Shinji Kawada

The inside of the cruiser was broiling even with the windows open. Shinji glanced over at his partner who ignored his look. "I told you the air was broken, Dee." He feigned deafness as his partner muttered some choice words at their lunch as she rummaged in the bag containing their hamburgers. Dee handed him one of bundles, Shinji taking it gratefully.

They were more than halfway through a very calm, quiet shift. Patrol had been easy, the most excitement was a call about a woman locked out of her car. Shinji had jimmied the lock while Dee had stayed in the car, laughing as the elderly woman had pinched his rear.

"Got any plans tonight?" Dee asked around a mouthful of fries.

Shinji shook his head making sure to swallow his food before speaking. "I may go out and grab a couple of beers. You can tag along. Unless you've got a hot date with hubby." His teasing was rewarded by a fry flying across the cramped space, hitting him in the face.

The radio crackled to life, a statiky voice filling the space. "Car 475 what's your 20?"

Shinji reached for the radio as Dee shifted in her seat, one hand already on the keys to start up the ignition. "McHale Ave."

"Report to 300 block of Maddison. We received a call on a 10-55. Be advised finders are children and are still on the scene. Code 2, we don't want to scare them off."

The squad car roared to life, the bag containing their lunch shoved to Shinji's feet. "Copy that, we're on our way."

Two other squad cars arrived at the same time, Dee went to talk to one of the children standing to the side, looking more than a little shell shocked. In the alley, a pale leg was exposed, a blue tarp covering the rest of it. Shinji lifted the corner and bit back an explosion of explicatives. There was a mess of blood and gristle, the only thing discernible as remains was the first body hidden under the tarp. There was enough blood and carnage for another two bodies.

Earlier in the month four other bodies had found in the same manner. The press had dubbed the kills the work of a serial killer. Shinji reached for his walkie, ammeding the amount of bodies found. He looked up when one of the other cops retched, lurching out of the alley. Sounds of lunch hitting the pavement, combined with the growing crowd only meant that there was no way to keep this one quiet.

( We have two faces. The one we show to the world, and the one that is truly our own. To be yourself is to find the balance between the two- and to have the pride to wear our true selves to the world. )