A small sect of the few remaining members of the police force was crouched in a darkened room, discussing plans for the morning shortly to come.
"Alright, I know I can trust you guys. We've been at this a long time. Who else could it be?" asks the figure at the head of the table, in a leading tone.
"I... I don't know for certain, but we're running out of time," I reply.
Another voice pipes up, "I've compiled this list of suspects from what little evidence we've accrued. It's difficult to trace any of these patterns, but they seem to be trending to toward this man here." He points to one of the officers, some squeak I never recognized.
"How can you know that?" I inquire. Several of the others mumble in agreement.
"I can't... not for certain. But all of the other reasonable suspects have either been murdered already or executed by us. Where else can we go with this?" His voice carries a hint of frustration. I can't blame him. You'd think that more people would give a shit about a mass murderer.
"Very well, since we have no better choice. Let us take a vote," voiced the impromptu leader. "Shall we accuse this 'Diablo' character of the heinous crimes?"
The small chamber resounds, "Aye."
[hr]
With the rising of the sun, the treacherous police department all arrives at the office. The group prepares to confront their primary suspect. It isn't long before they find him in front of a vending machine, sliding in coins for a drink. I glance to my right only to see a fellow of our party burst forth.
He shouts, sprinting now, "HE'S THE MURDER[ER]!!"
Naturally, our quarry scuttles off like a skittish rabbit. Sighing with a heavy tiredness, the rest of the group gives chase. If I had known that this would lead to my demise, I probably would have stopped them.
Not like it matters.
[hr]
Through the weary streets we ran, pursuing a man who knew not where to go. There was no possible way he could get away from us. All he was doing was prolonging his inevitable doom. This city is cursed, you know. Once your fate is decided, there's no escaping it.
Eventually we ended up trudging into the sewers. His pace was slowing, and so was ours. The murky sludge sloughed at our boots, each step splattering more of the gruel. Every one of us was exhausted beyond the point of conscious reason. Mindlessly treading through the dim tunnels, we eventually had him trapped between us and a pit straight to Hell.
His eyes were wide, fearful of the choice he had to make. I knew he would jump. They always do. Not one of us was surprised or angered when we saw him slip on the slick stone. He fell, arms helplessly flapping, into the deep sludge digestion pit. He fell with the rest of the sewage.
My colleagues began congratulating themselves. Saying, "Job well done," or "Mission accomplished." It wasn't really that hard though. All we did was run after a scared man. "Now we don't even have to get our hands dirty!" I heard a voice exclaim. No, maybe not. But our feet were. The fermenting odors had taken residence within my nose.
Then the final scream echoed up from within the abyss.
My mind, it began flashing me images of dark spirits replacing my fellow officers. The lights flickered, each pulse more intense than the last. A horrible yawning resonated through the unending tunnels. I ran, but I made now ground. Each intersection was further from the last, each bending more madly. I was surrounded by these demons, but I was alone.
Somehow, my fate was sealed to the pathetic excuse we had run down. My heart let out a quiet yelp. My lungs, clasping to each ragged breath, gave way to one final shout. The blood within my veins turned into a black oil, igniting my nerves. My scream lasted for what felt like years. It went black. It all went black.
Maybe, to this day, you can still hear me screaming if you go deep enough. Not that you'd want to.
TL
R - I voted for him and died.
