Arriving at the police station, I parked the vehicle at the sidewalk, turning off the engine and stepping out of the car with Eve. Walking into the building and already knowing the directions of Chief Walker’s office, Eve quietly followed from behind as we go through the hallway until reaching his door. Before knocking on it, I took a deep breath, “Chief Walker?” I called out for him from outside of his office.
After a few seconds, the door opens, revealing the man himself, “its you, come in.” He states while waving us in. Stepping inside, he closes the door after inviting us to sit down, then goes over to his computer desk, sitting on his chair.
I nod in understanding, taking hold of the seat as Eve does the same.
With his sunglasses still on, it is difficult to tell if my boss is looking at or Eve, because I cannot see his eyes under them. However, I do notice that Chief Walker is tapping on his gaming keyboard and typing away on the monitor as he speaks, “who is the girl with you?” His tone carried weight of suspicion in his words.
“She is my partner,” I state while keeping eye contact with him. “We are working together now.” He sighs heavily before nodding his head, “and her name?” Walker asks.
Eve remains silent as she listens to our conversation, but not even an inch did she move from where she was sitting, so I decide to speak up on her behalf, “her name is Eve and before you ask, she was given the privilege to work with me from Mervin’s permission,” I say while trying to avoid any questions about who she really is.
Walker looks back at Eve, raising one eyebrow as he says, “is this true? Have you been granted the right to work here?” The way he asked makes it appear like he already knew that she was allowed to be part of my team. He must have known beforehand when I told him she was coming with me.
It feels like he already knows who she really is, but wants to either act naive or has deep-rooted issues that made him distrust Eve for whatever reasons that I should not divulge right away. Whatever his reason may be, it is best to keep quiet than to make things worse by saying anything more, “yes, she was permitted to join my team.” I answered, simply and plain.
He nods in understanding as he taps on the keyboard, staring at a monitor and tapping some commands into it. His eyes remain focused on his screen until he stops typing, then slowly leans back onto his chair and folds his arms across his chest while looking over to us, “Adam and Eve, sounds like you two are partners now,” he states while nodding his head, but not even bothering to look at them, as if he knows what they would say anyway.
Moreover, Chief Walker’s tone sounded sarcastic for some odd reason, almost making it sound like he was mocking us for having such a weird name together.
“Just get to the details boss,” I say in annoyance as I shift my gaze towards him. He sighs heavily before looking up at me with tired eyes and slumping back into his chair, “very well, we have an assignment for both of you…”
That is what I wanted to hear. Hopefully, it is not too crazy. At least, he does not want to assign us another tedious mission that requires numerous planning and work. I am already exhausted from the first assignment given to me, so hopefully, this one will be easier and more relaxing.
If it isn’t, welp; I better just get used to being uncomfortable because nothing ever goes easy in my line of work.
“This case…well, I would just say, fucking sick and disturbing. It involves a depraved child that enjoys having ‘fun’ with women and torturing dogs in his neighborhood. He has been hiding from the authorities long enough and we finally have him surrounded at his new house. But there is a problem though,” Chief Walker says while leaning forward on his desk, “his house is filled with all types of dangerous traps and weapons, which means that some of the brave boys and girls in the police force have died entering that place.”
I blink my eyes in disbelief, this is not a case, but rather a mission. However, what irks me the most is the involvement of innocent animals like dogs, and the mention of torturing them pisses me the fuck off. The only thing worse than abusing and killing people are humans who harm helpless animals for fun or amusement. I hate this such individuals.
And it boils me to the core of imagining dogs being tortured while crying out in pain, begging for help and mercy as they slowly bleed to death; I feel the rage inside myself buildup rapidly until my heart starts pounding hard and fast within my chest.
If it was not for the mention of dogs, I would take a different case but this is something I have to get myself involved with, regardless of how much trouble I am going to be in afterwards. My heart ache for those poor animals.
I gritted my teeth to try to contain my rage, but Eve noticed that there was something wrong with me as she asked worriedly, “Adam, whats wrong?” She sounds concerned about my well-being and I am grateful that she is always by my side when things go sour like this.
I release a deep sigh of release, “I am fine, just don’t think about it right now.” I say reassuring her before turning back to Chief Walker, “So what do you want me to do exactly? How can I get inside his house without being killed by his traps or weapons?”
“Well, your job is simple; try to find a way to speak with him and convince that little bastard to surrender,” Walker says as he smirks at the end, “if you two have to resort to lethal force or violence, then so be it.”
My eyes widen in surprise. That was rather unexpected. I thought Walker would prefer to peacefully arrest him instead of doing anything to stop that maniac, including violence or lethal force. “And I thought you were noble police man, its either dead or alive for that kid, right?”
He nodded, “you heard me, if we have no other choice than killing him, then so be it.” He said in a serious tone as he looked down towards the ground, “humans are wretched beings, and no matter the age; no matter the loving environment they grew in, there is always a chance for that individual to become a sick and twisted person,” he continues on explaining himself while staring off at the blizzard outside from his window, “but I am glad that you share the things my way, in this world; evil exist because good people fail to act against them, or even worse, just sit back and watch as these scumbags ruin lives of others.”
I am rather conflicted of having someone like Chief Walker sharing similar pessimistic beliefs of mine. It is strangely comforting to have a person know that sacrifices must be made for the greater cause. Even though some average person would not agree with his viewpoint, I still respect it. “Thank you sir, I will do everything in my power to help you get rid of that monster,” I said politely before standing up, walking over to Eve and placing my hand on her shoulder, “come on, lets go,” stating as she nodded in agreement.
Before we leave the office, my boss approaches us from behind, “by the way kid, here,” we turn to see him extending a small written paper, “take it, this is the address of where that psycho lives,” he states simply as I took at the note, “and don’t forget about the keys for one of our police vehicles.”
As he reached his pockets, I waved my hand with a gesture of objection, “nah, I would just use my car,” I exclaimed. “Yeah, why bother?” He agreed with shrugged, walking back to his desk. “Well, I guess it is your choice, but I hope you make the right decision,” he said with a grin on his face, nodding in reply, “good luck kid, and stay safe out there.”
Guess that is our cue to leave.
Me and Eve casually walked through the hallway, side by side as we passed the busy crowd of people in our workplace. From the continual walking, Eve told me a peculiar statement. “I think he distrusts and hates me,” she casually stated, “I wonder if I should tell him about myself or not.”
Yeah, about that…people usually have reasons for that and I believe I know the answer to it, “you want to be his friend or something?” I asked curiously.
“No…” She replied, shaking her head, “I used to see people anything than blank states of papers to cut whenever I am prepared to do so, but that peculiar person seems very angry at me for some reason,” she sighed as we continue walking, passing through a corridor full of doors and hallways, “it is strange why I am even talking about this, I have seen deaths and revenge in all of my life but…”
I gently slap her back as we stopped, causing Eve to turnaround at my direction with a surprised look on her face. “Adam?” She questioned in pure confusion from my sudden action.
Smiling, I assured her, “whatever you are thinking, don’t overthink about it. This is you in the present, not in the past or future, for what past actions you have committed have no bearing on this new life you given yourself into,” I stated, “leave them or not, it is up to you decide the path your life will take. Either way, let the chips fall where they may,” I told her while gesturing to the entrance door ahead.
Eve took a deep breath, then exhaled before nodding, “I guess that makes sense,” she admitted with a smile, “thank you.” We continued walking towards the exit, opening them as we headed to my parked vehicle at the sidewalk.
After entering and starting the engine, I pull out the small paper with written address to our destination, “huh..wait, this is weird,” when I re-read the address again, I felt a little shock of where that place is. Seeing my astonished visage, Eve tilted her head at me, “what is the matter?”
This address…its in my neighborhood. I have been there before and I swear that specific area was always quiet and peaceful most of the time.
I shook my head to clear out the thoughts, closing my eyes while facing the ceiling of my car with a sigh of exasperation. After a few seconds of silence, I opened my eyes to see Eve staring back at me from my right, “you seem a bit down from the sudden change of events,” she asked with concern.
“It’s nothing,” I answered, pulling out a cigar from my pockets and lit it up with the lighter, “just some memories,” I added with a shrug, pressing a button at my keychain to lower down the windows as I released a puff of smoke into the air. Eve gave me an odd look for that action, but she remained silent after a moment.
Deciding to ease the silence between us, I started to reverse my vehicle to the road while taking glances at my rear and side mirrors every so often, “can you tell me about your upbringing, Eve?” I placed my brake to drive, moving the car to the address while awaiting her response.
She nervously twirled her fingers, looking down in distraught, “do you want to know about it?” Eve’s voice was soft, yet firm as she was uncomfortable about detailing her past with me.
“Its okay, you do not have to if-“
Eve disrupted me with a deep and loud exhale, “I do.” She looked straight ahead with her head still lowered while continuing to speak in a low tone, “I am ready to talk about it now, just please don’t…tell anyone about this.”
“No, I won’t,” I told her with strong conviction, “remember what you said to me last night? That whenever I need to cry with or on, it would be you. Now, its you that has someone who would listen to your problem, I will hear you out without judging anything?”
Her lips curved up into a faint smile as she slowly nodded her head, “thank you…” Her voice was barely audible, almost like she was suppressing her tears, “It all started when…”
