Saint Joseph’s Chapel

Jorge sighed as he stood in the middle of the mess and debris that had once made up the interior of the old church. Pews were skewed, many of them were broken or splintered into bits, candle holders had been knocked down, even the podium at the front of the room had been toppled over, causing more candles and clothes to be thrown across the ground. The place was in utter shambles. Worst of all was that the morning sun was coming in through the high windows, illuminating the horridness that was left before. It looked like a warzone, a warzone inside of a church!

That had to be blasphemous on some level.

The tired detective, having spent most of the night by Andrea’s side, had left only because he wanted to investigate this case. The boys at the precinct had told him that there were two bodies found, one on the sidewalk a few blocks from the church and another inside. The killer was apparently still on the loose and the trail was getting cold.

Walking across the main room slowly, the detective eyed all the fallen debris, stepped over evidence cards and paused when he saw the still, lifeless body of one of those snakes that had occupied Andrea’s hair. Slowly his anger began to build again. Who could have done this to her! It was just so sadistic! Then again, why should he be surprised? His job was dealing with some of the worst that humanity can offer. What makes mutants any different? A sick mind is a sick mind, no matter if there are powers attached to it or not.

He looked up towards the hallway which had already been roped off. The body of the priest was gone and Jorge was left simply to walk the scene. He was not a crime scene technician, but he needed to walk it, to get a feel for what happened last night. Maybe it would even help give some clues as to the “Lion Man’s” whereabouts.

Jorge pulled out his cell phone and checked. So far still no call from Drake. He had called the scene into the MRC and they had said that Ashton Drake, fellow MRC Detective, was going to be joining him on this call. Hell, maybe two heads would be better than one, even Ashton’s.

Jaw clenched as he wandered back towards the front, the detective struggled to put himself in Andrea’s shoes. The young girl was scared, alone, and in the dark; and that beast took advantage of it. He stalked her like she was little more than a piece of a meat, played with her in the dark, he…

“Hunted her,” Jorge muttered to himself as he pulled out his notepad and began to take more notes. “He was acting the predator and she was his prey.” He shook his head as he made his way towards the front doors. “Where the hell are you, ‘Lion Man’.”

"So, just so we're clear, Archer. This is your first crime scene for MRC. Your first murder scene. I'm sure you've handled things like this before on the beat, but here... it might be a good idea to watch and learn."

Ashton's knuckles were white on the steering wheel as his black Taurus coursed through the night streets. The call he'd gotten had vaguely detailed the situation. People, dead. Someone, injured. At a church. Whoever had done the deeds was a pretty terrible mutant. An even worse human being. Made his skin crawl.

"Learning, got it?"

”Learning.” she said, ”Got it.” she said. Ashton was using his serious voice, and that usually meant that Quin needed to shut her mouth and do what he said.

Details on where they were going had been scant. Just that there had been murders, and injuries and that a mutant had most definitely been involved. The whole thing, and the way her superior was acting, made Quin a little nervous about what she was walking into. Yes, she’d seen murders on the beat, but she’d never had to stick around. Not really, and when she had, she hadn’t been the one doing the investigating.

Something told her that she wasn’t going to need to be told twice to be quiet.

They pulled up to the scene of the crime, ”Oh man…a church?”

Jorge sighed as he made his way to the front doors of the church. Again he checked his phone and again he saw that there were no calls from Ashton. The man was supposed to be here aid in this case and he hoped the man actually show up. But, deep down, Jorge knew better than that. Ashton was a good cop who knew how to work a scene. The only real reason that the detective was irritable right now was because of who was involved.

Andrea was a sweet girl and she did not deserve in the least anything that happened to her. She was pinned down, had her snakes cut off or murdered and was all around terrorized. Whoever this madman was that had done it, really had a sick mind.

The detective only shook his head as he paced near the front doors, once more surveying the scene inside. All he really had to go on was Andrea’s account for the events of the night and most of it was blurred out because she was drugged or simply could not remember. He did not want to push her to remember either but all the information he could get would be helping. Coroners had deduced that the priest inside had died of a knife wound to the throat, while the man who was found a few blocks away was severely tortured before he was killed.

Jorge shuddered to think if that fate had also befallen Andrea. She should not have had to go through that. There was no reason for it. She was good young woman who seemed to refuse to harm anyone, even though she had a pretty terrifying and dangerous ability of her own. Even though he did not know her all that well, nobody deserved this terror to befall them.

They needed to find this “Lion Man” now, before this happened to anyone else.

As he stood there, Jorge finally decided to step back out into the cool air. As he did, he began to relax a bit more but that was when he noticed the car headlights of a black Taurus come rolling up into the parking lot. That was Ashton’s car. Jorge was glad the man finally arrived but as he began to descend the steps, he usual gruff expression on his face, he noticed a new comer with the man. The redhead detective-in-training Quincy Archer. He really hated had a chance to talk to her yet. He hoped she was ready for the job though.

“Drake,” He nodded to the man once he got out of the car. “Ever hunt a lion?”

That was right. A church.

"I can't think of many places more disrespectful to do something like this..." Ashton trailed coldly. The lock on his door clicked open as he got out of the vehicle. Ashton slammed the door shut. He waited for Quin.

As he waited, Ashton turned, eyes scanning the scene. The usual signs of a crime scene were there. Partitions, put up. Officers out. His eyes rose to peer up at the building. The corners of his mouth fell. It was a nice building. A nice church. Yeah. He really didn't like the murderer. Didn't like this one bit.

He didn't think himself a religious man. Ashton wasn't a bible-thumper, didn't go to church every Sunday, celebrate all the different religious holidays. He'd been raised Irish-Catholic by his father, though. The old man had put the fear of God into him. Somehow. This whole thing stunk of bad.

A voice from behind dragged his attention back down to earth. His eyes settled on Cervantes with recognition. He nodded slightly in greeting.

Had he ever hunted a lion?

"No," Ashton replied. "But I'm familiar with tigers."

Quin kept her mouth shut and followed Ashton out of the car. There really wasn’t any need for her vest at a crime scene, but she always felt kind of naked without it, so she grabbed the thing as they got out of the car. It wouldn’t hurt…and she felt more secure. Besides, she thought, stuffing it into the backpack she’d brought along for investigation. Nobody would really know.

As she approached, Quin noticed Ashton look at the building. She’d never thought to ask him what his religious leanings were, and figured it was out of reluctance to discuss her own. Her parents had been..eccentric and the red-head figured it had rubbed off a bit. It wasn’t that she had a problem with religion in general, she just didn’t see the sense in trying to pick one over another. Still…the building was pretty, and very special to a good number of people. This was sick.

A figure approached on the stairs, and Quin recognized him from around the precinct. They hadn’t been officially introduced, but she knew his name was Cervantes. He was a veteran like Ashton, and looked just about as grumpy. Erring on the side of caution, the redhead kept her mouth shut.

Short conversation was exchanged about lions and tigers. At least there were no bears.

But seriously. ”Seriously? A lion?” Whoops. So much for keeping her mouth shut. She’d have to ask about the tiger business too. MRC was sure interesting.

>> "No…But I'm familiar with tigers."[/i]

Cervantes nodded with a mixture of humor and disquiet in his expression. It was obvious that this man was just as disturbed by the events that occurred in this church, maybe more so because he actually knew what had happened. He knew that little was told to Drake and Archer because they were merely responding to the call. He would have to catch them in on what had happened in the church.

“That’s going to have to do.” Jorge started.

>> ”Seriously? A lion?”[/i]

His eyebrow arched as he turned to look over the new recruit that was under Ashton’s wing. He had seen her around the office. She looked capable, like she could handle this job, at least he hoped that she could. Not a lot of people are cut out to be cops, especially working for the MRC. The chances of being killed were much greater because you were willingly throwing yourself in the path some people who could theoretically have more firepower than any handgun.

He did not know the measure of her character yet. But if Drake was letting her sit in his car with him, he had believe that meant she had some merit.

“Yes, a lion.” he responded as he removed his hands from his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck to remove some of the tension. “Here’s the story so far. I get a call from a young lady I helped out a few times. She is in the hospital in bad condition. There, she tells me that she was attacked, here,” he pointed to the church, “by a man. This man, a mutant, had a lion’s head. She witnessed him killing another man about a block away. She ran here to hide but he found her.”

The detective sighed as began to pace a little bit. Part of him was still angry that he was not there to help her when she needed it most. Deep down, though, he knew that his anger at himself was unfounded. He could not have known that this was going to happen to her, neither did she. He needed to focus right now on catching the monster that this though.

“She had…snakes for hair. Part of her mutation,” Jorge started again. “He cut them off, then ran a knife through her collar, only after he broke her ankle. The whole while stating he was going to eat her.” Just repeating the words made him feel how dirty and grotesque that monster was. “She got away, paralyzed him with her eyes, literally. She barely got away though. So I called it in, initial officer at the scenes calls me back, and there’s a dead priest inside, throat slashed.” Jorge began to walk up the steps, not looking back if the two were following or not. “Come on. I need fresh eyes in there to see if there’s anything I’m missing…”

Archer couldn't believe they were dealing with a lion. That was funny. Hadn't he told her that every day was different? No? Maybe that had been some other dame.

The detective listened to Cervantes story seriously. Because serious were lions. And lions... were serious. And tigers. And bears. And him. Thank God nobody had already made that joke.

It seemed a girl Cervantes knew had been tormented by a lion man. Nearly mauled. Was in the hospital. A witness to a murder.

Ashton followed the other detective towards the scene, quietly.

Yeah, this was serious. He had on his serious face.

"Come along, Archer." He said.

The attack sounded like it had been brutal, and Quin couldn’t help but frown at the description of the injuries the girl had apparently sustained. They were awful, and they made the redhead angry. People didn’t get away with things like that in her city. All squeamishness abated, and Quin thanked the stars for cliché. Maybe it was cliché, but sometimes it really helped.
For some reason, a man with a loin’s head running was far easier to believe than an actual lion. Sure there were plenty of mutants out there who were shape –shifters, but for some reason that just hadn’t clicked.
“On it.” Quin said after Ashton had summoned her and they’d started making their way to the church. She’d heard what Detective Cervantes said about the scene. There was a dead Priest inside, and apparently it was where the girl had been tortured. Blood wasn’t really a problem for Quin, and she readied herself for the body. It was a lucky thing the girl had been able to paralyze with her eyes. Quin kind of wanted to meet her, the lady sounded impressive.

”I hope the girl is going to be okay.” Officer Archer said, hefting her backpack and following the two senior officers towards the scene of the crime.

>> "Come along, Archer."

>> “On it…I hope the girl is going to be okay.”

Jorge heard his fellow officers follow him up the stairs but he said nothing in response. The truth was he was just as shaken up about the incident and he was not even related to the young, tortured mutant. But he did feel responsible for not being there to protect her. No one should have to go through what she did. But at least that sense of responsibility give him all the more reason to track down this psychopath as soon as possible. Two dead bodies and one tortured victim in a single night: monsters like that needed to be taken off the streets as soon as possible.

Stepping inside, he stood for second in the main room and simply surveyed the scene again. Debris was all over the floor, broken benches were littered about, yellow crime scene tape illuminated the dark corners, across the way he could see the crime scene unit looking over the dead body of the priest; the whole place looked more like a warzone.

To commit these acts was atrocious enough, but to pull them off inside of a church was…just sacrilegious. Detective Cervantes was not the most religiously minded man, but he did believe in some kind of higher force. He was raised to be more open minded when it came to religion and he really believed that “to each their own” was the best course of action. But no religion, he didn’t care which, could allow such crimes to be committed within their own walls. Somewhere, in some plain of existence, some god was crying over what happened in these hallowed walls.

He sighed as he stood there and waited for the pair of other officers to join him at his side. Once they did he pointed out as many of the facts as he could find so far.

“The victim said she ran in from the back room, crawled in through the window, then made her way to one of the pews to pray.” he said as he made the motion with his finger as to where the victim’s path took her. “From there, she hid herself when she heard the back door smash open. Not long after, he followed her in as she attempt to crawl through the pews to hide. It’s obvious there is more to him,” he said as he nodded to the uprooted benches that had been tossed as if they were nothing. “She ran, seems like around the church before…” he walked to a spot that had several dead snakes lying lifeless on the ground, “He somehow tackled or caught her here. And…did the rest of the job.”

With that he began to pace a little, looking around the destroyed room. He really did not know what he was looking for but he wanted something, anything that would point him in the direction of the killer. A business card, a candy wrapper, a receipt, anything that could help, he wanted to see. But, Jorge knew he was getting agitated by the situation and took a second to calm himself. He needed to think on this case with the head of a cop, not a concerned friend.

He then nodded back to where the dead body was.

“Seems the killer left the way he came in. Priest probably interrupted him and the killer slashed his throat.” He placed his hands in his pockets as he looked around the room once more. “Any thoughts?” he asked the both of them. Hopefully some new people here could see something, anything, he may have been missing.

Facts were stated, and noted. The man with the lion's head was strong. Ferocious. Dangerous. And predatory. He hadn't just killed her in cold blood, like some murderers and sociopaths might. He'd tortured her. Painfully. Slowly. It was a wonder the girl had escaped the sick bastard. Probably a miracle.

Cervantes asked if he had any thoughts. Ashton looked the room over, then stated what he already knew. "Judging from the way the killer tortured the girl, I can tell he's sick. He enjoyed it. Looking at the priest's murder, it seems to me more deliberate. Unlike the girl's attack, it wasn't perverse." The slashed throat was quick, and to the point. It had not been drawn out. "The man probably did not know the priest. It seems to me like he may have been sent."

Quin listened and followed, followed and listened. The scene was bad, really bad, and the redhead’s stomach turned a little at the absolute devastation the predator had wreaked on the two individuals who had been unlucky enough to cross his path.

Cervantes laid out the facts, and Quin could see that he was struggling to put the pieces together a bit. Ashton offered his opinion, and Quin shrugged her shoulders.

”Or he could have been in a hurry for some reason.” she said, letting the train of thought run away with her a bit, and forgetting that she was probably supposed to be a silent observer here.

”Maybe the girl shook him a bit when she stunned him? Someone sadistic enough to torture someone like that is probably a control freak. Getting shaken out of his routine like that…might have freaked him out.”

It wasn’t much…but it was a train of thought to follow…maybe.

>> "Judging from the way the killer tortured the girl, I can tell he's sick. He enjoyed it. Looking at the priest's murder, it seems to me more deliberate. Unlike the girl's attack, it wasn't perverse…The man probably did not know the priest. It seems to me like he may have been sent."[/color]

>> ”Or he could have been in a hurry for some reason…Maybe the girl shook him a bit when she stunned him? Someone sadistic enough to torture someone like that is probably a control freak. Getting shaken out of his routine like that…might have freaked him out.”

Both had valid ideas and Jorge knew that either of them could be right. Looking back at the crime scene and noting the dead priest, it did look as if the man was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. The redhead had a point though. From everything that Andrea had told him about the freak that had did this, he did not seem like a man who took letting his prey get away well. More than likely the priest walked in, stumbled on the Lion Man waking from Andrea’s paralyzing ability, and got killed for both being in the way and simply being present.

The detective sighed irritated that they were no closer to finding the Lion Man just yet. Though he knew it was not the fault of his comrades. He was not mad at them, they were simply doing their jobs and working a crime scene. But there had to be something for them to find.

“I believe it’s obvious that we are dealing with a psychopath here.” Jorge said darkly. “And a very dangerous one at that. It seems he holds no qualms about who he kills and even seems to enjoy it. On top of that, this is a big city. He could be anywhere.”

Jorge was about to say more when his cell phone suddenly began to ring. Pausing in his pace, Jorge reached for the phone in his pocket, flipped it up and held it up to his ear. Silently he listened to the person on the other line, his face emotionless and stern as he did so. It was not until the end of the conversation that a look of irritation streaked across his face, he nodded, said his thank you’s and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He then looked up to peer at both his cohorts.

“That was the M.E.” he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “The person down the block that our victim had witnessed the Lion Man kill has been identified as Carmine Sonata.” he pinched the bridge of his nose to release the tension from his headache that was forming. “He was an informant that we had in Falcone’s operation. It’s apparent that we are dealing with a hitman.”

Oh. He'd misheard. Yeah. Quin's suggestion was much better than his imagination. The priest had been an afterthought. In the wrong place, wrong time. There was a third body.

The call came in. The third body's identity was confirmed.

Yeah, so he'd been a little off. Distracted by the situation. Still. Ashton had been right about one thing. The man was a hired killer. It really wasn't a positive thing to be proud about being right about that. So he wasn't. Ashton's face was like a rock. It showed no emotions.

"If he's a partial shifter, his face might not be a lion's face for every hour in the day. We should see if one of our sketch artists or computer techs can get a better description from the snake-haired woman, or grab any video data off any nearby surveillance cameras. Hopefully, there will be cameras. Our sketch artists or computer people might be able to do a reconstruction to see what he'd look like with more human features. If we haven't already, we should get a BOLO out on this guy." Ashton said.

Until they got better leads, a Be-On-The-Lookout announcement was the best they could do. Aside from keeping working, that was. And catching the son-of-a.

A professional hit man. Apprehension flitted over the relief that Quin had been feeling when neither senior officer had berated her for giving an opinion on how the crime had played out. This was a good sign…maybe they were starting to really accept her into the MRC fold.

Ashton suggested that they get a BOLO out, and Quin frowned. Hopefully, the surviving victim would have the details they needed to at least put everyone on guard. Two civilians had been torn apart, there was no doubt that this guy was dangerous. Any and all responding officers needed to be aware of who they might be up against when they responded to a call.

It was always a difficult thing, asking a victim to remember enough of a traumatic incident to let a sketch artist do their job, and Quin glanced at Cervantes again. He had the best relationship with the snake-haired-girl, likely he’d be the one who had to talk to her. Quin was relieved…until she glanced around the murder scene again. It was so dark…she could almost feel the negative energy.

”This place is messing with my chakra.” she muttered with a slight shudder and to nobody in general. ”It’s too early for Mars to be in close enough transit to make this a crime of passion.” Another shudder. That meant that he’d done this for fun…

”Want me to get on the BOLO?” she asked more loudly. ”I want to make sure our guys know what they might be going up against if they run into this punk.”