The Curse Of Eden
Chapter 21- Neighborhood snipers

"Hey, I got us chinese. Thought you might be hungry." Elliot said as he walked into the tech lab.

Kristen turned to look at him with an excited smile. "I was starving! Thank you."

She hurriedly opened up the boxes and dug into her sweet and sour goodness.

Elliot kissed her head from the side as he walked past her towards his computer. "You're not going to eat?"

"I will I just gotta check again on the firewall update. They've been going on with their hacking nonstop." Elliot sighed.

Protesters have been causing chaos everywhere and many of them are attempting to hack into the CIB servers.

"I honestly don't get it. How do they think that they can help their cause, if it's right." Kristen got up from her seat and stood behind Elliot. Elliot sighed again. "Honestly Krissy, I myself don't even know what's right anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Elliot turned to look at Kristen's freckled face. He's always loved them and was never short of kissing them.

"Thinking about how all these families are suffering. The terrors and pain they've been going through. E saved their lives. He freed them from those monsters."

"But that's not the way to do it. Killing was never a way out." Kristen replied with a shocked face. She thought that the whole team agreed on the same thing.

"Then what is? No one even knew about that cult until E started his killings. And I'm sure whoever knew, was too cowardly to do anything about it."

"If...emr....if you had the chance. If you were in E's place, would you've done the same thing? Killing all those men?" Kristen asked as she took a step back, looking fully at Elliot's face.

Elliot sighed. "I... I honestly don't know."

Kristen felt a pang in her heart. It burned through its course as it rose up to her throat.

"I can't believe you would actually consider murder Elliot." She breathed out.

"Sometimes Kristen, it's the only way." Elliot answered with a serious, determined face.

"No, it's not. There's always something else."

"Oh yeah? Like what? Let's say that E chose to just expose of the members, would someone actually move? Especially that the families, even after the death of the men, deny it? The case would've been easily dropped." "Then why are you still working the case huh? Why? Why don't you just go out there and help out a serial killer!"

Elliot was at a loss of words. He didn't know what to say or what to even think. His mind was jumbled up with mixed thoughts. So he chose to not reply at all as he silently walked past Kristen and out of the room. Kristen closed her eyes to try and calm herself but failed miserably. Slamming her fist against the table, she couldn't help but let out a low scream. §§§

Adam and Ken walked out of their car just as the paramedics carried Mrs. Jilles on a stretcher. They had her whole body covered with a white blanket as they moved her into the ambulance.

"Hey Joe." Ken greeted as they walked up to a man in a police uniform.

"Ah detective. I'm so sorry about this. I knew about your research on her a couple of days back so when I got called in, I knew I had to inform you." "Thanks pal." Ken gave his arm a friendly slap. "So tell us. What happened?"

"The paramedics say that it was a heart attack. No visible signs of forced entry and there was nothing stolen which rules out murder." Joe informed. "Did you do a fingerprint swipe?" Adam asked.

"Yes actually. Forensics found nothing. I didn't know if her death was related to your case or not so we swiped the place just in case."

"Thanks again man. I owe you one." Ken thanked his friend as he and Adam turned on their heels and marched towards the car.

"What's on your mind Adam?" Ken asked his silent friend.

"I don't know West but something doesn't feel right." Adam ticked his tongue.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Adam looked around him at the many houses lining the neighborhood. "This is a pretty full neighborhood." He paused to look at one house in particular as a young boy hurriedly hid behind the wall. The house stood across the street from Mrs. Jilles'.

Adam started walking towards the boy who hid behind a corner.

"Hey, kid!" He called as he stood outside the fence.

A couple of seconds passed by before a red-haired young boy emerged from around the corner.

"Y-yes sir." He stuttered as he hesitantly walked towards the detectives.

"I feel you've got a story to tell me."

"What? No no. I didn't see anything." The boy replied as his he looked up at Adam with a face as pale as a paper.

"Hey, what's your name kid?" Ken asked as he stood beside Adam.

"L-Landon sir."

"Okay listen Landon, do you know who we are?"

"Y-yes. You're the police."

"My name is detective Ken West, and this is my partner and team head, detective Adam Woods." Ken introduced the jumpy kid.

"You shouldn't be afraid Landon." Adam spoke. "No one's going to hurt you."

Landon remained quiet as he looked down at his shoes.

"How old are you kid?" Adam asked, trying yet again to break the boy's ice shield.

"F-fifteen sir." Landon replied.

"Oh, so you're a grown, young man then. Tell me Landon, don't you think as a man that you help stop crime if you could? I mean, don't you want a safer place for you and your family to live?"

"I- I can't. They'll hurt us."

"Who will?" Ken asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Them. They-they threaten us."

"You mean the Holers?" Ken noted bluntly.

Landon's face rose in shock, his eyes wide and face paler. "I-I said nothing. I don't know anything."

Landon couldn't handle the pressure. He was too afraid to be out in the open and it made him run towards his house to hide behind its walls.

"Hey!" Adam called but Landon went deaf as he shut the door behind him.

"Let him be detective. The boy's got no spine in him." A girl's voice called from behind the two men.

Adam and Ken turned to come face to face with a dark-haired girl. Her hair was cut short up to her jaw with one side nesting behind her ear while the other fell freely over her face. She had on a fully black outfit and her eyebrow piercing along with her dark eye makeup completed the look.

"And I assume you've got something for me?" Adam asked.

"Not here. I want to keep my life too you know." The girl turned around, not waiting for a reply.

Adam and Ken shared looks but had no other choice but to follow the girl.

She led them to a nearby park, a ten-minute walking distance.

"I guess I was the only one who saw it, but no one will have the courage and come say anything about it." She started as she sat on a bench while the two men chose to stand.

"And what exactly did you see?" Adam asked with arms crossed over his chest.

"Mrs. Jilles wasn't alone. I saw someone come into her house and I'm sure Landon saw it too. Oh, I'm Ella by the way."

"Okay Ella, can you describe to us what that person looked like?" Adam asked.

"I couldn't see his face detective. He was wearing a black hoodie that he had covering his head. He even had a cap under the hoodie."

"How did he get into the house? From the window?" Ken asked.

"No actually. Mrs. Jilles let him in through the front door. It looked like she knew him." Ella shrugged her shoulders.

Ken and Adam looked at one another in shared thoughts.

"That's why there was no sign of forced entry. The old lady knew her guest." Ken noted.

"When did that person leave her house? Do you remember?" Adam questioned Ella.

"I think he stayed there for half an hour or so. He left through the front door and actually left it slightly ajar."

"We're you the one who called in the police?" Ken asked.

"Yes actually. I got worried. The man looked really suspicious so after he left, I thought I should go check up on the old lady. Found her lying on the floor unconscious so I called 9-1-1."

"Good going kid. I'll need you to come in and describe the man you saw to us okay. We'll have a professional draw out what you saw." Adam spoke.

"But I can't promise you much. I can't exactly say that I saw his face, he made sure to have it covered."

"That's okay. Height, body features, and such can help too." Ken consoled.

"He was very lean actually now that I think about it. Nothing body built and not too thin either. Like a fine woman's body."

"Ella." Adam furrowed his eyebrows. "Wasn't it maybe a girl and not a guy who was visiting Mrs. Jilles?"

"I don't know. I told you, he had his face covered." Ella shrugged nonchalantly.

Adam sighed. "Okay, we'll get to this at HQ."

Ella got up to her feet to follow the two men who have already turned around to lead the way.

She felt it before hearing its agonizing sound.

The impact made her take a step forward, her mind going blank, the only thing occupying her personal world was the white spots that started dotting her vision and how the trail of warm blood felt icky as it rolled down her body. "Ella!" Adam yelled as he and Ken turned around once they heard the gunshot.

Ella fell to her knees and was about to collapse fully onto the ground, but Ken was quick to catch her bloodied body.

Adam looked around him everywhere, searching the perimeter with his eyes for the shooter but came out empty. People gathered around them like flies around a light bulb.

Adam wasted no time in calling for an ambulance as Ken tried to keep the dying girl conscious.

"Hey, hey look at me. Come on Ella keep your eyes open for me." He begged as she coughed up blood, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Adam knelt down next to them, taking off his jacket and applying pressure on the wound in Ella's chest.

"Ella, it's going to be okay. I promise. I called the ambulance and they're no their way." Adam tried to calm the girl down, yet he knew he was rather calming himself as well.