Skeleton detective: Rise of the underworld

The nights in the town of Sleepy hollow are usually lively with tourists and natives filing through the beautiful streets. Riya stood in the middle of it all and took it all in, she loved this town from the moment she stepped into New York, it was lively and the natives around were pretty warm unlike where she grew up.

She walked towards her favorite bar around the corner. The Five Penny pub was a pretty nice place where you could have a decent tequila with ice and every other booze you can think of, but most importantly the owner Mr Andrew Penny an average man who looked to be in his mid fifties was a very nice man and was very jovial, he has been like a father figure to Riya since she got here. Riya pushed the door open and walked into the bar and headed for the counter, as usual Mr Andrew spotted her first and shot her a smile

"Riri!!!!! it's always so pleasant to see you" said Mr Andrew

"Mr Penny pen!!" Riya smirked, reaching out to poke him on the shoulder

"What would you be having today?, and don't tell me the usual, I'm definitely not serving you the usuals today" he said firmly

Mr Andrew wasn't really a fan of Riya's favorite cocktail Aunt Roberta which is a mixture of Gin, vodka, absinthe, brandy and black berry liquor.

"Tonight you get a Tequila sunrise" he said with a smile that said she couldn't argue.

"Yeah right, not like I've got any choice" she muttered.

"Ohhh don't sulk, you'll like it Riri, it's okay and it doesn't knock your entire brain out which is totally and averagely a good thing" he said and turned to get her order and trying to not laugh because of the scowl on Riya's face.

After a while Riya finished her drink and said goodbye to Mr Andrew because the bar started to get busy and crowded.

Stepping out of the bar, Riya continued to walk down to her apartment which was just around the next street. Crossing an alley to take a short cut to her street, the wind started to pick up and Riya immediately regretted not wearing a Hoodie.

"Shitty brain" she muttered, "Just a few walks and I'll be ho...

thud!!!!!!!!!!!

She turned around startled to find someone had dropped something from the top of one of the buildings she was walking in between. She walked towards it in curiosity and almost screamed at the sight of a dead man. He....

Riya started to throw up until she could almost throw up her intestines, the man wasn't just dead, but his body wasn't really left in a sane condition. His chest had a big hole where it seemed like his heart had been pulled out, his intestines were out too and his eyes were gauged out from the sockets, there was also a cut from both sides of his lips up to his eyes that made him seem like a more twisted joker character.

Suddenly, the wind picked up again and this time it was heavy. Riya immediately stepped away from the dead man and just then she started to hear whispers, not very distinct but it seemed like they were flowing with the wind and it suddenly made cold air creep up her spine.

Just then, she felt like someone was watching her and has in fact been there for a while but she was too engrossed in staring at the dead man in front of her to notice. She then remembered that the man's body was thrown from the top of the building and looked up just in time to find a pair of red eyes staring at her. The person was wearing a cloak and the only thing she could make out was those red eyes. She blinked twice and the person was gone like it was part of her imagination.

Wait what!!!!! she thought.

She immediately ran back towards the way she was coming from to Mr Andrew's bar. She met the place still crowded and he seemed busy, she immediately ran to the counter while avoiding the weird stares she got.

"Mi mi mi Mr Andrew!!! she yelled even though she was already close to him, she was that freaked out.

"Riri I thought you went home" he said looking worried.

Riya then explained everything to him and Mr Andrew just sat there shaking his head with a look of shock and disgust in his eyes then he Said, "So you think the man in cloak killed him?".

"Yes definitely Mr Andrew, but he seemed to be a figment of my imagination, he just seemed to vanish into the air" she said thoughtfully, still shaking from the sight of the body and her race here.

"Let me talk to the local cops" he suggested warily

She nodded and just sat there while Mr Andrew made a call to the police reporting what she saw in the alley.

In less than an hour, three officers from the SHPD arrived outside and walked into the bar briskly heading to the counter where she sat with Mr Andrew.

"Good evening Mr Penny"

"Good evening Josh, this is Riya Sindell my regular customer and bosom friend, Riya this is Sergeant Joshua Bents, he's with the SHPD"

"Good evening miss Riya" Josh greeted half smiling.

"Good evening sergeant" Riya said

"This is Detective Kol Marshall and Private John Kennerson" he said introducing the men standing behind him.

They both gave a slight nod to acknowledge her and Mr Andrew. After series of more questions, Sergeant Josh made a call for other officers including Detective Kol and Private John to check the scene while the siren of an ambulance could already be heard outside.

Mr Andrew left her in the safe hands of sergeant josh who offered to ask a patrol officer to give her a ride home to ensure she was safe. As they stepped out of the bar, she could see the ambulance heading to the alley close by and other patrol cars too. One of the patrol cars stopped in front of her and the sergeant and he spoke with the officer for a while and asked her to get in, she got in the car and thanked him as the the car started.

"You okay miss?" the officer asked, " I'm Kennedy".

"I can't say I'm okay but I'm trying" she said trying to smile, "I'm Riya, and thanks for the ride".

He nodded in return smiling.

They got to her house and the officer parked in front, she got down and leaned on the window of the car and said, " thanks again for the ride Officer ".

"You're welcome, and do have a nice night" he said smiling then drove off.

She stood there for a while before stepping inside her house.

"what a night" she breathed.

Riya stood for a while after closing the door and scanned her apartment, it wasn't really big like a luxurious apartment, but it was okay and cozy with just two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a small living room, a lawn outside and a small garden behind the house, she loved flowers growing up so she decided to use the small space behind the house for a flower garden.

Kicking off her boots, she walked towards the kitchen to have some whiskey to clear her head. Entering the kitchen, she opened one of the cupboards and brought out a bottle of whiskey and poured some in a glass and drank it in a go.

She felt so stressed and mentally scarred, she just couldn't shake the image of that man lying dead in that manner in the alley and those red eyes of the man in the cloak.

The sergeant and his company did believe that she saw the man in the Cloak but they just didn't buy into her statement of the man having a glowing red eyes.

It's probably your mind playing tricky games on you because u were scared and the reek of death and the suspect's choice of wardrobe Miss Riya, the sergeant had said.

"Maybe" she muttered coming back to the present

She drank another glass of whiskey before heading to her room to sleep. She changed into panty shorts and crop top before crawling into bed. She drew the covers over her head and checked her phone for any possible messages, then she saw her mum's message

{ hey Riya, how are u doing?}

{ I'm fine mum} she replied.

Soon her phone beeped and vibrated again.

{I've missed u my baby girl, how is sleepy hollow so far?}

{it's beautiful mum like I always tell you, the people are nice, Mr Andrew still sends his regards, I'm okay mum, the past six months has been pleasant}

{ you sure u don't want to come back to Canada?, we miss u sweetie}

{ I'm good here for now Mum, I gotta go, I Love you}

{okay, Love you too sweetie}

She locked her phone and dropped it on the side table. Looking up at the ceiling, she remembered how things was and used to be back in Canada.

Growing up, she used to be daddy's girl, her father Mason Sindell was a strikingly good-looking man, he was a neurosurgeon, a very intelligent one at that. He wasn't always around but the few times she spent with him was always one to remember. While her mum on the other end never worked, she was always around for Riya and she loved her a lot , she could still remember how dad would get back from work and they would eat together and laugh the whole evening.

But everything changed during her senior year in highschool when dad went to work one day and never came back. Her and her mother later got the news that there was a fire accident in the hospital and dad died in the fire. Riya was so devastated, she never fully recovered because he had promised to take them on a family picnic when he got back, she didn't expect to be hearing his death. Her mum since then had tried her best to fill up the gap for her dad, she tried all her best even though she was also in pain. Her dad and mum had really been in love, Riya sometimes caught her mum crying all by herself in the balcony or the garden after giving her a hug and saying they'll be fine, Riya knew her mum was barely holding up but she still gave her hope and she loved her for that.

Before her last year in college, her mum started seeing this man Justin Mark, he was kind and also very jovial, they got married after her graduation, and since Riya was already Twenty two, she decided to move out of the house to give them their space and to also have hers. And that's how she ended up in Sleepy Hollow.

She had always seen this town in most of the post cards dad picked up for her while returning from work, so when moving out came into the equation, she picked the place and so far she has loved it

Back to the present, she turned off the bed lamp and closed her eyes as sleep finally took her and she drifted into dreamland.

Riya opened her eyes and found herself in a clearing in the woods, everything was dark at first until she squint her eyes to make out her surroundings, she realized she was in the woods when she saw shadows cast by tall trees. It didn't seem like there was anyone one around, she started to get scared.

"Hello?!!!!" she called out, "Is anyone out there, I'm lost please".

No response

"Shit" she cursed under her breath, " I might as well just find my way out of here".

She began to walk carefully trying to squint to make out her way. Suddenly, something caught her eye, there was a movement in the trees in front of her and then she saw it, the person with glowing red eyes in a cloak. Her eyes went wide like saucers

Ahhh!!!!!!!!!! "please don't hurt me " she screamed. But the person or thing didn't move an inch but just stood there, she tried to blink hoping it will vanish like last time, but it didn't move from where it was.

Riya started to take steps backwards, not taking her eyes of it in dread that it would suddenly take her by surprise if she as much as take her eyes of it for two seconds, and then it spoke for the first time.

"You is ours, we will have you" it said in a harsh whisper, it's voice was guttural

Riya gasps at the sound of it's voice and it's words, she couldn't call it a person because a human doesn't possess such a voice or eyes. Riya began to feel chilly air creep up her spine as she stepped backwards faster and bolted in the opposite direction.

She continued to run as fast as she could without looking back and also trying to make her way through the dark woods. She continued to run and pray silently that she had lost the crea.....

Ahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She screamed as her foot got stuck in a twisted root which caused her to fall right on her face. Soon she began to hear overlapped whispers and the wind carried these whispers around her, a white smoke like a fog started to surround the woods, crawling from her feet rising upwards. She managed to stand up, leaning her weight on her left foot trying to walk forward, then she heard rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs behind her.

When she looked back, she saw the creature standing only a few inches from her, it's eyes glowing brighter, it raised it's cloaked hands revealing two rotten hands. It's hands looked like the flesh was falling off. It walked closer and was about to grab her...

Riya gasped, eyes wide in fear.

No no no no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Riya woke up screaming and thrashing around. It then occured to her that it was a dream but it had seem so real.

She got up from bed and walked to the bathroom, she splashed water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked completely pale. she wiped her face and headed to the kitchen to drink water.

"This looks so fucking sick, I don't think any other murder scene is ever going to beat this one in my years of service" said detective Kol

" Haven't seen anything like this since the conjuring centuries ago, this is insane" sergeant Josh said standing in the morgue staring at the body.

They both took closer looks at the corpse again for couple of minutes.

" Forensics couldn't find anything Josh, nothing at all" said detective Kol

" Makes it more creepier, honestly I really don't want to start considering the girl's statement of the suspect's description, because that would explain properly why there aren't any traces to the suspect at all, the body is too creepily clean" Josh said looking somewhat frustrated.

" The supernatural is just the easy escape from not doing our jobs as cops Josh, there has to be something, fingerprints, anything" he sighed.

"There's obviously nothing, this is Sleepy hollow Kol, the town known to be the center and core of the supernatural, but that was centuries ago man, centuries ago" he heaved a tired sigh and shook his head

" We should question the girl more on it tomorrow then, see you tomorrow Josh"

" Alright"

Kol parted his shoulder and walked out of the room. Josh just stood there watching the body with a million questions on his mind.

How does a killer dispose his victims without leaving any traces at all?

There wasn't even one fingerprint, no traces of hair or clothing on the victims fingers to show struggling.

To think that alcohol wasn't even used to clean the body to erase evidence or burnt, the body was left fresh like the killer wanted it to be found but there wasn't any thing that led you back to the killer.

Nothing.

He sighed loudly and walked out of the morgue.

Riya took the glass of water and walked back to her room still shaken by the nightmare she had, she definitely couldn't sleep anymore, that's certain.

She just still couldn't forget the image of that man just lying there like a ragged doll and the creature in the cloak she had seen in her dream.

What did all these mean?

She just wished she had someone to talk to right now that wouldn't say she was going nuts, at least that's what the Sergeant and his men thought when she told them. Sergeant Joshua said she was probably just tired and emotionally unstable right now because of the gruesome murder scene she had witnessed, but she was sure of what she saw, her mind wasn't conjuring things up because she was scared, she saw the creature in cloak with glowing red eyes, now she was seeing it in her dreams too.

"Ohhhh great" she breathed.

She picked up her phone and checked the time, it was 11:00 pm and she just couldn't sleep again, she was too scared she'll see the cloak fucker in her dreams again.

"what am I supposed to do with all these hours before it'll be morning" she thought out loud.

She decided to FaceTime Rick. Rick was a guy Riya met in Mr Andrew's bar two months ago, she had had a little too much to drink and they danced, not to forget that she was the one that initiated all the dirty dancing, she laughed at the thought of it all. Rick is a local of Sleepy Hollow, lived here since he was born. He had been living alone since his parents died in a car crash when he was 16, Mr Andrew knew Rick well also because he has also been in this town long enough too. Mr Andrew was quick to want to pair them that day after the weird situation of throwing herself at him because she was drunk, he said they were both perfect and most importantly they both needed someone. Rick often came to the bar after that day. Mr Andrew then told Riya that Rick always came here to mostly spend time with him and sometimes help him at the counter. She decided to walk up to him one day and apologize for that night when she was drunk and he was sweet enough to shrug it off saying they could set the record straight with dinner, she had agreed and followed him home and they cooked together and ate in his front porch watching the sky and talking about each other. They've been hanging out since then, and some times facetime each other.

Back to the present, she added a little touch of makeup to her face to hide her flushed face from him then she called him adjusting her hair and top. It rang and rang then he picked up

"Ohh hey cutie" Rick said smiling as usual

"hey you"

" How was your day my queen"

" Oh stop being cheesy Rick" she said rolling her eyes.

"Hahaha, you look beautiful as always, why aren't you sleeping?"

" Just had a nightmare" she said trying not to remember the details.

"Awwwn sorry sweet, want me to stop by and cuddle?" he said smirking

" Rick if I need a koala I'd order one or borrow one from the zoo" she said trying to irk him.

"whoa whoa sweetie with all these looks of mine?!!!!!" he screamed dramatically feigning hurt.

Riya laughed staring at him.

"Didn't see you at the bar today, watsup"

" Was fixing up the car at the garage the whole day, decided to sit the bar out today"

"Well u weren't missed"

"How rude" he said laughing

She laughed as he started to make weird faces at the camera. She sighed softly, she really missed him no doubt.

"Well I missed you Riri"

" I missed you too" she said smiling

" How about we have lunch tomorrow" he said winking and smiling.

"Okay then, bye "

"Bye"

She ended the call grinning from ear to ear. Damn!!!!, he sure did make her happy and cheered her up in the oddest times. Now she could sleep in peace happy. She checked the time again, it was 11:45. she dropped the phone and got back under the covers to sleep but this time she left the lights on.

Hello it's the author

Thank you for checking out my book again today

pls follow me on Instagram @prettyrae0 for announcement of chapter updates and any questions you might have.

xoxo!!!!!!