The Crows & The Shadows Read online

  The Crows & the Shadows

  A Snarky Paranormal Mystery Series

  Olivia Bates

  Copyright © 2021 by Olivia Bates

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 1

  Bethany was staring out the window with one brow raised as her captain was ranting his lungs out. "Another missing person is added to the long list, Sanders! My gut tells me that we’ll find this person already dead before the month ends, just like before. What explanation do you have for not finding the culprit behind these killings?!” Captain Jake Shaw bellowed. “Oh, I’ve got a culprit, alright. It’s Big Foot. Look, Cap, whoever’s doing this is good. But I’m better. Just give me more time,” she responded sarcastically with a disinterested tone. Despite of her indifference, Bethany was actually just trying to mask the guilt for her incompetence and frustration.

  A promising young female detective, Bethany Sanders, was being scolded once again by her captain for failing to stop the brutal killings that started four years ago. Unfortunately, another poor soul was expected to be added to the long list of victims. These murders were nothing like she had handled before. All of the corpses had their chests torn open, and their hearts were carved out of them. The total number of victims that was assumed to have been committed by the same criminal wasn’t even certain. Other reports that were recently linked to the case were previously assumed as victims of animal attacks. The bodies were brutally mauled upon and their hearts were also taken. Several notable detectives were transferred in the past for this mysterious case in attempt to ID the murderer, but all of their efforts were futile. Bethany had never failed to solve all her previous cases before, but she was starting to feel a bitter faith about this particular one. Ever since she was assigned to this case for the past three months, three more bodies were found. Like before, there wasn’t a single trace that could lead them to this elusive murderer.

  “You’ve got me on this case because I’m the best you’ve got, and you know it,” Bethany looked straight to her captain’s eyes as she clasped her fists. Regardless of her arrogance, he knew that she was telling the truth. Captain Shaw just looked at the picture of the missing young girl on his desk and sighed. "I have been hearing those same words for years, detective. I've lost too many lives already.” He stared back at her pleading detective while raising a brow, “Do you have any idea how this makes our department look? This savage animal has been dancing under our noses for years, and we don’t even know his or her face nor a name.""

  "You honestly think I don’t know that? I’m not out there just farting around,” she retorted. Bethany looked down, and the captain could see the frustration on her face that she was trying to hide. “Maybe this is just a little too much for you, detective Sanders. Perhaps, it would be better if I just make another request for another officer transfer.” Bethany suddenly stepped forward and slammed her hand on the captain’s table. "Then this case will never see the light of day! You’ve been opting out for help for a long time, and now you got me. Let me do this!” Bethany breathed deeply to calm herself down. “Look, the records show that the murderer attacks every 29th to 30th of each month. Most of the bodies were found in or around the forest. We just need to be at the right place at the right time. This thing is bound to end one way or the other, and I will be the one to end it.” Her mood suddenly shifted as she explained.

  The captain closed the folder containing the filed report and handed it back to Bethany, “We have the date and possible locations, and yet we could not even catch a glimpse of this person. Do better, detective Sanders. I don’t want to find another dead body with a hole in the chest at the end of month.” He stared at Bethany’s eyes as she reached for the files. Before he unhanded the folder, he lowered his tone and said “Just like you said, you are the best one around, Sanders. I actually don’t want to give this case to somebody else.” As their eyes met without blinking, she responded with utmost sincerity. “I got this. Let me do what I do, and you can get back to trying to maintain a resting heartrate.”

  “I do hope... no, people in Evergreen are hoping that your word means something. You have a few days left, detective. Less than three weeks before another victim falls,” the captain stated with authority in his voice. “You can go. Get back to me with some good news.” The captain wanted to believe in her, but he was also starting to have his doubts for obvious reasons. He looked around the things in his desk to distract himself form his worries. He noticed his plant had died once again and grabbed it. “Why do these plants keep dying? I just brought this one last week!” he infuriatingly said as he threw the plant in the bin. It was his way of coping. He focused his frustrations on small things, instead of feeling pressured by the matters he couldn’t deal with.

  “Another unsolved mystery, captain. But have you tried water?” said Sanders as she walked out of the office and got back to her desk. She slammed the folder down at her table out of frustration and slouched back to her chair. She exhaled in an attempt to calm herself down. She opened her laptop and skimmed the previous cases related to the murders. She displayed and stared at the gruesome pictures of the victims in hopes of seeing something that she didn’t notice before. Bethany had done this several times, that she was already dreaming about these images. She kept staring at the holes in their bodies as if they were sucking her consciousness in like a void. She was lost without any leads, and all she had were just a bunch of hunches. Why is this person doing this? Is there only one murderer? What are they doing with the hearts they take? How do they choose their victims? Why does it happen during the full moon? These questions kept running inside Bethany’s head, but she had no means of acquiring solid answers yet. The town of Evergreen was mostly dense forest with wild animals sheltered within it. They have manned the areas several times in order to catch the perpetrator in action, but there were just too many blind spots all over the area. "What am I missing?" she soliloquized. She stood from her seat and started pacing back and forth.

  Just like what she did several times over, she broke down all the small details that were found in the victims and at the crime scenes. All of the bodies were found in the woods and at the river. Not all of them were from the town. For some reason, the bodies that were identified as outsiders didn’t seem like they had a reason to be there. None of them were affiliated with anyone from the town, and there wasn’t anything at the scenes that suggested they were travelers or campers. Amongst the outsiders that were killed, three of them had a similar symbol or some kind of insignia tattooed on their bodies. It was a shape of a black bird with its wings spread open and spearheads for tail feathers. It looked like a silhouette of a weaponized crow. Bethany tried to search where this symbol belonged to or what it signified, but she failed to trace its origin despite her diligent efforts. She tried to trace the identifications of these particular victims, but they were practically ghosts in the society.

  Bethany also reviewed the records of the time when these murders began, but there were nothing more but minute arguments between families about their establishments and typical street brawls. Nothing significant happened back in the early months of that year. The only different report recorded at the time was from a wandering tourist who
camped into the woods at night and said that he saw an area that wasn’t there before. The officers who bothered to look into this report, probably out of boredom, did not find anything. These kinds of odd reports were typical for small, isolated towns where folklores and myths were believed by the locals. Evergreen resides near a thick forest that could easily fuel the townspeople’s wild imaginations.

  “Now, spill it,” she bluntly said to an old hunter who claimed to have seen something in the woods. “A fox. It’s the white-eyed fox, I tell you!” he eagerly responded. Oh, great. Another wacko, she thought. “So, how drunk were you when you saw whatever it was you think you saw?” she sarcastically asked. “I’ve been sober for years, but needed to drink myself to sleep after what I saw. It was just like how they said in the stories, officer. That old rhyme that we tell our younglings to keep them indoors at night. I heard a shrilling noise like a blown wind on a shattered pipe. I know the story well since I was a kid, and I know that I shouldn’t be there. They say that the white-eyed fox had long poisonous fangs, and it makes that noise when it breathes. I jumped to the hole that I set myself which was supposed to trap a boar. I hid inside there and covered myself with leaves and soil, and the fox came out of thin air. It swiftly climbed the tree as if it was running on the ground. It glided to the others and suddenly disappeared like a dispersing smoke. I think that the white-eyed fox is the one who’s been killing those victims. The others think so as well,” he said. “Oh, you think? Guess what I think. I think this town needs to stop with all their folklores bullshit and start warning your kids about, you know, the real wild animals that are nested in those woods. Ever thought about that, sober hunter? Just go home, man,” Bethany disinterestedly said.

  Like what the hunter said, the townsfolks believed some kind of beast was the one responsible for the gory deaths of the other victims who were badly disembodied. Aside from the black, white-eyed fox, there were also myths about a giant owl and other shadowlike entities which the imaginative residents tried to link to the case. However, what Bethany stated was also a known fact. Wolves and wild boars that were known to attack humans once in a while were native inhabitants of Evergreen’s woods. Bears were also known to migrate there from time to time. It was inevitable that some townsfolks would lean towards their superstitious beliefs so they could give some sort of explanation for what was happening around them, especially since it was happening for years already. People tend to believe in just about anything just to have an answer to this mystery when those who should provide the truth about this matter had nothing to say.

  As professionals who had been in the field for several years and take pride on their work, they would simply not entertain these ridiculous tall tales. For the captain and the others, these stories weren’t worth paying attention to. It was easy to say that the community were making up these characters as manifestations of their fears, but Bethany also wondered if there could be some fraction of relatable truth in these stories with the crimes.

  Bethany called the pathologist to hear the report about the last victim of the case. “I got a new lead, doc, a magic fox that can jump from tree to tree and magically disappear. How about you?” she sarcastically said. “Well, you may be on to something there,” the doctor indulged himself to her cold humor. “Right. So, anything new?” she asked. “Unfortunately, I got nothing as exciting as what you have. The findings are just the same as the previous victims. The large cavity on the chest was done quite barbarically. They do appear to be puncture wounds of something round with a pointed end, perhaps claws or fangs. With that said, your magic fox is an eligible suspect. But jokes aside, there are no records of animal attacks that could match what we have here. Besides, not even a bear could simply power through the muscles and bones of a human with a single blow, just to rip out the heart. That makes no sense at all. With these kinds of wounds, one would think that it could be some kind of ploy from organ harvesters in the black market. However, why would they leave the other organs and just take the heart? Just forcibly ripping it out would definitely damage their product, and they need the organs unscathed in order to sell them. It makes you wonder, right? What we basically have in our hands are attack wounds from an unidentified and insanely strong animal that particularly targets the heart, and then leaves no trace of its hunt. For the sake of argument, a fictional creature with fixation to hearts is not so far-fetched with what we have now.” Bethany sighed deeply and said, “Great. Now our suspects are werewolves, hell hounds and disappearing foxes. Thanks for the tip,” then she ended the call.

  Why during the full moon? Bethany contemplated on the dates of the murders. She kept on staring at the files cramped on her laptop screen and reports scattered on her table. Is the culprit some kind of a horror fanboy? she wondered as she tapped the end of her pen on the table repeatedly. However, the autopsy didn’t have anything to support this idea as well. The severity and brutality displayed by whoever or whatever was behind these killings would be unnecessary if that was the case. The method of this criminal was just too inhumane even for the worst kind of violent cults ever recorded. Just like several times before, there was nothing more but questions in Bethany’s train of thoughts. There was no single answer she could think of that could lead her forward. All there was were just mere guesses and ‘what if’s with no proof to follow them through. The frustrated young detective called it a day and headed home.

  Chapter 2

  Detective Bethany Sanders didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she was already losing her hopes of solving the case on time. She didn’t know where to go aside from the locations that she already visited several times. Bethany walked inside the office with her eyes cast downwards. The images of the poor victims that she stared at a hundred times over were already embedded in her memory. She couldn’t think of anything else to do, but she knew that she should not give up. With every month that passed, a life was taken. If she would fail to catch the culprit before the month ends, another victim would be murdered with his or her heart taken.

  Printed on the flier was a picture of a teenage girl, and the description read ‘Danica Adams, 18 years old’. “Talk to me, Danica,’ Bethany whispered as she stared at the picture. It’s the missing person that Captain Shaw discussed with her yesterday. “Another one is added on the board, huh.” said Dustin, one of her fellow investigators. He stood beside her with a grin on his face. “She probably just ran away with her boyfriend, right? Who doesn’t want to leave this place anyway,” he added. Bethany wanted to think of this situation optimistically and derisively nodded back without a word, but there was no mistaking the exasperated look on her face.

  As she stared at their board that was cramped with dozens of overlapping fliers of missing individuals, it was hard for her to think that this ‘Danica’ just simply ran away. “Oh, you are thinking that she is probably attacked by the serial killer as well, don’t you?” Dustin asked sarcastically. He kept on talking beside her even though it was obvious that Bethany was not in a mood for a chat. “Come on. She is at her rebellious stage and probably just wanted to see city lights instead of this boring woodland. You know how it is, right? Breaking the rules, thinking you know better than your old country bumpkin folks. You are still pretty young yourself. You should be dating instead of trying to catch a murderer.”

  Bethany turned her head towards him with a piercing glare. Before he could even take back what he said which obviously upset her, she already grabbed him by his collar. Some of the fliers flew off as Bethany forcibly pushed Dustin against the board. “I didn’t have parents. And if you don’t shut up, neither will your kids” she coldly retorted, as if responding with a wrong answer would get him hit on the face with Bethany’s tightly clenched fist. “You…you received a package, by the way. It’s on your desk.” Dustin mumbled as he tried to change the topic in attempt to reduce the tension. Lucky for him, it actually worked. Bethany’s facial expression changed as she wondered who would send her a package. She looked confused as h
er eyes turned towards her desk.

  Who the hell would send me something? Bethany thought. She decided to let go of him and moved on to her desk. She slowly sat on her chair as she looked at the package envelope. There was no indication from where or whom it came from. Her eyebrows curled as she tried to think of anybody that might send her a package. She had no relative she knew, and she was not exactly the friendly kind even when she was younger. “Could it be?” Bethany whispered to herself as she immediately unhanded the package envelope and slid her chair back when she thought of the individuals that she knew. She suddenly got cautious and a bit paranoid. “Some sort of revenge from a past case?” she thought as her eyes widened. Bethany had caught a number of sick minded individuals before she was transferred to Evergreen. It was expected that the people connected to these criminals would have ill intentions toward her. The Package didn’t land on the table when she suddenly let go of it, and Bethany heard a familiar thud when it hit the floor. She already had a pretty good guess what the envelope contained when she heard that sound as she picked it back up. “A book?” she said to herself as she tore off the lid. And she was right. Somebody sent her a very peculiar looking book. It looked remarkably old and battered. The cover was made of animal skin and the binding was hand stitched. Along with the book were handwritten notes and a small sack. Bethany skimmed the notes. Written on them were numbered paragraphs that looked like a story narration. The pages of the strange book were made of tightly woven papyrus threads, and the contents were written in a very unfamiliar language. The line strokes on each symbol were mostly blotchy and uneven, which suggested that it was written with a quill and wet ink. “This is old as hell,” she wondered as she scanned across the pages carefully. Along with the writings in the book were peculiar ink illustrations. The first picture that struck her attention was a drawing of a crow with a spear on its beak. After skimming randomly on the pages of the book, she figured out what the written notes were for. They were translations of the contents with the numbers indicating the pages. “The Crows and the Shadows,” she read the title aloud with heightened curiosity expressed through her eyes. Bethany realized what the book was about, and so she began to read it.