📌 Tags: Psychological Thriller, Urban Noir, Vigilante, Mature Themes, Serial Killer, Crime Drama
⚠️Authors Note - Mature Content
"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, nations, corporations and events are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real events or persons is coincidental."
Date: 3rd December
Character Name: Detective Ethan Brady
Location: Promise City, Ct
District: Bay District
Time: 03:20 AM (0320)
The rooftops across the city were buried beneath thick white snow, falling in heavy sheets from a sky blacker than tar. Skyscrapers - Promise City's proudest monuments - stood tall and defiant against the sub-zero winds, each one glazed in frost, cloaked in ice, silhouetted like cold giants.
Down in the bay, cargo vessels lay trapped in the frozen waters. Their crews, desperate, chipped away at the ice while helicopters circled overhead like vultures.
It was the holiday season, and yet Promise City, the so-called Jewel of East America, felt anything but joyful. Residents trudged through snowdrifts in waterproof coats, bracing against the cold as life continued with grim determination.
Parents swarmed stores in a frenzied panic. Shelves were stripped bare, stores left hollowed-out. Office workers stared at clocks behind frosted glass, praying they'd finish before Christmas Eve. Tourists clustered around one of the city's few "joyful" sights: a towering Christmas tree lit in multi-coloured neon, topped with a miniature golden statue of Star-Patriot. Beneath it, cars sat buried in snowbanks, unable to move, lights still blinking.
The Bay District was no better.
A coastal marketplace warped into a crescent by the city's curved shoreline, partially enclosed by a long, green sunroom-style glass roof-now frosted, cracked, and dusted with snow.
Walking along the coast was a man out of time. Detective Brady - a grey fox in a brown trench coat and floppy hat - trudged through snow, cigar clenched between his teeth, boots crunching frozen concrete. His sharp eyes scanned the bay, lingering on the frozen ships… but his thoughts were elsewhere.
The Wedding Ring Slayer.
Six victims. Married women. Horrifically slain.
He'd been given one week to solve it. One impossible week. He lit his cigar, staring into the snow-drenched skyline as his earpiece chirped to life.
["Detective. Do you think he'll appear?"]
"I hope so. He's our last hope. If I don't get a lead, the Captain's taking my badge."
["If the boss finds out our lead is a vigilante-"]
"Then we both lose our jobs. But at least we tried something."
He waited. Nothing. Time passed. The wind grew colder.
"He didn't know."
["What now?"]
"Back to square one…"
But before he could leave -
["ALL UNITS - 10-65. Backup needed. Old Italian Terrasi Restaurant."]
"Guess something came up", Brady sighed.
He turned and walked into the storm, knowing he wouldn't be going home tonight.
Terrasi Restaurant - Crime Scene
The restaurant street was quiet - no traffic, only moonlight and sirens bouncing off snow-covered buildings.
A uniformed officer in a thermal blue coat stood outside. Beside him, a half-asleep crime scene tech chain-smoked like it was his last joy in life. They barely glanced up as Brady arrived.
"How long's he gonna take?"
"An hour."
"Nancy's gonna be pissed."
"Told her I might quit."
"What'd she say?"
"Said she'd f*ck my brother. He's a firefighter."
Awkward silence.
Then footsteps.
A man in shadows emerged.
"Detective."
"Boys. What have we got?"
The Victim: Evelyn Silva.
Missing. Last seen above the restaurant.
Engaged to the owner, currently overseas in Italy.
"Domestic?"
"Nope. fiancé has an alibi."
Brady lit another cigar.
"Let's have a look then."
The Apartment Above
The detective trudged upstairs, entering the apartment. Cold, dingy. Mold in the corners. Frozen window. Icicles hanging. The room was a wreck. Messy bed. Suitcase open. Flamingo print.
"Running away..? Holiday plans?"
He spun -
Someone else was in the room.
A figure stepped out of the shadows -
Blue robes. Balaclava. Katana.
Near.
"Detective."
"Didn't want to show?"
"Tied up. Other priorities."
The two stood in the freezing silence, eyes scanning the room.
"The phonebox outside… that's where the killer called from, right?"
"Likely. Victim tried to flee. But the killer was already inside."
Brady peered out the window.
"You sure?"
"Guessing. But that window's already open."
It clicked.
Brady had ignored the window. The killer had been inside the whole time.
"He was already here."
"Exactly."
Near held up a small ring. Fake diamond.
"Calling card. White Sapphire. This is number seven."
"You've been working with me a month,"
Brady said. "I don't even know your name."
"Near."
"Brady. Ethan Brady."
"We've got a lead."
Near pressed a button on his gauntlet. A slideshow appeared on the walls.
Victims 1-6: Married. All cheated.
Victim 7 (Evelyn): Not married - Yet.
Brady stared at a photo: Evelyn with her fiancé in a vineyard.
Cream skin. Black hair. Green eyes. Cherry lips. Model-like figure.
"She had a secret," Near said
"A lover," Brady replied.
Near swiped. A man appeared on screen. Bronze skin. Dreadlocks.
"Darrell Cannon. Bay District resident."
"I'll send a unit."
"No. I'll go myself."
Near vanished into the skyline like a shadow dissolving in snow.
He aimed his grapple gun to the opposite building.
BANG ZZZZIIPPPPPP
With his cape wide, he soared into the skyline.
Somewhere Else in Promise City…
Deep within the city's underbelly, inside the Stretch - four miles of tunnel-slum hell wrapped around Promise City - sat a hidden room in a hidden hole.
Home to a killer.
He sat in darkness, lining up rings. Cleaning each with care. Fingernails pristine. The room around him was a rusted, bloodstained pit.
A voice cried out.
"Please…"
"Shhh… save your strength. Energy bills are murder this time of year. Ho ho ho!"
The killer chuckled. He was big. Hairy. His face hidden by a brown paper bag with eye holes. Oil-stained tank top. Arms thick as fence posts. Voice full of mockery.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Your ring! Got to add it to the collection."
Evelyn was chained to the wall. Bruised. Bleeding. Barefoot. Skin pale from blood loss. Hair tangled. Lips split.
"Your fiancé worked hard for this ring. But now I get to keep it."
He held it up. A real diamond. Shimmering.
"10K? 20K? 30? Yeah right. Like subhuman trash like you deserve that."
He laughed. Then dropped the engagement ring into his box.
"Your number seven. Congrats. Time for your trophy."
Evelyn panicked, writhing in chains.
"I'll carve seven into your stomach. Take your bra. Add it to the collection."
"I want to kill you now… but I think I'll wait until tomorrow."
She begged. Broken.
"Please…. I'll do anything…"
"Shhh…."
He injected her with a tranquilizer.
"Save your strength."
Date: 3rd December
Character Name: Near
Location: Promise City, Ct
District: Top of the Promise City Shard
Time: 06:04 AM (0604)
Near stood atop the tallest spire of the city, the sun just breaking over the skyline. The wind howled. His robe danced. The cold kissed his cheek.
BEEP. BEEP.
"Eh…"
He looked at his phone.
"Oh shit. I'm late for work."