Ace of Shades

by Theodore Lee

1| THE WICKED MESSENGER

The nearly full moon cast an ominous light against the surface of the lake, its message hidden. As the trees croaked their hollow sound, the park remained asleep, silent in its slumber. Nothing but the sound of the wind, and the trees, swaying gently but moving differently from before. There was a change in that sound too subtle to hear, though its icy touch gave it away. Above the water, a large tree loomed, its rope swing dangling from a long branch, slowly grazing the waters below.

And in the shadows of the forest, a gloom perched unnoticed. Watching.

A young couple sat on a bench beside the lake, their mouths locked in adolescent bliss. Though hours past their curfew, they remained oblivious to everything around them. They were engrossed in each other, unaware of the changes to the wind, unaware of the shifting silence.

Unaware of what would come next.

They stopped kissing, taking a moment to breathe. Emily Granger brushed the hair from her face, trying to compose herself. “Maybe .  .  .” she began, looking down and away, suddenly self-conscious, “maybe it’s getting late.”

Jason Ritchie ignored Emily’s hesitating demurral and began kissing her neck, determined to distract her from her wandering thoughts. He didn’t care what she wanted (when had he ever?); he had only one thing in mind.

Behind the shrouded underbrush, something sinister watched. Emily sensed it, somehow. Its malicious character seeped out, feeding the night. As she glanced around, an unnatural fear crept up her spine. Superstition, perhaps. It was late, and she was tired. That had to be it. But rather safe than sorry, she pushed Jason away from her.

Annoyed with the repeated interruption, he demanded, “What is it?”

Emily shook her head. It didn’t feel right, none of it did. “I think we’re being watched,” she whispered. She could hear the tremble in her own voice.

“C’mon, babe.” He tried to bring her closer, but again she pushed him away.

“Hold on,” she insisted. She could feel it. The constant eyes watching, the way the trees swayed differently from before. When had the night become so quiet? Since when had she noticed the change?

From the shadows, something moved.

It came closer.

And closer.

Until it was too late.

• • •

Detective Daniel Earrings stood in the newfound crime scene, staring at the horror before him. A young man hung above the water, dangling from a rope fastened to a tree. His eyes had been gouged out and his head beaten in, exposing a broken skull. A cardboard sign hung from his chest with blood markings spelling out a single word: LUST. Earrings observed this grisly scene for a few wondering moments before shaking his head in finality. I’m pretty sure that guy’s dead, he thought. Or really needs a hospital. The guy certainly wasn’t at his best.

Earrings glanced at the woods surrounding the park. It was dark in there, too dark to see a damn thing. He couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had done this was still in there. Or somewhere. Watching perhaps—perhaps waiting.

Nah. He shrugged it off, waving his hand at the thought. That sounds like too much work.

The detective began to walk away before his eye caught hold of something else. A woman right below the man, floating face down. Dead, just like the other one.

Two in one, Earrings thought. That’s a first.

As he stepped closer to the water, he glimpsed his reflection. He appeared as he had the last time he’d seen himself, which wasn’t that long before: tall, dark, and lanky––a lean, mean, fighting machine. He wore a black trench coat, similar to that of his partner, Detective Ace Shades, and on the breast of the coat was a small circular pin depicting a cartoon chimp with the word Nostromanwritten underneath it. In the water’s reflection Earrings could also see something else. He was no longer alone. A figure stood beside him, silent but deadly.

“I heard you a mile away,” Earrings teased without turning around.

“I know.” Detective Shades knelt down, examining the crime scene before him. His eyes were shielded by sleek night-vision sunglasses, but Earrings could see he was studying the evidence, details others would miss. The detective was a handsome man, at least according to how Earrings saw him: Ace Shades had wild hair, dark and unkempt. He wore a black trench coat, along with a pair of black slacks and black Chuck Taylor All Stars. He always insisted on wearing black, not out of practicality but rather because he liked the way it made him look. Black had become an unofficial quirk of his being a self-proclaimed detective, particularly one with his and Earrings’s repertoire.

Shades stood up and examined the hanging body from below. It was a disturbing sight, and on Shades’s face, Earrings could see a look of unease. The look of a man haunted.

“This,” Shades began, “is unlike anything we’ve seen before.”

Earrings nodded. “The first of its kind.”

Shades folded his arms and glanced at Earrings before shaking his head. “Actually,” he said, “in one respect, it’s the fifth in a row—the same as the others.” He edged closer to the body, his feet almost touching the water, as he examined the sign nailed to the young man’s chest. “All the murders have one thing in common—the eyes, ripped out of their sockets .  .  .” He then pointed to the sign. “.  .  .  and these.”

Earrings shrugged. “What do you think they mean? The signs, that is.”

“It could mean anything, detective.” Shades turned to Earrings. “Except it doesn’t. They’re the seven deadly sins talked about in the book of Ezekiel. The first being Pride, the second being Envy, then Greed, Sloth—”

“Like the monkey,” Earrings interrupted, tapping on the pin of his cartoon chimp.

Shades nodded. “Sure. Except now we have Lust.”

Earrings scratched the back of his head. “So, these are characters in a book?”

“No.” Shades shook his head. “These are patterns the killer’s been using. My guess is that he has an agenda, something to do with the sins. The only ones that he, or she, are missing are Gluttony and Wrath.”

“The other characters.” Earrings nodded, half-listening.

“And every week it’s the same,” Shades went on. “This won’t be the last.”

Earrings looked at his friend. “But why the eyes?”

Shades grew quiet. “I don’t know. That’s something I can’t get my head around.”

Puzzles weren’t Earrings’s specialty, and he found himself rapidly losing interest. “So how do you know all of this?”

Shades smiled to himself. “We’re detectives. It’s kinda our thing.” After a slight pause, he added, “And exposition. It’s all about the exposition.”

Earrings admired the way Shades said “exposition.” He always had a way with words.

“Detective Hat’s supposed to be here,” Shades observed, glancing around. “He’s late.”

“Detective .  .  .” Earrings began tentatively. “Do you think these killings could be from one of our past bad guys?”

“It depends.” Shades’s brow furrowed. “Who do you have in mind?”

“Well, that guy Earl, for one. That guy was something.”

Shades shook his head. “I doubt it’s Earl.”

“That’s something Earl would say,” Earrings pointed out. “You never know when it comes to that guy.”

“Earl’s in prison,” Shades reasoned. “We made sure of it.”

“That’s right,” Earrings said, remembering. “Then, what about that old lady across the street?”

“Dead.”

“Oh.” Earrings paused. “I didn’t know that.”

“We’re getting off topic.” Shades stepped away. “If you think of anything, let me know. Right now, let’s focus on what’s at hand.”

Earrings nodded with a smile. “Sure.”

Shades again knelt by the crime scene while Earrings stood by, watching his partner get to work. If Detective Hat were around, they would have finished in no time, but Shades liked to take his time, never missing a beat. As with most investigations, Earrings didn’t know what to do—or rather, didn’t know what he wanted to do—but stand idly by and wait, hoping Shades would finish soon. He wasn’t so good at this part of the job, a shortcoming he didn’t mind admitting, were he to care about such a thing.

While reminiscing on past enemies, Earrings had a sinking feeling that he knew more than Shades did. Perhaps a hunch, perhaps more, but it lingered in the back of his mind, an ever-growing thought. He would warn Shades of it were there more of a definite sign, but he couldn’t risk putting something out there that might place them on the wrong path, a path that could lead somewhere dangerous, somewhere unexpected, a place where things could end up bad—or worse, really bad, the kind of bad without a good ending, the kind of ending with apocalyptic proportions.

On second thought, that did sound a little like fun to him.

From the distance, something caught Earrings’s eye. He could see colors flashing through the trees, past the playground, and coming from the entrance to the park. It was mesmerizing, a captivating light show, and as he stared, he noticed the color scheme. Red, white, and blue—the colors of the flag, the colors of his fourth favorite cartoon character, the col­ors of—

His eyes widened. A feeling of fight or flight hit him: They needed to hurry, they needed to get out of there. But Shades, too focused on his work, didn’t notice the approaching threat. “Detective!” Earrings shouted, gaining his attention. Shades glanced up and saw the police lights heading their way. “We gotta go!” Earrings wanted nothing more than to run into the woods, leaving Shades behind. They weren’t allowed to be there. At least, not anymore.

“Hold on,” Shades insisted as he pulled out his flip phone. The detective took a few steps around the crime scene, snapping pictures of whatever he could find. “We need to bring home all the evidence we can, anything to help us out.”

“Are you kidding?” Earrings pressed. “I already had that covered.” He tried to drag Shades into the woods and away from the oncoming police, but his adamant partner stood his ground.

“What about a selfie?” Shades asked. “Did you get that too?” There was a disappointed look on his face, as if Earrings had done something foolish. But then his face softened. “For the memories.” Shades had always wanted proof of them being there. It was a ritual started long before, after being questioned on the validity of their investigations.

Earrings had forgotten. He sighed, shaking his head.

Shades put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You gotta think twice with these things.”

After the selfie—with the bludgeoned carcass dangling in the background—Shades turned to Earrings. His demeanor grew serious once more.

“All right,” he said, cocking his head with a wild grin. “Let’s rock and roll.”

• • •

As Lieutenant Micah Pulley ran beside the force, he could hear the attack dogs coming in from behind, approaching at an alarming rate. Despite his love of animals, when it came time for the hunt, he appreciated the fact that he wasn’t on the receiving end. He had seen what happened to those who were.

The police were gaining on the vigilantes. With a complete force at their disposal, there could be no chance of escape. The vigilantes had eluded them for too long, but now the tides were turning. When you messed with the law of nature, it had a way of messing back—simple cause and effect, something Pulley was all too aware of. The more he wrestled with himself, the more he found himself losing control.

As he continued the inclined trek through thickets, dodging trees and branches, he realized that those around him were struggling to keep up. Glancing up through the top of the trees, he could see spotlights from two helicopters forming in the sky and searching for their prey.

They can’t be far, he thought. They will need a miracle to get out of this untouched. It’s only a matter of time.

The radio at his side spoke up: “We got one.”

• • •

Tackled to the ground, Detective Shades tumbled down the steep incline, stopping only when his body made impact with a tree. The officer who had tackled him continued to roll, unable to stop from the momentum pushing him forward.

Shades recovered, wiping off the dirt from his trench coat. He wasn’t certain where he was and had lost track of Earrings. It also didn’t help that it was so dark, despite the supposed night-vision sunglasses he had found on the dark web called eBay. At least they look good, he thought.

Behind him, a twig snapped, allowing Shades just enough time to react. He bounced to the right, escaping—by less than a few inches—a blow from a cop baton. He rotated his body, using the rest of his momentum to shove the officer down the hill.

Shades could now see three more officers descending toward him from up above. The adrenaline kicked in as he took flight, running with the speed of a gazelle. He flew down the hill, passing the first officer, who was still on the ground. The second officer waited below and began unholstering his gun. With no time to think, Shades did a running-jump kick—for half a second, time moving in slow motion, soaring down the air—and his foot made impact. The two landed on the ground simultaneously, the officer apparently out cold. Shades struggled to get his bearings, but once he stumbled his way up, he took off again.

The woods were getting thicker, forcing him to dodge tree after tree. He could feel a cold sting along his face and hands from running through thickets and branches. Broken leaves and bark particles stuck to his hair and coat while drizzles of blood seeped from his forehead. In a strange way, however, despite the pain he felt, all of the running and fighting made him feel a freedom he hadn’t felt in a while. This was the life for him, no matter what Darla or anyone else had to say about it. It was the thrill—the excitement—that kept him pulled in. It was all he lived for.

Shades stopped running and crept behind a tree. There was a small patrol ahead; he could make out five distinct officers. Each had a flashlight. The detective glanced behind, determining whether there might be another way around. But it was hopeless. The ones above would be catching up to him any minute, along with the attack dogs, marking him good as dead.

He would have to do this the hard way.

Shades pulled out two semiautomatics from within his trench coat. He reckoned that all the officers wore bulletproof vests, making it easier to deal with them nonlethally. Regardless of the circumstances, he had no intention of killing them. They still had families to worry about, after all; he couldn’t forget that. He took in a deep breath, sprang out of hiding, and bounded toward the patrol ahead of him. Running between two of the officers, he shot from both sides, and sliding to the ground, he blasted the other three ahead. All five officers fell simultaneously.

Shades rolled into a standing position and continued his sprint. He had to hurry.

• • •

Detective Earrings stood next to a stately oak. He was just outside the forest, in a large field. Two black sport bikes rested beside him, right where Shades had conveniently left them. (Perhaps this was the reason Shades had arrived later than he had. It certainly made sense, given that he was the one who called Shades in.) He looked at his left wrist as if he were checking the time (though he had nothing to see, since he had no watch to begin with), and he shook his head repeatedly.

Shades still hadn’t emerged from the trees. Had they gotten him? Earrings wondered what would happen if they had. That thought had never occurred to him before.

And how the hell could he—himself—have known about the murder before anyone else found the bodies? Not important. He knew why he was there. He just didn’t want to think about it.

Earrings could now hear the helicopters above. They were coming closer, elevating in volume. As if on cue, Detective Shades broke through the forest line, running toward him–– sprinting as if his life depended on it (and perhaps his life did depend on it). From above, one of the helicopters broke into the field, right behind Shades, shining its bright spotlight down and exposing him to the world. Just beyond Shades, the attack dogs could also be seen, giving chase.

“Run!” Shades shouted, dashing to the nearest bike.

Earrings got on the farthest, revving it while Shades mounted his simultaneously. They drove off through the field, the back wheel of each motorcycle missing the attack dogs by inches. More than half a dozen police cars trailed behind, erupting from the woods in full pursuit.

Shades accelerated, dodging the scattered trees in the field while using its hills as ramps for speed. The colorful lights of the police cruisers followed the detectives’ every move, flashing their warning that the hunt was almost up. The sound of the engines screamed into the still air, ripping through the vast space of night.

Shades leaned his body to the right and dodged another tree. He heard a cop car slam into an invisible object, flip over, and send debris crashing. He flicked his wrist forward with all his strength, feeling the wind fly past his face and the environment flash before him. He was on a roller coaster with the fate of the world in his hands.

Shades drove down a long and rocky hill. It seemed to go on forever. The terrain was hard, forcing him to grip mightily on to the bike, leaning into it. As noble as he deemed himself, he couldn’t help but scream like a preadolescent girl strangling her favorite K-pop singer. He had seen it happen once.

To his right, Shades glimpsed Earrings struggling on his bike. He was wobbling, as though about to crash. Shades glanced at his rearview mirror. Three more cars flipped over, one after the other, losing control as the jagged incline dipped violently. Unlike the bikes, the cars could not maneuver the sharp turns away from the hazardous slopes, giving Shades and Earrings an advantage.

But only a slight advantage.

The police helicopter continued to watch from above, its spotlight revealing their every move. From another direction, a separate helicopter emerged. It was different from the first one, most likely a news chopper broadcasting the events. The thought of it made Shades uneasy. We might be on TV.

The terrain flattened, and the trees thickened. Soon the detectives found a dirt road, and they drove toward it, hoping to escape. The forest closed in on both sides of the road, affording no shortcut out, and the two had no choice but to follow it. The road had a few sharp turns before it emptied onto a highway with two lanes in each direction. The forest remained thick on each side, seemingly for miles into the distance.

How am I gonna get out of this? Shades thought.

The flashing lights were inching closer and closer.

“Detective!” He heard Earrings call to him. With the deafening wind, mixed with the chopping helicopter, he couldn’t discern what his partner was trying to say. Until it was too late. Ahead, Shades could now see a roadblock. Police cars and bar­ricades blocked the highway from opposing traffic, making it impossible to pass.

He winced. What now?

To his side, Detective Earrings drove through a long spike strip and flipped. As Shades passed him, he glanced into his rearview mirror, hoping that his partner was all right.

Shades slowed his motorcycle down until he came to a full stop. The searchlights from several police helicopters shone directly on him as the police cars came in from all directions, barricading him. The officers got out and hid behind their vehicles, pointing guns at him.

Shades got off his motorcycle. He tried to think of a way out, but his mind was drawing blanks.

“Freeze!” he heard multiple officers shout. The cars encircled him, leaving him nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. “Put your hands in the air, and get on the ground!”

It was as if time itself had stopped. He couldn’t move or do anything. He stood frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. Why are they doing this? I’m just trying to help. There was a deep pain in his chest. A sinking feeling. I’ve done so much good for them, and what do I get in return? He couldn’t help but feel taken ad­vantage of. After everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve done, it can’t end like this.

Not now. Not ever.

Part of the self-proclaimed detective wanted to give up, let­ting go of everything he ever stood for—to allow the police to take him in. Darla had always said it would happen. A lost cause, her voice echoed in his mind, though he wasn’t certain it was hers. Maybe she was right.

Or maybe she wasn’t. I can’t give up. Not yet. I was born for this struggle. It’s who I am. In a world full of indifference, he had to be the difference.

Like a revolutionary, Detective Shades stood defiantly, ready for war.

Copyright © 2021 by Theodore Lee

All rights reserved.