The Texas heat was unbearable. Especially on days like this. Days when you had to deal with blood. Lots of blood. Even though he worked in the small town of Ludwig, Detective Jerry Gonzales was never surprised by the crime scenes he encountered. Still, he sure as hell wished killers wouldn't be so messy about them. Forensics was already bagging up evidence and other officers were taking pictures of the crime scene by the time he got there.

"Gonzales!" Jerry turned to see the medical examiner, Mary Johnson, flagging him down and on her way out.

"Hey Mary, what are we dealing with?" Jerry already knew what they were dealing with but he wanted to hear it from her anyway.

As usual, she was straight to the point, "Female. Mid-twenties. Stabbed in the chest. Multiple contusions to the head. She was killed about five days ago." Jerry saw a trail of blood leading into the house and shook his head in disgust.

"Yeah," Mary frowned, "He killed her outside and then dragged her to the master bedroom."

"What a gentleman," Jerry muttered sarcastically.

"More like he didn't want any wild animals to take a piece of her," Mary pointed to the trees in the distance, "This place is so isolated who knows what could've claimed her if she was left outside."

"Well he loves to put his victims on display so leaving her out here wouldn't be an option," Jerry looked down at the blood stained ground. "Damn, it looks like he dragged her out from under the porch. Look at the path in the dirt. It leads right up to the where he probably stabbed her."

Mary nodded, "It must've been a nightmare for her. Poor girl. She probably didn't even know it was the Demon King that had her."

Jerry grimaced, "Don't even say it Mary. Damn, I hate that name. It just glorifies him into thinking he's something better than a killer." Mary shrugged and told him she would see him again at the station. Jerry waved her off as he stepped inside. He was mentally prepared for what he would see but even after being with law enforcement for fifteen years, it still bothered him to deal with so much blood.

"Sucks to be the SOB that owns this house. Can you imagine coming home and finding this in your bed?" Jerry was asked by his partner, Detective David Wilson. David Wilson was handsome, young, and possessed a laid back attitude that Jerry didn't appreciate.

"Yeah. Sucks to be him," Jerry muttered. Really he was thinking, "It sucks to be this poor girl." She was the third victim in two months. Jerry looked at the scene that lay before him. A young girl in a long yellow taffeta dress was on the bed with her hands on her stomach. She was encircled in a shroud of her own blood. As Jerry Gonzales slowly forced his eyes to look towards her head, he saw what he didn't want to see. The girl's face had been skinned. She had been robbed of her features and was only left with her bloody skull. On her skull was a delicate crown of small white flowers. It was then that he noticed something that hadn't been at the other crime scenes.

"Son of a bitch," Gonzales whispered.

Above her on the wall, written in her own blood, were the words, "The search for my queen continues."

~ACROSS TOWN~

Listening to her police scanner in the Ludwig News building, reporter Eva Lewis smiled when she heard there had been another murder outside the city limits. Her hands itched in anticipation because she already knew who the murderer was. It was the Demon King. Her Demon King. Eva smiled. Coming up with the moniker "Demon King" was pure genius on her part.

She didn't condone murder but when it helped her career along, she couldn't honestly say that she hated it either. After finding out that the man behind the murders placed a crown of flowers on the heads of his victims, she thought it would be fitting to refer to him as a king. This coupled with his murders being so grisly and brutal...almost demonic...made Eva come up with the nickname the Demon King. Like a mother naming her child, Eva grew attached to the Demon King. She often reminded herself that what he was doing was wrong and he needed to be caught but a small part of her still considered him hers in a way. "Ugh I'm so twisted," Eva said disgustingly to herself.

"Lewis? Is your story almost done?" Eva turned to see her editor, Tony Sharp, standing a few feet away from her.

He was a stickler for deadlines. She stood up and winked at him, "It's about halfway written, Tony. I just got the lead I was looking for."

Tony shook his head in disapproval, "I think you're starting to get obsessed with that Demon King."

Eva laughed, "Are you calling me one of his disciples?" The Demon King had gotten quite famous online and new threads created by his fans were calling themselves his disciples. Eva could only imagine what sort of depraved individuals worshipped a serial killer. She shuddered at the thought and turned back to Tony, "I'm not obsessed with the Demon King. I'm obsessed with having the best headline."

"Yeah? Well I expect a good one for tomorrow's paper and you're running out of time," he raised his arm and tapped his watch for emphasis.

Eva gave a mock salute as he passed her desk, "Yes sir." Before she left, she glanced at the framed picture of her parents. It was identical to the picture she wore in a locket around her neck. She stared at the image of her parents and sighed. "Don't worry mom and dad. Unlike you two, I'll be careful."

After she left the news building, she drove to the address that was mentioned on the scanner. Police cars littered the property. A distraught looking man was talking to a police officer and a woman was standing next to him. "Probably the wife," Eva thought. She looked visibly upset and kept biting her fingernails in nervousness. Eva approached them after the police officer walked away, "Hello, are you two the owners of the house?"

The man was a portly fellow and clearly a hunter if Eva had to judge him by the matching camouflage pants and shirt he was wearing. He seemed willing to tell his story again, "Yes ma'am. We had gone to my wife's sister's house for a few days. When we came back the house stunk to high Heaven. We called the cops as soon as we saw what happened. I almost upchucked my liver, I was so shocked."

Eva smiled empathetically and asked, "Did anyone else have access to your home? Did it look like someone had broken in?"

The man looked abashed and shook his head, "We don't always lock the doors since no one ever comes out here. If we had been home this would've never happened."

"Don't blame yourself Harry. No one could've expected this," his wife murmured in between biting the nails of her index and pinky fingers.

Eva asked one last question, "So you don't have any idea who the victim was?"

They both shook their heads. The wife said, "I can't believe it. There was so much blood. I'll probably have nightmares for weeks."

Eva knew from some of her officer friends that the Demon King skinned the faces of his victims. She would bet good money it was a blood bath in that home. The thought made her shudder. Sometimes her job forced her to be braver than she wanted to be.

"It was the Demon King wasn't it? And he said he's gonna keep on killing," the wife shook her head. "Harry, maybe we should move."

Eva caught on to her previous statement, "What do you mean keep on killing?"

The wife spat out a piece of her fingernail and answered, "It's so horrible. He wrote it on the wall in her blood. Harry said it was red paint but I think he was just trying to make me feel better. I mean where would the killer get red paint from? Unless he brought it with him but I doubt that. Harry must've lied. He knows I hate blood."

"She gets real squeamish when I bring home my kills from hunting," Harry supplied to an uncaring Eva.

"Sorry to hear that," Eva said, looking around to make sure she hadn't been spotted yet. All the other officers were still busy so no one was paying any attention to the reporter interviewing the homeowners. "I'm sorry but tell me again why you think he's going to keep killing?"

"I'm sorry?" the wife asked, not understanding what Eva was asking.

"You said the killer was going to keep killing. Why would you say that?" Eva repeated.

"He's gonna keep looking for his queen. He's looking for a queen...whatever that means. He wrote it in blood on my wall. Right above the headboard and you know that blood probably stained the headboard," the wife began working on a new nail and Eva grinded her teeth together to stop herself from yelling at the woman for trying her patience.

"He wrote the message in blood," the husband explained.

"What exactly did the message say?" Eva asked.

Harry paused for dramatic effect and then leaned forward, "The search for my queen continues." Eva was shocked to silence and that hardly ever happened. It wasn't until she heard someone yelling at her that she got a grip on herself.

"What the hell is she doing here? Get her off this property right now!" Jerry Gonzales, the head detective on the Demon King case, was shouting at the other officers to remove Eva, "Can't I trust you to keep these damned bottom feeders out of the way?"

Eva turned towards Jerry Gonzales. He was a big guy in his late thirties. He had dark hair and eyes to match. He clearly didn't like her as his eyes were currently giving her the look of death. Eva held up her hands in surrender, "Calm down detective. This damned bottom feeder is leaving." She caught sight of Detective David Wilson, her friend and Jerry's partner. David winked at her and she shook her head and laughed. He was a notorious womanizer but Eva still considered him a good friend. He was also very useful in getting her leads on stories.

"Hi Eva!" David called out to her.

"Don't encourage her!" Jerry Gonzales yelled at his partner who just shrugged in response. Jerry looked back at Eva and scowled. "I don't know why I'm starting to see you at every crime scene, Lewis."

Eva laughed, "My father was a reporter. My mother was a reporter. I'm a reporter. What can I say? Curiosity runs in my blood."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you curiosity killed the cat?" Jerry sneered.

"Yes but-"

"Yeah...yeah but satisfaction brought it back. I've heard it before," Jerry muttered.

Eva grinned, "Actually, I was going to say that curiosity killed the cat but so can ignorance."

"You gotta be kidding me. That's it. Get out of here Lewis. I want the scene secured. That means no reporters!" Jerry was yelling at some officers who began scrambling to follow his orders.

"Don't worry Gonzales. I'm leaving," Eva turned to David who was stretching his arms, "Bye David!"

"Bye Eva! I'll see you later on our date," David waved.

Jerry turned to face him, "Date?"

"In your dreams David," Eva walked from the crime scene, her hand raised in farewell.

"Most definitely," David smiled.

Jerry shook his head in disgust as he passed his partner, "Pathetic."

David watched Eva's car drive away from the scene and sighed, "Yup. Most definitely."

Eva wasn't stupid enough to keep hanging around the scene of the crime. She decided to spend some time at the police station to see if she could pick up any news from the other officers. After driving for fifteen minutes, and stopping at a local coffee shop to pick up two lattes, she pulled into the police station and parked next to a black BMW. "Fancy," she thought to herself. As she strolled into the station, she couldn't help but notice a handsome man arguing with Gina, a police officer she considered a friend. She took in his expensive suit, Rolex, and leather shoes. "And we have a rich boy here folks," Eva thought. His face looked familiar but she couldn't quite remember his name.

"I'm telling you, she's missing! We were supposed to meet and she never showed up," the handsome man was clearly frustrated. He slightly loosened his tie in frustration.

The officer took a deep breath and said, "Sir, don't you think it's possible that she just stood you up?"

Eva couldn't help but giggle. No woman or man for that matter would stand this attractive specimen up. He held an air of authority that Eva couldn't ignore. The man rolled his eyes, clearly not used to dealing with people that didn't automatically do as he said, "She hasn't been picking up her phone. She never returned to her hotel room. She never checked out and her friends haven't heard from her. She's missing dammit."

The officer named Gina sighed, "Sir, if she was really missing, wouldn't her family be here making a report?"

The man took a deep breath and said very slowly, "As I said before, she has no family."

Tired of dealing with him, Gina handed him a clipboard, "Okay sir, go ahead and fill out this missing person report. Take a seat against the wall and then I'll be with you in just a few minutes."

As soon as the handsome man sat down, Eva swooped in with her extra latte. She smiled at the officer that had just asked Mr. Handsome to take a seat, "Hi Gina. Latte?"

Gina, a total coffee addict, smiled and held her hands out, "Eva, you're a life-saver. I wasn't looking forward to drinking the crap we have here in the break room and I've been working a double-shift. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Eva smiled at how Gina's entire demeanor had changed from a moment before, "Trust me I know what you mean. I thought I'd stop by and bring you a coffee while I was listening for leads."

Gina laughed. She had known Eva long enough to know her tricks, "Well take a seat and don't let Gonzales see you."

"He already saw me at the crime scene earlier. I was kicked out. I promise to be quiet and just sip on my coffee," Eva laughed and sat next to Mr. Handsome who was trying to fill out his missing person form. Eva loved listening in on police chatter. Officers felt so comfortable at the station that they usually talked freely as they passed the main entrance. After ten minutes had passed, she finally got what she was waiting for. Two officers coming in were talking quietly but Eva still overheard one officer say, "The captain is asking the FBI to step in. Gonzales isn't going to like that."

"Well it's not like he's getting any closer to finding this guy," the second officer replied. "Did you see the last victim? It looked like a horror movie was filmed where they found her body."

"Yeah, she was out there for five days man. Ugh I bet that house smelled like death. She was wearing some fancy yellow dress too. You think he's dressing them up now?"

"A yellow dress?" Eva said aloud. This seemed to get Mr. Handsome's attention.

He turned his head towards her, "Excuse me? Did you say something?" Eva didn't bother to look in his direction. She was still trying to overhear what the officers were saying.

The attractive man continued, "My missing friend...she was wearing a yellow dress the last time I saw her."

Suddenly intrigued, Eva whipped her head around and found herself staring into the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.

Mr. Handsome gave a single nod, "Hi. My name is Tom."