The Guardians of Light

Cycle Of Violence

As soon as I reached the Earth, I called Mia to ask her a favour. The favour was huge, indeed.

' Hey, Ryan. What's up? '

' I need a favour from you. I mean from your father. '

His father works in the Police Force, and he has quite an influence. '

' Tell me. What do you need? '

' I need the case files of all murders where victims died due to a stab in the heart. I know it's a lot to ask, but can you ask your father to provide it? '

' Because of the divorce, both my parents never say me no to anything I ask. Consider it done. And what's all with the case files? What is going on? '

' It may sound absurd, so I'll explain it later in detail, ok? '

' Alright. Let me call my father. '

Our school declared a holiday that day because of the fest on the earlier day. So I waited in my home anxiously for the arrival of case files.

Two hours passed by, and no one had come.

After three hours, I got a call from  Mia.

' Hey, Ryan. An Officer is on the way to your home. If he asks for a reason, say it's for a project or anything like that. '

' Will do. Thank you so much, Mia. '

' You owe me one now. '

I got excited after hearing the news. I waited outside the house, and as soon as the Police vehicle arrived, I walked towards it. 

Officer: Are you, Ryan?

Ryan: Yes, Officer, that would be me.

 Officer: Some of these cases might contain disturbing stuff. Are you up for it?

Ryan: It's all right, Officer.

Officer: Why do you need these in the first place?

Ryan: I am doing a project, and I need these case files to create a criminal profile.

Officer: Sounds like you know what you are doing. These are all copies of the original case files, nothing redacted. Once you are done with them, burn them off.

Ryan: It's going to take a while for me to go through all these cases. Any miscellaneous cases that you might remember?

Officer: In fact, there is one. I mean, there is nothing complicated about it. However, it never leaves my mind. This was back when I worked with Detroit PD. The case was about the death of a male who had a wife and a child. He was killed by some of the muggers. So when we went to his house to inform his family about his death, they were relieved after listening to the news. ' What a bunch of psychopaths,' I thought, but after listening to what they said, I thought that the family was better if he stayed dead. Months passed by, and unexpectedly, one day, we received a case of a female lady stabbed to death, and to my shock, the lady was the woman I met in the case of the dead husband. I rushed to the location to find out what happened. From the neighbours, I came to understand that she got married again and the new husband was also assaulting her. Last night, he came home drunk and stabbed her to death. The kid who is 11 years old was horrified by the incident and went to a coma and has remained in that state till date.

Ryan: Did the killer leave the knife in her chest?

Officer: Yes.

Ryan: Who is paying for the little guy if his mother had kicked the bucket?

Officer: There's a company called ' Blue Shells Corporation. ' They handle the expenses of the people in a coma.    

Ryan: And what happened to the killer?

Officer: We found him a day later, and the judge gave a verdict to hang him. Thank God, he's dead now.

Ryan: Thank you for your valuable information, Officer. I didn't get your name?

Officer: My name is Barney.

Ryan: It's been a pleasure meeting you, Officer Barney. Thank you for your time.

Right after the Officer left, I hastened to my room and started reading the whole case.

By the end, I devised a plan of how to catch " The Blood." I am so sure that if he had even a tiny bit of emotions underneath his cold-blooded version, we could capture him.

I re-read the case file for five times at least to make sure I didn't miss any detail.

When I became certain that I was all set  to put my plan in motion, I jumped back to bed.

                                                                -----*-----

I came outside, and everyone was moving here and there.

Ryan: Guys? What happened? 

Bob: Why the heck didn't you open the door? There's been another murder.

Ryan: I'm really sorry. I must be so tired that I might've not heard the knock.

Bob: I don't think I knocked. It is more of a bang. 

Evelyn: Stop it, Bob. This is not a good time for this conversation. We have to find clues and catch him quickly.

Justin: We've searched the entire crime scene and canvased all the people that are related to him. He fits in the category, but I'm afraid we have no clues to go ahead with the investigation. The case is a cul-de-sac. We start from one end but always finish at a dead end. Maybe this guy is unstoppable.

Ryan: No one is unstoppable, Justin. And I know exactly how to stop him.

Evelyn: We are all ears, Ryan.

I took a paper and started writing on it.

Ryan: I want you to broadcast this poem all over the city of L1.

Evelyn took the paper and started reading it out loud.

Evelyn:   My dear, sweet boy

                I've seen it all

                from your first kicks

                to your first talks.

                I dreamt of giving you,

                a life full of joy and love,

                but ended up providing

                a life of horror and dismay.

                But I want you to remember

                that I shall remain with you

                in darkness and in light

                till the end......

Should I even ask what this is?

Ryan: Don't worry about what it is, just pray for the better results.

Evelyn had contacted the broadcasting department and informed them to broadcast the message all over L1 of Orpheus.

The same message had been broadcasted for hours, but nothing happened.

Bob: What a waste of time this is.

Ryan: Have patience, Bob. It's not like we chose my plan over yours. My mistake, you didn't have any plans in the first place.

Bob: Don't test me, little man. I can knock you down with a single blow.

Ryan: Well, you can try.

Evelyn: Quit it, idiots. Focus on the issue rather than fighting like a couple.

Bob: This guy is not cut-out to be a part of our team, Evelyn. You have made a bad decision by replacing him with Leo.

Evelyn: Silence, everyone. I am getting a call from Mr. R R.

' Hello, sir. '

' A guy just showed up at our HQ and surrendered himself. He claims that he is "The Blood" and he only wants to talk to the person who is behind the broadcast. '

' Well, it was Ryan's idea, Mr. R R. '

' Send him to the interrogation room right away. '

' Will do, sir. '

Evelyn: Well, it looks like we caught the killer.

Ryan: So Bob, you were saying?

I reached the interrogation room, and there he was, sitting like an ordinary person in the chair.

' I don't want people to watch me. Can you turn down the cameras? ' He asked. 

I asked Mr. R R, and he agreed to turn off the cameras.

' The cameras are down. You can talk freely now. '

' I surrendered myself today because I wanted to thank you for the broadcast. It made me remember who I am and how my mother raised me. '

' Why did you turn into a murderer then? '

' I guess you already knew the answer. Anyway, back then, when my mother was a victim of domestic violence, I didn't try to stop my father because I was scared to death of him, and when he died, we lead a happy life. After a few months, my mother thought that, having a father would be beneficial for me. So she married again, and it did not do any good. A vicious cycle of violence repeated. My mother wrote a poem and sung it to me daily. She used to say, " My dear son, I am always with you, and we were meant to be together forever.  Whenever you are afraid or sad, just read this poem. This shows how much I love you and would choose you over anyone in every life. This will help you overcome your depression and pulls you out of darkness and misery. " I used to read the poem every day and night, and whenever my mother was beaten. One day, for my sake, she decided to stand against my stepfather, who was drunk. It enraged him and stabbed her in the heart. He didn't even realize what he had done because of his drunken state. He just fled. Now you tell me, Ryan is it okay for pigs like him to live in the society and torcher other people? '

' You're right. But it's not up to us to decide who should live and who should die. If you really wanted to save the people from the misery, instead of killing people, you could've trained women in self-defence and bring awareness in them that domestic violence is not okay. That might've changed the lives of hundreds or thousands out there. '

' If only my mother would've been alive, she would've told me this. I guess I picked the wrong side. If I were surrounded by people like you when I got here, maybe I wouldn't have turned into a monster. I was not born a monster; however I got turned into one. I have one final request. '

' What is it? '

' I want to die. Can you make sure I get executed? '

' But why? '

' I have no purpose to live anymore. I turned into a Sinister, and there is no going back. Trust me when I say this if I am alive, I would kill more. '

' We can change you. Turn you into a better person like you were before. '

' I love your optimism, but I have to die, right now. You'll face consequences if you decide to let me live. '

' I'll talk about it with my superiors. Also, I wanted to say that your step-dad is dead. They hung him. '

' Good to know. '

I went outside and told Mr. R R about his request.

He accepted it without even giving it a thought. It felt like they were planning on executing him all along.

Right before he got shot, he said, ' Goodbye, mister. '

And I replied, ' I hope you have a cherished childhood in your next life. '

                                                                                -----*-----

Justin: How did you do it, Ryan? It's f*****g amazing. A criminal surrendering himself? It never had happened before.

Ryan: After a bit of research, I understood that he loved his mother, and only she could help him in realizing what he was doing, ergo the poem. And Bob, I am sorry for my behaviour. I know it's challenging to accept a new member, especially if they replace the one who is close to them. But you have to understand that no one likes being compared to and I'm trying my best to blend in with you guys. But this attempt have to be from both the sides, Bob.

Bob: I take back everything, Ryan. You make an extraordinary teammate, and without you, I am not even sure if we could c***k this case. I apologize to you, buddy.

Bob came forward and hugged me. I didn't think of him as a hugger, but anyway, it felt good.