#thecrimsoncomet

Gregory Alice walked every morning to Lawrence Hills, where he spent a steady six hours of moderate work dutifully set on whatever task his boss assigned him. He trekked all the way back after with a smile on his face despite his sore arms, only to eat and rest then get up the day after to repeat the process. Pride welled up in his chest at every clock in and at every clock out; He mastered his own budget and maintained his home, all through his constant and heartfelt efforts.

His unannounced absence three days ago gathered no major attention. His failure to answer his employer's calls, however, did. A day passed before a fellow employee knocked on his door only to find silence. He grabbed the handled and jerked it around. Shouting failed to coax the sudden slacker out.

Finally, beside himself with frustration, the employee knocked down the door and marched in, calling out George's name. The only thing competing with his voice was a radio left on the oldies station. He entered the kitchen, where he found George slumped in a chair at his meager excuse of a dinner table. The rotten and coppery smell billowing in the room told him everything he needed to know, but yet he stepped forth. His prize for his bravery? The image of George's throat carved as if by a three-year-old desperately trying to replicate a pattern on his pumpkin far too complex for him. 

His body was the most recent one of six discovered in the same half-week span. His might have been the most politely executed, as the previous victims often needed to be pieced back together after their discovery. Three of them, as of yet, could not even be identified due to the brutal nature of their executions. Every man on the case doubted the possibility of ID-ing the first victim, as his skull had been bashed into a pulpy mass of shattered bone. 

The police anticipated a seventh body within the next day. Unfortunately, the murders proved too spread out for anyone to predict the next target. With warnings issued, and a paranoia settling over certain families, the department should've expected the hysteric call reporting a series of shrieks from a building nearby the caller's place of residence in Englewood.