The Time Keeper

Chapter 37 - Worthwhile Purchases

I fell to my hands and knees. My body trembling uncontrollably, and I couldn't hold back the nausea that overwhelmed my body.

"Fuck," I said under my breath as I tried to control my gagging. My vomit-stained saliva tasting like the coffee I had this morning coating the insides of my mouth.

Footsteps came up behind me and slowly came to a stop.

"Ahh shit," Fleur sighed. "We were too late it seems."

A strew of bloody hostages, bound and gagged, all laying lifeless on the floor. Their naked corpses grotesquely flattened to pancakes and ripped half to shreds.

After a moment's pause to take it in, Fleur shouted, calling the others over to us. "Darius! I think we won't be going to the port after all."

Looking down at the ground, the image of my fracture before seared into my mind bringing back the scene of my bloody hands I had seen earlier. It didn't help that I couldn't handle gore the greatest.

It was pathetic. To be seen in this state of agony took a hit to my pride. I couldn't stand it. How could I be respected while looking like this among my co-workers?

Darius and Jo came rushing into the room. "Oh my goodness, this is far worse than I expected," Darius exclaimed, covering his mouth.

"Are we calling it in?" Jo asked Darius.

Fleur whipped around and looked back at Darius massaging his forehead. "Surely not! We've got such a good lead now. How can we just leave it like this?"

I finally came to my senses after all the gagging and started to stand back up.

"Come on," Fleur said as she went to help me up to my feet.

I pushed her hand away and staggered to my feet. "No no, I'm perfectly fine."

Darius fixed his gaze on Fleur, his expression resolute. "Fleur, I understand your determination, but what's been done is done. The Church has the expertise and resources to handle this kind of cleanup work. Let's call it in and trust them with the rest."

Fleur looked torn, her eyes darting between Darius and me. "But we're so close," she argued, her voice pleading. "What about the lives of the homeless and the orphans."

"You mean those ones?" Darius interjected, turning his gaze to the pile of rotting bodies.

Fleur's shoulders slumped. I could tell she knew Darius was right. We were looking for all the missing people and we did, just not in the state we would have hoped. We were late. But just leaving some mass murderer still out there was illogical. Yet we were back to square one and had no clues as to where they could be, for all we know they could've fled the country.

Darius turned and headed out of the basement, and Jo followed him, casting one last look back at Fleur and me. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said before disappearing up the stairs.

Fleur turned away and headed to the stairs, stopping right at the first step. Her hands clenched.

"I promised... I promised..." I heard her mumble under her breath, her fists shaking and her head partially lowered.

I then took one more glance at the bodies in the corner of the room and followed the others. Heading up and out of the Theatre basement.

As we regrouped outside the Theatre, my mind was in turmoil. What I had seen haunted me more than the future I had seen. What kind of sick bastard could do such a thing to not only the homeless but orphans too?

"We've done what we can for now," Darius said while adjusting his uniform. "The Church will take over from here, and we'll focus on gathering more information from our end. Just as a precaution, I'll also get Mar to scout the port and the surrounding area just in case we've missed anything."