Meera stepped out of the car after pulling up to the precinct. Though she had initially thought Konstantin's idea totally crazy, she had to admit that it worked. The detective supposed that from time to time, even the most insane ideas could work. She put her game face on as she stepped out of her car and joined her partner and lover. While Randy was just a morgue tech, he likely had some sort of story ready in case he got caught.
"You really think this will work?" Meera questioned.
"We got him dead to rights with this! He'll talk," Konstantin assured her.
"Though I dislike the idea, I'll follow your lead on this one," she told the man.
"Like you followed it earlier?" he teased with a cheeky grin.
"Don't push it."
Konstantin chuckled to himself as they walked into the station. They headed downstairs to where the morgue was situated. They had doubled checked the shift schedules to be sure that Randy was working today. He was, along with one other lab tech, Damini Bhatt. The pair of them walked into the morgue and found Randy at his desk, typing in the most recent report.
"Detectives! I wasn't expecting to see you for a while yet," Randy said by way of greeting.
"We just dropped in to see if there was anything else you could tell us about the corpses we found," Konstantin started.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing else I can tell you about what I've found so far. The coroner and the other techs, myself included, do not know what's going on," Randy assured them. Meera kept her eye on the man, trying to see if she could catch any tells about him. She spotted nothing, which was odd to her. Either the man was great at lying, or he was speaking the truth about this.
"Really? Because I have a little something that tells me you know more than you're letting on," Detective Thermopolous stated. Randy scoffed until Konstantin pulled out the tape player and pressed the play button. Randy's voice came through, clear as a bell, as did his friend's voices.
"So, how about we try this again? Why don't you share with us what you learned when your... 'friend' paid you a visit?" the detective said softly.
Meera shivered involuntarily at how Konstantin was playing this. The way his voice sounded, it was almost like steel being bared, and she liked the way he was handling things. Randy looked between both detectives and realized the jig was up. He was painted into a corner with no way out. Though he could have tried something, he knew that he'd go down badly, no matter what he did. The only course of action he had was to give the detectives what they wanted.
"He's an old friend of mine from high school. Since I got this job, he's gotten in touch with me and discussed various cases we were working. The man has provided a level of insight about things that we missed. This insight has led to various cases being cracked and us bringing in the perp," Randy stated.
"Truly? Which cases has he provided aid to?" Meera questioned.
Randy took a deep breath and listed off several cases, all of which were real stumpers to the police. The one that caught Meera's attention was the Cotton Candy Killer. The man in question was an entirely different level of sick. He would often troll public places, where there was little to no video surveillance, searching out single moms with children. He would find them, befriend them, and often buy them both cotton candy while out.
Unknown to them, he had an accomplice, who would be the cotton candy vendor in the park, giving them drugged cotton candy. The killer would then take both the mother and child to his place, under the guise of him being the concerned dad. When he took them there, that was where the real horrors began. Meera shuddered at the thought of what he did to all those people and it hit home for her, being a single mom.
No one knew what exactly was going on until they caught a break with some anonymous footage via drone cams. It had been fed to their cyber division and flagged as suspicious. Once they used the evidence they had to figure out and corroborate the killer's methods, they could set up a sting op to take him down. Bringing that monster in had made Meera's nights much easier, seeing her sleep proper for the first time in a while.
"Fuck! If I don't arrest this kid, I might just have to shake his hand! That's some fine work he's done!" Konstantin told Randy.
"I would agree! Why did he not try to come on board as an asset, or a CI?" Meera questioned.
"I asked him that myself, many times. He often said, and still says, that it's better this way. As long as he's not seen with or associates with police in any way, shape or form, he can continue to operate from the shadows. It's the digital age, with cameras and recording devices everywhere. Hell, some people make one profound or controversial tweet and before the day is over, the entire world hears about it!" Randy informed them.
"Hmm! I suppose that a fair and smart way to operate. But, despite the good he's done, he might be stepping into something more than he can handle," Konstantin replied.
"I think it might be the other way around. Do you two have any idea of what you're up against?" Randy asked the detectives, concern lacing his voice.
"Some sort of cult conducting ritual killings with a new kind of designer drug," Meera stated, worried about the drug getting into the hands of kids.
"How much of the recording did you two listen to?" Randy questioned.
"Just to that part where you're berating your friend. Why? What else is there?" Konstantin queried.
"Hit play on that recorder and keep listening," Randy told the pair.
Shrugging, Konstantin thought it wouldn't hurt and hit play. They all listened to it, and the eyes of the detectives nearly fell out of their heads upon hearing Amy's power laced voice. They shuddered involuntarily, as they could tell the individual in question was one who was not to be crossed.
"Who was that? The woman who was speaking?" Meera queried.
"I don't know. Likely a recent acquaintance of Luke's, just like that fairy friend of his," Randy told them.
"Fairy? You mean... someone who's gay?" Konstantin questioned, before Meera slapped him upside the head.
"No, I don't mean that jackass meaning of the word. I mean an actual, real life fairy! Like Tinkerbell, but fully sized? With the gossamer wings and such?" Randy asked the pair, seeing if they needed it drawn out in crayon.
"Fairies aren't real," Meera scoffed at the man.
"Tell that to Emalia when you see her. Wherever Luke is, those women won't be far behind," Randy told them.
"OK, so if this Emalia was a real fairy," Konstantin said, with a measure of skepticism, "then who's the other girl who spoke like she was some sort of... sorceress?"
"The only thing I know is what I was told. What they said to me is that you lot would be out of your league if you ever found the one who was killing these people. That you'd be dead, just like them," Randy replied, gesturing at the dried up corpses.
The detectives thought to not believe the man who was telling them this. Logic told them to dismiss his information as that of a rambling lunatic. Yet, when they looked into his eyes, they could tell that Randy was telling the truth about this. His voice was steady and even had a note of trepidation and warning to it. The most convincing part was his eyes, which were filled with light and wonder at what he'd seen.
"Say we believe you. What are we supposed to do when we find this... friend of yours?" Konstantin questioned, his voice dead serious.
"Help them, however you can. They may operate outside of the law, but I got the distinct impression that these people Luke is associating with are the good guys in this. They said they would be fighting and dealing with this... apparition when they find it," Randy replied.
"Thank you for your assistance, Randy. We'll be in touch," Meera thanked the man as she turned to leave. Konstantin was right behind her, less than a step out of pace, so he caught her quickly. Once they were clear of the morgue and down the hall a ways, Meera sighed in disbelief.
"I told you this was a waste of time! Now all we got is a kid telling us wild stories and..." the sentence died on Meera's lips as she took in the worried look on her lover's face. "Konstantin? What's wrong?"
"I think what Randy just told us is true!" the man breathed.
"What makes you say that?"
"I remember stories from my grandmother when I was growing up. Stories about simpler times, before the rise of organized religion. About a time when mankind lived in harmony with the earth and everything that inhabited it. The things that Randy described make me think that my grandmother's stories were more than that," Konstantin told her.
"What were these stories about? Specifically?" Meera questioned, her interest piqued.
"Stories about the eternal struggle between life and death, good and evil. But unlike the stories of gods that humanity invented, this was something more... primal. More... real," the man told her as he shivered involuntarily.
Meera would have scoffed and said that Konstantin was just making shit up. The logical part of her mind told her to do this, but for some reason, she couldn't. It was like a part of her was telling the woman that what he was saying was very real. That it was something that couldn't be explained, but just had to be believed. The look in his eyes told her as much, and she gave voice to the only thing on her mind at that moment.
"What in the name of God did we just step into?"
******************************
The Gaians burned through a substantial part of the darkened forest. Much of what was there protested against their cleansing fire, as though it was a living thing. Large swaths of bush, deadfall and semi-living trees were torched, turning into ash at their passing. The groups stayed ready, not wanting to be caught by surprise, but their entire path was clear. Nothing rose up to accost them as they reached the final stretch of the forest.
"All right, boys and girls! This is the home stretch! If my math is right, and it usually is, the corrupted grove is only a hundred meters ahead!" Luke said into the comms buds, informing everyone of their progress.
"OK! Stay close and keep your defenses up! We may be at the last patch, but we take no chances! Slow and steady, everyone!" Jason barked out in command.
