Title: Knives - The Lesser Evil

By - Kyle Castorena

Category - Action/Thriller

Rating - M (mature)

Warnings - Strong course language, and graphic violence.

Author's Comments - Weee! The beginning of my second story posted here on Fiction Press. For those of you who read SEEDs, let me just tell you that this story is by far a more mature and brutal counterpart. This prologue is mild, but I guess all introductions are. This chapter is mainly to introduce the female lead and give her some sort of background. This story is mostly told from her point of view, versus the title character.

Those of you who stuck with me through SEEDs, I'm sad to say but don't be expecting chapters to be coming two and three a week. For the most part I've decided on the plot, but I'm still making changes here and there as time goes by. Also considering that my character designs on some of the supporting cast are still flawed, at this point, I might take quite a while to get things done. And one last note, don't be expecting no 30 something chapters either. This is a much shorter story and probably won't go into double digits, but at the same time they should be larger than my other chapters. In any case, enough of my rambling and on with the show!

A single knock echoes through the empty halls and wakes the woman from her slumber. In actuality it wasn't a single knock, but several series of three or four. The woman just didn't happen to open her eyes until her visitor decided to give up. She rolled her head and brushed away her blonde hair to look at the clock. It showed her that it was 10:31 (am). Arising from sloth with a stubborn grunt, she made it to her front door with a leisurely pace.

Exposing the neighborhood to a half-naked female form, the woman peered outside her door to see there were no guests to greet. Looking down to her feet she noticed a letter lying next to her usual copy of the morning paper. Normally she didn't bother looking at the thing, but this morning held the headline "Knives' claims another victim." The woman decided to gather both items this morning.

First to be addressed would be the letter (since it could be dealt with in the shortest amount of time). It was for Vivian Fabre, 6969 N. Palm Drive, Beverly Hills Ca, 90209. The sender was the United State's Post Office. Apparently there was a package sent to her that was unable to be delivered. Vivian would have to go down there in person to pick it up. It was a pain, but seeing as her calendar was clear, forever, there was no objection aside from the fact that she didn't want to go.

There was nothing she remembered ordering on-line, or any package she was expecting. There was a slight chance it could have been from her parents, or perhaps her sister, but why couldn't it be delivered to her door? Also the letter doesn't mention the original sender. There was the possibility that the package was something dangerous, but it was intriguing. Like find a map to buried treasure, the woman wouldn't know what wonders this chest holds until she follows through to the end. She was starting to get excited. With a bit of urgency she threw off her clothes and headed for the shower.

With the excitement brought to her by the "Mysterious Package" made her forget the other item she brought in with her. On the front page underneath the headline "Knives' claims another victim," was an artist's rendition of Knives' appearance, as described by the sole eye-witness to his crimes. Looking at the picture, one person wouldn't think that this creature was the least bit human. The drawing was many shades of black. Little light was used and it appears little more than a large standing shadow. There were only a couple of features that it shared with Homo sapiens: head and legs. Sprouting from his shoulders were what looked like wings that hung all the way to his feet. Something seemed to be wrapped around his neck and fluttered wildly in the wind. In any case, anyone who would gaze at this picture wouldn't be able to identify the person hidden underneath.

Continuing with the article, dated 9 June 2004, more details about this "Knives" were disclosed. This person, allegedly male, has just killed his 17th victim. So far the FBI, lead by an Agent Spiro, nicknamed Spiral by the local media, hasn't a single clue to the identity of this serial murderer. So far there hasn't been a noticeable patterning to his victims. There have been blacks, whites, men and women, young and old. So far the only thing in common with them all is that they were all living in the state of California, so that left only 36 million potential targets. The name Knives, just like Spiral, was coined by some newsgroup or another. It was because of how he killed his victims, with a knife. By forensic reports it was something between a normal kitchen utensil, and a long bladed sword used in the Middle Ages. The story continued with the writer expressing his personal distaste with how the FBI was handling the investigation, but after that no more viable facts were stated.

Vivian exited her room wearing an outfit that expressed a privileged upbringing. Platform boots, a rather short red miniskirt, a pink blouse that could not hide bright red lingerie, and oversized sunglasses that were supposed to be trendy. After picking up her car keys and named brand purse with "LV" stamped all over it, the woman walked out the door and didn't bother to lock it behind her. She didn't bother with such a task because she believed she would head straight back after picking up the package. Perhaps when she returned she would order something for breakfast. This was, of course, the first time she had woken up this early in quite a long time. Pampering one's self was the perfect way to start a day with no real objective, no real worry.

"Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one." Theodore Roosevelt