Blood and Tears
Angela had told him that Muse had been fixated on his drawings of faces. Now he was back in Muse's lair, hiding behind one of the ceiling's pillars, waiting for the cops to leave.
He listened as they rummaged through stacks and stacks of paper and canvasses, the scent of stale blood clinging to their fibers.
When the cops finally left, he dropped down and headed straight to the table where he had heard one of the officers mention sketchpads full of drawings of people. He picked one up, hoping for some sort of clue. The first few he picked up were clearly drawn in an unhinged state, blood splattered and melting across the pages, nothing but vague hints of facial features. As he continued down the stack, he could tell the drawings became more and more real, taking on realistic proportions. Finding the one with the most raised paint, Matt ran his hand across its raised edges. All he could get from it was the vague shape of a nose, and what seemed to be long, curly hair.
He had no choice but to call for backup. He grabbed his burner out of the hidden pocket on his side, marking 1 on speed dial. He held his breath as the phone rang once, twice, then-
"This is Cherry," came the voice on the other end of the line.
"Cherry, it's me-- I--"
"Matt?" Came the confused voice on the other line.
"I need your help. I'm--"
Cherry's voice interrupted him. "Listen Matt, if this is about what I think it is, I already told you, you're on your own. I am NOT facilitating this."
Matt let out a quiet groan of frustration."No, listen, Cherry, I just--"
The call abruptly ended. Matt tilted his head.
He hung up on me.
There was only one other person whose phone number he knew by heart who he might be able to call.He punched in the numbers on the flip phone, holding his breath once more. The phone rang once, twice, three times--
"Who's calling," came a chronically annoyed voice on the other end. He had never been more relieved to hear it.
"Jessica-- hi, its-- me."
"Matt?"
"Yeah. Listen, I need your help."
"I hate the sound of that," she deadpanned.
Matt barely paused."Please, just-- I'm going to send you a picture, and I need you to run it through facial recognition and tell me who it is." He was met with silence on the other end.
"Jessica?"
"Well hurry up, Murdock, I'm busy."
Matt breathed a sigh of relief, snapping a photo and sending it to Jessica.
"Got it," she said. A few seconds later, she added: "I don't need facial recognition for this one. It's that new girlfriend of yours."
Matt felt his heart drop into his stomach, his face blanching.
"Are you sure?" He asked, hoping to God she was wrong.
"Yeah I'm sure, Murdock. What's her name, Hazel?"
Matt closed his eyes. "Heather," he whispered, thought he was already hanging up and running as fast as fast as he could.