Liam

"One female dead, another male in custody possible charges include murder, breaking and entering, rape, and drug possession" my partner rattled off as we stood over the sheet-covered body of a dead woman.

The house was a mess, the smell of drugs, piss, and beer lingered in the air. Any officer that wasn't well seasoned would have already been out the door, retching on the sidewalk, and I knew that all too well. I had gone through the same ordeal the first time I had to deal with a murder, I had been assigned to a case in Colorado involving a warehouse full of dead human traffickers.

The scene looked like a bunch of wild animals had torn them to shreds.

"Looks like she had a kid, a boy maybe" my partner, Peter states as he lifts a framed photo of the victim holding a small baby who was covered in freckles.

"Where do you think he is?" he asked.

"With a mom like that, there's no telling where he could be" I answered honestly, feeling bad for the kid wherever he may be or end up due to the poor conditions he was brought up in.

"That's the sad truth" Peter placed the photo back on the cocaine covered side table before going upstairs to check for any other vital information. I walked around the room, taking pictures of the lines of white powder on the scratched coffee table, the blood on the edge of it, and finally, the blood-smeared in the kitchen where a dirty knife lay.

"No doubt she put up a fight, she must've grabbed the knife, tried to stab her assailant only to get stabbed herself before moving it into the living room. The man threw her down, she hits her head on the edge of the coffee table cracks her skull, and is left vulnerable on the floor" I murmured to myself, only to jump slightly when I heard an unwanted voice behind me.

"Good job as always Liam" I stood up from my crouched position over the bloody table, turning to my co-worker, Archer. He always unnerved me with his lingering eyes and odd behavior around me, but nobody else seemed to notice, and he did his job, so who was I to judge?

But I also think Peter was unnerved by his presence because he gave me a look out of the corner of his eye before glancing between Archer and I.

"Thank you, have you spoken to the neighbors about the victim?" I asked as I scrolled through the pictures on the camera. Archer came a little closer, much to my disdain and my theory that Peter may not like Archer too much as well was proven when he practically scampered from the room.

"Yeah, only one person would give us some information, barely any of the people here were willing to even answer the door to us. But the guy claimed that the woman's name was Hannah Leno, she had two sons, but one disappeared around age three. The youngest is seventeen, and is a wild child, always causing trouble, and rarely home. His name is Arlen" he explained, opening his notepad and looking over what he had written down. I briefly pondered about the kid, the framed photo flickering in my memory.

"Do you think he'll come forward, or do we have to track him down?" his eyes snapped up from his notepad and for a second they seemed to glimmer with an unnatural light.

"Considering this kid's history with the authorities, and his mom's....situation, he won't be willing to come forward" I scratched the back of my head before sighing as he continued.

"We only have a few months before the boy turns eighteen, and CPS probably wouldn't be able to place him in a foster home due to his record of crime. I don't think there is very much we can do for him" he added on, making me slouch a little when I realized that the boy, Arlen, would be on his own from here on out. It was honestly a terrible situation all around if you ask me, but it was true, even in we found him, there was nothing we would really be able to do.

As someone who was also all alone in this world, I could only hope he'd find his way as I have throughout the years. My parents had died in a car crash when I was sixteen, leaving me to bounce from home to home as nobody wanted a rude, melancholy teenager set on breaking every rule they could just because. It was only sheer luck that I had landed in the home of a no-nonsense retired cop who took on difficult children like me in hopes that we could actually have a future outside of the system. And it worked, he whipped me right into shape with enough lessons on responsibility and chores that I begrudgingly came to respect the man.

But, everyone dies at some point and his time was only a month before I graduated from the academy.

"Let's pack up, the coroner is here to pick up her body, the criminal is caught, and we have all the evidence we need" I announced to the surrounding officers before stepping out the house and walking over to my squad car. I took a look around and spotted a flashy SUV speed around the corner before I could get its plates, it was certainly out of place for this neighborhood, but I'm sure it was nothing.

"Peter, hurry up, we're gonna have a crapload of paperwork to do tonight, and I'd rather get it done now than have to come in on my day off" I called out to the rookie as he jogged over to the squad car, sliding into the passengers' seat.

"I scoped out the bedrooms, and it was definitely a teenage boy living in there, but his clothes were missing, do you think he discovered his mom and took off?" he asked as he looked through the pictures he took of the bedrooms.

"Could be, but why wouldn't he call the police, or at least leave an anonymous tip for us before leaving?"

"I don't know, but with his reputation and experience with the police, I'm honestly not that surprised that he chose to leave"

"You're right" I agreed solemnly.

***

"Hawks, we're heading out for some drinks, you coming?" My chief yelled, using my last name instead of my first despite my constant pleas. I scanned the documents that lay in front of me one more time before deciding that they were finally finished.

"Yeah, I'm just about finished, who's driving?" I asked as I grabbed my worn leather jacket, slinging it on just as I made it to the precinct doors and into the night time chill.

"I am, get your ass in the car, I need a drink" she answered as she hopped in the driver's seat of her SUV, leaving me to sit in the back with Archer, who was looking just a bit too excited about that fact. Biting my tongue, I got in the car, sticking to my side while avoiding Archer's piercing gaze that never left me the entire ride, how does nobody else notice this? My gaze shot to Peter who sat on the passenger side but his gaze was firmly fixed on the moving scenery outside the window with an unreadable expression plastered on his face.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we stopped at a nearby bar called 'The Taps', it was a good bar with cheap drinks, you couldn't go wrong. As we stepped into the dimly lit interior, I immediately took a seat at the bar, signaling to the tender that I just wanted a soda instead of beer.

"You're not drinking?" Archer asked as he slid into the seat to my right, leaning over towards me a bit. He smelled slightly coppery and the air seemed to drop a few degrees around him, it reminded me of a crypt and I wanted nothing more than to scoot away. But, of course, I managed to reign in the unease that crept throughout me against my better judgment.

"No, just wanna keep a clear head in case I need to drive people home" I answered, making a slimy smile cross over his face.

"Ever the responsible one aren't you?"

"Yeah," I said quickly, thankfully my drink arrived, and Archer stopped to order his.

"Well, even the responsible ones need to have some fun" he spoke in what I guessed was a seductive tone as he placed his hand on my thigh, his eyes twinkling with lust.

"What you may think of is fun is different from my version of fun" I retorted, picking up his hand and removing it from my thigh, much to his disdain. "Oh so you're some sort of tight ass aren't you, playing hard to get when you just parade that lush behind of yours around the precinct" he nearly yelled before storming out the bar, and leaving me stunned. Thankfully, nobody had been paying attention, and on top of that, now I could relax since he was gone.

But it was difficult to unwind after that scene and the calm was interrupted only a short while later by my partner.

"Hey, where'd Archer go?" Peter asked as he stumbled over to me, it had completely slipped my mind that Peter was lightweight and would need help getting home. "He wasn't feelin' up to drinks tonight" I lied, making Peter frown. His reaction confused me, maybe I was wrong about him not like Archer.

"Come on" I downed the rest of my soda and said goodbye to the others before leading Peter outside. After calling a cab for him and making sure he'd make it back home, I started walking towards the bus stop. I was dead tired, and right now, all that stood between me and a warm bed was a short bus ride home. But as I passed a darkened alley, I was suddenly yanked in by powerful hands.

"You just think you can lead me on like that, huh, pretend like you don't want it slut" I recognized Archer's voice, and attempted to call out, but he clamped one of his hand over my mouth. He was quite a bit larger than my 5'8" frame, making it near impossible to get away unless I took some drastic measures.

I managed to get a hand free, trying to push him off and at the same time, grab my service gun as he attempted to feel me up and kiss my face. "Such a pretty little thing, you're going to be all mine now" I let out a muffled scream as he bit into my neck, the burning pain enveloping my body as blood rushed into his mouth.

WHAT THE FUCK!

I internally screamed as I managed to grab my gun and shoot him in the chest, only to have him step back, but not fall over and die as I expected. He ran off, and I chased him, holding my still bleeding neck as we ran down the street, only for me to lose him in the shadows. I attempted to stumble back to the place where I was attacked to see if anyone had heard the shot, but I could barely move.

I felt the cold creep into my body, into my bones, and knew that this is how I die. Bitten by a goddamn rapist psychopath and left to bleed out on the filthy concrete. I briefly wondered how he managed to run after being shot but the blood loss clouded my thoughts. Everything felt floaty and slow as if it wasn't real. I thought I heard my name being called but I couldn't be sure, my world was swiftly being overtaken by shadows.

My heart beat once, twice, then stilled.