My first post.
I do not usually write stories like this, but I had some fun with it.
It is written in an Edgar Allen Poe style.
I condensed it for it is a very long short story , I just added the better portions, I believe.
Feel free to critique, I am not a professional writer so there may be a lot of grammatical errors and some clichés here and there (which I know is a 'no-no' in modern writing). I apologize in advance.
WARNING: The following story is dark, involves some drug usage and is a bit 'eerie' . Not for the faint of heart.
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There is not much speculation, let alone- evidence, to come to a reasonable conclusion pertaining to the odd case of Ian Esére. I am not particularly interested in stories of disappearances or murders, as the facts will lead to a logical explanation and frankly the journey to the answers are quite tedious and easily bore me. Though I became intrigued quickly by Ian Esére and all he left behind him for investigators to unravel. One must begin by living the life of a victim, understanding their every move, their every intention and reach into their mind and recount every moment- this alone enticed me.
I can imagine, while still alive, how remarkable a trace he left upon anyone interacting with him. Almost a sort of legacy.
Those closest to him also described him as unpredictable, with a quick temper, at times secluded and as unstable as a category 5 hurricane.
It was not a surprise afterwards, bearing witness to the previous testimonies, that a transient by the name of Oliver ____ came across a disorientated man in his late 20’s, leaning beside a bundle of trash bags in the alleyway of 8th Avenue on May 23rd ____. Oliver was the last known person to see Ian alive. Evidently, as testified by several close acquaintances of Ian, he was known to periodically fall under the influence of illegal substances, not limited to only alcohol but some of the utmost raunchy hallucinogens available in the black market- a mere understatement may be precluded if in fact he was inebriated, under the influence of abused narcotics or merely distressed.
At first glance, as described by Oliver, he believed the man deceased- immediately Oliver shook him, according to his testimony, and this frightened Ian who as Oliver stated, failed to respond. Ian did not recognize Oliver’s presence. Oliver then went to the police filed a complaint, when he came back to check on Ian he was gone.
May 24th, May 25th, May 26th… still no sign of Ian Esére. A missing person report was never filed- according to the police department he had no ‘next of kin’ and those closest to him did not seem perplexed or unnerved by his disappearance- it was not out of his character ‘to get up and leave’.
On the evening of June 9th , a nervous and distraught Marisol contacted the police: she had returned to her flat to find the front door wide open and a handsomely dressed Ian in a tuxedo upon the floor, stiff and motionless, his arms placed over his abdomen, with interlocked fingers and a single red rose underneath his hands. An elegant, small card, held by a pink ribbon hung from the stem of the rose over toward the right side of his abdominals.
It read: TO MY DEAREST, MARISOL, LOVE IAN.
....
Unfortunately, Marisol claims to have been cut off from Ian’s life since the separation and her willingness to cooperate accompanied with lack of evidence, clearly she was eliminated as the murderess. With no leads, the investigators began by understanding the time of death and cause of death.
Time of death: Morning of June 9th ____.
Cause of death was quite horrendous. The killer removed some of the victim’s organs, apparently while still alive; his gall bladder, one kidney and the appendix (all non life threatening if displaced from a living body). Afterwards, the killer sewed the body and, it appears, as the coroner concludes, subcutaneous lacerations covered the entirety of the body, four teeth were viciously extracted. The bones of the arms and legs were severely shattered, as well as the joints and bones of the fingers and the toes- by means of stretching and all done while Ian was alive (possibly a tool like a mallet or a hammer shattered the digits of the hands and feet). Ian was tortured to death. Once dead the killer washed the body of blood, stitched the wounds and dressed him- strangely, the physicality of the face was left untouched.
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(Victoria was a friend of Ian..)
In January, the reason for Ian’s erratic behavior was due to the fact he was ‘forced’ into male prostitution. And by ‘forced’, Victoria meant he was broke and had no money to sustain his living arrangement. She had mentioned how she failed to believe he would have anything to do with the solicitation of his body- but one day she witnessed Ian speaking with a Madam M___, a well known underground brothel landlady. She had several run-ins with the law but due to her ‘connections’, she was always acquitted of any charges.
The reason for not coming out with the information sooner was that Victoria had no proof, in a way frightened that Madam M___ would ruin her and ultimately never wanted to believe he was ever involved- she did not desire to ‘stain’ his name worse than it had been publicized in the periodicals.
Interview after interview and no one appeared to know of anyone by the name of Ian Esére or Jacob Saint-Yves (his alias..). Madam M___ lawyered up as soon as she received a tip on the streets pertaining to the fact that the police would question her in due time over Ian’s murder. Once again- a new lead, down the pipes.
Not long afterwards an anonymous tip came to light.
Ian had two ladies who were seen several times with him during his ‘supposed’ new employment with Madam M___ : Charity and Delilah.
Delilah H. ___ was well known on the streets- a beautiful would-be actress, who during the interview, seemed to detest Ian, apparently after hearing about his ‘new job’ (it was headlines all over). It was all an act, she had to keep her ‘squeaky clean image’. She paid him for his services, there was no doubt, but immediately Madam M___ had sent in a lawyer and Delilah refused to talk.
During the remainder of the investigation a Charity was never found. Though gossip around town said she may have been a cross dresser.
Unfortunately after not hearing from Victoria for quite a while, it was reported she had passed away on an accidental overdose of pain killers. Maybe she was unable to cope with the stress of blaming herself over Ian’s death. Though her case is still open, her unfortunate death was not classified as ‘suspicious’ in nature.
Months passed and the case was lost in the wind.
What happened to Ian Esére?
.....
