Detective Ron McPherson was at his desk, going through the case he had closed earlier that evening. It was already 8:30 PM. A slice of pepperoni pizza and an open can of soda sat on his desk, next to an old ashtray with a lit cigarette resting on it. Ron was too immersed in admiring how shrewdly he had solved the mysterious kidnapping case to pay attention to anything else around him.

After a while, he proudly kept the file aside and reached out for his cigarette when Detective Phil walked over with a bunch of files and dumped them on his desk. “What’s this?” Ron asked.

“Brutal serial killings downtown. Late night murders, all of them between midnight and 3 AM. Same M.O. Might remind you of the strange case that had your old precinct on a wild goose chase for months. Chief wants you to take this case! Hope you find something!” Phil replied.

Ron opened one of the files and skimmed through the case details. “Wasn’t Marcus from Homicide working on this one? Why me now?”

“Yeah he was! Until the sight of those mangled bodies every morning made him sick! Take a look at this Jane Doe we found near Fashion District,” Phil pulled out a photograph of one of the corpses and held it before Ron’s eyes. “We have a lead this time. A couple of eyewitnesses say this was done by some deranged woman. Dressed up in torn clothes, messed up hair, filthy stench around her. But the bodies look like they were torn up by some animal! How can one human possibly cause that kind of damage?”

Ron looked at the photographs from the rest of the files and studied them. “Alright! I guess I’ll dig into these first thing in the morning! I’m gonna go home now and grab a drink before I hit the sack! I’m done for today!” he said and put the files aside. He got up from his chair and put on his jacket.

“Alright Ron, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then!” Phil said. “Hey can I ask you something?”

“Yeah! Go ahead!”

“What are you doing here?” Phil asked.

Ron was puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“I saw your YouTube channel Ron! You doing that stuff with all those chemicals! Experimenting and all! Pretty cool stuff! You should have been a college professor or something! Why a cop? Why not make a career out of that?”

“Coz I don’t wanna make it a boring routine Phil! I love experimenting! It’s my hobby… And I wanna keep it that way! Besides, I’m only improvising on what I learnt back in high school! I don’t have the degree needed for that kind of a job!”

“Whatever…” Phil sighed, leaning back on the chair. “You know I’ve been wondering… The girl from the coffee place we’ve been going to lately… She has her eyes on you… And I know you’ve been checking her out too… I can see real sparks flying here! Why don’t you ask her out? It’s been what, a year since you lost your wife?”

Ron sat on the corner of his desk and looked at Phil. He thought for a moment and said, “That’s right Phil… It’s been more than a year… But…”

“But?” Phil interrupted, “You knew she had cancer and you knew she wouldn’t make it! Why haven’t you moved on yet? I thought getting transferred here would help you bury the past!”

“I don’t know Phil… It just feels like Judith is still a part of my life! It’s like she never left! I can’t bring another woman into my life as long as I feel her around me!” Ron replied.

“You know what! I think you should go home and get that drink you’ve been craving for! Go get some sleep!” Phil said in dismay and left.

Ron left from the precinct and drove back home. He opened the door of his empty house and turned the lights on. He then threw his jacket onto a chair and his keys on the table and walked over to a shelf by the television. He pulled out a bottle of vodka and a bunch of keys that he had kept beside the bottle in the shelf. He took a sip off the bottle and headed for the basement door. He opened it and walked down the stairs, flicking the lights on as he descended.
“Sorry for showing up so late! Had a long day at work! Closed a big case today! And then Chief Mitchell handed me another one! Strange things happen around here and we’re supposed to go clean up!” Ron complained as he placed the bottle of vodka on a table and looked at the horrendous creature chained to a wall in front of him. It appeared ghastly. It was clothed in a torn and bloodstained teal t-shirt and a pair of old ragged jeans. Its hair was long, dry, filthy and entangled all over. Its face was in scars, its lips were torn and its teeth were stained in blood. Its fingernails were long and sharp and had little chunks of flesh stuck under them. It reeked of rotting flesh and the stench filled up the basement. The creature growled violently at Ron while trying to break free from its chains. “Ready for your midnight snack?” Ron asked.

He unlocked and opened the cellar door of the basement and proceeded to unlock the creature’s chains. “Once again, I want you to know that I’m sorry for ruining your appetite! But we had no choice! I told you I won’t let you die! I hope you’ll always remember that! I promise I’ll find a cure for this! I love you… Judith!”