The Father: A Dark Cannibalistic Thriller (Nepolai A Noir Murder Series Book 2) Read online

  Chapter One

  Nepolai

  What are dreams? Not the thing that people aspire to have or achieve in life, but the thing that guides you when you close your eyes at night. Nepolai didn’t have many of those instead he was plagued with nightmares. He wouldn’t be sitting in the dark living room with the shades blocking out the sunshine from glaring inside with a glass of scotch in his hand he meant to take a sip from, if the nightmares varied. He never got around to drinking that Scotch instead he chased the same nightmare he’s been having for the past eighteen years. It always starts off with a little boy sitting in a pool of cold blood, slowly rubbing the blood that covered his hands. Something about the boy felt so familiar but he couldn’t figure out what was. Maybe his subconscious wasn’t allowing him to. He could never identify the bodies the blood was draining from because they were always facing away towards the front door of the home.

  Hours felt like they went by while he watched the boy and at moments he felt like he was in a loop until he heard the floorboards creak behind him from the kitchen. There she was the woman in black. Everything she wore was black. Her boots knocked against the wooden floor and stopped in front of the boy, oblivious to the woman’s presence. It wasn’t until she took out her hand and offered it to him that he stopped rubbing the blood off. He watched the boy’s small hands rest on hers and when he looked up at the woman he would wake.

  Nepolai’s head shot up towards the Hall when he heard the door slam. Heels shot down the hallway as if they were in a rush. Nora walked into the living room and noticed Nepolai sitting in the dark.

  “What are you doing home so early?” She asked cracking the blinds open. The bright light beamed along the back of Nepolai chair and added space to the room.

  Nepolai looked at his wrist gazing at the time.

  “Early? It’s almost three PM.” He said. “What are you doing here?” He was curious because she was barely home which wasn’t a bad thing being that she worked as a physician at the Riverside Hospital.

  “I told you last night that I had the day off. What’s your excuse?” She said taking his glass away. There was no reason for him to be drinking at 3 o’clock in afternoon. Nepolai slouched back in his chair. He mentioned to her that he only had one class for the day.

  “I wanted to stop home before I went out to check on Rylan. She didn’t show for class today.” He said.

  “You are, are you? Will we be having her soon?

  Nepolai’s left eye squinted and his forehead wrinkled over it. He was confused.

  “Why would we be having her? You told me that right now wouldn’t be the best time while detective Gibbs is still being investigated.” He said.

  “I know.” She paused to take a sip from the glass. “I was just seeing where your head was at that’s all. She watched as his eyes drifted to the top of his head. She knew that face all too well.

  Nepolai asked about his parents death. There was much he knew about them and some things he could remember but there was other things he couldn’t remember about them. The one thing he always asked was how did they die.

  “Are you having that nightmare again?” Nora asked.

  “They never went away. To be honest I’m not sure they ever will. But there’s something about the one I had last night. It’s subtle but is definitely different from the others. Something about it seems familiar.”

  “How so?” She asked.

  “I remember seeing a glass door behind the bodies this time. You know like ours but pretty much covering the entire door. It had one of those Christmas ornaments hanging on the outside. You know the one that looks like a bush but this shape of a circle with the red bow on it.

  “Wreaths?” She asked tilting her head.

  “Yeah, we used to have one of those on our door. I remember helping my mom put it up around Thanksgiving.” He said.

  Nora adjusted herself sitting more upright on the sofa and took another sip. She looked concerned. She was starting to think that he was remembering things he wasn’t supposed to. Nora was barely afraid of anything but the thought of Nepolai remembering his past and how he truly became to be with her scared her more than anything. Before she spoke she crossed her legs and leaned forward.

  “Listen, I know this hurts and I know there’s a part of you that wants there to be some type of explanation for what happened but your parents but they were not slaughtered. We’ve been over this. They were shot by lowlife burglars. Yes, it’s horrific thing that should’ve never have happened but it was nothing so sinister as what you’re seeing in your dream. I’m not sure what your dream means but you should relax on the alcohol.” She said as she leaned back into the sofa finishing off his scotch.

  Nepolai wanted to believe her and there was no real reason why he shouldn’t but he had the feeling that there had to be more to it. Why would burglars kill an entire family? For someone trying to rob a house it would be way out of the ordinary to kill a husband, wife and daughter and leave the boy without a mark on him.

  “Well thanks for finishing that off, I barely had any.” Nepolai sat on the edge of his chair. “What are we going to do about food? Since we can’t hunt right now how do you expect us to get by?”

  Nora got up from the sofa and placed the glass on the coffee table. She waved her hand at him directing him to follow her. He followed behind her to a door in the hallway. When she opened it was nothing but coats hanging from a bar. For a moment he didn’t understand what was going on.

  “I don’t get it. What is this? He asked. She didn’t respond instead she pushed a rack of coats to the side and unlocked a latch on the back wall. “What the hell?” he said. Out of all the years he’s been living in a house he’s never seen this door so terribly hidden behind a rack of coats. But if it could be hidden from him for so long it was doing what it needed to. “Was this door always here?” He asked.

  “Always.” She said pushing the door in. Behind the door was a staircase that led underneath the house. It was dark, and the steps were barely visible. Nora directed Nepolai to go ahead and that she would be close behind him. “There’s a light switch at the bottom of the stairs.” She told him. Nepolai inched down the stairs trying his best to avoid missing a step. Once he was completely down the steps he flicked a switch on the cement wall and watched the light illuminate a small basement. Nora passed him and opened a large cooler at the back of the basement. She pulled out a package of meat and tossed it back to Nepolai. It caught him off guard but his reflex were pretty good.

  “What is this?” He asked walking up to the large freezer.

  “Food. We don’t have to worry about anything. At least not for a while.” She added. Nepolai was amazed at how full the freezer was. It was more than enough meat to last them a year. Maybe even more he wasn’t sure.

  “Wait if we have all this why do you have me go out and hunt? It would’ve saved us a lot of problems.” He said. It was true. He enjoyed hunting but at the same time was it necessary. Madison would probably still be alive.

  “Because you need to be able to provide for yourself. What if something happened to me?”

  “I would just search the house and find out that you’ve been stingy hiding food in the basement.” He laughed. Nora was unamused. “I’m kidding” He said.

  “You need to be able to take care of yourself. That’s what I’ve been training you to do but in the meantime, this will be our supply.” She said taking the meat from him and thrown it back in freezer.

  Chapter2

  When Nepolai pulled up to th
e large Victorian home he seen Rylan’s car sitting in the driveway. It was hard to tell if the car had been moved but he had a weird suspicion that it had not[DAB1].

  He slammed the driver door and jogged up the porch. The front door had a metal rod so you wouldn’t have to use a fist. He pulled the rod up and knocked. Considering how large the house had been you would think that they would have a doorbell that ran throughout the house. He stood on the front porch no more than five minutes waiting for Rylan to answer. He knew she was car was out front, that are she left without it. The moment Nepolai stepped away from the door, tired of waiting the door croaked opened. Rylan stuck her head through to see who was on the other side.

  “Hey, can I come in?” He asked. Once she realized it was it was Nepolai she opened the door letting him in. She didn’t speak. He followed her down the hallway that led into her living room. She looked like she had been lounging around the house all day. Her clothes were loose and her hair was barely wrapped in a bun with strands of hair hanging out. Maybe she was just having a lazy day. It was possible but Nepolai had a feeling that this had to do with Madison.

  “Why didn’t you show for class today?” He asked.

  “I woke up and hour late so I decided to just skip it for today. Maybe the next one to.” She said sitting on her sofa. She wrapped herself up into a ball. Maybe Nepolai was right.

  “Have you been here all day?” He asked sitting in the chair next to her. She nodded while immersed in the poorly animated The General car insurance commercial. The one where he’s playing ball with the Shaq. He hated those commercials. In fact everybody knew hated that commercial. The TV had returned to its scheduled programming of the channel 6 news. They had been talking about the same thing for the past couple days. That’s when he knew that this was about Madison. A young blond appeared standing in front of the Franklin County Court House. [DAB2]

  “And in the last week detective Gibbs, a veteran detective who’s been on the police force for over twenty years has been charged with the death of his wife of nineteen years, Chloe Gibbs. He has also been charged with the murder of Joseph Rodriguez who was found mutilated in his home similar to his wife Chloe. We had just learned Gibbs had been investigating Rodriguez and his death but who knew that he would actually turn out to be the victim of the former detective. Many have been calling him the man-eating cop. As crazy as it sounds we have a source within the forensic department who has confirmed that days after the death of Rodriguez detective Gibbs was found with pieces of Lung in his stomach. We are waiting to get more information on just how Chloe Gibbs was killed but for right now all they could say was that not every piece of her was found intact. This is XX reporting for ABC6.” The TV switched back to an news anchor.

  “Oh my God!” she said. He scratched his scalp as if he was digging for something. He knew his plan would play out with Gibbs but at the same time he didn’t want Rylan reminiscing over the entire situation. He had to do something about this. He needed a get her away and take her mind off this case.

  “Why are you watching this?” He asked. Nepolai took the remote from her table and clicked the mute button.

  “I don’t know, I guess I was just hoping that they would mention something about Madison. They have been talking about Gibbs but it seems like nobody is investigating what happened to Madison.” She said. It’s possible that they need to reassign somebody else to Madison’s case. Since Gibbs had been investigating her murder and he was now behind bars there would definitely be a delay into her investigation. Nepolai didn’t say anything about that. His goal was to get her to stop thinking about.

  “You know what’s funny?” She laughed sarcastically. “I was on the phone with Madison’s parents and they believe Gibbs is the one who hurt Madison. But I can’t bring myself to believe that. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.” She said.

  He had been getting anxious but instead of going to that itchy spot on his head and running his hands through his hair he tried to remain calm.

  “Why don’t you believe he could’ve done it? He asked.

  Rylan released herself from her balled up position and dropped her legs into a crisscross fashion on the sofa. She leaned one arm on the armrest and arched her head against her fist.

  “You remember the day that the detectives interviewed me?” She asked. Nepolai nodded. Well I don’t know if you were paying attention or not but I watched them drive up to the campus and get out the same car. Nepolai didn’t understand what she’s getting at.

  “And?” He asked waiting for her to get to the point.

  “And you were there with me when Madison fell from the building. There is no way it could have been him. You heard what they said, she was already dead. Which means that somebody threw her off. Gibbs wouldn’t have enough time to leave campus and then arrive with his partner. It just doesn’t make any sense.” She was right it didn’t make any sense and he knew it.

  “Maybe he’s working with someone?” He asked.

  Rylan got up from the sofa, pacing around the living room and ran her fingers through her hair back into her poorly wrapped bun. Rylan had already spent the past few days thinking about Gibbs being her killer.

  “I’ve been watching the news all day and not one time did they mention Madison which means they probably can’t connect her to Gibbs. Right?” She asked.

  “Well how do you know there done investigating her murder?” The truth is she didn’t know. She was just assuming. Nepolai stood up from the chair.

  “Sometimes these things don’t happen as quickly as we want them to. Give it a little more time and stop drawing your own conclusions. He said even though he was doing so by trying to get her to believe that it was Gibbs. “Madison was missing an organ, right?” Nepolai laid his hands on her arms stopping her from roaming the room. She nodded. “So it’s only a matter of time before they charge him was Madison’s murder. His wife was missing organ and parts of his first victim was found in him.

  She started to believe that maybe he was right though there was a side of her that couldn’t help but reminisce on the weirdness around her friend’s death. There was no way for her to shut out the little voice in her head asking if her killer was still out there.

  “Have you seriously been in this house all day?” He looked around the dark living room. She nodded. “Let’s go grab a drink.” He said.

  “But my dad has plenty of drinks here.” She said.

  “No, no. The point of me asking you if you want to go get a drink is to get you the hell out of this house.” She smiled a little and told him to hold on while she goes get dressed.

  Chapter 3

  Bexley sat in her sister’s room. Although her sister laid in the bed across from her she felt alone. Her sister Aubri had just had heart surgery no more than two days ago and she still hasn’t woken up. Most of her time was spent sitting waiting for something to happened and thinking about the first thing she would say to her. She wanted to see how excited she was to know that they found a heart. But thinking about it brought up the dark things she had to do in order to get that heart. Would she ever tell her sister what she did or would it just be a secret between her and the shadow of herself that she only recently discovered was there? No matter how bad and inhumane it was she was willing to suffer if it meant her sister would live. Bexley would take breaks from sitting by Aubri’s bed. She walked throughout the house cleaning and checking emails. She realized how much work she had missed over the past few months. There was no way she would be passing this semester. Eventually she would get bored and go back into Aubri’s room expecting and hoping for something to happen or even change to would indicate her progression. The heart monitor attached to Aubri echoed throughout the room and started to get faster. She looked up and seen Aubri breathing heavy in her sleep. Almost like she was trapped trying to break out of her sleep. Something wasn’t right. Her skin was drenched in sweat and she quickly realized that her sheets were also soaked. She looked around hoping to see her uncle sto
rm in and tell her what was happening, but she hasn’t seen him since he finished the surgery. Aubri’s temperature was through the roof and prompted Bexley to go grab a cold towel to help cool her down but before she could get out the door she heard a long wide gasp. Like she had been dragged hundreds of feet below water and inches away from drowning. Bexley rushed back to Aubri and held her.

  “Aubri!” She wept. Aubri panted for what seemed like minutes. Her eyes open wide as she shot up from the bed. “Everything is going to be okay.” She said before hugging her. “What you need? Do you need me to get you some water?”

  Aubri’s panting began to slow down and she was able to catch her breath. Her mouth hung open as she examined the wires attached to her body. She pulled a breathing tube from her nose and patted her tongue on the roof of her mouth. It was dry and she started to wonder when was the last time she drunk something. It couldn’t have been that long? she questioned herself.

  “Hey how long was I out for?” She asked with a raspy voice. It was flaky and was a struggle to push her words out. Which made her think about how long it’s been since she’s spoke. Bexley didn’t say a word. She was excited to see her sister actually breathing in speaking to her. Besides her voice it reminded her of how she was before the accident. She was so vibrant and besides her matted and frizzy hair she looked healthy. “Hello? Bex! How long?” Bexley hopped out of her head.

  “A little under a month.” She said. Her eyebrows jumped to her forehead, surprised by her answer. Aubri ran her hand across the top of her chest and ran her fingers down the bandage running down between her breast. She sighed. Something felt weird. Not her chest but what she experienced before waking up. She didn’t really know what to make of but thinking about it more freaked her out and she couldn’t help but chase the rabbit. She wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not. She always thought those were the things that a higher part of yourself used to teach you the lessons you needed to learn and guide you through life. This was nothing of the sort. At first, she remembered bits and pieces. She can see what resembled red feathers flapping. It was a small red bird that reminded her of the red Cardinals she loved to watch fly around with other birds as a girl. But this one was alone flying in what look like a pool of black water. That was all she could see before she felt the bird being eaten in by something malevolent. Something without a face and outside of the cardinal’s normal predator. Every bite taken she felt as if it was she who was being eaten. A part of her thought that it had to be. She could feel every bone crushing against one another and every essence of her being swallowed into nothingness. She was terrified, just waiting for something to happened. She couldn’t see or hear anything. She was just there wherever there was, aware that she was still breathing. She didn’t remember much before that.