Dark Side Of Humanity (I): Autopsy

The smell of death was so prevalent that it was almost impossible for her to breathe. This was the eighth body in five nights, and this one was even more tragic than the previous ones. Maureen was loved by quite a few people in town, and even if she wouldn't like to admit, she knew most of the slaves here loved Maureen because they knew she was going to grow up into quite the beauty. And quite frankly for a girl born into slavery, there was only one other option available, and that was prostitution.

Elysium might claim to give eternal life and a blissful experience of it, but everything that was wrong with earth was also wrong with Elysium. The patriarchy still stood strong and it's hard to see women as anything other than givers of pleasure. She took a closer look at the bodies, slaves died every day, and even though she also wouldn't admit that she had been ignoring the previous deaths and considering them all as routine reports, the death of Maureen had been a wakeup call, after it's not just the males slaves and guards who have waiting for the little girl to grow up.

"What can you tell me about their deaths? I need you to get to the bottom of this and find who is fucking responsible!"

Her presence was quite intimidating to everyone; she never seemed to have a reason to smile to anyone, least of all the slaves. Only few people have seen anything other than her blank looks, and more often than not most of them end up dead. There was even a rumor that even in the throes of an orgasm the forewoman was unresponsive and was akin to a block of wood. Bottom line; she was scary, and the doctor would rather not get on her bad side, so he quickly told her everything he had found out so far, very desperate to get the demoness out of his clinic.

"Whatever it is that killed them, it sure took its time. The claw marks on their bodies are very light and shallow, from what I can see, the claws responsible for this damage can shred rocks if not steel quite easily. It seemed to take fun in tearing into their skin, however while it took its time, I reckon they died fairly quickly, except in the case of Maureen. All the previous victims were male and literally had their throats ripped out before their bodies were mutilated.

Maureen was alive, and not just that residue found on her…..errrr...on her privates shows that she might have engaged in sexual....arghhhh I mean she might have been raped by what was responsible. But since sexual intercourse came into question, I'm afraid we're not dealing with a monster but a man with the ability to transform his body, or having access to a monster with fearsome strength."

She had to resist the urge to slap this man's head off his shoulder, she didn't like pretence of hypocrisy, and she especially didn't like people beating around the bush. No one here was innocent, so his aversion to using the word rape left her annoyed, after all he was imprisoned here and made a slave because during the course of his medical practice; he had killed hundreds of female patients just to have as he so put it 'sexual intercourse' with their corpses, very similar to another slave here, but surprise he's lying dead on a table too, just like Maureen.

"What exactly ties all the victims together? Are we sure the same person is responsible for all their deaths and these is not just some random occurrence." She asked as she looked at the doctor who was smartly nervous, there was an edge to her voice now.

"Quite honestly, when it comes to their personal life and relationships, nothing links all eight victims together. The only thing prevalent is the way they're killed, their throats were ripped out, their bodies cut hundreds of times in different places, and their hearts torn out of their bodies and taken away. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but to me, this looks like a....."

"Necromancy ritual!"

They were both silent for a while, it was easy to see where this going, after all there was only one necromancer in the whole of the mine, and even if he was just a fifteen year old kid, people with death classes cannot be trusted. But still she wasn't sure he was capable of such a thing, he has been here for all of two weeks and he would be killing people? It made no sense; he was a lot smarter than that. But still he was the only suspect they had right now; with no other leads Rezar was the only one that seemed responsible for this.

"There's something else forewoman....all of the bodies were found at the entrance of the western sector of the mine, there were foot prints leading deep into the tunnels before finally disappearing."

More damning evidence, there was no one else living in that part of the mine but the young necromancer she had thrown there, he was guilty. But she couldn't help but feel that this was a little bit too convenient, it was easy to blame a necromancer for anything that goes wrong, heck even a common cough would have people praying against the influence of a necromancer, and very much so if said necromancer was anywhere close by.

The death classes were the easiest scapegoats in all of Elysium, and because of the fear people have for the death classes, things like a proper trial or investigation would be waivered and they would be executed. But she just couldn't wrap her head around this, he was audacious and without fear, but he wasn't stupid, something off was going on here. And as the forewoman even though it doesn't matter in the long run, she would very much prefer to punish the guilty and leave that kid with the audacity to call her Red alone. After all he would make such an amazing plaything, and she's just lost one, she would prefer not to lose another one to this unsavory situation.

"Keep everything you've found out to yourself, I would like it if panic doesn't spread across the town. If I hear even a whisper of this from anyone else's lips but yours, I'm going to flay you and hang you on the spire for all to see. Do I make myself clear doctor Cusack?"

The doctor swallowed hard as he looked up at the fearsome red haired demoness in front of him. "Crystal clear forewoman Lenore, my mouth is sealed."

Lenore couldn't help but sigh, she knew his lips weren't sealed, Cusack was well known for his love for gossip, and even more so for his obsession with pretty dead things. In less than an hour Rezar would probably become public enemy number one and there really wasn't anything she could do about it. And even more Cusack she really couldn't do anything to Cusack, he was after all the only doctor they had across all eight sectors of the mine, putting him out of commission for any amount of time would screw them over.

She stepped out of the house that served as a clinic and Cusack's hideout wincing a bit at the blast of hot air that hit her face. There were spells that made the house cool to prevent the decay of the corpses; it was really hot this time of the year. But Lenore knew winter wasn't too far away, productivity would probably drop by an estimated 67% and she would be in even bigger trouble if she doesn't solve this fucking case properly. She turned to look at her head guard/enforcer.

"Gather the others, we're taking a trip to the western sector, tell them to be fully armed. We have no idea what we're walking into, and keep the movement as silent and as discreet as possible. We don't want to incite panic or gossip, there's already so much going on right now, no need to add any extra stuff to it. Move out!"