 
The Nefairyous Saga: Welcome to Lily Port

Issue 1 of the Nefairyous Saga series

Created by Brenton Tenner

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2016 Brenton Tenner

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, Brenton Brian Tenner, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Enter Wishbone

Chapter 2 - The good doctor

Chapter 3 - The briefing

Chapter 4 - The eyes that haunt them

Chapter 5 - The vengeful dragon

Chapter 6 - Families and flames

Chapter 7 - The copycat

Chapter 8 - Guardian angels

Chapter 9 - Catch a tiger by its toe

Chapter 10 - Something wicked this way comes

Epilogue - The Master's monarchy

About Brenton Tenner

Other books by Brenton Tenner

Connect with Brenton Tenner

### Chapter 1 - Enter Wishbone

"Vroom, vroom! Oh yeah! These bikes are so awesome!" Two young boys are playing with their toy motorbikes. The older of the two is a skinny child whose dark brown eyes light up as he wheelies his little bike. It's just like his father's bike and all he has ever wanted is to be like his dad. The younger boy is his brother – a quieter, more reserved boy. He does not seem to be enjoying this as much as his older brother. He is staring across the park at a family playing football. He recognises the children - he knows them from school. The kids spot him and he quickly looks away. They start to laugh amongst themselves and jog over to where the brothers are playing.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Holchesters," says one of the kids mockingly. "What are you nerds doing here? Playing with your little toys, ha ha! You guys are so lame. Let me see that!" says the kid and snatches the bike away from the older brother.

The younger brother stands up and shouts at the kid: "Leave us alone Thad and give LJ his bike back!"

Thad shoves the younger brother down "You shut your face little Macey! Ha ha, such losers!"

"You leave him alone you lard-ass!" says the older brother, LJ, angrily as he leaps towards Thad and punches him square in the face.

Thad rubs his jaw and smiles: "You are going to regret that Holchester." Thad and his two brothers launch themselves at the Holchester brothers and start to beat them mercilessly.

The man who was playing football with the bullies runs over shouting: "Whoa, whoa, whoa boys! What's going on here?"

"These are those Holchester punks we were telling you about Papa, the ones whose dad is in that lame biker club. They think they are so cool but they're just two losers."

"Well they have that in common with their dad then and they probably had this coming, little shits. Don't waste your time on them son, we have better things to do", says the father with a menacing grin on his face as he and his sons turn and walk away laughing.

LJ and his younger brother Mason are lying there, fading in and out of consciousness, barely able to move. Blood is gushing from Mason's nose and he has a split lip. LJ has a nasty gash above his eye where Thad kicked him. They see Thad and his family in the distance playing football again, like nothing ever happened. Two men walk over to them, one is wearing a hood and his entire body is covered in clothing – which is odd since it is a blistering hot summer's day in Valley Creek.

"Are you boys alright? What happened here?" The boys turn to see a man standing over them, wiping the blood from their faces. "Now don't fret lads, I'm just going to take you to my van so that I can take you back to your parents. Are they close by?"

"They... are... there..." gasps LJ as he points to a house across from the park.

"Ok, my van is closer so I will carry you both there and then take you to them. Here we go, HUM!" the man slings each boy over one of his shoulders and takes them to a navy blue van parked nearby.

LJ notices a mark on the man's shoulder, partially covered by his jacket. It looks like a helmet similar to the ones the knights wear in his favourite video game. He hears the van door slide open.

"Here you go lads, you're safe now." The man places the boys in the van and they hear the van door slam shut.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"LJ! Mason! Where could these boys have got to? Are you sure Sam said he saw them in the park, Ung?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, Linc. He said they were right here under the big oak. LJ! Mason!"

"Hey! Ung! Look over there! Are those people laying on the ground?" The two men sprint over to a beautiful open patch of grass with some shrubbery surrounding it. They see blood leading towards two bodies: a man and a woman.

"Shit! Linc, they're fuckin dead! Hey, isn't that John and Lindsay Smithson? Oh shit, it is them. We've got to call the cops Linc! Linc! Linc... are you okay? What are you looking at?"

The man with short, dark hair – Linc – is kneeling beside the bodies. He has blood on the palms of his hands. The blood is coming from a small object that he is holding.

"It's Mase's shell... it's covered in... blood."

"Linc, I'm calling Ridley man." The man with the longer dark hair and piercing green eyes – Ung – picks up his phone and starts to call someone.

Linc is staring at the shell that belongs to his son, Mason. He sees an object that has been stuck in the hole at the bottom of the shell. He slowly removes it, holds it up and examines it closely. It's a wishbone. It looks like it came from some sort of bird or fowl – a chicken perhaps? Linc drops the object and his face turns as pale white as that of John Smithson's corpse beside him. He remembers something he saw on the news a few days before. A prolific serial killer was being hunted by the police. This killer has been eluding authorities for years and they still have no leads. They referred to him as the "Wishbone killer" due to his signature: a wishbone which he would lodge somewhere in the body of his victims – usually the eyes or throat. Could this be the same psycho's work? He is not a kidnapper though, so where are Mason and LJ?

"Ridley's on her way, Linc. She said don't touch any... oh I see it's too late for that. Linc... Linc talk to me, please." Ung gets down on one knee and puts his hand on his best friend's shoulder. Linc is holding his head in his hands, sobbing inconsolably.

Ung hugs him and says: "We will find them Linc; I swear to you that we will find your kids and if anyone did anything to them, we will find them too and make them regret it. I swear to you brother... I swear..."

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"Linc! Goddammit Linc open the fucking door or I'm gonna bust it down!"

Lincoln wakes from his dream. The same dream he has dreamed countless nights over the past decade – the dream of the last day he saw his sons, Lincoln Junior and Mason. The dream of the day he failed them as a father and the day he has been trying to make up for ever since.

Lincoln stands up and stumbles over to the door. He looks over at the coffee table and sees the empty bottle of whisky and remembers why he feels so shit this morning. At least it made him feel marginally better the night before.

"I'm coming Dean, relax!" Lincoln opens the door and his best friend storms inside.

"Dean? You are calling me Dean? Ha ha fuck it, you must be hung-over brother. You never call me that unless you are pissed at me or hung-over".

"Ok, ok, just keep it down Ung, please, I feel like I have been hit by a freight train."

"Well Linc, here's something to sober your ass up – we have been asked to assist the F-B-fucking-I on a case and we need to get going ASAP."

"But we just closed a case Ung, we don't need the cash. Let's take a break on this one. Or why don't you, Ridley and Harry handle it – I'll sit this one out."

"I thought you might say that" says Ung with a grin on his face. "However, I think you might change your mind when you see this." Ung hands Lincoln a folder. Lincoln reluctantly opens it and pages through it. He grabs a photo and drops the folder – papers scatter across his living room floor.

"Are you sure about this Ung?" Lincoln asks excitedly.

"As sure as I am handsome, brother."

"Give me 5, I'll meet you downstairs," says Lincoln as he drops the photo and dashes off to his bathroom to grab a quick shower.

The photo lands on top of a smashed photo frame. The frame holds a picture of a much younger Lincoln, his three sons and his wife.

Ung looks over at the photo and mutters softly to himself: "I hope this is the last time I ever have to see one of those goddam Wishbones." Ung leaves the apartment to wait for Lincoln downstairs.

### Chapter 2 - The good doctor

The attractive brunette hangs up her phone with a sombre look on her near perfect face. She was always the most beautiful girl in Valley Creek growing up... until that day. She often wonders what her life would've been like if it never happened and she was never given this horrible scar across her face. Would he have loved her then? Would he have chosen her instead of his wife?

The silence is broken by a cheerful young man with a chiselled jaw and a twinkle in his eye that jogs over to the brunette: "Hey Rid, who was that on the phone?"

"Oh... hey Harry I forgot you were here..." says the brunette, Ridley, without paying the young man, Harry, much attention.

"Geez, you sure know how to make a guy feel special," retorts Harry with a stupid grin on his face.

Harry sees that Ridley is not in the mood for his usual charm. There is clearly something troubling her and he knows it must be something bad because Ridley is the toughest person that he knows. As soon as he met her 18 months ago he knew she was special. 6 months later he joined her team of detective consultants and since then they have seen some pretty gruesome and disturbing things that deeply affected the rest of the team – but not Ridley. She was like stone – unflinching and unaffected by the death that surrounded her.

"Rid... Rid? Are you ok? Who was that?"

Ridley looks up at Harry and he notices a tear in her eye. Harry puts his arm around Ridley and she moves closer to him, "it was my brother," she says.

"What happened, Rid, is he ok? Is Ung ok?"

"Yeah he's fine..."

"Is it Linc? Rid, please answer me..."

At the mention of Lincoln's name, Ridley begins to sob uncontrollably. She eventually stops and takes a deep breath and says "Linc is fine, for now. It's Dr. Winston; Ung said he has taken a turn for the worst. They are heading up to St. Vincent's to see him now; they said we should go ahead so long and they would catch up."

"Dr. Winston? I'm sorry Rid, I didn't realise that you are so close to him."

"I'm not, but Linc is. I don't know if he will make it through another loss, Harry. First his kids, then Rachel and now Winston. Winston is like a father to him. He is too fragile... (sob)... I... (sob)... don't..." her words fade away as she begins to cry again.

"Linc will be fine. He has us – me, you and Ung. We will get him through this and Winston is tough, he has made it through bad spells before. Let's not assume the worst, we need to be positive, we need to - "

"Positive? We need to be positive? When has that helped anyone? Look at what we have seen Harry, what we have been through. How can you be so naïve as to think that the world is a good place and that positive energy matters? Do you also believe that Santa Clause comes down your chimney once a year and shits out a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end of it? Grow up Harry! Let's just go." Ridley turns and storms towards her car.

Harry is not quite sure how to react. He goes over to the car and climbs into the passenger seat and looks over at Ridley. She is just staring blankly at the steering wheel. She looks over at Harry.

"What?" she snaps.

"Did he eat a leprechaun?" asks Harry with a serious look on his face.

"What? What are you on about?" says Ridley impatiently.

"Santa... did he eat a leprechaun? Is that why he shits rainbows with pots of gold at the end?" asks Harry.

Ridley and Harry just stare at each other for a while. Ridley starts to laugh and then Harry bursts out laughing as well.

"I don't know where that came from. I'm sorry Harry, I shouldn't have snapped at you."

Harry takes Ridley's hand and says "You never have to apologise to me Rid. I get it."

"Thanks, you're a great friend". Ridley hugs Harry. All he can think about is how she reacted when she thought that there was any chance that something may happen to Lincoln. She may constantly be on his case about his drinking and about being absent in Maddox's life, but it's clear how she feels about him. As Ridley turns the key in her ignition and slowly pulls away, Harry can't help but wonder if anyone will ever feel that way about him – maybe someday.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"And in other news: the unknown bio-terrorist group that has been responsible for attacks on power plants, industrial factories and anything else that they deem harmful to our planet, have finally released a statement via social media. They have identified themselves simply as the "GA" and have warned that their attacks will escalate and their leader will soon be addressing the world. Stay tuned for more updates on this story as it develops. That's it for global news, now over to Tom Tanner for the weather. Tom what can we expect - "

The wall-mounted, flat screen television that Lincoln was watching goes black and he turns to look at the man who is lying on the bed beside him. The man has the television remote in his hand and he places it on his bedside table. The table is covered with flowers and get-well-soon cards – the whole room is, for that matter. The middle-aged man has snow white hair and a beard to match. Lincoln has always thought that it makes him look older than he actually is.

The man smiles at Lincoln and says in a gentle voice: "Linc, how wonderful to see you."

Lincoln stands up out of his chair, walks over to the bedside and takes the man by his hand.

"Dr. Winston, how are you? I'm so sorry I didn't bring your usual parcel. Dean and I were actually on our way to a case in a town close by when we heard the news. Can I get you anything? Something to drink? Something to -"

"Linc, relax, I'm fine. Don't worry yourself so much, I'm tougher than I look" says the pale man – Dr. Winston – still with a smile on his face. "And for the umpteenth time, please call me Leonard; I'm not your teacher anymore."

"Sorry Dr... I mean... Leonard. It's just force of habit."

Winston and Lincoln hear a loud grunt come from the far corner of the hospital room and look over to see Ung sprawled across two chairs. He slowly opens his eyes, yawns and stretches out his tattooed arms.

"Aaaahhhhhhhhh hot damn, I needed that nap!"

Winston smirks and says to Ung: "Good afternoon, Mr. Skarsgard. I see that unlike in your school days my voice now awakens you from your slumbers. In the past it seemed to always initiate them."

"Ha ha! Oh Doc-Dubya you always made me laugh. You gave us quite the scare you know. Get over here you wrinkly old bastard!"

Ung jumps out of his chair and hugs Winston. Lincoln can't help but notice that when the hug duration passes 10 Mississippis that it is becoming a little awkward but Ung doesn't seem to care. Eventually the hug ends and Dr Winston dusts himself off.

"Umm... thank you for that Skarsgard. I see that not everything has changed since your school days. You still smell of motor oil and your father's whisky."

"Well that's technically incorrect Doc. Yes to the motor oil and yes to the whisky, but it ain't my daddy's. Nowadays I get my whisky from strange women with either a detective or biker fetish. Have you ever heard the term "strange magnet" doc?"

"Charming as always," replies Winston with a wry smile on his face.

"Well anyways, it's been a blast chit-chatting with you doc but I need to hit the head and then I am going to go fake an injury over in the ward across the hall. The nurse on duty there was giving me the eye earlier and I have a plan to introduce her to good old "Hung"... To be clear, "Hung" is what I call my junk, you see, my nickname is Ung and I put an "H" in front of it -"

Lincoln interrupts Ung's random monologue about his genitals: "I think we get it Ung. You go do what you need to do, I'll meet you down by the car when you are done ruining that poor girl's life."

Ung chuckles and hugs Dr. Winston again as he leaves the room. Lincoln pats him on the back as if to say "go get 'em tiger" and shuts the door behind him.

"Sorry about him," apologises Lincoln with a half-smile on his face as he sits back down in his chair.

"Don't worry Linc, you know I love Dean – he is crude and inappropriate but that's what makes him interesting. I am glad he has left us alone though. We need to talk."

Winston shifts into a more upright position and adjusts the pillow supporting his lower back. He looks at Lincoln with a serious expression on his face, like that of a father looking at a son who just did something he was warned not to do and says: "You been drinking again?"

Lincoln shifts in his chair; this line of conversation clearly makes him uncomfortable.

"Well... um... no more than any normal guy. I have a drink or two a couple times a week..."

"Well that's not what I heard," replies Winston with an even sterner expression on his face.

"Goddammit, Ridley..." whispers Lincoln under his breath.

"She just cares about you, are you too blind to see that? I have been where you are – you know that. Numbing the pain temporarily will not help you do what needs to be done. If finding the monster that took your life from you is the only thing that might bring you some peace, then you need to focus. The drinking will just hinder you."

"I know, I know. It's just... I can't stop thinking about it. I dream about it... I see their faces all around me, all the time. Sometimes I think... never mind." Lincoln turns and stares out the window in silence.

"Sometimes you think that ending it all would be the only way to make the pain go away," says Winston with a sombre look on his face.

Lincoln looks over to Winston and his eyes start to well up. He thinks to himself how much Dr. Winston means to him. He is the only person who has ever fully understood him. Growing up without a father was difficult but Dr. Winston made it so much easier for him. Lincoln was just a young teenager when he met Winston; a skinny, lost boy with no one to talk to and no one to look up to. Dr. Winston was more than just a teacher to him; he was the closest thing Lincoln had to a real father.

"That's the coward's path. Don't be a coward like your father, Lincoln. There are two types of men in this world: those that are who they are because of their fathers and those who are who they are in spite of them. It is time you stop feeling sorry for yourself and choose the kind of man you are going to be."

Lincoln wipes away his tears as Winston continues to scold him: "You still have a son. Maddox needs a father and not just any father – he needs a good man to guide and teach him. You are that man, Lincoln, I know it. Behind those walls you have learned to put up, is the same boy I met all those years ago, a boy with greatness in him. A boy who was destined to become the best man I would ever have the good fortune of knowing."

Winston's tone softens as he takes Lincoln's hand and says, "You have it in you. I know you do. I know the reason you stay away from Maddox is not because you don't love him, it's quite the opposite. You hate yourself Lincoln, this much is clear. You need to learn to forgive yourself and start making amends. Chasing Wishbone should not be your primary focus Linc, stop focusing on the dead and start to focus on the living..."

"Never..." says Lincoln under his breath. His mood is shifting now.

"What was that?"

"I said "never". I will never stop focusing on avenging my boys. That is how I make amends. Don't think for a second that you know how I feel, Leonard. You may have had your losses but you have not come close to walking a mile in my shoes. I hope you feel better, but this lecture's over – I have a case to get back to." Lincoln stands up and leaves the room in anger. He takes the elevator to the level where he and Ung parked and he stands waiting impatiently by the car for Ung to arrive.

After a few minutes of waiting, Lincoln has started to calm down. He reaches for something in his chest pocket. He takes out three objects. First he unfolds a photograph of five people. These people look extremely happy. He recognises his wife, Rachel, and his three sons; Mason, LJ and Maddox. He barely recognises the fourth man in the picture, a handsome man with a proud smile on his face and so much life in his blue eyes. The man has Mason on his shoulders. If it wasn't for the jacket that the man was wearing, Lincoln would not have believed that that was him. He thinks to himself that Lincoln is dead; he is a different man now. A tear plops softly onto the photograph. Lincoln quickly wipes it away and folds up the photograph again. He now examines the other two items he retrieved from the pocket of his favourite jacket. The one is a Wishbone and the other a white shell. He stares at the items for a minute and then puts them back in his pocket. He grabs his phone and starts searching through the contact list. He finds the contact named "Maddy" and presses the dial key. Before the phone starts ringing, he hears someone shouting his name. He turns to see Ung running out of the elevator and he quickly kills the call.

"Linc! Linc! We gotta go man! Rid just called. There's been a second murder, it was a cop and the MO is a match to the first. Rid says the FBI believes this is a start of a spree. We gotta get down there quick man, shits gonna get bad real fast."

Lincoln nods his head in agreement and the two men climb into the car with hast. Lincoln gets out the GPS and starts to program in their destination.

"Destination entered as: Lily Port. Recalculating..."

The car screeches and speeds away as the GPS calculates the best route to their destination.

### Chapter 3 - The briefing

"But why Lily Port? Wishbone has never struck anywhere near here before? It just makes no sense..." says Ridley with a look of frustration and bemusement across her scarred face.

"In my experience, psychopaths don't always follow logic or reason. Who knows what the connection could be to this town? I don't think we should be focusing on that right now. We should look into the victimology instead -"

Ridley interrupts the man who was speaking to the team mid-sentence: "But both victims have lived here their entire lives, Gleeson. Harry has already confirmed this. I'm positive that Wishbone has some sort of connection to this place, we should start -"

Ridley is now the one interrupted. There is a knock on the door of the war room. A much older man seated in the room with a sheriff's badge pinned to his chest shouts, "Come in!".

The door opens slowly and a timid, middle-aged woman peers into the room. "Sheriff Abbot, there are two men here to see you. They say their names are Skarsgard and Holchester."

"Ah finally, please direct them here immediately Doris," replies Abbot. Doris nods her head and quietly shuts the war room door.

A minute later the door swings open again and Ung and Lincoln enter the war room looking quite flustered.

"Our apologies for being late gentlemen... and lady... we had a personal issue that needed to be attended to," announces Ung.

Gleeson stands up and shakes Ung's hand and then Lincoln's. "No need for apologies, please be seated so we can fill you in on the details of the case."

It is clear to Lincoln that Gleeson is the man in charge. Before being seated, introductions are made. In the far corner of the war room, Harry is seated next to Ridley. As always, he is typing away like a mad man on his laptop. Ridley seems a little pissed off about something but at the same time she seems relieved to see Lincoln and her brother. The only two men dressed in police uniforms are seated diagonally across the table from Ridley and Harry. The older of the two introduced himself as Sheriff Wayne Abbot and the younger man as his Deputy, Jonah Lily. Across from the two lawmen are two more seats; one is empty and presumably belongs to the man who introduced himself as Special Agent William Gleeson. The man has a thick Scottish accent and two nasty scars on his face, one across each cheek that makes it look like some kind of extended smile. In the other chair is his partner, Special Agent John Jeffries. Jeffries is a tall, well-built African-American man that – unlike his partner – is extremely well groomed and dressed. Gleeson's suit looks a size too small for him and he has some kind of stain on his shirt that looks like it could have been there for a while.

"Your reputations precede you, Special Agents. We have followed a number of your cases and you two do some really great work. The way you managed to catch the Bayside Ripper – pure genius. How is the case going where the perp removes the eyes of his victims? What was his name again?" babbles Ung like a Trekky that just met William Shatner for the first time.

"I prefer not to name these monsters, but the press are calling him "The Mind's Eye killer". Well, we are making some progress but he is one slippery bastard," replies Gleeson dismissively.

"Anyway, we don't have time for anymore chit-chat," he continues, "let's review what we know so far about the case at hand."

Dean looks slightly deflated; he clearly was looking forward to picking Gleeson's brain a bit more. Lincoln on the other hand has barely said a word since they arrived. Unlike his best friend, he does not trust people easily and he is excellent at reading people based on observations that he makes, so he tends to take a back seat initially and lets Ung do most of the talking.

The pair sits down quietly in the seats opposite Harry and Ridley.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

A bell tolls ominously in the distance as Harry let's out an almost comically loud yawn. "Ahhhhhh... sheez, is it midnight already? Wow, time flies when you are delving into the mind of a deranged serial killer," he remarks with a goofy smirk on his face.

Gleeson and Jeffries had spent the first portion of the war room session recapping the evidence and their current theories. There were two victims to date; the first was the elderly inn keeper, Mrs. Janet Hollowbrook and the second was a cop, Officer Rick Pike. Both victims were killed with similar MOs to that of the Wishbone killer – a blade was used and a chicken's wishbone was left on both victims. The first was lodged in Mrs. Hollowbrook's nostrils and the second in Officer Pike's mouth. Although Gleeson and Jeffries were convinced that these crimes were perpetrated by Wishbone, Lincoln was not so sure. His theory was that it was a copycat due to some subtle differences in MO that only he seemed to have noticed. He got the sense that the FBI agents would not take it well if he disagreed with them, so he kept his theory to himself for the moment.

"Alright then team, let's call it a night. I think we made some decent progress today but tomorrow we need to really get some solid leads. We will meet at the Hollowbrook residence alongside the Inn at 7am. Dismissed." Gleeson gives his final command for the evening and the rest of the team leave the Sheriff's station. Lincoln, Ung, Ridley and Harry are all staying at the Hollowbrook Inn while in Lily Port, so they head over there to get some shut-eye.

The team arrive at the Inn after a short walk from the Sheriff's station. Ung notices an attractive, young blonde walking into a nearby pub with some friends and his eyes light up.

"Now we're talking," he says with a somewhat dirty grin on his face. He straightens his jacket and fixes his greasy hair.

"You guys keen for a night cap? I think we all need to unwind after the day we've had."

"I'm down with that," says Harry as he high-fives Ung.

"Alright, alright, alright. Now I have my wingman. Linc, Rid, what about you guys?" asks Ung.

"I'm bushed Dean, I think I'm just going to turn in," replies Ridley.

Ung rolls his eyes jokingly at his sister, "No surprises there." Ridley playfully punches him on the shoulder and Ung brushes himself off.

"Ok let's get going then, come on Linc."

Lincoln looks over at Ridley and she quickly looks away. He noticed her watching him and he got the feeling that she was waiting for him to turn down her brother's offer of booze and women.

"Ummm... I think I'm also gonna turn in guys. I'm pretty beat as well. You guys go on and enjoy yourselves," mutters Lincoln.

"Whoa! Linc Holchester turning down booze and easy ladies, well I'll be damned, I thought I'd never see the day. Come on Harry, let's get going before there are only double-baggers and butter-faces left for the picking," remarks Ung with an even dirtier smile on his face.

"You are so gross! On that note I'm outta here. Try not to catch something permanent," says Ridley with a look of disgust on her face as she spins on her heel and starts to walk away from her brother. Harry and Ung say good night to Lincoln and start to walk towards the bar. Lincoln turns and jogs over to the Inn door and holds it open for Ridley.

"Wow Linc, so chivalry really is alive and well." She walks through the door and Lincoln can't help but stare at her for a moment as she walks by. He feels a sense of nostalgia and he remembers why he was so in love with Ridley back when they were teens. He remembers how happy he was back then.

The pair check-in and walk up some stairs in silence. They are comfortable around each other when Ung or Harry are around as well, but there is an awkwardness in the air when they are alone.

They eventually reach the door of Ridley's room.

"Thanks for walking me up," says Ridley sheepishly.

"Anytime," replies Lincoln.

Ridley begins to close the door but Lincoln interrupts her: "Hey Rid. I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?"

"For always giving a shit about me. I know I've been a dick to you – well not just to you, to a lot of people. I know that you spoke to Dr. Winston and I just wanted you to know I'm not pissed about it. I know I have some changing to do. I was really harsh on Winston when we spoke and I owe him an apology as well."

Lincoln pauses and looks down at his feet like he used to when he was a kid and would get shy around Ridley.

"I managed to be an asshole to one of the people I care most about in this world already today and I don't want to hurt another person I love."

Lincoln looks up at Ridley and she is blushing. She raises her hand to hide the scar on her face, as if she is ashamed of her appearance.

"Anyway, I'll see you in the morning Rid. Sleep tight, don't let Timmy Perkins bite."

Ridley giggles. She has not heard Lincoln say that to her in years. She recalls what a strange kid Timmy Perkins was back in school and how obsessed he was with her. Lincoln and her brother would always tease her about it.

Ridley smiles at Lincoln and tucks her long, dark hair behind her left ear as she says good night and shuts her door. Lincoln walks down the corridor to his room smiling the whole way. True smiles like this one were in short order for Lincoln lately and he thinks to himself that this is the first time he will go to bed happy and sober for quite some time.

Lincoln enters his room, sets the alarm on his cell phone for 6am and climbs into bed a happy man.

### Chapter 4 - The eyes that haunt them

A young teenage boy is sitting on a park bench anxiously running his hands through his dark brown hair. He tugs at his shirt collar and wipes the sweat from his brow. He looks down at his wrist-watch for the tenth time in the past minute, every second that passes feels like an eternity to him.

"I can't do this..." he mutters to himself as he picks up the little box and flowers beside him. He stands up and begins to walk off.

"Linc! Linc, is that you?" A pretty young girl walks over to the boy. Her white dress is in stark contrast to her tanned complexion and her blue eyes appear to dance in the sunlight. She stops in front of the boy and smiles at him.

The boy turns towards her nervously and smiles back at her. He has never felt so nervous before. As he stands in front of the girl he loves, the boy battles to find his words.

"Ummm... uhhh... hey... ummm..:

"Linc, what are you doing here?" asks the young girl curiously. The boy looks down at the grass and brushes his hand through his hair again. The girl's smile fades away and she reaches into her purse.

"Did you write the note asking me to come here?" She is holding up a folded letter with the name "Ridley" written on it.

"Um... yeah I did. I'm sorry Rid, I just..." the boy stops mid-sentence and looks at the girl again. She is smiling and begins to giggle.

"Oh Linc, you make me laugh. You are so nervous, just relax. I knew it was you – I know your handwriting you know. You are my best friend after all."

"Oh.. and you still came? Rid I don't want to mess up our friendship because of what I wrote in the note."

"Is it true? Is what you wrote about how you feel about me true, Linc?"

The boy is sweating profusely now and he wipes his brow again. He takes a deep breath and says, "Yes, it's true. Well at least I think it's true. I've never loved a girl before but... well... you are the first person I think of when I wake up and the last person I think of before I go to sleep. It makes me smile when I think of you and it makes me sad when I'm away from you... you must think I'm such a nerd, I'm sorry Rid..."

Ridley is just staring at Lincoln. A tear rolls down her cheek and she smiles even more broadly than before.

"Don't apologise. I feel the same way. I've always felt the same way..."

Lincoln can't believe his ears, he thinks this is the moment he has dreamed of so many times. This is his time to use the move he has been practicing on his pillow for the past week.

He hands Ridley the little box and flowers. She places the flowers on the bench and opens the little box. Inside it is a gold necklace with a locket on it. She opens the locket and when she sees the photograph of an older woman that has a striking resemblance to her, a few more tears of happiness roll down her face. She drops the box and puts the necklace around her neck.

Lincoln spots his opportunity – it's now or never, he thinks to himself. He runs his hand through Ridley's silky, dark hair and leans in. Their lips meet and the two teens share their first kiss. Lincoln thinks to himself that this is the best moment of his life, but that feeling is short-lived.

He feels something in his mouth - it's a warm, metallic-tasting liquid. There is also an object in the liquid. He pulls away from Ridley and spits the object out into his hand. It's covered in blood. He wipes some of the blood away with his thumb. The object appears to be a white, spiral shell.

He looks up from the shell and looks at Ridley – only it's not Ridley standing before him anymore. A pitch black silhouette is in her place. Lincoln feels an overwhelming sense of fear and tries to turn and run, but he cannot move. The silhouette grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him in closer. It stares him in the eyes and whispers: "Adam" and then it launches at Lincoln. As it enters his body it takes his breath away and he feels an icy chill in his lungs.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Lincoln awakens abruptly and grabs at his chest as he gasps for air. He realises it was just a dream – but it was so vivid. He fondly remembers the last time he saw Ridley before she was taken. The dream was an exact recollection of what happened, except for the ending. Lincoln sits at the foot of the bed with his head in his hands for a few moments. The dream disturbed him quite a bit. He eventually clears his head and convinces himself that it was just a dream and that he is over-analysing things as usual. He checks the time and it is 5:32am. He decides to start getting ready for breakfast; there is no way he would be able to get back to sleep now anyway. He gets undressed and jumps into the steaming shower – perhaps the boiling water will wash away the uneasy feeling that is consuming him. He looks down at the shower drain and he sees blood in the water circling it. He raises his hand to his left nostril and then lowers it again. He sees blood on his hand and he realises that some of it has run into his mouth and he can taste it – just like in his dream.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"Baaaaaacccoooon!!!" Ung rushes over to the buffet table and bumps Harry out of the way. He starts to scoop mounds of sizzling bacon onto his plate.

"Screw you Ung, didn't you have enough pork last night?" laughs Harry as he playfully shoves Ung away from the buffet table and grabs a handful of bacon off of his plate. He shoves the bacon into his own mouth.

"Haha, that's big talk there young gun. Don't get too cocky just because you got lucky last night. My ladies may not have been as good looking as your little fox, but that's why I took two of them. If you can't have quality, then at least have quantity – oof, dammit Rid what was that for?" Ung holds his side were Ridley punched him.

"Don't be so disgusting Dean. Have a little respect for women, no wonder you have never found someone that will stay with you longer than a week," replies Ridley.

"Oh and is that the same reason you are still single Rid? Or is it because Linc hasn't – ouch! For fuck sakes Ridley, stop punching me!"

Ridley stares daggers at Ung for a few seconds and then turns and walks back to their table. She sits and starts shovelling scrambled eggs into her mouth without taking her eyes off of her brother.

Harry walks closer to Ung and says quietly: "Geez, you seem to have hit a nerve there."

"Whatever, she started it," replies Ung as he stares back at his sister with an annoyed look on his face.

"What was it you were going to say to her about Linc?" asks Harry inquisitively.

"Ahhh, nothing, don't worry about it, it's a long story. Hey, speak of the devil!" Ung looks across the room and spots a rather pale looking Lincoln walking over to the table where Ridley is seated. As Lincoln reaches the table, Ridley stands up and throws her arms around him. Lincoln is taken a bit by surprise – she hasn't hugged him with such fervor in ages.

"Whoa, what's going on here? Is there something I should know about?" says Ung interrogatively as he and Harry sit down at the table where Ridley and Lincoln are currently seated.

"Shut up and eat your mountain of cholesterol, Dean. Linc, are you not having anything to eat?" asks Ridley with a concerned look on her face.

"Um... no thanks Rid... I'm good. Not hungry – I'm just looking forward to getting to the crime scene and starting to find some evidence as to what is going on in this town."

"Well if you ask Special Agent Haggis Mc-fucking-bagpipes he would tell you we have all the evidence we need to conclude that this is Wishbone. In his mind that's a foregone conclusion, he just wants us to figure out how to identify and catch him," says Ung with a clear tone of sarcasm as he leans closer to Lincoln and put his elbows on the table. He is clearly not as fond of Gleeson as he was when he first met him.

"Yeah and what's up with Jeffries? He just kind of stares at us with a super serious look on his face. He kind of creeps me out," agrees Harry.

At this point Ridley joins the conversation: "Anyway, that's not important guys. Linc believes this is a copycat and I think we all agree with him, right?" Ung and Harry nod their heads in agreement.

"So let's make our priority finding evidence to convince Gleeson and Jeffries of this, the sooner we can get everyone working together, the sooner we can catch the monster who is doing this. We should -" Ridley is interrupted mid-sentence by a girl who appears to be in her early twenties. The girl is strikingly beautiful although quite plain looking. She is dressed conservatively in clothes that went out of fashion before she was probably even born.

The girl says sheepishly to the group, "So sorry to interrupt you, Ms. Skarsgard. My name is Tifa, I work here. Well I guess I kinda run things now that mama is gone..."

"Oh you poor thing, you must be Mrs. Hollowbrook's daughter. We are all so sorry for your loss," says Ridley as she stands up and hugs the clearly upset Tifa.

"Thank you ma'am. I sure do appreciate your kind words. Any-hoo, the reason I am so rudely interrupting your meal is because a FBI agent – Jeffries I think his name was – asked me to escort you four to mine and my mother's home on the far east end of the property. Are y'all ready to go – he made it sound quite urgent."

Ung stands up and smiles at the girl and says: "Sure, just give us a minute to wash up angel-face and we will meet you at reception."

The girl smiles at Ung uncomfortably, nods her head and leaves the dining room.

"Seriously Dean? "Angel-face"? Can you just stop thinking with your you-know-what for one minute and not hit on this poor girl, she is clearly distraught."

"Oh come on Ridley, she clearly needs some comfort and who am I to deny a beautiful, young woman what she so clearly needs. Now that would not be gentlemanly of me at all."

Ung is grinning from ear to ear at this point. Ridley has an expression of disgust on her face, as per usual. The team stand up and head over to the bathrooms to wash up. As they do so, Lincoln cannot shake this strange feeling he has about Tifa. Even though this was the first time he met her, she is so familiar to him, but he just cannot place her. Her eyes – so intense and beautiful, like a princess out of a fairy tale – where has he seen them before?

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

A pallid man sits silently in a tree hidden from plain sight. Although his eyes are closed, he still has the ability to see everything that is happening around him. For that matter, his sight is superior to that of a normal human being. His senses are heightened to what most would call supernatural levels.

He has been waiting here for hours, completely focused on his mission and nothing else. He is unarmed - he has no need for weapons, he is the ultimate weapon.

He hears voices in the distance. They are finally here, he thinks to himself. He has been tasked with monitoring this group to ensure they don't get too close. He recognises all of the individuals that are present in front of the Hollowbrook home. The arrogance of the male Skarsgard is like a thick stench in the air. He can taste his sister's fear that she tries so desperately to hide beneath her tough exterior. Then there is the young one - he reeks of curiosity – and finally, Holchester. He can feel his tortured soul, the constant struggle to just keep pushing forward despite the hopeless despair that fills him. A minute later he senses the presence of another four individuals – two FBI suits and two police officers.

The group are discussing the Hollowbrook murder. The agent with the thick Scottish accent is arguing with the Skarsgard male about whether the killer is a copycat or not. The exchange is getting quite heated and the female Skarsgard and one of the officers step in to diffuse the situation.

Eventually they go inside the house, except for Holchester. He lingers outside for a moment and stares in the direction of the man hidden in the tree, as if he can sense him. The man remains motionless, he knows that Holchester cannot see him but his sixth sense is strong – just like He said it would be. The heavens open up and it begins to pour with rain. Holchester covers his head with his jacket and jogs into the Hollowbrook home to take shelter.

The man in the tree feels the rain against his ashen skin and he looks upwards to the sky. He has always loved the smell, taste and texture of the rain. It makes him think back to his childhood when he and his mother would play and dance in the rain – it always soothed him. He sees his mother's eyes so vividly in his mind and that makes him think of the one who took her from him. The one who made him this way. He remembers his eyes as well, as if it were yesterday. How the life drained from them as he gasped for his final breath before choking on his own blood. Then he sees another set of eyes, and another, and another. Hundreds of eyes staring at him, begging him to allow them to live, to allow them to see the daylight one more time.

The man begins to feel his blood pumping faster and faster – he knows what is coming. He starts to feel that uncontrollable urge he gets, but he knows the rules, he cannot do it here. He must leave quickly, he needs to satisfy his urge before he does something that breaks His rules – he never breaks the rules, he owes Him too much to do that. The man moves swiftly like smoke blowing in the wind and vanishes into the forest just beyond the perimeter of the Hollowbrook Inn's estate. Another set of eyes will be added to his collection tonight – it must be done, he has no choice.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"Fuck me it's ripe in here," mutters Ung as he raises his arm to cover his nose.

"I thought it best to leave the crime scene untouched until your team had the opportunity to examine it in-person," says Gleeson as he takes another bite of his breakfast bagel. He does not seem perturbed by the smell whatsoever.

Lincoln bends down next to the body of the victim, Janet Hollowbrook. She looks nothing like he expected after seeing Tifa, there is no resemblance between the mother and daughter whatsoever. She must take after her father, the late Winston Hollowbrook. He recalls from the war room discussions the day before that he passed away several years ago leaving Janet a widow.

Lincoln examines the Wishbone that has been lodged in the victim's nostrils. This is unusual, he thinks to himself. Never before has he seen Wishbone insert a bone in the victim's nostrils – the eyes or the throat were his most common areas of insertion. He then examines the wounds that took the poor woman's life. They are made by a blade that is for sure. However, just as Lincoln suspected when he studied the crime scene photographs, there are subtle differences between this wound and what he has seen on Wishbone's victims in the past. He is more convinced than ever that the real Wishbone killer is not the perpetrator of this woman's demise.

"Hey guys, what is this? Did anyone log this as evidence yet?" asks Ridley as she holds up a pair of tweezers. The tweezers are clutching an old piece of parchment that appears to have been burned around its perimeter.

"No, we missed that in our initial walkthrough. Could I take a look?" asks Jeffries. Ridley hands the tweezers to him and he examines the parchment.

"It appears to be a partial depiction of a knight's helm."

"It might belong to the victim," interjects Harry.

"Yes, that might be the case. However, I suggest we still bag this as evidence. Deputy Lily, would you mind?" requests Gleeson in his usual assertive tone.

"Not at all," replies Deputy Jonah Lily. He places the parchment into an evidence bag and seals it. He takes a closer look at the parchment and seems perplexed.

"I best head on back to the station and get this into lock up. I'll meet up with the rest of you at the next scene later." Jonah tips his hat and leaves the Hollowbrook residence.

The team continue to investigate the crime scene for a while longer. They don't find anything else of any significance and decide that it's time to move onto the second crime scene.

"The next scene is the Golden Rat pub. Ridley, why don't you and Harry join agent Gleeson and I and Lincoln and Dean can ride with Sheriff Abbot," offers agent Jeffries.

Ridley nods her head in agreement and the group climb into the agents' black SUV and the Sheriff's police van and head over to the second crime scene. As they leave, Lincoln finds himself staring at the woods surrounding the Hollowbrook estate again. He does not have the same sense of being watched as he did before he entered the Hollowbrook residence, but he still can't shake the feeling that something was not quite right in this town.

"Here it is up on the right. To recap: the bartender is the one who found the victim, Officer Rick Pike. He also happens to be the victim's brother. He claims that he was in the alley on a smoke break when he found his brother's corpse. He called the Lily Port Sheriffs and Deputy Lily was the first on the scene. He found him covered in the victim's blood and secured the scene." Jeffries concludes the briefing and places his notebook back in his jacket pocket.

"Dean, I think that you and Lincoln should lead the interrogation with the brother. He seems to be more your kind of person..." says Jeffries in a slightly condescending manner.

Ung pretends to cough and mutters the word "asshole".

"What was that?" asks Jeffries sternly.

"Nothing, I was just choking on my awesomeness, please do continue," replies Ung as he looks over to Lincoln and rolls his eyes.

"Ridley, you and I will examine the kill zone. Unfortunately, it could not be fully preserved since the alley is in the public domain and the victim's body has hence been removed. We will just have to make do with what we have. Gleeson, Abbot and Harry will handle the interrogation of the other witnesses. We asked them all to meet us here. Everyone happy with the plan?" asks Jeffries as he places his large hands on his hips and scans the team from left to right.

"Aye, sounds grand, now let's get to it," replies Gleeson dismissively before anyone else could get a word in.

Ridley grabs Lincoln's hand and gives it a quick squeeze. She smiles at him and says: "Good luck, let's catch this guy."

"Hey come on sis, what about me?" shouts Ung as Ridley walks off into the alley with Agent Jeffries. She turns and smiles at her brother and shows him her right middle finger.

"That's my sister, good to have things back to normal."

Lincoln laughs at his best friend and pats him on the shoulder. He never understood the weird love-hate relationship that Ung and Ridley had since they were kids. It was different after Ridley was found. She was so torn up, Ung became extremely protective of her but the more he tried to shield her from the world the more she would push him away. Eventually he realised that all she wanted was to be treated the same way she was treated before she was taken, so he went back to being her annoying, obnoxious and highly-inappropriate big brother.

Lincoln and Ung enter the "Golden Rat" and walk straight over to the bar. Ung sees a head of dark brown hair move behind the counter. He stands on his tip-toes and leans over the massive wooden bar.

"Excuse me little fella, is your dad around? I'm a detective and my partner and I need to talk to him to see if he can help us catch a bad guy? If you get him for me real quick I'll even make you an honorary deputy, how's that sound?" says Ung with an impressed look on his unshaven face.

"Sounds like you're looking to get your nutsack punched in, detective fuck-head," replies the voice of the unknown figure from behind the bar.

"Uhh... what?" Ung is taken aback and not quite sure how to respond to that. Before he gets an opportunity to collect his thoughts, he hears a thud on the floor as the person places a step platform of sorts on the ground and then proceeds to climb it. The man's head appears from below the bar counter. He is a fully grown man with a neatly trimmed beard, wearing a sleeveless shirt that has an arrow printed on it. The arrow is pointing towards his crotch and there is text on his shirt that says "would you like to see me' lucky charms?" The man is clearly an adult little-person and not a child at all.

"Uh... fuck, I mean, my apologies sir... I... uh," says Ung as he blushes bright red and scratches his head as if he is digging for words that would be able to make him look like less of a tool at this point. The man behind the bar just stares at Ung with an impatient, annoyed expression.

Laughter is heard from across the dance floor of the pub. Lincoln and Ung turn to see Harry and Gleeson hosing themselves and pointing at Ung mockingly. It's the first time any of them have seen Gleeson laugh – it was fairly disturbing actually, kind of like the first time you see a priest smack a nun on the ass as she walks by – just unnatural.

"Very funny assholes!" shouts Ung and he turns to look at Lincoln for support. It is taking every fibre of Lincoln's being to not laugh out loud as well.

"So, what do you want then, Mr-Big-Dick-Detective? I suppose you want to hear about the murder right? Well, let me give you all the details I have then, shall I? My name is Ross Pike, the owner of the Golden Rat. My brother, Officer Rick Pike was murdered in the alley right behind this very establishment. I went out for a smoke and found his body. I called the cops and they arrived and did pretty-much nothing fucking useful as usual and that's it. Now either buy a drink or fuck off," says the bartender.

Ung is starting to lose his patience with Pike now and before he can stop himself he says: "Listen here, I apologised to you and there is no need to be so short with - "

Lincoln cringes as his friend realises he had another slip of the tongue. At this point Harry is doubled-over laughing and Gleeson is keeping himself upright by leaning on a wooden pillar.

"Oh a short joke. Very fucking original, well how's about I whip out my not-so-little friend and we see who comes up short then, hey asshole?" Pike climbs up on the bar counter and starts to unzip his jeans.

"Stop it Rossy, these are good people, they didn't mean anything by it." The gentle voice came from the door behind the bar leading into the kitchen. Standing in the doorway is Tifa Hollowbrook holding a stack of menus in her hand. Pike's demeanour changes immediately when he sees Tifa.

"My love, you didn't have to come in today, you should be resting," he says as he hops down from the step platform and runs over to Tifa. The two embrace each other in a way that makes it clear that they have some sort of romantic relationship.

Ung turns to Lincoln and raises his one eyebrow as if he is confused by what he is seeing. "My love? Fuck sakes how'd he manage to swing that?"

"Well at least you know you're her type now," replies Lincoln with a wry smile on his face.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I'm just saying, he is kind of a bite-sized version of you," laughs Lincoln.

"Ahhh fuck you too Linc!" shouts Ung as he playfully punches Lincoln on the shoulder.

Tifa retreats back into the kitchen and Pike returns to Lincoln and Ung.

"Ok, fire away then boys," says Pike. His mood has changed drastically and he is a lot more willing to help with the investigation at this point.

About half an hour later, Lincoln and Ung have concluded the interview with Pike. Gleeson, Abbot and Harry have also completed their interviews with the handful of other witnesses. The five men meet just outside the entrance of the pub.

"So, did you guys get anything useful out of Ung's "little friend"," asks Harry still smiling. At this point he seems to be the only one that still finds the incident with Pike amusing.

"Not really. He claims he was covered in the victim's blood because he tried to resuscitate him," replies Ung. "I don't trust him though; he didn't seem to give much of a shit about his brother's passing. I think we should include him on our list of suspects."

"He can't be the Wishbone killer, his height would preclude him from too many of the prior murders," disagrees Gleeson.

"You are still assuming this is Wishbone, we don't believe it is," retorts Ung with a frustrated tone.

The two alpha males stare each other down, as if they are ready to battle each other to the death.

"Let's not have this argument again," interjects Lincoln, "we're burning daylight. I suggest we go find Ridley and Jeffries and see if they have had any better luck than we did." The men nod their heads in agreement and move towards the alley way in silence, there is clearly tension amongst the group. As they round the corner, Ridley and Jeffries come walking out of the alley and almost collide with Lincoln and Ung. Jeffries indicates that they don't have much to report either and the team decides to head back over to the war room to discuss their next steps.

As the team cross the quiet road to get back to their vehicles, Lincoln feels like he is being watched. He turns to see Ross Pike staring at him through a window. When Pike sees Lincoln turn he quickly backs away from the window and disappears from sight. Lincoln feels a warm sensation on his lips. He takes a tissue out of his jacket pocket and wipes his mouth and nose hurriedly – his nose is bleeding again. This is the third time today, first time was back at the Inn and then again when he was alone outside the Hollowbrook estate and now it was bleeding once again.

"You ok Linc?" asks Ridley with a concerned expression on her face. Lincoln quickly stuffs the bloody tissue in his pocket.

"Yeah I'm fine Rid, never better," replies Lincoln with a forced smile. Ridley smiles back at Lincoln and continues to walk towards the agents' vehicle.

The team climb into their rides and head off to the Sheriff's station. Lincoln notices that Jeffries seems a little uneasy as he climbs into his vehicle. He keeps brushing his jacket pocket as if there is something important in there. Lincoln's feeling of uneasiness continues to grow – he feels that he can trust no one other than Ridley, Ung and Harry. He thinks to himself that there is something at play in this town that is not quite what it seems...

### Chapter 5 - The vengeful dragon

Lincoln stares out of the window at the full moon – it feels like days have gone by since they arrived in the war room. At least there was less tension in the room since Gleeson, Abbot, Lily and Jeffries decided to leave and get some rest. Their frustration with the lack of progress was palpable. Their constant bickering with Ridley, Ung and Harry had given Lincoln a headache. Finally, Lincoln was able to think in peace. He takes another sip of his tea and starts to think about the case. The team's list of suspects at this point was: Deputy Jonah Lily, Sheriff Abbot, Ross Pike and Tifa Hollowbrook. They all agreed that there was something off about the sheriff and his deputy and as for Ross and Tifa; they were the closest relatives to the victims. The problem was motive – what could the motive have been to kill a seemingly innocent old woman and a police officer with a spotless record? How were they linked? The killings did not seem random – what were they missing? Lincoln could not help but add Agent Jeffries to his own mental list of suspects. He kept acting so strangely since they left the Golden Rat, Lincoln caught him just staring at the others on several occasions. Even when he left the war room, he was behaving weirdly. He had waited for Abbot, Lily and Gleeson to leave and then left abruptly about a minute later without even saying goodbye – it was as if he was trying to sneak away. Lincoln's thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a rumbling sound coming from his stomach.

"Ughh..." exclaims Lincoln as he rubs his belly.

The rest of the team stop the discussion about why Ross Pike is the most likely suspect, to see what is going on with Lincoln.

"You ok, brother?" asks Ung with a concerned tone.

"Uhh... I'm not feeling too great all of a sudden guys," replies Lincoln as his stomach groans even louder. "I think I better head back to the Inn and lie down."

"Ok, we should probably all call it a night anyway, we'll go with you Linc..." says Harry as he stands up and starts putting on his jacket.

"No, please guys, just carry on here without me. We really need to make some sort of break before morning. I'll be fine; I'll catch up with you tomorrow."

After a bit of back and forth the team finally agree to remain in the war room and continue working on the case. Lincoln leaves the Sheriff's station and begins to walk back to the Inn.

Lincoln thought that the fresh air would help him feel better, but unfortunately that is not the case. As he starts to get closer to the Inn, he feels his head start to spin and he almost passes out. He sits down on a curb and puts his head in his hands. He thinks to himself that he just needs a few minutes break and then he will be good to go, the Inn is just a couple of blocks away. He hears a noise and looks up. His vision is starting to blur at this point. He listens closely and hears what sounds like footsteps – something is not right, no one would be out walking the streets at this hour. He looks to his left and sees a car parked close by – the car looks very familiar. He realises that it belongs to Jeffries. Lincoln begins to panic, what if Jeffries is the copycat? What if he drugged him back at the war room and is coming after him now? He musters up every ounce of his willpower and sprints across the street. He feels a pain shoot through his toes as he kicks the curb and he falls onto the pavement and slides shoulder first into a wall. The footsteps are coming closer and are quickening. He grabs the top of the low wall and lifts himself to his feet. He sees an iron gate next to the wall and he can make out some text that is shaped from the iron in the middle of the gate: "Lily Manor". Lily Manor, he thinks to himself, this must be Jonah's home. Although he does not fully trust the Deputy, he thinks he will be better off with Jonah than without him, given his current state. He notices that the gate is ajar and he manages to push his way through the opening. He runs as fast as he can down the long, winding driveway of the Lily estate until he reaches the front door of the mansion. He knocks on the door and it swings open – it is unlocked. He is too flustered to realise that the door being unlocked is a potential red flag and he bursts in anyway.

"Jonah! Jonah! Help... me... Jonah!" Lincoln sees that there is no light coming from the ground floor of the mansion, however, there is light at the top of the staircase. He stumbles up the stairs and grips the railing as he moves as quickly as he can towards the light. He bursts through the door of the room, from where the light is emanating and trips over a leg and falls to his knees. He looks around and sees three dead bodies in the room. The one is an old woman and close by her is the corpse of an old man. The third is lying face down. Lincoln musters up his last remaining strength to push the body onto its side. The face of the corpse is now visible, lifeless eyes staring blankly at Lincoln. He recognises this man, it's Agent Jeffries.

Lincoln hears footsteps behind him and then they stop.

"Hello Lincoln, so glad you could join me," he hears someone say in an unnaturally deep voice. They must be using a voice modulator, thinks Lincoln to himself as he turns to face the origin of the voice and falls flat on his back. He can see a figure dressed in black wearing some sort of mask. He battles to make out what the mask looks like but before he can do so the figure steps over him, one foot planted firmly on either side of his chest. The unknown person takes out a taser.

"This won't hurt a bit... well, maybe just a little, hahaha," laughs the mysterious figure mockingly as it bends down on one knee and places the taser against Lincoln's neck. Lincoln feels a massive jolt of electricity coursing through his body as he hears the sadistic laughter of his tormentor slowly fade away. Then suddenly everything goes black...

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

The young girl stares at her reflection in the mirror and begins to blush, she has always been shy. She glances over at the photo of her family on her dresser. In the picture alongside her is her annoying older brother and her parents – she loves them very much. A jolt of sadness hits her as she looks at how happy her father was back then, when her mother was still with them. He would always say that he was the luckiest man on earth to find a woman as beautiful as her that would love a greasy old biker like himself. The only other person in her life that the young girl loved was Lincoln, she was so happy that he had asked her to the annual school dance – she hadn't stopped smiling since they kissed in the park a few days before. She was ready for tonight, ready to dance the night away in his arms – she felt safe with him and she knew that he had loved her for years. She had loved him for just as long.

She descends down the stairs with elegance beyond her age, her excitement growing with each step.

"Dad! Dad! I'm ready to go," she calls out. No one replies. She spots her father in his favourite lazy boy armchair, sound asleep. She walks over to the muscular, middle-aged man and covers him with a woollen blanket. She can smell the alcohol on his breath. She is used to this by now, ever since her mother passed he would try his best to be there for her and her brother but the comfort that the booze provided always seemed to win at the end of the day. He was supposed to take her to pick up Lincoln and then drop them at the dance. Dean had left a while ago, so getting a lift with him was not an option. She had no other option than to walk, luckily the school was not too far from her home.

She opens the front door and sees a man standing before her with his back towards her. "Um... excuse me, can I help you?" she asks timidly. The man says nothing. He takes something out of his pocket and the girl notices that he has gloves on his hands.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" she repeats.

The man turns slowly towards her and she sees his face – it is grotesque and warped – she cannot make out what it is. Fear consumes her and she steps backwards and trips over her own feet. The man grabs her and places the cloth that he has in his hand over her nose and mouth. She struggles to break free from his grip, but she cannot. Her vision starts to blur and she begins to slip out of consciousness. Soon the fear subsides and is replaced by a feeling of complete relaxation – as if she were asleep.

She hears voices now; they are getting louder and louder. They are men's voices and they are clearly having an argument about something. She listens closely to try and make out what the men are arguing about.

"You shut your dirty, sheep-shagging mouth you lying son of a bitch!"

"Sheep-shagging? You ignorant bastard, if you are going to insult me and my countryman at least use the correct insults you stupid tit!"

The men continue to shout at each other. She suddenly hears a third voice calling her name, this voice is a lot more gentle and pleasing to her ear.

"Rid... Rid, wake up."

She slowly opens her eyes and sees a familiar face staring back at her. It takes her a moment to get her bearings and then she realises that she was just dreaming. Her friend, Harry, had woken her. She realises that she, Harry and her brother had fallen asleep in the war room at the Sheriff's station and had spent the whole night there.

"What's all the shouting about?" she asks as she yawns and wipes the sleep from her eyes.

"It's Gleeson and Jonah; they sure are going at it. Dean and Abbot are trying to keep them apart. We better go over to find out what the deal is," replies Harry as he helps Ridley to her feet and hands her a breath mint. The two hurriedly leave the war room and enter the office area of the Sheriff's station where the argument is taking place. Ridley silently wonders what this could be about. Whatever it is, she is glad it woke her from her dream – memories of that day are tough for her to deal with and she prefers to try and just forget about it. But she will never fully forget about it – how could she forget the moment she was taken from everyone she loved for so many years – she would never forget, no matter how hard she tried.

"Come here you bastard!" Gleeson grabs Jonah by his collar and pulls back his fist. He swings at the deputy but Ung lodges his body between the two men and catches a blow to the jaw for his good will.

"Uh fuck!" exclaims Ung as he wipes the blood from his split top lip.

"That's enough!" Ridley comes storming into the room and grabs Gleeson's arm, twists it behind his back and brings him to his knees in one swift movement. Meanwhile, Harry flings Jonah against the wall with strength that you would not expect from such a lean young man. The two men seem to be calming down and the situation is diffused.

"Not a bad hook you got there Scotsman," says Ung as he swaggers over to Gleeson, "but if you ever punch me again – even by accident - you better kill me." Darkness enters Ung's eyes as he stares down the agent, even his sister is taken aback by the look on his face.

"I apologise, Dean, that fucker just got me so riled up. Jeffries was not just my partner, he was my friend as well," responds Gleeson as the anger subsides from Ung's face.

"What's this all about?" asks Ridley sternly as she helps Agent Gleeson back to his feet and dusts him off.

"This rat-fucking-son-of-a..." Jonah's rant is interrupted by the Sheriff.

"Deputy Lily, that's quite enough!" Jonah quietens down but is still staring daggers at Gleeson.

The Sheriff asks one of the other officers to escort Jonah to the rec room and to wait there with him. Once Jonah has left, the Sheriff continues to explain the situation. Ridley is surprised by the Sheriff – to date he has taken a back seat as far as the investigation is concerned, however, after seeing Jonah so upset he has stepped up and taken charge of the situation.

The Sheriff proceeds to explain that he received a call from Jonah in the early hours of the morning. He was frantic and the Sheriff could not even make out what he was trying to say, so he rushed over to Lily Manor where Jonah lives with his parents. When he arrived, he found him upstairs in the library hunched over the lifeless bodies of his mother, Genevieve, and father, Rankshaw. Jonah was crying inconsolably, he was very close to his parents. The Sheriff explains that there was a third corpse in the room – that of Agent Jeffries, Gleeson's long time partner in the FBI. The Sheriff called for additional units to join him at the manor and they did an initial sweep of the scene. That is when they found something on the corpse of Agent Jeffries, in his jacket pocket. Abbot picks up an evidence bag that is lying on top of his desk. He holds it up and the team see that it is a piece of parchment that appears to portray the partial head of a lion.

"Hold on a second, that looks like it fits with the piece of parchment that we found at the Hollowbrook residence," remarks Harry.

The Sheriff confirms that Harry's theory is in fact true; the parchment is a match to the piece that they found the day before with the knight's helm on it.

"But why would Jeffries have that on him? Why would he have not shown it to the rest of us?" asks Ridley with a puzzled look on her face.

"I don't know," responds Gleeson, "but Deputy Lily has his theory."

Gleeson explains that he was waiting for the team and Jeffries back at the Hollowbrook Inn earlier that morning. After none of them showed, he thought that they had already gone back to the war room to get an early start, so he walked to the station alone. Upon arrival he noticed the team sleeping in the war room and decided to brew up a fresh pot of coffee before waking them. When he entered the rec room Jonah was there. Jonah grabbed him and a scuffle ensued. That's when Abbot stepped in and shortly thereafter, Dean woke up and jumped in to try and diffuse the situation as well. Gleeson explains that Jonah accused Jeffries of being the killer. He believed that Jeffries attacked his parents and they managed to kill him during the struggle. The fact that the parchment was found on his person further supported Jonah's theory. However, Gleeson had argued that Jeffries could not be the killer for several reasons; firstly the killer could not have been killed during the struggle, they had enough time to lodge wishbones into the victims' ears post-mortem. Secondly, Jeffries was not even in Lily Port when the first murder took place. The more he attempted to reason with Jonah, the angrier he got and that's when Ridley and Harry woke up.

A few moments pass and everything seems to have simmered down and the team are ready to start focusing on the case again. They are discussing what their next step should be.

"It's a no-brainer, we have to visit Lily Manor," suggests Harry.

"I agree, we just need to make sure we keep Deputy Lily as far away from the crime scene as possible," agrees Gleeson. "Ok, wake up Lincoln and let's head out."

Ridley looks confused, "What do you mean wake up Lincoln? He went back to the Inn last night, he's not here."

"I spoke to the Hollowbrook girl at the Inn this morning, she said that as far as she knows none of you, including Lincoln, spent the night at the Inn," replies Gleeson equally confused.

"No worries guys, I'll call him," says Harry as he takes out his cell phone and dials Lincoln.

The only answer that Harry gets is an automated voice message: "Hi, you've reached Lincoln Holchester. I am not able to take your call right now, please leave your name and number and I will call you back as soon as possible."

"He's not answering guys."

Both Ung and Ridley attempt to call Lincoln as well with no more success than Harry. Dean begins to bite his nails and Ridley is pacing up and down – they know this is very unlike Lincoln. They recall that he felt ill the night before, which makes them even more concerned about the well-being of their friend. The team decide that before heading over to Lily Manor, they will retrace Lincoln's most probable route back to the Inn and also speak to Tifa to make sure that Lincoln definitely did not return to the Inn yet. They grab their stuff and get ready to leave the Sheriff's station, but Ridley stops dead in her tracks – she just had a thought.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a second, I forgot something in the war room," she lies.

Ridley enters the war room and heads over to where Lincoln was seated the night before. She looks over her shoulder to ensure that no one is watching, but they have all exited the station already. She spots the cup that Lincoln was drinking tea out of the night before. She peers into the cup and sees that the remnants of Lincoln's beverage have mostly dried up. Upon closer inspection, she notices a powdery residue at the bottom of the cup. She dips her slender finger into the substance and places it on the tip of her tongue. She immediately grabs a half-empty bottle of water from the war room table and takes a swig. She gargles the water and spits it out into the tea cup. She recalls her early days as a police officer when she would assist the narcotics division. This powder was definitely a drug of some sort, probably some sort of sedative. She is convinced that Lincoln was drugged the night before, this was no accident - Lincoln was the only one among them who drank tea. She needs to tell Harry and Ung but no one else, this was clearly an inside job. She feels a pit in her stomach as she fears the worst, but she knows she has to suck it up and pretend that she doesn't know that there was foul play involved.

As she leaves the station to join Harry, Ung and Gleeson at one of the Sheriff's vans that they borrowed for the day, so many thoughts are spinning around her head. Why Lincoln? What is the motive? Was it the killer that spiked the drink or an accomplice? What if Lincoln is... she needs to stop thinking about this, she needs a distraction. She reaches beneath her shirt and pulls out a locket attached to the end of a necklace. She opens the locket and smiles as she stares at the picture inside it. It's a picture of a much younger her with a slightly older boy next to her. The boy is smiling from ear to ear and so is she. She knows that this boy is special, she knows that this is not the end of this boy's story – she has faith in this boy, she has faith in Lincoln Holchester and he needs her now more than ever before.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

A man adjusts the rear view mirror of his car and stares at his reflection for a moment. He barely recognises the unshaven face and weary eyes that stare back at him. It was all worth it though, he thinks to himself, the past three years of searching for his sons' kidnapper with absolutely no progress had finally culminated in something. The detective in charge of the case had reviewed his research into the Wishbone killer and had concluded that he would make a great consultant on the investigative team – pro bono of course.

He races home to share the news with his wife; maybe this will finally bring some kind of relief to her. They have barely spoken since the incident and he sees the resentment she holds towards him in her eyes every time she can muster up the strength to even look at him. He knows that deep down she blames him for everything. He was supposed to protect their boys, that was his job, and he failed miserably at it.

He arrives at home and bursts through the front door excitedly.

"Rachel! Rachel!" he calls out, "love... where are you?" There is no response, only silence.

He searches for his wife in the living room and the kitchen, but to no avail. He goes upstairs and has a look around their bedroom, but there is still no sign of her.

"Rachel!" he calls out again.

"In here daddy!" replies the voice of a young boy. The man recognises the voice as that of his youngest and only remaining son, Maddox. The voice is not coming from Maddox's room but rather from the room that belonged to his two sons that were kidnapped, LJ and Mason.

"Maddy, why aren't you in bed?" he asks as he enters the dark bedroom and flicks on the light switch.

"I woke up cos I had a nightmare and I couldn't find you or mommy," replies Maddox. "I came into Junior and Mase's room and found her sleeping in Mase's bed," he says as he points to his mother lying on the bed beside him. She is motionless.

Lincoln walks over to his wife, Rachel, and gives her a gentle shake.

"Rachel... Rachel, wake up..."

"Rachel! Rachel!" he starts to panic when she is completely unresponsive. He turns towards the bedside cabinet and sees an open pill container lying on its side – it's empty.

He hurriedly takes his wife's pulse, he thinks he can feel a faint heart beat but is uncertain. He picks up Maddox and rushes to the master bedroom and proceeds to call 911. While the phone is ringing, he hears his son sobbing next to him. He turns to console Maddox, but Maddox is not there anymore. In his place is a faceless, dark figure.

"Adam!" calls out the figure in a haunting voice as it lunges at Lincoln. As it enters his body he once again feels a coldness circulate through him that causes indescribable pain and then all he sees is darkness.

"Huuuuuuuh!" gasps Lincoln as he awakens from yet another nightmare. He is disorientated and in pain. He looks from side to side and does not recognise his surroundings; a small dark room with no windows and no light other than a sliver that creeps in under the wooden door that blocks the entrance to this prison. He starts to recall some of the events of the night before; his memory is hazy but he can remember finding who he assumes are Jonah's parents and Jeffries dead at Lily Manor. He also remembers the man with the grotesque mask looming over him and being electrocuted, but he remembers nothing that happened after that.

Lincoln notices a small read light in the corner of the room close to the ceiling. He squints his eyes to try make out what the light is and he realises it's a camera. So his captor likes to watch, he thinks to himself as he shows the camera the middle finger.

"Come get me coward!" he snarls at the camera.

A moment later the heavy, wooden door slowly creeps open and exposes a shadowy figure standing in the entrance. Lincoln stares at his captor, he does not fear this person, he knows this is not the one they call Wishbone – he can sense it. This is the copycat.

"Good morrow, Mr. Holchester! I hope you slept well, are the facilities up to standard? Anything I can get you?" says the figure in the same deep voice Lincoln heard when he was assaulted at Lily Manor.

"You can unshackle me and let me kick your teeth down your throat..." replies Lincoln with his anger mounting.

"Tisk, tisk... so disappointing. That's the kind of aggressive, caveman-like response I would expect from your dim-witted associate, Mr. Skarsgard. What is it that you call him again? "Ung en", correct? "The young one", haha he has the wits of a child, that's for certain."

Lincoln's captor steps into the room and switches on a light. Even though the light is very dim, it still takes Lincoln's eyes a few moments to adjust before he can focus again. He can now see that his captor appears to have a male's physique but he can still not see his face. The mysterious man drags a chair from across the room to the center and sits down with his legs crossed. He pulls out a blade and holds it up to the dim light.

"I will so enjoy gutting that Neanderthal..." chuckles the unknown man. Lincoln realises that he wants him to react so he just sits there silently instead.

"Oh and let's not forget your other two sidekicks, the strapping young Harold Romstein and the beautiful Ms. Skarsgard – well at least she used to be beautiful before her, shall we say, "incident"".

Lincoln feels his temperature rise as the man begins to mock Ridley, but he is still determined not to give him the reaction he is so clearly trying to coax out of him.

"Anyways, enough about them. It's you that I am interested in, Lincoln. You are the one that is special – apparently. I don't know what it is about you, but He certainly is attached to you." The man sits forward in his chair and for the first time Lincoln can see his masked face clearly in the light. The mask is disfigured and appears to be that of some sort of clown but it has been horribly melted – Lincoln thinks to himself that it is quite disturbing but he still stares at the man, unflinching.

"So Linc – you don't mind if I call you Linc, right? This is what is going to happen next. I have with me a notebook and in this notebook is a story. It's a great tale – I'm sure you will love it as much as I do. I want you to study this story and then I will come back with a video recorder. You will then recite the story verbatim while I record you – and that's all. Splendid!" The man takes out a notebook from his pocket and flings it over to Lincoln.

Lincoln picks up the notebook and says, "I'm not your lap dog, coward. Read your own damn story!" He flings the book back across the room and it hits the masked man on his shoulder.

"I thought you might need an incentive to do my bidding – so predictable – I really thought you would be different to all the other sheep out there." The man raises himself to his feet and begins to pace back and forth.

"So let me tell you a story first then, shall I? Very well. This is the story of what will happen if you don't do exactly as I say. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. This princess lived in a castle with a knight, a jester and several other buffoons." The man pauses for a moment and holds up a tablet device. He turns the screen so that it faces Lincoln and switches the screen on.

Lincoln can see what appears to be a black and white video feed from a camera in some sort of room. He takes a look and he realises that the room in the feed is the war room at the Sheriff's station in Lily Port.

"Just give it a moment and you will see them all huddled in their castle... there they are, all the stars of our tale." Lincoln sees several people enter the room and sit down. He recognises them as his team – Ung, Ridley and Harry.

"They were all so happy in the castle even though they were worried about their friend who seemed to have disappeared. Little did they know that their friend had foolishly gone hunting for a dragon and that very dragon had captured him and was keeping him locked away in his lair. This dragon was dangerous and his power was not to be underestimated. However, the dragon was not always this way, he was made this way by an even bigger, badder dragon many years ago. And now this dragon was planning on getting his revenge on the other dragon that corrupted his soul and snatched his innocence from him." He continues to pace back and forth and seems to be growing more excited and even child-like as the story progresses.

"The dragon had a masterful plan to get his revenge and this plan involved his captor doing exactly what he told him to do and if he didn't, the dragon would destroy the castle and all of its inhabitants. He would scorch the skin and bones of the princess and her companions and feast on their charred flesh." He is growing more aggressive as he continues the story. He takes a small device from his pocket and shows it to Lincoln. It's a handheld remote detonator.

"There are two ways this story can end Lincoln, either the dragon presses this button right now and you say goodbye to your friends or you save them by helping him get his vengeance." He flings the notebook back at Lincoln who is about to explode at this point but is still managing to maintain his composure.

"Choose your path..." snarls the man as he stares at Lincoln from behind his mask. Lincoln stares back at him for several seconds. His mind is working overtime assessing his options and the possible outcomes. He is unsure if the man is bluffing, but the risk is too great to try and call his potential bluff so Lincoln decides to give in to his demands. He picks up the notebook and begins to page through it.

"Wise decision. I'll be back in an hour and then it's your time in the spotlight. Remember what's at stake here; the lives of your beloved team." The man stands up and leans over Lincoln with his masked face so close to Lincoln's that he can taste his warm breath.

"Don't poke this dragon Linc, it will be the end of you and all you hold dear..."

### Chapter 6 - Families and flames

"Dean... Dean... that's enough, we are wasting our time here," whispers Ridley to her brother as he frantically searches Lily Manor's library for any clues that could help him find out where his best friend could be.

"Just five more minutes Rid, there must something here... hey Harry, you having any luck over there?"

"No, I haven't found a damn thing in this fucking place," replies Harry with an uncharacteristic tone of frustration in his voice. He is usually cool, calm and collected but ever since Lincoln went missing he has been short-tempered and impatient. Lincoln's well-being was clearly concerning him.

The team and Agent Gleeson had searched the library high and low for hours and found no significant evidence regarding Lincoln's whereabouts. They did find signs of a struggle, however, and also found the white shell that Lincoln would always carry around with him, on the floor next to his cell phone. They were thus confident that Lincoln had been taken against his will. Agent Gleeson had given up on the investigation of the library first. He had left to question the neighbours to see if they had seen or heard anything suspicious the night before. The rest of the team had remained behind to continue searching the manor.

Ridley was starting to feel defeated at this point. She had been through the library with a fine-tooth comb and still found nothing. It was almost as if the kidnapper knew exactly what they would look for. That, coupled with the drugs that someone had laced Lincoln's tea with back at the Sheriff's station, was what resulted in her theory that someone on the inside was either the copycat or an accomplice. After Gleeson had left, she had shared her findings with Harry and Ung. They were all on edge and on high alert – they trusted no one except for each other.

Ridley begins to grow impatient and bored as her brother and Harry continue to aimlessly spin their wheels in the library. She ambles over to one of the bookshelves and runs her finger down the spine of each book as she reads their names one by one. She spots a book about the history of the Lily family and removes it from the bookshelf. As she opens it up, it accidentally slips from her grasp and falls to the wooden floor with a loud thud.

"What was that? Rid, you ok?" asks Ung.

"It was nothing, just a book - relax," she replies as she picks the book up off of the floor. As she does so, something catches her eye and she pauses for a moment.

"Rid? What's wrong?" asks her brother. He walks over to his sister and kneels down beside her to see what she is looking at.

"These scratch marks on the floor, look at their direction. This floor is immaculate and completely undamaged everywhere except for these scratches," she mutters as she runs her hand over the scratch marks.

"It's like something swung open and scratched it while in motion. It must be a door..." Ridley stands up and stares at the bookshelf. Ung has seen this look on his sister's face before; she was solving a puzzle in her mind. She was always smarter than him; she was able to figure out things that stumped even Lincoln.

"J-O-N-A-H... it spells Jonah. If you look at the Dewey decimals for all of those white books they are the numeric representations of the letters that spell "Jonah". That cannot be a coincidence." Ridley begins to grab the books off of the shelf and she flips them open. At the back of each book is a small device with a white button on it. She presses each button in the order of the books that spell out the name of the Lily's only child. Nothing happens.

"Well, you tried sis. Your mind never ceases to amaze me," remarks Dean as he puts his arm around his sister's shoulder. Ridley is still just staring at the shelf.

Suddenly the bookshelf makes a loud clicking noise and starts to move slowly. It creaks open and Ridley can hear it scratching the floorboards as it does so. She can see that behind the bookshelf is a staircase. Without saying a word, Ridley rushes to the stairs and grabs the railing as she prepares to descend into the darkness below.

"Whoa! You have no idea what could be down there," objects Harry as he dashes over and places his hand on top of Ridley's. "Let me go first and check it out." Harry takes out his cell phone and fires up the torch app. He slowly begins to descend the rickety, old staircase with Ridley following closely behind him.

"Uhhh... I was about to offer to check it out first too Rid," proclaims Ung unconvincingly as he follows his sister down the staircase into the unknown. They are all hoping desperately that it will lead them to some answers quickly, they all have the feeling that they are running out of time to save their friend from a highly intelligent and extremely dangerous killer.

The team find themselves in a small, dark room surrounded by more bookshelves. The room appears ancient, almost medieval.

"Whoa, how old-school are these lanterns? This place is awesome!" says Harry as he holds up one of the lanterns that he found on a desk in the room in front of Ung. Ung reaches for his lighter and lights the lantern. The room is illuminated and the team are in awe of architecture, it's like something out of a story book.

They spend some time looking through the books in this room. Most of them are about the history of Lily Port, legends of the supernatural and the occult. They don't pay too much attention to their contents; they are still looking for any clues to help them find Lincoln. While Ung and Harry continue to search for clues hurriedly, Ridley is sitting at the large spiral wooden table in the middle of the room and reading a massive tome.

"Rid, now is not the time for reading about the history of this fucking freak show town, we need to find something that will lead us to Linc," exclaims Ung with a tone of frustration.

"Shut up Dean, I think I have found something," replies Ridley dismissively without even looking up from the tome.

"What is it?" asks Ung curiously as he peers over her shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of what she is reading so intensely.

Ridley looks up from the book briefly and starts to share what she has read: "This tells the story of the history of Lily Port – not the edited version that is publically available, the real history of the town. The author is W.H. Hollowbrook – likely an ancestor of our first victim."

She flips a few pages and continues: "It tells of the founding families of Lily Port that landed here centuries ago. There were four such families and each had its own skills and expertise that together helped them form a very powerful and successful community. The Lilys were the first family and they were known as exceptional leaders and pioneers. Lily Port was named after them. Secondly, there was the Hollowbrook family. The Hollowbrooks were known for their intelligence and were well versed in the occult and the supernatural. They were the scholars and sorcerers of the community. The third was the Pike family. They were renowned warriors that excelled in the art of war; they were the defenders of the community. The final family was the Whites. They were exceptionally wealthy and possessed the skills required for building a thriving society such as mining, architecture, agriculture, etc. Together these families were able to emancipate Lily Port from the rest of the country. Through their power and wealth they were able to influence the governments of the world in such a way that they were left alone to thrive over the centuries isolated from the issues that plagued the rest of the world – war, famine, disease - "

Ung interrupts Ridley abruptly: "Not that this isn't a great fairy tale sis, but what the hell has this got to do with finding Linc?"

"Just be patient and listen for once in your life!" replies Ridley as she scowls at her older brother who responds with a sheepish look and falls silent.

Ridley pages through the book to the more recent entries: "The most recent entries talk of the families losing their way and although they remained wealthy and powerful, it began to wane. It says that they forgot who they really were and abandoned the practices that had made them great in the first place. Those within Lily Port that were nostalgic for the old days were led by an oracle who spoke of an outsider who would one day come to them and through blood and fire would fulfil the ultimate destiny of this community. It describes this man as the most prolific killer that the world will ever see, a man that will slowly bathe the world in blood during a reign of terror that will last decades."

Ridley pauses and looks up at her brother and Harry who is frantically trying to search for information on the families' on his laptop.

"Now this is where it gets interesting," she says. "A lot of the book is written in riddles and metaphors. Like this part where it says "A few will come close to thwarting the Harbinger before the gambit; the wounded knight whose pride was scorched asunder will be the first to fail..." You see it? You see what it means?"

Harry and Ung stare at each other blankly for a moment and shrug; they clearly have no idea what Ridley is talking about.

"The parchment that we found at the scene," she begins to explain with a look on her face that makes Harry and Ung both feel stupid. "The first had a knight's helm on it and the second had a lion. They were also both very clearly burned. This passage refers to a knight – just like on the parchment – whose pride was scorched. I believe that pride is actually referring to the collective noun for lions in this context. I believe this man lost his family to this prolific killer mentioned here in some sort of incident involving fire. I also believe that this killer is Wishbone and our copycat is actually trying to avenge his family by luring Wishbone into revealing himself."

"Rid, come on, that's crazy. This book was written long ago, for that to be true it would have to be predicting the future and that's impossible," interjects Harry before he turns his focus back to his laptop.

"Well, we have nothing else to go on, I say we look into it," remarks Ung as he smiles at his sister. "So what's the next move?"

"I will keep reading to see what else I can turn up and in the meanwhile we need to figure out what the parchment represents. Based on its appearance and the reference to a "pride" or "family" in the text, my guess would be that it is some sort of family crest or coat of arms. Harry, could you scan the parchment and run a search across all -"

Ridley is interrupted mid-sentence by an excruciatingly loud alarm siren and the team all cover their ears. Ung sees that there is some sort of gas being expelled through the room's vents.

"That does not look good guys, we better get out of here now!" Ung rushes over to his sister, as does Harry. Ridley attempts to grab the tome that she was reading as they flee from the room which is rapidly filling up with the noxious gas. The tome is heavy and as Ung and Harry grab her to help her out of the room; she drops it on the stone floor. She attempts to break free and retrieve it, but Harry and Ung refuse to let go of her.

"Leave it Rid, we can come back later when the gas has cleared and grab it, we have to get the fuck out of here right now!"

Harry and Ung drag Ridley back to the top of the staircase and into the library. As they collapse on the library floor, the secret bookshelf door slams shut and they hear a loud clicking sound as it seals itself off.

"You idiots!" shouts Ridley, "there was more information in that book that could have helped us find Linc! You should've let me go back for it!"

"Rid, calm down," replies Ung calmly.

"Don't tell me to calm down, he needs us and we need to help him!"

"I know but just calm down..." replies Ung as he tries to reason with his sister.

"We are running out of time to save him - I can feel it. What if he is..." Ridley clears her throat while she tries to hold back the tears. "What if he doesn't make it, what if I fail him..."

Ung walks over to his sister and stares at her for a moment. He then takes a single step forward and wraps his arms around her. She can no longer hold back the tears and she puts her face against her brother's shoulder and begins to sob.

"We won't fail, I can do this," says Harry from the corner of the library. "Let's head back to the Sheriff's station and get a hold of that parchment and I'll track down this son of a bitch. I won't let him harm Lincoln, I won't let him take him from you... or from any of us. Trust me, today is not the day he leaves us – now let's go get our friend back..."

### Chapter 7 - The copycat

"Son... son... are you okay? Nurse, get him something to drink, stat."

"Yes doctor, right away."

"Can you talk young man? How are you feeling?"

The teenage boy slowly opens his eyes and blinks repeatedly as they adjust to the light. He looks around slowly and sees machines and monitors around the sterile room that he finds himself in. He attempts to swivel his head to the left to face the man in the white coat that is standing beside his bed.

"Ughhhh!" he winces as a pain shoots across his neck and face.

The man in the white coat leans over and gently places his hand on the teenager's chest; "Don't try move son, you have been in an accident. You have suffered extensive burns across most of your body, you are very fortunate to be alive. You are a real fighter, young man."

"Fa...jer..."

"Don't speak, son, just relax"

The boy begins to grow agitated, "Fa... jer!"

"Alright, calm down, I understand you want to know where your father is. Do you remember what happened to you?"

The boy tries to recall the incident that lead to his current condition. He thinks back, but all he can remember are the screams of his family and flames engulfing his home. He feels a raw pain in his wrists and recalls being bound extremely tightly as someone doused him in some sort of liquid. He recalls the pungent smell of the liquid and realises it must have been gasoline or some other kind of accelerant. He stares at the man in the white coat who appears to be a doctor and shakes his head slowly from left to right.

"Um... ok then," replies the doctor with a sombre look on his face. "I'm truly sorry to have to tell you this, but your home burned down. Your entire family was in the home and... well... unfortunately you were the only one who managed to survive... I'm so sorry..."

The boy remains eerily calm and barely reacts to the news of his family's demise. It was almost as if subconsciously he already knew they were gone and he had already dealt with the grief. He loved his father most of all and he knew that his father would want him to be strong and not become emotional and weak in front of this stranger.

The doctor tucks his clipboard under his arm and says: "I guess I will leave you alone then. Oh and before I forget, someone is here to visit you. He's a police officer – a Sheriff I believe. Is it ok with you if he comes in for a chat?"

The boy lays on the hospital bed motionless and unresponsive as he continues to stare blankly out of the window.

"I'll take that as a yes then..." says the doctor awkwardly as he leaves the room.

A few moments later, a burly man who appears to be in his late twenties or early thirties strides into the room. The boy turns slowly to look at the man and notices that he has a gun strapped to his belt and a badge pinned to his chest. The man takes off his hat and places it on the bedside table as he sits down beside the boy's bed.

"Well howdy there," says the man with an uncomfortable smile on his face. "I believe you are Joseph, is that correct?"

The boy is still unresponsive.

"That's fine, no need to answer – I get it," remarks the man in uniform.

"Well, Joseph, I'm the Sheriff over at Lily Port, it's a town close by here," the man continues. "I'm sure you're wondering what your unfortunate incident has to do with Lily Port and why I have bothered to come here."

The boy still shows no sign that he cares what the Sheriff has to say.

"I'll cut to the chase, kid. I know you're hurting right now and I know that you have been through an extremely traumatic event. I also know that your memory is partially gone, but that you remember enough to know that this was no accident – someone murdered your family and tried to kill you as well. I know the feeling you are feeling right now, Joseph, a feeling of hate and anger."

The man leans in closer to the boy, Joseph, and whispers: "I know you want vengeance on the one who killed your family. The good news is, that I just so happen to be your avenging angel."

The boy is intrigued now and he stares the Sheriff in his eyes, unblinking.

The Sheriff continues; "You see, I believe that I know who did this to you and your family, Joseph. This person has taken things from me too and he will not stop until someone makes him stop. I believe that together we can get your memories back and somewhere in those memories is the key to figuring out this monster's weakness. Together, we can make him pay for what he has done!"

Joseph feels his temperature begin to rise – he is excited by the prospect of vengeance. He is unsure if he can trust the Sheriff, he is a complete stranger after all. However, there is something about this man that he does trust and he also has no idea what else to do now that he is all alone in this god-forsaken world.

He extends his open hand towards the Sheriff and murmurs: "Call... me... Joe..."

The Sheriff gently grabs Joseph's hand and shakes it slowly; "Well hi there Joe, I'm sure we will make great partners. My name is Sheriff James Lily, but you can call me Jim..."

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

A man is leaning over a filthy, dusty, porcelain sink. He raises his head and looks into the mirror on the front of the medicine cabinet. His face and head are concealed by a grotesque, distorted mask. The mask was once the face of a clown but it has been melted and twisted to the extent that one can barely recognise what it was in its former life.

The masked man thinks about his former life; he remembers his father and how much he loved him. He remembers his mother and his siblings and how much they cared for one another – except for her - the little bitch that started all of this, the one who brought the grim reaper and his foot soldier to their door that fateful night. He knew from the first time he saw her with his father that she was there to take him away from them – he should've gutted her while he had the chance. Even though his father loved her like his own daughter, she was never happy. He recalls how she would sit and stare out of the bedroom window with that fucking wishbone in her hand and hum some tune – as if she were calling for that monster to come and steal her away from them. Eventually he did come, but he took far more than just that little she-devil.

The man feels his frustration grow and he screams loudly at the mirror for a moment. He feels refreshed after his tantrum and he leaves the bathroom and goes back into the adjacent room. This room is bare except for a pretty flimsy wooden table in the middle of it and one rickety chair. He sits on the chair and unlocks the laptop that is on top of the table. The laptop has two windows open; the first is a live video stream of a dark room. He can see the contents of the room using the night vision feature of the camera. A man is sitting in the room, all alone in the darkness. He is stoic and glances up at the camera every now and then. The other window on the laptop's screen is displaying an email inbox. The man is rigorously refreshing the inbox, he is clearly waiting for an email from someone. He begins to grow frustrated. He was convinced that the video he took of his captive would lure out the reaper. He knew for certain that some of his followers were continuously monitoring the dark web so he was certain that they had seen the video by now, he had posted it several hours ago.

He minimises the live video stream window and opens up the video clip that he forced his captive to be a part of, to view it for the umpteenth time...

"My name is Lincoln Holchester. I am being forced against my will to deliver a message to you. This message is in the form of a story... fuck this shit... Ahhhhhh!" the man in the video screams out in pain as a jolt of electricity courses through his body.

"Alright... alright..." he continues with the message. "Once upon a time... there was a boy. This boy lived happily with his mother, father, brothers and sisters in a beautiful kingdom. They were happy together and they loved each other very much."

Lincoln pauses to clear his throat and then proceeds: "One day, out of the kindness of their hearts, the boy's parents decided to take in yet another lost child - a child with no family of her own. They chose to give this child a home and share their love with her."

Lincoln stops telling the story for a moment and looks past the lens of the camera, "Just give me some water you fucking maniac! Agggghhhh!" he cries out as he is shocked once again.

"Huh... huh..." he gasps to catch his breath and then looks back into the lens and resumes the story:

"But this girl was not a girl at all. She was a succubus, a demon wearing the skin of an innocent child. This demon was sent to the happy family's home to see if He would want to take them, to consume them, to reap them. She would call to Him night and day and lie about what the good father would do to her. The father was a brave knight, with the heart of a lion, but even he was no match for her master when he came to claim them. When the reaper came with his minion in tow, he bound and tortured the family before feeding them to his hell fire. As their skin was scorched from their bones they screamed out in pain. They all eventually gave into the darkness and were at peace – except for the young boy. He lay there unable to move, in excruciating pain, but fully aware of what was happening around him. The reaper, the succubus and the minion were unaware that the boy had survived and revealed themselves thinking that they were safe from prying eyes – but they were wrong. After the incident, this boy temporarily lost his memory, but with the help of a special man he slowly but surely began to remember. Now he remembers it all; he remembers the jewel, the flower and the son of the dancing whore."

The man behind the recorder in the video hands Lincoln a bottle of water as if he is rewarding him. Lincoln takes a few gulps and then his captor grabs it away from him.

"Ok, I'll carry on with your fucking story!"

"The boy spent many years searching for the reaper and with the help of the special man he was able to get very close to meeting him again, but he never quite managed to do so, until he realised that the reaper had a special interest in a man from the Valley. The boy knew that the reaper has plans for this man and he needs him alive, but the clock is ticking and when it stops, so does the Valley man's life."

Suddenly Lincoln's captor steps in front of the recorder and begins to beat him mercilessly. He kicks Lincoln while he is doubled over on the ground and stomps on his face repeatedly. Eventually, Lincoln seems to lose consciousness and his assailant ceases the beating. He stares directly at the camera and begins to laugh from behind his distorted mask, and then the video ends abruptly.

The masked man closes the video player on his laptop and goes back to his email inbox. He refreshes it again. This time there is an email, but it is not the one he has been waiting for all this time. He opens the mail and begins to read it hastily. The sender is listed as cricket5459@safemail.com and the subject is "The train has left the station". The body of the email says "The passengers have reached the conductor and it is time to switch tracks immediately."

The masked man is taken aback by this cryptic message. He shuts his laptop and removes his mask. He grabs a bag and places it on top of the table. He unzips it and carefully removes its contents: a timing device, several coloured wires and plastic explosives. He sits down at the table and starts to assemble the materials. He is clearly building some sort of bomb, that much is clear, however, his target – just like his identity – remains a mystery, at least for now...

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"Guys, I think I've found something!" exclaims Harry excitedly as he spins his laptop around to face Ung and Ridley. The siblings move across the war room hastily and sit closer to Harry.

"I managed to combine the pieces of parchment that we found at the scenes and I ran it through an image cleanup and binarization program to prepare it for a search across all data stores that I have access to – and some that I don't..."

Ung interrupts Harry: "Ok super nerd, calm down. Cut the geek-speak and get to the point, we are on the clock here."

"Oh, my bad," replies Harry. "After I ran the image search I found this."

Harry shows his teammates an image on his screen.

"It's a coat of arms, just as we suspected," remarks Ridley.

"The question is: which family does it belong to?" enquires Ung.

Harry scrolls down to reveal a word beneath the crest.

"McKinna," replies Harry with a smile on his face, "they are the ones we are looking for. I believe it is from Irish decent. I ran a search for all McKinna families, but there are hundreds – turns out the name is not as uncommon as one may think. We will need something else to narrow down our search."

"The fire!" says Ridley with the excited look of a child on Christmas morning. "I'm sure that the copycat's family was involved in some sort of incident involving fire, that's why the parchment is burnt."

Ung leans over Harry's laptop; "In all likelihood the killer would be younger than fifty... Can you run a search for all known arson or accidental fires for homes belonging to families named McKinna in the last 50 years?"

"Sure thing... ok this could take a while, be patient..." replies Harry.

The team are all staring at Harry's laptop as the search is running – they are all chomping at the bit to see if it turns up any results. Their wait is interrupted by the sound of the war room door being opened.

"Sorry to interrupt, I know you are all very busy with the search for Mr. Holchester," says Jonah in a timid voice. He has not been himself since the murder of his parents; his eyes are swollen and baggy probably due to lack of sleep. He constantly seems preoccupied and anxious and he spends most of his time alone or with Sheriff Abbot, he has excluded himself from the investigation and has avoided the team at all costs – especially Gleeson.

"We have received a message, a video clip actually. It's from the man we believe to be Lincoln's captor. You need to take a look at it, I emailed it to Harry. I must warn you... it's quite upsetting..."

Harry wastes no time in opening the video clip while Ung and Ridley gather around him. The video clip is a few minutes long and it shows Lincoln telling a story about a boy and his family who were tortured and had their home burned down by a man they called the "reaper". The boy was the only survivor. The video ends with some cryptic messages and then the captor finally shows himself, but he is unfortunately masked. He proceeds to beat Lincoln mercilessly and then laughs maniacally and the video ends.

The team are all deeply disturbed and upset by what they just saw. Ridley has tears welling up but she is fighting them. She knows she needs to be strong and focused if they stand a chance of getting Lincoln back alive.

"Well... uh... uh..." Ridley coughs to clear the lump in her throat and says, "at least we know he's still alive."

"That son of a bitch, I'm gonna fucking end him!" shouts Ung as he slams his fists on the table. His anger begins to grow and starts to get out of control. Ridley grabs him by the wrist and when he tries to break free from her grip she slaps him through the face with all her might. Ung rubs his red cheek and just stares at his sister.

"Thanks, I needed that," he says to her, "now let's figure out how to find this bastard."

At that moment Gleeson comes bursting through the war room door and pushes past Jonah. The two men briefly stare each other down – there is clearly no love-loss between them – and then Jonah leaves the room abruptly.

"Have you seen the clip yet?" he asks the team. Ridley nods her head.

"Well my boys down at the forensics lab managed to pick something up while analysing the video."

"That was fast," remarks Harry skeptically.

"We're the FBI son, we don't fuck around," retorts Gleeson condescendingly.

"As I was saying," he continues, "my guys managed to isolate a background noise and enhance it." Gleeson takes out his tablet device and plays a sound clip. It is some sort of music, like that of a carousel.

"Is that... carnival music?" asks Ung.

"Yes, I believe it is," replies Gleeson, "I believe that this video was taken close to the Lily Port Carnival located in the harbour district."

"Well what are we waiting for, let's take as many units as we can and canvas that area – Linc is running out of time!" exclaims Ung as he kicks into action and starts gathering his belongings that are scattered throughout the war room. Ung and Gleeson leave the room with Ridley following them.

Harry calls out to Ridley: "Wait a second Rid, come check this out."

Ung and Gleeson have already left the war room and are speaking to Jonah to try and organise as many units as possible. Sheriff Abbot is not presently at the station so Jonah is leading the charge on this operation. Ridley turns and walks back to Harry.

"Check this out," continues Harry, "the search has returned. It located an article from 25 years ago where a McKinna family that lived not too far from Lily Port were killed in a house fire. There were signs of foul play but the case never gained any traction and eventually it went cold. The interesting thing is that the McKinna's were a serial foster family. They had several children for whom they were the biological parents, but even more that they had fostered. Both parents and all of the children were confirmed dead at the scene – except for one. Their son, Joseph, was found barely alive. He was taken to the nearest hospital where he recovered for several weeks. He was the only survivor of the incident."

"Joseph McKinna \- he must be our copycat! His story matches the one in the video clip that Lincoln was reciting," says Ridley overflowing with excitement.

"Wait, there's more..." says Harry, "shortly after his recovery, Joseph disappeared from his room at the hospital and has never been seen since. Apparently there were witnesses that claimed to see him leave with an unidentified male subject."

Ridley looks perplexed: "So what do we know? We know that Joseph McKinna is our most likely suspect. We also know that he is probably working with someone else – potentially the man who abducted him from the hospital. One of them has access to this station which explains the drugs I found in Linc's tea."

"The inside man would most likely have injected himself into the case, which means that the drugger was most likely Jonah, Sheriff Abbot, Agent Gleeson or Agent Jeffries," adds Harry.

"We also know that at the time of Joseph leaving the hospital, this man that is likely his accomplice was already an adult. All of our suspects would therefore be too young to be this mystery man – except for Sheriff Abbot." Ridley pauses and looks outside the war room window. She sees Jonah, Gleeson and Ung briefing several officers that are geared up to conduct the sweep of the carnival.

Ridley is feeling uneasy. "Where is Abbot by the way? I haven't seen him around for a while. Something isn't right here."

"Yes! Sorry to change the subject, but I managed to track down the social worker that worked with the McKinna's back in the day. Apparently she profiled the entire family, including Joseph, to see if their home was fit to foster more kids."

Ridley is waiting anxiously as her phone rings, eventually someone at the Social Services office answers. Ridley proceeds to explain to them that they are looking for the social worker that worked with the McKinnas. This person has unfortunately retired since then, but the lady that she is talking to does agree to send all the information that they have on the family through to Ridley as soon as they confirm her credentials. Ridley thanks the woman and hangs up.

"Hey you two, get a move on!" says Ung as he pops his head into the war room and stares down Harry and his sister.

Harry and Ridley gather their things and head out of the station with Jonah, Ung, Gleeson and several other officers. They climb into their vehicles and head off to the carnival. Ridley thinks to herself that she was never a big fan of carnivals as a kid and she has a sinking feeling that before the day is done she will have a reason to loathe them even more.

### Chapter 8 - Guardian angels

"One ticket please," gasps the handsome man as he jogs over to the ticket desk of the subway station. He had to work late again this evening even though it's his birthday – and not just any birthday – his twenty-first. They say that this is the age that boys truly enter manhood, but he feels that he grew up faster than the average boy. He is already a father of two young toddlers and he recently found out that his beautiful wife is pregnant with their third child.

The ticket clerk hands him one ticket and he dashes off towards the subway train. He sees that the doors are sliding shut and he makes a run for it.

"Dammit!" he exclaims as the doors shut in his face and he is left standing alone on the platform. He looks up at the schedule board and sees that there is still one train left for the day that is headed to his stop. His wife was keeping his kids up late so that they could see their father on his birthday, thereafter he knew there was going to be a surprise party for him – his best friend really sucked at keeping secrets but he had pretended for weeks now that he didn't know of his wife's plans.

"Guess I better get comfortable," he mutters to himself as he walks casually towards one of the benches. He takes a seat and looks around – the station is like a ghost town, the only other person around is a vagrant who is sitting hunched over against a wall. He appears to be fast asleep.

He glances down at his wristwatch for the tenth time in the last minute, the time between each tick of the second hand feels like an eternity. He can't wait to get on a train and head home to his family and friends. He loves being a father and so far he is doing a far better job at it than his father did, he vowed to himself that he wouldn't let the sins of his father take root in him.

He smells the stench of alcohol in the air – probably wafting over from the vagrant – and it reminds him of when his father and Jeger would get pissed with the rest of the club years back. Although he too was now one of the HAM-ers, he stayed far away from drugs and alcohol, he believes it's for the weak and he wants to be a role model to his sons. His life was close to perfect at this point – except for one thing. As hard as he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about his childhood sweetheart. She was taken when he was just a boy and it devastated him. He was completely powerless to help her, but he never stopped thinking about her and praying that she would come back to him safely. He would've gone insane if he hadn't met his now wife shortly after the kidnapping. He loved his wife very much but as much as he tried to convince himself that she was his first choice, he knew deep down that that was a lie. Despite his uncertainty, he couldn't ask for a better mother for his sons and he loved those boys more than anything else in this world.

As he continues to wait for the train, he begins to fall asleep. He is exhausted from the long hours he has been working lately but the extra pay is great, it's helping a lot with the college fund for his kids. He is abruptly woken from his sleep by loud footsteps. He is slightly disorientated and before he can clear the sleep from his eyes, he sees a blade being lunged at his throat. He manages to evade the blade at the last second and he falls onto the concrete floor of the subway head first. He is dazed and confused but he manages to roll over onto his back. He looks up and sees the blade that almost ended his life; it has blood dripping from it. It is being held by a man with an unruly beard and soul-less, beady eyes. He recognises this man as the vagrant that appeared to be sleeping in the station only a few minutes ago.

"This is the only way to stop Him... I'm so sorry... SAVAGE!" yells the vagrant as he gets down on one knee and plunges the blade towards his throat. He desperately fights for his life - he will see his sons and wife again, they need him. He will not let this booze-soaked lunatic take him from them.

"Ahhhh!" screams the vagrant in pain as he suddenly drops the blade to the floor. The man can see a hooded figure standing over them. His one hand is gripping the vagrant's shoulder – he looks like he is barely putting any power into the grip, but it is clearly inflicting excruciating pain. With an effortless flick of his wrist, he throws the vagrant across the floor. Another two men appear and grab the vagrant by the arms. They tie his hands behind his back and drag him kicking and screaming across the floor and out of sight.

"SAVAGE! SAVAGE!" he shouts repeatedly as he is hauled away. He is staring at his intended victim as he does so, but his eyes contain no anger, instead they seem to be making a desperate plea. "SAVAGE! SAVAGE!" he continues to scream until one of his captors punches him on the temple and knocks him out cold.

As the vagrant's intended victim lies on the ground with his head throbbing and his vision blurred, he sees the hooded figure staring down at him. He cannot see his face, but he does see a marking on his hand – it looks like an eye. The hooded figure is motionless and seems to just be staring at him. He feels a strange sensation unlike any he has felt before. It's almost as if the mysterious man can see into his soul and he can feel him inside his mind and body. The hooded man suddenly turns and vanishes – he moves unnaturally quickly and quietly – more like a shadow than a person.

The man lifts himself up off of the cold, hard floor and rubs his hand against his neck. He sees blood on his hand and realises that the blade had in fact cut him quite badly. He applies pressure to the wound and sits down on the bench. He thinks to himself how lucky he is that those strange men came along and saved him from that lunatic. He thinks that today was almost the last day in the life of Lincoln Holchester.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Lincoln is lying on the floor of his makeshift prison cell trying to figure a way out of this predicament. He is malnourished, dehydrated and too weak to fight his captor, should he return. It has been quite some time since he heard the frantic movements and frustrated shouts of the masked man. He must have left to execute whatever the next part of his plan was.

All Lincoln can think of is the safety of his friends; Ridley, Ung and Harry. What did this psychopath have planned for them? He closes his eyes for just a moment – he needs to rest. When he opens them he sees two boys standing beside him, staring down at him.

"Daddy, are you ok?" the taller of the two boys asks him.

"Mason? LJ? Is that you?" asks Lincoln as he clears the dust from his eyes.

"Just give up daddy. If you give up you can be with us and with mommy."

Lincoln is silent for a moment and then responds: "I can't boys, there are people that need me, I can't fail them."

"But you failed us, daddy. Why are they more important than us?" says the younger of the two boys.

Lincoln is not sure how to respond to that. He always felt that he had failed his boys but he had spent every moment since then trying to avenge them. Hearing them say that felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart and twisted the blade. He starts to consider doing as his sons suggest and just give up. It would be so easy; he would finally be at peace. He would be back with his family. But what about Ridley, Ung and Harry? He couldn't just leave them to the mercy of this madman, he needed to fight.

"I can't do -" he is interrupted by a loud bang and a cracking noise. He turns his head to face the door; the noise seems to be coming from the adjacent room. He looks back at where his sons were standing and they are no longer there – they must have been a hallucination. If that's the case, then how does he know that these noises are real or a figment of his imagination as well?

He strains his ears to try and hear what is going on in the other room. He can make out at least two voices and several footsteps pacing back and forth.

He hears one of the unidentified voices say: "He's gone, sir. We'll pack up his equipment and see if the carnival team have eyes on him."

A few moments later he hears a different voice: "I think there is someone behind this door, sir."

There's a clicking sound as the handle of the door jiggles back and forth followed by a single, louder click as the door is unlocked. Lincoln sees the handle of the door rotate and it swings open slowly to reveal a figure standing in the doorway. It is too dark for Lincoln to identify the person standing before him. He can see by his silhouette that he is hooded and that he does not have the same physique as his masked captor. The hooded man tosses a key towards him. Lincoln reaches across the floor to grab the key and uses it to unlock his restraints. He is uncertain who these men are and why they would save him.

"Who are you?" he enquires, his voice hoarse due to dehydration.

The hooded man moves a few steps forward without responding. He tosses something else over to Lincoln – a bottle of water. Lincoln hurriedly grabs the bottle and begins to gulp down the contents. As the water washes down his throat, it feels painful but nourishing simultaneously. After his thirst has been quenched and the bottle is empty, he places it on the hard, cold cement floor and looks up at his hooded saviour.

"Thank you. Now please tell me who you are," he says as he struggles to his feet. The hooded man is still silent. He turns and begins to walk away.

"Come back here!" calls out Lincoln frustratedly as he lunges at his saviour. The man responds with lightning fast reflexes and grabs Lincoln's arm and effortlessly brings him to his knees.

"Ahhhh fuck!" screams Lincoln painfully.

With a simple flick of his wrist, the man flings Lincoln across the room and into a wall. He stares at Lincoln for a moment before turning and leaving.

Lincoln hears one of the voices from earlier say "Come on, we're done here," followed by several sets of footsteps as the men exit the building.

Lincoln takes a moment to gather his thoughts. He sits up and rubs his head where it connected with the concrete wall. Although he still has no idea who these men were and what their agenda was, he did learn at least one thing from this encounter; this was not the first time his path had crossed with that of the mysterious, silent, hooded man. He felt the same feeling when the man stared at him as he did when he was outside the Hollowbrook home - he was sure that he was being watched then and he was convinced that this man was his stalker.

He also caught a glimpse of something when the man grabbed him and brought him to his knees. There was a marking on the man's hand that he recognised. It may be slightly more faded and worn than when he saw it all those years ago, but he would never forget it. He would never forget that eye. It was the same eye tattoo that the man had all those years back in the subway. This was the same man and he had saved Lincoln's life for a second time. He should be happy that this man was watching over him, but something just didn't feel right. He can't shake the feeling that this guardian angel of his may have an ulterior motive for saving him. Perhaps he was no angel at all; perhaps he was a demon in disguise just saving him for a far more tragic fate.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"De-de-diddle-diddle-de-de-de-ne," hums Ung as the team prepare to search the carnival.

"Please stop! You know carnivals freak me out!" complains Ridley as she punches her brother on his shoulder.

Harry interrupts the siblings' shenanigans: "Guys, focus. We need to be on high alert – something is not adding up here. Please, focus and be careful."

The siblings nod their heads in agreement and finish fastening their Kevlar vests and adjusting their headsets. Gleeson joins them in the tactical assault van that is being used as their headquarters whilst out in the field. They recap the plan one last time: Ung, Ridley, Jonah and five other officers will be splitting up to search the carnival. They will be operating in pairs and each pair will cover a different quadrant: Ridley and Ung will cover the north-east quadrant, Jonah and one officer will cover the south-east quadrant and the other four officers will be covering the two western quadrants. Gleeson will be commanding the operation from the assault van and despite his insistence that Harry accompany Ridley and Ung in the field, Harry has decided to stay back at the van and run with the surveillance of the area. Ridley, Ung and Harry also had an ulterior motive for having him stay at the van – they don't trust anyone and they want to have a pair of eyes and ears at every location involved in the operation.

The team complete their final preparations and Gleeson gives them the order to move out. This is not something that Ung has much experience with and Ridley can see that he is nervous. As a former police officer, she is more comfortable with this sort of situation; however, the stakes have never been quite so high.

About an hour passes and the team find nothing at the carnival that seems to be linked to Lincoln or his captor.

Ung hangs his head in despondency: "I think we've been played. Let's head back, this was just a distraction."

Ridley can see how upset her brother is. Although they have a love-hate relationship, she does care for him deeply and she can see how losing his best friend has taken its toll on him. She decides not to argue with him despite her not wanting to give up just yet.

"Gleeson, we're heading back in," she says over her headset.

"Hey Rid, it's Harry here," is the response she receives back. "Gleeson is calling in air support to search the surrounding area; I am running things until he returns. Are you sure - "

Harry is interrupted by another voice over the same channel: "HQ, come in, this is Deputy Lily."

"Hi Jonah, this is Harry, I read you loud and clear, please proceed."

"We have come across something strange in our quadrant. It looks like some sort of clown on a tricycle. It came out of nowhere and stopped right in front of us."

"Is the clown responsive?" enquires Harry.

"No, we attempted to start a dialogue, but I'm not even sure it's a living person," responds Jonah. "I have a bad feeling about this, I am requesting backup."

"All units proceed to the south-east quadrant to assist. Please proceed with caution."

"Jonah, this is Dean, we're on our way, sit tight."

Ung and Ridley dash towards Jonah's quadrant as fast as they can. As they pass the ring toss stand, they see the clown on a tricycle, Jonah and 5 other officers with their weapons drawn and aimed at the potential threat. Ridley notices that there are still civilians in the area.

"Everybody clear out! Please proceed to the exit in an orderly fashion!" she calls out to the crowd. Most of the people ignore her but some start to move slowly away from the scene when they notice Jonah and the officers' weapons.

"I repeat, everybody - "

A loud screeching noise originating from the clown cuts off Ridley mid-sentence. People cover their ears and turn to see what the source of the noise is.

"Now that I have your attention boys and girls, let me introduce myself," says a voice that seems to be originating from the clown. Ridley figures that it must be from a tape recorder since the clown is still completely motionless. The voice has been manipulated to sound very high pitched and almost squeaky.

"I am Shabby the clown, but some of you may know me as good old Sheriff Abbot."

Jonah screams out "No!" and runs over to the clown. He grabs the clown mask and rips it off of the rider's face. He screams in pain as he does so, the mask seems to be electrified and it shocks him half to death until the other officers come to his aide.

Now that the mask has been removed, Sheriff Abbot's lifeless face can been seen. It was clearly not his choice to play the role of "Shabby".

The recorded voice continues: "I have been a loyal servant of the man you call Wishbone for many years and now it's time for ol' Shabby to pay his debt. The way I plan to do this is by telling you all a story... oh, and I forgot to mention that you should really not try to stop me from telling my tale or to run away, doing so could have "explosive" consequences – HA HA HA HA HA."

"That mother fucker!" calls out Jonah angrily.

"Calm the fuck down before you get us all killed Jonah!" exclaims Ung.

Jonah is visibly agitated and is starting to sweat profusely. The other Lily Port officers are in a similar state, only Ridley and Ung seem to be keeping their cool.

The recorder proceeds to tell its story: "This is a story about five families. Four of these families founded a community together. The community thrived for centuries under the rule of these four families until one day one of the rulers of the community broke the number one rule that they lived by: only ever breed within the Four to keep the bloodlines pure. This is where the fifth family joins our little tale. A man from this fifth family fell in love with one of the princesses and together they started their own blood line. The Four could not allow this since the man was just a peasant and held no title. The peasant and the princess had a child and this angered the Four beyond their breaking point. They called this child tainted and they had both the peasant and the princess executed for the unforgivable sin of mixing their holy blood with that of a commoner."

The voice pauses for a moment. Ridley and Ung look at Jonah as he takes a step towards Abbot's corpse.

The recorded voice begins to speak again and startles everyone as it does so: "Ha – you thought it was over didn't you? I just went to grab the popcorn, we are just getting started."

"Now for the good part," it continues. "Fast forward to the present. The town of Lily Port seems to be a simple, wholesome, small town where folks just pull their weight and live peaceful lives hurting no one around them. However, these bloodlines run deep and the old ways are still alive and well. The only difference is that the Four are not in charge anymore – they are lead by just one person, one demon that wears the flesh of a man. He is the descendant of the tainted, come to take his place in the game, he is the reaper, he is - "

"Officer, stand down!" shouts Ung as he hears one of the officers pull back the hammer of his revolver to get ready to fire. The officer shoots the recorder that is strapped to the corpse of Sheriff Abbot and it smashes into several pieces. There is silence... but then they hear something – it's a faint ticking sound emanating from the tricycle.

Ridley looks over to her brother and calmly says "Run". The siblings turn and begin to run away from Abbot as fast as they possibly can. The officer that shot the recorder sees them and begins to fire his revolver in their direction. At this point, Jonah and the other officers are also sprinting away from the lifeless corpse of Sheriff Abbot.

A few seconds later everything goes eerily quiet and Ridley feels almost like she is running in slow motion. She looks over at her brother who is still running while holding his shoulder. They both turn to look back at Abbot's corpse and as they do so there is a deafening explosion. Ridley feels herself being lifted off the ground and flying through the air as her ears begin to ring. The feeling is actually quite pleasant and she may have even enjoyed herself if it wasn't for the circumstances. She sees the tarred floor approaching faster and faster until it is right in front of her eyes and then everything goes dark...

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

A young girl wearing a dirty dress is sitting in a poorly lit room with her skinny legs held firmly against her chest. She has her eyes closed and is rocking back and forth muttering something to herself. She is praying to her deceased mother to help her, to save her from the man who took her.

She opens her eyes and grabs the locket around her neck. She opens it and feels comforted for a moment as she looks at the photos of her mother and of Lincoln. She thinks to herself that he and her brother, Dean, must be beside themselves with worry. She is certain that with the help of her father and his club mates, they will find her and save her.

Her attention is drawn towards the door of her prison as she hears it unlock. She fears her captor and she scurries under the bed quickly in an attempt to hide from him. She can hear his footsteps as he enters the room and she sees his leather boots from under the bed. They look like something out of one of those old Western movies that she would watch with her family.

"Well howdy there sweetheart," says the man in the leather boots as he peers under the bed and grins at her. "Ridley Skarsgard, what a beautiful name that is!" he exclaims playfully.

The young girl, Ridley, stares at the man with a fearful expression on her face. She has never been so afraid in her young life. The man reaches for her hand with a maniacal grin on his partially obscured face but Ridley kicks his hand away and scoots further under the bed. As she does this, she feels something under her hand. It is long and rusty and has a sharp point on the end – she thinks to herself that it must be a nail, just like the ones she used with Dean and Linc when they built their "no girls allowed – except for Rid" tree house last summer.

"Now don't be shy. Be a good girl and come to Uncle -", Ridley cannot make out his name as he says it. She grabs the rusty nail tightly in her petite hand and holds onto it for dear life. As the man continues to get closer to her, she continues to try and fight him off. He eventually clutches her ankle and pulls her out from underneath the bed. She closes her eyes and thrusts the nail towards the area where she believes the man's face to be.

"Ahhhhhh you little bitch!" the man cries out in pain. Ridley opens her eyes and sees that her hand is holding a blood-drenched, rusted nail. She looks up at her captor and he is buckled over in pain clutching his left eye. She sees an open door behind him and makes a run for it. The man doesn't seem to care; he is too busy muttering curses under his breath as he applies pressure to his wounded eye.

As she exits the room, she enters a dark passageway and runs towards a dim light coming from another room. Upon entering the room, she sees a doorway and rushes over to it. Through the window pane, she can see a driveway leading into a quiet street. She pulls at the door handle frantically but it's locked shut. She decides to try to exit the house through a different door but as she turns and begins to run she slams straight into the belly of a gigantic man. She falls flat onto her back and looks up at the behemoth that is standing over her.

"You should have just been patient, He will be here for you soon," bellows the massive man.

The man that Ridley wounded comes storming into the room still holding his eye and shouts: "I don't care what He said we need to do, she is mine now!"

He dashes towards Ridley, but the giant man grabs him by the shoulder and says: "You know that's not an option. Calm down and go rest, I will be there momentarily with the medical kit."

The man in the leather boots starts to calm down. He nods his head in acknowledgement and heads off down the passage way.

The large man turns his attention back to Ridley, grabs her by her arm and pulls her to her feet.

"You won't be taking my eye little lady," he says calmly as he back-hands Ridley. She falls back down to the floor in an unconscious heap as the mountain of a man turns and walks away.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

Ridley slowly opens her eyes. It takes her a moment to focus and make out who the person is sitting next to her bed.

"Hey Rid, you gave us a real scare there," says Lincoln as he takes her hand and smiles at her. She notices that he is quite badly injured but seems to be fine overall.

"Linc! What the – what happened? I thought you were – you know" she rambles.

"Calm down, it's all ok Rid. I'm fine and so are Ung and Harry. Ung is a little banged up but he is up and about already, he went to grab some drinks for us – we have been waiting for you to wake for a day. How are you feeling?"

She rubs her head and says: "My head hurts a bit and so do my ribs, but I'm ok. Now please tell me what happened, I need all the details."

Lincoln proceeds to tell Ridley about Abbot's corpse exploding after one of the Lily Port officers made it do so. There is evidence that both the officer and Abbot were lackeys of Wishbone and the officer sacrificed himself to prevent any clues to Wishbone's identity being exposed. Unfortunately, the tape recorder was destroyed and there is no way for them to hear the rest of its message. He explains that all of the officers on the scene were killed in the explosion – some instantly and others died en route to the hospital. The only survivors were Jonah, Ung and Ridley. Harry, Gleeson and the other officers that were back at the tac van were also all fine and were still searching the carnival and its surrounding areas. Harry had called to say that he had something really important to share with the team, but it was top secret information and he was on his way over to share it with them in person.

Lincoln also explains what had happened to him during this time. He tells Ridley about his masked captor and his version of events reinforces the team's theory that this man was a copycat that was looking to exact his vengeance on Wishbone. He also explains that some mysterious men saved him – but he does not say that he believes the man with the eye tattoo to be the same man that saved him from the deranged vagrant while Ridley was still missing years ago. After being left for dead by his supposed saviours, Lincoln had managed to crawl out of his prison and realised that he was in the dock district. Luckily for him, a security guard was nearby and had heard the commotion. He came to Lincoln's aide and called an ambulance and helped Lincoln remain hydrated until they arrived.

"He saved my life Rid, I thought I was done for," remarks Lincoln as Ridley stares back at him with a smile on her face.

"Well you're just fine Linc, you always are..."

Ridley and Lincoln spend a few moments just staring into each other's eyes. They are so peaceful during this time, but just like any foreign substance, this unusual feeling is quickly evicted as the hospital room door creaks open.

"You're awake! Thank fuck, Rid, you had me so fucking worried, holy shit - " rambles Ung as he bursts into the room and nearly hugs the life out of his sister.

"Ouch, easy on the ribs, I'm still a bit tender," replies Ridley.

"Sorry sis, I'm just so glad to see you," retorts Ung with a huge smile of relief on his bruised and cut face.

"I'm glad to see you too," replies Ridley with a half-smile. She battles to show affection ever since she was taken. The shrinks she went to since then all say that she suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but she refuses to seek treatment and this is the likely cause of her lack of emotion. However, when it comes to Lincoln, it seems like she is back to her old self again – just that little girl with big dreams and a fierce will to live life to its fullest.

Harry follows Ung into the room and greets everyone as well. After he too is fully caught up on all of the events of the past few days, he whips out his laptop and begins clicking around and typing furiously.

"Here it is guys, the break we have been waiting for. While all the action was going down, the social worker that we spoke to about the McKinna family got back to us. She said that the records for the family were lost, but she was able to dig up one photograph from the archives."

Harry spins his laptop around and continues: "This is the McKinna family. As you can see, there are many children and we have no way of knowing which one is which. However, I noticed something about this one boy over here." He points to a young teenage boy that is standing next to the father of the McKinna family.

"What's different about him?" asks Ung.

"He's happy," replies Lincoln.

"Exactly!" exclaims Harry. "He is the only child that is smiling genuinely. The others are either not smiling at all or their smiles appear forced. The social worker did mention that there were allegations of abuse brought against the McKinnas on several occasions but nothing could ever be proven. The abuse is likely what made these children so unhappy – all of them except for this one boy."

Ridley joins the conversation and says: "Stockholm Syndrome. That's why that boy is doing this. Despite the abuse, he really loved his parents – he probably believed that the abuse was how they showed love and he cherished it. When that was taken from him, his entire world fell apart."

"Exactly," replies Harry. "I believe that your theory is spot on Rid. For some reason, Wishbone killed the McKinna's but he made one mistake, he unintentionally left unstable little Joseph over here alive. Ever since then, Joseph has been hunting Wishbone and he finally discovered something that made him believe that coming to Lily Port and copying his MO would flush him out. Unfortunately for him that did not work and he grew frustrated, which is why he escalated to kidnapping and acts of mass terrorism."

"All of this is great kid, but where's the big break that you said you had?" enquires Ung.

"Ok, ok, I'll skip ahead to the good part then," says Harry as he spins his laptop back around and types furiously once again.

"So, I ran the young boy who we believe to be Joseph through my image cleanup and facial ageing software and it gave me a couple of possible mugshots for our unknown subject. Take a look."

He shows the team three different mugshots on his laptop screen. Almost simultaneously, they all gasp in shock.

"That son of a bitch, I recognise that fucker's face!" shouts Ung angrily.

Lincoln looks over to Harry and asks: "Can you track him down?"

"Sure can, the arrogant bastard still has his cell phone on him."

Ung rubs his hands together and says: "Let's go skin us a copycat."

### Chapter 9 - Catch a tiger by its toe

A van pulls up to the docks and comes to a halt. It idles for a few moments and then its engine dies and the headlights are switched off. A man gets out of the driver's seat, goes around to the rear and swings open the back door. He leans in and grabs something large and heavy and slings it over his shoulder. The object appears to be a person with ankles and wrists bound and a bag over their head. The man carries the bound body a few feet away from the van and then lays it down on the cold, hard concrete. He stands over the body and takes a revolver from his belt holster as he looks from left to right as if he is expecting someone.

A few moments pass and a hooded man steps out from behind one of the dock buildings and walks over to the man with the tied-up body at his feet.

"That's far enough!" says the man with the revolver, his voice obscured by a demodulator. He points his weapon directly at the head of the hooded man.

"I'm glad to see that I have His attention now. I see he sent his best man to do his dirty work – HA – I knew the coward wouldn't show up himself," he says smugly. "Now take off the hood, let me see if you truly are who I think you are."

The hooded man removes his hood revealing himself. He is a pallid man with a strong jaw and a clean-shaven head. His face cannot be completely seen in the poor lighting, however, it is clear that he has several tattoos on his face, all of which appear to be in the form of human eyes.

"Cricket was right! Ha-ha – the old man sure is a smart one!" calls out the man with the revolver gleefully. "I feel so honoured to finally meet the reaper's right-hand man – if you could see my face you would see that I am blushing like a school girl."

The pallid man stares motionlessly and says nothing.

"I heard you were a quiet one Mind's Eye – oh, you don't mind if I call you that, do you? I know we've barely met but I feel like we have known each other for years!"

The man known as Mind's Eye is still dead silent and unflinching.

"You are no fun, you old stick-in-the-mud!" continues the other man. "So let's get on with it then, as promised, I have brought the girl. She is just unconscious but is alive and well, I assure you. Now it's your turn, where is that little bitch?" asks the man furiously.

Mind's Eye still says nothing but begins to walk towards the armed man.

"Stop right there! This is your final warning!" shouts the man aggressively. However, Mind's Eye starts to speed up and is now running towards him. The man fires his revolver directly at the sprinting Mind's Eye but he evades every bullet in what can only be described as a "superhuman" fashion. The man realises that he is wasting his bullets firing at his current target, so he turns the weapon on his restrained captive instead.

"Stop right there or I will paint the pavement with her blood right now!" screams the man in anger. He is starting to panic as Mind's Eye gets closer to him. A moment later, he looks down for a split second to get his new target lined up but before he can squeeze the trigger, a pale hand grabs his wrist and an unbearable pain shoots through his arm causing his hand to open and drop the revolver. This is followed by a second hand grabbing his shoulder causing an even more severe pain that brings the man to his knees.

"Ahhhhhh you bastard!" he cries out in agony as he looks up at his torturer, the deathly pale man known as Mind's Eye. He moved with such speed and agility that he had taken the man by surprise and now the tables had truly turned. The pallid man places his hand around the neck of his opponent and begins to dig his fingernails into his throat. Blood is dripping down his neck and the man is gasping for air. He attempts to free himself from Mind's Eye's grip by clutching at his arm, however, his hand is grabbed and with one quick squeeze several of his finger bones can be heard snapping into pieces. As the grip around his throat tightens, the man prepares to take his final breath. He starts to fade out of consciousness, into a deep darkness...

BANG! The sound of a gunshot can be heard ringing through the night and the man feels the fatal grip on his throat loosen. He sees a pale arm covered in blood – Mind's Eye suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.

Mind's Eye doesn't seem to even feel the pain; he flicks his hood back over his face and looks in the direction of the gunshot's origin. Standing at the top of the alley way are three men and a woman. One of the men is holding a smoking pistol, that man is Dean Skarsgard. The other men are Harry Romstein and Lincoln Holchester and the woman is Ridley Skarsgard. Lincoln and Mind's Eye stare at each other for a moment – Lincoln knows that he is the same hooded man whom he has come across several times before.

"Put your hands up and move away from the bodies!" commands Ung.

Mind's Eye pauses for a moment and then grabs the bound body with a bag over its head and leaps back up onto his feet in one swift motion. With incredible speed, he bounds across the open area of the docks and disappears into the night.

"What the holy-fucking-shit was that!" exclaims Ung shell-shocked. "Was that a person? How'd he move so fast?"

"Uhhh..." mumbles the man with the broken fingers as he lifts himself onto his knees and reaches for his revolver. The team ignore what they just witnessed the hooded man do and turn their attention to the wounded man instead. Ridley runs over to him and kicks his revolver out of his reach seconds before he could grab it. Ung and Harry grab the man and hold him down as he attempts to break free. Ridley handcuffs his hands behind his back and searches him for weapons. Other than his revolver, he only has a blade on his person.

"Well this looks like a match for the Hollowbrook, Pike and Lily murders. I believe we have our copycat guys," remarks Ridley smiling from ear to ear. The man is wearing a clown mask that has been melted in a fire of some sort – just like Lincoln's captor did.

"Yip, this is the bastard that took me, that's for sure," says Lincoln. "It's time for us to unmask this son of a bitch."

Ridley turns to the masked man and asks: "Which name do you prefer these days? Joseph McKinna, or..." she pauses for a moment as she pulls the mask from the restrained man's face, "William Gleeson."

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

"The patient is stable but heavily medicated. You are welcome to question him but I don't think that you will have much success, he seems to just be rambling nonsensically."

"Thank you doctor, we'll take it from here," replies former Deputy – now Sheriff – Jonah Lily. The doctor exits the room and shuts the door behind him.

"Are you certain we shouldn't take him to the hospital with a protection detail instead of keeping him in the holding room overnight?" enquires Ridley.

"Yes, I am sure that this will be the safest place for him. I will be remaining here overnight to personally keep an eye on him and you are all welcome to do the same if it will make you feel better. It is just too dangerous to allow him to be in a place where civilians are present," responds Jonah authoritatively. He is certainly taking his new role of Sheriff very seriously – it may even be going to his head slightly.

Ridley nods her head in agreement. Jonah excuses himself and says that he will now be interrogating "his" perp. He enters the interrogation room and sits opposite the copycat killer, Special Agent William Gleeson.

"Let's begin," he says.

"Fuck off," replies Gleeson as he spits in Jonah's face. "HA-HA-HA poor little Jo-Jo," he laughs disturbingly.

Jonah wipes the saliva from his face and remains composed. He continues to try to question Gleeson but to no avail. Gleeson just keeps laughing in his face and asking for "Holchester". "I will only speak to my captive," he says as his response to every question that Jonah throws at him. Eventually Jonah decides to give up and stands up. He takes a few steps towards the door but turns suddenly to face Gleeson as he hears a noise. Gleeson pushes his steel chair away from the interrogation table and it makes a loud scratching noise. He then lunges at Jonah but his restraints hold him back and he lands on the interrogation room floor. He manages to bite down into Jonah's leg, right on his Achilles tendon.

"Ahhhh you fucking animal!" cries out Jonah as he begins to unholster his weapon. Gleeson continues to bite down even harder as Jonah's blood stains his yellow teeth crimson. The pain causes Jonah to fumble with his revolver and he drops it to the floor. His legs buckle and he falls onto his hands and knees. Gleeson sees his opportunity and launches himself in the direction of the weapon. As he stretches his handcuffed arms out to grab it, he feels something solid connect with his jaw. Blood gushes into his mouth but this time it is not Jonah's, it is his own. His body veers away from the revolver and his head hits the floor with a loud thud as he is knocked unconscious.

Standing over him is Ung who takes out a handkerchief and wipes Gleeson's blood from his size twelve boot.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to bite? Oh that's right, they were sick fucks just like you," says Ung mockingly as he stares at the unconscious killer.

Harry and Ung help Jonah to his feet and carry him to the infirmary to get checked out by the doctor. Lincoln and Ridley remain the other side of the one way glass as they wait for Gleeson to come to. Another two officers enter the interrogation room and sit Gleeson back on his chair. This time they restrain him even more vigorously.

About ten minutes pass and Gleeson begins to wake. He looks around and sees that he is alone and says, "Now that he is gone, come on in and let's have a chat, my pet." He cracks a maniacal smile that reveals his blood-stained teeth.

The door opens slowly and Lincoln enters the interrogation room. He sits down opposite Gleeson and says nothing – they just stare at each other in silence.

"I'm a dead man," says Gleeson, still smiling.

"Yes, you will probably get the death sentence – as you deserve," replies Lincoln.

"Death sentence? Pssshh – HA – you're funnier than you look. And not as bright as I thought you would be either. I will never see the inside of a court room, I know way too much for that." responds Gleeson indignantly. "He will make sure of that."

"Who is He, tell me and we'll get you protection I - "

Gleeson interrupts Lincoln in anger: "Oh shut up you stupid bastard! You couldn't protect me from any one of his minions, let alone the devil himself."

Lincoln stares at Gleeson with a look of boredom on his face, he doesn't want the psychopath to sense any of the anxiety or uncertainty that is coursing through his body.

"So why am I here then, Joseph?"

"Joseph – it's been a long time since anyone has called me that. Joseph McKinna was a boy, I transcended his weakness... I am William Gleeson!"

Lincoln looks at Gleeson emotionlessly, he knows that the killer is grandstanding and he does not want to give him the reaction that he is clearly looking for.

Gleeson sees that Lincoln is not intimidated by him and his demeanour changes. He leans in closer to Lincoln and whispers something to him.

"I don't know who he is or where to find him, but I know his weakness and I know the man that can bring him to his knees."

"Talk, I'm listening..." responds Lincoln.

"I'm not saying shit until you make me a deal. If I remain in Lily Port, I am a dead man. For that matter, He will get to me pretty much anywhere I go. The only place I am safe is with the Gator," says Gleeson with a look of concern on his face. He keeps looking at the door as if he is expecting someone to burst in at any moment.

"The Gator? Who the fuck is that then? The reaper, the dragon, the princess, the peasant, blah blah fucking blah," retorts Lincoln impatiently. "I am sick and tired of your pointless stories. Tell me who this person is and why he or she can keep you safe or else I walk!"

"Ok ok, calm down. I don't know exactly who he is. The man that I work with – let's call him Cricket – he is the one that can bring "Wishbone", as you call him, down once and for all. Cricket said to me that if I ever get caught, I should contact this email address."

Gleeson shows Lincoln his wrist and on it is a small tattoo that says "save_me_gator@gatormail.com".

"Do you really expect me to believe this bullshit? Gatormail? Fuck off, you're wasting my time." Lincoln stands up and begins to walk to the door.

"Wait a minute! I said wait dammit! I know who the Mind's Eye killer is!"

Lincoln stops dead in his tracks and turns to face the desperate Gleeson once more.

"Mind's Eye? As in the serial killer that removes his victim's eyes and marks them with a third eye on their foreheads? What's that got to do with Wishbone?"

Gleeson begins to sweat profusely as he begins to panic – he takes a large swig of the water provided to him. "I know you met him, the albino with the eye tattoos. I know that he saved you from me and I know that he saved you years ago as well – in the subway on your twenty-first birthday."

Lincoln is shocked by Gleeson's revelation – how could he possibly know about this man saving him all those years ago?

"You have my attention," he says while trying desperately to hide his bewilderment.

"He is one of His "senses". His senses protect him and his jewel, the jewel that he slaughtered my family for. You cannot defeat him as long as he has his senses. That's what I was trying to do, lure them out and pick them off one by one, but they are too clever for me... all except for one of them. I found the little bitch right here in Lily Port, I was making the exchange for the jewel but that's when that fucking albino got the best of me."

Lincoln walks closer to Gleeson and leans over the table; "Who is the girl you were exchanging, William?"

"The families, they follow him – she... she... find... her... she... is... not... who... she... seems – HUUUUUH!" gasps Gleeson as his head slams hard against the interrogation room table.

Lincoln attempts to revive him by slapping his face repeatedly but to no avail.

"Ridley, call the doctor!" he shouts through the double-sided glass.

He notices the half empty water bottle that Gleeson was drinking from and he stuffs it in his jacket pocket – he suspects foul play. He feels Gleeson's pulse and although it is faint, he is still alive.

The door swings open a few moments later and the doctor comes storming into the interrogation room with Ridley in tow.

"Step aside!" orders the doctor. He injects Gleeson with some substance and then takes his pulse.

"He is stabilising," says the doctor. "However, he will be out cold for some time. I'm taking him to the infirmary holding cells for overnight observation. This interrogation is officially over until the morning, Mr. Holchester."

Lincoln nods his head in acknowledgement as two officers assist the doctor with relocating Gleeson to the infirmary. He turns to Ridley who is out of breath and wiping the sweat from her brow.

"Have you got your kit nearby?" asks Lincoln.

"Sure, it's just in the other room, why?" replies Ridley.

"Someone doesn't want Gleeson talking to us, I don't think he's as crazy as everyone thinks. He knows something important, something that Wishbone doesn't want revealed."

He sticks his hand in his jacket pocket and removes the water bottle that Gleeson was drinking from.

"We need to test this for foreign substances, I believe that someone tampered with it," he remarks.

"That's exactly what Gleeson did to you Linc. Are you suggesting that there are more moles in the Sheriff's department?" says Ridley with an intrigued look on her face.

"I'm not just suggesting it, I'd bet my life on it. Gleeson was acting alone – at least here in Lily Port. However, the officer that shot the recorder on Abbot's corpse clearly had a different allegiance. I believe that he was loyal to Wishbone and that he is not the only one. He has some deep connection to this town. Gleeson suggested in the recording that Abbot was a follower of Wishbone's as well and I don't think he was talking shit – I think that he actually was."

Ridley is convinced by Lincoln's reasoning and the pair walks hastily to Ridley's testing kit. They put a few drops of some liquid substance into the water bottle and it changes colour.

"It's definitely been spiked. It's a drug similar to Rohypnol but stronger. It wouldn't kill a man of his size though, they must have just been trying to knock him out," concludes Ridley as she swirls the liquid in the bottle around.

"That does make sense though, as strange as it may seem. The hooded man that he called Mind's Eye could've easily snapped his neck at the docks if he wanted him dead, he is more than capable of doing so. They must want him alive, but why?" ponders Lincoln.

"That reminds me, you will need to explain your connection to this mysterious Mind's Eye character to me Linc, I had no idea that you had been saved by anyone in a subway at any point. But for now let's just focus on Gleeson," remarks Ridley.

She walks to the doorway and peers out into the hallway to check if anyone else is around. She then closes the door and says: "I think we need to take Jonah up on his offer to stay the night. I still don't trust him and given how close he was to Abbot, he could very easily be faithful to Wishbone as well. Gleeson needs our protection until we can get everything he knows out in the open. I will go organise everything now, you just wait here, I'll be back in a few."

Ridley exits the room and heads off to the infirmary to make arrangements with the injured Sheriff Lily.

Lincoln is left alone with his thoughts. He starts to ponder why Wishbone would want Gleeson alive when he clearly does not want him talking. He thinks about how Gleeson's childhood home and family were torched by Wishbone – at least that is what Gleeson believes – and why Wishbone would do that? He thinks about all the mysterious characters that he rambled on about in his psychotic, delusional fairy tales: Cricket, Gator, the Jewel and the Senses, to name a few. He thinks about the girl that Gleeson tried to exchange for this jewel. Who could she be? Where is she now? Why is she important to Wishbone? There are so many questions running through his head but no answers. Gleeson is the key to getting the answers that he so desperately needs. Ridley is right; they need to protect him at all costs.

Several minutes pass and Lincoln, still lost in his thoughts, recalls the email address that Gleeson had tattooed on himself. It seemed like a bogus address and he dismissed its legitimacy outright at first, but perhaps Gleeson was telling the truth. Tattooing it on his person permanently was quite extreme for a fake address.

He spots Harry's laptop over on the table and notices that it is unlocked. He decides to log into his email account using the laptop and send a message to this "Gator" and see if he gets a response.

"Subject: Help," he types, "Cricket said to contact you in an emergency situation. Need to lay low immediately, please contact me if you can assist." He enters the email address of the recipient as the one that he saw tattooed on Gleeson and clicks "Send".

He hears a knock on the door and closes the laptop and goes to unlock it. He opens the door to reveal his best friend, Ung.

"Hey brother," says Ung as he pats Lincoln on the shoulder and smiles, "Rid asked me to come get you, she is almost done bossing everyone around and getting them ready for our little body-guarding gig this evening. She caught me and the kid up on everything that you guys discussed about Gleeson – this is some seriously hectic shit bro, we got to be on high alert!"

"Let me just grab my things and then we can head off," replies Lincoln as he gathers his belongings and follows Ung out into the hallway. As the pair head off to rendezvous with the rest of their team, they both attempt to put on a brave face to cover the anxiety and fear that fills them. They are both acutely aware that they have never been in a situation as volatile as this before and they know how dangerous and ruthless Wishbone can be – unfortunately they had learned this first-hand. They both felt that something was not quite right and dreaded what the night may bring, however, they would be ready if the monster decided to rear his head this night – he is only a man after all.

\- - – --- ----- \-------- ----- --- – - -

A flustered Lincoln steps into his home and shuts the door behind him. His coat is soaking wet from the rain and he hangs it up as it drips all over the entrance hall floor.

"Rachel! Maddy! I'm home!" he calls out.

"Daddy!" exclaims his son, Maddox, as he runs to meet his father excitedly.

"Hey my big guy! I missed you so much today!" he says to his son as he swings him around in the air. Maddox giggles with delight. Ever since his two older brothers were taken, his life has not been easy. His father was working tirelessly to try and figure out what happened to them and his mother had fallen into a deep depression. Sometimes he felt like he was just in the way, but at least he had these few fleeting moments with his dad where things seemed normal.

"Where's mommy?" enquires Lincoln.

"Sleeping in the bedroom – as usual," replies Maddox.

"Cut her some slack Maddy, you know mommy isn't feeling well, but it will all get better soon, I promise," remarks Lincoln as his son nods his head in agreement with his request.

Lincoln looks over at the table in the entrance hall and sees that there is a small box on top of it.

"Maddy, what is that box?" he asks his son.

"Ummm... I don't know daddy. It was here when I got home from school, mommy brought it in and left it there. She said it's addressed to you."

Lincoln picks up the box and gives it a shake, "I'll need a scissors to cut through these ties... I'll open it later. For now, let's have some fun!"

Lincoln and his son spend the evening eating pizza that he brought home and watching movies and playing video games. After hours of fun, Maddox begins to yawn and Lincoln decides that it is time for him to go for a bath and then to bed. Despite Maddox's pleas for just one more game, he marches upstairs to the bathroom to prepare himself for bed.

Lincoln takes this opportunity to fetch a scissors from the kitchen drawer and proceeds to cut the ties off of the box that he received. There is no indication of whom the box's sender is, but it is clear from the typed note on the top that he is the intended recipient.

He has an uneasy feeling about the box; he was not expecting any deliveries. He opens the box and sees that it is a lot smaller inside than he expected. All that is in it is a typed note that reads: "Second shelf next to the milk." He is unsure what the note is referring to and his confusion leads him to inspect the box further. Upon further inspection he discovers that the box has a false bottom. He removes it and uncovers packaging chips in the previously hidden compartment. He sticks his hand in the chips and grips something smooth and hard. He pulls the object out and identifies it as a chicken's wishbone. He hastily tips the box out on the tables and several more wishbones fall out. "What the..." he says to himself softly as he begins to panic. Suddenly a light bulb goes off in his head and he realises that they keep their milk on the second shelf of their refrigerator. He dashes over to the refrigerator and flings the door open unceremoniously.

On the second shelf he sees the milk. Next to it is large plastic container. He removes the container from the fridge and slowly opens it. He looks at the objects in the container for a few moments before he actually registers what he is looking at. In the container are two small, human left-hands. He picks the one hand up – still in a daze – and inspects it closely. He sees a faint scar on the palm of the hand and he recalls that his son, LJ, had an identical scar from a fishing accident that they had years ago. He stares blankly at his unwanted "gifts" for a moment longer and then he realises that these are the hands of his missing sons. He drops the container to the floor and drops to his knees. He feels like he is about to break down but then another feeling starts to consume him. He feels his throat tightening and he observes the familiar black figure stepping closer to him. However, this time he is running out of breath faster than the figure can move towards him. Lincoln begins to cough and choke, but then he hears a familiar voice calling to him.

"Linc! Linc! Wake up!" he awakens to see Ung shaking him violently. He turns to see Harry doing the same to Ridley. Several other officers and Jonah are frantically bashing down a locked door.

"What the fuck is going on?" asks Lincoln as he tries to collect himself and clear the cobwebs from his mind.

"Something knocked us all out and when I came to, the place was covered in this smoke – COUGH, COUGH – this place is burning down brother! We got to – COUGH – get out of here now!" replies Ung as he coughs into his sleeve.

A loud crack is heard from across the room as the officers manage to break down the locked door.

"Everyone, this way! Hurry!" cries out Jonah as he leads the evacuation of the Sheriff's station.

As the team reach the safety of the road outside the Sheriff's station, they look back and see the station engulfed in flames. The night sky is lit up by the massive fire and they sit by hopelessly watching the flames flicker back and forth as if they are taunting them and mocking their inability to do anything to stop them.

The fire-fighters finally turn off their hoses as the last flames do their final dance and go to rest. There is very little of the Sheriff's station left. The team can't help but think that the fire-fighters took an excessively long time to get to the station given the size of Lily Port.

As they inspect the charred shell that was once the pristine Lily Port Sheriff's station, Lincoln is interested in two things only. Firstly, he notices that Abbot's former office is obliterated. This means that his belongings and personal records were all gone as well. This seemed very convenient given that there was probably evidence in those records that would point to his involvement with Wishbone in some way. Secondly, there were two prisoners in the holding cells that evening – Gleeson and a tourist who was sleeping off one-too-many drinks in the "drunk tank". Only one charred corpse was present now and it was not Gleeson's. His body was nowhere to be found.

After they had all been checked out and cleared by the Emergency Response Team, Ridley conveys her recollection of the night to the others: "Everything was going smoothly until we decided to turn on the air-conditioning. I smelt something strange straight away and realised that a foreign substance was being pumped into the room via the air ducts. Before I could react, I started feeling woozy and noticed people passing out around me. Then I fell over and knocked my head against the wall. That's the last thing I remember."

Unfortunately, no one else seems to remember anything more than Ridley does. Lincoln is not concerned about what happened in the room that they were occupying. He thinks it's quite evident that Wishbone had them knocked out so that he could do something in the station before burning it to the ground to ensure that they never found any clues as to how he and the late Sheriff Abbot were connected. He is more interested in what happened in the holding cells while they were unconscious.

"Hey Harry," calls out Lincoln, "can you work with these guys to see if you can recover any video footage from anywhere in the station during the time we were knocked out?"

"Sure thing, I'll get right on it," says Harry as he grabs his laptop that he managed to save from the inferno and jogs over to the Sheriff's tech team.

After several minutes Harry returns. He has a concerned look on his face.

"So the good news is that we did manage to retrieve footage for the time in question, fortunately it was backed up regularly off-site. However, it's quite odd..."

"What you mean "odd"?" asks Ung curiously.

"Well, there are only two rooms for which the footage could be recovered; all of the other rooms' footage was wiped clean – even from the remote back-up. It's like someone left specific footage for us to see," replies Harry.

"Let's take a look what those bastards want us to see then..." remarks Ung as he takes a seat next to Harry and looks at his laptop intently. Lincoln, Ridley and Jonah join the pair as well.

Harry shows the group the two available feeds: the first is the room that the team and officers used as their overnight headquarters and the second is the holding cell room. They forward the feeds simultaneously to the point where they see Ridley and the rest begin to pass out. The holding cell feed shows Gleeson in one cell and the unknown drunk passed out in the adjacent cell. The door to the room where the team are passed out opens and a man steps inside. He stands over Ridley and grips her throat with his hand briefly and then lets her go. He moves over to Ung, Harry and Lincoln's unconscious bodies and does the same thing. Lincoln notices that this hooded man has pale hands and a tattoo of an eye is clearly depicted on the back of his hand.

"Mind's Eye..." whispers Lincoln to himself loud enough that the others hear him.

"This guy seems to be everywhere. Maybe he is Wishbone? The Wishbone killer and the Mind's Eye killer, the same guy – wouldn't that be fucking mental, I bet..." rambles Ung.

"He's not Wishbone," interjects Lincoln. "His MO is too different. He prefers his hands over a blade and his motive is not the same. Wishbone's killing is just as precise and efficient, but it shows more passion. He enjoys every second of it; he kills because it makes him happy. Mind's Eye's killing style is in contrast to this. He kills out of necessity but he takes no pleasure in it. It's almost as if he does it out of a sense of duty."

The discussion ends prematurely as a second man is shown entering the room shortly after the Mind's Eye killer. This man is taller and has broad shoulders but his head is currently not visible. He stops in the doorway and unsheathes a weapon – a curved blade. The man walks into the room with a certain swagger in his step; there is an air of arrogance to him. His face is now visible to the camera.

"Is that... Dean!" exclaims Ridley as she looks at her brother with utter confusion plastered on her face.

"What – the – fuck?" chimes in Harry.

The man with the curved blade appears to be wearing an extremely realistic mask of Ung's face. The team are so perplexed that they just stare at the screen in silent disbelief. The masked man walks over to the unconscious body of the real Ung and kicks him hard on the rib cage to turn him over onto his back.

"That explains this," says Ung as he lifts his shirt to reveal a large bruise on his rib cage. He grinds his teeth and says angrily: "Fucking coward, he better hope we never come face to face".

They turn their attention back to the video feed as the man puts his curved blade against Ung's throat and stares directly into the camera. He stands there motionless for a few moments and then he retracts the blade from Ung's throat and exits the room with Mind's Eye in tow.

"They could've killed us all right there..." remarks Ridley timidly. Her brother, Ung, is just sitting silently with a look on his face that can only be described as a volatile mixture of fear and anger.

Lincoln turns to his friends and says: "They have had many opportunities to kill us, he has other plans for us or perhaps he just likes the game of cat and mouse. I don't care which it is, all I know is that they are starting to squirm. This man, the one with the curved blade, he is not just a lackey. Look at how Mind's Eye follows him, how he behaves around him – he respects and fears this man. For someone as dangerous as him to feel this way about this man means only one thing – he is Wishbone. He is the man that killed my boys, he is our end game." Lincoln pauses for a moment and collects his thoughts. His team is looking at him awaiting an explanation for the killer's behaviour.

"He wants us to fear him; he wants us to know that he holds all the cards, that he holds our lives in his hands. He wants us to feel like we are just pawns in his game and that he controls our fate. We are alive because he allowed it – he wants to control us through terror and anxiety. He is just like a terrorist – a terrorist of the mind."

The team sits silently for a moment deep in thought. Suddenly something catches Harry's eye on the second camera feed.

"Hey guys," he says, "the door to the holding cell room is opening".

The team turn their attention back to Harry's laptop. They see two people enter the holding cell room. The first is the Mind's Eye killer and the second is a smaller, more petite person. Based on the person's build, she appears to be a woman. This woman is also masked – she is wearing what appears to be a doll's face with a large crack down its cheek.

"That's not fucking disturbing at all," remarks Ung sarcastically when he sees the woman's mask.

The two figures move over to Gleeson's cell and when he notices them he begins to laugh uncontrollably until he is red in the face. The woman has keys to his cell and she opens the door and Mind's Eye enters it and walks over to Gleeson. Gleeson stops laughing and stares at Mind's Eye for a moment then he spits in his face and continues to laugh. Mind's Eye takes a single step forward and back-hands Gleeson through the face with incredible force. Gleeson wipes the blood from his split lip and stares at Mind's Eye as his fury begins to mount. Mind's Eye takes a step to his left to make room for the masked woman who now enters the cell brandishing a large axe. The weapon is so large in comparison to her small frame that is appears almost like something from a cartoon. Gleeson stares at her and then says something to her.

"Hold on, rewind that and play it in slow-mo please Harry," requests Ridley. Harry obliges and does as Ridley asked. One of Ridley's many skills is lip-reading. She moves closer to the laptop screen and focuses intensely on Gleeson's lips as he speaks to the masked woman.

"Can you make out what he is saying?" enquires Ung curiously.

Ridley takes a moment and then says: "How's my sister doing, did she miss me?" She turns to Lincoln - the two look at each other for a moment.

"He is looking for his sister, the girl in the story he forced me to tell – the "succubus", as he called her. Somehow Wishbone is linked to this girl and so is this masked woman. We need to figure out how," remarks Lincoln.

Then things on the video feed take a turn for the worst. Mind's Eye suddenly lunges at Gleeson and grabs his right arm. He extends it so that his wrist is exposed. The masked woman raises her axe and with one swift motion she hacks off Gleeson's right hand. Blood gushes everywhere and Mind's Eye picks up Gleeson and slings him over his shoulder as he screams from the excruciating pain. The two killers and their victim exit the holding cell room and vanish from sight.

"That was... intense..." says Harry. He and the rest of the team look bewildered and quite disturbed by what they just witnessed.

Lincoln spots something just before Harry is about to close the video feed: "Hold on a second, there is someone's shadow in that doorway, it has been there since the two entered. It just moved, I think someone else is coming into the room."

A few moments later the shadow moves and a man appears in the doorway. His build and mannerisms are consistent with those of the man with the curved blade that was with Mind's Eye in the room where Lincoln and his team were passed out. However, he was no longer wearing a mask of Ung's face. This time it was Gleeson's face that he had "borrowed". The resemblance to the real Gleeson was uncanny – it matched even down to the scars on his face.

The masked man swaggers over to the other holding cell and unlocks it. He swings the door open and walks up to the drunkard who is passed out in the cell. He unsheathes his curved blade and begins to stab and cut the man violently – it is as if a blood-lust has consumed him.

"I can't watch this," says Ridley as her and the rest of the viewers of the feed turn their eyes away from the gruesome scene. Only Lincoln continues to watch. He is focused on every move that the Wishbone killer makes, he is analysing his every gesture to learn more about this psychotic killer. When it is all over, the holding cell looks like an absolute blood bath. The Wishbone killer sits down for a moment and seems to be catching his breath. He takes something from his pocket and shoves it down the mutilated corpse's throat. A moment later he looks up and stares directly at the camera, his mask, blade and clothes drenched in the blood of his unfortunate victim. He tilts his head to the side and waves at the camera and then he turns and leaves the room. Both video feeds die at this point.

The team take a few moments to gather themselves, what they just witnessed affected them all greatly. Lincoln suggests that they track down the body of Wishbone's victim to examine it.

The body of the victim is not difficult to locate. The coroner had not yet moved it so the mutilated, charred corpse was still lying where the holding cell room used to be. Lincoln examines the wounds on the severely burned body as best as he can and concludes that the MO is consistent with that of the real Wishbone killer. He then sticks his fingers down the throat of the victim and removes the object that was lodged in it. As suspected, it is a wishbone. Lincoln examines it closely and notices that there is a piece of laminated paper wrapped around it.

He removes the paper and unrolls it, then reads it out loud so that his team can hear what it says: "Please accept this gift from me to you. You never thanked me for the previous gifts that I sent you, which hurt me deeply, I must be honest. You said you wanted your sons back, so I sent them to you – piece by piece – I even kept them on ice. But apparently that was not enough for you, so now I have given you an even greater gift – not only did I spare the lives of your dear, ignorant friends, but I have shown you exactly how I released your boys from this world. PS: No need to thank me anymore, delivering Joseph to me is more thanks than I could've ever asked for." The note concludes with a smiley face drawn crudely at the bottom.

Lincoln says nothing, he simply folds the note up and places it in his jacket pocket. Ridley, Ung and Harry say nothing to him, they know that now is not the time to question him.

Lincoln turns to his friends and says: "Well I guess that is case closed then. I don't know about you guys, but I would like to get the fuck out of this town ASAP."

The team agree with Lincoln and they decide to head back home and they will pick up the investigation from there – Lily Port was not a safe place for them to be until they understood more about how it is connected to their nemesis. As they depart Lily Port, the mood is sombre, overall the case was a failure and the Wishbone killer got the best of them yet again. At least this time they got closer to him than ever before, but that was still not enough. The killer had been dormant for some time and now the sleeping dragon had awoken and Lincoln was worried that this was just the beginning...

### Chapter 10 - Something wicked this way comes

Lincoln arrives home after the trip back from Lily Port. He decides to give Dr. Winston a call to see how he is doing. He intended on stopping by the Valley Creek hospital on his way back from Lily Port, but Ridley called ahead and said that he had been discharged. They swung by his home instead, but there was no one there. They also couldn't reach him on his cell, so Lincoln thought that he would try again once he was home.

He places his keys and wallet on his coffee table and sees that he has two missed calls on his home phone. He listens to the first message: "Hi Mr. Holchester. This is Agent Roberts from the Global Anti-Terrorist Organisation. I know that we have never met, but a colleague of mine from the FBI with whom you have worked in the past recommended you as a consultant for a case that I am currently working on. I sent you an email with some details; I would appreciate your thoughts on the material therein. Thanks."

Lincoln sits down with his laptop and opens his email inbox. There are several unread mails, none of which are from the "Gator" address that he got from Gleeson's tattoo. However, he does see the email from Agent Roberts that arrived the previous day. It explains that Roberts is currently working on a case where a terrorist organisation had just executed several attacks on major fossil fuel based company headquarters across several international locations. The leader of the group had released a statement to the public and Roberts wanted Lincoln's team's input on profiling this individual since their reputation in this area was excellent.

He clicks on the link in the email and is taken to a secure site where he views a clip of the statement released by the terrorist leader. The man is wearing some sort of mask that appears to be the head of some kind of insect, probably a dragonfly. Lincoln thinks to himself that he is so sick of masks, what's the world coming to where all of these unhinged psychopaths are roaming around doing unspeakable things but are too cowardly to even show their faces – first the clown mask, then the doll mask, then the realistic masks that Wishbone wore at the Sheriff's station and now a fucking dragonfly, what's next? His mind is elsewhere when he starts to watch the video clip; all he can think about is what had transpired over the past few days in Lily Port. However, he knows that he and his team might be working "off the books" for the next while and they do need cash to survive, so maybe a side gig for this Anti-Terrorist Unit might not be such a bad idea.

The clip finishes buffering and starts to play: "The question you are all asking is "Why?". Why have innocent people been killed, why have these horrendous acts of violence been perpetrated? The usual answer would be unacceptable, I agree: religious differences, greed, hunger for power, etc. I am not a violent man; my people are not a violent people. However, when a virus is killing that which you love the most, the thing that provides everything to you, that nourishes you, that cares for you and that created you, would you not rise up and take extreme measures to save it?"

The Dragonfly-man pauses for a moment as if he is expecting an answer to his question and then he continues: "Our Mother is dying and we are the ones killing her. The point of no return has been reached and she needs only the smallest of nudges to begin fighting back against her own children. We are here to provide this push. We are not just her children – like the rest of you ungrateful masses – we are her saviours, her warriors, her army. Remember this day, children, as the day that marked the beginning of the end of the world as we know it, remember this day as the day that Gaia starts to fight back!" The clip ends abruptly.

Lincoln doesn't spend much time thinking about the words of the extremist that he just heard, he thinks to himself that he will discuss it with his team in the morning before responding to Agent Roberts regarding whether or not they accept his offer.

Some time passes and Lincoln has finished his pre-bedtime ritual and he decides that it's time to turn in for the night. He pulls back the covers of his single bed and then remembers that he had a second message that he never checked. He contemplates for a moment whether he should check it in the morning, but he is quite an anxious person and wondering what the message was about would probably keep him up all night.

He yawns as he shuffles over to the phone and plays the second message: "Hello, Lincoln," says an unnaturally high pitched voice. "I hope you enjoyed the gift and thank you again for keeping Joseph for me until I could collect him myself – I really wanted to be there in person."

Lincoln's heart begins to race as he realises that the message is from his nemesis, Wishbone. He has never heard his voice before, despite this voice clearly being fake, this was still a new development.

"I just called to apologise, I might be many things but I pride myself on my honesty. I lied to you Lincoln and I am a truly sorry for that."

Lincoln leans in closer and listens to the voice of the monstrous killer intently as he continues.

"I told you that I spared the lives of your friends and that was only partially true. Yes, I did spare the lives of the Skarsgards and the boy that follow you around like mindless puppets, but they are not your only friends."

Lincoln feels fear mounting in his mind as he starts to guess who Wishbone could be referring to and what he could have done to them.

"I know that due to my deceit you may not trust me anymore – I think that is what hurts me most. So I thought that I would show you, hopefully that will restore your faith in me, dear friend. I left you something in your DVD player, I hope you enjoy the show and forgive me, see you soon." The message ends suddenly with a loud click and Lincoln dashes over to his living room to search for the remote control. He eventually recovers it from under one of his couch cushions – it had been there for weeks, he didn't watch much television nowadays. He anxiously switches on his TV and DVD player and begins to watch the recording that Wishbone had somehow managed to get into his home while he was away.

The video starts off showing a person sitting in a chair with their hands behind their back and a black cloth bag over their head. The person is only visible from the waist up. Lincoln gets a fright as something suddenly appears right in front of the camera – it's the face of a man that looks just like Lincoln's mentor and friend, Dr. Leonard Winston. Lincoln realises that this is not Winston; it is a mask that looks like an exact replica of his face – just like the ones Wishbone used in Lily Port. Lincoln's heart feels like it is about to stop beating and his stomach begins to turn as he realises who the captive is. As he comes to this realisation, the captive's face is uncovered to reveal the gagged mouth and blindfolded eyes of Lincoln's mentor and father-figure, Dr. Leonard Winston.

Lincoln falls forward onto his knees in front of the television screen and begins to weep as he touches the image of his beloved friend's face with the palm of his right hand.

"No... this is not real... this cannot happen..." he says as tears gallop down his face like wild horses that disappear when they reach the corners of his quivering mouth. The Wishbone killer holds his curved blade to the throat of Dr. Winston and stares at the camera as if he is looking straight into Lincoln's soul and says: "Since we are so close and I know you will force yourself to watch every moment of this, I will make it quick, dear friend."

Wishbone slowly moves the blade from left to right slicing into the flesh of Winston's throat as he does so. The elderly man lets out a muffled scream from the pain which shortly turns into a gargle as the blood fills his windpipe. And then his head falls limply forward as if he had just fallen asleep. He is suffering no more, he is breathing no more. Wishbone looks at the camera and then gently shoves one of his signature wishbones into the gash in Winston's throat before turning off the camera and the video clip ends.

Lincoln is still clutching at the television screen in disbelief, he never thought that Winston was in danger, how could he have been so stupid? This is all his fault, he thinks to himself. Moments of his life begin to flash through his mind as he remembers the first time he met Winston; the first time he helped him deal with his anger issues towards his father, Robert Holchester; the day he sat in the front row when he graduated and even when he walked Rachel down the aisle on their wedding day. This man had played such an important role in his life; he had made him believe that there is good in this world despite everything that had happened to him. Finally he thinks back to the last time he spoke to Winston. They had an argument about his obsession with Wishbone and he had told Lincoln to focus on the living and not the dead, referring to his longing to avenge his sons. Lincoln had considered these words strongly since then and was waiting to meet with Winston to apologise for his attitude when last they spoke. Now he would never have that opportunity to make right what he knew was his wrong.

"I'm so sorry..." says Lincoln under his breath as he hangs his head and begins to sob once more.

Despite Winston's plea for Lincoln to find peace and focus on his relationships with Maddox and those that are still alive and love him, he was now more determined than ever to do whatever it took – whether legal or illegal – to find and stop Wishbone. He knows that this killer will never stop until the last day that he draws breath and now that he has revealed that he has some sort of following, who knows how many successors he may have? This monster had to be brought to justice but that would not be easy. Wishbone may just have been a man, but he was more than your run of the mill killer: he was not just psychotic, he was not just evil, he was not just a depraved genius who was always ten steps ahead, no, he was more than all of those things. He was nefarious...

### Epilogue - The Master's monarchy

A robed man is walking in a beautiful garden with a stream passing through it and exotic birds perched high in luscious, overhanging trees. On the far end of the garden is a mansion that is being patrolled by other robed individuals that seem to be on high alert based on the manner in which they are walking around the magnificent building.

The man in the garden stops and reaches out his hand to gently grab a flower. He pulls it closer to his nose and sniffs, he has always loved the smell of his garden and it is one of his favourite pass-times to walk through it and just enjoy all that nature has to offer.

His peaceful stroll is interrupted by one of the other robed men: "Master, I pray you forgive my interruption during your quiet time, but the guest you have been waiting for has arrived."

The Master turns to his acolyte and replies: "Ah excellent! Thank you my child, please do escort him through to the throne room, I will be there momentarily."

"Yes Master, right away," responds the acolyte as he bows his head, spins on his heel and hastily moves towards the mansion from whence he came.

Minutes later the Master walks up to a massive wooden door with a robed guard standing on either side of it. The guards bow and then swiftly swing the massive doors open. The Master enters the room behind these doors and walks over to a giant, wooden throne. Seated in the throne is a clean-shaven man of average build and height wearing what appears to be some sort of military attire.

"I beg your pardon, Master, I meant no disrespect," says the man as he hastily stands up and vacates the throne. "I have always wondered what it felt like to sit in that marvellous throne and I couldn't help myself."

The Master smiles at the man and chuckles, "Please, don't be silly, you are one of the Monarchs – you are royalty my dear man and you deserve a throne even more than I do! Speaking of which, these two thrones right here are for you and your brother, the time has come for you to fill them, it is your destiny, Abel."

The man, Abel, has a smile from ear to ear. He stares at the master with his piercing eyes that are as clear as glass, almost unnaturally so.

"Does that mean that you have found him?" he asks excitedly. "Have you found my brother?"

The Master clicks his fingers and motions to one of his robed acolytes. The acolyte immediately glides over to the other man, Abel, and hands him a tablet device. Abel studies whatever is displayed on the device intently and then hands it back to the acolyte with an even broader smile on his face.

"Haha!" he cries out, "I knew that if anyone could do it, it would be you Master! I must leave at once to rescue him!"

"Not so fast my dear child," remarks the Master, "remember your end of the bargain?"

Abel slaps his forehead and says, "Of course, I got over-excited, please forgive me. The old law-man that you seek is a tricky customer to find. However, I have many eyes and ears in many places and they have seen and heard things that have led me to believe that he is here." He hands an acolyte a piece of paper. The acolyte delivers it to the Master who is now seated comfortably on his throne. He opens the paper to reveal coordinates.

"They are for a peak in Tibet," says Abel. "There is a small town nearby that location and the locals have seen the man you are looking for. They even have a nickname for him in their native tongue that translates to "Mountain Man". They say that he lives on one of the most dangerous peaks of the mountain, I sent some of my men up there but they never returned. I have stationed men at waypoints around the entire base of the peak and the nearby town. Their mission is to wait for the next time he leaves his sanctuary and then capture him. Oh and before I forget..."

Abel reaches into his pocket and takes out a metallic, gold star. He hands it to the Master.

"I took that from one of the natives, a prince that I came to know quite well. I believe it belonged to his mentor – the Mountain Man."

The Master looks up from the paper and takes the star from Abel. He studies it intently and smiles as he reads the inscription on the tarnished object. He looks up and stares into Abel's piercing eyes.

"Excellent," he says. "You have held up your end of the bargain and I have held up mine – I told you that our relationship would be mutually beneficial. Now it is time to take the next step."

Abel and the Master conclude their discussion and part ways. The Master calls out to Abel just before he leaves the throne room: "Oh and one more thing, my child."

"Yes Master," replies Abel.

"Do apply a bit more stealth and caution than you did at your last attempt to save your brother, this place is heavily defended and will be no walk in the park to infiltrate."

"Yes Master, I have learned from my past mistakes. You know me; I have always been a bit of a hot-head." A drop of sweat falls from Abel's head and lands on the stone floor of the throne room. It immediately begins to sizzle on the floor and eats away a small portion of the stone tile on which it fell. Abel says farewell to the Master again and departs from the throne room.

The Master walks over to the area on the stone floor where the bead of sweat fell and he inspects it closely, "That's my boy," he mutters to himself, "he is everything that I could have hoped for and so much more!"

The Master left the throne room after his rendezvous with Abel, but instead of returning to his garden - which he loved so dearly - he went to the dungeon. He now finds himself sitting and talking to a man with a long, filthy beard that appears to be severely malnourished and badly beaten.

"You are not looking well at all," he says to his prisoner, "I will make sure you are fed well and given the once-over by the good doctor – we cannot have you dying on us, now can we?"

The prisoner says nothing, he just mutters numbers under his breath: "One, Two, Three, Five, Eight..."

The Master ignores the man's ramblings and proceeds to tell him of his meeting with Abel: "You would have been astonished. You can feel the power emanating from this boy; I tell you he is truly special! Not like your boy, he was such a disappointment." He begins to pace back and forth, "Sometimes I wish that we would have just let you kill him that day in the subway, but fortunately we didn't I suppose. That would have really thwarted the long term plans, wouldn't it?"

The prisoner still says nothing.

"You know, usually I appreciate silence but now you are just being rude. You know that I still require some more information from you, old man, so start talking."

The prisoner remains defiantly silent.

"Very well, please tell him to join us will you?" says the Master to one of his acolytes. The acolyte bows and exits the room.

"Just remember that I wanted to do this the easy way, but the easy way has never been your preference, now has it?"

A couple of moments later the door to the prison swings open and someone's footsteps can be heard moving towards the prison cell. The Master smiles broadly at the entrant, but the prisoner's face turns to that of a man terrified to within an inch of his life.

"I'll leave you two to it then," remarks the Master as he leaves the room. "Oh and please do try not to die on me, although you are a low-life scumbag, your gift is still of great use to me. So should you see a white light at any point, don't step into it, my dear Robert."

The Master shuts the door to the cell and begins to walk down the dungeon passageway. He hums a tune to himself as the tortured screams of his captive can be heard echoing in the distance and then everything turns silent.

###

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, I would appreciate you taking a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer and to connect with me to receive news on sequels, etc. Also be sure to check out the next book in the Nefairyous Saga series: Eye of an Outlaw. In this tale, questions will be answered regarding the mysterious Abel, his brother, the Mountain Man and more. Although the main characters will differ from those that you met in this issue, remember that everything is connected and look out for appearances of some more characters that you have already encountered.

Thanks!

Brenton Tenner

About Brenton Tenner

Brenton is a South African born independent author of fiction whose work follows an episodic / seasonal style similar to that of television series. For a more detailed bio, please visit https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/brentontenner

Other books by Brenton Tenner

The Nefairyous Saga: Eye of an Outlaw (coming soon)

The Nefairyous Saga: Beasts of Burden (coming soon)

The Nefairyous Saga: Coming of Age (coming soon)

And many more...

Connect with Brenton Tenner

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NefairyousSaga

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