STELLVESTER'S P.O.V

after being dismissed earlier by our police captain, justin, josh, and i decided to spend the rest of the night at my condo after we packed our things for our 6-month stay in vaudeville. both of them came here at around 5 pm with two large luggages each and a small bag for their personal belongings.

"there seems to be a pattern here..." i suddenly blurted out as i glanced once again on the corkboard that we filled with photographs, notes, and arrows.

"listen.. the first incident happened on August 7... and then the second was on August 14... then, 21... then, 28. for the rest of the days, there weren't any incidents. the same pattern happened during September and then, October. yesterday was October 14. which means... 6 days from now, there will be another incident." stell explained as the other two listened attentively to him.

they felt goosebumps. in only six days from now, someone will be killed and they still don't know the exact details about this case and neither how to prevent another attack from happening.

"look at this." josh said as he placed a photograph on the middle of the table which was taken from one of the crime scenes.

"nirvana.." justin read. "it's written in blood, isn't it?"

josh nodded. "the victim's blood, to be exact. they confirmed in these reports that the blood that the killer uses to write that word comes from his victims."

on every crime scene, the word "nirvana" was written on the wall, or any surface, using the victim's blood.

"nirvana means perfect happiness, right? why would the killer write nirvana, then?" stell asked, staring at the photograph.

"maybe he finds happiness in killing?" josh asked.

"only a psychopath would do that." stell replied.

"maybe he is a psychopath." and justin finished.

that's right. maybe the killer is indeed a psychopath.

josh turned to stell and asked. "what else, chief? does this killer use guns, knives, or blades?"

"no. they use nails. nine-inch long nails." stell said, emphasizing each word.

josh and justin's eyes widened at that.

"what- how?"

"apparently, the killer stabs his victims on their forehead going straight to the back of their head using that nine-inch long nails. look at these pictures."

the other two carefully took one of each of the photographs presented infront of them and observed the victims.

"that's... gruesome..." josh stated and justin immediately put the photograph back on the table after looking at it for a while.

"hey, you okay? namumutla ka." stell asked as he noticed the look on the younger's face.

"okay lang po, sir stell. kailangan ko lang po siguro masanay dito." justin smiled and stell nodded, understanding him. computer crime detectives are not usually invited in crime scenes since almost all of them work behind their computers unlike police and forensic detectives.

"it's getting late. i think we should all rest since maaga tayong aalis bukas. for now, eto palang yung initial knowledge natin about sa vaudeville case." stell said as he stood up infront of the other two.

he sighed. "i need to know... are you guys ready to dig in deeper on this case? marami-rami pa tayong kailangan malaman and it looks more complicated than it seems."

josh and justin looked at each other before chuckling. "yes, sir." they said in unison while nodding.

"good. that's it, then. tulog na tayo."
that was the last thing that stell said before they all went to sleep. stell's bed was big so he decided to let them sleep on it too instead of making them sleep on the couch or on the floor. none of them minds it anyway.

it was a quiet night. only the raindrops hitting the window, the wind from the aircon, and the three detectives' soft snoring can be heard. it was peaceful which will definitely be the exact opposite of what they'll be facing when they reach the town of vaudeville.