It was almost midnight in the town of Eastwood, the rain had been pouring down heavily since the past few hours. The town locals were in their respective houses as they had been alerted for a thunderstorm. The roads were flowing with the water from the constant pouring rain of a few hours, but there was something different about this..the water that flowed on the streets wasn't just any normal rainwater, it had a hint of red colour to it. Dark red. Almost as if the rain was washing away someone's blo*d.
A stray dog, sensing the odd smell from the flowing fluid, makes its way to a secluded corner of that road. As it came closer and closer to the source of the odd looking rainwater, the smell of blo*d grew stronger. The stray dog made its way towards what seemed like a man passed out in the middle of a road....as it got closer, there laid a lifeless man who had been k*lled in a brutal manner. Nails plucked out, few teeth missing, blo*d oozing out of his head due to being hit by some sharp object or perhaps a weapon, stab wounds. It was a horrifying sight.
The next morning, locals living nearby the area were the first to take in the notice of the shift in today's atmosphere. There was a terrible smell all around from the lifeless body that was getting rotten. The very same stray dog from last night kept barking constantly. An old man who owned a bakery nearby sighs, assuming that the stray dog must be barking out of hunger, the old man picked up a piece of bread and made his way out of the bakery towards the source of sound being produced by the barking dog.
As the old man approached the sound of the barking closer, his face twists in disgust over the extremely terrible smell that came from the corner of the road. The old man sees the stray dog and his eyes immediately fell on the dead body beside it, the old man's eyes widen and the piece of bread in his hand falls to the ground. This wasn't anything new, the town people were aware of a serial killer being active but seeing such horrifying sights for anyone was not something to easily process or come to terms with.
Hours later, the area was sealed as it was a crime scene. Multiple cops had came and began questioning the locals living nearby whether they heard anything or witnessed something unusual last night around the time of murder, they began clicking the pictures of the dead body of the man. The man killed was 46 years old, he had a wife and children awaiting his return back home. His family was unknown to the fact of him being brutally killed.
As the body was being taken away for further investigation, one specific cop named Marcus, noticed that amongst the multiple injuries on the victim ( the dead man ), there was the letter 'R' carved out on his chest with probably a sharp blade. Marcus took an image of that carving on the dead man's chest before the body was taken away.
Later, Marcus walks into the station and goes up to his senior. Marcus was new but he can't help but constantly think that the letter 'R' being carved out on the victim's skin meant something, maybe it was connected to the case in some way and if investigated properly then it could bring them closer to the killer's identity.
"I think we need to focus on this letter 'R'. It has to mean something, why else would the killer end someone's life in such a brutal manner? No note, no sign of it's identity, no demand so far... it's almost as if it wants us to find him through these hints" Marcus said.
"Quit these thoughts, Marcus. Our jobs are to inform the families of the victims and just carry on with legal proceedings. We inquired the locals nearby of hearing anything strange last night, have sent the body over for examination by experts, will patrol this area and other areas of the town. What more could we do? You're putting your mind way into this" The senior cop said, dismissing the concerns of Marcus.
Marcus frowns, displeased with how easily they were dismissing in what could possibly be a hint that could lead them to the killer's identity.
7 MONTHS LATER
7 months...7 months have passed by since there had been no killings. It was as if the mysterious serial killer was gone, no trace of it left behind. The town people were at peace after the fearful and scary phase they lived in where almost every week few bodies would be discovered killed in brutal ways and same manners with the letter 'R' being carved on the victim's skins.
The sunlight enters through the beautifully designed old glass window of a local library store, the sunlight casts a beautiful warm golden-like glow to the books on the shelves. A girl enters the library with a curious mind, her name's Eda and she's new to the town. Her curios eyes scan the wide and great varieties of books kept in the library
As she strolls by each section, her eye catches the sight of a cooking book. Eda's always been fond of cooking and trying new things, it's kind of like an hobby which she holds dear and explores in her free time. She raised her arm up in an attempt to grab the book but it was way too high up there. Just then, a hand reached up and grabbed the book for her. Eda turns around and sees a man who appears to be in his 30's, he gives Eda a charming smile.
"Here's your book" He said calmly, handing her the book. Eda smiles at him as she takes the book from his hand, their fingers touching a bit in the act of handing the book.
"Well, thank you for your help" Eda said.
"It's fine, no need to thank me. You're new here?" He asks Eda.
"Yes, I just moved in 2 weeks ago with my younger brother" Eda said.
"I see. I'm Rustam, I work as a detective here" Rustam said.
"That's an interesting profession you got right there. I'm Eda" Eda said, putting forward her hand to shake with his. He takes her hand, the touch sending a warm comforting feeling through Eda.
"I hope that I'd be seeing you around often, it would be lovely crossing paths with you from time to time. I mostly come around here on weekends." Rustam said.
" Well, I've just recently started exploring this town but the library's good, it's a nice place so I guess I'll be coming here around often too." Eda said.
"If you don't mind then we can sit down for a cup of coffee sometime?" Rustam suggested and Eda smiles, this man really seemed genuine and kind and considering he's a detective, he wouldn't be involved into any questionable stuff or anything she'd need to be worried of.
"Sure, I'd love that." Eda said. The two spoke for a while over their choices of books, Rustam was an absolute gentleman. He held the door open for Eda as she walked out of the library. The two instantly clicked, Eda had a good feeling about him...she wasn't much into dating, mostly spending her time in other activities but Rustam looked promising and she was awaiting to see how the next week would be and how things proceed.
END OF CHP 01
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Thank you for reading the first chapter of this book, I'm really glad you choose to spare some time of yours into reading it. I don't know whether you all would be continuing further or not but I do promise to give this my best, I can't sum up the entire plot into one single chapter but I do promise that this book will keep you on edge with every ending of the chapters ahead, bring in great plot twist and will ensure your time spent was well.
I'm new here on this platform but I do hold a bit of experience in writing books, I've decided to start off again. So if anyone of you is into crime thrillers then I promise to make this book a good one for you ( if you plan on staying along till the end ).
I wish you all a good day ahead & once again thank you for reading the first chapter of this book.