The Death Of The Facts in LA

AN UnderBelly Case File

BY: Steve Campbell

The file that ran me out of my LA. Finally published somewhere!

- ONE -
Nope, Not Doing That...

Are you ready, world, for the one story I am writing that you will never see? That is right, you will never read this or even see it in print on any media, at least as long as I am passing wind through my lungs. The reason for that is this is the story that got me thrown out of Los Angeles, my home, my job, and not even the ability to buy proper bags or even boxes. I was told you leave now as we watch, and all I had were bags for my garbage, so there you have it: I was moved out like the garbage after risking my life again for L.A. people who will never know they will no longer have to fear. For almost 200 years, every 7 years, the word went out, time for death, and the police let it happen because it was easier than finding the reason and stopping it. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you why.

It was almost like there was a bargain, you see. The murders were street girls and bad folk, so the police did not even investigate. They just wrote off more bad blood every seven years for 12 days, one a night. That was the bargain. You stay out of the inner city and the homes that have families, and we will let you go every time without even looking for you.

Well, have you guessed how that went through me like a bad chicken? I was not going to let that go, but what I found out is that no one wanted to hear about that, and my stories were removed by the old man at the top of the paper himself, the guy who said he was for the news of truth. Then he dumps all over what is true because he gets a phone call saying please do not get me fired, John. That was it. Golf buddy or real true news. Nope, golf buddy wins, and Karl loses.

Did you think I was really going to walk away? Of course not. It is in my blood like oxygen. You know by now that I need to investigate and remove what is foul in the city and makes it’s streets stink like blood in the wind of the evening.

So let me stop the flow of my feelings now and get to the facts as they were told to me and the facts I know from the records I found, even though the powers at the top did not want me to. Not even they could bring themselves to remove facts; they just relabeled and deposited them in the wrong places. Yes, I will say it took me almost a week to gain the files needed to put together this list from 7 years ago, but not for the 12 days. I will point out one thing I did notice and did not know why: between victim eight and nine, there was a 14-day space. I do not understand as of now.

I will make some of this short due to the common callouts.

A. Low blood in the body with no sign of blood in the surrounding area.

B. All bodies had two marks, some others, but two always the same two marks on their neck, and two marks almost like cut marks on the right ankle. The ankle was never reported until now.

C. Every victim had dead skin under their fingernails, except the last one. She had live skin from the same person through DNA scanning.

D. Every victim was found within one thousand feet of a sewer cover able to be accessed by a human. E. All victims were said to be in perfect health before being killed and had a free clinic checkup within 36 hours of their death.

Now for details of each victim that I found on their reports.

1.Leroy Wilcox, 5’9”, 224 lbs, found on Olympic Blvd.

2.Tabatha Williams, 4’12”, 125 lbs, found behind a dumpster on Whittier Blvd.

3.Ginger Warner, 5’1”, 189 lbs, found in two parts under Santa Ana Fwy.

4.Amy Sweets, 5’6”, 210 lbs, found behind Home Depot on Sycamore St.

5.Mary Whants, 5’11”, 221 lbs, found under the train tracks by Olympic Disposal.

6.Lucienne Peicles, 5’9”, 186 lbs, found in the Subetex parking area.

7.Marlena Hotzel, 5’8”, 198 lbs, found on Friendship Ave and Bants Rd.

8.Samantha Peicles, 5’1”, 150 lbs, found in Metro Heights.

9.Davina Marlees, 4’12”, 124 lbs, found at a shopping center on N Wilcox Ave.

10.Heidie Baptismo, 4'10”, 98 lbs, found in the L.A. River under W Olympic overpass.

11.Jenny Beivles, 5’9”, 135 lbs, found off Valley Blvd and Alhambra Ave.

12.Vivian Peicles, 5’5”, 108 lbs, found in Live Oak Park.

As you all can see, 2013 was a really bad year for families in the East L.A. area, and one stands out more than the rest, either because of the area or just bad luck. All the young ones from the Peicles family were removed from the living.

The first victim, Lucienne, was a streetwalker from the report, stealing what she could and bargaining herself for the rest. Also, according to the report, her siblings would join in at times on bigger hauls. So I have to think maybe the younger siblings saw what they should not have.

I will start there. Maybe, just maybe, there was something told to the survivors in the family.

When I got to the home of Bevinia Peicles, I told her through the chained door, “Madam, I am Karl, and I am trying to find the real story that others want to ignore. Can you talk to me and tell me your truths? I will believe and try to stop this madness.”

I stood at the door as it did not move. She looked at me and almost stared through me, as if she was checking the barcode on my soul. Then she stepped back and allowed me inside to a nominal living space. You could tell there was no money here, like most of the families in this failing community, under state programs that never seem to help out this far.

As I sat, she offered a brown drink. I was fine, so I said I might later. She set it on the table in front of me. I asked if I could record to get this right, and with a nod from the lady, we were both saved from memory lapses.

After a brief introduction of what I do and how I try to solve as much as I report, the lady said, “I think I saw your report a few months or even a year ago about the forest that saved itself from removal, and another story about a racket to make humans into phone recorders or something. Yes, Karl, I will tell you what Vivian told me before she was also taken from us, with the hope you can find this madman and stop him from hurting others like he did my family.”

I looked at her and said, “So it is a man then?”

I found out a bit later that Bev told me as she continued, “Karl, yes, a man, but you need to let this old woman finish her thought before it disappears, young man.”

Then she went back again to what needed to be told only once.

“A night back a ways, I think Vivy came in fast and locked the door and went and locked all the windows and said she had a ‘blood-drinking beast of the night hours.’ I still remember that phrase, Karl. Vivy was frantic, and I had to grab her and sit her down so she would tell me what it was she meant. I will tell you, Karl, I was not ready to hear what she said. However, I will never forget the month my family was taken, and that day it was starting up where I had no idea the end that would come then.”

Vivy sat there in front of me, breathing as if she had just raced a train, and finally started to tell me, “Ma, Lucienne is gone, no, taken, well, Ma, dead in the worst way. She was drained by a beast of the night that looks normal until that mouth opens, and she was no match for him. I tried to bash it with a pole or whatever I could find, but it made no difference. She was looking at me as if in a trance, and I could see the life leave our Lucienne, and all she was was empty. Bev, not a drop of her fell to the ground. She did not fight after the beast. I will say he, because it looks like a man from the past, clean and proper, until he attacks Ma. Oh my, Luci is dead in the worst way, having her life taken from her as you would ice from a machine.”

“That, Karl, was what Vivy said to me that night. Then she just fell and had no more left as she cried herself to sleep on the floor like she was a common mongrel.”

“Wait, Bev, are you trying to tell me a fantasy from Transylvania that lives in L.A., killing girls just for their blood? I must tell you, Bev, you sound like a late-night movie host introducing the next one in a 17-part series. I cannot believe what you are telling me, Bev, I just cannot.”

Bev got out of her chair and went to a cabinet. She opened a small drawer and took out a cloth that was folded around something and told me, “Karl, I do not want this back, but you must promise me to take it as true and try to disprove it instead of proving it. You must do that for the memory of my so great daughter Lucienne, Karl. Do you agree, do you?”

I looked at her and thought I could do that easily, so I said, “Yes, I do. I will try to disprove that this item is real instead of proving it, Bev.”

With those words, she handed the cloth over to me, and I opened it to reveal something I did not expect. I thought maybe a button or parts of the chain, if the story was true. However, what I was being given was much more valuable. You see, what I was given was a tooth, not just any tooth, but a blood-sucking tooth, and you could even see the hollow path at its center that could surely be used to drain a person as Bev described.

I turned to her and said, “Madam, how did you come by this, might I ask?”

I could tell she was getting sharp in her ways. She looked at me with her sharp eyes and said, “Karl, you will never guess what my other two daughters did. I cannot even believe it myself. These sweet little girls, after seeing their sister be taken down by what they called the city beast, those foolhardy kids made up a plan to catch the beast.”

“You see, they made a cover that would go around their necks and not be seen, and they took turns on the street trying to get the guy to attack them. After the third night, he did, but they were not prepared at all. Vivy said this time when she came back to me alone, ‘Mom, Sam is dead.’ I heard that, and I lost another ten years off my already long life and screamed at Vivy, ‘What did you try to do, girl?’ That did not go over well at all.”

“Vivy fell right where she was and could not tell me what they did until a few hours later, but I was there as you are now, waiting to be told what happened. Karl, this is why you must be the man and stop this before all families feel the same pain that I do.”

“So Vivy started, ‘Ma, I know we were stupid, but we both wanted to do something and not just sit around and wait to be taken as chickens do. So Sam and I made leather bands that would go around our necks and stop a bite from taking us away. So we were ready to go street walking one at a time so the other could keep track, and we both had cells to call for help. I thought I saw the man come, but then he was gone, and as I was looking for where he went, I looked at Sam, and she was bent over like Lucienne was.’”

“That is when I took out the bat and swung like Dad used to teach me to, with all my force, and again and again until the man fell and ran away with a limp. But Sam was already gone. I failed. Mom, we both were so stupid that night. I should have known simple humans cannot beat a god of a monster like he was. Then I looked down at Sam’s neck and saw the tooth jammed into the leather and grabbed it just before the cops got there.’”

“So, Karl, here is the proof you wanted, and you need to find this man, as good as you are. It must be you because I can even see now you care more than you will ever say out loud.”

I looked at this now lonely woman and did not want to ask the last question I would, but being a reporter, sometimes you have to ask the hard ones, not the easy questions, but those that seem to pull at you, so I did when I asked Bev, “What happened to Vivian?” That was hard for me, and I could see the color drain from her after I asked her.

She sat back in the chair she was in and looked at her hands and started with just one phrase that drained her of almost all the energy she had after the stories she already told, when she said, “That, Karl, is simple, you see. I could not protect her as I should have.” Then she got the drink she made me and said, “Since you do not seem to want the mineral water, I will take it now. I will need it.” Then she sat back after a big sip, saying, “She was here. I would not let her out of the house because I knew he would come for her. You see, she was the youngest and the best looking, so if there was a man in there, she would be found by him. The doors were locked and sealed, and I checked her windows myself, and we got ready for bed, did our nightly prayers, and went down. It was around three in the morning. I knew I heard something and just lay there for a minute or so, then I thought I needed to check, so I went out into the house, checked all the doors and such, then I went into Vivian’s room.” Right then, she dropped another inch, losing all her strength. She had to stay upright in her chair as she whispered out to me, “I saw the bed was empty and only one small drop on the spread, and when I touched it, it was blood. I called the police, and they came in around 20 minutes. What they found was that the window was not opened, but the whole frame was pulled out so he could come in and take my Vivy away. Why did she not scream out? Why did she not fight him? I do not know, Karl, but as you know, she was found the next morning, a ways away from here, dead and gone. I am done, dear. Please close the door on the way out, and remember you promised to find out how that is not what it looks like first, Karl.” I knew when I was not welcome during another time of grief she now had. I got up and held her hand for a minute, then, with no words, I left that house of pain and remorse. At that minute, I decided that if I die, I will take this uncaring monster with me before I go. No matter what I must do, there will be no cost too high for the peace of that one lady knowing this will be done forever.

- TWO -
But you can tell me why I must

I got in my 66 Ford and went off into the sunset, hoping there was an end to this where I was driving and this thing was lying in a pit somewhere. So it was time to visit someone who could be more than a friend, I kind of knew from the university, who might talk to me or might not. I would need to see what Mili Flangow at Cal State had to say about my new problem. I thought it might be up her alley of issues she likes to handle.

When I got to the Mesoamerican Studies office of Professor Flangow, she was in the middle of a class, and I must say I did forget how she had all the right curves in the right places as well. So I did enjoy seeing her move around the class as I sat in the far back seat, not making a sound. She did notice me and gave me a small smile as she looked at me, and that was a nice sign that I came to the right place today. So I just sat and did not fall asleep as she was talking, and when she got done, all the students looked at me on the way out of the class. Mili closed her door and sat next to me, saying, “Hey stranger, you been hunting anything interesting lately? It is nice to see you are still alive and even have a memory of me, Karl.” I looked at her blue eyes and said, “Mili, I never stopped having memories of you. The only problem with me was who else had the same ones, darlin.” With that, the intimacy we could have had right there faded away like a bad smell. Mili got up and started walking to her desk, saying, “So Karl, what have you gotten yourself into now? Let’s find out what it could be, and you can get a plan to remove it.” I did notice the “you” in that comment and just felt it should stay that way, noticed but not spoken of. So I said, “Mili, I have a man that comes back every seven years, kills twelve people, removing almost all their blood, and fades away again for another seven years. He or it has been doing this for almost 120 years on record and maybe even more elsewhere. Any ideas?” She turned to me with a smile to sink a steamer and said, “Karl, baby, you mean to tell me you are hunting the L.A. vampire now, as if you did not already remove enough bad stuff from that cursed town.” “Mili, I have heard of the music album named that, but never a real vampire lore. Is there one out there?” Mili looked at me like I was a dog begging for a bone and smiled, saying in a faint voice, “Karl, there have been theories about the vampire tales in L.A. for over 40 years. I even remember my parents talking about it before I went out one night on a date. You see, the story goes that after being made into a vampire by the king himself, the sorry soul fled to the United States and tried for years to kill himself. He, however, was weak and could not just walk out in the sun as he should have. So he made a grand house under the ground that took twenty years to complete, and now he lives out his life underground until he has to surface once every seven years to gain that next year’s blood supply. And do not go out at night, or in the week of the light, or Mahue the vampire will get you in his next brew. That is the old tale we told kids to be home at night. The problem with that is, overall, it is true. And no one really knew it was true, so he kept finding things to feed on year after year, Karl. It is really sad. You are a reporter, and a real story that could kill any one of your readers you will never be able to print, because it might upset a slob on the top floor so high he does not know if he is alone or not until noon when the clouds fade again.” I must say I looked at Mili with an amazed look and told her, “Mili, you do understand how dreary that attitude is, and I hope you do not always have a downplayed opinion on the public out there. Maybe that is why you seemed comfortable in the underground.” As I sat down, I followed with, “But now I have a problem. I need to find this guy and get him to stop this insane plan of his once and for all. This last run, he took out a whole family of three girls, and I cannot allow the lack of any decency to continue. Mili, I know you will say the streets are not safe. However, he took the last girl right out of her bedroom window and left her in a park like a discarded tin can.” With that news, Mili looked up, saying, “Karl, out of her own locked window at night?” I nodded. “Karl, I think you are right. If he has no more care for people than sheep or goats, he has lost all of what he once had. You see, I talked to him once in the tunnels, and his plan was to take the lower-level street walkers or homeless and leave the basic good people alone. If he did that to a girl, he would lose that allowance, and he would need to be hunted. We should be able to find him through the system he lives in, but not from my home. That would be too far from him. So Karl, you feel like running in the park?” With that, she was getting up and turning her life here off as I got up and gathered my things, thinking of another group effort. That would be nice, nice indeed.

As I followed Mili to the parking area of the park, I thought that we had never gone to her house for weapons. How are we going to take him down? Or is this a ruse so I will be removed to let the dead and dead-like live with no hunters after them? I seem to wander off on side trails when I just drive anywhere far. Just then, Mili knocked on the window, saying, “Come on, slow one.

” When I exited my Ford, I noticed Mili had a backpack on her back, and I asked her what was in there. I got back a sigh and then, “Karl, what are we here for, a picnic run? That is my weapon for hunting, like you have that bag of yours. I wanted my hands free, so I put them on my back instead of lugging them around in a bag.” With that, I went to my truck and lugged out my bag, which I had to carry with one of my fighting hands, and realized I needed to go shopping soon. We were off walking down the running path until we turned and were no longer on any path or trail or much of anything other than me following someone with a nice backside to look at. Then she stopped and turned immediately to the right as if she was on a corner and said, “There, Karl, see, never lost the spot, never at all.” In front of us was what looked like a black hole in the forest, otherwise known as a hidden cave entrance. Mili got her backpack off her back and took out what looked like a stake wrapped in fiber and lit it, then separated it into two and gave me one, saying, “Karl, if you have never used one of these before, it will run out, but it should take some time. Watch for the strands falling off and hitting your hand, so keep it at an angle so they fall off and not on you.” Then she was packed up and moving through the tunnel. While we were stopped, I took out my chalk so I could mark every corner before we took it, so I could find my own way out if I needed to later. I do not know if Mili knew how much the last time with her affected me, but it has, and I will be looking for a getaway plan until we are out of here. That is the main reason we are not together. I realized I just do not fully trust her with my life.

As we went down the cave into who knows where, I asked her quietly, “Mili, how many times have you been through these caves?” Mili stopped and turned to face me and said, “Karl, I would get a few days of meals and spend Friday till Tuesday here just seeing where they went. I have a memory that just knows once I have traveled there, so I guess you can say, altogether, months, baby.” Then she started going down again to someplace I did not know, and it did bother me, the whole “baby” thing. I do not know where that came from, but in a cave underground was not the time to tell her not to feel for my safety. This back and forth went on long enough for my chalk to half its length before we started getting into what looked like used caves that some even had active torches on the walls, as if I was entering a whole secret world down here. A couple of times, normal-looking people passed by us as if it were a walking path around the park. Then Mili stopped and put up her hand with a closed fist, and we moved slowly to the corner. Mili put her torch out with a cloth and passed the cloth to me to do the same. We moved a bit more into a larger chamber with a few drawings and signs on the sides. Mili went over to one with a large man in it and pointed and said in my ear one word that made me skip a breath for a moment, “Him.” I looked at the figure on the wall that looked like it had been there for hundreds of years, and I asked Mili, “Why are there nine different pictures here, and that one there looks like the guy we got last time?” She turned to me with a tear in her eye and said in a low voice, “This was the room of the nine. Before the cities and before the pain above ground, there was a city here, and this is where the nine that ruled would do so from. Each and every one of these beings but one went bad, and only one still survives at all.” I looked at her eyes and asked a question that seemed right to me, “And you know the one that did not go bad also, when he was still around?” Mili looked at me, not like a college professor, but more like a hurt child, and said, “Karl, I took him as my mate. That is why I know all these tunnels so well. He came up with me, and we began a life as a family. I went to work at the high school, and he stayed home doing the home things until he,” she pointed to another picture of a man that did not seem nice in any way, “thought it was wrong to go to the surface and to take a mate with one. So he took it upon himself to form a party to fetch my Andy and bring him back here to this very room to be judged and punished. When I got home, there was a note on the glass that he was being taken back, and it said, whatever you do, protect yourself and do not follow, honey. Karl, you know me enough to know I did both things. I got the biggest guns, and I also followed him here, where he was on the floor dying from a stake that monster put in him. I did not falter but took the guns and shot all four of the rulers that were left right here and took my Andy for the next three days trying to save him, but I could not. That was when Mictlantecuhtli came to me and helped me bury Andy in the old ways, the ways of honor, and that was when we met, and he became my friend of the underlife. That was until I found out he was killing needlessly as well, and as you know, we took him out also. So Karl, the only person left from the old council or rulers is the vamp, and we might take him out also if he is your seven-year nightmare man.” I looked at Mili and realized she was the person who took most of the rulers that were destroying our city out. I would not have guessed that, but I had to follow the trail as she set items down that path. I knew then she was the right choice for this mission, and I had to let her lead as I brought up the back, since after all she lived down here for years as she and Andy lived their life before his final end and the release of what I can call the cat demon witch of a woman in front of me now.

- THREE -
The Blood King

We stayed on a path that went right by the vamp’s picture and into an even older cave that again had no lights, but we could see just enough to not break off our noses on a dead end, so Mili said, “Leave the lights flat for now, until we need them to survive.” As we walked down and around, I kept marking my way back, even though I did not think I would ever be able to really get out of this maze. Then things began to change. The tunnel was no longer dirt but was carved rock that was built part by part, with a deadwood ceiling over us with small hooks for lights to hang that were empty now, almost like this was a path to a special gathering place, and as we walked there were many more paths all converging into the one we were on, I kept marking but at this point it was almost a direct line down the middle. After that went on for almost twenty minutes as we walked, the ceiling abruptly disappeared, not because we were out of a tunnel, but because its height was no longer able to be seen any longer, and when I stopped and turned I could see many paths just end at the one we came from, as if the users of those paths did not need them but could just now float to their destination, I hoped in front of us at some point.

Suddenly, Mili stopped and whispered in my ear, and I will admit the way she spoke in the dark was so very sexy she sent the wrong kind of signal through me for a moment, but what she said wiped that away: “Karl, listen and make no noise of your own, so we might sound like rats in the distance.” So I listened and heard voices getting louder as we moved deeper into the depths of a larger chamber, because I just noticed that I could no longer see the sides of our walkway either, then as I watched in the dark Mili dropped down about eight inches, then again, so I knew we were on a step system going down deeper to the bottom of a grand meeting area, so I watched for Mili’s lead and did not blink unless I stopped walking first so there would be no chance of error now, that went on for many minutes, and my ears needed to pop, not even saying the heat I began to feel from the floor we were walking on, then we began to walk on flat ground again, right before Mili stopped and I could see her duck down, so I did the same, but said nothing at all to each other.

I could feel Mili reach back and put her hand on my bent leg as if to keep me down, and even though my body thought something else for a second my head corrected it fast, this was survival and not a playful time, Mili then leaned back toward me slowly where I had to hold her up, her head just under mine looking up at me when she said, “Karl, I have no idea who is ahead, but I will tell you the vamp is like three men due to his age and old body build, be careful and if something bad does happen just know I came here on my own and not because you made me, baby.” She paused and then continued, “So we move on the ground so we will sound like rats until we can see what we are going into Karl, and no baby, I have never been this far so we will learn and hopefully survive together,” and then softer she added, “that way we might get that night together after this, since I have been with no one since you saw me last, you see baby, you have been in my dreams ever since then.”

Then she pushed off me and rotated so she was on all fours and all I could see of her was a shape in front of me until I did the same, and we moved forward slowly into the dark, and as the voices got louder a dim light source also became more and more noticeable, and I then noticed I could see my own hand when I looked down and we were no longer anything but what we were, exposed and moving, and right then I felt like this was a game of cat and mouse and we were the mouse being let loose just long enough to think we had a chance before the cat came in and finished it.

Mili started to move to the right, so I followed and found myself bumping into a set of seats. That is when we both changed our game and backed into the floor space enough so our bodies could not be easily seen, but we could still see into the chamber of darkness with only one single candle in the middle burning, where I am sure it was not needed. I had to wonder if all this again was a trap set by Mili for me or by someone else for us both.

I lay there on the ground watching a dim light in the distance. If I were to look to my right, I could see Mili doing the same, then looking my way and throwing me a kiss. I felt that odd since I did make it clear I was not interested, almost as if she was trying to make me think of the wrong thing right now. That was not going to happen when I was almost a mile underground in a spot very few people even know exists at all.

As I was listening and thinking and drifting in all that, I stopped it all when I heard a noise that sounded like it was behind me and not in front of me. Right then, I looked at Mili, who was not looking in my direction but was eating a bar of some sort as if this stop in our plan was a planned resting period. I then heard the noise again, and it was even closer than just a second earlier.

It did seem funny to me that I was the only one hearing that sound or reacting to the noise I could clearly hear getting closer. Mili looked at me, then I thought I could see her look up and to my rear for just a second as if she saw something there, and still she said nothing and continued smiling at me as if this was a line going into an upcoming concert we were camping in.

I swear, I swear here that I felt something move on my back, and that locked every bone in my body cold and not moving, not even a breath, as I waited for that feel again, as if it was waiting to find out if I was dead and left here from the past battle or if I was new and fresh for the taking. I did not give even a sign I was alive. I even opened my mouth wide so it would not sound as air moved out and in with the little bit that was flowing right then.

I was there breathing with my mouth wide open and not moving a bit, as I had my hands under me so my chest would also not move while breathing. Right then, I looked over to Mili and saw she was fully looking over me, no trick, no sign of hiding, she was wide-eyed and looking right at the top of my head, where I could not see at all.

I also watched her move just a bit from side to side as if she was coming out of a cocoon, and I had the strange thought of what she would become from what she was now. I guess in stressful situations, your mind goes a bit mad at times to keep you from thinking where you would go mad if you truly thought about what was over you and what it was going to do to you before you were dead in seconds.

Right then, my eyes stayed on Mili. She had a small tube in her hand as she was looking over my head as if she was trying to aim. Aim what, I had no idea, that was not a gun even at a stretch.

While I was watching, she closed both eyes three times in quick order, so I closed my eyes and counted to three jumbo zebras in my head, and when I got almost through the third, I felt a weight on my back, but not like before. Now it was like a stillness, and there was a liquid on my hand under me.

I then opened my eyes and saw all around me was a spread of black, and I remembered that in almost no light, blood looks black. I then looked back in Mili’s direction, and she gave me a thumbs-up.

That was when I finally started breathing again, and the only thought I had left was what dead thing was on my back, bleeding all over me now.

I was lying there with something on me, unable to move from what seemed to be a heaving something, and even to add to the stress, it was starting to smell, so I had to wonder if it did not pee on me or even worse, as I lay here stuck under it. I did see Mili back up as if she was leaving her bag where it was and moving backward to exit that small area she was stuck in. At this time, I thought about the fact that we cannot make a noise, we cannot move, and now we cannot talk. Suddenly, I felt movement and the thing on me moving backward, freeing me from all the horrors I had just gone through, numbering and highlighting in my head. I was, of course, pleased now to have a Mili type with me; however, that was only short-lived when I saw a man-looking thing coming my way from around the candlelit area. I did start pumping my leg in three-pump cycles, hoping Mili would get the idea, when suddenly the man fell directly in front of me with a large tube object in his head that looked like it was still pumping a silver substance into its orifice to relieve itself. Just then in my ear, a bit louder and with no sign of sexy Mili, she said, “Karl, get your ass up, we need to move fast, baby.” And then it looked like she jumped once and landed right over her pack, which was back on her back before I even got on my knees. I told myself not to look back as I was looking at the thing that was in front of me with another one of those things in its head. I moved behind Mili as we had before, except now I had a stronger feeling that she was indeed my protector from the creepy underground beings. We passed the candle with no effect, then moved down a path marked with a sign reading 'Blood King' above the entry. I did not have to figure that one out. It was almost instant for me.

As we moved now with some urgency, I could tell we were also going up, and that confused me about why we would be going up after going so far down. Then I understood because it looked like all the other shafts off this one also went up, as if this was an access tunnel to different areas where the Blood King could go. When we stopped and stood still, and I listened, I could hear something in the distance. As I was standing there, Mili reached back and turned just a hair, and gave me a gun, and said only in an emergency, mainly to save me, and I could see a corner of a smile on her face that was not facing me. Then she said, “STAY,” like a dog. Then she walked forward with some haste until she could no longer be seen. However, I could hear a fight or something up ahead of me, so I was no longer a good dog at all, as I ran in her direction and saw her bouncing around and slaying three big men with a rod of sorts. When she stabbed them, they just faded away with a bit of cinder burn on the edges. Then she was standing there breathing as she looked at me and smiled in my direction, saying, “STA.” That was all she said as a rod the size of a bat came through her chest, and she dropped without another word as it looked like some of Mili’s heart was on the end of the rod. I then stood there as the biggest thing I had seen all night came out from the shadows and stood there with a sly smile on his face.

As the Blood King picked up his staff and licked off the blood still warm on it, he looked at me and said, “So I guess you’re the other intruder I heard was coming my way from the park. You really think I did not have lookouts at every entrance to me?” And he started that come-on motion with his hand, so I said, “Karl,” and he continued by saying, “Oh, I guess you’re the Karl my others have been talking about, always in their hair as if you could make any difference here, Karl.” Just then, I remembered the gun I was given was still in my hand, and I, in my not-practiced motion, brought it up and shot right over his head, adjusted, and shot him in the chest. He started to laugh as if it would do nothing. I could see a silver line forming down his arm, and it kept going as he started in my direction. I made sure I did not drop the gun and started to run in the opposite direction, now, down the pathway, and kept running as I followed my chalk marks. When it got dark again, I pulled my small flashlight from the car and used it to watch the lines of chalk. I was starting to be honestly overwhelmed with the loss of my true friend, knowing she wanted it to be even more, but I had to keep going because I knew it was almost sunrise, and if he kept chasing me, maybe, just maybe, he would not realize the time. A few times I almost slipped or fell, but I also noticed there was no one in my way trying to stop me either. So I kept going into the night of the morning out onto the trail that was the popular running track and stayed right there waiting for him to come out of the hole. What I did not know was that someone had called in the two cars left in the parking lot all night, and there were four police officers in that very parking lot looking over my car and Mili’s SUV when the Blood King came out of the tunnel and ran right for me. I shot him another three times, giving me one shot left if I needed it. As he fell, and I had the gun facing the beast, three of the four police came at me, telling me to drop the gun, not seeing the beast of the man just past the bushes. As I dropped the gun behind me away from the King, two of the officers came at me and jumped back when they saw the man now starting to dissolve from what I found out later were liquid silver bullets in that special gun the late Mili gave me. I, however, kept my hands up and did not move since there was no need to move, since the King was almost just a pile of goo on the ground, so of course, with the real threat gone, they handcuffed me for firing a handgun in a public place and took me away.

- FOUR -
until then I just wait until…

I tried to explain the facts to the police, but they would not listen. I was then charged at that time with discharging what appeared to be an illegal gun, like most are for any law-abiding citizen in the state of California, and I was released. The next day I went and got my car out of the impound lot and went to the college looking for Mili’s friend Lucienda on the campus. I was told where her room was, so I waited until it was empty and slid inside, closing the door slowly behind me and making heavy steps so she would not be startled by seeing me. She looked at me and said, “Wait, I remember you. You’re the friend that Mili kept talking about for weeks now. Did you take her away somewhere?” With that, I did get a tear in my eye, one that fell down my cheek as I sat down in a chair that was there and said, “Lucienda, you are right in half of those things. Do you by chance know about Mili’s extra activities away from here?” She looked at me for a long while and said, “You mean the tunnels and stuff she spends so much time in?” With that, I perked up some and said, “I have bad news. She is no more. She was killed by a tunnel creep last night, and I know I cannot carry her out by myself. I know this is a lot to go through, but I cannot leave her in there, and I know no one who can help me and keep it quiet. You see, the cops already arrested me for shooting a gun in the park, but the fact was I shot the man or thing that killed her, and he dissolved from the special slugs Mili gave me. So you see, I cannot get caught with a body, knowing her car got towed the same time as mine did from that very spot.” And then I sat, giving her exactly what was needed to put me away, even though I did not use a gun. They could easily say I tortured her in the cave. Then an answer came, “Karl, I remember that from her. She did talk about your hat a lot. I can see why too. It is dreadful, you know that, right? Anyway, Karl, my husband, is strong and solid. He will meet you tonight at the park. Just bring what you need, OK.” I got up, shook her shaky hand, and walked out after agreeing to what was said.

I arrived on time with no issues at all, and right next to me, a large SUV parked, and a not-so-tall, but tough-looking man got out, saying, “Karl, is that you?” I looked him over and said yes, it would be me. “I have what we need here. Do you have a place to take her to be buried the proper way, I hope?” Kevin said, “Yeah, my wife said there was a guy at Smithville waiting for me tonight, so let’s get going then. Is it far?” “Yeah, you could say that,” I said while I was giving him a bright light and a bag of goodies, just in case. And we went off to the cave, when Kevin said, “Wait, why is there garlic and a cross in here?” I just turned and said, “I hope to GOD you will never really know why, Kevin.” And we were off walking as I followed my lifesaving chalk marks, and when we got to the ruler room, I showed the light over the pictures for Kevin, saying who each person was, and then who we just killed last night. He told me, “Karl, you know, I heard about that seven and twelve thing a few times. I just thought it was a joke.” I told him in a sad voice, “It is not a joke to the people I have interviewed with no more kids from the seven and twelve thing.” Then I showed him the last picture on the wall, and Kevin jumped at that and said, “I know him. That was Andy. Did Mili put that up here?” I told him, “No, Mili found him down here. He used to be a god and ruler before everything fell. She loved him and brought him up. Before those four men,” I showed my light from man-thing to man-thing until I showed Kevin all four of them, “went up and brought Andy down here, because he broke the rules, and they killed him right in that circle, but they did not know about Mili’s talent yet. Mili killed them all and took Andy to a true grave for her last love.” Then we moved on into the cathedral room, with more wows from behind me, and then I showed the light on the Blood King sign as we walked to where Mili was still there, with flies now. I told Kevin, “She just got done killing those three like a warrior woman, when from behind her, like a coward he was, the Blood King or 7-12 killer stabbed her with his cane through her heart.” With that said, I dropped to the floor and wept for the would-be girl Mili, if she ever got her way. It was harder seeing her on the floor now after the way Lucienda said she talked about me. It was clear she wanted me in her life for real and not the game I thought, so her being dead from protecting me hurt a lot now. Kevin let me be and spread out the bag I got from my friend. He walked over to me and said, “Karl, buddy, we need to get this done before light, man.” So I pulled myself together and zipped up my future love and happiness in the blue bag, and we carried her out into Kevin’s car. I thanked him and said goodbye.

Right before, we were both surrounded by ten police badge-carrying undercover guys. They took Kevin away, and me away in different cars, and I never saw him again. About twelve hours later, I do not know because they took my watch, and the clock was broken. They came for me and put me in the chair that was bolted to the ground across from the mirror. And into the camera that was never turned on even once, I told the group behind the glass and the message boy across from me the whole story, starting with my week in the records department, that I just put on this paper here for whoever is out there someday to read my sad ending. After all that, after a bunch of questions where my story never changed, and even after a four-hour break for the people behind the glass to see the underground caverns with the blood and part of her heart still on the ground, they still came back to me with a folder labeled murder one, with a list of their proof down to her blood being found on my shirt when I was picked up.

So that is when the room emptied and all was silent for about an hour, when they came up and got me and brought me to the penthouse floor and sat me in the chair across from the mayor of L.A. Then my boss from the paper that did not want to print damning stories to his friends came and sat next to the mayor. Then he spoke first, “Karl, I never really liked your cowboy style, to be honest, but the readers did, so if I kept you down and did not let you roam too far off the leash, you worked. Not anymore in my paper. This case disgusted me when I was told about the girl who was stabbed and the man who dissolved away with a chemical bullet mix you made.” At this time, I was sure he knew this was all wrong, but what could I do, so I was just waiting for the play to end and the curtain to fall on my neck. Then the Mayor had his turn at the Oscar prize today, “Karl, I know you have not done many wrong things, and this is far over what you have ever done before, so I do not want to ruin your whole life over a mistake you made. So this is what I am willing to do for you, boy. I will not charge you with anything, as if it never happened at all, and you will leave town, never return, never even call your bedmates, and you will never tell anyone of this, nothing, you hear? And never ever talk about this case again, not ever in this room now. You must know we have enough evidence to put you away for two or even more murders, since you know so much about the 7-12 killings. Why, it could be you doing this copycat stuff now.” With that, I stood up and said, “You have no right to stop the truth from escaping these walls for the public to be safe!” And before the cops came over and pushed me back into my chair, the mayor started again, “Karl, you don’t get it. You have nothing in this at all. You might make a case on the TV, but then who listens to crazy murderers?

So here is my deal. You leave town, I mean right now. We take you to your place, where we watch you pack and drive away like you have a better life somewhere else, and never look back. And don’t you dare come back here ever. Even when you’re dead, if your corpse comes this way, it will be thrown in the ocean for the sharks. Do I make myself clear?” I sat there and just said, “What about Mili? She needs a proper place, and I was going to…” I was cut off with the managing editor saying, “The paper will pay for her funeral and make a big one-page story about all the things she did for the community. It has already been printed, and I will get you a copy before you leave if that is all.” And with that, I was out and had no job, no life, and no family at all. I asked to use a phone, and I was allowed one call, so I called Jenny and told her I would be coming by tomorrow, as they both nodded in unison like those bobblehead dolls.

I was then taken to my place, and as three cops watched and did not lift a single hand to help me, I packed my stuff in the car. I had no luggage, so I was told to use garbage bags. I used the 13-gallon bags and filled my back seat with bag after bag of my life until I had nothing left but junk. Then, when I was done, as a sign of total disrespect for me, one of the cops took police tape and taped off my apartment with a premade sign about this being a murder crime scene, and any entry would blah, blah, blah. And as far as all my friends know, I just left town instantly, or I go to jail for what everyone knows I never did.

So there you have it, the whole reason I had to move to Chicago and start my whole life all over again, with nothing in my pocket and no leads for a job. I am so glad I happened to go to a news convention in Chicago and could hear Tony’s very distinct voice across the room, where he said he could give a story or two, and then a job. You see, we used to work at the same paper in Denver so many years back, and he was an honest guy then. So there you have it, the whole sad story of how my life was reset yet again. I only wish I could see their faces someday when this gets published, and who knows how people might talk and think about the year the killing got to five and stopped forever. I will never know because I could never publish this, but it will be left for that publish date when I am no longer moving air for sure. For damn sure!

I hope everyone enjoyed the early days of Karl's Life. There will be more stories, however, to continue this storyline. You will need to purchase the "Layers of Truth" Or sign up here for support. I cannot make the book I have already copyrighted and published public domain. SORRY..

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