HEARTLESS SADISTC MURDERER

EVERYTHING IS LITERALLY A blur. I blink once, and then twice, and then on the third time, a silhouette of a large man appears in front of me. It takes me a couple of seconds – and a little more stumbling – to finally remember that this guy punched me in the face, which is why my nose is bleeding and my ears have this buzzing sound.

I rub my eyes to see clearer. When the buzzing sound in my ear disappears, I'm finally able to hear what the man's shouting to me.

"You dare harass my girl like that?! Huh, pretty boy?!" He shouts in full rage, his friends trying to stop him from punching me again by grabbing both of his arms.

I wipe the blood coming out from my nose with the back of my hand and point my index finger at the man accusing me of harassing 'his' girl, who is honestly not exactly my type. Don't get me wrong, I don't harass girls even if they were my type, but I just want to clarify that this particular girl isn't my type, so even TRYING to lay a finger on her is unlikely.

And come on man, pretty boy? Who uses pretty boy as a form of insult? It's actually very flattering considering I'm twenty-eight. Just means I still look young, so it's more of a compliment on my part.

"Look, pal, like what I tried to explain to you, the back of my hand just happened to brush past this beautiful girl's bum. I did not mean to do it, which was why I immediately apologized. But then she screamed and slapped me, then next thing I knew you had landed a punch on my face. I should be the one who's angry right now. I'm the victim." I explain to him as calmly as I could, but obviously, the man isn't listening. If he's the listener type, he wouldn't be screaming at me right now.

"You think I'll believe your lies compared to my girl's words!" He continues to shout at me.

I sigh and massage my temple. This is stressing me out more than I expected. All I wanted was a glass of beer in my favorite night pub and talk to my favorite bartender Mr. Lincoln. Why am I suddenly caught up in all this before I could even get inside the pub? Now I get no beer and no conversation at all!

"Yes, because I'm telling you the truth, and she's just being irrational. And please, just stop calling her my girl. She's her own person, she doesn't belong to anyone." I sassily tell him, which of course, only angered him even more.

"So you're using smart words on me now? Huh, pretty boy?!" He shouts, confusing me now. And again, what's with the pretty boy insult?

"Smart words? What the hell did I say that seemed smart to you?! I'm just trying to fucking explain my side!" I now shout back. All his shouting is making me shout back at him.

The man was about to say something, maybe something stupid again, but then a police car arrives and parks in front of the pub, immediately making the people surrounding us run away from the scene.

The man's friends let go of him. A tall, dark and handsome policeman goes out of his car and approaches us, but before the officer could say anything, the man shouting at me a few seconds ago points at me and tells the cop, "Cuff this man up! He's harassing my girl!"

I roll my eyes in irritation. Not because he wants me cuffed, but because he still calls the woman my girl even after everything that I just said.

"Okay, calm down sir. Let's talk about this like two educated citizens." The cop says, but just because he was in uniform, doesn't make him any different from me because the man still wouldn't listen, even to him.

"What the hell are you doing? Didn't you just hear me?! Cuff this motherfucker up!" He shouts, and the cop finally goes to where I'm standing. But instead of cuffing me up, he smacks the back of my head and says with an angry tone, "What the hell did you do this time Elliot?! And what the hell happened to your face?!"

The man who kept on accusing me looks at the two of us with a confused expression. Actually, everyone's surprised to see how this cop just casually smacked me like that.

I massage my head and look back at the officer, "Seriously Russ, was that really necessary?" I ask my buddy Russ who was actually four years older than me.

"You...You know each other?" The man asks, and Russ looks back at him and answers for me, "Oh we go way back. Officer Huxley and I studied at the same academy."

The man blinks in confusion, but the shock on everyone's faces finally made him understand.

"You're a cop?!" He shouts.

I reach out for the pocket on my coat and show him my officer badge, "I try to keep it low-key," I say with a wink, almost making the man stumble backward towards his friends.

Yes, he finally realized that he just punched a cop right on the face.

"So, can you tell me about what you were accusing officer Huxley of again?" Russ asks, and the man immediately shakes his head in denial.

"I-It was a m-mistake...I wasn't quite sure and-"

I was supposed to just let them go. These are drunken men, I understand that, but Russ just had to add fuel to the flame for extra measures, "You better be careful about who you're accusing sir. This man just came back from the military last year. I'm surprised he didn't hit you back. Now scram before I cuff you up."

The man, his girl, and the rest of his friends ran away without any second thought, causing Russ to laugh while hitting my back aggressively.

I push him away and start walking towards the car; Russ running right behind me.

"Damn, that's what I call using the cop card," Russ tells me before sitting on the driver's seat.

I sit on the passenger's seat and take a deep breath, "We didn't use any card. You just wanted to brag." I tell him before slamming the door shut.

"Fine. But you gotta admit, that was fun," Russ says, starting the engine and driving off to leave the scene.

"Fun? I just got punched on the face by that man. How was that fun?" I ask while I look at my face through the mirror. Thankfully my nose didn't get broken, or else I wouldn't be called pretty boy anymore.

"But seriously Elliot, I'm surprised you didn't try to punch him back. Things could've gone worse if you did. And I'm not saying I'm disappointed that you didn't punch the guy, I'm just surprised that you didn't because you usually would," Russ tells me.

I didn't say anything about it. I just look out the window and remain silent.

"You don't have any idea." I thought to myself as I clench and unclench my hand to calm my nerves. If I wanted to, I would have punched the man with a single blow that might even put him in a coma, but I didn't want to. I'm a changed man. Or that's what I try to convince myself of.

Now enough of that. I haven't even properly introduced myself yet. I'm officer Elliot Huxley, your average twenty-eight-year-old pretty boy who just happens to be very smart and insanely good-looking. Did that last statement make you feel uncomfortable? Of course not, because you know it's true and I know you agree with me a hundred percent.

The man driving beside me is officer Russell Lewis, who I've known for a long time now. We were partners during my first year as a cop when I was twenty-one. I was one of the most excellent junior officers of my time. I could have ranked up but I went on military training for three years instead. Then I got enlisted for two years, was forced to leave, and now I'm here, back to square one. A normal cop just patrolling around the city, making sure no one makes any trouble.

Now that's our story. It's nothing interesting really.

"So what did Lieutenant Jonah say? Why did he talk to you earlier?" Russ suddenly asks, making me look back at him.

"Oh yeah, about that. He told me to head to the HQ tomorrow. Apparently Chief Philip wants to talk to me about something." I answer him.

"Really? Maybe they're finally going to assign you on something. It's been a while since you've been given any work. Maybe they'll rank you up and make you a detective now." Russ jokingly says with a smile. It's funny because he looks more excited than I am.

"It doesn't really matter. I don't want to do anything too serious anymore. My young and duty-loving 21-year-old self is gone. It left me when I wore a different uniform," I tell him, which I immediately regret the following day.

"I'm ranking you up." Chief Philip tells me as I stood in front of his desk with a shocked expression.

"I saw your records. It's something you should be proud of. And not only that, you have military experience too," he adds.

"That did not end well, which is why I'm here," I remind him, but chief Philip just shakes his head and says back, "Oh I know about the incident, and we all know that you had no choice. It was your last resort. This is why I'm giving you a chance, a chance to use your skills for something better. We can't let someone as talented as you to just rot here patrolling drunkards or petty thieves."

I don't say anything and just sigh in defeat. He already made up his mind with this decision, and it would be stupid of me to decline a promotion.

"What is it that you want me to do anyway?" I finally ask him, and chief Philip smiles widely and hands me a folder that I didn't open just yet. I had to hear what he has to say first.

"We've been working on a case given by a very important person. I was supposed to give it to my other agents, but I was afraid that they might already be known, so a new face like you is a better choice." He explains to me, but there isn't really anything to understand since he's just beating around the bush.

"Just go straight to the point." I rudely answer.

It's a wrong move, especially since I'm talking to the highest-ranked person in the force. But he didn't seem to mind it as he continued, "Officer Elliot Huxley, I'm promoting you as an undercover agent."

I blink and look back at him with a blank expression.

"Didn't you just hear me? I said-"

I cut him off and massage my temple, "I heard you," I tell him, so chief Philip gestures at the folder that I'm holding. He's telling me to check the files inside, so I take a deep breath and finally open it to see what the fuss is about.

Inside is the actual case, and then four profiles. The four were named Cyrus, Catalina, Chance, and Tobias. All have the last name Delton. Just by looking at the four, I knew they were rich and influential. They just looked too perfect to be common.

"If you don't know them yet, they're the Delton siblings. They're currently in charge of the Delton Enterprise." Chief Philip explains as I scan the profiles one by one.

"They're one of the most influential people in the country, and they're also very public. They feature in magazines, they have commercials, and they even make guest appearances at shows." Chief Philip explains further.

I close the folder and look back at him, "So what? Did one of them die?" I ask him.

Chief Philip shakes his head and answers my question, "No, but their father Adam Delton died five months ago."

"Don't tell me. He was murdered." I guessed.

Chief Philip nods his head to confirm it, but then he adds, "It was said that Adam Delton was food poisoned. It was a clean death...too clean actually. Division eight was supposed to investigate it but the family insisted that we stop the investigation and let the case go."

I analyze everything that the chief is saying, but when it finally hit me, my eyes widen from realization, "Wait, are you saying-"

"Yes. An insider reported to us that one of the four children plotted the murder." Chief Philip finally reveals, but I wasn't that surprised. This is a rich and well-known family. Killing family members for the inheritance is normal.

"So what do you want me to do exactly?" I ask him, now willing to participate in this case.

"We suspect that the murderer is the eldest, Cyrus Delton. Since he's the eldest, it's only normal that he'll be the next heir, but there are rumors that Adam Delton was supposed to make his youngest son the CEO, so it might be possible that Cyrus killed him before he could sign the papers," Chief Philip explains.

I wanted to comment about it, but it's better to keep my comments for later. Right now I need to understand this case as much as I can.

"We have an agent working at the Delton Enterprise for three months now. He's been giving us reports, but it's hard to investigate when you're only at the company. The best way is to get inside the Delton Mansion. It's one of the most secure mansions in the country. Getting in is hard, but we won't be doing it by force. Our agent reported to us that Cyrus's personal bodyguard was fired last week. This is the perfect opportunity for you to come in," he tells me.

"So you want me to be a bodyguard to a man who is obviously bigger than me?" I ask him.

"Built is not important, it's the skill. We'll obviously fabricate your identity, but we'll keep your military experience. Your two years in the field will definitely make your chances of getting picked as the bodyguard bigger." Chief Philip explains to me.

I take another deep breath. I don't really have a choice now since everything is already explained to me.

"When do I start?" I ask, causing chief Philip to grin in excitement.

"That's the spirit!" He practically shouts, "We'll start right away. I want you to get ready by tomorrow. Detective Hans will tell you the rest of the details."

I nod my head in understanding. I got ready to take my leave, but chief Philip calls out to me, "And officer Huxley, let me remind you that this case is highly classified. You are not allowed to tell anyone about it. Not a single soul."

"Don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets." I say, nodding my head and finally walking out of his office.

While I walk down the empty hallway, I open the file given to me again.

"Cyrus Delton." I read out loud.

I stare at the stolen pictures attached to the file. The man is older than me, but that isn't what intimidated me. It's actually the eyes. I've met so many bad guys in my seven years in the field, but not once did I see eyes as cold yet burned like fire at the same time as his.

But that isn't the scary part. The scary part is that he doesn't really look like a murderer to me. There might be two explanations for that. Like the man who punched me in the face last night, we might just be blindly accusing someone who is actually innocent. Or, he's really good at pretending to be this arrogant rich boy so no one would suspect that he's really a heartless sadistic murderer.

Well, that's funny.

A heartless sadistic murderer.

If I were you, Mr. Cyrus Delton, I would be worried by now. Because the real heartless sadistic murderer...is about to be your personal bodyguard.