Unheld

At first it was just a rumour. Nobody knows who started it, but eventually everybody knew of it. Unheld, people call it. A perverse and grotesque creature. It has claimed many victims, but the authorities never share the details with the public. They cannot.

His story begins in a prison. Nobody knows which one, though many think they do. An old, dirty and understaffed prison. The inmates were getting worse and worse care. Maggots in their food, no medical supplies. One day there was an outbreak. The guards were overrun, but a few ran away, locking the gates before leaving. After that, the place became a cesspool of violence and sin. In a few days, the worst there came on top. A maniac, lunatic and dangerous man. Called himself the Devil’s shaman. He made rituals on the others. Sometimes to sacrifice, sometimes to transform them into something else. All feared him. His reign lasted for a whole week.

The government finally moved enough force to intervene. There was fighting. The most violent prisoners lost their lives. Including the shaman. In the end, they were all pacified. Order was reestablished.

When checking the archive room, police noticed one of the prisoners had his records altered. Ripped papers all over the floor. They were crumpled, burned and smeared with piss and feces. Only one was intact, written in it the word UNHELD. Written in blood. They asked the inmates, and were told that was the shaman’s work. He was named Unheld, and had already escaped. The prisoners were accused of lying, and were punished for uncooperation. In the end, whoever Unheld was, it was never discovered.

A few days pass, strange murders start to happen in the nearby town. Murders with noticeable patterns. Victims always killed in their homes, always in small and dirty homes. They were ‘reserved’, they were ‘introverted’, their friends always say. Barred windows. Whenever he sees one, the killer leaves it broken. The prisoners would know if they saw it. That was Unheld.

The bodies he leaves. They’re always full of cuts and bruises. Many near the mouth and anus. Semen accompanies. The rib cage is left in shatters, only one rib intact...but shoved through the forehead. Profound marks on the eyes, on the head. Like huge fangs were sunk on the skull. Repeatedly. And near the body...a message. In blood. “IT WAS YOU”. Never hidden, meant to be seen. In every murder. Always.

‘Rape and murder’, police thought. The forensics had more to it though. It didn’t make sense. The marks didn’t match with tools or weapons. They didn’t match with anything. Was it a person? A wild animal? What thing made this? This was unnerving, they didn’t know how to look at it. This case had a weird feeling to it. Too weird feeling. Almost possessed by it, they decided that this would be hidden from the public. Until they figured this out. Many were conflicted, but when they tried to change their minds...the feeling just possessed them.

The crimes continued, the deaths continued. The cops never grasped what was the thing. They just kept hiding it. At one point, they got so used to it that it became involuntary. They now dealt with the feeling by removing it from conscience.

Few days thereafter, Unheld moved to another town. And the same repeated itself. He then moved to another town. Then another. Then another. Unheld reached all human settlements. Fear and unrest fill the hearts of those who know his atrocities. Nobody knows how he does it. At times a town tries something. They scout potential victims, plan his actions. But the murders never stop, never. Unheld is never caught. And never satisfied.

Tomorrow, a gruesome death will occur. And it cannot be prevented. For he is Unheld.