The Gereziac Chronicles

As Chantelle walked out of the police station, she realized how beautifully blue the sky was and how strong the sun was shining upon her face and stopped on the steps for a moment to reflect on how good it felt to be back in the free world and how lucky she was to even see the sun again after what had happened last night.

But unbeknown to her, she was being watched from a first floor window which belonged to the Coroner’s Office. It was the coroner himself and he just sat and watched Chantelle begin to walk away down the street, fighting with his conscience that he had lied on his report.

A couple of doors down the corridor was the office of Detective Inspector Harran, who was behind his desk enjoying a hot cup of coffee, talking to Detective Constable Short as they began the endless paperwork required for their questioning so far.

Outside, Chantelle enjoyed every step she took in the sunshine, but she knew that what had happened last night was well over the borders of normality and deep inside the realms of the supernatural and whilst she knew her saviour was most definitely a man, the police seemed to be looking for some kind of animal which totally filled her mind with confusion.

And what exactly had happened to her when she looked into his eyes? Why had she blanked out? Why had she seen those people being killed around her in a place she had never been? Was it all a nightmare that she was about to wake from at any moment?

Question after question echoed through her mind all at once, making it almost impossible for her to think straight.

Although she was now a free woman again and was making the most of her walk after being cooped up in a cell for what seemed like hours, she still felt a little uneasy with the people walking around her, as if their eyes were trained on her and watching her every step.

Her uneasiness was certainly stronger when she caught sight of a man in his mid-30s directly across the street from her, who seemed to have been walking the same route as her since she left the police station.

At first glance, he looked like any other ordinary pedestrian, but the more you looked at him, the more sinister he became. Or was it just paranoia filling Chantelle’s head?

Chantelle’s leisurely steps became a little faster and as she did so, the other man’s seemed to do the same. She glanced across every now and again at him and even though his eyes never met hers, she felt he was staring at her constantly. Whoever he was, from the characteristics of his walk, he was certainly not someone she knew or had met before.

She did think for a second that maybe he was the man who had saved her last night, but she remembered that he was much taller and stronger. The man on the opposite side of the road seemed a little shorter with a physique that was still, but not as muscular as the man she had encountered last night.

But there definitely was an eerie nature about him and Chantelle even contemplated the fact that maybe he was a plain clothes policeman following her around to see what she would do next, but there was an air about him that didn’t shout anything like policeman. He was well able to keep walking at the pace he was right now, momentarily disappearing amongst the other pedestrians only to reappear moments later.

This was getting more and more unlike coincidence as Chantelle took turn after turn only to find him closely behind, but not invading her own personal space. Twice in the last 24 hours she was begging to see a police officer, but the only time she got to see one was when it was too late and even then she was treated like a criminal just to be told to leave as if nothing had happened to her.

With every turn she took to hopefully lose her pursuer, the crowds around her became smaller and smaller and Chantelle knew that very soon she may end up somewhere that may not have anyone whatsoever to make her feel more secure. This was changing into a strange cat and mouse game and she was most definitely not the cat!

As Detective Constable Short began typing out their report on the computer in the Police Station, he could feel his mind begin to ask questions as each word came up on the screen. This was no ordinary open and shut case of attempted rape followed by what can only be described as murder by some vigilante, but no matter how many more questions they asked or how many reports they read, he felt that they were still stuck up a dead end.

Detective Inspector Harran felt the same way too and you could see his mind going into overdrive as he studied all the information they had on the case in front of him on his desk intensely, in case he had missed anything vital. As he surveyed it, he spoke to his colleague opposite.
“Short,” he began, “the girl had most definitely seen a man come to her aid – straightforward enough – then she blanks out as her eyes met his – really strange – then she wakes up to find two policemen flashing their torches into her eyes with a dead body next to her with massive injuries and signs of an attack by an animal with blood everywhere in the alley, but not anywhere on the body itself – very, very strange indeed.”
“What exactly were the injuries on the body, Sir?” Short responded.
“Multiple fractures around the chest and head area,” Harran dictated from the report, “probably caused by a massive blow to the body, which adds up with what the girl said about him being thrown against a wall. Huge loss of blood in the body – and this is where they say the animal attack took place because there were multiple puncture wounds to the neck area by long sharp teeth not like that of a human and various scars on the face and body like that of claws. They took swabs from the woman and scrapings from under her fingernails and they certainly did not show any signs of her attacking him – they just contained fibres from her attacker’s clothes from when she allegedly fought him off.”
“If an animal did attack after the woman had passed out and this vigilante ran off scared, why did the animal only attack the man and not the woman too? Wasn’t she an easy target lying there unconscious?” Short asked.
“Even stranger,” Harran replied, “if an animal did attack and cause all these injuries, it must be the cleanest one I’ve ever known of. How come there was no blood on the body whatsoever? When an animal attacks, it does so indiscriminately and if it scrammed and bit at its prey, how come forensics did not pick up any traces of an animal being there? Surely when it scrammed, blood would get on its claws at least, but not one animal print was found whatsoever at the scene.”

Last night had been a long one for the two detectives and this case was definitely not going to be as straightforward as they would have liked it to be and little did they know now that it was going to cause them a lot more headaches and dilemmas as it continued.

Their best option right now was to make themselves more coffee and get their brain cells working before another victim is claimed.

Detective Inspector Harran was waiting for the call from his Chief Inspector to find out how the case was moving and he knew how unimpressed he was going to be when he told him of their lack of progress.

Harran was a well respected member of the force, which unfortunately meant that he was also expected to close every case he was involved with inside a ridiculously short amount of time.

As Short placed a new mug of coffee onto the desk, Harran picked up the phone to ring his wife and explain that he would once again not be coming home for lunch, knowing deep down that his stay in work could be an indefinite one. It was at moments like this, Harran wished he was single like Short and didn’t have to explain himself to anyone, especially his wife who he knew would not be happy with his call.

Further down the corridor, the coroner was tidying up his desk and preparing to leave for his home to get some rest after his unexpected awakening in the early hours of this morning.

Out on the streets, Chantelle was still trying to lose her pursuer, but with every step that was now hastening, she could still sense his presence close to her and was showing no sign of tiring.

All the events that had happened since last night were beginning to take its toll on her body and Chantelle was beginning to show signs of fatigue, after all she had not eaten or drunk anything since before midnight and when she took a quick glance at her watch, it showed nearly 2 o’clock in the afternoon. She was beginning to slow a little, but her follower certainly wasn’t showing signs that he was too.

Chantelle’s feeling of uneasiness was slowly turning into panic and she was looking for anywhere to act as a sanctuary from this strange man who she couldn’t seem to lose. All the walking that she had done and with all the turns she made to lose him, it actually ironically left her in a street not far from where she had started from in the first place – the police station.

She thought that if she headed back there, where safer could she be than surrounded by police behind four walls? So, she began to walk back towards it, even though she had hoped never to see the place again after what happened earlier inside it.

She knew of a short cut down a side street that was full of small shops which meant that there would still be a good amount of people around her as she led her follower down it.

Meanwhile back at the station, the coroner switched off his computer and left his desk to head off to his car to begin his short journey home. As he walked down the corridor, he passed the office of Harran where the door was firmly closed, but through the glass panel on it, he could see the two detectives inside in deep discussion with each other.

Feelings of guilt were beginning to grow stronger in his stomach as he made his way down the stairs to the ground floor, past the Duty Officer and into the car park behind the building.

The coroner walked out into the brilliant sunshine and even though he held such a high position within the station, his parking space was quite a long way away from the building.

Chantelle’s heartbeat was getting faster and stronger as she made her way down the side street with her pursuer close behind and was doing so at a good pace until a young woman stepped out from one of the shops with a pram which instantly blocked Chantelle’s path, causing her to come to a sudden halt.

She looked at the woman for just a second and froze as she felt someone standing directly behind her left shoulder. She turned round to see that the man following her was not yards behind, but now within touching distance breathing down her neck. The fear she had in her body rooted her to the spot. The woman gave out an apologetic smile and continued on her way, not knowing what she had just done.

All her hard work trying to lose her follower through different twists and turns to the police station was all in vain. Just around the corner you could see its car park and a sole figure walking towards his car.

Chantelle knew that it was now or never to make a break for safety and like a flash began running towards the car park where she would shout for help and hopefully a large number of policemen would come to her aid.

The man ran just as fast as her and she could feel her legs begin to tire while his were still going strong, so in fear that he could catch up with her any second now, she desperately cried out for help from the man heading to his car.

That man was the coroner and he was taken aback by the incredibly distressed young woman screaming at him for his help from a man in close pursuit behind her.

He turned around to see if a police officer was in the car park with him, but soon found that he was the only one there. He knew that the car park had a number of closed circuit cameras watching it and soon someone would see what was going on and come out to assist, but for now he had to try and help her alone.

The young woman’s face showed absolute terror and he instantly recognized her from leaving the station earlier. She ran faster when she saw him standing there and begged for him to help her.

As she got within feet of him, he ran up to her and held her by his side causing her pursuer to stop, the three of them standing face to face in the empty car park, each contemplating their next move.

And that is when Chantelle made hers - while the other two stood in silence, she made a dash for the police station to get help straight away.

Both the coroner and the man stood their ground, neither of them making any attempt to turn away from each other.

In fact, the man did the complete opposite and walked slowly towards him, and even after many verbal warnings not to come any closer, still advanced until the two stood face-to-face - then the coroner saw nothing more – ever.