Darkness engulfed the town in its chilly jaws. Chirping followed the darkness. Houses were dark and lonely, and the plants that sprouted an assortment of colors seemed to hang low.
I stood on a rough walkway, hands in my trench coat pocket and eyes focused on the land around me. I glanced up and down, left and right, and so far no sign of this man.
Sighing, I strolled down the streets, my eyes scanning the tops of buildings.
Shuffling sliced the dark alleyway like a claw. My heart jumped out of my skin. My eyes narrowed as the shuffling continued. Before I knew it, my feet were carrying me towards the noise. My body hugged the wall as I strolled beside it, one hand flat on said wall.
“One more down, what a shame.” A voice snapped the silence like a twig. I jumped even closer to the wall. I peeked out from my corner to see, to my relief, that the man was facing away from me. He wore a dark green parka and black jeans. The hood of his parka blocked his head from my sight.
My eyes trailed downwards to see blood pooling in my direction and a body at the feet of the man. It was a girl this time. She wore a black hoodie and blue jeans. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and her mouth lay half open as blood rolled down.
My body stiffened at the sight and a block lodged in my throat. My hands flew up to my mouth as my stomach churned. I clenched my eyes shut and stood there for a few moments before daring to take another glance.
“May fire burn in your chest, and the stars give you all the wisdom you’ll ever need,” the man recited before throwing a hand down towards the body. It flashed a lavender color and smoke rose from it. Their body was gone, just like that. In their place was a card.
My eyes narrowed and I felt fire growing in my chest. My hands fell to my side and clenched up in a ball. My head seemed to tighten and all I could think about was this man rotting in a jail cell.
“Hold it right there!” I shot out from my corner. The man turned to me and I saw his face. He had short messy blonde hair. A black bandana wrapped around his eyes with a cut that revealed aqua.
“This is the last time you take the life of an innocent person!” I shouted at him.
He blinked and turned away. He threw his hand towards me and firecrackers came at me. I backed up as they snapped, shielding my eyes from the flashing lights.
When I looked back he was gone. I stared at the card. it was a queen of clubs with the face of the women whose body I had seen. I recognized the face.
It was my neighbor, a women by the name of Riley Crieth. She had only moved in a few months ago, and from what I could tell, she was a sweet woman, who helped the elderly cross the road and comforted the crying children who scraped their knees. She was always quick to bring them band aids and a lollipop.
I reached down and picked the card up, I stared over it. Her eyes were gleaming and lively.
When I got back home I lay on my bed, my mind jumbled with the events I had just witnessed. My eyes became worn down and I let the darkness consume me as I passed out.
The slamming of a door caught my attention. My eyes shot open and I faced the direction of the noise. I realized I wasn’t in my room. Instead I was in a strangers living room with a couch lining the wall and a fat old television sitting on a bureau facing the couch.
Two kids sat on the couch, one of them a blonde boy, about 13 years old. Next to him was a little girl that looked to be 2 years old. She was cuddled up to him, her eyes wide as she turned towards the door. Her face crinkled as though she were about to cry.
The boy stood up and looked in the same direction as an older man walked in. He held his head up and looked at the kids. His face was a beet red and his eyes were swollen.
The man almost looked familiar. He had the same haircut and face as Sam. Was this a cousin?
“Dad?” The boy called out.
“Liam? Is that you?”
“It is.” The boy paused and looked over his father. “Where is mom?”
“Mom is gone, Liam.”
Liam  froze and held his gaze. “What, like she’s gone to the store?”
“No. I mean gone as in you’ll never see her again,” his dad said, firmly.
Liam turned away, facing his sister who was now playing with her own socks. He turned back to his father, “Do you think she’s happy at least? In the stars, I mean?”
“I don’t know. Only those in the past found comfort in the afterlife. No one has been able to bring someone peace like that in a long time.” The man paused and shook his head.
“Course’ it’s just a fairytale. We all know that there is no peace in this world.” The man turned and stormed off with muddied boots staining the floor.
“Wait!” Liam shot up and chased after him, reaching out with desperate arms as his father became a dark mist and faded off, leaving Liam standing there alone.

The next morning I walked into the office. The card that I had found was in my pocket. I pushed open the door with my name etched into it, to see Sam sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the television as it blared the news of the day. I didn’t need to look to know what it was about.
Without a word, I pulled the card from my pocket and flashed it to him. Sam’s eyes widened and he glanced up at me.
“I saw him. I actually found him. He was standing over this girl’s body, and he just… transformed her entire body into a card.”
“Let me see it.” Sam swiped the card from my hands and looked it over. After a while, he looked back up at me.
“This is a playing card...”
“Yeah.” I shrugged.
“No, you don’t understand.” Sam wiped his brow. “These cards are used to symbolize life. It’s used to show what kind of person the person was before they passed. Kings of the past turned their loved ones’ ashes into cards to show respect. It was thought that doing so was a way to promise a safe travel to the afterlife.”
I gaped at him. I had never learned that, and I wondered if it was true. None of this made sense. The man was killing people, then giving them closure.
“You came close to catching him. Think you can go out again tonight?” Sam asked.
“I can go out, but I doubt i’ll find him,” I said.
There was screaming. I ran towards the noise with a pounding heart. My legs carried me along the cold stone path that sat beside the dead road. My hands were clenched shut as they swung at my side. A cool breeze swept by my face. Moonlight lit the path for me.
I stopped at the crooked alleyway. My eyes narrowed as I saw.. Nothing. I slid right beside the wall and crept along slowly.
My heart jumped out of my throat as another scream ripped through the air. This time the scream was ear piercing. My hands reached towards my pocket and I gripped the baton that settled on my belt.
I jumped out and glared into the night. What I saw was no shock. It was the same mysterious man who wore the dark green parka and a mask over his eyes. Blonde messy hair stuck out from the green hood. He was leaning over a little girl, gripping her in his hands. A red liquid gushed out of her mouth and chest.
I began to charge at the man with my baton raised but stopped when he looked at me. For a few seconds I stood there, staring into the man's eyes. His eyes were dull.
“Clyde what are you waiting for?” Sam’s voice broke the silence
I gasped and turned around to see Sam standing there, his shoulders stiff and his head low as though he were about to charge onto the mysterious man. I turned back to the man and he looked up at me. His eyes begged for help.
The blonde girl reached her hand out and grasped the neck of his shirt. She gave him a weak smile. The mysterious man turned to her and smiled back.
“You came back, my guardian angel.” the girl smiled. “When I’m traveling space I want to be a hero you can be proud of.”
The man stared at her with wide eyes before giving her a soft smile. “You will make a great hero, Karen.”
“Get away from my daughter!” Sam stomped towards the man.
The man got up before Sam could reach him. He reached his gloved hand out and grabbed Sam by the arm, violently dragging him closer. Sam's eyes stormed and he struggled to get out of the man's grip.
I raced forward and grabbed the man's arm, trying to pry him off of Sam. I felt the burning stare of the man.
“You have nothing to do with this, stay out of the way kid,” the man  released Karen and pushed me away. I stumbled back and managed to catch my balance. Sam shot me a dark look before glaring back at the man.
“You’ve gone too far this time. Killing innocent lives and pinning the blame on me?” The man practically growled.
“Sam, what’s happening?” I stepped forward, my gaze met Sams. His eyes were tragic. He didn’t answer, but shoved me away.
I fell to the ground with a thud and when I opened my eyes the sight was blurry. When my vision came back to normal I saw Sam and the man grappling at each other, fists ablaze and wide eyes.
I crawled over to the little girl on the ground and tore my coat and the sleeves off. Her eyes followed me as I pushed it against her chest. The blood flow fell to only a few drops. Her eyes reflected pain and desperation.
“He’s not a bad guy, you know,” Karen whispered.
I didn’t say anything. I glanced over to the other two to see the mysterious man whipping cards out at Sam. Sam covered his face in his hands as cards slit across.
“Daddy started drinking ever since mommy’s passing. Liam wished, on his 13th birthday, that he could give her eternal peace in the afterlife. I think it freaked daddy out when mommy’s body was turned into a card. He started hitting us. Calling us freaks.” Karen slowly blinked up at me.
I froze and looked down at her to see weak smile on her face. Her eyes were glossed over, but behind the eyes I caught a sense of affection.
“Sam!” I turned back to the scene.
Sam grabbed Liam's arms and threw him to the ground before glancing up at me. 
I backed up with wide eyes. Sam watched me, white foam grew at his lips. He was an animal. A monster.
Liam swung back up and shot his hand out towards his father. The second he touched the back of Sam’s neck, it was over.
My eyes clenched shut as a bright light arose from Sam and when I looked back up a card was lying on the ground. Sam’s face was that of a happier man. The only thing that stood out about this card was that there was a woman beside him.
“That was our mom,” Liam sighed and he walked over to me. He stopped besides me and gave me a hard look.
“How did she die?”
“My father was out drinking with his buddies. He ran her down on his way home.”
I stood in silence, staring at the man as he looked back at me.
“I read about how the ancient kings used those cards to bring closure to the dead so that they may rest easy. I wanted my mother to have that peace, but when I touched her body..” he paused, “She turned into this.” Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. He turned it to reveal the queen of hearts. On the card was the same face of the women on Sams card.
The next day I sat in the office alone. Eerie silence rung in my ears. I looked over the notes and tapped the pen to my mouth. The television was off. After a while I stood up and walked out. The room was engulfed in darkness as I closed the door.