly. Surely they couldn't be that slow.
 
((Ooc: so sorry I haven't posted I didn't get a notification >.<))
Margaret paused not having a ready answer. "You obviously didn't want to be there and frankly neither did I." Margaret took a sip of her drink and sat back. "Why did you agree?" She shot back. If they were questioning motives than who was she to stay silent?
 
Jess's eyes grew shadowed as Margaret shot the question back at her, and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to push away the torrent of emotions weighing down on her. Under the table, her fingernails dug into her palms. Because following the rules has only hurt those important to me, her thoughts whispered. Taking a slow breath, Jess opened her eyes and smiled at Margaret, and she leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands. "Just like you said," she replied, eyes no longer betraying any emotion, "I didn't want to be there."
 
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