Milan, Italy, 2019
The sudden heavy rain poured down on the hard Italian roads, the cars on the road quietly zoomed past, while pedestrians were scrambling to get some kind of cover, whether that was a backpack, a newspaper, or buying an overpriced umbrella from a street seller.
A tall man rested against large stone walls, twirling an unlit cigarette in his hands unperturbed by the rain, while staring at the Fontana di Piazza Castello, a large water fountain, across the street. The man looked to be in his 30s, with light brown skinned, who dressed in light brown jackets and beige trousers, with a set of Nike trainers on that had seen a lot of use. The rain drenched his short black crew cut, while his beard was growing fuzzy, not having seen a blade in a few days.
A white taxi pulled up, and the driver was swearing vehemently at the passenger as he exited, who responded back vehemently in Italian before slamming the door shut and throwing some notes at the driver, who just drove off without checking the money. The passenger sighed, covering his bald head with his right hand, while keeping his left arm in his jacket as he ran over to the tall man.
“Bharam, Dongornio!” The bald man shouted as he futilessly wiped rain drops from his oversized tourist sunglasses. He was dressed in a leather jacket and blue jeans that were so skin tight it should have cut off circulation, while a red Manchester United scarf was tightly wrapped around his neck.
“It’s Buongiorno Shaz.” The tall man, Bharam, flicked away his damp unlit cigarette.
“Um, who’s the one who spent all of 20 minutes on the plane studying on Duolingo bruv?” Shaz said mockingly, as he jumped from foot to foot impatiently. “Now can we get somewhere that’s less flooded; my jeans are new!”
“You should have dressed for the weather.” Bharam noted, as he walked towards a gate in the wall.
“Italy is supposed to be like it’s women mate, hot and tasty. If I wanted soggy and thirsty, I’d have stayed in Manchester.” Shaz noted as he walked alongside the taller man. “And the news said it was gonna be sunshine till Sunday.”
“Weather can change in case of an Abduction.” Bharam noted as he stared at the gate. It was a tall medieval gate, that stood as part of the castle walls of the Sforza Castle. Normally this 15th century landmark would be open to tourists even during the rain, but that seemed to no longer be the case, as evident by the police tape that wrapped across it along with the police officers standing guard. One of the officers noticed the two men approach and held his hand up to stop them
“Excuzi Signori, you cannot come closer.” He said in accented English. “This ees a scena del crimine- a crime scene.”
*“Signore, we are from Interpol to investigate this case.”* Bharam spoke in confident Italian. As he did he reached a hand behind his back to Shaz, who placed a wallet in it with the ease of a street magician.
“Oh, uh,” The officer looked confused, darting his head to look at his fellow officer who shrugged. “I need to see some ID-” Both Bharam and Shaz quickly flipped wallets revealing Interpol badges. The officer took them and nodded slowly.
*“Ok please come in Agents.”* The officer stated in Italian giving back the IDs, before holding up the police tape.
“Grazie.” Bharam noted as he walked in, taking a quick look at the ID he’d been handed.
“Yeah, Grass Tea.” Shaz said with a smirk as he walked forward, much to the confusion of the Italian officer. As he walked up to Bharam he began, “So what are we-Ow!” He started hopping on a foot. “You kicked me in the shin!” He whispered through gritted teeth.
“Randolph Phore-Jeet? Randy For It?” Bharam whispered. “Are you trying to get us gunned down by the Carabinieri?”
“Don’t make such a mither about it.” Shaz grimaced as he rubbed his shin, before resuming walking. “..want to hear my name? I’m real chuffed about it!”
“No…” Bharam noted as they walked. “Alright fine.”
“Kipper Cumming!” He said grinning.
“…If this goes down like Istanbul, I am not coming back for you this time.” Bharam said with a quick smirk.
“So, what’s the situation here?” Shaz questioned. “You think there’s a Rabbit Hole in this tourist trap?”
“Possible except for the present company.” He indicated the crowd of police officers and forensic personnel walking around. “If a kid went down a Rabbit Hole, what would the police assume?”
“That the missing kid had been kidnapped.” Shaz whispered back as looked around. “And they wouldn’t have let any civilians leave while they investigated. Kept them nearby for questioning.”
“And yet there’s no civilians anywhere.” Bharam remarked, and it was through, everyone but them was in police uniform. “Which means this is something else.”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“You think someone get Trucked?” Shaz remarked. Bharam rolled his eyes at the term before continuing.
“I doubt a vehicle would have gotten in through that gate safely or at all, at least not without leaving some marks on the ground.” He pointed at the stone grounds that was free of skidmarks.
“Well what about a non-vehicular homicide?” Shaz suggested as they walked. “Could have stabbed a kid, then snuck off with their soul already in Another World.”
“Someone using one of the Seven Lost Kris in such a congested place?” Bharama responded as he rubbed his chin. “Sounds very risky, you could easily lose the weapon or have a cop confiscate it. Also, I thought we had tracked the seven to-“
“Excuse me Agents.” A female police officer walked over to the two men. She stood about 5 foot 7, with brown hair tied in a bun, stern look in her eyes and a nose that was out of shape from one two many strikes to the face. “I am Officer Sienna Paterniani, heading this investigation.” She spoke better English than the officer at the gate but the accent still rang musically. She held out her hand to shake and Bharam noticed her knucles had some scars, implying she gave as good as she got.
“You can call me Agent C-” Shaz began to introduce himself.
“Agent Phore-Jeet, this is my partner Agent Cumming,” Bharam interrupted, pronouncing the word like ‘Cumin’. Shaz pouted before nodding. “We’re here in regards to the incident. We believe it might be related to another case we are investigating.”
“Really?” She said incredulously. “This has happened somewhere else? You’d think we’d have heard about it on the news or something.”
“Can you show us the crime scene?” Shaz asked. “We’ve had long flights and just want to get this over with as soon as we can.” He stretched his back, getting out a genuine crink in it.
“I just need to run this by my superiors first.” Sienna began, as she reached for her phone. Out of the corner of his eye, Bharam saw Shaz flex his left arm. The officer frowned. “No signal.”
“Must be the rain.” Shaz said quickly, flashing an innocent smile.
“Officer Paterniani,” Bharam began quickly before switching to Italian. *“We need to see this crime scene as soon as possible. Given the conditions,”* He gestures to the rain pouring down. *“If we procrastinate, important evidence may be damaged or lost.”* He raises his hands up honestly.
“I promise,” He continued in English. “We have no intention of commanding or taking your crime scene. We just want to confirm if this is related to our own.”
Officer Sienna pursed her lips before breathing out her nose reluctantly.
“Fine. Come with me.” She gestures for them to follow, as she looks at her phone, trying to type again. As they walk Bharam leans down to whisper to Shaz,
“How long can you keep it like that?” He said as glanced at the phone.
“Mate without jacking in? 10 minutes if I’m good.” Shaz responded.
“And if you’re bad?” Bharam questioned.
“Oh I can be very bad.” Shaz with a wide grin, as he rubbed his hands together evilly.
The two men were brought to a metal waist high fence that surrounded a large ditch that was now visibly overgrown with grass. Several police officers and forensic officers could be seen coming in and out of the ditch via makeshift ladders. What was inside the ditch was incredibly disturbing.
The ditch was filled with dead cats. Dozens of dead cats, all thrown into the ditch like so much refuse, their blood drenched fur causing the pouring rain to start making pink currents in the ditch
“Bloody hell mate.” Shaz stared at the ditch in shock. “This is disgusting.”
“I know.” Sienna shook her head in dismay. “The cats of Sforza Castle are protected by law, but even without that, I never thought someone would do something like this. One of the cat carers who came early today state this happened before sunrise. She said she saw a man throwing the corpses in the ditch, but when he saw her, he hissed and-what are you doing!”
Bharam grabbed the fence and then in an easy movement swung his legs over, falling into the ditch in a nonchalant landing.
“You can’t just jump into a crime scene!” She shouted, as she leaned forward across the railings.
“I am so sorry; my friend is a real cat lover.” Shaz said as he pushed forward, jostling her arm against the railing. “Shit your phone!” He shouted and slapped at her hand, causing said phone to tumble down to the ditch.
“Cazzo!” Sienna swore as she watched her phone fall down. *“Just stay here-”*
“I’ll get it!” Shaz said as he tumbled over the fence. However his landing was much less graceful than Bharam’s, as he landed in a heap.
Sienna just stared at the incredulity of what happened, as did some of the other police officers. She rested her hands against her forehead.
“Madonna give me the strength not to beat these clowns into the earth.” She muttered. She then glanced at the other officers. “Bring me a ladder!”
Down in the ditch Shaz stepped over to Bharam, holding his hip as he winced. Bharam was kneeling down in front of a dead cat.
“Could have given me a heads up before you start parkouring like that dickhead.” Shaz grimaced.
“Check this wound.” Bharam noted as he pointed to the belly of the cat.
“Which one?” Shaz asked as he looked. “It’s a mess.” He pointed. “Blood everywhere.”
“You never hunted wild creatures in your world I take it.” Bharam noted.
“Nah, in mine the monsters came to me, express delivery.” Shaz noted. “So stop with the pop quiz, we’ve got like 2 minutes before we’re taken to Italian jail, snacking on toilet penne or whatever they serve there.”
“There is only one wound. Teeth marks on the navel. This was a carnivore. However, it did not kill the creature before it ate, and this is not an instant kill.” Bharam explained. “Most predators when they hunt will kill the creature before eating, or have their bite be a lethal one, like going for an artery, so the creature will be less likely to struggle.” Bharam frowned. “This creature wanted to eat the cat while it was alive.”
“Sienna said a bloke did this.” Shaz reminded Bharam. “Think it could have been a Strand?”
“The controllers have never shown concern for feeding their human puppets before.” Bharam responded. “Also look at this,” He pointed at another few cats. “They all have the same wound in the same place.”
“The navel. Is there some special organ that’s super tasty or something?” Shaz chuckled nervously at his own joke.
“No, nothing like that, but it is where mana is stored in the body.” Bharam noted. “Or so I was taught.” He quickly added.
“So you’re telling me there’s a human running around, trying to eat mana from cats, under his own volition?” Shaz listed, as he rubbed his head in irritation. “You know what this means right?”
“We’ve got a Returnee gone rogue.” Bharam grimaced.
“Great,” Shaz shook his head. “How could things get wor-”
“Step away from the crime scene!” Sienna shouted at them, her hand on her holstered but very visable gun as she stomped towards them.
“You had to say it.” Bharam rolled his eyes as he stood up slowly.
“Don’t worry man I got this!” Shaz said with a smile. He turned and held up Sienna’s phone. “I found your phone! It’s like only 40% cracked!”
“Istanbul was Constantinople,” Bharam started to sing softly as he shook his head at his colleague. "Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople..."
To be continued…