"Oregon's Butcher strike fear in the homes of the American people."

"Women all over the country are afraid of the Oregon Butcher."

"The Oregon Butcher is still alive, this is why you should be afraid."

These are all just a very few examples of the many, many, many headlines that popped out of nowhere after that s.e.x toy shop shenanigans. Some even suggested putting a Tweet in there to show what the commons folks are saying about our guy. Eh, Twitter is irrelevant, though, so none of that s.h.i.+t.

Well, I'm sure you've noticed something brand new.

Oregon Butcher. Wow!

Fancy, isn't it? Oregon Butcher! Has a nice ring to it, makes you wanna just say it again and again. IT has a good flavor, for sure! I actually think it's corny, though, to be honest. Very general too, I mean, it's not like the man is killing people all over Oregon, but it does make him so much more significant by putting an entire state's name on his shoulder. Ahh! I dunno, I just think that they can do better than that name! It's ugly! 0 cla.s.s! Very elementary! F minus at best!

Then again, I am no Simon Cowell, and I'm not here to criticize ugly things, that's not my job! But if there's an opening, I already have my resume ready!

Anyway, you've seen what the aftermath is! It's a mess! Even we were at a loss at what happened! It felt like one of us blinked, and then the headlines were already posted! It was a day filled with so much confusion, even in our end!

At this point, the law enforcement agencies of the country, as well as the leading media personnel, had started to direct their gaze on the bizarre cases happening in this small rural town in the middle of nowhere. People online are talking about it, and all lips are blabbing all over the place by linking this case to whatever agenda they have in mind. More than anything, instead of simply fixing the problem itself, most of them silently and subtly wis.h.i.+ng that Subject 1 would continue killing more people in hopes for them to garner more support in their propaganda.

They're saying that this is a crime rooted in misogyny.

Some Twitter anons with a G.o.d d.a.m.n anime profile picture were going all over the place by saying that this is a hate crime directed to people of color... Although the man only killed a POC once... but that is beyond the point.

People in random internet imageboards were both worried and rejoicing; nonetheless, they were all tackling this murder case in a lighthearted fas.h.i.+on by posting Doge memes about the murder spree occurring in that small town.

Most of them were, of course, blaming the severity of the case on the negligence of the town's authorities. They were pointing their fingers on the fact that they should have already done something about this case when it was still in its infancy.

No matter what sort of propaganda they write or whatever kind of fear-mongering they speak of, all of these people are saying the same thing.

"Where is the police?"

For the most part, their question is valid, and the police are aware of that. The authorities are very much knowledgeable of the fact that they are not well-equipped, and they do not have the proper mindset to tackle something of this scale. Forget about solving a case, they don't even have a case to solve in the years prior to the start of the murder, and then suddenly, an explosion of some sort erupted throughout the town until it spreads like a mental wildfire, burning within everyone's sheltered psyche.

By the time the first murder happened, they have already called for a federal agent to a.s.sist them in tackling such a sensitive case. At first, it was understandable for them to receive some kind of formal way of saying, "go deal with it yourselves." After all, this is within their jurisdiction. Although it was true that they are clueless about cases like these, they did well in handling it by following the many bits of advice that the federal authorities have given them. However, it was still quite interesting for me that the feds didn't rush into the town right away after hearing that a violent crime had occurred there. At least, in my limited knowledge of the FBI, they would get their a.s.ses in that town right away by the time their ears heard of what Subject 1 did to Mary's body. It was even more interesting to me that they were still not sending at least one of their agents in that town when a police officer had seen the corpse of Carol. At that time, Subject 1 already has four reported victims. Still, no feds came.

 Makes me wonder that there might be some kind of... forces working behind them that are keeping them away from this case. It's even more curious that a serial killer who had already reportedly murdered four women did not get any media tractions.

Hmm... Interesting, isn't it? Makes me wonder if it's because of y'all. Ah! But I digress! I am not here to criticize someone else's project, now, don't I?

Anyways, when bodies piled up with this recent robbery that resulted in the death of another woman and a rape case on top of it, the police officers of the small town pretty much started to beg the feds to help their a.s.ses off. If they could prostrate themselves in front of the FBI office at that very moment, all of them would do it. Although in my theory, it's not that they can't handle it, they just don't want to deal with it anymore. They want this to end, but they don't want to be the ones who would do it. Then again, this is just one of my many baseless a.s.sumptions throughout this entire journey.

With all the people circling around the town for more media buzz, the police officers wouldn't need to beg the FBI for them to send some of their men there. However, the two people that they sent are quite... a curious duo.

"I am detective Callahan, this is detective Barnes. You know what it is, we're here to handle the case from now on. We would still require your a.s.sistance, and hopefully, we can write this thing off before the year ends." The tall lady said in front of several curious police officers.

A tall white woman with a long ponytail and a short man that looked too meek to be police officer are supposed to be the ones who will catch this serial killer who had been untouchable for the entirety of his murderer career.

The entire department looked skeptical, some are even downright scowling upon seeing them enter their office. Well, their skepticism of these two agents is not the same as mine. That's because they're all a bunch of old men. They aren't quite used at the idea of seeing a female cop, let alone a female fed agent. However, my doubt of these two agents differed from groundless s.e.xism. I was questioning why these two high school student-looking a.s.s kids were the ones the FBI sent because of their experience.

This is their first year. Both Special Agent Callahan and Special Agent Barnes are both newbies.

The s.e.xism of the police department aside, I believe that most of them are thinking the same way in regards to Special Agent Barnes. He may be a man, but this is still his first case. No matter how you twist it and no matter what you believe in, you have to admit that they are not the right people to handle such a hard case.

And well, yeah.

"We both hope that y'all can give us your full support."

They really are not the right people for the job.

The agents may sound confident, they may have a good track record, and they may bring with them a good recommendation from the higher-ups, but they are both very young, very inexperienced, and very new.

And Special Agent Barnes knows that. Although Special Agent Callahan has both the ambition and the enthusiasm to feel confident that she could solve this case, Special Agent Barnes is not. No, he is not at all a confident person at heart, which makes one wonder why he took this job.

Thus, in a bout of self-loathing, the unconfident Barnes went out alone without his partner to go to a quiet bar in the town plaza.

"You don't look so hot, detective." A man who suddenly sat beside Barnes said while he was quietly drinking his bourbon. This stranger is breathing heavily while holding a handkerchief that looked so wet that there might be two pales of sweat within those fabrics.

Irritated, Barnes directed his gaze to the person who sullied his silence to tell him to f.u.c.k up, but he stopped that idea when he saw that the man beside him is totally his type. "Well, clearly, you're the one who looks hot."

Both of them laughed at each other for this sudden conversation. Still, both of these men understand that they want each other one way or another. The stranger beside Barnes was tapping his fingers on the bar, but looking at the way his other hand wouldn't stop shaking, it's a fair a.s.sumption to say that he's only making all of those tapping noises to distract himself away from his nervousness. Nevertheless, Barnes didn't really saw the fear seeping out of his body because he's too preoccupied with this stranger's green eyes. They're so vivid and deep that it felt as if they were calling the very essence of his spirit.

At this point, the stranger is already noticing that their conversation had come to a halt. No can do. He doesn't want to give Barnes the time to think.

"How's the case, detective Barnes?" The stranger ignored Barnes' compliment and leaned closer towards him.

The man chuckled playfully and laid the side of his head on his palms. "How did you know my name?"

"Are you kidding me?" The stranger replied playfully, with a charming smile that made Barnes bite his own lip gently. "Your face is all over the news. You're the town's hero! Everyone is talking about you here! How could I not know you?"

Barnes took a sip of his drink with a chuckle. "You're overestimating me, man, and please just call me William." He suddenly felt a bit hot, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the alcohol or this strange man talking to him.

"No, I'm not." The man chuckled, but one could easily detect the nervousness in his tone by the way his heavy breathing pierces through every syllable that he utters. He continued to tap his fingers on the surface of the bar. His other hand was now covering his lips. He wants to bite his fingernails, but he's trying to stop himself from doing so as hard as he could.

"Is that so? So you know that I'm the detective sent here to catch a criminal, and the first thing you did is to flirt with me in a secluded bar somewhere?" Barnes started tapping his fingers on the surface of the bar as well while he started rubbing his other hand on his lips to hide his smile. "Seems suspicious to me."

The stranger stopped tapping his fingers, and as he did so, he noticed that Barnes had stopped tapping his fingers too. He slowly turned his head towards Barnes and saw that the detective's hazel eyes were both directed at him. His gaze pierced through his head as the stranger's eyes slowly dropped onto the detective's neck. Realizing what he was doing, he blinked twice and looked at the FBI agent's eyes again.

"I... I guess it does look a bit suspicious, eh?" The stranger now couldn't stop himself from biting one of his fingernails as he noticed that the joyful gaze of the detective beside him had now turned into something stern and severe. "I mean, I'm not here to be, you know, suspicious or anything."

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The stranger then realized that the detective is extending his hands towards him. He didn't have enough time to react. Before he could even move his body to run, the FBI agent was already wrapping his hands around his shoulder. "Is this the first time you tried hooking up with a guy?"

"P-pardon?" The man said with a forced smile as he tried his hardest to lean his upper body backward as much as he could while the man's arms were still around him.

Barnes suddenly laughed after hearing this. "You're cute, you know that?" The young FBI agent finally let go of the stranger's shoulder to take a sip of his drink again. "Relax. I'm not here to eat you yet."

At this point, the stranger had already reclaimed his composure and laughed along with Barnes. Nonetheless, his sweat is now visibly dripping on his forehead. "Y-yeah... Jeez, spare me some slack, man! This is the first time I've ever been here!" The man lied as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, really? Meeting me here is not a coincidence, then?." Barnes replied as he placed his gla.s.s down.

"Huh?" The stranger tried to act dumb as he gulped his saliva as hard as he could.

"No. It's nothing." Barnes realized that he might be a little hard on this man who obviously looked younger than him; he's just trying to get laid after all. Besides, the stranger is a looker. He would hate to lose an opportunity to have some kind of fun in this desolate place. Thus, he decided to let his guard down. "You know who I am, but who are you?"

The stranger chuckled as he s.n.a.t.c.hed Barnes' drink. The special agent looked visibly shocked as he saw this stranger suddenly drinking what remains of his gla.s.s in one gulp.

"I'm just a dude living in a van somewhere there in the forest. Next drink's mine. Take whatever you want."

And that is when Subject 1 met his end.