Chapter 7: One Of Our Skunks Is Missing.
Levion Seniors Hospital: Early evening.
The smell and the contents of the room threw Sylvia's stomach into a churning mass of gastric juices all ready to expel themselves at any moment. She lurched from the room and promptly threw up on the opposing wall.
Brittney, who had heard the scream come from above, rushed up the stairs and from a distance saw Sylvia throwing up. The smell assaulted her nose as she approached Sylvia; she slowed not liking what this could mean.
Sylvia was doing her best to keep from falling over, "Don't go in there Brittney." Sylvia coughed trying to regain her composure.
Brittney had never seen Sylvia so unglued, "Sylvia what's going on?"
"Help me down the stairs we have to call the police, immediately."
"Police ……..why!!!!! Sylvia……???" Brittney was confused and curious as to what that horrible odor was. She took only a brief glimpse into the room, she saw blood on one of the walls. She quickly turned away from the horror and helped Sylvia over to the elevator. She didn't need to see any more.
Downstairs they caught their breaths; Brittney gave Sylvia some Tylenol and called 911. She told them to hurry.
The police arrived in short fashion; about three squad cars in all. The one who seemed to be in charge was a large Black Panther. As he looked around, he didn't think this was a likely place for a crime scene. His eyes seemed cold to what was going on around him but his mannerisms showed understanding in the way he treated Sylvia. After all she was an older fur, who seemed to have just had the fright of her life.
"Don't let anyone go up stairs not until I know what were looking at here." The Detective said to one of his deputys, the tiger fur nodded and posted several guards at the ascending stairs. The order went out also to search the grounds and to be careful not to contaminate the crime scene. Something wasn't right here and he wanted answers.
He then turned his attention back to Sylvia, it was time to get this investigation underway.
"Hello, I'm Detective Peter Byrne; who's the one who put in the call?" He smiled as he addressed the two female furs.
"I did sir." Said Brittney, "But it was Sylvia here who's been in… the room."
"Understood." He turned his attention to the older fur. "Hello Sylvia; I'm sorry to have to ask but what's up there in this room the young fur is talking about."
Sylvia still had the awful taste in her mouth as she sighed. "Brittney you go, I don't think you'll want to hear this."
"No…I want to hear."
Sylvia closed her eyes; it pained her for Brittney to have to hear this. She didn't really want to speak with her there but she had no strength to argue with the determined fur.
"One of our nurses, a Mrs. Debbie Silverson has been dismembered up in the room along with the young fur who was a patient there. I think she was skinned; I didn't see her body but I suppose it is there. All I saw was her fur, empty." She began to cry but still went on, "There's blood all over, Debbie's body is close to the front door. The window is also broken, I suspect the intruder jumped out of it." She sat and sobbed; she had liked Debbie a lot.
A gruesome sight indeed, he thought, no wonder she looked pale. "That's good Sylvia, thank you. I'm sorry to hear about your friend and patient. I hate to ask but is there anything else?"
"Just a horrible odor, it will turn your stomach."
"Ok, you stay here while we go and see." He didn't want to see the gruesome sight from the sound it. Not that he hadn't seen things like it before but he had a job to do no matter his personal feelings. "How many ways to the second floor?" He asked Brittney.
"There are three, two staircases; one on either end of the floor and an elevator."
"Are there any patients up there we might encounter?"
"No, that floor is dedicated to the sleepers…..ah I mean coma patients."
"Ok good, you two stay here." As he turned and headed for the elevator, he called one of his men close. "The nurse says the second floor window is busted, probably how the perpetrator got away. Find out where that is outside and seal that section off immediately."
"Understood sir." Said the deputy and he was off.
Peter Byrne had been on the force for over 29 years and he had seen many a murder scene but he never got used to it. He supposed that's what kept him down to earth; it never hardened him, like some cops. He took two deputys with him and they all drew their weapons in case the perpetrator was still about, athough he doubted it very much. He told them what to expect and they shivered, no one likes to be told they are about to see a dismembered corpse.
As the elevator doors opened they were assaulted by the odour that the nurse spoke of, it did make their stomachs churn. The two deputys coughed and gagged and put handkerchiefs to their noses. Peters signaled that he would go first and quickly regretted it. The sight was right out of a horror book. Blood covered the walls in streaks; the dismembered fur lay at the base of the bed, close to the door. He knelt down and put his finger to her throat and was startled to find she was still alive, barely. Both arms were missing and so was one leg, blood had pooled around her in a sick red oval.
"Anderson get down stairs pronto and get that medical team up here as soon as they arrive, she's still alive!" The young deputy took off in a flash. Peters said a silent prayer for her then got back up from his knee to look for the other victim. The nurse had described a skin, which was close by the victim near the wall. It truly was a skin, a blood covered one and it seemed to be almost intact. It was the object causing the foul and putrid odor, being so close to it he found it was too much for him and he backed away. He felt faint and headed for the broken window for some air. Outside he saw that someone could have jumped down to the ground, although it wouldn't have been an easy drop. He hoped that he/or she had injured themselves on way down and wouldn't be too far away. It would be easy then to track them.
Now what puzzled him the most as he gazed around the room there was no sign of the young Skunks body; this was indeed strange. A trail of blood lead to the window and around the frame. However there didn't seem to be enough of it for someone to have carried another victim out the window. His thoughts were disturbed as paramedics arrived in the room coughing and choking.
He moved in, "Let's get her out of here and look after her wounds downstairs, I don't know what this odor is, it could be toxic. On his way back downstairs he pulled out his cell phone and called the rescue teams, told them to bring breathing apparatus, they were going to need them.
Three hours later, the patients from the floor were all evacuated and the upper floors windows were all opened to vent the obnoxious smell. It was discovered that the odour was not harmful but indeed irritable to the lungs. Debbie Sliverson the horribly mutilated victim was still alive; barely. The paramedics did what they could but they couldn't tell the Detective anything more than that. He went back up and examined the scene since he was able to breathe and examined the scene closer. The skin had been taken away for analysis, so it just left him in a room covered in blood. There had obviously been a struggle but things didn't add up, there wasn't enough mess. He had seen many a murder scene but….if the intruder had attacked…. then it hit him. How could he be so stupid; it was staring him right in the face. The victim, in this case Swallow, a young female skunk was in a coma; she wouldn't have struggled, she couldn't have. The thought made him sick: that meant the perpetrator had possibly skinned Swallow alive.
Tarra: Medical Center, Altos Province.
The small shuttle landed on the medical center's roof almost silently; a lone Zargozian was there to greet it. She was tall for a Zargozian also an odd colour; beige. She had been awaiting the shuttle impatiently for over an hour now. Her patience had almost expired but finally the shuttle arrived. The door opened and out stepped the pilot who then turned around and helped an elderly Zargozian out onto the landing pad.
The Zargozian known as Tolare had arrived and now it was time for Arine to greet her.
"#0 Physician Tolare I presume." Arine said in a tight tone to the hooded Zargozian.
Tolare pulled back her hood for the wind was catching it a bit too much for her liking, "You no longer have to call me by title Arine, It has been long since I've been in office."
Arine grinned, "Still you are my superior."
"Arine…drop it." She hadn't used her title in years; it was odd hearing it again, especially from a former student.
"Yes Tolare." She bowed her head, "How was your flight?"
"You should know, horrible. Trying to fly in this weather wreaks havoc on systems." Above them the sky sparkled with energy. The storm itself was pretty but it did indeed play havoc with electrical systems and her wits. "If it wasn't for the expert flying of my pilot I'm sure I would have been lost."
Arine eyebrows went up, "Then I will see she is adequately compensated for her excellent piloting skills" She nodded at the pilot to excuse her. The pilot acknowledged and started back into shuttle.
As they moved towards the doors Tolare asked, "What is Shearah's condition?"
"You have read the reports I sent?" Arine said opening the door for her superior.
"Yes…you did not listen to my suggestions." Tolare griped, the warmth inside was a welcome relief; her old bones hated the cold.
"You were overruled?"
"And look where it got you."
"I do not think even your suggestions would have helped."
"Well, we will never know, will we?"
Three weeks ago the main control room was full of tension as the pod was brought back to within normal specifications. The group of medical specialists knew things had gone wrong and other off world personnel had been brought in. But by the time they arrived things had already gone too far to correct. It was up to the team to explain their blunders to them. But the major undertaking had been passed on to another, one who was none too pleased to take it on.
Tolare was an experienced healer and had obtained her 0 rating while she was in her prime. She had lectured all over the colonies and finally she fell in love with Shearah, another healer with the gift of the art. It had been a wonderful and lasting relationship but with all things, time changed people and they had parted. She had felt she needed something different in her life and well, Shearah didn't feel that way. She had always said she would wait for her return but she never did. A week ago she had heard of Shearah's oncoming passing and had been on her way to see her one last time. Now it was a whole different story she had to relate. One she wasn't sure how her former lover was going to take. Weeks had passed and now it was time.
She slowly approached the room that now housed her former teacher and lover. In her advanced age she sighed a heavy sigh taking in what air she could; then entering into the room against her will. It was a lovely room and the sun shone in brightening it even more. Her teacher's small body lay comfortably in the overly huge bed. It was time to awaken her and explain the disaster that had befallen her.
As she sat on the soft mattress her spine cracked, it sounded throughout the room like a clap of thunder. The sound was loud enough to awaken Shearah. "Unnnahh." She moaned as she stretched. Her paws came up to her face rubbing them into her fur then her eyes.
"It is good to see you awake Shearah." She marveled at her former lover's body as it was so different than she ever realized it would be and it was hard to relate to this new individual.
Shearah's head turned quickly around hearing the sound of the voice. "Tolare, is that you?" Her eyes couldn't believe it, for one thing she could see her very clearly which was out of the ordinary. Her greying and wrinkled skin under her fur clearly outlined her as elderly.
"It is. I didn't think I would get to see you again." It was true; too true for she had heard of Shearah's immanent death. Now things had changed drastically. "Shearah we must talk, things have changed for you and decisions were made, mostly without your consent."
"Tolare what are you talking about?" Shearah sat up but as she did she noticed right away that she did it without any effort. The look on her face was one of astonishment.
"Ah…..I see you have noticed."
"Noticed….Tolare?" She looked at her paws and they were smaller than she thought they should be. Her fingers also easily moved without the pain her mind remembered. "Tolare what is going on here?"
"Easy Shearah, nothing really bad, just different. Seems the Emperor ordered that you under go rejuvenation." She smiled hoping that she took it the right way.
"Rejuvenation!!! Tolare that's forbidden you know that!!!! Only under….." Her voice trailed off.
"Yes…..it seems that you are needed."
"What for?……I'm nothing special; there are many class 0 physicians." She stared at her arms then she gave a look down under the sheets at her body, she gasped. "Tolare something is very wrong here …..I'm prefosarian!!!!!" (prepubescent)
"Ah yes…that's why I was called in, seems you and I were close once and they thought it would help with the transition if I were here."
"What did these fools do Tolare? They know this procedure needs months of calculations and any minor changes can drastically change the outcome." She was getting out of bed and Tolare let her. She knew what she was looking for.
"Behind the door." She said quietly. In a few moments she knew she had found the mirror.
"THOSE IDIOTS!!!!!!!!"
Tolare sighed, "Shearah, they didn't have a lot of time you know; you were dying." The thin and small Zargozian came back into the room which amused Tolare and caused her to grin. Her light blue body was that of a young child; to know what great mind occupied that body amused her.
"This isn't funny! Look at me." Shearah gestured at the small young body.
"I am, they did their best. You're lucky they got it to stop when they did, it was touch and go," she said as she remembered the problems they endured. They were all afraid that it wouldn't stop, the procedure hadn't been studied well enough to really come up with a perfected method; basically it was a good guess with figures that supported it. "You have a rare opportunity Shearah to live life all over again." She tried to give her teacher some of the bright news.
"But at Twelve!!!! They have to fix this!!!"
Tolare sighed, "That's why I'm here, they can't, they'd kill you. Your body is now in a state of flux and will be for the next several years. You know as physician what happens when they do this to a body!!"
Shearah stood and thought for a moment and stroked her chin, Tolare had to smile for it was a trademark of her former teacher. It was her in that tiny body she was now positive. "Right……you are absolutely right. You know I feel better than I have in years, Tolare."
"Actually that's what everyone was hoping you'd say." She was sure that cheers erupted in the monitoring room. The fact that she said it made her feel better as well.
Shearah without warning bounced across the room then leaped onto the bed. Then began bouncing up and down on the mattress. "Whahooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!"
Tolare's eyes opened wide for this was something she didn't expect. "Shearah!!"
She watched as she bounced up and down and caught the light in Shearah's eyes. It shone with a brilliance that she had seen a long time ago, "You must behave."
"But I'm young again, I can have a little fun."
"Yes …..I suppose but you are needed if you feel up to it."
"Needed???"
"It seems we have a rare case on the station that the physician here seems to have no experience with."
"Oh, sounds interesting, I guess I can get out to have a look. I suppose you have some clothes for me."
"Yes and in your size as well, you have been like this for almost 3 weeks."
Shearah's eyes went wide, "That long?"
"Yes." Tolare said as she found Shearah's things, "I picked these out myself." The robes were of a light green fabric, Tolare knew Shearah very well for she saw the joy on her face.
"You know, I never knew you were tall."
"Heh, you'll grow up all too soon teacher…….all too soon."
Scene Of The Crime :
The big question now was where was her body since it wasn't here; it had to have been taken. But why skin the girl, leave it behind but take the body. This didn't make any sense what so ever. He went back downstairs to contemplate things. As he got off the elevator he was greeted by one of his deputys.
"We've got the address of the parents of the girl…..ah shall I …"
Detective Byrne put up his paw, "No, I'll go; it will give me some time to think this through."
The deputy nodded and silently said thanks. He had to do that once and it hurt him so. He didn't envy the Detective.
Peter didn't like this part of the job either, if he added up all the things he didn't like about this job he would have run out of fingers quickly. He rang the door bell, it was late but he saw that a light was on which was good. A middle aged male skunk answered the door.
"Yes can I help you?"
"Are you Mr. Warren Mustelidae?"
"Yes."
"I'm Detective Peter Byrne of the Davis County Sheriff's office." He handed Mr. Mustelidae his ID. card.
Warren took a quick look and handed back the badge, "What can I do for you Detective?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of the evening but this involves your daughter Swallow; would it be possible for me to come in?" He said with a heavy sigh, this wasn't going to be easy.
Warren now was worried, "Please do Detective Byrne."
"Peter is fine Mr. Mustelidae."
"Warren..." They shook paws. "This way please. My wife is upstairs, please excuse me a moment." Warren quickly moved up the stairs.
Peter looked at the house, neat, tidy; a lovely home. He noticed a picture on the mantle and noticed the young girl in the photo with her parents. He shook his head, what a pretty fur. His stomach turned, he didn't know how he was going to tell them. He saw Warren again this time his wife with him, she resembled the daughter, this was going to be hard' he gulped.
"Ahh…Detective Peter, this is my wife Endora."
"Nice to meet you. I think both of you should take a seat."
Endora didn't like this one bit, the police being here and it having something to do with Swallow didn't look good. "Has something happened with Swallow? They were to tell us if she woke up."
"There has been an incident at the hospital, a young woman was attacked and almost killed." Endora put her paw over her muzzle. "Your daughter Swallow is missing, we believe she was attacked and taken away."
"Swallow was attacked!" The Mustelidae's said in unison.
"And you also said she's missing??" Warren broke in upset.
"Yes, we cannot find her, she was not in the room. Mr. and Mrs. Mustelidae, please be assured we are doing our best to locate her."
He began to pant, he didn't like to see folks upset and these were fine people. Why did the worst things happen to the nicest people? His mind reeled knowing the truth for with injuries like Swallow sustained it was likely she didn't have long to live. He debated in his mind as to whether or not he would tell them, he sighed as he made his decision.
He cleared his throat, "There is one other thing you should know and well…..this isn't pleasant for me to relay." Warren and Endora didn't know what to expect next, they were both terrified. Warren held his wife's paw tightly. "The attacker was a sicko…..obviously deranged….he's….." Oh ….he didn't know if he could say it. "He tried to skin your daughter." There he said it, he wasn't proud, just sad and angry that he hadn't any more to console them with.
Warren and Endora just sat there stunned…., "What?" Warren said.
"Swallow???" Endora cried.
"Mr and Mrs Mustelidae we don't have all the answers right now, I debated in telling you the truth, but sooner or later you were going to have to know. If we find Swallow alive, she's going be hurt and in need of special treatment, again we are doing everything in our power to find her."
Endora just wept, Swallow's life had been so cruel and now to have it end like this. She just couldn't hold back the tears, Warren too had grown attached to the young fur and she was his own. Albeit different, but none the less special to his and Endora's heart. Tears formed in his eyes, for he feared the worst.
Suddenly the Detective' beeper interrupted the sad scene. "May I use your phone?"
"Certainly Peter, it's in the kitchen."
Peter left but was back in what seemed moments, "I have to go, if there is any news I'll contact you as soon as I hear anything."
Warren nodded as he got up and showed Peter out.
"Warren I…."
"I know…..just do your best, that's all we can hope."
"You bet we will, I'll be contact." He shook paws with Warren then headed for his car. He sighed, if the call was true then he would be back here sooner than he wanted to be.
Crime Scene: Revisited.
As Peter drove in he was instructed by an deputy to see someone. He strolled into the building asking for the deputy he was told to see. He was directed to a secretaries room.
"Hello Detective." The fur said at attention.
"You wanted to see me the moment I arrived."
"Yes, as you had told the other deputy you would be bringing the parents, I thought it best I talk to you first."
"Well that plan changed they are not here but go ahead deputy."
"It's the body sir……it's ….." The young deputy looked at him strange.
"Well spit it out……"
"It hasn't any bones sir."
"What!!!" Peter said not sure if he had heard his deputy correctly.
"It appears to have no bones or organs sir, it's…well it's like a skin if I had to describe it."
He was horrified, already he told these lovely people that their daughter had been skinned. Now he had to tell them she was butchered. He couldn't take this, it wasn't fair. "Has the body been moved?"
"No sir we left it where we found it."
"All right take me there." It was quite a trek from the hospital to a patch of woods almost a kilometer away. As he arrived he noticed a tarp covered the body.. Also the same smell originated from it as well. It was, however, tolerable outside at least. "All right let's see it."
The deputy knelt then pulled back the tarp. It was gruesome, a thin layer of skin was the best way to describe it, almost identical to the other except this had no fur what so ever. This had him stumped, for this thing ….body if you wanted to call it …..had no features. It lacked eyes, nails …etc…..it was as the deputy said a skin. He doubted anything could be so thorough in tearing this small female apart. "Ok deputy…..??"
"Holden sir."
"Holden…..what's your assessment of this thing?"
The young cheetah gulped, "Well sir, I don't think it's a body, as strange as that may sound."
"Well that's my assumption as well, but what the hell is it?"
"I think it's an outer skin…..sir."
"I do believe you're right." This was damn strange, he thought. "Send it to the lab, let me know if they find out anything."
"Yes sir."
What a way to end a night, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He swore up and down he was going to stop but this…….this took the icing off the cake, he needed a smoke.
Mustelidae Household.
Warren watched as Peter drove off then he returned to his sobbing wife.
"Warren, what are we going to do?" Endora said regaining her composure as time passed.
"Wait and hope they find her."
"Warren, I get an awful feeling he isn't telling the whole story."
"I get that too, but it must be for a reason….we're not suspects so maybe he just needs more facts before he can tell us more."
"I suppose your right." She sighed. "Who would do this? Swallow doesn't have any enemies."
"She does Dora, but you told me she was dead."
Endora looked puzzled, "She is, that's for sure, but maybe there was someone else." She looked at the time and did some figuring Europe was 6 hours ahead of them which would make it…..5am there; Blast!!! Well, that's not going to stop her from calling she thought, this is damn important.
The phone rang and rang and finally a very sleepy Ti answered the phone. "Hello"….yawn…. "Kent residence, Ti speaking." Aside from her sleepiness something else was bothering her, her arm ached. It had been doing that more as of late but tonight it was really hurting. But she cast her own aches and pains aside for she knew the voice on the other end of the line.
"Ti, it's Endora!!!" In those three words her voice gave her away that something was terribly wrong. "I need you awake for this."
Ti perked up, she grimaced as she sat up putting her weight on her arm.
"What's happened Endora??" She didn't care about the time anymore, time had no meaning. All her attention was now on Endora frightened voice. "I'm sorry to wake you but something has happened here that you should know; Swallow's gone missing from the hospital and …" There was a slight pause as Endora composed herself. "Someone at the hospital where Swallow was staying was badly hurt tonight. " Endora heard Ti gasp, "Swallow's gone!"
There was a deafening silence, too long for Endora's sake, "Ti…are you ok, I'm finding this difficult as it is, I need you. Ti, someone attacked Swallow; from what the police said and ….." She found it hard to say, "Ti they cut away her fur." Endora said choking on the horror of it all.
Ti's voice returned obviously shaken, "I'm here Endora." Although she didn't want to be, her heart drifted to a bottomless pit as the realization sunk in. "It sounds like something Mother would have done near the end of her life, she had changed considerably during our time apart from her." Why would they want to harm a coma-induced patient? Swallow was not a threat to anyone in her condition. Then to skin her like a common animal was beyond monstrous.
"But this Mother creature, she's dead Ti…..we all saw."
"Yes ……she….." Ti gasped as the realization hit her, it couldn't be true but……she didn't want it to be.
"Ti? What is it?? Ti…?"
"Endora ….there might be one of Mother's henchmen out there."
"Whhhhatttt!!!!"
It explained a lot, "The creature you and I saw as Mother, was nothing like the one we knew; careless , reckless and easily angered…..this is a stab at the dark; but she might have left orders to finish what she started if she didn't return."
Endora was shocked, "Is that possible??" Then she thought of Ti, Swallow and Heather and indeed it looked as though it could possibly be so. "That could explain things…..if it's true." Her mind was awash with thoughts.
Ti found it hard to think straight, memories of Swallow were filling her mind. "Endora, I'll ask Robert, when I can, to see if it makes sense to him…although I'm not sure there is much we can do. The police know about Mother and some of her accomplices but I'm afraid they still haven't found her base of operations."
Ti had secretly hoped that they could find it, she knew of the technology that Mother possessed and she could sure use it now. Things were happening to her that she didn't understand, things she wished she had answers for. She didn't want to worry Richard but she was going have to talk with him soon.
Endora could tell that Ti was out of it now, she would have to call back later or if there was any news, "All right Ti…..don't tell Ezzy just yet, the police just left here. That's all they know at the moment.
Ti's thoughts were wandering at this point, "All right…..I won't. Endora, my prayers are with you and Swallow."
In-between Endora heard Ti sobbing. "Swallow means a lot to us aand the minute we hear anything we'll call." In her mind she just thought of what she had told Ti; her sister was skinned alive… plus there isn't much hope of finding her still alive at this point. She knew Ti had her own worries, nightmares and residual problems associated with her injuries and now this.
"Thank you for calling Mom, lock your doors and keep an eye out for strange people." Sniffling she grabbed a Kleenex to clean her nose between sobs.
It broke Endora's heart hearing Ti weep; she wished she could be there for her. "Call Richard and talk with him, it will get things off your chest."
"Huh….sorry Endora my thoughts were elsewhere…"
"Call Rich he'll be happy that you called, it will also calm you down." "Ok I'll call him, I am glad you called but I am tired ….Mom." Endora sighed and her heart almost broke, she wanted so much to hold her right now. "I'm going to sign off love."
"I love you Ti, don't you ever forget that."
"I know….love you both."
"I'll call again, soon."
"Ok…."
"Night my big girl."
Ti smiled in heart and face. "Night mom."
Endora hung up the phone gently and quickly made another call, it was times like these daughters needed their Mothers and Ti would need hers tonight.