The sound of the phone ringing woke Emma up from sleep. She looked at the clock beside her bed and cursed when she realized it was 3 am. She had been up untill 1:00 am, going through the files on the serial killer case. It felt like she was just closing her eyes to sleep when the phone rang. Looking at the screen put both surprise and concern on her face. Caiden McDouglas had no reason to call her at that time of the day, except...

"Holy crap!"

She picked the phone up and placed it against her ear.

"McDouglas."

"We just got another victim." She heard him say.

  "Another victim?" That question was more to herself than to Caiden.  

"Why in the world is The Spawn going on a murder spree? The last victim was killed less than 72 hours ago."

From the noise in the background, the chaotic nature of the situation was clear. Sirens could be heard in the distance and smooth speech, not too far away.

"Is that the press?" She asked.

"Yup... our nightmare just began." He replied. "How soon can you get here?"

"Where is here?"

"Clinton River boat club." He replied. "...and lose the cracked voice by the time you get here. It's bad enough dealing with this mess already."

"Did he really just tease me? I don't have cracked voice. Do I?"

Emma couldn't believe Caiden. They had a serial killer on the loose and he had the time to talk about her voice. She didn't bother to respond to him. She simply ended the call and got dressed.

When she arrived at the boat club, the chaos had died down a bit. Paramedics had taken the victim off to a hospital and detective Chase was granting an interview to a news agent. She saw the boat the victim was killed in being hauled off and couldn't miss the inscription on the side. Since the boat was pulled off the river, it was clear the inscription wasn't made with blood. That knowledge didn't make the red paint any easier to look at. The killer was beginning to get cocky. This was the most elaborate murder that had been pulled off.

"The Spawn." 

Detective Rhodes voice made Emma turn around to look at him. 

"What do you think the killer is trying to tell us?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter. Let's find him and put an end to this circus." She replied, walking off to find Caiden.