Blue-eyed girl

CHAPTER TWO: MURPHY’S MAP

A black wrangler drove into the TCU building and stopped just few inches past the large gate as if waiting for someone. The tinted window slowly wound down, revealing the old, hardened face of Mayor Ramsey sitting at the back, glancing out the window.

Moments later, William appeared from the lobby, rushing towards the jeep taking long strides. He was accompanied by some armed men wearing dark glasses.

The driver, dressed in black suit and dark glasses, came out and quickly scampered around to the passenger door to make way for the Mayor. Then Ramsey stepped out of the vehicle, into the hot afternoon air.

“We could talk over dinner.” William suggested, “Or better still, schedule a meeting, rather than come down here in person.”

“Don’t worry Mr. Mattinez, I won’t take much of your time.” said the mayor.

“Is this about the body that was found on the street this morning?”

Ramsey’s eyes narrowed. “What body?”

“Oh,” William raised his eyebrows. “I see you haven’t been informed about that?”

“What body are you talking about?” Ramsey asked, leaning forward.

“Two officers from the homicide department found a body lying at the intersection between Bridgton and Fenton Street while they were on patrol duty this morning. It’s a real ugly murder.”

The mayor watched in silence as William continued. “From the cuts and bruises on the victim’s body, we presumed he was tortured. He died from a bullet shot to his forehead.”

“I thought these disturbing deaths are now a thing of the past after the taskforce took down…” Ramsey trailed off as the word tried to form in his mouth.

“…Lawrence.” William said, eyeing Ramsey. A leer itched his face. “He is the reason my daughter is suffering.”

“That is the reason I’m here.” The mayor sighed heavily, dipping his hands into his deep pocket. “I want to restore you back to your original position as the president of the taskforce.”

“Is that what this is about?” William laughed with contempt. “Restoring me back won’t undo the damages Lawrence has caused. It won’t make my daughter normal.”

“Look, I know I made a huge mistake replacing you with Lawrence. I thought I could trust him. The last thing this taskforce needs now is another replacement and there are not many individuals I can trust right now, that is why I need you to take charge of things at the taskforce.” He turned towards the door which was held open for him by the driver and climbed into the vehicle, leaning back.

William’s desire to keep his rage in check froze the unsaid words in his throat.

The mayor eyed William whose face was cherry red, radiating barely restrained rage. “She is such a sweet little girl, your daughter. I sincerely that regret she got caught up in all this mess. It is my wish that she gets better soon.” He nodded to the driver and the car drove away.

Dreda grip the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road, her toes pressed against the throttle, her hair dangling in the air against the rush of breeze that blew at her face as they car sped along the highway.

“Don’t you think you’re driving a little too fast?” Madelia pointed out, grabbing the window for support and staring at the road with frightened eyes.

“I have to meet my dad. I don’t want to keep him waiting. You know how he gets when he’s kept waiting.”

“That’s wired,” Madelia said, biting her lips. “Earlier, you said your dad is out of the city and when he gets back, he’ll stop by the TCU headquarters to speak with Natasha’s dad.”

“Uh, I did?” Her brows furrowed.

Madelia snorted, turning to glance at the backseat. “Wait, where is Eric?” She suddenly remembered, her eyes widening. “Oh my God, we left him behind.”

Dreda was still driving at top speed, not uttering a word. She showed no sign of stopping.

“Are you not going to turn around?” Madelia’s brows knitted. “Eric is still at the hospital, probably stranded right now.” Madelia stated.

“Don’t worry about Eric. I’m sure he can take care himself, beside we’re already half-way through.” Dreda let out a laugh.

The houses around thinned out and trees started appearing. They drove past a small sign stationed at the left side of the road, and it read, Bridgton st.

Madelia’s shoulder shrugged. “Ok, do you mind explaining to me what the hell is going on, and why are we driving along Bridgton Street?” she yelled, freaking out. “This is not the route to your dad’s house.”

“I’m just taking a shortcut.”

“Shortcut?” Madelia lifted her eyebrow. She couldn’t think of how Dreda could drive to her dad’s apartment from that direction. “How dumb do you think I am?” She blurted out.

Panic struck her brain when a thought suddenly came to her and she remained silent. “You arrived few seconds after you went into the hospital to get the car keys. There is no way you could have gotten to the car so quickly.” Madelia thought aloud.

Her eyes darted in all directions as Dreda sped along the highway. She observed that Dreda was driving without the car keys. Her eyes widened when she noticed the wire connection beneath the steering.

Heart pounding against her ribcage, she tried to cover the fear coursing through her vein. “You’re not Dreda, are you?” She mumbled. Sweat started to form on her forehead.

“What!” Dreda laughed, “That is just preposterous. Have you lost your mind?”

“Dreda –or whoever you are, stop this car right now or I’ll scream.” She threatened, her body trembling. A sudden blow to her head knocked her unconscious. Her head fell against the window, cracking it.

Dreda raised a hand to touch her face, pulling off a metallic mask. Her body structure slowly changed, her shoulder became broad and her chest flattened. In a moment, she was transformed to Shady.

Shady turned to look at Madelia as she rested her head against the window, blood trickling from her forehead. “Hang on tight, sweetheart,” He muttered, smiling to himself as he gripped the steering wheel.

“Your dad would be happy to see you.”

Derik approached the door, pulling out the keys to his apartment, but then he froze when he saw the door was already open. He slowly took his hand off the door handle and reached for something inside his jacket, pulling out a piston.

Derik quickly kicked the door open and ran in. Pushing the gun forward, he hollered. “Freeze!” his eyes narrowed as he stared in confusion at a familiar figure sitting on his armchair.

“Kevin?” he lowered his gun. “What are you doing here?”

Brow furrowing, Kevin glanced at him. “I live here.” He reminded.

“You’re supposed to be in Frank’s laboratory, recovering from your injuries.” He stated, putting the gun back in his jacket.

“Frank said I’m fine and free to go. He had me tested before I was discharged.” Kevin replied, eyeing the room. “A lot has changed since the last time I was here.”

His eyes were then drawn to a bulletin board on the wall, and he neared for a closer view. Fastened to the bulletin board were mementoes; newspapers, magazine, photos of some warehouse beocraft had used in the past.

“What’s with all the papers and photographs on the wall? It seems you are making plans for something big.”

Derik entered the room, slamming the door behind and walking towards Kevin. “Few days back, I found a map in my car; not just any map, it’s a map Murphy was working on to track down Beocraft’s activities. I think someone left it in my car on purpose.” He sounded cautious, his breathing hastening.

Kevin chewed on his bottom lips. “When did this happen?”

“It was on the day we killed T-Rex and you two were rushed to the hospital.”

Kevin leaned forward, paying rapt attention. “What was on this map?”

“Red dots marking five addresses.” Derik said, staring at the newspaper scattered across the board. “At first I thought it could be the location where they usually hold their meetings. I stated to gather old newspapers pertaining to news about Beocraft and known addresses of their previous meetings, but then I noticed 57 old avenue hill was also marked on this map.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “The address of the bungalow with pictures scattered across the wall?”

Derik nodded.

“That’s it!” Kevin exclaimed, “This is the map Leonard was following the night he called to tell me about the address. Leonard said he had figured the identity of the Natasha’s kidnaper, the masked man, through this map.”

Kevin turned to Derik with so much excitement. “Do you still have the map?”

“Yeah, it is locked up in my drawer.” He replied, rushing to retrieve the map.

“Leonard wanted to reveal C-Rex’s identity over the phone but he was afraid someone would be listening, so he asked me to meet him at the City Park the next morning. When I got to the park the following morning…” Kevin stopped, biting his upper lip.

“That’s when his body was found.” Derik filled in the rest of the story, opening a roll-top desk and shuffling through its contents. He pulled out the map and glanced through.

“Leonard said he was in the marked man apartment the night he called.” Kevin stated, collecting the map from Derik and glancing through.

“Five addresses are marked on Murphy’s map.” Kevin observed, “If we could just figure which of these addresses Leonard had visited that night, we could reveal the true identity of C-Rex.”

Derik quickly grabbed a pen. “Read out the addresses Murphy marked out on the map?”

“46 Partridge Road, 02 Rumblewood Run, 57 Old Avenue Hill, 22 Waggestaff Drive, and 14 Lackenby Lane.” Kevin read, “Have you visited any of these addresses?”

“There’s no way I’m visiting any of those addresses. Have you forgotten we almost died inside that bungalow at 57 Old Avenue Hill? Who knows what could be waiting for us in the rest of these addresses? Murphy went missing and was found dead few days after he tried to go after Beocraft on his own through this map. Leonard was in one of this address, look where it got him.”

“Someone left this map in your car for a reason; whoever it was that left the map in your car wants you to go after Beocraft.” Kevin said.

“What if this map is just a trap to get us?” Derik stared long at the map. “Whoever put it in there knows we would go after those addresses. What if he is just waiting for us in one of those addresses?”

“Murphy designed that map to pinpoint the location where Beocraft carry out their activities. You think Beocraft is trying to set us up?” Kevin laughed, leaning forward. “They would destroy this map the first chance they get, rather than leave it in your car. This map holds too much details on Beocraft secret location. They wouldn’t be that stupid to leave it there in your car.”

“Before I saw the map, someone called my phone.” Derik revealed. His forefinger darted in all directions as he spoke. “It was Murphy.”

Silence fell

“ –or it could be someone else was using his cell phone to mess with you.” Kevin surmised, “What did he say to you?”

“He didn’t say anything. He just kept silent, listening as I kept ranting out hello, then he hung up.”

A wrinkle creased Kevin’s brow. “That’s wired.”

“You know what freaked me out the most? It’s the fact I never saved Murphy’s name on my phone, but the caller ID displayed his name as Murphy.”

Derik’s response was returned with a blank stare.

“I tried to track his location through his cell, but the number was already disconnected from the saver.” Derik added.

“Something big is going on and we need to figure what it is.” Kevin started off, glancing through the addresses Derik had written down. “We start by checking what’s in these addresses. We are going to start with 46 Partridge Road.” He said, pressing his finger on the note.

“We,” Derik spluttered, eyeing him.

“yeah –we, unless you want to go there alone.”

Derik turned to him. “I’m not going there with you.”

“You want to go on your own? Well fine, be my guest.”

“I’m not planning on doing that either. I’m just going to turn this map over to the police. They would know what to do with it?”

Kevin paled.

“Are you being serious right now?” He spluttered, raising his voice. “The members of Beocraft are everywhere. You could be handing this map directly to them if we go to the police.”

“I have friends I can trust in high places.” Derik said.

“Beocraft are especially in every high place. Take a look at Lawrence, you all trusted him to lead the taskforce. Who could have predicted he was one of them? Who knew he was T-Rex?”

Kevin paused, grabbing the map from the table. “Whoever had this map could have taken it to the police or the taskforce, but he didn’t, instead he left it in your car. There has to be a reason for that.”

Derik sighed heavily, staring at him. “Fine, we will start off the search with 46 Partridge Road.”

Natasha was fast asleep on her soft, little pillow when the door creaked open. A hooded figure stood at the entrance, staring down at Natasha from its cold, metallic mask. The letter C was carved close to its left eye on the plane, white mask.

Stepping into the room, the figure cautiously closed the door behind, careful not to wake her. The masked figure walked up to where she lay with an amazing stealth.

Taking a moment to examine her, he removed a syringe from underneath his garment and examined its content under the light. He stabbed the needle unto her chest, pressing her down with his heavy hand.

Natasha woke up, gasping for air, her eyes were wide, and veins visible across her neck as she struggled to breath. She wanted to let out a scream at the sight of the masked figure pressing her down, but he quickly covered her mouth with a coarse hand.

She muffled a scream, waving her arms in the air, trying to reach his face. She was terrified as she stared into the eye his mask. Natasha quivered at the sight of the familiar markings on his mask.

Recognition crossed her face as she looked up at the same figure that had kidnapped her under the rain. There was no mistake. It was C-Rex. She whimpered in fear.

The hooded figure pressed his thumb on the plunger, forcing dark fluid through her veins. His heavy arm on her chest kept Natasha’s body pinned to the bed.

Natasha stared up at the ceiling with her eyes wide open as she felt the fluid flooding her veins. Her vision started to blur. She felt a burning sensation coursing through her every nerve.

A tear welled up in her eye as she looked up at his mask, wondering what he was doing to her. She started hitting his arm, struggling to breath, her face turned red. Natasha kept scratching his big, powerful arm with her long, sharp claws but he didn’t flinch.

Natasha shrieked when the burning sensation intensified. It felt as if every organ in her body was burning up. The furs that covered her body slowly started to vanish.

Her claws change into little fingernails, her fang changed to canine and the tail disappeared. Her skin color became normal. Natasha collapsed onto the pillow, and her arms fell freely on the bed. Her lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling.

The masked figure walked away from her, leaving the room.