The Forum by Marie Reyes (short books for teens .txt) 📕

Once the man stepped away from the shot, Aadesh felt like he could breathe again, yet he knew all too well, that it would only get worse from here.

A clattering noise made Aadesh jerk his head around and hover his finger over the minimize button. It was now quiet. His block of flats didn't exactly have the best soundproofing, and normally he was used to excessive noise around him. Being alone at night never triggered this response before. In a way, he kind of liked the feeling. It was why he watched horror films. To chase that feeling of tension and unease that made him feel alive, but it became more and more elusive the older, and more desensitized he got from over exposure.

This video was not filmed in a house like the last one. It looked like an abandoned factory or warehouse with broken windows, rubble, and gray, exposed brick walls. It was hard to tell in the dark. There was only one light source, and it shone on her. When she came around, her eyes burst open and squeezed shut again immediately from the blinding light.

There was no sound at all on this video, so all he had to go on was what he could see. The light and shadows made it hard to make her out clearly, washing her out and making it hard to see her features with any real clarity.

One of her arms tore the duct tape away from the chair and she tried to peel away the tape on her other arm. In the spotlight, the tattoo on her arm was clear as day. The black ink bold in the white light. He paused and took a screen capture before continuing and wished he'd just left it on pause when the masked man wrenched the woman's free arm back so hard Aadesh's mind imagined the sound it would make and gritted his teeth. Although he couldn't hear her, his mind filled in the gaps as he saw her mouth open wide in a scream, and he briefly wondered if her actual screams were worse than he imagined in his head. They didn't stab her straight away like the first victim and instead, slowly dragged a thin blade down her left cheek.

Aadesh winced and looked away. When he looked back, thin lines had been cut on both her cheeks and her forehead. She tried to pull her head back, resulting in jagged cuts. Aadesh felt warm suddenly and took a sip from the glass of water on his desk to try to dislodge the lump that had formed in his throat. Next, they started at the sensitive skin just under the breastbone, carving a message like they did on the last victim, but again, it was obscured by the blood. He needed to zoom in. The media coverage on the previous murder didn't reveal that information either. The footage wasn't clear enough to let him see that fine level of detail. There was no way to know what this sick fuck was trying to convey on their human canvas.

Why are you still watching this? Turn it off, you freak. The thoughts running through his head weren't enough to stop him following through, and he wondered if there was something seriously wrong with him. He sat in silence for a good five minutes after what he saw, staring into space, and then scrolled through the flurry of posts after the video was uploaded to the site. He'd missed out on a lot while he was asleep.

Pipes1983: I spent all night searching tattoo websites. I concentrated on Chicago and the rest of Illinois, where the first victim lived, and then neighboring states. Some of them post pictures of the tattoos they do, but this one was so common, it was impossible to pin down. I posted a close-up screen shot of it and posted it to a tattoo forum, but I doubt they would know who did it. It's far too generic.

Quicky_Mart: I've tried to find the building. Again, I concentrated on Chicago. It's impossible though. We've only seen the inside of a building, and we don't even know if it is in Illinois. I could post it to a forum to see if anyone recognizes it, not sure what kind of forum though. There was that graffiti on the wall. Maybe a street art forum, something like that.

Shortstacks: Okay. I guess it makes sense that we investigate a different aspect each. What I'm wondering is why the different victims? I read somewhere that murderers have an M.O. and go for a certain type of target based on their preferences, but the two people couldn’t be more different. This makes me think the killer probably knew them, maybe had a vendetta, especially considering in the enhanced audio you posted. They asked the victim to apologize for something. I wish we knew what they carved into them. It looked like they were writing something.

Pipes1983: That's not really something we can look into is it? That's a job for the cops.

Shortstacks: Speaking of police, we should probably send them this video, right?

Pipes1983: I'll do it. I'll just email it to them. Unless someone wants to call them. I hate speaking on the phone.

Quicky_Mart: Why do you think they posted it online in the first place? Why put yourself at higher risk of getting caught?

Pipes1983: Maybe he's a narcissist?

Quicky_Mart: If he had a grudge against them, maybe he wanted that known. To publicly shame them somehow.

Pipes1983: We don't have any way of determining that though. Besides trawling through the first victim's social media. See if there is anything that stands out.

Shortstacks: That's if his accounts are public.

Aadesh pulled up the first victim's details online. He didn't have a strong online presence, just a Facebook page.

Glenn Clark Dec 6th 08.02

Still can't believe you're gone man. Going to miss our poker games.