Original Stories Fan Fiction / Horror Fan Fiction ❯ Double-Edged ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

DISCLAIMER: This story is completely mine and so are the characters. All events are fictional and any likeness to real events//people are of coincidense.

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W ith 3-D glasses, the fireworks looked like light through a prism; all rainbows. A group of people oohed and awwed except for one. Kagami sat, unaffected by the exploding lights, with a bored expression on her face and the ridiculously squared 3-D glasses in her hand. She didn’t much care for the 4th of July. Just another excuse for a vacation and a day off of work. In fact, the only reason she was here at this little 4th of July party was because of Taylor. He was amongst the crowd who gaped at every firework that exploded. She didn’t understand what was so damned amusing about it all, but watching Taylor’s happy face with showers of red, purple, green, and blue sparks in the background made the night worth celebrating.
As if on cue, Taylor turned and met eyes with his lover. They smiled at each other before he turned back around to take a sparkler from his friend, leaving Kagami to hold back a fit giggles. He looked ridiculous with those large, squared-framed glasses and that lovely smile. It almost made the trip worth it. Almost. They were about two hours away from their hometown in Jacksonville, Florida visiting friends in Ocoee for 4th of July weekend. The two hour drive seemed to take forever and being so far from work made her nervous. Murders almost always had a way to spoil some kind of holiday, even the small ones.
Just then, Kagami’s cell phone rang and vibrated against her thigh. She plucked it from her pocket, flipped it open, and said “Hello?”. The voice on the other line was deep and booming.
“Detective Kagami?”
She sighed and replied, “Yes?”
“It’s Lieutenant Cambell.”
Kagami chuckled nervously. The fact that John is being formal means something serious happened.
“Ok, John, cut the crap. What happened?”
What little humor she felt soon disappeared completely as she listened to her superior.
“We have a murder. Pretty gruesome.” His voice was tired and Kagami could almost picture him standing with his shoulders slumped.
“Where at? Please tell me it’s not in Jacksonville. I’m about three hours from there.”
It was his turn to chuckle, but it was more to release tension than to show humor.
“Actually, you’re in luck. It’s right there in Ocoee.”
“Oh, lucky me.” she snarled back. “Give me the address and I’ll be there.”
Kagami dug in her purse and pulled out a pen and a small notebook and quickly jotted down the address.
“Thanks John.”
“No problem, Kagami. Say hello to Taylor for me.”
She nodded and realized he couldn’t see and replied.
“Will do. Good-bye John.”
She hung up the phone and let a deep sigh escape her lips. This was going to be a long night. She stood and reluctantly walked to the crowd of people playing with sparklers. She grabbed Taylor’s arm and pulled him away from the excitement, with a confused look on his face. She turned to face him and her eyes were apologetic.
“I’m sorry Taylor, but I have to check out a murder scene. It’s only a few minutes away.”
He groaned and semi-faked a pout, sticking out his lower lip. It brought a small smile to Kagami’s lips which, in turn, made Taylor smile.
“Alright Kagi. I’ll meet you back at the hotel. Don’t talk to strangers now, yah hear?”
She rolled her eyes and punched his arm playfully. With a chaste kiss on the cheek and a simple good-bye, Kagami was on her way in her blue 2005 Mini-Cooper, driving nonchalant down the backroads of Ocoee. In a mere 10 minutes she pulled into the driveway of a two story house surrounded by yellow police tape.
The house was a giant two story plantation house, one of the few that still stood in Ocoee, and was situated on a four acre plot of land. Located on the side of the house was a small barn where two horses were being kept, trotting uncomfortably in what little space they were given. Marked and unmarked police vehicles littered the front lawn and for every car there had to be at least three cops that went with them. The were everywhere. Most of them sat huddled in groups no doubt talking about the murder, but some stood off to the side with pale faces. Not a good sign.
Kagami pulled her badge from the glove department of her car and exited the vehicle. She made her way toward the yellow tape barrier before being stopped by a uniformed officer.
“Miss Kagami, I suppose?”
Kagami nodded and showed the officer her badge and ducked as the officer lifted up the tape for her to pass.
“Lieutenant Cambell is waiting for you at the front door Miss.”
Kagami paused to say her thanks and waded her way through the crowd of police to get to the front door.
Lieutenant John Cambell was a casual man at the age of 35. He was short, about 5’6”, and a bit heavy. Despite his looks he was a great detective and very smart. He stood in the doorway of the house leaning on the doorframe wearing wrinkled slacks and a blazer and holding a small notebook in his hand. A pair of oval shaped glasses sat on the end of his nose as his eyes scanned the notebook over and over. He looked up and glanced at Kagami as she approached him. He flipped his notebook closed and smiled a tired but happy smile.
“Hello Detective.”
Kagami snorted.
“Please John, no formalities tonight. I just want to get this over with and leave.”
“Join the club.”
He sighed and plucked the glasses from his nose, tucking them into his breast pocket.
“Ready to see the body?”
“Bring it on.”
John handed her a pair of purple latex gloves and a hair tie.
“You might want these.”
John waited patiently as Kagami put her long, black hair in a messy ponytail and as she struggled to get the tight gloves to fit over her hands. Once she was done, he motioned for her to follow and silently led her through a few rooms and up a flight of stairs. He stopped before entering what looked like a bedroom door.
“What?” Kagami said, worried.
John shook his head. “Try not to puke on the evidence.”
With that, he opened the closed door and Kagami gasped at what lay before her eyes.
The carpet was soaked with blood, fresh and dried, but mostly fresh. Bloody handprints dotted the white walls of the room. The bed was a mess, sheets ripped and pillows slashed. As her deep brown eyes scanned the room, they fell upon a mass of something near the closet.
“May I?” she addressed John.
“Be my guest.”
Kagami stepped into the room and the smell finally hit her. The metallic fragrance of blood was strong and underneath it was a faint aroma of…meat. Like raw hamburger. Suddenly, she had an idea of what that hunk of something near the closet was. It was the meat of a human. She gulped down the fear that threatened to spill from her throat and continued walking toward the closet. The carpet was spongy from the blood and soon soaked the insides of her shoes, her favorite pair of black Vans. She made it to the closet door and squatted near the mass of what used to be a human.
“Hey John. We got an ID on the vic?”
John nodded and flipped his notebook open again.
“Yeah. A 25 year old male named Mark Martin. Eh, works for a car company down the road, no wife or kids, no girlfriend, and relatives live in New York. A friend found the mess. The friend, an…Adam Jacks, walked in on the mess and is currently being treated for shock in the ambulance. Oh, and he frequents bars and clubs. That‘s all we know right now.”
“Oh. Do we have an idea on what happened here?”
With gloved hands, Kagami started her examination of the chunk of human. From looking at the bones, she could tell it was the head and torso of the victim. The face was split open and unrecognizable and the torso was mangled. Ribs were broken or missing, the chest cavity ripped open. The skin on the edge of the gashes was torn and uneven.
“We don’t know. We have no witnesses.” John sighed and continued. “One officer thinks someone took him by surprise and cut him up with an ax but we still haven’t found the murder weapon. Personally, I think it might have been something to do with the new ‘organization’ that’s started up. I really don’t know Kagami.”
Kagami shook her head and continued her inspection of the body.
“It couldn’t have been an ax. The edges of the wounds are torn and shredded.”
Just then a thought popped into her head.
“Do you know if this guy hunts?”
John flipped through his notebook, stopped, and nodded.
“Yeah. He’s a member of the Ocoee Hunting Club. Why?”
Kagami thought for a moment and spoke carefully.
“Is one of the vic’s hunting knives missing? Possibly a serrated one?”
John considered the question and shook his head.
“We haven’t checked. Hey! Jacobson!”
A smaller blonde haired man appeared in the doorway and stood at attention.
“Yes s-sir?” His voice was shaky and he tried hard not to glance at the body Kagami was still fingering.
“Check the den where the victim stores his hunting gear. Check for a missing knife and compare it with the receipts we got from the OHC.”
The man, Officer Jacobson, replied with a “Yes sir” before leaving the room, visibly relieved he was allowed to go. Kagami stood from her squatting position near the body and pulled off the messy gloves. A lower ranked officer met her at the door and held a plastic biohazard bag for her to throw away the contaminated objects. She tossed the gloves away and, after arguing with John, finally relinquished her favorite pair of shoes.
The trip to the hotel gave Kagami time to think. Her hunch was right; a large serrated hunting knife was missing from the victim’s collection. The blade was a good four inches long and the handle was made of hand carved bone; an expensive knife but well worth it. It was guaranteed to cut through bone and never get dull. Great. A killer with a knife that never dulls. Another thing that bothered her was the lack of evidence left behind. They found no fingerprints, no hair or DNA evidence, and no cloth fibers. No trace of the murderer what-so-ever. The did, however, find the rest of the remains of the victim. His arms and legs were tangled under the mass of crimson sheets on the poor excuse for a bed. Kagami couldn’t wait to get home. An aspirin, a hot shower, and a soft bed were just what she needed.
A hot pot of decaf coffee sat waiting for her when she entered the hotel room, along with something sweet. Taylor sat at the table with his head rested in his hands, his medium length blonde hair spilling over his eyes. He smiled when she walked in and lifted his head, pushing back the stray strands of hair.
“How was it?” he said softly.
Kagami picked up her coffee and sipped it liberally before finally sitting in the chair next to him. Taylor automatically put his arm around his wife and she leaned into that arm, snuggling into the warmth of his body.
“It was…disgusting. Right now it’s only safe to tell you we found the victim in pieces.”
She shivered and Taylor ran his hand over her shoulder in a comforting gesture. She leaned further into his embrace and gazed at the cup of coffee she put back on the table. The coffee didn’t seem too appetizing anymore. In fact, it made her nauseous just looking at it.
She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. Taylor blinked a few times, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
“Something wrong?”
She shook her head and pulled away from the hug. He let her go, watching her the whole time.
“Nothing. I just need to take a shower. That’s all.”
He nodded and stood when she stood. He was almost more than half a foot taller than she. Taylor placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face to meet his. Worry sparkled behind his beautiful sapphire blue eyes as he spoke.
“I don’t like when you get like this. I think you need a vacation from all the blood and gore.”
Kagami smiled, it was part happy and part sad. She loved her job, especially when she tracked down a killer. It gave her a strong sense of self worth. But he did have a point. She could live without the gore.
“I don’t want to.” she began. “I love the feeling I get when I catch a killer and send them to jail. It makes me feel needed.”
“If you stay home I can show you how much I need you.” he smiled as he said it, watching color spread across her cheeks. He chuckled.
“Taylor!” she said, her voice a little breathy. She could feel her cheeks burning with her embarrassment. He had that effect on her and judging by the slight arrogant look on his face, he knew it too. Taylor placed a hand on her cheek and smiled lovingly. Kagami leaned into his hand and gazed back at him with tender affection.
“I need to take a shower.” she said softly, almost in a whisper.
Taylor nodded and bent down, gently planting a small kiss on her lips. He smiled and watched her smile back before she turned and headed to the bathroom.
Kagami stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She looked at her distorted image in the mirror and grinned. The hot shower had felt good and nearly washed away the horror she felt from that evening. She walked up to the mirror and drew her finger across the steam covered glass. She wrote her name and Taylor’s, drawing a heart between them. She laughed at herself and exited the bathroom. Taylor had already fallen asleep and was tucked under the covers. Quietly she got dressed and slipped next to him, eventually falling into a deep sleep.
Kagami found herself walking quickly through a park, something clutched tightly in her gloved hand. She heard footsteps ahead of her, stepping down hard on the concrete. Soon a man came into her view. He was tall and slender, with a mop of dirty blonde hair atop his handsome face. Kagami was about to ask the man a question but found she could not. Her body wouldn’t listen to her. She screamed and yelled and yet nothing happened. Finally her mouth opened but the words and thoughts were not her own.
“You’ve been a bad boy, Derrick, cheating on your wife when you have kids at home.”
Kagami felt her lips curl into a satisfied smile as she watched the man before her take on a panicked look. He spoke with fear dripping from his words.
“W-What are you going to do, Aya? Tell my wife?”
Aya? She began to correct the man but her mouth had other plans.
“No, I think death would suit you better.”
Derrick’s eyes widened and finally he noticed the item in her hands. He stumbled backward and fell against a large oak that stood tall behind him.
“W-Why?!” he pleaded.
Kagami only knelt in front of Derrick’s trembling frame and smiled, holding the knife eye level. It was a large, serrated blade and very sharp. Derrick was trapped and any attempt to escape would be pointless. Tears streamed from his eyes and his body shook uncontrollably. Fear made his heart beat faster and a cold dread filled his body. He was going to die.
“Why, you ask?”
Kagami’ voice took on a cold tone that held an edge of sarcasm.
“Because you don’t know the meaning of monogamy.”
With that said, Kagami drew back the knife and slammed it home into the man’s skull with a hollow thunk. She repeatedly stabbed at the man with increasing force, eyes wide. Inside she was screaming but what really came out of her mouth was a hysterical high pitched laugh that could send shivers down the killer Mike Myers’s back.
Kagami woke suddenly from her sleep and screamed. Taylor jumped out of bed and looked around wildly, his eyes falling quickly to the shaking form of his wife crying beside him. He drew her into a warm embrace and consoled her. She shook helplessly, sobbing in his arms. When she was finally able to regain herself, she settled herself in his arms and told him what had happened. It felt like a dream but on the other hand it felt real. Maybe a bit too real. Taylor spoke soothingly to her, stroking her now dry hair. It’d been about 6 hours since she had fallen asleep.
“It’s okay. It was only a dream. I won’t say I told you so but your work is finally getting to you. I think later on this morning you should file for your vacation time and let John handle this case. You need to relax.”
Kagami shook her head.
“I have to solve this.”
“No you don’t. I’m worried about you sweetie. If you keep this up you’ll eventually break down. I don’t want to see that happen.”
She opened her mouth to argue but stopped and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll tell John later.” she said softly.
Taylor replied with a “good” and kissed Kagami’s forehead before getting fully out of bed. The clock read 9:00 a.m. and it was time to get ready for work. Taylor went into the bathroom to take a shower and left her alone in the room. Sunlight at nine in the morning was as bright as day, it was summer after all, so she proceeded to get dressed using the sunlight spilling through the curtains as her guide. Today was her day to work the office so she dressed in a nice dark navy blue skirt that ended at her knees, a white silk button-down shirt, and a navy blue blazer to match the skirt. She wore her nice pearl necklace and a cute pair of black one-inch pumps. Her long black hair was braided and tied and hung over her shoulder. Taylor walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and whistled.
“Well good morning beautiful. How come you never wear that for me?” he teased, leaning against the door frame of the bathroom.
Kagami smiled slyly and teased back. “Maybe if you asked nicely…”
Taylor laughed and blew her a kiss. She pretended to catch it and put it in the pocket of her blazer.
“Have a good day at work honey.” he said.
“You too, love.”
With that said, she left in her Mini-Cooper and drove off toward the police station. Despite the dream she had, her spirits had lifted a tiny bit. Her face was still pale and she felt a little tired but that was it.


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This is only like, the first half. I've been a bit shakey about this one since it's the first story I've done outside of roleplaying on Gaiaonline. And because it's non-anime. ^^; Constructive criticism is greatly wanted//needed. Reviews = love. =] I will try to update the story ASAP.