The Deceptive One

Every character has both their strengths and their flaws. Usually, it is for two entirely different things. It is only on very strange scenarios that both your strengths and weaknesses happen to be the same thing. Jake Jericho are one of those strange people. His strength and his weakness are identical. Being a detective.

Jake Jericho is a famous detective. Anyone in the city of Los Angeles knows that. If someone stole your car, or your kid is missing, Mr. Jericho is only a phone call away. Any case that he has been sent to him, he has cracked. All except one. And that is where his weakness lies. Yes, he might be a good detective but he, like all other detectives, is not perfect. His flaw is his reputation. He is known to finish a case within a day’s work. A week was the most it has ever taken him. All except one. The Deceptive One.

That’s what the police calls him. He hasn’t been spotted, and everyone who might have seen him is dead- 24 people to count. He has been on the run for a month now. And that was the problem. One month. Thirty days the great Jake Jericho hasn’t solved a case. What made it worse was the fact that he was stumped. He didn’t have a clue what to do next.

There isn’t a time that you can see Mr. Jericho not working. Every second of the day was occupied by investigating and watching. He barely went to sleep. There was times when he’d go to sleep at a hotel, and wake up somewhere else across town. The doctors assumed that he was working so hard, his sleep-deprived subconscious mind kicks in. What was even more unusually is that he would have no recollection of what happened. Thankfully, that happens far from often.

So on one chilled September morning, Jake got out bed. And like every morning, he went straight to work. Dressing into appropriate clothing, (which usually consisted of a brown leather trench coat and a hat) he took a stroll down the rocky road to the police department. Once a week, he would do this to see if there was any updates. Twice already, he has been disappointed. However, as he walked in, he could see swarms of police heading to their cars and speeding past him. Today, he hoped, he would not be discouraged.

Jake hurriedly walked over to the building. Just when he was going to open the door, it slammed open and Sheriff Burklos walked out. Not noticing Jake, Burklos hurried over to his car, barking instructions into a walkie-talkie. Jake dashed towards him just when Burklos got in the car.

“What is-”, Jake began before Burklos raised his hand as if for him to stop talking.

“Get in the car. We have a serial killer to catch,” Burklos demanded. Jack’s heart skipped a beat. Now is his time to recover, to get back on his feet. Ripping open the car door, Jake slid into the seat just as the car zipped forward. Thrown back to his seat, the car left the parking lot and sped down the street.

“We haven’t truly investigate the crime scene. We were just told about this ten minutes ago. It is estimated that roughly twelve people are dead. Glad you decided to drop in,” Burklos said while navigating his car through the busy traffic.

After a few minutes, the police car pulled up in the front of a old dingy inn. A flickering neon sign in the front seemed to be the only things that provided light inside. Otherwise, the inside seemed as black as midnight. A weird sense of déjà vu ran down Jake's spine, even though he didn't have any idea why. Jake looked at Burklos, who was frowning.

“Where are the rest of cops? If they went for a doughnut break, I swear, they will regret the day that they were born, those--” Burklos grumbled before getting out of the car. Jack got out too. Burklos pointed at Jake. “You go inside. I’ll secure the perimeter.”

After watching Burklos turning around the building corner, Jake turned and headed to the front door. He stopped a few feet and cursed. He forgot his case, which included all of his tools. He only had his flashlight on him.

Jake took a deep breath, and opened the door. For a second, Jake was blinded by the darkness. After his eyes got adjusted, he saw a couple of people sitting in chairs by tables. Confused, by why the people were there and the silence, Jake stumbled in.

“Get out! You shouldn’t be here--,” Jake stopped short when there was no response.

Silence. Jake fumbled with his belt and pulled out a flashlight. He shined it inside. Some of the chairs were overturned, and the people sitting down still haven’t turned around. One thing that Jake realized was that all of the people had their backs to him. Shining his flashlights, Jake slowly approached the inactive people. Each of his step seemed to echo throughout the building. Jake slowly inched to the front of them, not taking his glance off of them.

When Jake reached the front of them, he was shocked. All of the people were tied with wire in a sitting position, facing their plates. On the plates were the skinned masks of the people, staring back at the former wearer. Frightened, Jake930Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsGQ6E8QRO
stumbled back and bumped into a chair, knocking it over. Quickly recovering his shock, Jake turned around and observed the whole room. If he wanted to catch this guy, he couldn’t waste any time. Seeing a wide open door near the back of the room, Jake headed towards it.

The next room was the kitchen. The cook had suffered the same fate as the other people. Trying his best not to pay attention to the cook, Jake started looking for any thing that may be of evidence. Nothing seemed to catch his eyes. None of the knifes seemed to be used as weapons, showing the murderer still had his weapon. He stopped to pause and think what to do next. Could he be too late?

Hearing footsteps behind him, Jake turned around to see Officer Burklos walking towards him, huffing and puffing.

“Nothing is around the perimeter. However, I saw a secret room falling apart in the back of the building. So much for being ‘secret’”. Officer Burklos announced. “We should check it out.”

“Giving the place one last check, Jake followed the officer outside to the back. On the left side of the building was crumbled bricks, piled outside the wall. Jake walked up to it, and peeked inside.

The only thing he could see was the legs of a table and chairs. A musty scent drifted out of it. Jake stood back up.

“Wait here. I’ll go check it out.” Officer Burklos said before squeezing himself in the930Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQtwGSiFGe
tight dark hole. Jake stood outside. Besides the hidden camera hiding under the gutters, something just felt...wrong. Something secret shouldn’t just be as obvious as this. Jake bent down to investigate. After shifting through the bricks, Jake came across a metal piece of shrapnel. Looking around, Jake could see more of the pieces of shrapnel scattered around. Where those grenade piece?

Examining the bricks, Jake could see a black tinge to it. The serial killer must have escaped this way! Just when Jake stood up, Officer Burklos stumbled out of the hole. Standing up, he dusted himself.

“What was in there?” Jake asked impatiently. They had to hurry if they were going to catch him.

“There is no rush. I checked the camera recording that the manager had hidden in that room. The entire crime happened last night. Worst of all, throughout the whole recording, I couldn’t see the killer.”

“What!” Jake said shocked. He had missed it. Again. He should have been more observant of the city. “What now?”

Burklos stopped before pointing to the woods in the back of the inn. “The camera recording outside showed that the man left there. Only thing I could make out was that he was wearing a leather trench coat.”

Jake turned and faced the woods. Quickly, he headed to the woods, stopping at the edge. He couldn’t believe his luck. Clear footsteps etched in the mud lead further into the forest. Excited, Jake followed the footsteps behind Burklos.

Minutes passed by as they followed the footsteps. Some times, they had to go back to check if they were following the right path. After thirty long minutes, they stumbled among dense brush where the footsteps ended. Bending down, Jake examined the ground. There seemed to be no definite direction. After several long frustrating minutes, Jake stood up, defeated.

Burklos sighed. “Let’s go back to town. If I’m correct, there is a shortcut that leads straight to town. We can go that way, and head to the police department to check all of the cameras. We have to find more evidence.”

Turning right, they headed into the dense bramble. Thorns dug into Mr. Jericho’s skin, and he highly doubted this was any shortcut to the city. Keeping his head down, Jake ploughed through the thorns. Just when he began to think that this was no shortcut, Jake saw, scattered on the ground, were footsteps besides their own.

“I think we found where the Deceptive One went,” Jake said, happy to be back on the930Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQA9eEKn0Bt
chase. Officer Burklos bent down and started following the tracks without a word.

Jake followed behind him. The brambles thinned out, and they were walking on a very obscure gravel pathway. Jake could see clear footsteps leading down the path. After a few seconds, the path opened into a road. Stumbling on the bigger gravely road, Jake looked around him.

The road sloped upwards before intersecting into a concrete road. Buildings scattered alongside the road. Jake paused. Something looked familiar about this place, but he couldn’t place it.

Burklos stopped. “Looks like this is the southern suburbs of the city,” Burklos said frowning. “Maybe he lives here. I’ll go back to the police department. Since it is getting late, you should go home. We will continue tomorrow.”

Jake looked at the sky. It was already a deep red, almost a burgundy. Funny, Jake thought. He hadn’t ate a single thing, but the excitement took away his hunger. Jake turned to see Burklos already walking down the street, heading to the department.930Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuj8jN76Jk
Jake sighed. They still haven’t caught the Deceptive One. Tomorrow would be thirty-one days. And yet he hasn’t got any further into the case. He turned and then realization hit him.

He knew what was bugging him! This is the road where his apartment was located. A shiver ran down his spine. The murderer could have been literally across his street. Heck, the killer could have been watching him at night. Jake was suddenly glad that nothing happened to him during the night.

Mr. Jericho slowly walked down the street and entered the apartment. Going up to his room, he unlocked the door and fell on his bed. The troubles of the day left him and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * * * * * *

The man got out of bed. Last night was a very successful night, but today, he had plans. The plan would be bold, and a bit reckless, but it would get his task completed faster. Only then would salvation be completely completed.

Unlocking his door, he walked outside of his apartment door. Closing it behind him, he stopped to ponder slightly about his life. One strange thing that he could never truly figure out was his "sleepwalking" habit. That is, he would go to sleep, usually at dawn, and when he woke up, he would be in a completely different location, sometimes physically exhausted, with no recollection of what happened. This puzzled him, but he didn't waste time thinking about it.

The Deceptive One walked outside on the gravely road and walked into his secret pathway right by his apartment, and headed into the woods.

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