Chapter Text
It started with a call.
Nuru, to be precise, ringing him at the delightful hour of 2:37am, “Hugo… I have a case.”
Hugo bit back, “I’m not a police officer anymore Nuru, so fuck off.”
“Oh but you’ll like this one,” he could hear Nuru twirling her hair around her finger, “It’s one about a psychopath. The police can’t figure it out. The government is panicking—“
“And so you’ve come to the guy who can’t afford his rent? What a good police officer you are.”
“Are you going to take it or not?” Nuru sighed, “He writes your name in the blood of his victims every time he kills.”
“Done,” Hugo yelled as he slammed the phone down. Now he definitely could afford rent.
…
This city is cold. Corona always held a chill, no matter the season. The people weren’t friendly, hell you smile at them they’d scowl and smoke their cigarette in your face harder. In this city, it was either kill or be killed. The government didn’t care about us. The leaders certainly didn’t either. It was a field of lies, and Hugo was too tired to handle it anymore. Justice was a puppet of the powerful, and those who remained lurk in the shadows, ready to try and balance this cruel system.
Hugo was, as you’d call them, a sad excuse for a man. He holed up in his apartment over holidays, he barely had the energy to attend his classes and on top of that the only functioning relationship he could keep was with Nuru, the girl who he completed training with. Other than that, he had a dead fish (it drowned. He didn’t know fish could do that.), a mechanical mouse and a landlord up his ass. Hey, at least something was up there.
Easy to say he wasn’t exactly popular.
People said he was selfish. Cold. Haughty at times. He wouldn’t agree per-say, he’d say that he had an exquisite taste that not many had the palate for. He’d attend classes alone, sit in study halls alone, and overall just be content in the lack of company. That’s just how he lived, and how he always lived.
Well, life loves to fuck with him. So:
He was minding his own business. Computer science is infinitely less interesting when you know your evenings will be spent on a case. A case of a sadistic serial killer who loved… him? Well not exactly Hugo.
He loved another Hugo.
He went by Ø. Zero if you wanted to say it by name. Whilst fighting for his life in masses of code during the day, he spent his nights tracking down criminals. Not for the police, those fuckers didn’t deserve him after all they did, but for his own sense of justice. However twisted it was. He was a master detective at heart, and was behind multiple high profile arrests this city has seen. All whilst being top of his class, a bitchless loser and anonymous, if you don’t count telling Nuru after she discovered that your ‘porn collection’ was actually full of murder files.
As soon as the bell rang, he sprinted out, rushing for the café near the block. As he stumbled in, shivering his face off, Nuru eyed him judgingly from her cup of coffee. Hugo could bet it was her third that day.
Nuru was a competent officer, the ideal cop if you ever thought of one that way. She followed the rules, did her job and got no one hurt. Hugo had been compared to her quite a bit back in training, and there was a reason why she graduated top of the class. Not only a simple cop, Nuru was on a specialised task force for this criminal. Hence her elegant lilac suit and tie.
She sighed, pulling her shades off, showing her luminescent golden eyes, “Late. As per usual.”
“Well,” Hugo slid down opposite her, “It’s fashionable.”
“You’ve been wearing that shirt for the past two days.”
Hugo’s smile dropped, “Go on Nuru, tell me about the case.”
She smirked at that reaction, shuffling her files as she began, “He goes by the name of ‘The Heretic’.”
“Guessing the church isn’t a fan of that, hey maybe they’ll intervene for once. Bring ‘gods love’ to him,” Hugo snickered as he dug into a piece of cake.
“Anyways—“
“Ooh, maybe they’ll ask their God to smite him?” Hugo giggled to himself, “or they’ll give him one of their pamphlets which are supposed to fix all of your earthly sins.”
Nuru put her mug down, “I thought you went to a Christian summer camp Hugo?”
Hugo shot her a deadpan expression, “No, that was a ‘pray away the gay’ camp. Did not push me any closer to religion.”
“That, or you’re just too cynical to try,” Nuru shot back. She was religious, and she didn’t understand why Hugo couldn’t accept that an almighty being lived in the sky and laughed as he moped through his life.
“Oh Nuru, your words are so sharp!” Hugo placed a hand mockingly on his chest, faking his hurt.
They fell into silence, Nuru eyeing him. Hugo sighed, “Okay, okay, I’m done. Please continue.”
“The church don’t like him at all,” Nuru continued, rolling her eyes, “Especially when his killings are so… cultish. He murdered an entire family last weekend. Didn’t you see it on the news?”
Hugo had. It was a cold Sunday and he was finishing homework until the news started blaring loudly. Apparently he’d gotten another, some blue-blooded bastard, name of Hector. He ran some finance gig, was richer than Hugo’s soul and his life was ended just like that. His partner. His kids too. All hung up like balloons. The Heretic dressed it like a birthday party. Cakes, confetti, sprinkles. He had put their faces all into a smile. And then the walls were caked in blood. Lots of it.
The words scribbled were incomprehensible, and Hugo knew from experience, he had only managed to decode two lines in the past four days. He was a hacker for goodness sake! But there was something he did see, something that made him call Nuru:
‘Ø, do you see me? Do you like when I do this?’
Nothing too extreme, but still eerie. Hugo was fairly known for his efforts, but never before was he targeted by the criminal.
He realised he hadn’t replied to Nuru, “Yeah, I saw the broadcast. How else do you think I knew to text you?”
“Huh, I thought you didn’t like the media, “ Nuru swirled her straw, “Too mainstream.”
“So where did I watch it, genius?” Hugo challenged.
Nuru replied plainly, “Honestly? I suspected the dark web. You’d see more of the gore that way.”
So, maybe he did have a thing for gore. It wasn’t malicious. He never hurt anyone, it’s just as a kid he always found it fascinating every time he’d bleed. Instead of crying when he fell over, he’d stare at it in awe. Red oozing liquid covering his hands, how gorgeous was that? It then developed into a severe addiction of watching videos on the internet, wanting more, never fulfilled. Death became his entertainment. Websites of people’s successful attempts filled his browser. He keep watching more and more. More death. Someone would drown. Next would hang. Next would scream as she stabbed herself willingly. Some would just be murder. Man kidnaps and kills a woman. Someone pushes a guy off a bridge. Anything. He relished it, the way the body reacted to pain was intriguing to him. It convulsed, it fought back against the human urge to end it. It fought back even when someone was crushing its skull inwards. So, of course he went onto the dark web after just to see more of the criminals work. He was investigating! It was professional!
He wouldn’t admit it to Nuru, so he just laughed it off, “I’m not like that Nuru. So, anything else you know about the victims so far?”
Nuru shook her head, “There’s no link between them as of current. Feels like The Heretic is on a spree.”
“Okay, “ Hugo bit his pen, “Any leads?”
“No.”
“Any DNA samples?”
“No.”
“Any idea at all who it might be?” Hugo sighed, exasperated. Of course the police would give him an empty case, they just loved giving him the short end of the stick. Well in this case, he didn’t even get an end!
Nuru bit her lip, “Sorry Hugo, but I have nothing. But if you need anything, I’m always around. And I’ll tell you anything I find out. Just confirm if you want the case by tonight, okay?”
Nuru left after that, straightening her tie as she left.
This would be impossible.
Hugo liked it impossible. He loved the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline he got from every hint. Forget gore, this was it for him. His heroin.
All he knew was that this guy was clearly psychotic. And now interested in him. How delectable would this be!
His current victims so far was Hector, his family and a woman a couple of weeks ago. She had been cut open, her hearts drained until it was black. He had painted on the wall again, something like: ‘Oh Ø, catch me if you can.’
Now he was a reoccurring thing in the messages, this would get far more interesting. Especially when Hugo would devote more time to this case. He’d hunt him down personally.
First day gone, and all he had achieved was a board with his two victims, pictures of the crime scenes and… well that’s all. The murder weapons were completely unknown. One was in a home and the other one an office. Suspects never knew each other.
What an enigma this will be.
…
Hugo woke up upside down, alarm blaring, and the bus has already gone.
Apparently staying up late on a case isn’t good when you’ve got a 9am lecture. He sprinted into the lecture hall, quickly grabbing a seat in the back corner. Pulling out his laptop, he began to take notes as the class went on, but he wasn’t focused. Just scrabbles of thought flowing through his head. He needed to see the crime scenes. He needed to swab the place. Ask the victims families. Then, he could get into the cat and mouse game. He figured he needed a trap, something to get The Heretic to step into the light and prove his identity.
Lost in thought, he hadn’t realised the person next to him was poking him. Since when was there a person there? He was in the back corner? And why was he touching him?
A younger boy looked up at him nervously, his huge cerulean eyes glinting in the harsh lighting, “Hi, sorry, uh, I’m Varian. Nice to meet you!”
Hugo would usually ignore him. Concentrate on the class. But… by the sun he looked like he was glowing. His freckled skin looked soft, soft enough to touch. His face was round, making him look even cuter with a scarf bundled around his neck.
But most strikingly of all, was a teal streak running through his dark hair. People usually don’t have a streak of coloured hair.
Hugo actually opened his mouth to his surprise, “Uh, hi? I’m Hugo.”
Varian started picking at his gloves. Huge things those were, the kind used to weld. But he was small, surely he didn’t do that sort of thing. He probably stayed in a library, not daring to do the manual tasks himself.
“I’m sorry to ask you this, but this is my minor and… I’m kind of lost. He’s going a bit quick. Could you explain it to me?”
Say no.
Say you’re busy.
Say you’re doing big boy detective shit.
“Sure.”
NO.
WHY.
TRAITOR.
Varian burst into a huge smile, buck teeth showing, and oh wow Hugo was about to melt. He was so pretty. Unbelievably pretty. Never seen this kind of pretty before.
After the lesson, they hurried out together. Hugo took him to the café, and they sat awkwardly with mugs of coffee and a server who kept insisting it was a date. No, Hugo didn’t have the emotional capacity for that.
Varian beamed, “So, I understand all of last semesters work, it’s just this recent module has thrown me for a loop. Do you mind?”
“No, not at all,” Hugo began explaining. Varian eagerly asked questions, to which Hugo responded as best as he could. After two hours and three cups each, they were finally done.
Varian stood to get up, until Hugo grabbed his hand. He didn’t know why he did that, shit he needed to let go. He was making a scene. People would stare. Now his face is heating up. Varian keeps his gorgeous eyes on him, cocking his head to the side gently. What was happening? Why was he going haywire?
“Stay,” Hugo pulled slightly, “Come over to mine. I… I have… I… do you like chess? I have chess.”
Oh my god Hugo. No one likes chess! This cute boy obviously doesn’t like chess! That’s just a loner habit you do in your loner free time. The only people who play it are grandpas—
“I love chess!”
Hugo bit his tongue. Seems like chess was cool.
They walked over to his house. He knew he needed to speak, but he couldn’t. Usually he could worm his way through any interaction, but every time he wanted to open his mouth his breath hitched and his mind raced about how stupid he would sound. He couldn’t look stupid in front of Varian!
So, it was Varian who started, “So, what’s your minor?”
Hugo tried not to stutter, “Criminology.”
See, there you go. That’s how you talk, Hugo. You’ve been doing it since you were one. Nuru complains that you can’t stop doing it.
“Criminology? Odd for a computer science major?” Varian stumbled behind him as he walked, cursing as he nearly tripped over the door frame.
Hugo laughed as he pulled him up, to which Varian stumbled again into him. They both stood silently, noses touching, chests pressed up against each other. He could do it. Hugo wanted to take the chance. He didn’t have cute guys over often.
However, the coward in him won, and he pulled back, smoothing his hair, “Yeah, just a side hobby thing. Nothing serious.”
“Are you a detective?”
Varian’s eyes narrowed. How did he manage that so quickly? Clearly the boy was smart as he was eye-catching.
“Oh, no, not at all! No detecting here!” Hugo laughed awkwardly, stepping backwards. Varian’s stare wasn’t letting up, and it had started to unnerve him.
“Oh good,” Varian’s normal cheerful demeanour returned, seeming as if he was powered back on.
Something didn’t make sense here, Hugo knew it was off. So he pressed, “Good?”
Varian looked away, “I- my ex was a detective. Bad memories.”
He could respect that. His last ex turned out to be a butcher who sold human meat. Let’s say this, he stopped eating meat ever since. Why? Not out of disgust, but because normal meat simply didn’t compare. Humans were tender. They had the perfect firmness. And they weren’t meant to be eating them, that’s what made it better. The taboo culture around it healed him.
“So, “ Hugo started, pulling the chess box out, “What’s your major?”
It’s going to be something sweet, like literature. Maybe he studies psychology. He seems like it. His gaze never wavers. When Hugo looks at him he wants to spill anything out. That’s it, that’s why he’s suddenly acting so crazy for him. He’s a psychologist.
“Chemical engineering,” Varian leaned back, setting up the chess pieces.
Oh. Hands on. Very physically taxing. And also, shit he was smart. Going to Corona University for chemical engineering? You might as well be a genius.
But here he is, wrapped up in five layers and can barely walk in a straight line.
They began to play, talking happily as Varian managed to take all of his pieces in record time. Varian liked card games, he read lots and he had a pet raccoon. Everything he knew made him want to get closer. Want to pull him closer. He didn’t need to feel like that. Shouldn’t. They had met only this morning. What was this enchantment? He never let his walls down this easily. He told Varian everything about himself, and Varian did the same. Maybe he felt the pull too? Maybe he was tangled as deeply as Hugo was, and both of them were struggling to breathe.
After a while, they started to play monopoly. Hugo was miserably losing , all of his properties going as Varian put him in bankruptcy again and again. Killing off his businesses again and again. It was unfair, Varian had already beat him at chess! Why was he losing everything! He picked monopoly because he’s usually good at this game. He needed to impress Varian!
As Varian laughed at putting Hugo into bankruptcy again, the TV picked up again.
Hugo turned it up, only to see a message on the screen:
‘The Heretic strikes again: four business women were found dead in the the early hours of the morning. This has led to the fall of their business’ meaning thousands have lost jobs, their properties, and are being pushed into bankruptcy.’
He pulled up a tab immediately. He knew he shouldn’t be hacking into private files with a guest over, but his curiosity needed to be satiated. Varian’s eyes were still glued to the screen as Hugo pulled the crime scene up. In fact, he swore Varian shuffled closer to the screen.
The women were surrounded in a circle of their own blood, as if a sacrifice to a demon. Hugo zoomed in further, just to catch the inscriptions on the back wall:
‘Ø, don’t ignore me. Talk to me. Feel me. Let me know you see me.’
Hugo let out a shiver, and he hate that he didn’t know which emotions fuelled it. His palms felt warm, but not the way he did in stress, no, the way he did before he would do something risky. Like when he used to steal, and just before the chase started, he felt this surge inside him. Something felt good. He just didn’t understand why.
Varian peers over at his laptop, to which Hugo quickly slams it shut, “What are you looking at?”
Hugo chuckled nervously, “Just wanted to see what other channels are saying.”
Varian raised a quizzical brow. Hugo was sweating under his gaze. This was supposed to be his chance to make a move, why was he making Varian suspect him? He had removed all of his weapons, all of his crazed theories and even his beautiful empty suspect board. Even though he liked Varian, he couldn’t know about Ø. That was something for him and him only. His way of stretching his legs and his life finally feeling like it was worth it. Without Ø, he was a waste of breath.
Varian sighed, “I feel like the police aren’t doing enough. This guy has killed three times now! And they weren’t just one person. Families have been wiped out!”
Hugo nodded, a smile working its way onto his face. Oh the joys of the cute boy in computer science hating the same corrupt regime you left. He almost asked him to marry him there and then. But he didn’t, because Hugo wasn’t completely insane.
“What if there was someone doing something about it?” Hugo started, “Would that make you feel better?”
“Well, yes. I’d do it myself but exams are coming up and I really need to pass.”
That cemented it. Hugo sent the message that he was confirming the case. He’d take it, empty file and all. He’d solve it.
Why?
Saviour complex?
Probably.
Or more likely:
Unhealthy love languages. A pile of needing to prove yourself. And a whole lot of too cute blue eyes that he couldn’t resist.
Just as Varian left, Nuru texted back:
‘Come tomorrow. We’re looking at the crime scenes. Also, read up on the occult Hugo. You know what symbol was on the floor, I’m sure of it.’
Hugo quirked a brow. He quickly brought up the images of the dead businesswomen, scanning the whole area until he saw it.
Fuck.
Varian really was distracting him. He was usually quicker than this.
How could he miss the iconic pentagram?