The campus officer spotted Fiona showing her GPD badge. "Understood, ma'am. Do you have an appointment with the professor?"
"Good luck with the work, ma'am." The constable saw himself off. He left the morgue and in a few minutes, Inspector Collins entered the room.
"I hope you're getting a good start." Inspector Collins greeted her when he got inside.
Mark sighed and also showed his GPD ID and the badge he wore around his neck.
"Alright. I'll let security know that you two are here." He pointed to the nearest parking lot spot. "You can park there. Just look for the spot that says "POLICE VEHICLES ONLY".
"Thanks a bunch." Mark thanked the guard for his help. When the barrier opened up, he drove to the speed carefully and made sure it was properly aligned before he placed the car in park mode, turned off everything inside before he got the engine off. He then unlocked the door.
"Time to get to work." The ex-TIG operator took off his seatbelt and got out of the sedan.
Carter looked over at her as he parked the car, how would people derive enjoyment from someone falling? It was just atrociously petty and unprofessional.
He got out of the car following Fiona, and decided to let her do the talking during this.
How are we gonna explain what we're here to talk to her about? Excuse me maam we'd like to talk to you about a century old curse. Should we have brought a ouija board or do you have one?
"Follow me, please."
The campus officer showed Fiona and Carter to the building's lobby.
"I'll inform my colleagues about your presence here. It shouldn't take long."
The officer went for his radio to inform campus police that two GPD officers were present to see Professor Thomkins.
Several students and faculty were walking about, minding their business. But they caught a glance or two of the officer going for his radio. Some wondered if something happened.
"Alright. Over here." The officer motioned to them to wait at the reception desk.
"I called for the professor." The receptionist mentioned to the officer. "She's a bit busy since she's talking to a student from her class. But she'll be down in a minute or two via elevator."
The officer faced the SCS detectives. "I assume that this has something to do with a case the department's working on?"
Billy got out of the car, slamming the car door hard too.
If man is the problem... Billy frowned a bit, Then God is the solution. Rummaging through his trench coat he produced a blessed Cross that is said to have a destructive effect on evil beings (Of the non-human variety). The fundie had a plan, he would say a couple of prayers jibed with bible verses to coax the demon living within the Branson out of him. Needless to say this would unnerve Mark a bit if he knew what devious scheme Billy had in mind.
"Mark," Billy began, "I am inclined to suspect that there are creatures of the night that dwell within this building." He reached into this pockets once more and gave Mark two magazines that had holy bullets, "I want you to arm yourself against the evil that lurks in this house of evil, lest you be snared by the wickedness that takes residence here." Last thing I need now is to have him shoot me with the bullets I gave him.
He gave the Waste Management Building an intense glare, as if he were staring at the pits of hell itself.
"Before we enter into the aperture of evil I suggest we pray first to God so that we may receive the protection of God. The numerous dangers presented to us cannot be beaten with the insanity of reason alone, this is the time for the true power of faith to surface." Billy got on his knees and started to pray.
(Edited it, this time I have time to write.)
edited 11th Oct '15 12:21:02 AM by Victor_Skye
"In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war.""Oh, yes, I was just telling Carl he needs to learn some manners. How's your day been?" She asked, taking several photographs of the bullet wounds before putting on her gloves to start taking out the bullets.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore.Mark was in shock and awe when he received the magazine with holy bullets inside.
"Uhhh.... thanks."
He then sighed when he saw Billy praying in front of the building.
I'm tempted to just leave this guy here.
"Understood." The campus officer replied.
The elevator doors opened up and the campus police officer directed the professor to the waiting SCS detectives.
"I'm Professor Thomkins." Melissa introduced herself. "You're the two officers from the GPD sent here to talk to me?"
"Tiring." The Inspector sighed when he saw the doctor go to work. "Half the department is talking about the killer being from an urban legend who came to life."
"Inspector!" A constable came inside and handed him the folder.
"Thank you." The Inspector thanked him before he left. "I heard some suggestions that he may have a disorder that makes him insensitive to pain. I could check in with any hospital or arrest records, but the family lawyer may have decided to seal them up."
"Lord," Billy's voice was tranquil this time, fulfilling the humble servant part, "We ask You to be our Light in the midst of darkness. To be our land in a sea of chaos. For alone, we humans fall prey easily to temptation because we are weak, but with Your will we are strong because of Your strength. You are the source of knowledge for the wise and the muscle for the mighty. In my hour of failure You have become my success, and I shall never forget that even if I burn in the pits of hell; for the mere memory of You is paradise. Now, as we walk into the hallway of demons, I ask You to be our Armor, and I ask that I be Your sword once more. Glory and honor and strength to our Lord, amen..."
During Billy's little orison, the holy bullets that Mark held flashed white. The prayer awakened the supernatural energy within in. It is unknown if this is due to the will of God or through the passion of the fanatics who made it. Nevertheless the anomaly was mysterious, and more than likely to attract an eye or two if there were any people around. Couple that with a strange man praying in the parking lot and one would have witnessed quite a sight.
When the ex-priest was done with his prayer, he was now more focused on his task. Albeit, with a dash of religious fervor in it.
"The Lord is on our side, Mark. Even if you are a heathen, know that you were not meant to burn in hell but enjoy the glory of Heaven as a child of God. We have been robbed of our purity since the Fall of Man, but the valiance of Christ has destroyed the corruption that has been manifested in men. We may not emerge as white as snow, but our hearts will be hardened by the gritty realities of the world."
edited 11th Oct '15 12:59:01 AM by Victor_Skye
"In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war.""Yes, I was already told. I'll check for nerve damage, and maybe check out his brain if I don't find any in the peripheral nervous system. That said, people with such disorders rarely live past the age of five—specially a few decades ago— so I find it unlikely." She took out one bullet carefully and placed it in a tray. "I imagine he could have been just pumping with a little too much adrenaline, so I'll check that as well. Or he could have been on certain drugs."
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore.Mark led Billy inside the Waste Management's lobby and spoke to the receptionist and requested for her to get Engineer Branson for an urgent matter.
He showed his GPD ID as proof that he's a police officer.
Inspector Collins sighed when he ended a phone call with the Greenpoint Memorial Hospital.
"Just as I thought, Carl Branson's medical records may have been sealed. Damn privacy reasons means we can't go in unless we get the consent of the family lawyer."
He then eyed Gabriela. "You can still proceed with your work there. How long 'till we can a results on toxicology."
Melissa eyed the photo shown to him. She could tell that he looks familiar, but she couldn't.
"He looks familiar..." Melissa began before she stopped herself. "Is... is that Carl?"
Finally realizing that he had to act normal in a public place, Billy sighed and then showed his ID.
"There'll be no trouble ma'am," He spoke in a neutral tone, "We'll ask him a question or two."
After this, his eyes went to Mark, "Didn't expect that did you?"
"In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war.""It's best if we talk in my office." Melissa showed them the way to the elevator. "We can get some privacy there."
The campus officer pressed the up button on the elevator panel to call the nearest elevator car available.
"I wish you spoke like that a while ago back in the office."
Mark sighed.
Donald came out of an office and was told by the guard that the GPD needed to see him.
"Is there something I can do for you, officer?"
"I'm Mark Yau and this is Billy Macklin." Mark introduced themselves to the engineer. "We just need to ask you something."
He went for his smartphone and showed him the photo of Carl, who now has pale skin.
"Do you know this man?"
"Is... is that Carl?" Donald was confused. "That's my older brother. I thought he was missing..."
"We want to clear this up with you. Is there someplace where we can talk?"
"Yes. I have an office here." Donald showed them the way, allowing them to enter first before he went in last and locked the door behind him.
"Mr. Branson." Mark began. "We've come across a murder case and we fought the killer who's been terrorizing hitchhikers for the past few weeks. I'm sorry to say that it is your brother..."
"My god..." Donald couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How... how did this happen?"
"We need to ask if you know anything about what happened to your brother."
"Of course, of course." Donald motioned to them to take a seat in the couch before he took his seat behidn his desk. "I... I just don't know where to start."
edited 12th Oct '15 4:52:54 AM by Ominae
Let's fucking think for a while. I'm not used to this crap but it'll be damn worth it in this so called reasonable world. Hmm, normally I'd say something like, "Hey fucker, I killed your fucking demon brother and I'll be citing some crazy bible verses out so I can exorcise the fuck out of you you fucking fuck demon in human flesh!" That'll end badly with screams, gunshots, and an explosion.
Totally unsure of what to do, Billy tapped Mark lightly on the shoulder, a silent gesture that said, I'm not a social person. Billy is not a social person, he is an ax-crazy, bible-thumping, son of a bitch from a rabid cult that makes other infamously controversial religious institutions look like a Boy Scout committee. The only thing that can make this sack shit useful is when he confronts another piece of shit to engage in a paranormal cockfight of the century that would make the Brothers Grimm piss their pants off in excitement from watching the sheer mindfuckingness of it all.
edited 12th Oct '15 5:14:02 AM by Victor_Skye
"In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war.""Well, it depends. Since we have no medical history, there'll be extra tests. I'll have to look at the backlog to give a solid date, but most of the tests should take a day or two tops, meaning it depends exclusively on the backlog. I can probably write up some things while we wait for results, such as whether there's any nerve damage, or what he had for lunch..." She shrugged and took out another bullet.
edited 12th Oct '15 9:15:15 PM by Faramir
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you can't sell him fish anymore."I'll leave you back to work." Inspector Collins thanked Gabriela before he started to step out of the morgue. "I got a phone call to make."
"Carl..." Melissa crossed her arms before the elevator arrived. "He's like us in the family. Quiet. Doesn't assume too much attention. He's a nice boy."
The campus officer held the elevator doors open for the three as they stepped in. "I don't know what happened to Carl. Before he disappeared, I remember that he went on and off to hospital several times. I wasn't sure if it was for physical health reasons or medical health reasons."
"Do you remember anything about what happened to Carl?" Mark asked, since he noted Billy wasn't in the mood. Perhaps he needs to be booted out if he can't do basic police work.
"Yeah. He was suppose to go to California with his girlfriend." Donald sighed when he sat down. "They wanted to study in university together. So my parents gave them their blessing. Last I heard, they were on the highway, almost out of Washington when he got a call that his bus crashed."
Mark nodded. "Did your brother have any issues growing up, medical or otherwise?"
"I remember seeing my folks bring Carl in and out of the house to go to the hospital. I mean, he looked fine physically. Me and my sister were left in the dark, but we suspected that he might have a mental issue at the time."
"During that time period, did you ever notice anything off?" Fiona asked. "Any kind of erratic behavior?"
As she formed her questions, her mentor's face appeared to her mind's eye unexpectedly. "Remember," he'd always say, "Witnesses unreliable at the best of times, and even moreso when time has passed. Make sure you avoid leading questions."
Fiona's throat locked up for a second, but she mustered her professionalism and banished the memory. She could battle ghosts later. Not on the job.
"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir"I'm not sure." The elevator car went up when Melissa tried to gather her thoughts. "I'm not sure it relates, but I remember one incident when my parents came home a bit late in the afternoon with Carl. He had some bruises on. But when I asked, my folks told me not to worry."
She leaned back on the car. "I'm not sure what happened to him at that time. This was when he was around 8...9 years old. I'm still trying to remember what happened."
The elevator car stopped on the fourth floor. "My office is this way. I want to get some privacy while we're discussing this matter."
Melissa showed Fiona and Carter the direction to her office, which was only a few minutes away from the elevator.
"I saw Carl going home one time with bruises. My folks told me and my sister not to worry about it." Donald explained when he heard Billy out.
"We think that he may have snapped." Donald then showed a photo of him and Carl in their younger days, playing football. "I heard stories from the family that one of our ancestors had a breakdown and killed his family up in Vancouver."
Mark heard it with great interest. That's something from what the inspector mentioned.
"I think he was diagnosed or something..." Donald snapped his fingers. "I need to call my sister. She's the only in charge of any matters that concerns the family."
"Are you going to call her right now?"
"Yes. Is that going to be an issue?"
"I don't think so."
"Thank you." Donald pressed the phone's speaker button before he proceeded to dial the number to Melissa's office.
Billy like all hyper-paranoid skitzos was so allergic to the dangers of the environment around him that he developed several conspiracy theories to justify his fears. One involved that Branson was this secret leftover Cold War spy that was sent to assassinate the US President.
His predecessor is obviously the man who killed JFK... Those commie bastards will pay for this...
He reached deep into his trench coat and kept a tight grip on his knife, ready to pull it out any time. At a given moment he could snap and start stabbing the air, the sky, and unfortunately those who got in his way. While anticipating the worse he came up with even more controversial conjectures on this Donald man.
He is the son of the devil, clever disguise...
He could be a terrorist, why else would he pretend to call someone? He's going to set off a bomb.
Billy remembered that he still had a grenade in his possession; pity that if someone pulled the pin off it would immediately explode.
So that's it... he's working for an ancient conspiracy that's plotting to take over the world and he's now trying to throw me off course! But that won't happen...
"In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war."

"The only thing people love watching more than a rising star is a falling one." Fiona said, though it sounded like she was quoting something. "There were some people who weren't happy—ah, we're here."
As Carter parked, she stepped out of the car and nodded to the security guard. "Morning, sir. We're with the GPD." She displayed her badge. "We're looking for a Professor Melissa Thomkins?"
"Your mission is not to nuke the squid god." —Faramir