Julianravage.com

Weeping

By Julian Ravage“We need to get this place scanned before the rain sets in.” Adam yelled ashe crotched down.Adam’s eyes looked over the crime scene. A bloody white corpse of a Necro Lord lay in a heap. Its chest was wide open and its heart gone. Thealley way was a hive of activity as people in black moved back and forthwith equipment. Setting up lights and scanning the area with multi spectraldetection devices. The rain was going to hamper the investigation and Adamwas not one for letting the weather dictate his job.Purple clouds swirled in the night sky. Flashes of lighting could beseen in the distance. It was going to be a bad one this night. Adam lookedover the body again. He could see the jagged edges on the massive chestwound. His killer used a rather large blade to get at the heart. This bodymade number seven in the last few weeks. The killer was getting better and bolder.Adam stood up and eyed his men working. He belonged to the DevilsMen, the secret police to the Blood Weaver it’s self. They assisted inkeeping control in the new empire. Control was always needed to keep this brave new world in line. The city of New York has changed in the last 80years. Darkness covered the land and normal people no longer had thecontrol they once did. The Blood Weaver was the new monarch and Adam, aloyal foot soldier to the empire.“It is the same person.” One of his troopers looked up from hisequipment. “The tear residue matches.”

Adam licked his lips as he stared at the open wound. He was never much for Necro Lord blood but blood was blood. A friend of his was allabout it. The city never stopped producing strangeness. Adam looked over tohis man.“It seems pretty standard. Get the scene covered. The rain is coming.”Adam finished as the rain started to trickle and then pour.The killer would take the hearts of his victims and cry the entire time.Adam had a hard time understanding it. It ruled out an undead killer becausethe undead do not shed tears, at least not watery tears. This individual wouldweep during the whole process, some kind of penance for what he done?The profile was of a 6 foot male, very strong and skilled with a blade. Hisweight class was between 100 and 220 pounds. It didn’t make much sense but some imprints were lighter then others. Some of them were so deep; youswore he must have been built like a freight train.Adam took special interest in this case. The media already got wind of this killer and dubbed him the “Crying Blade”. Adam shook his head; Henever understood how the media came up with this stuff. As the raincontinued to pour down, Adam took notes in his comm. unit and let the nightrain on his dismal parade.***The bar was packed on this rainy night. It felt like the heavens werecoming down on top of the city. Adam sat at the bar, going over notes on hiscomm. Unit. Most of it didn’t make too much sense. The murders were inrandom places. The targets had nothing in common except they wereundead. The victims were either male or female. Their social standing waseither royalty or simple dark things with normal lives.The bartender served a cup of blood to Adam as he sat. Adam took asip and went back to his notes. The quick rush of pleasure ran through hisframe and faded. The jolt was all he needed to get his mind working.“Should I close up early while the Crying Blade is still being hunted?”Adam smiled. “You think that will help, Willy? I think he goes after dark things in out of the way places. This place may be too high profile for him.”Willy gave a nervous glance around. “People are starting to panic.How long before he starts breaking into homes?”“We will catch him way before anything like that happens. Relax andtake care of your customers. And can you pour a little more tequila in my

drink. If I drink too much, I may get hyper.” Adam tried to sooth the man’sfears but couldn’t help and notice panic was really starting to set in.Willy poured a bit extra into Adam’s drink and moved off to handlehis other patrons. Adam took another sip and continued looking over hiswork. The evening blurred for a moment as Adam tried to make sense of hiscase.Willy came back over and passed a glass of water to Adam. Adamlooked at the water and back at Willy, his eyebrow raised.“It is from the man at the end of the bar. I told him you don’t drink water. He gave me a big tip to give you this glass.”Adam looked across the bar to the man. The gentlemen in questionstood up and made his way over to Adam. He was smiling as he walkedover. Long black curls hung down from the sides of his head. Piercing blueeyes stared back at Adam. His nose was slightly pointed but seemed to work for his overall face. He wore a long black trench coat which he pushed asideand sat in a stool next to Adam.Adam could smell a sense of purity about the man. He didn’tunderstand what that meant.“Adam Flare, A pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand.Adam hesitated. The blood in his body began to work. Everything feltwrong. His training kicked in and in a flash he stepped back. His next movewas to type in a three digit code into his comm. unit but he never had thechance. The man moved just as fast as Adam. He grabbed Adam’s arm anddrove his left fist into Adam’s chest. There was a crash as a table splinteredand Adam trying to get back up.Blood pumped like a jack hammer through Adam’s body. He tried tomake himself faster and stronger. This man moved with the power of a dark thing but he smelled pure. There was no taint to his blood. Adam’s eyesadjusted, trying to see everything around him.The man moved like a typhoon, he threw three punches and they allconnected to Adam’s leg, gut and face. The mere shock of the attack threwAdam into a wall. The wall cracked and Adam slide to his feet. If he didn’tstart pumping his blood, those attacks would have broken bone. Adam wasalready healing when he pulled his pulse pistol.The bar was clearing out as Adam’s eyes took in his target. His eyes became blood shot as they worked. He needed to subdue the man in front of him. He aimed and pulled the trigger three times. The man moved anddodged two pulse bolts aimed at his legs. The last pulse blast was stoppedwith the palm of his hand.