day 365

victims are pawns in a game of dominance, their lives extinguished to feed the perpetual hunger of a soul consumed by darkness

"is the back secured?" special agent paxley asked as his partner, special agent alboro, walked up.

"the whole perimeter is secured. men 2 feet apart surrounding it." he replied, his gun also drawn. "i'm staying by the door. just incase."

detective paxley took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second. he adjusted his grip on his gun. he took another deep breath.

"okay." he sighed. "we ready?"

he looked around, seeing the array of nervous nods.

"entering the premises."

a cop tested to see if the door was unlocked, and was surprised as it opened. the group of special agents and detectives moved in quickly.

"o-oh my god," paxley stuttered, as he walked around the corner into the living room. he felt lightheaded.

blood.

so much blood.

"jesus christ." one of the detectives gasped, covering her mouth.

"that's one of our missing vic's." she, detective king, said. paxley slowly moved in closer with his gun still pointed at tyler's motionless body.

"i can't-" an officer gagged, running out of the house. his faint retching noises could be heard. another officer ran out, many unwilling to look directly at the scene and others too bewildered to look away.

time slowed, the air feeling still as the team walked up to the scene. the team was large, and filled with the best detectives, forensics analysts, and special agents in the country. this had been their focus for so long.

tyler joseph

and here he lay. after 5 years of missing people. 5 years of mutilated bodies. 5 years of not even a crumb of a lead on who this guy was.

a modern day jack the ripper.

and now here they were, face to face with the man behind it all. they found their ghost.

"he was only 21." detective mcmillan said, paxley snapping out of his trance. he continued to just, stare at him. at tyler.

"hmm?" paxley asked, clearing his throat and releasing his jaw that he didn't realize was clenched.

"joshua dun, he was only 21." he repeated. "why was he kept alive for so long? oh my god i think that spells something out?"

paxley was so deadlocked on tyler he had forgotten about the scene around him.

he was quickly reminded of the horrific sight. rigor mortis had set in, forensics determined they had been dead for a few hours.

"minz, murphy, what do we got?" paxley cleared his throat.

tyler laid on the ground, his head tilted back, exposing the gash in his neck that spread from ear to ear. the muscle and cartilage of his neck was displayed, spider webbed with veins and nerves. his carotids were cut. the blood had stopped flowing at this point, but not before coating the kitchen tile in a thick and partially coagulated puddle. blood spatter sprayed across the walls and floor. his knife was on the ground next to him, covered in blood.

"the cuts angled up, slight evidence of hesitation. blood, spraying up.." the blood spatter analyst, bryan minz, thought for a moment as he mimicked the blood spray and saw the pattern. "looks like he was sitting when his throat was slit, fell back. yeah, we're looking at self inflicted. one brutal cut, i'm not sure how he managed to go so deep. this spatter right here on his shirt most likely came from our other vic." he determined.

play song

tyler's eyes, wide open, were drained of their natural soft brown hue and instead replaced with a milky white haze. his lips curled into a smirk.

his arm was outstretched, his fingers tightly wrapped around josh's.

"cuts were administered post mortem," murphy said, spreading one open with his gloved hand to examine it closer. "we got mostly stabs, a few slashes here. all consistent with the knife. minz?"

"joseph was standing here, one slash to the throat creates this spray, getting it on his shirt. i see a slight bit of hesitation in the initial cut, but the rest indicates he was angry, holding the knife at this angle with a lot of force." he mimicked.

josh sat on the chair, his arms limp at his sides. his throat was also cut, his head tilted over the back of the chair, exposing the gash more. it was deeper than tyler's, the bone of his spine exposed from the front view. his eyelids were gone, his eyes wide and milky, staring into whoever dared to look. he was just in boxers, cuts littering his entire body. through the carved bloody mess of his front, paxley read;

YOU
CAUGHT
ME!

"was he trying to decapitate him?" mcmillan asked.

"could've been. i would more so believe he got all his anger out, didn't feel a need to keep going." minz replied.

"why the extra stabs then?" paxley asked.

"i think it's his sick version of decoration." the forensics specialist, james murphy, slightly chuckled.

"they don't feel angry." minz said quietly. he was good at his job.

another word was carved into the pale skin of his left thigh. this one was healed and scarred. it simply read TYLER'S.

"check this out," murphy said. with a gloved hand, he had lifted the left leg of tyler's shorts. he read JOSH'S scarred into his skin.

"there's something in his waistband." mcmillan said, reaching his gloved hand to grab the barely visible crumbled up piece of paper tucked into the waistband of his briefs.

"what kind of sick shit is this?" mcmillan scoffed, uncrumpling it. "they get off on murdering people together?"

paxley read the note.

what will it take?
what else should i do?
how far must i go to prove
that i love you?

paxley just stared at the scene. his eyes scanned over every inch as his brain scanned over everything he knew about the case. he was good at what he did. he saw things most didn't.

"fuckin crazies," mcmillan shook his head. they talked over the clicking and flashes of forensics cameras. "they took out the garbage for us."

"the boy," paxley started, ignoring his hot headed associate.

"joshua dun." king said.

"joshua," paxley thought again. "20, turned 21 while he was missing, right? taken from his college campus after a night of homework at the library. good boyfriend, lived with a best friend. good relationship with his parents." he listed off everything he remembered about joshua.

"that sound like a boy that would drop everything to murder people?" paxley asked. "a boy who would fall in love with a serial killer?"

"you're saying he was his prisoner." king said. "forced him to kill you think?"

"his dna and blood was found in the basement, skin found in the cuffs." minz said.

"he was kept in the basement for some time." murphy pitched in. "and we found fingerprints and hair all over the house, including joseph's bed and shower. semen as well."

"his prints on the knives. dna on the bed..." mcmillan said quietly and trailed off.

"he was his project." paxley said. "you ever heard of stockholm syndrome?"

everyone dropped silent. it was a rhetorical question, paxley knowing that everyone obviously knew what it was.

"fuck." king shook her head, taking a step back and a few deep breaths.

"poor kid." mcmillan said. "who's gonna be the one to tell the boyfriend?"

dallon had been to the station nearly everyday, trying to offer help in any way he could. he needed to do something. he was going insane.

"i will." paxley said quietly. it was truly one of the hardest parts of his job.

"well. i guess that closes this case." king said.

paxley stumbled back, finding a chair and sitting. he had been hunting this man for years. years. everyone told him he was crazy. nobody believed him when he first presented the theory that all of these murders we're connected. he fought tooth and nail to get this case opened.

and here they were, officially closing "the phantom butcher" case once and for all.

their butcher was dead on the floor in front of them, his blood forever staining the floors of the beautiful lake house. the terror was over. for the public at least.

it was just beginning for dallon. for ryan. for his family and friends. 

paxley stared into tyler's eyes. the eyes that have watched the life drain out of 67 people. 67 confirmed victims. no one will ever know how many the phantom truly killed. or how many joshua killed.

or that he even killed at all.

and maybe nobody needs to know.

you're beautiful
and evil too
sinister and vile
for you, I'd die
or kill myself
whichever makes you smile

fin