Life's no fun without a good scare

[thalassino]

It starts some time around 3am, Tuesday morning. Thin whispers of fog start appearing all throughout Vatheon, creeping through the narrow, winding streets, up the steps, and over the park. It starts in the lower district, but as the night progresses and daylight approaches, it spreads to the other districts as well, growing thicker and thicker as it does. By the morning rolls around, the mist is thick enough that visibility has been compromised greatly, and the temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees, an odd chill filling the air.

And on the walls, there are stains.

They are infrequent at first, just a odd ruddy brown smear and a oddly bright red drop here and there, but the closer to the Plaza, the more numerous they become. There is a large smear across the steps leading up to the Plaza, as if something big was dragged up them. In one place the blood -- for it is blood, there is no deny it at this point -- pools thickly as if whoever was responsible took a casual break there, leaving the poor victim to bleed out on the steps.

On the plaza, the mist is thinner, but that is no relief. Rather, it just functions to make the gruesome scene all the more clearer.

A woman is draped upside down on the coral. Or, well, woman. It was once a woman, certainly, but now it is nothing more than something straight out of a nightmare. The flesh seems to have been torn carelessly from her limbs here and there, showing the white gleam of her bones, her nurse outfit torn as if raked apart by giant claws and her head...

well, it isn't there anymore.

The ground in front of her is smeared with blood as well. But where the previous smears had been accidental, these are deliberate, long lines curving and meeting to spell out



hel pm e


But no help had been forthcoming, clearly. No, it seems that this murder, this brutal murder, was nothing more than a game to whoever did it. The walls of the buildings surrounding the plaza are coated in bloody, spelling out a long string of mocking 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA's and directly in the center, behind the coral.


Who is next?


The notice board seems to have been hit too. The killer did not tear down any of the notices on the board already, but they did cover the entire board with blood-stained sheets of paper, each adorned with the same text over and over and over again.


Chop chop, sweet Charlotte
Chop chop till she's dead
Chop chop, sweet Charlotte
Chop off her hand and head.


For those brave enough to check, no, the poor girl still has both her hands. Was the killer just sloppy, or does this mean this is not Charlotte? So many unanswered questions, more born every passing moment.

Who had done this? Why? Where they going to strike again? And why had nobody heard anything?





[ooc note: Consider this your mingle log. Have fun, go forth, threadjack.

And as a further note, the fog does not seem to be clearing up as the week goes on. ]

Comments

[kid_in_disguise]

[ Enter one impostor detective. He's not doing such a great job keeping up the cool and unfazed level headedness he's sure Kudo could pull off even in the face of such a grisly murder. His face is a bit pale but that won't stop him from investigating. He moves wordlessly over to the body its self and carefully steps over the words written on the ground and inspects her fingers to see if perhaps she was the one to write out 'Hel pm e' ]

[ Next he steps back to get a closer look at what's left of the victim and her nurse's uniform- He'll look at the surrounding scene in a moment, for now he's convinced the first step to solving this would be to identify the victim. He glances around quickly for a sign of Conan-sure it won't be long before the detective comes charging over. ]

[oneechan]

[Ran notices Shinichi's change in demeanor at the appearance of the victim. For once, it makes her feel validated in the horror of this grisly crime.]

This is horrible...[Ran's words were shaky. She could never quite get used to being on the scene of a crime, but if that was where Shinichi would be, well...she owed it to him, to be there, to better understand him.] Who would do such a thing, in a peaceful place like this?!

[kid_in_disguise]

[ Kaito looks up at the sound of the Meitantei's precious girlfriend and immediately attempts to summon the color back to his face-though he has no idea if it's worked or not. He moves carefully away from the body and over to Ran, gently placing his hands on either side of her shoulders to block her view of the scene. This really isn't something a lady-especially a young, seven teen year old lady, should see. ]

I'm not sure... but I think the first step to solving this is going to be identifying the victim. ...You should head home, I'd feel better knowing you were safe.

[modernholmes]

[Where is Conan? He's already kneeling over by the body and inspecting the scene.]

[oneechan]

[Ran hesitated for a moment, knowing that Shinichi's suggestion was probably best, but--]

No. [She shook her head.] You never know. A second set of eyes might help you. Besides. [She took Shinichi by the arm, and smiled brightly.]

It's been a long time since I've been able to admire your work! [Might as well attempt to appeal his ego, right?]