Time: 6:30
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A blaring sound reverberates, my phone rings, the pre-set alarm goes off, and it takes over the quietness of the room and the peace of my sleep.
With tired eyes, I move my hands blindly to find the source of it, taking more time than I wanted to before finally managing to grab the phone and stop the hellish sound. Silence starts slowly taking back the environment.
Groaning, I sit up and start staring at the ceiling, with the old light bulb in the room still on, illuminating my surroundings. In my rush to sleep, I probably forgot to turn it off. To my left, a tall mirror stands up, and when I focus on it, I'm able to see my sleepy brown eyes stare back at me. The dark circles that usually hang beneath them seem to not be so strong today.
My feet find the comfort of the carpet below as I stand up, and my lazy eyes travel to a door just beside the bed. With everything that happened yesterday, I didn't had time to check it out, but I'm pretty sure I know what it is.
My hands flinches away from the cold, round metal knob before turning it, the flowery pattern carved in the metal standing out as it contrasts against my palm. A big Victorian-style bathroom takes over my vision, the almost fantasy-like scenario making me suddenly more awake.
A chandelier hangs from the ceiling; the candles light up on their own as soon as the door fully opens; a wooden bathtub to my left takes up the majority of the room; to my right, a white ceramic sink rests near the toilet from the same material; and a small wood stand supports a mirror just above the sink.
On the walls, a blue and white wallpaper reminds me of the cloudy sky. In my awe, I don't even notice that the bathtub is full of hot water. Questions rise to my head but are soon swiped away. The bathtub looks too good to pass on right now.
Taking off my clothes, I waste no time immersing my body in the hot water. A moan escapes my lips as my bones seem to finally find rest. Comparing this bathtub to the one in my apartment, this is heaven. My chin and knees are the only parts standing above the water; the smoke coming from it clouds my vision and helps me further relax.
A green light dances around me, circling the bathtub and stopping atop the safe island my knees have become. I rub my eyes to make sure I'm seeing straight, and indeed, there it is. The green light glows brighter before changing its form, almost blinding me in the process.
The once-green light sits atop my knees, crossing their legs. Pale purple skin having no clothes to cover their body parts, or rather, the lack of them. Green hair matching their long eyelashes, pairing up with the light green antennae on their head, which each slightly resemble a bird's feather the creature possesses.
With a smile, the tiny creature starts to bounce its legs on the water around my knee. "So it's true," The creature's red eyes trace my face and body. "A human has become a resident of this old house."
Some seconds of me thinking about what to say goes by, and the creature grins. "There's no need to worry that pretty head of yours, Iustitia; you may call me Airy." The creature raises their small hands to their chest proudly.
"I'm what you humans would call a fae in your books, but please refer to us as neighbors."
Nodding my head, I adjust myself in the bathtub, careful enough to not move my knee so I won't hurt Airy or accidentally drown her. Once my chest is out of the water and visible, Airy eyes travel to my scar. "Oh, let me help you with that."
Without time to protest, the neighbor rises from my knees and, with their green wings, flies towards my chest, their four-fingered hand gently pulling away the stitches that now seem not to be needed anymore. A slight pain rings as the lines that were once dearly hugging my wound leave and fall to the water.
"You should be fine now, and it's almost time for the flowers to bloom." The morning sunlight starts to enter the bathroom window. Airy takes flight and stops at eye level with me. "That the forest guides you towards the safety of your home once again tonight, Iustitia."
Without being able to reply or neither correct her on my name, Airy becomes a tiny spot of light before disappearing.
Minutes pass by, and the bath water turns to room temperature. Rising from the bathtub, the water slides down my body, and grabbing the towel near the sink, I wrap it around me.
Using the palm of my hand, I clean the foggy mirror. Exhaling loudly, I check the time on my phone, remembering that I have to work today, and with that in mind, I grab my clothes and start dressing myself.
Maybe I should grab spare clothes and bring them here, but that will be a thought for later.
Outside the House
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An old Victorian-style stone house presents itself before me. On the small front porch, a lone chair stands next to the door. Big windows thrown left and right; by the height of the house, I would assume it has an attic, but I haven't seen a staircase leading to more than the second floor, where the rooms are inside.
Looking at it, it really confirms my theory: the rooms in the house really don't make any sense from the outside; they are way bigger from the inside. Vines take over part of the old stone wall of the house, climbing all around the windows but never taking over them. It seems that someone takes care of them.
To my right, some trees make a path on the side of the house leading to the back, to what seems to be a garden—a dry stack of stones building a low wall around the whole perimeter of the house.
Walking the stone brick pathway in front of me, I see that, as I thought, my car isn't here. Which means I'll have to walk to the station, and I don't even know where I am... Just perfect.
The walk through the forest is calm; no animals or anything supernatural comes to disturb the quietness of the morning. My phone hangs in my pockets. I tried to access the map on it, but for some dumb reason my GPS didn't want to work, so I'm just left wandering around, relying on luck to get to the station in time.
My ears catch the sound of dogs barking, and so I move slightly faster, exiting the forest and stopping in the residential area near the station. I can even see my apartment just a few blocks away, and after checking my phone again, the GPS finally works.
I'm not that far from the station, and I still have five minutes, nice.
Arriving at the station, I push open the door. Douglas looks at me, and with an awkward smile, he quickly hides his phone. "Detective, I'm glad to see you're not sick anymore."
Raising an eyebrow, I ask. "Sick?"
"Yes, that strange woman came here two days ago and said you were sick, so that's why you would not come to work yesterday."
Oh, I guess the agency has everything figured out. "Yeah, I'm feeling all better now." I smile back with the same awkwardness. I see the reason to lie, but I still don't like to have to do it.
The kid and I stick with our awkward smiles. "Well, good luck today, Detective."
"Thanks, kid." My feet move forward, and upon entering the office area, I notice the lack of Tina, but at this time she's probably on patrol, and Verda is probably in the lab—all things to worry about later.
Pushing open the doors of my office, I lock it behind me. It is better to make use of this alone time. Grabbing my charger, I plug the notebook into the outlet and start researching all sorts of things.
I tried remembering about the mask to try seeking some sort of symbolism, or at least where it could come from, but after learning so many things, my mind had to let some things go to keep up. At least I remember the sigil.
Searching for sigils I end up on a bunch of nonsense blogs about witches made by teenagers during their Twilight movies phase and a Wikipedia page about witchcraft, which isn't a reliable source at all.
The next hours that go by are filled with bad attempts at researching the supernatural and writing a report for myself about the hotel mission; everything I can remember clearly goes to the paper, but the things I'm not sure I left aside for now.
Someone mentioned that the scrappers are humans, and so I'll focus on the human side of the evidence. The hotel attack seemed to be planned, but at the same time, it felt sloppy.
A trap? Most probable, but if they were there to get that supernatural girl, why did they bother to wait for Unit 0?
Everything could be assumed—power moves, searching for something, or maybe they find amusement in doing shit like these. But without more investigation, I won't be able to progress. If the scrappers are made off by Wayhaven's townsfolk, maybe looking into the city can somehow help.
After all, cults attract new followers, and if new people are coming into town to stay, they'll have to be somewhere to sleep, eat, and plan.
Leaning against my chair, I sink my back onto the soft cushions in it, drowning myself in thoughts. I spot a shadow behind the blinders of my office; a knock on the door draws a groan from me.
Lazily getting out of my chair, I walk towards the sound. Turning the key, the door opens.
Tina enters the room with a bright smile painted on her face. "Hey." In seconds, her arms are wrapped around my shoulders. "if it isn't my favorite person."
My body moves on its own, hugging her back. "I heard you were sick," Tina says.
"A lot of things have been happening." Breaking the hug, I rest my back against the wall, and Tina does the same. "But I'm fine now; at least I hope so."
Tina puts her hand on my shoulder. "You're making that face again." Her words make me aware of the muscles on my face contracting into a deep frown and how my eyes unfocus, making everything become a blur.
"I know." Nodding my head, I bump my shoulder against hers. "But I'm better now that you're here." A small smile growing on my lips.
With a smug, Tina breathes, filling her lungs with air proudly. "You can keep the praises coming."
A laugh escapes my lips as I shake my head and smug back. "I'm afraid that if I do, you'll keep on begging me for more."
It's good to have some normality back; sometimes I forget how I miss these little things. Looking at Tina, I notice her boots dirting my office with mud.
"You found something on your patrols?" My words seem to make Tina remember something, and looking down, she realizes the mess she's making.
With a sigh, she looks at me with puppy eyes. "Sorry 'bout this, I forgot." Resting her shoulder against mine, she looks at the ceiling, prompting me to do the same. "It's just that today I was patrolling near the old people's house area."
"You know, the ones where we stole candy from on Halloween when we were still in the orphanage?" Nodding my head, she continues. "Then an idiot with a cardboard box bumped into me, spilling some weird stuff from it, and so I helped them gather the stuff, and without even a 'thanks' they ran away with the box."
"Do you know which house they got out of?"
Tina nods her head. "Yeah, remember the old Mr. Pierce's house?"
"yeah." The house belongs to an old couple that moved away, but they left the house to their grandkids. The sad part is that the grandkids never came to live here. "But what strange things?"
"You know, the type of book crazy people read—strange vial with bird bones—the usual, really," Tina says with a shrug.
Interesting. As I have some free time, I'll check it out, and even if it's nothing, at least I'll get to reminisce a little. Grabbing my spare hoodie, I put it on.
"I'll go check the house out, just to be safe."
Tina smiles and helps me put on the hoodie. "Okay, just call if anything happens, okay?"
"Sure thing, Boss." With a smug, I leave my office with Tina.
The walk to my apartment was quick; I grabbed my car, and now I'm driving to Mr. Pierce's house. Country music plays on the radio: Burning the Midnight Oil. My fingers tap rhythmically around the wheel, and unconsciously, I start singing along. It's good that at this time traffic is minimal; that makes things easier, at least.
"Your singing voice just makes you hotter." A whisper reaches my ear, and almost instantly I push the brakes with my feet, stopping the car abruptly in the residential area.
A laugh rings. "Hahaha!" Yui laughs. "You should have seen your face."
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"Yui?" Surprise steals the air from my lungs, and my heart suddenly beats at full speed from the scare.
A smug climbs their lips. "Oh, Detective." A purr-like sound escapes Yui's throat. "Your heart really doesn't lie, huh?"
Ignoring their words, I take a second to adjust my head. Slowly, my heart goes back to normal, and so does my breathing. "What are you doing here?"
Yui clicks their tongue before resting their feet on my lap, dirting my jeans with dirt. "You're no fun."
With a pout, Yui's hand gestures exaggeratedly. "I'm here because Dalia sent me to keep an eye on you and assist if anything happens to our little human."
"I see..." I look at the end of the street and decide to park here; after all, I'm not that far from the house. "I might have found some clues on the cult; just follow me and behave."
I watch as they frown before nodding their heads dramatically. "Yes, mom." Yui takes their shoes out of my lap and gets out of the car, no small amount of sarcasm in their voice.
Shaking my head and rubbing the bridge of my nose, I try pushing away the thoughts that this will be harder than needed because of them.
An old house hurt by time comes into view; the front porch is full of dust and bird feathers, and the windows are broken and barricaded.
A frown settles on my face. It's sad to see the house in this state. Even if Mr. and Mrs. Pierce were an angry couple known to like screaming at kids when they stepped on their grass and waved their cranes in the air, they were not bad people.
I learned later in life from the nice lady who worked in the mayor's office that they usually donated to the orphanage and that it helped the place stay running till me and Tina became old enough to leave.
Yui stands beside me, studying the house as well. "The place looks really old."
"It's because it is," I say plainly, moving towards the front porch.
The wood planks composing the floor creak painfully. My hand travels to the armrest on the rocking chair, gathering dust from it. A dust ball falls to the floor.
Thick layers have gathered from the years it was left outside. The door stares at me, and for some reason my instincts tell me to not enter, to go away, to not risk it.
My company walks to the door and opens it, not even questioning what's on the other side. Their eyes stare at me with a raised eyebrow, then a smug. "If you are scared, I can hold your hands." They bite their lower lip. "Or I can hold you by the waist."
Without even acknowledging their existence anymore, I grab my phone and turn on the flashlight. Taking my first step inside the house, the smell hits me: rotten.
Darkness surrounds me, with the only two sources of light inside coming from the open door behind us and the light from my phone. The place looks trashed, with chairs missing their legs, mirrors without glass, and a flight of stairs missing some steps.
As I enter the living room, a broken TV splattered on the floor makes me take caution with my steps. My eyes wander around any piece of evidence I can find. Searching for something, my feet break a piece of the floor, revealing a piece of burnt newspaper poorly hidden beneath it. But upon checking the floor, I see no signs of burning.
Looking at it, only some parts can be read; even the date at the top of the paper is impossible to read.
'A peaceful night turned into a nightmare this Thursday as a group of robbers broke into a house, claiming the lives of an entire family.
The parents bravely tried confronting the intruders, resulting in the deaths of a father and a mother. It wasn't confirmed the whereabouts of the daughter of the couple, but it isn't a fair stretch to assume that she was taken by the robbers.'
The rest of the paper is burned, but the words 'LIES' can be seen written on the back of it. Grabbing the newspaper with the tips of my fingers, I fold it carefully and stuff it in my pocket.
Yui moves to my side and looks at me. "I checked the rest of the place; it looks like there's nothing else but this."
They hand me an origami of what seems to be a dove. "Where did you find it?"
"Upstairs," Yui gestures for the staircase near the entrance. "But the room was a mess; the origami was on top of a table."
Questions and more questions. "Let's leave; better not to push our luck further."
I walk to my car, and they follow. As I reach for the driver's door, Yui leans on it, making me stop and focus on them.
"Where will we go now?" they ask, copying Colette's way of talking and serious face in a mocking way.
"I'll go back to the station, and if you want, you can come with me." Shooing Yui away from the door, I watch as they throw their arms in the air and yawn while going to the passenger side.
With both of us in the car, I drive to the station.
Back at the station
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Entering the office area, I walk to Verda's lab. Upon inviting myself in, I see Verda typing on his computer, the sound of his keyboard echoing in the room.
"You really don't take breaks, huh?" Smiling, I get to Verda's side, putting one hand on his shoulder.
"Different from you, I have little time to stuff myself at Tidy's shop." Verda grins slightly before opening his email. After reading its contents, Verda lets out a tired sigh. "Not again..."
Now concerned, I ask. "What happened?"
"It's the hospital; they still haven't found time to analyze the samples I sent them."
I raise an eyebrow. "How? They literally have a team for that." It's not the first time this has happened; in fact, it is more common than we wanted it to be.
I remember the times Detective Reele sent me and Tina to check with them, and to no surprise, the bastards were just hoping we would figure things out on our own; they left us in a tight spot with the mayor, hence why I understand what Verda will ask me.
"I'll check it out and see if I can make them do their job."
Verda nods his head and looks at me gratefully. "Thanks, Olivia."
With this, I leave the laboratory, finding that Yui was waiting for me outside. "I'll have to go to the hospital to grab some tests, you coming?"
Yui stays quiet for some seconds, an unreadable expression on their face. "Well, it's not like I have any other option," they force a laugh, but the tension on their shoulders makes me question why.
Ignoring it for now, I walk to the car, with Yui following right behind.
The hospital parking lot
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While Yui smokes inside my car, even after telling them not to, I send a text to Tina, just warning her I'd be out to deal with the hospital's bullshit.
I knock on my car's window, grabbing the attention of Yui, who just groans and throws their smoke away before leaving the car.
The hospital looks like any other: white, clean, and smelling of death. Just my kind of place.
Pulling open the glass door, I look to my left, seeing the waiting chairs for those who come here to get help, and to my right, the one I'm looking for, a sleepy young man standing behind a computer on the front desk.
When he sees my face, instantly he recognizes me, gulping drily before attempting a smile. But before he can say anything, I talk. "Cut the bullshit; you know why I'm here."
The commanding tone in my voice makes the boy shiver; his eyes dart everywhere but my face. "The...the lab guy...lab guy isn't here." The boy stutters, but so he does every time I come here for the past two years.
"He said...he said he was...he was sick."
Yui stands beside me, looking all around. A staticky sound comes from under the boy's table.
"Alan, are you there, over." a female voice rings from what sounds like a walkie-talkie.
The boy loses all his color as he grabs the walkie-talkie; prayers escape him before answering. "Ye...Yes, I'm here, over."
"Good, the lab guy asked for his coffee; go grab it for me, please." The forced way the woman talks, trying to allure the boy, makes me sick. "I promise I'll make up for it later, over."
Shaking my head, disappointed, I look at the boy, crossing my arms. "Where's the lab?"
Gulping once again, the boy points to the long corridor to his right. "First floor, last...last door to...to the right."
Before walking away, I look at the boy, and with a sigh, I speak. "Be careful with that one; don't let her play around with you."
The boy nods, and a small smile appears on his lips. "Ye..yes, ma'am."
Grabbing Yui's jacket, I pull them along, just to be sure they'll not terrorize the boy to death. Nearing the door, Yui's hand stops me, and when I turn to look at their face, expecting a flirty smile, there's none, only seriousness, their shaky hand holding my wrist.
Interesting. Since the moment we left the station, Yui has been strangely quiet. They look uneasy, with a mixture of fear and hate stamped on their face as they look around frantically.
Opening my mouth, I decide to try comforting them, even if I don't know what or why this is happening. "Hey, look at me." I grab Yui's hand and hold her chin gently, stopping their movement so they look into my eyes.
Yui grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. Pain rises as their strength threatens to break my fingers. They open their mouth to talk, but no words come; they take their words back seconds before they can leave.
"I'm here with you; breathe in and out slowly." I ignore the pain and focus on calming Yui as best as I can. It's strange to see them vulnerable like this.
They nod their head and do as I said, breathing in and out slowly in a cycle. Yui's grip on my hand slowly weakens, and so I hold their hand in mine, bringing them to a chair in the hall, near the last door.
Sitting them on the chair, I kneel in front of them. A forced smile comes from their lips, and a fake laugh rings out. "Oh Detective, kneeling down like this give me some ideas on how you can help me calm down."
Their words are clearly a way to cope with the situation, and that's the only reason why I'll let it slide.
"Stay here; I'll deal with the problem quickly so we can leave, okay?" I gently squeeze their knees before getting up; Yui's hand grabs mine, and they use their thumb to caress the top of mine.
"Be careful," Quietness comes after those words, and seconds later they let go of my hands and hug themselves with a forced smile. "Dalia will kill me if anything happens to you."
Entering the room, I see that it's really dark inside. An old man wearing a white coat organizes some files on his table, his gray, long hair swiftly moving along with his movements.
"Excuse me." I take a step forward.
The old man looks at me and furrows his eyebrows. "I see you didn't bring my coffee." His voice sounding dry and angry, just like I expected.
"I don't work here." I take my badge and show it to him. "I'm the detective from Wayhaven's police force."
The man looks at me, and his eyes widen. He takes a long look at my badge before a fake smile climbs his lips, hiding his true feelings. "I already emailed your friend; the results are still in processing."
He takes a step back, putting his hand behind his back and pushing a bunch of files to the side, his fingers lingering on one specifically. I watch as he poorly attempts to hide it.
"You're interfering with an ongoing investigation, so you either give me the file or I'll arrest you." I take some steps forward, an origami falls from his table, and I stop moving. The origami is the same as at Pierce's house.
While I lost my focus looking at it, the old man started to type on his keyboard with the impressive speed of someone who is used to working and doing it all day. Only when he hits the send button am I able to move. Out of instinct, my fist connects with his jaw, knocking the old man out.
"What the FUCK?" I grab the origami and the file from his table, storing the file on my waistband. I look at the computer; a message stands on it.
'A detective is with me at the hospital; the description matches the person Wrench talked about, name Olivia Rivers."
Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK, I screwed it up; I should have been faster, but how could I know? The hospital is involved too.
No time to think now; grabbing the old man. I open the window from his office and gently put him on a bush outside, he's surprisingly light, but that's probably because of the adrenaline coursing through me. I rush back to Yui, trying my best to stay calm and composed. "We need to go."
Yui stares at me, and then at my neck, furrowing their eyebrows, they nod, and so we both walk past the front desk to the outside. Yui looks at me, going to a bush and grabbing the old man.
Dragging him to my car, I put him on the cargo bed. My feet are moving fast, and my breath is just a push away from going rogue.
While driving, I look at Yui, gesturing for them to get their phone. "Call the agency; tell them the hospital had a mole working for the scrappers."
Yui nods, and while the phone rings, they look at me. "What happened? Why are you afraid?"
Forcing a smile, I do my best to push my anxiety away. "They know my name now."
Yui's eyes widen, and JB picks up their call. All sounds disappear; I have to make a conscious effort to keep my eyes from unfocusing; sweat gathers on my palms; my throat dries.
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