Infiltration

Lying there, his back resting on the window was the body of a middle aged man in a black suit that was now soaked in blood, the hair on his head was matted on his face, a sign that he did not suffer a quick nor easy death.

On his neck was a nasty jagged gash that went deep enough to reveal bone. Chari turned away not wanting to see any more of the gruesome sight.

He looked towards the stairs and asked out loud as if the very walls were capable of conversing.

"What floor is he on?"

Few moments later a voice seemingly identical to his replied in his head.

'He's on the 10th floor.'

Chari flashed his torch to observe the room he was in, he wasn't familiar with hotels in any way, in fact this was the first time he was entering one. The room he was in was rather large and flamboyant, the walls decorated with multiple paintings that were now covered in dust, most of them being abstract. Standing here he could already count like ten.

In front of him was a large desk with the words 'welcome' boldly written in front of it, just like the rest of the furniture in the room it was bathed in a thick layer of dust.

He was about to run towards the stairs when suddenly all the lights in the hotel suddenly came on and the moments later a faint buzz of the intercom permeated the air.

"Umm, is this thing working? Ohh yeah I can hear myself!"

"Listen up loud and clear boys!" A hoarse voice yelled. "Right here with me I have two body bags, one is a pretty little thing, big round blue eyes and blond hair that reminds me of the barbie dolls my lil sis used to play with." Jericho said.

He reached for the girl's face stroking it with his thumb as if to confirm his statement. The young woman recoiled in his grip, visible terror in her teary eyes but that seemed to just excite Jericho the more, a wide smile found its way to his lips.

"And on the other side is a– huh? Why do I even need you here?"

Suddenly the sound of a body whistling through the air as well as muffled screams could be heard.

Chari ran towards the edge of the window in time to see the man falling down, shaking frantically as he raced towards his inevitable end. Shortly after the horrific sound of the body slamming against the concrete spread across the area. Chari as well as all the enforcers that witnessed the scene tensed as they observed the now shattered body.

"Oh yeah, where was I? Well just come get her before I chug her off the roof as well."

A feminine scream found its way to the intercom.

"Shut up you bit–." Was the last thing they heared before the intercom went silent.

Just like the rumors, Jericho was a man that took the word psychopath to a whole other level, each time his name was mentioned all enforcers would be visibly uncomfortable. Chari always felt their response was exaggerated until their squad was placed in charge of the investigation and he read his case file.

That was exactly why he knew that something was off, Jericho wasn't acting like he usually did. Most of his murders were carried out in the shadows and done so cleanly that for years no one knew who the killer was, they could only tell that the crimes were connected but didn't discover who it was until years later.

Only a few people had even gotten a chance to encounter him face to face and each time he had either managed to escape of left them dead.

'He is being far too flashy, it's almost like he's begging for a direct confrontation.'

He ran up the stairs, the sound of his footsteps filled the otherwise quiet environment drawing all attention to the individual that was disturbing the peace of the abandoned building.

Running up the stairs did not make him any less cautious, his eyes were constantly roving over the walls and floor, looking for any signs of traps but strangely he found none.

He had to get to Vera as fast as he could but he couldn't afford to be careless. That would just leave him dead and seal Vera's fate in the process.

The floors and walls were still covered in dust, the only thing that stood out were the footprints confirming that they in fact went this way.

That was until he arrived at the 10th floor and suddenly brought himself to a halt. Bending down he observed the slight crack on the edge of the wall. Was this a trap? He went back a couple of steps and picked up a piece of wood that had broken off the old railings of the staircase and tossed it towards the area.

Nothing happened. Chari began to wonder if he was becoming overly cautious.

'Strange, no traps.'

'He is definitely planning something, that man is twisted right to the very core.'

There was a short break before his alter said the next words.

'I should know, I've seen the way he thinks.'

The hotel building was far too large for them to search floor by floor, even the 10th floor was too big. But they had an ace, judging by the view from

The window in the premonition they knew that he was most likely in a room at the southern part of the building.

And luckily for him there was only one door that could lead to that very window, it was a deluxe suite that covered that entire area.

Picking such a large room that stood out from the rest of them made the current situation even more weird, it was like he wasn't trying to hide anything.

He slowed down and with all the force he could muster kicked the door. The wood creaked under the pressure, the tired hinges giving way as the door flew right out of the frame.

But to his surprise, there was no one in the room and then suddenly a loud booming sound assaulted his eardrums along with the smell of burning wood.