Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 29, 2010 18:29:31 GMT -8
Except for pretty much the first "minor" conversation, the rest of the text is an original micro-short story I wrote in creative writing, due to the fact I could only use 300~400 words, it wasn't very detailed, so I tried to add more description, hopefully, I was successful, if not, feel free to critcize me.
Prelude: The Summer of the Forgotten Years ~[/i]
“Are you the God of this Holy Tree?” The girl asked the boy sitting on the tree’s branches.
He looked at her, cynically, “No, there is no such thing as a ‘God’.”
The girl stared at him, wide-eyed, but also silent and curiously awaiting his next words; when she realized he was finished speaking, she spoke up instead, “My name is Liana, what’s yours?”
“It’s Loke.” He replied and turned so he didn’t have to face her, when he heard her stuttering on a word, he turned back around, “You’re still here? Go away!”
Liana took a gulp, “Would you…be friends with me?”
“Who would do that?” His condescending tone made her face flush, “Go find some friends that are girls, stupid.”
“N…None of the other girls in the family will talk to me…I overheard their parents saying they shouldn’t interact with me…”—She paused—“They say I’m a ‘sacrifice’.”
As soon as she said sacrifice, he turned wide-eyed at her, in complete and total disbelief.
***
15 Years Later…
Annalise, the maid, sat afraid in the dark room with the others. The harsh glow from the lightning flashed against the windows, along with the flames cackling in the fireplace. To try and hide her fear, she watched the dark burgundy walls glow due to the flames. Only, she couldn't for long, since he appeared in the doorway, the detective. He approached them, and sat at a chair opposite. As he opened his mouth to speak, many had gulped, while the others perspired and stayed deadly silent due to fear.
“I hope you all understand what the reason is for all of you coming here,” He began, “As you know, I am conducting the investigation to the murder of your relative, James Morder. The clues I have found leads to one of you in this room.”
When he began to reveal the clues, the others became stiff like boards, but Annalise continued to cringe, she hated the dark. And they knew it.
One clue he spoke of was an Engraved pen, the other was James's wine glass—it was filled with poison and it had a red nail-chip in it. It was originally thought by his relatives that the red nail-chip was the poison. There wasn't enough.
“And the one who murdered him is,” He paused, “A woman—each male in the room had tight alibi, each with witness’s to prove it, there are a few females as well, that have alibi’s and I’ll get to that in a few moments,” All the males sighed in relief, while the females became petrified with fear wondering who was safe and who was not. The detective paced slowly across the room, looking at each of the females, from the maid, Annalise, to the James Morder’s wife, and he said, “So, it’s one of you, Miss Sclianto—James’s cousin, the maid, Miss Patricia Kanso the gardener, his wife, or finally, Denise Morder, his daughter.” The wife looked at him wide-eyed.
“You’re not expecting me and my daughter are his murderer are you!? I loved my husband; I’d been with him for twenty-five years, if you honestly think that I’d betray him by killing him, you are sorely mistaken. Not to mention the fact that my daughter is only twelve. Why would she murder her loving father?” She shrilled with a raspy voice. Her daughter stayed silent, tightly hugging her stuffed bear, the stuffed bear on the other hand, looked like it was desperately trying to escape, stuffing coming out of its chest, one of the eye-button’s were missing, with the other about to come off.
“Of course not,” He smiled, making her calm again, “I was only analyzing your state of mind, and I only mentioned your daughter because not only was she the one who found him, I noticed her bear isn’t in its best state over there.” She was somewhat confused by his words, but when it meant that she was no longer a suspect she calmed down, but she did defend her daughter, “Her bear is only like that because it’s gotten worn down, she’s had it for ten years. It’s not going to stay in perfect condition over a decade.”
“Fair enough,” He smiled. He still looked at the wife and walked backwards, on his third step, he took a sharp spin, and grabbed the maid with his hands.
“My, what was your name, again, dear maid,...Annalise? Tell me, why there’s a band-aid on your finger.”
“I cut myself while washing the dishes; it was by a serrated knife.” Her voice was somewhat shaky, and she avoided contact by looking at the floor.
“Then, why are you shivering? Why are you avoiding eye-contact with me? Do you know that as soon as I see the look in your eyes, I can easily tell that you’re the culprit!” He smiled smugly, and in the next minute ripped her bandage off. A chunk of her nail was missing; he grabbed the chipped red nail and compared it to hers. It was like working on a puzzle. It was a perfect match, his smug smile stayed plastered on his face, “Care to explain? I would love to know why you murdered him.”
“I didn’t do anything! It wasn’t me!” She cried.
“You’re lying. I felt your pulse speed up, the heartbeat always gets faster when not only do people lie, but when they are in fear of getting caught. Miss Sclianto was outside drinking tea and reading poetry when his body was found, unless she can climb up walls to get to his window on the third floor and jump back down from his room to the porch, it is highly unlikely; the gardener, Miss Kanso, was shopping for roses and other flowers at the market three blocks away, because pests and pesticide killed the ones present in the garden. You are the only one who does not have a solid alibi, all you’ve said was ‘you were washing dishes’, and yet no one passed the kitchen and saw you doing them?
“Now, here’s what you did, you made sure everyone heard you say you were going to do dishes, and even turned on the water to make it sound believable. Once everyone went on to do whatever was needed, you left the kitchen with a glass of poisoned wine, went up the stairs. Knocked on his door, and then, gave him his glass. The nail was chipped from opening up the wine bottle you used to cover over the smell of poison. Later, you left the nail chip in there to make it seem like he was having an affair and his mistress was the one who killed him, leaving you cleared, but there was one other clue: the Engraved Pen, it has probably come across most of your eyes before, as James Morder used it for everything, however, this pen was not always engraved. The Engraved writing was a message, kind of like a message written in blood but without the mess. If you look closely, you’ll see that the Engraved letters, piaw, pretty much make no sense whatsoever, but if you look at it with the use of the mirror, vertically, it then becomes biam, then if you flip it horizontally, it becomes ‘maid’, Annalise is the only maid currently employed here. It must be you, Annalise.”
All that anyone could see was her desperate face, and his intuitive smile, then suddenly her arm went free from his grasp like a whip and suddenly, a buzz broke the silence. It was a bullet, which imprinted a huge mark on the burgundy wall due to the impact.
“Using a gun only makes you guiltier, you know.” His smile disappeared into a more serious expression, he forced her onto the ground, twisting her arms behind her back and cuffing them. He left her for a moment and picked up her gun, he put it on safety mode, and then placed it in his pocket. He walked back over to her, lifting her up.
“I'll take her away,” He said, dragging out a whimpering Annalise out of the French Oak doors, after he collected his payment. When they were far enough away, he whispered in her ear, “Good Job, Annalise, we've conned another clan,” As they approached the entrance doors, another man appeared, he opened the French Oaks, and his presence made them realize they've been conned, as he was in fact, James Morder, he looked as if he was just woke up from the dead...if only they knew...
----
Edited: Updated the newer version, hopefully it's better, if not feel free to give me your worst (critiquing wise).
So what'd you think? I know he has a huge chunk of text-dialouge. Sorry. I'll try to work on that one, later.
I also have chapter one and two done--however, I think they need a bit more self-editing before I upload them; I'm also working on chapter three and I'm almost done. [/color]
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PRINCESS TROLLESTIA
Persistent Member
YER A WIZARD PONY HARRY
AND THEN I SAID, "OATMEAL?? ARE YOU CRAZY??"[Mo0:15]
Posts: 3,810
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Post by PRINCESS TROLLESTIA on Nov 29, 2010 19:18:20 GMT -8
I haven't read through it entirely, but I'll make a few comments:
This is kind of a weird sentence and really doesn't carry the effect I think you're going for. You should remove "and" and start a new sentence, otherwise it reads like "he said something and then he was just like go away" without any sort real indication of time passing.
And then this sentence kind of threw me:
Light from lightening isn't actually redundant, but they're words that read that way when they're so close together. You're better off picking out a different word for light, or just describe the action of lightning, which I think would work better if you're trying to establish setting and mood.
"Permeation" describes a pretty slow and steady process (like osmosis), whereas lightning is a sudden bursting or flashing of light - so again, not really a good word to be describing the action.
Also, same problem with "fire roaring in the fireplace," - sounds redundant without actually being redundant.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 30, 2010 3:17:19 GMT -8
^Okay then, I'll fix that later. Thank you~~.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Jan 26, 2011 19:30:33 GMT -8
It has been edited (a little bit), and fixed, I'll post up the newer version at a later point.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Feb 11, 2011 16:20:33 GMT -8
I've updated the newer prelude version, chapter one may be up soon, again, maybe. Chapter One is kind of fillerish at the beginning (a reocurring theme for each chapter I've written thus far .___.;;;.) However, the filler is mainly there to introduce their personalities and interactions with each other a little bit more, so it'll probably stay.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Mar 12, 2011 15:30:40 GMT -8
WARNING: It does have language, and a few suggestive themes.
The First Engrave: The Misplaced Heirs
After their complete success on their last mission, they decided it was time for a short intermission, so here they were, at beach in Amiona Port—one of the hottest and trendiest places. Annalise, surprised by this sudden vacation, blanketed herself in the sun, the sand was slightly hot under the sun’s intense heat, however, her towel bypassed this small problem with ease (unless of course, her limbs moved outside it.) Veran, on the other hand, was in a full suit (which baffled Annalise as to how he could stand it), at the small table, he was sipping his tea in short portions while reading something; Annalise didn’t bother to pay attention as to what it was. “Veran.” Annalise spoke softly.
“Hm?” He muttered.
“How can you stand wearing that in this heat? Why don’t you put your shorts on and relax a little, it’s no wondering that you being tense all the time is making you all moody.”
“I’ll pretend that I did not hear that. And if I wanted your opinion I would have asked for it, you can see that I have not, therefore I will ask you to refrain from asking such questions again.” Not one ounce of eye contact, that somewhat bothered her, that he was more interested in what he was reading than what she had to say.
“Okay, I cannot stand it anymore. What are you reading?” She snatched it from his hands, his face turned to her with a glare—one of the oldest rules, never steal a guy’s newspaper, it’s bound for trouble. “Oh, the Morder case entered the news. That’s what you were reading?”
“No, I was reading the article about beauty products and horoscopes—of course I was reading the Morder article!”
“Ah, horoscopes. Good idea!” She partially ignored him and turned to that section, “Let’s see, Aquarius…Aquarius…‘You will have a fateful encounter today—however, do not lose heart! Once you lose confidence it’ll be all over.’ What the heck?” Annalise was perplexed until Veran took back the newspaper.
“I’m trying to make sure we left no clues behind, the simultaneous hypnosis should have been enough when James re-entered the room with the others; however, the hypnosis is not always perfect. I wanted to check and make sure if I needed to re-perform one.”
“Veran, as much as I hate to say this, because I know that you’ll rub it in my face later, anything that involves a case, you completely excel at, not once have I ever seen you make a mistake. And as your partner in crime, that is saying something, you know.” While she spoke, she sat at the other chair, facing him. However he did not reply after she was done talking.
In fact, he wasn’t even looking at her. This made her furious, because even though he wasn’t on her “top best friend list” if there was such a thing, she loved attention. She turned to see what he was looking at, and then noticed him smirking.
“Right on cue.” He smiled, as he saw a man with his two children.
“Keithe Lazerwic!?” Annalise gasped.
“Keep quiet, bonehead, it could blow our cover.”
“How’d you know he’d be here, is this just coincidence?”
“There is no such thing as coincidence in this world—”
“Only hitsuzen, I know, I know.” She joked.
“Okay, that’s it. No more comics for you.” He cleared his throat while Annalise was shocked and somewhat horrified at that statement, “I obtained some important Intel about our target here, mainly tracing his regular patterns. Through estimation and checking his bank records—which he recently took out a huge sum, and his current status at his job—which he just requested PTO on. Not to mention that he loves resorts, including this one. It was quite obvious that he would show up at some point, well, if you have the Intel, and the brain required to process said Intel.”
Why…why do I feel like he’s making fun of me? Oh right, this is Veran—he probably is. Jerk.
“So what is the know-how for this one?” She asked, ignoring his last condescending statement.
“As of right now, nothing. He just arrived via private jet. He has not booked into any of the resort hotels. Until we know where he is going to book his residence, we cannot charge in empty-handed. Brains can be used as weapons too, you know.”
Ignoring his statement, she asked “Where’d you discover this Intel?”
“That’s easy: Hacking into the server on his computer. I found a bunch of useful and useless information with a random assortment of family photos, essays, statements, and etcetera.”
“I never knew that you could hack.” She blinked.
“Really, your karaoke video of the song ‘My sunshine’ tells me otherwise.” He chuckled.
“How cruel.” She was totally mortified, “I thought I completely destroyed any and all evidence of that poorly-made video awhile ago. How the heck did you find it?”
“First of all: Who said that I just did that hack recently? Second of all, even if you delete something, the hard drive still remembers it. It only requires knowing how to find information. That’s all.”
“Wait…is this the reason why my laptop went all screwy on me because of a virus and then I had to pay to get it reformatted? Is it because you hacked it? If so, I must seriously resist trying to hit you right now.”
“Go right ahead and try. It’s your fault for not doing malware and virus scans daily. Technology is a wonderful thing, that is, if you know how to use it correctly.”
Annalise was seething, because it also bothered her how he could invade her privacy so easily.
Instead, she tried a less extreme approach, “Why did you do that?”
“Simple: Leverage. And you know it could be quite the motivation tool when you try to disobey me, considering I could leak it all of the internet, and you could do absolutely nothing about it.”
“NOOOO!” She cried, “Anything but that!”
His face came to a stop a few inches from her face, his fingers holding her chin, “Then do everything I tell you to.” He whispered, his breath caressed her skin, which made her blush and made the whisper more alluring. It troubled her. The next moment, he was in his original position: legs crossed, his right hand holding his tea, his left hand holding his face, and the newspaper was on the table, with his left elbow on top of it to make sure that the ocean breeze did not make it go flying anywhere.
With Veran’s gaze back onto the newspaper, Annalise decided to go out to the ocean to let out some steam. She sat down near the bank, her feet and ankles feeling the brush of the ocean tide that came back and forth. She let out a sigh, and stared down at the bank. She then, noticed a bunch of sea shells, and she picked one up from the ocean. It had a pink-white coating, the curves were very soft as she stroked her finger against the grooves, she brought it to her mouth and blew out, the noise was faint, but it made her feel better, as if she were blowing out her frustration across the ocean. She put down the shell and looked up at the sky, when she heard a noise behind her.
“Veran?” She asked, then looked and noticed it was just two teenage guys.
“Hey there babe, would like to join us and have some fun?”
“No thank you.” She said harshly, and started to walk away, when one of them grabbed her wrist, which tugged her back.
“Let me go.” Her words were harsh, and her expression clearly said that she was not in the mood, and managed to get out of his grip, although it felt like rug burn a second later, “Not interested.” Her voice went stale and she started to pick up her pace again, heading back to where Veran was. When both of her arms were caught and they spun her around, with their force they pinned her on the ground, afterwards, they let go of her arms and held their hands on her shoulders.
Why is nobody looking. Why is nobody coming to help me? Veran…?
That is when she remembered she was still holding the sea shell in her hand, and smashed it against one of their skulls, which smashed into the other one’s head. She then managed to crawl out and started to run forward, when they grabbed her leg.
“You bitch, you’d better learn to not refuse—” One of the guys said, however he was unable to finish as a foot came crashing into his face. Annalise looked up and it was Veran’s right leg. He picked her up, and held her as if she were his possession.
“Listen here, she’s mine. I’m the only one who gets to pick on her. If you happen to forget this, it’ll be more than your skull that I’ll be breaking. Got it?” Veran was dead serious, to the point where it almost brought shivers down Annalise’s spine, then she watched both of them scram as they held their faces.
Veran dragged her back to the table by her wrist, and said, “Sit.” Which she obeyed incase this also was included in what he stated earlier—because she really didn’t want that video to be leaked.
She looked at him, and he was furious, probably beyond furious, and it made her complexion a bit pale.
“What were you thinking?! Why didn’t you shout my name so I’d come help you?!” His snarl was like several knives piercing into her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think they would be that persistent.”
“Your indecision to act could have gotten you kidnapped, raped, killed!”
“But I did show resolve, or did you not notice when I smashed that sea shell into their skulls?” “Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that they grabbed your leg as you tried to get away, what would you have done then, answer me!” “I would have kicked them with my other foot.” “And if the other guy had you completely pinned down?” “I would’ve bitten their hands off.”
“And if they had you gagged?”
“I would struggle, even if it would cause my bitter end.”
“And that, would’ve been a foolish mistake, before you make such statements, you should learn what your weaknesses are and try to overcome them.”
“And Veran, may I pray tell what are yours?” Her face was full of bitterness.
While waiting for an answer, he whispered something, but so low an octave that she couldn’t understand what it was. Possibly a secret he doesn’t want anyone to know? Who could’ve thought that Mr. Hotshot Veran could have such a weakness?
It made her curious, but before she could ask him to speak up, he then glanced back in the direction where he spotted the Lazerwic’s.
“Annalise, pack your stuff. It’s time to go on the move, and stay close to me this time.”
Okay. She thought, because her expression showed just enough to be able to speak without using words.
It was a few minutes later (around seven to be exact) when they reached the Benevuielle Resort Hotel—five stars, and it costs a bundle for one night alone. Everyone who comes to Amiona wishes to book a stay there at least once. Annalise thought: Is…is this my chance to stay at a luxurious hotel, hell, I could probably even have a bubble bath. This is awesome! As soon as they walked in, Veran approached the clerk while simultaneously placing a hand on Annalise’s shoulder and dragging her a bit forward.
“Do you happen to have any housekeeping jobs available?” He asked. At that moment, Annalise internally frowned. Of course, it had to be housekeeping. Great...Is spending one night here too much to ask? “Do you happen to have any prior experience when it comes to housekeeping?” The clerk asked. Her eyes were a serious slate-gray; her hair was a curly auburn that went to about her shoulders, and her complexion was a light-tan, not too surprising, considering that she works at a resort.
“Yes. I do.” Annalise replied, to avoid getting Veran frustrated.
“Let me check the database to see if there are any openings.” The clerk continuously tapped onto her keyboard, and then a moment later, “I’m sorry, but there are no available spots on our staff. Would you like me to contact you as soon as we have an opening?”
Annalise looked at Veran, and at that point his iris’s slightly changed color, “Are you sure that there are no openings? Check again.”
“Yes sir. I suppose that I can let it go this time, and we can let her go straight to training.” The clerk told them. People always get like this when Veran hypnotizes them; Annalise believes that he could control their very soul if he felt like it. As much as she hated to admit it, she believed that he could be that powerful.
She followed the clerk, into an office…possibly for an interview? Annalise wasn’t sure, however, she wouldn’t get to find out when Veran sent an even more powerful hypnosis signal.
“Please sign this contract and I shall get more paperwork that while help along with the hands-on training.”
“I’m afraid, Miss, that there is no need for that. We can cut to the chase.” Veran said, his hypnotism still going on strong. Annalise looked at him concerned, because he was starting to sweat. He looked into her eyes and knew what she wanted to ask, he just gave a grin, showing that he was still going on strong.
“Okay, there are a few rooms that still need to be cleaned, and need their bed sheets clean and changed. We’ll go to room 5A.” The clerk replied.
They went to the elevator, and stopped at the fifth floor; the clerk grabbed the master key from her pocket and unlocked the door.
The clerk was about to go on in with them, however, she heard the bell chime, and gave Annalise a set of keys, “I’ll leave this to you then, I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” She got into the lone elevator and as soon as the doors shut, they began to converse.
“Veran, while I know that hypnotism is useful; I don’t know where anything in this hotel is…at all. How do you expect me to do all of this?” Her voice was a mix of annoyance and concern in case they get caught.
Veran in a single moment placed his forehead against hers, which caught her off-guard, “I’ve already thought about this, I have the floor plans memorized. Now, can you see it?”
“When did you—Yeah, I see the floor plans. Thanks.”
“Good, and to answer your unfinished question: When I had my laptop out earlier, I memorized each of the hotels floor-plans just in case.”
“But there are seven hotels, each about 45 stories or more. How long did it take you to do this?”
“Not very long, remember, I have quite the brain on my side.” Veran smirked; however, there was no condescending tone in his words, so it didn’t bother Annalise, much.
“You used your hypnotism a lot though, rest in the rocking chair while I clean up.”
Veran smirked, his voice cooing at her, “Are you worried for me? How thoughtful of you. However, I’ll decline because I’ll be on the top floor at the casino. This will also give me time to see which Suite our targets booked into. I could hypnotize her again, but that would make things no fun, and also, it could damage her very mind and spirit, and I don’t feel like having my energy siphoned anymore.” His tender-voice gave her the chills, put the words spoken out of it balanced that out with irritation.
“Get out then and let me do this damned job!” Her face was red as she pushed him out of the doorway and then slammed it. Veran stood outside blinking and then smiled, walking towards the elevator to go up to casino. “Stupid Veran.” Annalise bit her lip, and grabbed the dirty sheets, pillow cases included. The room itself needed to be dusted and vacuumed, because of Veran’s thought-transmission (powered by hypnosis.), she knew where the janitors closet/laundry room was, she kept the sheets in her arms, holding the set of keys the clerk gave her just before she went back downstairs. Each floor had its own set of laundry rooms and janitor closets, each one, is at the end of each hall, it makes it more efficient that way. She headed down in that direction, and unlocked the laundry room.
Veran on the other hand, is approaching the casino floor. A lot of big-names were here, and he hoped that there wasn’t anyone he knew personally present. He took out his laptop from his bag and also flipped open his phone. The phone rang three times before someone answered.
“Annalise. It’s me, I’m now in the casino, however, I would like to communicate better, so take out your ear-phone, considering that it’s a custom-made restricted channel that nothing can hack. Well, except me.”
“Give me a second; I kind of have my hands full.” Annalise replied, overwhelmed.
“Then here’s an idea: Hang up, put your phone back in your pocket, grab your ear phone, and put it in your ear.”
“Must you always be so blunt?” Annalise sighed, but she already knew the answer to that.
“If it gets you to understand what I am saying, then yes. I will forever be blunt—”
“Don’t taunt me.” Annalise growled, and hung up her phone, she placed it back in her pocket and switched it with her earphone. She waited ten seconds, and then she heard a connection.
“He doesn’t seem to be the casino as of yet. But he is notorious for joining in the games, so he is most likely going to leave his brats in his room to join in.” Veran induced.
“I see. I haven’t seen him either, but then again, it’d be random to see someone as rich as him on the fifth floor. He probably booked a pent-house suite—ah…you probably already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Now you’re catching on. I’ll contact you later when I see him, then I’ll let you know which room number he is.” Veran ordered.
“Got it.” Annalise replied, letting the disconnection close and she returned to cleaning the room, which didn’t take too long, because she only needed to do a quick dust, and a vacuum. Afterwards, she checked to make sure no one was watching her, and went up the elevator. She checked the list of rooms that needed cleaning—which she received in the office—there were two that needed cleaning. However, as she got to the next floor, both were already clean, by the other maids.
They both looked at her suspiciously.
“A newbie? Great... I’m not training her.” This maid had fiery eyes and hair, which seemed to compliment her shrewish personality (at least on the surface), she was tall, and had a clear pale complexion, which Annalise found a mite strange.
“Neither am I. I’m sick of the brainless maid-wannabes, who think it’s a way to trap men—even if the men seem to deserve it. However, she doesn’t seem to be the type, yet.” This one, was a bit shorter than the other maid, she had dirty blond hair, green eyes, and another pale complexion with freckles over her skin, other than the freckles, her skin it was quite clear, which Annalise somewhat admired.
“And a hello to you too.” Annalise replied with a faux-smile, “Now, I’ll leave you two to your work, and I’ll get on with mine.”
Annalise was walking away, but was still in earshot of their conversation.
“Well, at least she seems to have attitude, it may not be so bad, but I still don’t want to train her. I refuse!” Miss. Fiery Personality exclaimed.
“Come on Melissa, lighten up, she seemed to be serious about her work, at least. But I’m surprised that Tessa hired another worker. Maybe she saw something in her that she liked?” Freckles wondered. Or she was hypnotized. Annalise thought to add, but continued to walk to the elevator.
“Well, whatever the case, Donia, it doesn’t change the fact we have a few more floors to clean, considering that the other maids here aren’t serious enough and fool around all the time, I’m surprised that Tessa still has them fired them yet.”
I hope they don’t mess with our plans, Annalise prayed. They seemed to want to spy on me. Hopefully, they don’t. Maybe I’ll ask Veran to—no, he’s used too much of his strength already today, using it three times on one person—maybe four if he used it on those two goons from earlier, and not to mention on me so I could get the floor plans.
Annalise looked at the list, there were a few unmade beds on the next few floors, however, she wasn’t sure if they were already checked off or not, but she decided to check them anyway.
Reaching the floor eight, she checked the questioned rooms, some of which she really wish she did not open. At least I know what those two were talking about now, ever hear of business before pleasure? Annalise tried to let it not bother her, so she quickly went to the next floor.
According to the list, the thirteenth floor was the busiest (in cleaning terms). Twenty out of the twenty-six rooms needed to be cleaned, which just made her go: “Ah, crap. No wonder they consider thirteen to be an unlucky number.”
Once two hours past, she got three of the rooms done—but she was starting to get tired, so she decided to do one more room, and then she’d take a rest.
However, it turned out that the floor was more unlucky then she originally thought, considering the next room she opened (accidently, as she read the room number incorrectly.) had the two goons from earlier in it, and if looks could kill…
Currently at the casino, Veran was multi-tasking, checking the patrons in the casino, while also hacking into the hotel’s security system. Another moment and he completely cracked the system, a bunch of windows popped up, along with several of the hallway security cameras. He was going to disable them; however, he wasn’t going to do that just yet, as it would make the plan rushed, and therefore…faulty.
He was checking the other floors, when he noticed something on floor thirteen; it was too quiet. The other floors each had a bit of noise on them, whether it was vacuum’s, or arguments between the guests (or employees), so he ran through the video backlog and a few minutes ago, he saw Annalise on the screen, frozen still in front of an opened door, with the two bastards from earlier, they then threw her on the bed and began to frisk her, which is when one of them noticed the camera and quickly shut the door.
How long ago was this? Dammit, I should’ve checked through the guest list. Veran gritted his teeth, and tried to contact her, and all that he could hear were “Mmh” noises. Was she gagged?
“Annalise, if you can hear me? Answer me!” Veran shouted into her earphone, however, all she could do in reply was mumble because of the cloth wrapped around her, and then he heard their words, “Shut up Bitch, and do what you’re told!” His speech was somewhat skewered, Veran figured he was the guy whom he kicked in the face.
“Wait a second, Ben. This bitch has an earphone.” The other one shouted, yanking it out of her ear, and then smashing it.
Dammit. Veran clenched his teeth and began to dash towards the elevator.
Meanwhile, on the eleventh floor: “Melissa, we should follow-up onto the thirteenth floor. There’re too many unclean rooms for that newbie to handle.” Donia suggested.
“Alright, we’re through here anyways.” Melissa replied.
They went to the elevator, and it was about a minute later when they got out, and then they heard shouting.
“What’s going on?” Donia inquired.
“I don’t know, a quarrel between guests, however, it’s annoying…time to play mediator.” Melissa had a serious expression plastered on her face, though her eyes showed a twinge of irritation. Once they found out which room, they unlocked the door with their keys, and their expression turned to both anger and disgust.
“You bastards, get off her dammit!” Melissa and Donia screamed.
Instead of having an ‘Oh, shit, we’ve been caught!’ look, they just grinned.
“Oh so you would like to join us? Come here, doll face.” The one with the broken nose cooed—at least he tried to, but due to his broken nose, that made his speech a bit difficult.
Melissa and Donia both grabbed their brooms and charged in, repeatedly hitting the both of them in the head and back, which gave Annalise a chance to hit both of them in the groin—which she did, at full force. While both of them were wincing in pain, Melissa and Donia helped her with the gag, and untied both of her wrists.
Outside, they heard a shout: “Annalise!” it was Veran, who by that point approached the door.
“Veran,” She sniffled, and ran to him after giving a silent thank you to Melissa and Donia.
“You okay?” Veran’s voice did a total one-eighty, it was very gentle and soothing, and it was overwhelmed in concern.
“They tried to violate me!” Annalise then began to bawl to the point where nobody could comprehend what she was saying.
“I told you so, but did you listen to me, nooooo.” Veran’s old voice was back.
“How was I supposed to know they’d come after me for revenge? Shouldn’t they be going after you, considering that you kicked one of the dude’s in the face?!” Annalise cried.
“And this is coming from someone who smashed a seashell against one of their skulls, which reverberated into the other one.” Veran, while still a pissed off at the two hooligans, he was a bit amused at Annalise, “Feeling any better?”
She nodded slightly, her smile weak, Veran then directly looked at the other two maids, “Could you look after her for a moment, I have something that I need to do with those two.” And the murderous look in his eyes reappeared. Both Melissa and Donia gulped and nodded, quickly taking Annalise and shutting the door behind them.
“I thought that I told you two, to never touch her again. And yet, here you are, having her gagged and tied up, and about to rape her. You should have taken my warning seriously.” He cracked his knuckles, while both of the guys started to hold each other in fear, Veran’s only thought to that was Pathetic.
A few minutes later, and they were barely recognizable, barely bruised and bleeding, to the point they had to get sent to the hospital, however, while barely conscious, the owner of the building said that they were forever banned from the building, no matter what their father (who turned out to be a mass-corporate owner) said.
The three girls were in one of the already cleaned rooms on the thirteenth floor, Melissa and Donia were trying to comfort her however, but she was still shivering severely.
After “cleaning up the trash”, Veran entered the room, and kneeled down beside her, while saying thanks to Donia and Melissa, and asked if they could be alone, both girls nodded and left the room (however, they didn’t leave the location per se, as they were still outside the door, curious to know if Veran was taken.)
“How’re you holding up?” He asked.
“Like crap…and…I compromised our mission, didn’t I?” Annalise sniffled, her eyes were red and puffy, and endless tear stains were on her cheeks.
“I’m partially to blame; I didn’t check the personal info of the other residents, because I was too focused on the task at hand.” Veran took a slight pause, “But, no, it did not, I already hacked into the security cameras, I’ll keep checking them to make sure what room he’s in. All I want you to do right now, is get some rest.”
She felt numb, to the point where she could barely move and Veran had to place her on the bed himself.
“I’m scared, now every time I close my eyes, I see those two there, staring at me with revenge and lustful eyes.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t come here again, I’ll be here, watching over you.” A moment after Veran said those words; Annalise closed her eyes slowly, trying to catch a ride to dreamland.
He sat down on the bed, one of the pillows cushioning his back, and he reopened his laptop; the security camera footage was still accessed and he began to examine each and every hallway to see which room Lazerwic went in.
Melissa and Donia were still outside the door, a bit confused; most of the things that they heard were at a low tone, but they were able to get the word “mission” out of it. And they were disappointed to hear the “I’ll watch over you.” tidbit, which to them, was a dead give-away that he was taken, however, deciding not to frown in disappointment, they decided to clean up the rest of the rooms on this floor.
7:45 the next morning:
Annalise moaned and then slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Veran, his laptop was still open, but his eyes were shut and his face was leaning against his left hand. She smiled at his sleeping face, which made him seem a lot different than his actual personality, to the point where she almost forgot what happened yesterday.
Silently, she whispered, “Thank you, my knight in shining armor.”
“Your welcome,” He replied, which made her jump in fright.
“I thought that you were asleep, you scared me!” Annalise cried.
“I was just taking a little rest, but ‘knight in shining armor’ eh? Maybe I should pretend to sleep more often.” He chuckled, only kidding.
“Augh, you…” She frowned, but decided not to further comment because while late, he did come to her rescue.
“Are you up to initiating the plan today?” He asked. Each “mission” they do has four stages: Preparation, Infiltration, Investigation, and Compensation. Right now, they were right in between stages two and three.
“Yes, I won’t let what happened yesterday chain me down.” Annalise had a bold, courageous look in her eyes.
“Alright, it took me a few minutes, but I found the video of them entering their room, you should be able to figure out the rest: standing in as their maid, and then—” Veran started to say, and then whispered the rest in her ear, because, even walls sometimes have eyes and ears, and he wanted to keep the plan between both of them.
“I see. What will be the destination?” Annalise asked.
“I’ll tell you later, in case those two are eavesdropping on us again.” He was obviously referring to Melissa and Donia, but who knew that he could tell that they were still there, then again, he has been known for having adept analytical skills.
Five-Thirty PM:
“It’s almost time.” Veran noted Annalise.
“Yup.” She smiled, almost finished putting on her gear—read: her maid outfit with a few hidden weapons.
She left the room alone, taking the elevator up to the top floor, above, she was outside the casino, behind them, were the five penthouse suites, she walked through the edge of the casino, and then knocked on the door.
Keithe Lazerwic answered, “Yes?”
“I’m here to change your sheets, sir.” She replied.
“Oh, we already had someone come and change them.”
“Oh, is there anything that you need?” She blinked.
“Yes, there is, in fact. And I will pay my tab extra if you could do me this favor: I would like to go into the casino—however, no children are allowed, if possible, could you watch them for me, I know that you are a maid and not a babysitter—so I understand if you have other things to do, but if you could squeeze it in, I’d appreciate it.”
“Okay.” Annalise replied with another faux-smile.
“Great! I’ll introduce you!” He shouted, overjoyed, and quickly brought her inside; his two children looked up, but didn’t say a word.
“Antoinette, Christopher, I’d like you to meet your babysitter—” Keithe started to say, but it backfired when he didn’t know her name.
“Annalise.” She finished for him, “It’s nice to meet you.” She kneeled and held out her hand, but they just looked the other way, and didn’t say a word.
“Sorry, I know they seem unresponsive, but ever since their mother died, they went mute—I can’t get a sound out of them.” He sighed, slightly sad, but then he scratched the back of his head, and laughed it off, “But you probably don’t want to hear this, so I’ll be going now, please let me know if anything happens.” And then, not even a moment later, and he was gone.
Excellent, She thought to herself.
She kneeled down next to them, and cocked her head, “What’cha drawing?”
Again, they ignored her. But she decided not to give up. When they moved their hands forward again, she noticed a certain feature: both of them had heterochromia, while heard of, it wasn’t very common. She then heard her earphone (a new one, courtesy of Veran) beep, she clicked it, “Yes?”
“I’ve got everything set up, I’m about to perform it now.”
“Got it, he’s gone so the coast is clear.” She replied.
“Perfect.” He smiled, and then both of them hung up.
Above, Veran was wearing a black suit—kind of like a mix between a thief, a ninja, and an assassin. The rope he had tied around his waist, and the dome surface he began to lower, and he stood on top of the glass dome above them; he took out one of his tools, and began to quietly and carefully cut open a hole.
Annalise kept both of the children busy, so he wasn’t rushed, and then he swooped down, and landed without a noise—like a cat. And this cat prowled like he was nearing his prey. He closed in, and in a moment, he was behind Annalise, and hit her with a taser, and while placing a cloth in front of her face, so she couldn’t scream, he hit her in the back of her neck, knocking her out.
The two mute children, looked horrified, and held each other while shivering, but even as they protested, he grabbed them with ease, and gently knocked them out.
“Mission complete! All thanks to my wonderful actress.” He smirked, and then went back out the way he came.
Keithe Lazerwic, however, was doing quite well with his current game, but he decided after this one, he’d go and check on his children. But when he was consumed after he won. So he kept on playing, for two more hours, until he won almost triple what he originally had. By that point, he decided that enough was enough and grabbed the cash he earned and went back to his penthouse, everything was normal—except for the fact that Annalise was knocked out cold and his children were nowhere to be seen. He dropped his money, and let out a cry. After he cried his heart out, he tried to wake up Annalise, and she finally managed to stir.
“What happened?” He was breathless.
“I…I’m not sure…I’m still…dizzy.” She said, then not a second later, his phone rang, he ran to pick it up, but the words on the other line were the last thing that he wanted to hear:
“IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR CHILDREN AGAIN, YOU NEED TO PAY A CERTAIN PRICE. I’LL CALL BACK LATER FOR DETAILS.” The voice was greatly encrypted, and before he could protest, the caller already hung up.
“N—no…” He whimpered.
Annalise blinked, trying to get control of herself.
Veran, you told me that would be the lowest frequency—that it’d be just a little pinch—that was more than just “a pinch”, and was hitting the back of my neck that necessary? Annalise hid her annoyance—especially because she didn’t want to give anything away, as it would compromise their goal.
After waiting a few agonizing minutes, the phone finally rang again, this time; he put it on speaker, “HELLO AGAIN. I’VE COME BACK WITH DETAILS—FIRST OF ALL, NO POLICE INVOLVEMENT. IF I SEE ONE COP, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER SEE YOUR KIDS AGAIN, SECONDLY, THE PRICE: OF TEN THOUSAND IN CASH, ONLY. SECONDLY, YOU MUST PUBLICLY ANNOUNCE WHAT YOU HAVE ENDORSED IN THE PAST—CARE TO HAVE A REMINDER?” As soon as the encrypted voice said “endorsed in the past”, Keithe’s eyes went wide, as if it were a memory he wanted to forget.
“I’m sorry; they forced me to endorse it. They said they’d take away my family if I didn’t. I’m sorry. I’m so…so sorry.” After his whimper, the message continued,
“EXCHANGING ONE LIFE FOR ANOTHER? NO MATTER, BRING THE MONEY, AND THE GIRL—I DON’T WANT HER RUNNING TELLING ANYONE. GOT IT? NOW HERE’S THE PLACE: THE ABANDONED BUILDING AT PARKRIDGE, YOU SHOULD KNOW WHERE IT IS, CONSIDERING IT’S NOT FAR FROM HERE. YOU HAVE AN HOUR.”
The message finally ended, and Keithe was also at his wits end.
“What did you happen to endorse that has that person so angry?” Annalise asked.
He looked at her, almost all of the life drained from his eyes, “I’m not proud of it, at all, but my family is just a branch in a bigger one, so the main household makes all the rules and what they say goes, and they had a pact that they made us endorse and keep secret about…and well the reason behind this was…two children who were both born on two different, but very special days…and well,…I shouldn’t go delving any further. I need to get my own two children back, at any cost. And you heard the message, you have to come to, are you prepared?”
“Yes.” Annalise replied, to him, her eyes showed a bit of uncertainty and remorse, but also the courage to step forward, and he admired that.
Both Keithe and Annalise walked out of his room, and then he opened up his cell phone. He knew he shouldn’t have, however, he called the police, he feared that even with the money, he may never see his kids again, as how this scenario happens very often.
However, his call was redirected to Veran, “Hello, this is detective Veran Nolk speaking, how may I help you?” He asked, and while they could not see it, he had a huge smirk on his face, as if Keithe was in the palm of his hand.
“I need to be quiet about this, because there are a lot of people around, and I’m not supposed to be talking about it, however, I just got a phone call, and this person said that they kidnapped my children, and they are waiting at the abandoned building in Parkridge, can you meet me there?”
“Of course I can.” Veran smiled again, and shut his phone, “Like a moth to a flame, people are so easy to manipulate.” All the while, being next to both of Keithe’s kidnapped children.
Parkridge: The Abandoned Factory, Eight Forty-One PM.
When Keithe’s van pulled up into the parking lot, Veran was already waiting outside the building, his black Sedan over to his right.
“Are-are you the detective that I spoke to on the phone?”
“Yes I am, Veran Nolk in the flesh.” He replied.
“I’m very grateful; now, I hope that I can get my children back safe and sound.”
“We should hurry.” Veran noted, and Keithe only nodded.
They carefully entered, trying so much as to not make a creaking noise, this building however, used to be an old factory, and therefore, there is still a bunch of water leaking through the floors, and is on the verge of dilapidation; as they continued to walk through the hall, they past a bunch of steam-rooms, and a bunch of machines that were caked over in rust. They turned through another corridor which led them to a bigger room The room was wide—it may have been a mess hall in its former glory, in its second story, there were walkway bridges connecting to other parts of the second floor. And on the second floor, were both his children, bound together by one of the chains that was still bound to the ceiling.
“Antoinette! Christopher!” Keithe yelled, which made both of their eyes blink open.
“D—Daddy!” They shouted. Which made Keithe’s eyes open wide.
“You’re…you’re speaking…you’re finally talking again.” Keithe had a few tears stream down his cheeks, but he was curious as to why the kidnapper wasn’t in his vision. Hiding perhaps?
That was until he heard a noise behind him.
He saw Annalise with a knife trying to thrust it into his back; however, Veran stopped it from stabbing him.
“W-What…You’re the culprit…?” Keithe looked at her wide-eyed, “But you were with them the whole entire time, I found you collapsed on my floor…how…how did this come to be?”
“I can deduct a hypothesis for you,” Veran spoke, “Before I met up with you, the GPS in your cell showed that you were in Benevuielle Resort Hotel, so I checked the security footage, and it showed that you were in the casino for about three hours. That’s plenty of time to kidnap the children in this location, I also checked the wireless network, and the cell phone addressed to her, she sent two calls to the phone in your room, however, to avoid suspicion by making an alibi, she used the “delay message” choice on her phone—it’s not very common any more, but it used to be in older models—” Veran quickly grabbed her phone and showed her call lists—“As you can see, this is proof of that. She did it to deliberately deceive you, and bring you to the lion’s den: here at this factory, to cheat you out of your money and probably your life.”
“But, that voice didn’t sound like her at all.” He blinked.
“Technology can make big advantages or disadvantages—she used encryption software, by accessing the internet on her phone and downloading it, she recorded the two messages first, then brought it through the encryption software and sent it as a delayed voice mail attachment. And if you check all the other icons, you’ll see this odd one that doesn’t really fit, that is the encryption software. I don’t know why she chose to go after you—perhaps she knew you were wealthy and gained Intel saying that you were going to be in this approximate location? However the case, it does not change the fact that I am going to put her in jail.” Veran clenched his teeth; however, this also made his hands grip tighter on her wrists, which made her wince.
“Ow! You bastard, let me go! This is my retribution!” She snarled.
“Retribution…I see…you’re L-” Keithe started to reply.
“Don’t you dare say my name, someone like you don’t have the right!” She shouted.
“You know, I never wanted to…” Keithe tried to plead with her.
“I don’t care!” She growled, “You could have fought it, you could have tried to expose it, but you didn’t. You did nothing.”
“How do expect me to when they threatened to kill my family!” Keithe’s voice rose to an octave that surprised even his children.
“That was even more reason that you should have!” She yelled.
“That’s enough.” Veran’s words were harsh, “Out of both of you—I don’t know what happened in the past, however, this is not the time.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Keithe sighed, calming down, “However, I brought all this money with me—Detective, take this as a reward. It would be my honor to give it to you.”
“I couldn’t.” Veran spoke modestly.
“I insist, to the point of taking my children and leaving it here. My children are more important than slips of paper, cotton and ink.” His statement made Veran smile, and he nodded his head in agreement. But by that point, Keithe was already walking up the staircase to the intersecting bridges on the second floor where they were being held.
When he was walking with both of his children, hand in hand, he smiled at Veran, and then Veran stopped him, “Sorry, but I can’t let you go just yet.” That’s when his eyes got that glowing feel.
“You shall forget our faces; however, you shall remember to bring forth the truth, about that past endorsement.”
Annalise, while attracted to his eyes in that state, looked away so she didn’t accidently get stuck in the trance. Keithe and his kids nodded under the hypnotism.
“Now, walk to your van, and go back to your hotel room.” Veran commanded, and they then began to walk towards to corridor, with both Veran and Annalise watching them go.
“Another ‘case’ solved.” Annalise smiled.
“I suppose.” He shrugged.
“However, you showed a bit of your nice side tonight, didn’t you, you big softy?” Annalise grinned, totally eyeing him in the “I know what you did” type of look.
He was offset by her stares, and asked, “I have no idea what you mean.”
“You hypnotized those two kids to be able to speak again, didn’t you? Don’t try to lie to me, I can totally tell when you hypnotize someone.”
“Hm,…maybe.” He half-admitted.
“Ah, come on. Why can’t you admit it?” She laughed, looping her arms through one of his.
“Must you always be this annoying?” He murmured.
“That stab doesn’t bother me anymore,” Annalise admitted as they were walking towards his Sedan, “however, speaking of ‘stabbing’ that taser totally hurt. Did you really have it on the lowest frequency?”
Veran mainly ignored the question by just answering with a “Maybe.”
As they sat in their seats, Annalise was looking through a few old materials that they’ve used in the past, she grabbed a wig and smashed it down on his head, “Fine then, next time you get to be the housekeeper—I’ll call you Veranica. Okay?”
He looked at her, with the ‘I can’t believe that you just did this/that I just heard you say that’ look.
“Come on, have a sense of humor.” Annalise smiled, but she got no reply, “Veran? Hey! HEY—! Would you answer me? Come on! VERAN!”
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Mar 12, 2011 15:34:37 GMT -8
Warning: A few suggestive themes, and a bit of language (If I remember correctly).
Also, I'm going to state this now to avoid any possible confusion, the word "Puwere" = their currency.
The Second Engrave: The Stranger
Annalise and Veran spent some quiet time in a small bistro, Breugel, near the edge of the country, Vyal, where caveire drive and niscbar road intersects and then continues on to the country south of it called C’lai, the country where Veran and Annalise were going to travel to.
However, at the moment, Annalise continued to rip apart her blueberry muffin and eat it in small portions, while drinking a double mocha cappuccino with whipped cream at the top, with sprinkled chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. Veran on the other hand, had a plain bagel, and black coffee while reading the newspaper. Like usual, they weren’t very sociable.
Finally, one of them began to talk, like usual, it was Annalise.
“How much time until we reach the borders of C’lai?” Annalise inquired.
“About two days, depending upon the weather and how bad the terrain is to march through. If in good condition, it might take just one.”
“I see. Will we be spending the night in the car again?” She frowned, and tried to crack her neck, which infers that she probably ‘slept on it wrong’.
“In order not to leave the likes of a paper trial, then yes.” His reply was straight to the point, and then he took a gulp of his coffee. This made the color drain from Annalise’s face.
“But it’s so cramped; I want to sleep on an actual bed!” She whined, however not loud enough for all the other customers to hear.
“And last time, you spent the night in a hotel, you wigged out after a bug was on the window—let me rephrase: you freaked out at a damned cockroach mainly because it was crawling on the outside of the window.”
“Excuse me for my extreme dislike for bugs.” She muttered, and began to make bubbles pop in her drink.
“Well, there may be a time when you’re trapped in the wilderness and insects and bugs are the only viable source of protein?” He smirked, he got her there.
She coughed from choking on her drink, “Don’t even joke like that! I would rather chew off my own arm than ever eat those things
ugh. Now, I feel like I’m going to barf.”
Ignoring the barf comment, he asked, “So you plan on being a vegetarian forever?”
“I’d prefer not to eat other living creatures considering that they can feel pain too, cows, pigs, chickens—all of them. Besides, they shouldn’t die in order for us to live. We understand that pain more than anyone.” Her eyes turned sad, and she sighed, not wanting to continue as it brought up a past she’d rather forget.
“So sentimental, but I suppose all things are that way for a reason.”
“Yes, however, I hate taking away plant life, too, I know they grow back, but except for fly traps, they’re practically defenseless.”
“So you’re going to die as a humanitarian with a cause, in other words practically a martyr, ironically speaking, anyways?” Veran replied, and his words emotionally stabbed her.
“That’s not funny. While I don’t want to sacrifice their lives just to continue mine, it does not mean I have the right to push my views onto others, so I would prefer not to do so.”
“Okay then, enough of the asinine conversation, if you are done eating, it’s time to leave.” He got up from his seat, throwing two puwere coins on the table.
“Wow, you’re giving them two puwere, isn’t that kind of overboard?” She replied, before finishing off her muffin.
“The first one is for the service; the second is for anyone who overheard our conversations to keep it to themselves.”
Annalise just kind of shrugged and grabbed her half-empty drink.
“By the way, if you get that over my car, you don’t want to be around me when I find out.”
“Your car is still your first love then?” She joked.
“No, I’d just prefer my car not to be all sticky, which, your massive sugar and carb drink will definitely do.” His line made her look down at it with the sudden realization with the choice of throwing it away, or to just exercise it off. She chose the latter.
“Don’t think you can manipulate me that easy, Veran.” She slurped her drink, in an obnoxious way to try to rile him up. Didn’t work, he was still his usually-composed self.
They headed out to his black Sedan, pulled out of the parking lot as soon as the traffic went minimal. And drove South, Veran paid attention to the road, not even looking over at her once, she however, grabbed her bag and took out the CD player she had—mainly because Veran always gives her the death glare when she tries to turn on the radio, so she tends to not ask.
As soon as they got to the railroad tracks however, he slowed down, and turned into the flat mound of dirt and grass.
“Veran, what’re you doing?” She blinked.
He got out of the car, and went towards the train block—to make sure oncoming traffic does not end up ramming into a passing train. Near the train block, he moved to the small tower of communications.
“As I thought,” Veran muttered, as he looked at the bloated corpse, he took out his phone, and dialed to the Police’s telephone network.
“I’m here to report a dead body that I just discovered.” He replied, and then began to answer the questions they asked, like where the location was, and an alibi, the police officer said that they would check up on his alibi—from the night before discovering the body to now. With that, he hung up the phone and went back down the tower.
Annalise looked over at him, and it looked like he was talking to someone, but she didn’t see his cell, so he thought it was his custom made earphone. However, she kept concentrating on him, to ignore the incessant ringing that was going off in her head—she didn’t know from what, but it started a few minutes ago; to try to clear the sound out of her head, she turned her music louder, and as soon as Veran got into the car, Annalise first noticed he did not have an earphone in neither his hands, or plugged in one of his ears, it made her curious, however, she knew that if she asked, he probably wouldn’t tell her.
He checked to see if there was any oncoming traffic, and when he saw that there wasn’t, he went in reverse, and drove forward over the railroad tracks—but here’s when his usual mannerisms changed, instead of looking ahead like usual, he looked out his window, as if he were staring intently at something until after he crossed the bridge. It was driving Annalise crazy, to the point she almost blurted out the question.
A few more miles down the road and they were at the customs check, and while there wasn’t any traffic beforehand, there seemed to be a dime a dozen in car terms. His eyes narrowed a bit with a twinge of annoyance, but he decided to stay calm so that he wouldn’t have to hear Annalise’s constant questions.
By the time they were at the customs check, Veran did what he always did—he used “the easy way out”, his hypnosis. Mainly because they would check his fake badge for authentication, and if they found out it was fake, they would check his car and find his weapons, his custom made technology, and his current browser history on his laptop, most of which, were sites that he hacked, including the hacking into the hotel’s server back at Amiona port.
The woman at the customs check spoke through her walkie-talkie and gave them a nod as the gate went up for them to pass through. And as soon as they were gone, her hypnosis wore off, and she didn’t even remember their car being on the grounds, and continued on with her job.
“Veran, you shouldn’t use hypnosis so much. It takes up so much of your energy.” Annalise stated with concern.
“And what do you think would’ve happened if she saw all of our equipment? We’d be screwed. That’s what. Exactly why I should’ve used that money to make a secret compartment in this car, however, no, you didn’t want that, and wanted to use it for a hotel room where you freaked out over a bug.” Veran tried to keep his composure, but his veins started pop out on his skin, which means he was losing the battle.
“You are never going to let that incident go, are you?”
And again, silence. Annalise noticed he was more agitated than usual, and he kept checking outside his window and rear-view mirror.
Was someone tailing us? But I could’ve sworn that we’ve been alone on the road for a couple of miles
Annalise wondered.
Due to his now agitated mood (or rather, more agitated mood) he sped on the gas a little, until he caught up with the cars in front of him, by this point, he was 3/4ths of a mile away from the closest town, Ceserville; as soon as he got past the “Welcome to Ceserville” sign, he slowed to the regulated speed limit, and then turned into a parking lot once he past the entrance.
“We are only taking a pit stop, so feel free to relieve yourself—” Before he could even finish this sentence, Annalise was already walking into the café to use the lavatory.
“Hi! How may I help you?”
Annalise turned and looked at the clerk. He had a beaming smile, slightly flushed cheeks, and pale skin, his eyes were a sea green color, and he had a bit of stubble on his chin. She studied him more; he was tall and lanky, except his arms were a bit muscular which showed that he must be doing weights.
“S-sorry, I’m just here to use the lavatory, I’ve been traveling.” She replied, and skipped off into the bathroom before he could say anything else.
Once she was out, he stopped her again, “We’ll feel free to come in if you ever stop by again.” He smiled, and this time she saw a bit of the hair under his work hat, it was a dark color, most likely black, however the thing that intrigued her the most was his name tag: Dourmoff.
“S-sure,” She replied weakly and raced back to Veran’s care.
“Veran, we can’t leave!” She shouted.
“No, I’m not spending the little money we have on a hotel.” His voice was resolute.
“That’s not what I’m saying—though it would be nice—guess who I just saw in that café?”
He cocked an eyebrow, “I’m not sure, but you are probably going to enlighten me.”
“Dourmoff
I saw a Dourmoff. They’re here. We don’t have to search for them anymore.” She was exasperated, especially because she discovered it before he did.
“I see. That’s unexpected.” His expression changed into one of deep thought, and then it came to a close with a sigh, “Fine. But we are only here because of them—any sightseeing, is only an act, unless if supplies are needed, got it?”
“Yes!” She shouted happily, he however, was not the least bit happy.
“And since it was you who wanted to do this one, you can think of the plan.”
And this is what froze Annalise, “Eh? Wait-what? M-M-ME
? Are you serious!?”
“Aren’t I always?” He snorted.
Annalise, taking his sentence seriously, “Most of the time, but you can be condescending—and you do have a sense of humor, no matter how underdeveloped it is.”
“Annalise
that was a rhetorical question.” Veran shook his head.
“Oh.” She blinked, “My bad. But I’ll think of something, I’ll prove to you that I can be a valuable asset to this team! So let’s go to the hotel already so I can plan this shindig!”
And once again, Veran, valuing his sanity, mainly ignored her, and just drove to the nearest hotel—or rather, more specifically, a motel, considering that this was a ‘bumpkin’ town, there weren’t any five stars of really anything.
Once they checked in, Annalise was surprised she saw no hypnotism from Veran, and it made her happy that he was letting her do things her own way—considering how he overuses his hypnotism way too much. They then threw their stuff on the two parallel beds; Veran plopped down on his, taking a rest. Annalise, sat with a pad of paper and a pencil, she was clicking her mechanical pencil from lock to unlock, making a consistent noise, which was beginning to frustrate Veran, but he didn’t bother to say anything.
He looked over at her, and noticed her scribbling something that she wrote, and she bit her lip. Veran began to move his lips to suggest something to her, but decided not to all things considered.
A few minutes past, she had several more ideas written down; however, she decided that they were all inadequate so she scribbled them out, furthermore, she kept cracking her neck, which was a sign that she was getting tense and annoyed.
Finally, she got frustrated enough and flung the pad of paper across the room, “Veran, how do you do it? Like, seriously, I’ve come up with ideas in my head, and then after writing them down, they feel so
”
“Stupid? Inadequate?” Veran suggestions were right on the mark.
“You got the gist. How do you come up with this stuff?”
“Because I can easily manipulate people, you’ve said it yourself—you however, do not have this convenient quirk, sure you act, but only based on the way I tell you to. Not to mention that I always hack into the targets personal servers and check their social and business patterns.”
“Fine, I’ll give it a rest and think up something tomorrow. I hope.” Annalise flopped down to her bed, then turned to her side to turn of the light, and Veran did the same. Around Midnight:
“I got it!” Annalise jumped upright, all excited, which made Veran moan.
“This better be good.” He grunted, because like most people, he likes his ‘beauty sleep’.
“Well, I was thinking that I could pretend to go out with him, get closer to his family, then blackmail them with all their secrets—and tell them that the only way I’ll stay quiet is to come forth about the endorsement.” Annalise smiled.
Should I tell her that I find that extremely petty? Well, at least it has more substance than most of her other ideas, but I don’t know if she will be able to manipulate people as much as I can
maybe I should let her give it a shot...? Veran thought, still half-asleep.
“Speaking of endorsements, has Keithe Lazerwic come forth yet?”
“Not yet, but that’s no surprise. When he was setting up a conference, someone tried to shoot at him, and now he’s too scared to say anything. What a wimp.” Veran yawned, “I’m going back to sleep now.”
“Okay, me too,” She smiled, and went back to bed.
However, Veran’s eyes opened and he grunted.
God dammit, now I can’t seem to fall back to sleep. He scratched his head, and got up, hoping that some fresh air would do the trick. He left the room, and surprisingly a clerk was still behind the desk—and while the clerk tried not to show it, he assumed that it was a one-night stand. Veran, ignoring the dude’s thought, left and sat up against the walls outside. He then closed his eyes, and reopened them, only to mutter the words: “So you are still following me? Just tell me what you want and then leave me alone.”
However, all there was just silence.
Maybe he took the damned hint. Veran thought, and after a few more minutes went back inside. Annalise was already sound asleep so she didn’t hear the noise. He sat down on the bed, and just stayed up for a few more minutes until finally falling back asleep.
Next Morning, 8:57 AM,
“I feel refreshed!” Annalise jumped for joy, Veran, however stared at her with a death glare, “What’s your problem, Veran?”
“I’m not too excited to be once again, woken up for your regale.” His eyes seemed to be slightly glazed over, which was a sign of not getting enough sleep.
“Ah, sorry,” She blinked, and went into the bathroom to change; she came out cuffing up the ends of her white sleeves. She was wearing a red-green plaid corset, and black capris that were folded just below her knees—the creators signature. She also pulled some of her hair back into a clip which matches her corset, and she wore plaid-sneakers. Veran was going to make fun of her get-up but then he decided against it, “I’m going now, see ya.”
“Yeah
see ya.” Veran mimicked, once again plopping down on his bed.
As Annalise was walking to the front desk, she gave the cashier a smile and a stationary wave, then grabbing her CD player, starting to listen to the band “Succubus for a Day”—she didn’t know why they were named that, and in all honesty, she couldn’t care less. She started to walk to the north side of town (according to the map), and eventually came across the café where she caught sight of the Dourmoff—she has yet to remember his first name.
When she opened the glass door, she peered in, he wasn’t at the cashier like he was the previous day; he was at one of the tables in the back, chatting with a few of his other coworkers—one of them being female—which made Annalise falter for a moment with the possibility that he may already have a girlfriend. She decided to stop staring and look at the menu; she decided to grab a pastry with cherry filling, and a hot chocolate—because she didn’t have too much money on her, it was pretty much the only things she could afford. After her order rang up, she turned and sat at a table trying to act inconspicuously; however she sensed that the target in question turned from his conversation and peered in her direction, however she wasn’t facing him, so she couldn’t be sure. She heard the slight scratchy noises—from a chair, she figured, and footsteps coming towards her.
“Excuse me
?” She heard a male voice call, and then she slightly turned and replied, “Yes
?”
He stared at her for a moment, and the flush from yesterday returned, “It was you! I thought you weren’t going to be staying?”
“Um, my traveling companion and I decided to stay in town for a bit.”
“Traveling companion?” It was obvious in his voice that he didn’t like the sound of that.
“Yes, my cousin.” She replied, not giving away whether Veran was a guy or a girl. However, the answer alone was enough to give him a satisfied look on his face.
“Would you like to join us?” He blinked, and Annalise noticed his big eyelashes, which seemed to make his pupils all the more alluring, however, instead of going willingly—she tried a different approach—playing hard to get.
“Maybe, if I knew your name?” She teased.
“It’s Dimitri.” He replied with a grin, “How about yours?”
“Lisanna,” Annalise lied, as he pulled out the other chair, and sat down on it.
“Well, I hope you stick in town for a lot longer, it’d be nice to get to know you.”
Before she could reply, one of his work buddies shouted from across the room, “Yo! Dimitri! Stop hitting on the customers and get back here! I wasn’t finished telling my story, darnit!” Dimitri moaned at the voice of his friend, “Later, I guess.” He spoke softly and added a wink—which slightly perturbed her, after he left, she continued to work on her pastry, while putting back on her headphones, and resumed her Succubus for a Day CD.
She then took her spoon and scooped out the whipped crème licking it off before she started to drink it and then get whipped crème all over her nose and mouth—true story. She was immersed in the sound, with the tempo picking up the beat again, until it met the end of the song, the next one began to play a few seconds afterwards, entitled Drama Story. Which pretty much pokes fun of romance clichés and whatnot in the majority of drama series—no matter what media.
While listening to the next song, she slightly turned her head, and noticed him staring at her, which made her slightly blush, and it consequentially made Dimitri’s friend give him a backhanded slap on his arm, in which he commented with a, “Dude, keep it in your pants and pay attention!” Dimitri turned to him and said that that was “Totally uncalled for.” Annalise however started to wonder if this was really such a good idea, after finishing up her pastry, she picked up her tray and placed it above the garbage; she then reached to open up the front door, hearing the slight chime as it creaked open, and stepped outside. As she passed the enormous windows on the walls—a usual signature for café’s such as this one. She noticed that he once again stole a glance at her, quick enough before his friend caught on.
Looking at the map she shoved in her pocket, it showed that this was actually a very small town—not including the farming land. There were only two main roads, and five back roads, which made her wonder how busy traffic gets for people who live here and people who pass through. Glancing around, she noticed that there weren’t that many vehicles. As she started to walk back to the motel, she heard loud footsteps and panting, she turned back to look and it was Dimitri.
“Hey there, again, care to take a walk with me?” His face was beat red—however Annalise could tell it was just from his short-sprint.
“Maybe, does it cost anything?”
“No, but I could double-check.” He must’ve been oblivious to jokes.
“Aren’t you on your break right now?”
“Ah, no, my shift actually ended a bit ago, however my friends and I usually sit in the back, to chat.” He shifted nervously, and this was the first time Annalise had ever heard of a 24-hour open café.
“Oh, yeah, I noticed, especially when I heard the ‘Dude, keep it in your pants and pay attention!’ comment.” Was all she that she cared to utter.
“Ouch. You heard that?” He winced.
“Uh, yeah, I think even C’lains heard that one.” She joked—even though they passed the customs check, this rural town was actually square in the middle between the two countries, claiming to be neither or, so they have a custom check on the outskirts of town on both sides, it was weird, everyone thought it was.
“You think so?” He laughed half-heartedly.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask one.” She replied, not giving him any eye contact as she was shoving her CD player into her purse, while a tight fit, she managed to get it in there and zipped it up.
All of a sudden, she felt contact on her left wrist and looked at him, “I want to show you something, are you willing to come with me?” Before she could even utter a response, he began to pull her towards the west, and if she remembered correctly on the map, that’s where their local planetarium was located. As she hasn’t been to a planetarium as she was a kid, she felt the nostalgia begin to envelop her.
It took the both of them around ten minutes to reach the outside, however, she looked at the opening hours, and as of right now, it was only 9:26, which meant an hour and a half till opening.
“It’s closed. How about we come back later?”
“Nah, they always leave the back door open.” He revealed.
“Why?” She blinked.
“Because the director sometimes forgets her keys—she’s a bit of a space case. So the night staff usually leave it unlocked just in case.”
Annalise couldn’t think of a reply, so she just shrugged, and then Dimitri began to pull her forward towards the back entrance—unfortunately, his grip on her wrist was really beginning to hurt, and so she asked him to loosen the grip; he, however, did not. He either ignored her, or didn’t hear her plea, which really pissed her off. As soon as they got inside, and came to a stop, his grip loosened and she saw her chance and gained control over her hand again. Dimitri looked a bit ahead to check and make sure everybody was gone or not doing any rounds in this specific area.
“The coast is clear, let’s go.” He whispered, and Annalise nodded. Dimitri let out his hand again, so he could hold hers, but because he was gripping her hand so hard, she ignored it and began to walk forward without him. Due to the “surprise revelation”, Dimitri, once again, thought that she was playing hard-to-get because he’s very simpleminded.
He caught up to her—but only because she stopped and looked at one of the holographic solar systems.
“Which one is this
Targin, or Velga?” She asked him.
“That’d be Velga. See that bright, big star to the northeast of the hologram? That’s the biggest way to differentiate between the two of them.”
“I see.” She whispered quietly, as if she was deducting his assessment, she moved closer to the hologram, and placed her hand against it, watching its projection ‘go through her hand’ as it was moving counterclockwise in its already set position.
“How about we go further in?” He smiled, and somehow, she didn’t really like that smile—but, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) she heard light footsteps coming their way—she knew it wasn’t Dimitri’s because he was still in the same exact spot. She turned and looked, and about fifteen meters behind them, she could see a silhouette—but only slightly, as the planetarium was currently, very dimly lighted.
The silhouette came forward, quickening its pace to even a sound that Dimitri could hear; he flinched and muttered a curse, “Ah, shit!” And he tried to grab her hand again; however, she managed to dodge it and replied, “I can walk by myself, no need to drag me.”
“Come on then.” He hissed—something that she thought was extremely rude. However, by the time they started to move further into the planetarium, the silhouette was already gaining ground, as she glanced back, she could see a few of his features. He looked middle-aged—but still had most of his hair. His eyes were a pale blue, and his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance—even greater depicted by the heavy outtakes breath. And as they tried to turn the corner, the he already gained ground and managed to reach for them.
“Sorry, but this planetarium, is not a romantic getaway, now I must ask you to leave the building.” His voice was somewhat rough—it may be due to tiredness—up close, Annalise noticed that his eyes were kind of red. Then the man noticed Dimitri, and blew a gasket.
“Dimitri! How many times do I have to tell you!? When closed—it is not meant to be used for a romantic stroll. I told you if I caught you one more time, I’d shove my foot so far up your—” His harsh voice took precedence, as neither of the three moved, except for Dimitri’s slight shake.
“S-sorry
D-dad.” He choked.
Annalise was quite surprised by the outcome.
“Hello.” Annalise greeted, trying to lighten the mood somewhat, “It’s nice to meet you, I apologize for intruding; I told him we shouldn’t
”
“Now tell me boy, where’d you catch a fine woman like her?” Like father, like son, he seemed sort of dubious.
“Ah
she walked into my work yesterday.” He shrugged.
“I see. Looks like she won’t be able to see you anymore this week— home grounded, and no, you will not persuade me out of it, boy.”
“Dad, I’m nineteen, I can’t get grounded.”
“Too bad, until you start acting like a responsible adult, I’m going to keep on grounding you.” His father stared Dimitri down, as if he was trying to intimidate him, and then he turned his attention back to Annalise, “So, what is your name?”
“It’s Lisanna.” Annalise replied, glad she remembered she used that alias.
“Well, I’m Claude Blehnovezek. And this, as you know, is my adopted son, Dimitri.”
“You were adopted Dimitri? Wow, I didn’t even realize.”
“Ah, yeah, my family died when I was little. It was just me, my mom, dad, and my two little sisters.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, you have my condolences.” She shut her eyes, and ducked her head slightly, then rising it again while opening her eyes.
“However, he’s not such a bad dad, considering that he was tough enough to travel to the forbidden triangle and all.” Dimitri grinned.
“Wow, really?” Annalise blinked.
Claude sighed, and then hit Dimitri in the head, “Stupid boy! How many times do I have to tell you? I was near one of the islands but I could never set foot on it because the currents were too strong. That’s why they have that name; they forbid anyone from entering because of the currents. Now stop the falsified boasting!”
However, Dimitri was knocked unconscious and could not give a reply. Annalise smiled, “It was nice to meet you,” and left, when she glanced back she noticed Claude dragging Dimitri with him by his shirt collar—probably to his office or something.
In Claude’s office:
Claude threw Dimitri on the couch, and even though unconscious he grunted. Claude sat at his desk, staring intently at Dimitri, in a few minutes Dimitri began to stir and sat up, while one of his hands tried to cradle his head because of the big bruise left from Claude’s fist. He stared at his father, and noticed the bloodlust in his eyes.
“Stupid boy, you were about to do it again, weren’t you?!”
“Tch!” Dimitri muttered and stopped giving eye contact; instead he stared at the enormous tank of fish on the right-hand side of the room.
“I’ve warned you, how many times now? I won’t be lenient any longer.” Claude’s bloodlust began to subside in his eyes; however his threat still remained, forever imposed in Dimitri’s heart.
***
After leaving the planetarium, Annalise continued to look around, and eventually came across some woods. Feeling adventurous, she decided to explore—and if she was in the midst of any danger, she could alert Veran.
The woods were enshrouded in a mist—which made her feel like it was an enchanted forest from some fairy tale. She listened to the birds chirping, the soft hollows of the breeze that beckoned back and forth, hearing the leaves rustle, it was the first time she truly felt at peace. She continued to walk, trying her best to not trip over the overgrown—and probably still growing vines. About ten minutes into her walk, the moss growth began to increase, as she looked up, she could slightly see a school of butterflies, she couldn’t see any distinct features, only the shape—at least, she figured they were butterflies, considering that moths don’t come out until the sun sets. Then she had the sudden instinct to stop, and she looked ahead of her—it was a cliff—no, it was a cave entrance. She stared at it, slightly adored; however no matter how much she peered in, she couldn’t make out any details. And then her body started to move, like she had no control over her body at all—but she didn’t cower in fear, because curiosity was getting the better of her.
Inside the mouth of the cave, she closed her eyes, and tried to rely only on hearing, and placing her hands on the cave walls to feel for any vibrations. As she continued to walk, she couldn’t hear anything besides a low hum, but she couldn’t discern as to what it was, she figured that she would find out soon anyway. Then she heard something skitter near her; a mouse, perhaps? She thought. She opened her eyes to make sure not to step on anything, but she was blinded by a strong internal light. After taking a minute to adjust her eyesight, she started to move again, and approached an inner lake of sorts. There was ingrown grass, moss, and there were even trees, then she looked above and noticed that it was a hollow ceiling—perfect for sunlight and rain. She stepped forward towards the lake, and with each small ripple on the water’s surface, it was almost like she heard a voice, but she could not understand it. Then suddenly, she heard a growl and turned towards it.
It was a Tiger. The Tiger had a white and black coat, a few small scars—which means it probably has been around for ages, possibly the protector of this place?
Looking at the predator, Annalise closed her eyes for a minute to think, trying to think of something—even if she tried to call Veran, there’d be no way he could go up against a Tiger, or if he did come, he’d probably be too late and she’d be a chew toy. She fell to her knees, trying to think of a solution to this predicament as the Tiger slowly came forward. It was taunting her, or at least that’s what she thought, as she’s noticed with humans, they find pleasure from making their victims scared to death.
As she was trying to process a solution, she felt something drop on her face, Rain?
Maybe it’ll make a cloud of cover and I can escape—no, I can’t undermine its incredible senses of smell and hearing. What to do, what to do, I don’t want to hurt it, but I have no intention of becoming a rag doll, either.
But still, in the same pace, the Tiger came forward, Annalise was surprised that the Tiger wasn’t jumping in for the kill, as the distance between them became smaller; Annalise noticed the sadness in the Tiger’s eyes. And when no more distance was between them, instead of gripping her throat, it did something very surprising and unexpected: It licked her. But even so, she was still scared stiff until it began to rub its head against her shoulders. This close, she noticed that the Tiger was female, and that this female Tiger may have been alone for a very long time, it could be the reason why she was being gentle. While still shaking a little bit, Annalise began to lift her left arm, and started to stroke her very, very soft fur. But because of the rain, she sneezed, she was soaked completely; the Tiger noticed this, and tugged on her shirt with her teeth. Annalise, decided to just do as it commanded, in case if it turned on her if she defied, they stopped at the end of the cave encirclement, and Annalise noticed that rain was no longer falling on her head, and then she remembered that the hole in the ceiling only took up about two-thirds of the whole room. The Tiger sat down again, and snuggled up against Annalise, as if it was trying to dry her and keep her warm.
Annalise felt so warm—and safe, weirdly enough; to the point where she fell asleep no matter how close she was to the mouth of a predator.
The Next Morning, Annalise woke up, in her motel room, Veran right next to her. She blinked, wondering how she went from being in a cave, to her motel room. Did she sleepwalk? Did Veran find her somehow? Was it all just some weird dream? She wanted to know the answer, so she looked at Veran, his eyes were closed, but she didn’t want to fall for his trap again that happened back at Amiona Port. But she noticed his shallow breathing, how his head slightly rocked back and forth—he was actually asleep this time. She smiled, and moved Veran’s bangs out of his face, she was trying to be gentle, but his eyelids started to open, and after going into focus, Annalise was the first thing he saw.
And the first thing he uttered was, “Are you a total freakin’ moron? You were sleeping next to a Tiger, a freakin’ Tiger! Have you lost your mind?!”
“Oh, so it wasn’t a dream?” She cocked her head slightly, “Well, I’m still here, aren’t I? If she was dead-set on eating me, I obviously wouldn’t be here, or at least, not without a coffin.”
“I took a walk in town, and heard people gossiping amongst themselves, saying some girl they didn’t recognize went into the forest. They say that the forest is ruled by an Old Tiger, by the name of Lalaluka—and it has sometimes killed presences foreign to the forest. I went into the direction of the forest, and as I came near the entrance, a Tiger came out, with you sleeping on its back. Sure it didn’t seem like you were harmed, and it left you without attacking me, but that doesn’t change the fact that you were being so damned careless, think with your head for once!”
“You might think differently if you saw what I saw. It felt like the scenery was written in some fairy tale: the mist, the moss, the overgrown vines, the chirps, the other distinct animal sounds, the cool breeze, and that cave entrance—as soon as I saw it, it was like it pulled me in, going inside, I soon came across a part of a cave that was in the shape of a circle, two-thirds of the ceiling were open to the sky, and there was a beautiful sparkling lake, overgrown moss, grass, and trees. As I was approaching the lake, I heard a growl, and I noticed that it was Tiger—at first, I was afraid of her. But she never attacked me, she nuzzled her head against my skin, let me pet her, let me sleep next to her. If she wanted to attack me, she would’ve done so! So don’t judge her from what she may have done in the past—the people she may have killed, it could have been to protect her forest!”
“Do you have any idea at how hypocritical you are being right now? You are dismissing the acts of a Tiger, whose acts are very similar to our damn families!” Veran’s voice was sharp and harsh, as if it were glass piercing her skin, her mind.
“They are totally different! Protecting ones home is different from cult-like slaughter!” She shouted back.
“But that cult-like slaughter was there to protect something they felt they had lost. How barbaric.” He commented. “You aren’t
trying to defend them now, are you?” Annalise looked at him, upset.
“Hell no!” He raised his voice, as if it was in utter defiance of their past. The stared at each other silently, until Veran uttered a laugh, “It’s kind of amusing in a way—trying to completely define such a radical bunch of bastards, and an oversized feline. That’s the way to go to make this day so much more interesting! Don’t you agree?”
“Oh god, Veran, did you crack under pressure
? Please tell me you didn’t. I need you; I can’t carry out our retribution without you.”
“Cracked under pressure? No, not yet. I just needed a laugh.” He gave a twisted smile, and his eyes began to flutter up and down, his tone went softer, and he fell asleep.
“Oh, so that display of disturbing emotion was just due to you being overtired and overworked. I hope you get your rest.” She smiled, pulling the blanket over him. She was about to leave, when suddenly, Veran’s arm shot out at her grabbing her wrist unconsciously.
She turned and saw his face, and there was his awkward smile—a very rare sight, usually only shown when he’s vulnerable: Being Asleep.
His grip on her wrist was firm—but it didn’t hurt, Annalise thought that he may be unconsciously thinking: “I don’t want her to do something stupid again.” She sat back down on the bed, lying down next to him, her head resting on his shoulders.
When Veran woke up a few hours later, and noticed that he was holding Annalise’s wrist, and that she was resting next to him—he was slightly surprised.
“I guess that even unconscious, you make me worry.” He slightly frowned, but at the same time feeling replenished with the amount of sleep he got.
He left the motel again; he sensed each presence around him, some staring at him with goo-goo eyes, others looking at him as if they despised outsiders. He just eyed them with a look of, what’re you going to do about it? They hissed and walked away, not wanting to start a complete and total confrontation yet.
One of the ‘goo-goo eyed’ woman stepped to him, “What’s your name?”
“Any reason why I should tell you?” He asked her, then starting to walk away.
“He must be shy! So cute!” She squealed, cupping her face.
Idiots, He thought, people like her always twist things around, something that displeased him. Greatly. He walked into a nearby café—where Annalise claims she saw Mr. Dourmoff. It was like he had an immense presence around him, because as soon as he entered, every person inside stared at him. It slightly perturbed him, not wanting to feel out of place, he ordered something, black coffee—no sugar, and no cream, and ordered a plain doughnut. He sat down at an empty table near the window, ignoring the stares he was getting, until he heard footsteps approach him.
“What?” Veran asked, the guy was silent, this annoyed Veran so he added, “Speak!”
But that was disrupted as Annalise came walking through the door, she smiled as she walked in. The guy looked towards her and smiled, “Lisanna.”
“I thought you were grounded.” She eyed him.
“Pops let me off easy, of course, after begging repeatedly
but oh well.” Dimitri replied, “Least that means that I have more time to spend with you, right?”
“Maybe, let me just talk to Veran.” She replied, and sat down at the table.
“This
you know this guy!?” Dimitri seethed.
“Yes
he’s my cousin, I did tell you I was travelling with my cousin. Did you forget?” Annalise looked up at him, and she could see that he was angry—and possibly jealous.
“Unforgivable.” Dimitri cursed, and Annalise looked back up at him, “This is unforgivable Lisanna! With another guy! What about me? Am I just chopped liver to you? Do you have any idea how I would feel?”
Veran moved closer to Annalise, putting an arm around her and pulling her close, “How you feel? You’re just a country bumpkin she was seeing on the side, I can forgive a little fling, after all, I get to do this and that to her.” Veran taunted him.
Veran, such a lie! Are you just trying to piss him off? Annalise wondered.
“HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME, YOU SHALL RUE THE DAY!” Dimitri screeched, bringing an uncontrolled fist in, which made it very easy to counter.
“Cool your jets, dude. But maybe that’s impossible, considering that you’re the one who killed the worker in the communication tower by the railroad tracks.”
W-what? Annalise’s eyes went wide, “Is that true, Veran?”
“Pfft—! What of it? What proof do you have?” Dimitri was looking at them condescendingly, as if they only managed to scrap off the surface of the whole truth.
“The very soul that has been haunting me for the past few days, the soul of that bloated corpse you so brutally tortured. As soon as I saw you, he reappeared in front me.” Veran’s voice was cold, but it didn’t bother Dimitri one bit.
“And again I say what of it? It was all in harmless fun.” “‘Harmless fun’? You call killing a person ‘fun’? You rat bastard.” Veran gritted his teeth.
“How disgusting, I can’t believe I didn’t see it in you.” Annalise spited him, “So, did you also kill your family with those two hands?”
“He’s the only Dourmoff? It makes sense, being able to survive a family-slaughter.”
“And if I did, what can you do? Nothing, you idiotic vermin!”
Veran got up, “Yes I can.” He replied, showing his badge.
“A cop
? Bring it on! Let’s see if you can outwit me.”
“Oh, outwit you. Already did, sorry, but you are no match for me.” Veran then clued him in by showing him his hidden earphone, and on the small screen, it was shown to be connected into the police network, “They’re probably on their way now, so you want to explain your reasons, murderer?”
“Damn cop! Even if they catch me, I’ll just kill them all and escape, and then, I’ll be after you, hunting you down for the rest of my life!” Dimitri threatened.
Veran only took it as an empty threat and replied, “That spot is already taken and filled to its peak, maybe in your next life?”
“Stop trying to make me feel stupid! I’m not a damned idiot. I’ll kill everyone who gets in my way, whether my parents, my ex-girlfriend and the bastard she cheated on, or my adoptive father.”
“You killed Claude? He truly cared for you, you’re inhuman!”
“He was trying to hold me back from achieving my goals. That won’t be necessary anymore since I stabbed him in the back, literally.”
“Did you hear that now sound just now? That’s something called a ‘siren’ and it is equipped in police cars, can you deduct who just arrived?” Veran asked him, in a condescending tone outmatching Dimitri’s from earlier. Right on cue, two cops came in, and Dimitri scowled. While Dimitri was distracted by the two cops, Veran, still standing, tripped Dimitri by kicking the back of his knees, and he fell with a thud.
After the cops arrested him, they gave their thanks, “Thank you for apprehending this murder for us. I hope that we are able to work with each other in the future. Let us know if there is anything that we can do in return.” One of the two cops let out his hand, and Veran, not wanting to be suspicious, shook it, then the two cops had left, and with what replaced it was awkward silence.
“How dare you!” A girl from the back shouted vehemently, “HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY DIMITRI, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE WENT THROUGH, AND WHY HE DID WHAT HE DID!” She dove in forward, revealing a concealed knife; to counter it Veran grabbed his food tray and smacked her square in the face.
“If you are trying to say that his parents abused him, that doesn’t change what he did. At most, he should’ve called the police and let them handle it, but instead he just kills them all—even his siblings. Now he’ll have to deal with their souls for the rest of his life, hearing their wails of unrest and revenge. Right now, I will forgive this if you decide to change yourself.” With that, he took Annalise’s hand, and left the café.
“It isn’t completely his fault though.” Veran surmised, “Yes, he did kill his parents, however, he was possessed because he had a lot of negative energy due to their abuse—which makes people vulnerable. The soul is gone now, though, I managed to get rid of it when I tripped him.”
“Where did he get possessed?” Annalise inquired.
“Remember the lake? And how Lalaluka stopped you from touching it? No matter how serene it looked it was a portal of souls, he went there when he was young with his family, that’s where his parents tried to drown him.”
“So, he’s a victim just like us—in a way, driven by hate. But how do you know this?”
“The spirit possessing him showed me. Lalaluka is there to actually protect people from being driven to madness by the lake, sometimes she was too late and they already sank in, so she had no other choice but to kill them to free them—I was wrong, I apologize.”
“Hm, what was that Veran? Say that again.” Annalise snickered.
“I will not say it again, just so you can amuse yourself.” Veran walked on ahead, and Annalise had to catch up to him.
“I was just joking! Quit taking it too seriously!” Annalise shouted, her face slightly flushed.
As soon as they got to the motel, they packed their bags, and when they faced the cashier, Veran handed him a slip, “Transfer the bill to this address, please. Don’t worry, they’ll comply, they owe me.” And then he left.
“You sure that was a good idea?” Annalise thought, “I mean, they did say ‘if there was anything we can do’ but I don’t think this is what they had in mind.”
“Then they shouldn’t learn to trust people so easily.” He laughed.
“You can be so cruel.” Annalise sighed, while getting in the car, they deciding to go on the back roads in case they came across any more maniacs, and on one of the roads, they were near the forest entrance, and they saw Lalaluka. Annalise rolled down her window and waved back to her, “Thank you for everything, Lalaluka! Maybe I’ll see you again, someday!” Lalaluka, as if she completely understood those words, slightly bowed her head, and then, a smaller Tiger came forward, snuggling up against her—her cub. Annalise, went “Aw!” at the cub, and Veran rolled his eyes, and closed the window from his panel of buttons.
“Now on forward to C’lai!” Veran seemed enthused, and Annalise nodded and uttered the sound, “Mm!”
The Planetarium, Claude’s Office.
Claude was covered in his blood, everything about the way he was laying on the ground to how wide his eyes were, spelled out the word ‘dead’, but strangely, he coughed and then wiped the blood off his face.
“Damn, that hurt. Stupid boy, just you wait until I sock you one.” He cursed, but began to look more closely at his wound, “Good thing it missed my heart.” As he tended to his wound that pierced through his back to his chest, the bleeding had stopped and it was already beginning to heal, but he ripped his shirt and placed it around the left side of his chest around his back and up again from under his arm, until he ran out of available cloth.
While he was done tending to himself, he received a call on his phone, and he grimly stared at it and then finally answered, “Yeah, it’s me, yes, they are headed that way now; at least that’s what the tracking device on their car indicates. Ah—wait a minute, it stopped, the kid’s smart—he must’ve noticed. Yeah, I know. I know. I’ll take care of it. Right, later.” He sighed.
*** “What a damn annoyance. Who the hell put a tracking bug on my car!? Who the hell touched my car!?” Veran screeched.
“Veran, calm down, there could be spies anywhere. They probably put it there to track our moves.”
“Gee, ya think, Annalise?” Veran snapped at her.
“Don’t get all pissed with me just because of a tracking device—we could’ve had it worse, they could’ve captured us, but they didn’t, it means that they are up to something. That something, however, I have no idea.”
“I don’t like this. Not one bit.” Veran threw the crushed tracking device on the ground, looked at it with contempt and then went back in his car.
***
The Police Network, Headquarters.
“Sir Mansfield. There’s a letter for you.” A cop came to him, handing him the mail.
“Thank you, now what could it be?” As he opened the letter, he went shocked, “That dirty rotten! He’s a sly one. I can’t believe that I have to pay his motel bill. I mean, I know I said ‘if there was anything I could do to repay him!’ I didn’t mean pay literally. Oh well, I can’t avoid this, he’s too valuable. His mind is highly advanced. And our boss would kill us if we didn’t; how problematic.”
“You’ve actually seen the boss in person? How lucky, I’ve never had the chance to even glance at his face!” The cop who gave him the letter exclaimed.
“Yeah, is his name still a secret to practically everyone else, except for a select few?” He asked the other cop—possibly his partner, whom nodded at the question, “His name is Forrester Wedge-worth Nais. Apparently, Veran is his nephew, or so he told me
but what could he mean by valuable asset, I wonder if I’ll ever know?”
“Who knows?” His partner shrugged, “But his name, it sounds weird. I could understand his first name, but why did he get named Wedge-worth?
Then a voice came from behind them, “If you want to know that badly, Wedge-worth was my mother’s maiden name, but my family decided to keep both due to prominence from both families, it was mainly formality, is your curiousness satiated now?” Director Forrester explained.
“I’m very sorry for my rudeness, Sir!”
“No need,” He smiled, and returned back upstairs, “No matter where you go Veran, no matter how far you run, I’ll always be watching you, until you and Annalise come back to me.”
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Mar 12, 2011 15:36:21 GMT -8
Warning: Language. It's kind of censored, but yes, it is ever-so present. That's pretty much it on the warning scale.
The Third Engrave: The Poison
After clearing the last customs-check, and travelling through the mass of difficult terrain, Veran and Annalise arrived in the town of Pinnaris; it was surrounded mainly by forest, and only had one real source of water: a river that ran through the whole town, splitting it in two pieces. One side was the North, the other was the South. Currently, Annalise and Veran were on the Northern side, Veran dropped off Annalise so he could go get more gas by himself (he wanted some peace and quiet for a change).
Annalise sat down on the outside bench awaiting his return, he had told her not to move from that spot in case she ended up doing something stupid, so instead, she just watched observed the people, the landscapes, and the architecture.
Most of the buildings were made out of stone and bricks—C’lains tend to be more eco-friendly then their Northern neighbors of Vyal, Abiel, and Nuxek, which is why their forests are expanded by many, many miles of terrain. She continued to observe, and her eyes made way to their clock tower-cathedral, it was several stories, and the bell that was swinging like a pendulum looked to be of real gold, as her eyes continued to take in the scenery, she noticed no smoke stakes whatsoever—which even more proves how eco-friendly they are. They aren’t much for industrial marketing—but more along the lines of fishing and other stocks of that nature. While finishing up her observing, Annalise crossed her legs, and rested her head against her arm, its elbow being supported by her knee.
What is taking you so long, Veran? Annalise wondered. They are plenty eco-friendly, which means that they don’t tend to rely on gas for much, so there shouldn’t be that many other gas-payers, unless if there are more travellers than expected. Just hurry up Veran, I’m bored!
Momentarily, Veran arrived back to where he booted her out, she gave him an annoyed expression, and yelled, “What took you so long!?”
“I had to find the gas station, does that ring a bell?”
“Oh.” Annalise’s focus went towards her feet; feeling slightly embarrassed and too worked up.
“It’s not like I was gone that long, stop being such a—” Veran muttered, but stopped when Annalise locked her arm in his.
“What were you saying, my escort?” Annalise fluttered her eyelashes—an instant trait in making him annoyed.
“Since when have I been your escort?” He gritted his teeth.
“Hey, every lady should have a male escort, especially one as pretty as me,” She berated him, “This is a common truth.”
“Wow, a bit egocentric today are we?” He tried to suppress his laugh, and then added, “Besides, you and the word ‘pretty’ should never appear in the same—” Veran was unable to finish his sentence because Annalise elbowed him in the gut.
“Volatile woman,” He snorted.
“I’ll pretend that I did hear that remark, now, every lady such as myself, needs a bit of food, so my humble escort—take me to the nearest restaurant, please.”
“I’ll restate it again: First of all, where the hell did you get ‘humble’!? That is the last thing one would use to describe me. Also, like hell I’m your escort! And ‘lady’ shouldn’t be used to describe you, either.” He replied, and managed to dodge her elbow jab this time, “Besides, I don’t have a map of this place, how am I supposed to know where a restaurant is?”
“Veran, you have a mighty processing power in that big brain of yours, I’m sure that you’ll manage. You could always go on your computer and search for the local map of this town?”
“Nice try. Have you happened to have forgotten that my laptop’s battery power unfortunately went out of commission after Ceserville because of an electrical fuse before we left?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Annalise partially frowned, “I hope they have a Bistro like they did back in the city of H’vasr, if I recall correctly its name was Breugel?”
Veran didn’t bother to reply, which might be his downfall, considering that Annalise continued to talk, “Don’t worry about finding a restaurant, if we look hard enough, we should find one.”
And they did, after an hour of searching, even though the town was split into two parts, the North side was huge by itself.
Annalise happily skipped to the steel doors like a child, gladly opening them, Veran looked slightly embarrassed and pretended not to know her—which is not an unusual thing for him to do when she’s involved.
When Veran came through the steel doors, Annalise was already ordering up a table, the hostess had a too-happy smile plastered on her face, and she wore heavy make-up to the point where her complexion almost went orange, her black hair was curled and tied back in a pony tail. The hostess walked them to an empty booth, placing down two menus, Annalise slid on her side of the booth, and quickly opened the menu, unlike Annalise, Veran wasn’t in a rush and quietly sat down, and nonchalantly looked at the menu.
While Annalise didn’t mind the food-titles, Veran certainly did, as all of them pertain to love, and then it dawned on him: This might be a restaurant strictly for couples. When he realized it, he felt a bit of phlegm in his mouth.
When a waitress came by with two cups of water, she asked what they wanted to order.
Annalise looked at the waitress, and replied, “I’ll have the chocolate-chip heart pancakes, please, syrup on the side. No whipped cream. I would also like some hot chocolate, if you happen to have it.” The waitress gave a nod, and then turned to Veran.
“Um,
” Veran muttered, “I think I’ll pass—” “Why is that, Veran? I know you’re as hungry as I am.” Annalise asked. “Okay, um, medium-well steak, and please, by all means, please bring it out to me in a non-heart shape form, and I’m fine with water.” Veran answered. The waitress nodded, and left. “Is somebody being bashful?” Annalise grinned at him. “Shut up. I’m not into the whole love-thing.” He replied. “But today’s Valetia’s Day—the whole world celebrates it! You know, when that ancient warrior, Vale, fell in love with the princess, Tia of an enemy country, she abandoned her castle for him, but then both of their home countries became their pursuers, and they died in each other’s arms, and that’s when their home countries realized how in love they were—and decided to make a peace treaty in honor of them. Heck, even the day is their first names combined!” Annalise argued. “I’m well aware of the story, however I find it to be a bunch of stupid drivel, the guy, Vale, sneaks into the castle to assassinate Tia’s father, but instead, finds himself attracted to her on a shallow-base level and just wants to get in her pants—or rather, dress. Tia just wants to escape the castle and politics, and thought that he was again, on a shallow-base level good enough to be her suitor. That’s the way everyone was back in the Middle Ages; marriage based on shallowness or marriage based on politics and prominence by families. There was nothing romantic about it.” Veran argued back. “Yes, but it was a whole month—maybe more, before they got caught, sure it may have been shallow in the beginning, but you can get to know a person in a month—I’m sure! And when they found them, they realized that Tia had an embryo in her womb.” “Uh huh, right, that embryo thing has got to be a lie. According to the ancient texts Princess Tia was infertile. She couldn’t have kids—one reason why her father was considering just selling her off. They just decided to put the whole embryo crap in there to attract more people to this crappy love fest.” “You just had to go spoil the mood, didn’t you, Veran?” Annalise sighed. “What ‘mood’ was there to begin with?” Veran asked, cocking an eyebrow, and then looked around, he noticed the Hostess tending to new customers—except she ran out of menus so she went to go get more, once she came back, her too-happy plastered smile returned. Before Annalise decided to answer, their waitress came back, with Annalise’s heart-shaped pancakes, and a maple syrup container. Veran however was slightly annoyed when his steak was in a heart shape. “I’m sorry sir, but all the steaks we had in stock were in heart shapes. However, it will lose its shape once you cut it.” The waitress suggested, slightly nervous. Veran didn’t reply, he just grunted, which caused the waitress to slightly flinch, and then she staggered away. “Veran there was no need to be so intimidating to her! She was only doing her job.” Annalise scolded him; however he wasn’t paying the slightest attention because he was carving up the heart shape, so he wouldn’t have to stare at it any longer. Annalise then rolled her eyes, while cutting up her two pancakes, then placing some syrup on them. She took a few bites, and then drank some of her hot chocolate, and continued to repeat the pattern.
Veran started to chew his steak, it wasn’t the best he’s ever had, but it was adequate enough—especially considering how hungry he was. As soon as they finished their plates, they heard a child scream. “Papa! Papa! Are you okay?” It was a girl’s voice; however, it must’ve been on the other half of the restaurant behind the dividing wall because they couldn’t see the scene. “Dear, what’s wrong?” Her worried mother asked. “Ash
” Presumably her father replied, coughing up blood. “Daddy!” The girl wailed again. Getting annoyed by the noise, Veran went over to see what was going on, and Annalise followed behind him, “What’s going on?” He had his left hand resting on his hip, because of that, his coat showed his pocket (and its contents), and the girl recognized it as a badge, she immediately ran over to him. “You’re a cop right? Please, please help my dad! There’s something wrong, I don’t know—I don’t know what to do!” She cried. Veran kneeled down and patted her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure what’s wrong.” He replied with a smile. “Are you sure Veran?” Annalise asked him, as soon as he was standing on his two legs again. “Of course, I’m intrigued.” He grinned, “Annalise, do me a favor, stand in front of the entrance—make sure that no one, I mean no one leaves. I’ll call for an ambulance.” “Okay!” Annalise nodded, and dashed to the front entrance to block it. Veran already had dialed, and requested for an ambulance, they stated they would be there in a few minutes, unfortunately there was only one hospital—and it was on the southern side. It looks to be the work of poison, now I just need to verify how he absorbed it—was he pricked with a needle? Did he ingest it? How did this happen? Veran thought.
When the ambulance arrived, Annalise quickly moved out of the way, and also made sure that no one tried to escape in the midst of everything, Annalise pointed the two medical practitioners to where the sick person was and that they may need to use that gurney. When they came around, Veran told them “Be very careful—my initial deduction leads to poisoning, we should try to make sure it doesn’t spread within his body.” The two examiners nodded, and carefully lifted him up on the gurney. As they were about to leave, Veran felt a tug on his coat, “Can I come to, please?” The girl pleaded. “I’m sorry, but stay here with your mom; I’ll make sure he comes back to you, safe and sound.” Veran replied. “O
Okay.” She whimpered, and then turned and hugged her mother, who started to stroke her head, her mother also softly whispered, “Shhh, it’s going to be okay.”
When they reached the other side, customers were yelling at Annalise, telling her to move. Veran, pissed, shouted, “This is a crime scene! If any of you tried to leave, do you know how much higher the percentile that you were the culprit will rise!?” This left the customers, and even Annalise silent in its wake. After just gaping at him for the moment, the customers, defeated, went back to their tables. “Annalise, I’m going with them, keep on making sure that nobody leaves.” Veran commanded her.
“You got it!” Annalise nodded. Before Veran shut the door, he nodded back at her, and said, “I’m counting on you.” His slight-confidence, his trust in her, made her slightly blush. After the ambulance was driving back to the Southside, customers were once again trying to escape. “Now listen here people! You heard the man; this is now an active crime scene! Wait until he gets back, so he can hear your alibis! If you try to leave again, I’ll tell his partner here to call him, and then you’ll have to listen to him. Never mess with a cop doing his job.” The hostess with too much make-up shouted, “Or, I can always get my boss to come down here, I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear her yell at’cha!” This once again, made the customers seem docile, they chatted quietly, to the point where Annalise couldn’t make out what they were saying—all of it just sounded like muddled murmurs to her.
When Veran and the ambulance arrived at their local Hospital, they rushed in, a few doctors came running to meet them. “Detective, you didn’t have to come running all the way here. We’ll make sure he’s out of harm’s way!” The doctor was a female; she had brown hair to her shoulders, and green, piercing eyes; ironically, Veran was slightly attracted to her, but he ignored it—especially when he noticed her engagement ring, he also didn’t want to hear Annalise with her annoying statements. The first thing the doctors did after setting him up on a bed and attaching life support to him, was a blood sample taken for analysis. When the test results came back, it was not looking good, “I have detected the poison, it was from the Verchalyl plant—pure toxin to the human body. However, because of the plant’s decrease in the wilderness, developers to counterattack against the poison were closed. The only things we can give him now are painkillers.” “And if I find a sample of the Verchalyl plant?” “Then we may be able to come up with an efficient antidote, however, it needs to be that exact specimen used on him, Verchalyl plants toxicities can vary depending upon where they were located, if you find one that has a lesser degree of poison, it may lessen the effect—but it can’t get rid of it completely; if you find one of a greater degree—it could damage his nervous system to a point because it will put his immune system into overdrive due to it possibly destroying any other ailments, please be careful, and when you find it, make sure you wear gloves—while most toxic by ingestion—the stems and petals also have poisonous residue.” She replied. “I’ll keep that in mind, but when I was looking at him earlier, I noticed something interesting on his cheek.” Veran told her, he pointed to the patient’s left cheek. Intrigued, the doctor came over, she touched it, “It seems to be some residue that he tried to wipe away, this could have been how the poison was injection—absorbed through the skin, and then into the bloodstream. I’ll take some of the residue and crosscheck it with the blood sample findings; I’ll let you know when I find anything.” She stated, her focus now completely on her work.
“Alright,” Veran replied, putting a slip of paper next to it, “That’s my number, contact me if need be.” And then he left. Due to the fact that Veran caught a ride on the ambulance, he would have to walk there, until, a different doctor realized his predicament, and offered him a ride. The doctor had a disheveled hat of hair, and a beard encircling his face, his eyes showed how tired he was, and he constantly had to push his glasses back to the top of his nose, “I’m done for today, I was honestly going to go out for a bit to eat, but I heard what happened—but if I can be of assistance.” “Thanks. That would be much appreciated.” Veran replied, and they went to the doctor’s car, it was a very old model—however it seemed to work just fine, the doctor exclaimed that it ran smoothly because of his adoration for it. He pulled out of the parking lot, and after turning on his directional, he went through the main road and across the bridge to the Northern side. When they were back up to the restaurant, Veran thanked the doctor and got out of the car, running up to the entrance; Annalise saw Veran coming, and quickly moved out of the way because he looked very agitated. “How was everything down there?” She asked. “Not good; however things were conclusive, he was poisoned, but by the Verchalyl plant. I now need to find the specific specimen used against him—or things could be disastrous.” “Wait
isn’t the Verchalyl plant almost extinct? I know that there are a few types of animals who are attracted to its sweet smell, and also happen to be immune to its poison. Could we get one of those animals to help leech the poisoned blood out?” “It was a nice idea, but it might help the poison flow completely through the bloodstream—not a good thing.” Veran replied, “Besides, it has been suggested that it was absorbed through his skin—there was residue on his left cheek, it could have been someone touching his cheek or someone kissing him. I’ll go talk to the wife now.” “Alright, do you still want me to guard the door?” Annalise asked. “That is no longer necessary,” Veran said as he grabbed his gun and loaded it, “I’ll just shoot anyone who tries.” This caused the several customers to be set in-between awkward silence and panic. Veran walked on back to the victim’s daughter and child, and Annalise skipped off to the lavatory. “Can I talk to you for a couple of moments, ma’am?” Veran asked her. She closed her eyes, still stroking her sleeping daughter’s hair, “Please go ahead, and ask me anything.” “It seems apparent that he was definitely poisoned—and then I found residue on his cheek, possibly from lipstick that he tried to wipe of, can you see where I am going with this, Ma’am?” “Please, call me by my name: Eliza Burogette.” She smiled, “And to answer your question, I kiss my husband on the lips, only. I came to know that kissing the cheeks is mainly formality, so I refrain from doing it, unless I am visiting my parents or something similar.” Eliza replied. “Even so, can I a sample of your lipstick?” “If my lipstick was poisoned, I would have been sick right along by husband—I’ve been known to lick my lips a lot, ask anyone here, not to mention, you said it was absorbed through the skin—wouldn’t it have also absorbed through my lip’s tissue, as well?”
“Nice deduction, now tell me what happened, every exact detail.” “Um, because it was Valetia’s Day, my husband, daughter, and I, decided to eat out for once—and we came here, my husband ordered the heart-shaped veal, my daughter, the eggs, toast, and heart-shaped bacon; and I grabbed the soup of the day with heart-shaped saltines. Before we finished eating, my husband went off to the lavatory, and when he came back, he looked very ill to me—at first, I thought it was due to his acid reflux disease, but, then he started to shiver and cough of blood. Is he going to be okay?” “Depending upon how quickly I can find the perpetrator.” Veran muttered to himself, “Thanks for your time.” Veran sighed, and went back to Annalise—and she had slight tears in her eyes. “What’s the matter?” “The bathroom door is locked—I was hoping to use it. But now I have to wait.” “Wait—did you just say the bathroom?” Veran replied to her. “Uh
yes?” Annalise blinked. My husband started to look very ill after returning to the lavatory. The words repeated in his head, and he turned to the lavatory, “Hostess, do you happen to have a security camera outside the bathrooms?”
“No, that partially impairs our customers’ privacy, so we do not keep logs of that.” She replied. “I see,” Veran replied, and then went back to the wife, “Do you remember around what time he went to the bathroom?” “Um, at around 12:15, he was in there for about five minutes, so I assumed that it was crowded.” “Or that’s when the perp. attacked him.” Veran added, “Well, thanks—that gives me the chance to question everyone’s alibi.” And so, Veran asked each customer—and employee if they were in the bathroom from 12:15 to 12:20. Most replied that they were eating, while others said that they didn’t keep track of time, and others replied that they were females, and didn’t dare go into the men’s bathroom. “I wonder where Tania is, you still need to ask for her alibi, right?” The Hostess cocked her head, wondering. “Tania?” Veran asked. “An employee—she works as a cleaner, her shift ended a few hours ago, but she hasn’t clocked out yet. I’m kind of worried.” The hostess frowned. Then Veran remembered how the women’s bathroom was locked, “I’m sorry for this in advance—bill me for it later.” The hostess and Annalise stared at him with perplexed faces, as he stormed down the corridor that leads to the bathrooms, and consequentially, he kicked the bathroom door down. Inside, there was a girl on the floor, drenched in sweat, her face was flushed, and she was breathing heavily, and the name on her uniform said, “Tania Ustilla.” “Dammit, she poisoned herself!” Veran cursed himself, Tania slightly opened up her eyes, “Is dying really all that much better?” Tania gave a weak smile, and reached out for him. With her lips, she tried to utter the words, “H
He-Help
M-me
” and then went back into unconsciousness.
“So you realize that you were wrong and want to be saved? ANNALISE!” Annalise, hearing her name, she ran towards him, “What is it?” “Call an ambulance, now!” He shouted. She nodded, grabbed her phone, and her fingers started to fumble against the keys, “I need another ambulance at the restaurant again, it’s an emergency!” The caller on the other line stated, “There are many restaurants here, you’ll need to be more specific.” “Augh
! It’s on the Northern side, called Luvberi Family Restaurant!” Annalise yelled into the phone. The man on the other line replied, “We’ll be right there.”
When the ambulance arrived, Annalise directed them back to the bathrooms, where they meet Veran and Tania, who they placed very carefully on the gurney, and as they were caring them out, Veran grabbed Annalise’s arm and brought her forward, whispering in her ear. “Um, okay, sure.” Annalise replied, following the medical practitioners back to ambulance. Instead of going with them, Veran stated to the customers, “We have caught the culprit; you are now free to leave.” And as soon as he walked outside, he went to his car, and started it up, while doing so, he also called Annalise, when it connected to her earphone, and she asked what was up. “Can Tania speak? Or is she still unconscious?” “Um, her eyelids keep fluttering, but the two medical guys say that she is still unconscious.” “I see—tell her when she wakes up that I searched her house—to save both her life and the one she poisoned. I guess I’ll have to hack into their local mainframe to figure out where she lives.” “Veran, remember your computer is out of commission?” Annalise reminded him, and after his grunt, she suggested, “Or, I could always ask these two?” “Go ahead
dammit; I’m not used to not using my laptop.” Veran cursed. After Annalise asked them, one of them replied, “Oh yeah, we know it. Here, I’ll write it down.” One of the medical practitioners then wrote it down and gave it to Annalise. “Veran—I got it, she lives at 245 Boken Street to the east, it’s a few blocks away from the restaurant.” “I got it, thanks.” Veran replied and then hung up, he went in reverse and pulled out the parking spaces, after he pulled up to the main road, he put on his directional, and turned right, and paid very close attention until he saw Boken street, he turned in, and looked for number 245. It was a small house, made out of brick and steel, he went to the front door to check if it was unlocked: it wasn’t. So he looked around to see if there was a hidden key, he eventually found one in a place he never initially expected: next to the door, there was a water pipe, he looked inside it, and lo and behold he found the key. After he managed to grab it, he unlocked the door, and looked around, it was clean—for the most part, just a few scattered papers, and a wrinkled blanket on her couch—which made him expect that someone else was living here.
As he searched through the house trying to find the Verchalyl plant—to no success, however, he discovered something that intrigued him, greatly: a photograph. He picked up the photograph and left in his car after locking the door and hiding the key.
The Police Network’s local station: Interrogation Room.
“Glad that you could make it, please take a seat.” Veran smiled, looking at the figure that sat down across from him. The figure didn’t say anything, and just stared at Veran to probably try and intimidate him—least to say, it didn’t work. “So, Ursula Coerre, or rather, Hostess at the Restaurant Luvberi, mind telling me why you tried to murder two people today?” “I want my lawyer.” She hissed. “In due time, in due time—after all, you are going to need one to lessen up your sentence when you go to jail.” While still uncooperative, Ursula did not like the way Veran’s eyes were staring at her—in fact, the piercing gaze made her want to shiver—but she tried to prevent that from happening as much as possible, so she asked, “And any reason why you think that the culprit is me?” “First of all, how did you know that Tania was the only employee there that I had not interviewed yet?” He asked, and then Veran grabbed his bag, and he sat down the picture, sliding it down to her, “Secondly, look familiar? It should, considering that it is you and Tania together.” “What does this have to do with anything? So I can’t have friends?” “Oh, it does, when I searched her house earlier—I noticed that it was mainly tidy—except that it was apparent that someone was sleeping on her sofa.” “So someone can’t lie down on their sofa—with a blanket on, to watch TV?” “I may have expected that, if it weren’t for a certain message that you left on her home phone.” Veran replied, and grabbed the tape recorder from his pocket, once he hit play, the message read: “Hey, Tania! It’s me, Ursula, can I ask a favor? I’m in a bit of trouble—can I spend a few nights there?” “Like a good friend, Tania told you that you could—but there was another underlying factor in this—she was in love with you—and you knew it, and you used it to your advantage.” Veran replied, and once again, through something else on the table: Tania’s Diary. “That’s an outrage! I can’t believe that you looked through her diary! Have you know shame at all? And the reason I asked to spend a few nights there is because my ex-boyfriend was being a complete and total jackass and wouldn’t leave me alone!”
“You have come up with a few good arguments—and if I didn’t have an intuitive mind, I may have given up; however, first, you falsified your alibi, right before the victim was discovered—you went to go grab more menus for the new customers
and you were gone for around five minutes—when I went back to the main office where they were being held, the worker there told me you arrived near 12:18, that was the time frame Mr. Burogette went to the lavatory. Not to mention that we do have a witness to all those testaments—the girl you tried to frame for your attempted murder, Tania. Once I discovered the picture, I made sure to spy around your neighborhood and ask your neighbors if anything peculiar has gone on at your apartment in the past few days—there was no boyfriend—not even a single guy that talked to you, or even shouted. Not to mention, that I also checked inside the house: from the windows, and happened to notice a particular plant used for the poisonings—the Verchalyl plant, once discovered—I went inside and took it, because it was the same specimen used in both of your attempted kills, they were able to make a successful antidote—which spared the both of them from death.” Veran replied, and instead of saying anything, all that Ursula did was giving him the death glare.
And as if on cue, Tania came in, she first started to walk in slowly, and began to quicken her pace to the point where she was right in front of her so-called friend, Ursula, and slapped her. “I can’t believe that I trusted you. You were important to me—and then you go and do this to me!? Why?” Tania’s wails continued to squeak—and Veran, slightly annoyed at them, handed her a Kleenex so she’d be a bit quieter. “You want to know that badly why?” Ursula replied, rising from her chair, “Because that damn bastard wouldn’t leave his wife for me! I yearned for him for years—and he never even glanced in my direction! Before I was a hostess—I was a scientist, one that helped to find an antidote for the Verchalyl plant. We did succeed, however because its growth started to decrease we felt no need to mass-distribute it, and with that, I lost my job, and became a hostess—hoping to grab his affection there. But still, he wouldn’t even look at me in the eyes whenever I asked for their orders! It was the last straw! So when I saw that he was going to the bathroom, and I followed him—using the fact that I needed more menus as an excuse, and wearing the lipstick I made from the poison—I was originally aiming for his lips, when he dodged and I ended up getting his cheek—well, either way, I would have gotten him dead for refusing me, if it hadn’t been for you and persistence. Right after I kissed him, then, Tania went to clean the bathrooms, and she caught me, of course—knowing her affection for me, I distracted her with a kiss, to keep her quiet—and I told her that the men’s was clean enough and to just clean the women’s first, then I wiped off my lipstick, and gave myself a little of the antidote just in case.” She replied, “Satisfied?”
“I’m not all for the love thing but what’s wrong with a man being unconditionally in love with his wife?” Veran asked. “Well, when I get out, maybe I’ll show you; after all, you are quite the looker just like he is.” Ursula winked at him, which he found a little disconcerting, and ignored it,
“Hands behind your head,” Veran grabbed his cuffs, and placed them around her wrists, she made a wince, and said, pleased, “A little tighter.” Veran, valuing his sanity, ignored her, and brought her to the other cops that controlled this local station, and he told them, “She confessed to two local attempted-murders today, please do lock her up.” “Yes sir!” Was the most common reply out of the policeman, as he left, Tania gave one more glance to her friend, but instead of saying anything else to her, she just walked out the door.
“Aren’t you going to give goodbyes to your so-called friend?” Veran inquired. “Nah, after finding out her reasons—how it was for unrequited love, I can’t bring myself to hate her, only pity her.” “Well, they do say that pity can be worse than hate.” Veran replied. “I guess.” Tania shrugged after walking outside with him; she said “Thanks.” and went her separate ways back to her apartment. Veran got into his car, and met up with Annalise back at the hospital, she was with the Burogette family, as soon as Veran walked down the hallway, their little girl came running down to him and hugged him. “Thank you so much for saving him!” She cried, happy. “Ashliana, mind your manners!” Eliza, her mother, scolded her. “Ah, but mom!” Ashliana frowned, while unlatching herself from Veran’s waist. Her father laughed, “Come on now, Ash, you should respect the man who helped save my life.” Veran didn’t say anything; he just nodded at Annalise as a signal to move on while she waved to the Burogette family and started to walk away. “W-wait!” Mr. Burogette called them, “I’m a very wealthy man; at least let me give you some compensation for all that you’ve done!” “There is no need,” Veran replied, modestly. “Please, let me do this one honor.” Mr. Burogette insisted, and Veran let out a sigh, “Okay, okay, you win.” Veran and Annalise then left with a bountiful check in their hands, “People are seriously, so easy to manipulate.” “You know, you could’ve just accepted it when he first offered—instead of pretending to be all modest.” Annalise argued. “Nah, if I did, I’d make us seem like we were desperate for money, I’m not very fond of that scenario.” Veran replied, unlocking his car and settling inside. “Even though we kind of are?” Annalise looked at him incredulously. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that or no motel for you tonight.” “AH! Come on, you promised!” “When did I do that?” Veran blinked, incredulously. “Please? I hate sleeping out on the road.” She begged. “Not like it’ll kill you.” Veran smirked. “Come on Veran! Stop being so cruel to me, I followed all of your orders today, hell; I even helped with your case today—and not as the culprit!” Annalise gritted her teeth, ready to slap him at any given moment. “Maybe,” Veran replied with a smirk on his face, it was obvious he was only pretending to think about it. Annalise locked her arm around his, and started to squeeze it, while begging him more than before. “Fine, just stop grabbing me. Gah!” Veran replied. “Yes!” Annalise was happy that she almost started to skip to the car, however, Veran stated; “If you do that, I’m going to change my mind instantaneously
got it?” Annalise stopped her skipping, and just kind of slouched, “Yes sir.”
By the time they got to the car, and searched for a motel, both of them were starting to feel kind of strange—once they got into their two-bed room, both of them started to pant—however, Annalise was the more panting of the two, she started to sweat, and then she looked at Veran, with what he liked to call ‘goo-goo eyes’. Annalise, not able to control herself, went over to him and started to smell his shirt.
“Take it off.” She whispered. “Excuse me? What the hell has gotten into you?” He flinched. “Take it off, I can’t seem to control myself any longer Veran.” Her face was beat red, and she was panting louder, and that’s when Veran caught her breath. This smell is it
Rosemary
? I know it can be used as spices in its dry form—but in most cultures
it’s used as a
ah fuck
in love potions and aphrodisiacs. Veran thought, his whole body twitching as Annalise was trying to unbutton his shirt, Where the f*ck did she consume a love potion or an aphrodisiac? Wait a second
it’s that damned restaurant
isn’t it? All the hearts and crap was freaking me out
wouldn’t surprise me if they drugged the food. “Annalise, get off me, or I swear, I seriously will burn every single one of your comics.” Veran threatened, it caused her to stop for a moment and looked up at him. “That’s okay, as long as I have you it more than enough makes up for it.” Annalise then looked back down and started to fumble with his shirt again. “Sorry, I didn’t want to have to do this, but I have no choice.” Veran sighed, and with one of his hands, he knocked her out by hitting the back of her neck, and she fell forwards towards him, “Finally, I thought I’d never get out of that awkward situation
but why am I not as affected as her?” Veran set Annalise down on the bed nearest to the window; he took off her boots, and then placed the blanket over her.
Veran stayed up most of the night, making sure that Annalise didn’t try to attack him again, however, it turned out that he completely knocked her out cold, when he made sure of this, he finally decided to get some shuteye. The next morning, he heard a voice calling him, and when his eyes went into focus he noticed it was Annalise, Veran jumped out of his bed, ready to prepare himself if she was still under the influence like yesterday. “Why so jumpy?” Annalise blinked. “You don’t remember what happened yesterday after we booked in, did you?” Annalise cocked her head, trying to think, “Not much, everything seems very unclear when I try to look back, hell, I don’t even remember going to bed.” “That’s because I knocked you out, because you attacked me.” Veran replied. “What?” Annalise’s jaw dropped. “It’s not totally your fault; it wouldn’t have happened if those damn bastards back at the restaurant didn’t drug their damned food.” Veran replied, scratching his head. “No way! No way in hell
seriously?” Annalise couldn’t bring herself to believe it. “Yes way, I remember it all, you were beat red—panting frantically, you tried to take off my shirt, and then, I noticed the smell of rosemary in your breath.” “NOOOOOO!” Annalise cried, starting to pull out her hair from the realization. “Well, the drug must’ve warn off, considering that you are acting fine now—well, you’re acting like your usual self, seems more appropriate.”
“Why weren’t you as infected as me?” Annalise asked. “How should I know? It could be that we ate two totally different things, not to mention that I drank water—which probably diluted the drug to a certain point.” “I see; however, for making a fool out of me, I want revenge!” Annalise shouted. Veran smirked, “I was planning to get some as well, so let’s say, we go now, perhaps?” Annalise nodded, and left the room, waiting for Veran to get changed, once he was outside, they walked to the cashier, gave him payment, and as they were leaving for their car, “Hey, this isn’t enough!” The cashier whined. In light of this, Veran gave him a death glare, and replied, “I solved two attempted murders yesterday, and then I get repaid by my cousin and I getting drugged by a damned love potion or something? I’m not happy; not to mention life isn’t fair—get used to it.” This caused the cashier to be quiet in his wake, and gulped, however, Veran didn’t say anything else and left the entryway.
Luvberi’s Family Restaurant:
Veran and Annalise got out of their car, and went inside, and when the new hostess saw them—coincidently, their waitress from yesterday, her face went pale when she noticed both of their death glares. “I want to talk to your boss, now.” Veran glowered. After the hostess gulped, she replied, “I’m sorry, but it turns out our boss is on leave right now, she won’t be back for a few more weeks.” “Then the manager?” Veran asked, still wearing his death-glare. “He’s not in yet.” The hostess gulped. “God-dammit, give me someone in the management to talk to, or would you prefer it if it were you?!” Veran raised his voice, and then most of the customers looked at him. The hostess began to lose her composure, but she gave them a nod, and brought them to the assistant manager, who was in the office. After Veran and Annalise sat down, the assistant manager asked, “What can I do to help you to?” but then his happy mood immediately dropped after he noticed their glowering. “Inexcusable.” Veran scowled, “Yesterday, after wrapping up the two attempted-murders here, and then I get repaid, by my cousin attacking me because you drugged the damned food.” The assistant manager gulped, “Um, yes
?” Veran, losing even more of his patience, asked, “Why the f*ck did you drug the damned food?!” “A few years back, we stopped conceiving children—we don’t know why, but our youngest is the Burogette’s child, Ashliana. We want children, so we asked the witch doctor near the outskirts of town, to develop enough love potions for us—so that we can cook it in the food, most of the time, it doesn’t work, but still, we feel like we are going to die out.” “Doesn’t change the fact that what you did was completely uncalled for, you could have at least warned your customers—in case their travelling companion was a f*cking relative.” Veran argued.
“So it was only your cousin that seemed effected? Why weren’t you?” The assistant manager cocked an eyebrow. “That’s not the point, and I don’t even know myself, maybe the water diluted it or something—I don’t care, as long as I don’t have to deal with this love bullshit anymore.” “Ah! It might because you don’t seem to believe in love! Not to mention you do know that cousins can get legally married
right?” The assistant manager added, and of course, he got what was coming to him, after aligning his now-broken glasses on his bruised face, he said “We can compensate in any way possible, due to the inconvenience.” Both Annalise and Veran got up, Veran too pissed to answer anymore, let Annalise reply back, “You don’t get it do you? We don’t want your money; we don’t like it when our lives are messed with!” With that, silence swarmed around the room, and Veran and Annalise left, going back to their car. “Unbelievable.” Veran manages to utter, and starts the car.
The Clock tower-Cathedral
Claude looked over the horizon, and then found Veran and Annalise, “I’m coming for you two, be prepared—because I’m not going down without a fight. I hope you realize that.” “When do we move?” A voice approached him from behind—once she came into the light, she had scarlet hair. There was also a shadow behind her. “Melissa, Donia, we aren’t moving just yet, I want them caught with no witnesses.” Claude replied. “So, are we going to burn the city down?” Donia asked, her expression showing that she could set aflame to the city with ease. “I was thinking of something less drastic.” Claude sighed. “Your wish is our command, sir.” Melissa bowed, and Donia did as well, then both of them disappeared back into the darkness of the tower. “If you don’t want to be caught as prey—you better bring about a good fight.” Claude got up from the ledge of the clock tower, and followed Donia and Melissa back into the darkness.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Mar 12, 2011 15:40:08 GMT -8
I do have Chapter Four completely written, and chapter five partially written. Chapter Four may be up soon--depending upon if I deem it good enough by editing. It's also the longest thus far (22 pages, 12 font, single-spaced) so I may have to break it up into two parts. Hopefully not, tho'.
Chapter Five--I'll post it when it's complete, and I don't know when that'll be.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Mar 17, 2011 15:03:51 GMT -8
I split it up into two parts cause it's so huge, and it reached past maximum capacity of the characters allowed in a post.
The Fourth Engrave: Next in Line (Part I)
Veran and Annalise were in the woods, their car in parked, and Annalise screamed.
“Veran, that hurts.” Annalise whimpered, her face beat red, but he started to ignore her, until she whined again.
“Shut up, I’m almost done.” He replied, and with that he squeezed it out, “I got the bullet out, can you move your arm?”
“I can try...” Annalise replied, and tried to move her left arm, however, she winced, and grabbed it with her other arm. “I see, so it’s broken, at best fractured, I’ll make a brace.” Veran replied, and searched the trunk for a piece of wood, or metal, however he only found an old antenna and then he grabbed a cloth, he told her to hold the antenna onto her arm, and then he started to wrap it up. “Does that feel better?” Veran asked. “A little, but if feels awkward, I don’t like not being able to use it.” Annalise frowned. “It should heal, in due time, but if it bothers you that much, I’ll bring you to a hospital in the next town, or something.” Veran suggested. “Okay.” Annalise gave a slight nod.
One and a half Days Ago:
Annalise and Veran were on the outskirts of the city, Croathe, after passing the previous city of Danka. Why were they traveling here? They were about to pay a certain clan a visit: The Bachovsky Clan. Annalise paid attention to the scenery, mainly because her favorite tree—Weeping Willows grew frequently in this town. While Veran looked ahead, after passing a few streets, they came across the Bachovsky mailbox, and as soon as they stopped, they heard the aftermath of a gunshot and the screaming that followed. Once Veran and Annalise shut their doors, they quickened their pace, and rang the door bell. No one answered. “Dammit.” Veran cursed, “Did someone get to them before we did?” “If that gunshot was any indication, I would say, yes.” Annalise replied softly, “I noticed a weeping willow near the house when we stopped, I’ll climb it, and see if I can get any indication of what is going on.” Veran nodded at her, and she went dashing off in the direction of the tree.
Annalise jumped up, and like a cat she landed perfectly and began to climb, until she was at the same height as the window and looked through it, she saw a lot of people crying and an old man on the floor, either in critical condition, or dead, most likely the latter. Because she was too far away from the window to tap on it, she jumped down, and tried to grab a few rocks, once she collected a few, she climbed back up, and started throwing them at the window. After the first was thrown, the remaining people shuddered for a second and started to look around, and after the second one was thrown, they jumped, and started to scream sporadically, Annalise, beginning to get annoyed—thinking that the plan wasn’t working, threw the last one with more force than the others, leaving a bang in its wake, and left a small crack on the window. With the final blow, the people in the house finally got a clue and looked at her. At first, they were more startled then when the rocks were thrown. Annalise, deciding to cool her temper, tried to signal them to open the window, by pretending she was opening up a latch, someone understood her and unlocked the window. “Girl, this isn’t the best time.” It was a guy, he had light brown hair, a shaven face, and dark brown eyes with red rims underneath them—which clearly indicated that he was either tired, or he was crying, while it could be the first, or a combination of both—Annalise was betting on the latter due to the presumably-dead guy. “What happened? My partner and I heard a gunshot as we were passing.” Annalise asked. “That is none of your concern.” The guy who opened the window snarled. As he was about to shut the window, Annalise shocked everyone with this tidbit: “Even if I tell you that my traveling companion happens to be a detective?” Veran, in front of the door, was getting sick of waiting, and muttered, “That’s it; I’m breaking it down.” Annalise added, “He’s outside the front doors right now—” then everyone heard a crash, “Ah—he must’ve gotten impatient and broke the door down, sorry guys, we’ll repair it.” As she finished her sentence, she heard loud footsteps—a usual sign when Veran is annoyed. When he entered the room, his presence filled the air with silence—maybe they were unaware of anyone who actually had the balls to break down a door, with the chance of there being repercussions for it. While everyone was focusing on Veran, Annalise jumped in—she was lucky there wasn’t a screen on that window, or else she would’ve looked like she had gotten fly-swatted. “May we be of service?” Annalise asked, making a slight flutter with her eyes, so the guys may have a chance of agreeing. “Well
if you say he’s a detective, then I guess we have no choice.” Most of the others slightly slouched and sighed. “I suppose we are in your care then—at least, until this mystery resolves.” Veran replied, “Now, I need to know everything: Every single detail.” One of the women gulped and then consecutively nodded, she had her hair tied up in a bun, the color was blonde-turning silver, and she had a polka-dotted bandana tied behind her ears. She wore a pale-pink flannel, and her face was stricken with several wrinkles, and her eyes were puffed up and red.
“The day before, we all received messages to come back to the family estate because Grandfather Bachovsky—as many called him due to his age, finally completed his will, and respecting his will, we drove here, however, as the will was about to be read, a gunshot appeared out of nowhere, and struck down Grandfather Bachovsky, my poor brother
” She closed her eyes, and when her pupils reappeared—they looked lifeless. “Please help find who murdered my brother! He may have been strict—but he was a good man. After he lost his wife and daughter in a boating accident a few years ago, he was awaiting death, wishing to join them as quick as possible, which is why he wrote his Will now rather than later. It was as if
he wanted someone to shoot him today
oh, my poor, pitiful brother
” The murder victim’s younger sister cried. “To make things easier, I want all of your names, and your alibis, but before I do that, can someone grab me a bed sheet so I can cover up our victim?” Veran replied, after he asked for a bed sheet, the victim’s younger sister went to go grab one and gave it to Veran, where he gave his thanks and covered him up, while he was doing that, others were not happy at being suspects: “What? I can understand the name part—but we were all here! We all witnessed him getting shot!” Many shouted back at him. “And this is exactly why, any one of you could have shot him, and then disposed of the gun in the midst of everyone panicking. That’s what a killer does.” Veran replied. “WE ARE NOT KILLERS!” They shouted in unison. “I cannot rule this part out, the quicker you cooperate and then the quicker we can apprehend the killer, capiche?” Veran’s eyes narrowed, as if trying to add emphasis as to what he was saying, “Now, I want each one of you to come forward, state your name—maiden or otherwise, doesn’t matter, and your alibi—where you were in the room, who you talked to, if you saw something suspicious, etc.” Veran replied, grabbing a notebook out of his bag, and grabbing a pen, where he took the cap off with his teeth, “We’ll start from the left and go to the right.” Upon hearing this, the first person came forward: he had black spiky hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and he was wearing headphones—however, his music player wasn’t on, wearing headphones must be one of his habits. His shirt consisted of black and white strips and his sleeves went to his elbows, and he wore worn out black jeans with several rips in them, not to mention the black combat boots—not exactly the most appropriate thing to wear at a Will hearing, “My name is Daniel Bachovsky; I was sitting on the sofa, near where your girlfriend is now; I had my music player on, and was listening to the band, Rainbow Parade, and watching the others as the conversed with one another before reading the Will—which, never happened. I had my music blasting, so I didn’t hear anything until someone shook me, and then I heard the screaming.” “Thank you.” Veran replied, “And by the way, she is not my girlfriend.” As he pointed to Annalise, in a displeased manner—well, Annalise wasn’t thrilled about being called his girlfriend, either. Daniel, then sat down on the couch, near Annalise and he smiled at her, in which Annalise responded with a ‘you did not just go there’ face.
The next person to come up this time was a female, she was shortest out of everyone, she had long strawberry blonde hair, and sky blue eyes—which had the signature puffiness and redness, due to the tears. She was wearing an olive green sweater, and creamy dress pants, her shoes were hard to decipher because her pants were too long on her, so they pretty much covered them up completely, “He-Hello, my name is Mary Weather Bachovsky, I’m usually a shy person, however, after not seeing everyone in so long, I tried to converse with everyone, but they all talked over me, I seem to have a very small presence—height wise, and in conversations. After being ignored, I sat down on the sofa near Daniel, who did wave to me, but afterwards, he just went back to concentrating on his music.” Mary Weather sighed, and then sat down on the other side of Annalise, somewhat eyeing Daniel, because he kept staring at Annalise—which Annalise was trying to ignore. The next person, who came up, was a man around his late thirties—if not early forties, he had black beard, neatly combed hair, and he was wearing a tuxedo—he seemed to be the family butler. “Hello sir, I am Russell Donovan, if under different circumstances—it would have been a pleasure to meet you; I am the family butler—and as the family butler, I was doing my duty of tending to everyone’s needs with foods and drinks. I was on my way to get more crackers, cheese and wine, when I turned back around and saw my master lying on the ground. It is quite the tragic day, Sir Detective.” Russell explained, and grabbed a cloth tissue and started to dab his eyes with it, while walking near the sofa where the others were sitting, but instead of sitting—he stood. The next person to come up was a voluptuous female, she had curly black hair going past her shoulders, and grey eyes, her skin was clear—except she was wearing lipstick the color of vermillion red, and she was wearing a white summer dress, “I’m Clarissa Bachovsky, while I did not see anything suspicious, I only talked to Rachel and Carrie, who are on the farther right side of the line-up, and we were mainly talking about our newborn children, what we would do with any money Grandfather Bachovsky would leave us.” With that, she turned and took a seat next to Mary Weather. After that, came up Grandfather Bachovsky’s younger sister, “My name is Stella Bachovsky, and I am Paul’s—the victim’s younger sister, by thirty years; I was conversing with my brother, when I saw his head fly backwards due to the bullets impact, the blood splattering everywhere
him then falling on the ground
I just
” Stella began to whimper again, and both Mary Weather and Clarissa got up to comfort her, and bringing her back to the sofa so she could sit down. The next one was the guy who opened up the window, along with his brown hair and eyes; he was also wearing a white shirt with a brown vest, and tannish-brown pants, “I’m Kristoffer Bachovsky, I was the victim’s nephew, and I was mainly leaning against the wall waiting for the hearing to begin, however my Aunt Stella and a few others came up to talk to me, I was about the third or fourth person to realize Uncle Paul was shot.” After he finished talking, he put his hands in his pockets, and mood over to where the others were seated. The next one up was another male, he had a buzz cut, and hazel eyes, “I’m Stan Bachovsky, as previously mentioned by my brother, Kristoffer, I was one of the few people talking to him, however, my brother is kind of unsociable, so afterwards, I started to converse with my wife, Clarissa, and her two family-friends, Rachel and Carrie.” With his last words, he moved over to where his wife, Clarissa was, and put an arm around her.
The last male came up; he was wearing very expensive clothing, and had wavy hair brushing against his neck, his eyes were a cold calculating green, “I’m the family lawyer, Nathanael William Perry, I came here today to discuss the Will together with Paul and his family, however I ran into traffic before I got here, and was near the entrance to the room when he had blood shouting out of his head.” Afterwards, he returned to the bookshelf behind where the victim was slain. Now, there were only two people left, Rachel and Carrie, the first one to come up, had shoulder-length straight platinum blonde hair, her eyes were a greenish-blue, and she was wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with lace patterns, and black dress pants, “I’m Rachel Bachovsky, as you have heard already, I was talking with Carrie, Clarissa, and Clarissa’s husband—Stan, halfway through our conversation, I had to use the lavatory, but when I came back, everything was still normal, it wasn’t until ten minutes later that poor Grandfather Bachovsky received a bullet in his head.” After speaking, Rachel went near Clarissa’s side, but sat on the sofa arm. When Carrie came up, she was nervous, she had honey-comb hair cut just below her ears, she wore glasses, and a little chubby—but not too noticeably, she wore a yellow sweater and white dress pants, and then she began stuttering, “H-Hello, D-detective
” “Don’t worry Carrie, this isn’t public speaking—you don’t need to be so afraid!” Rachel encouraged her, and she got a nod back from Carrie. “Sorry about my stuttering, I’m Carrie Lynn Bachovsky, as you’ve heard already, I was talking with Rachel, and Clarissa, and Stan when he came over to us, after a few minutes when he appeared, I noticed Russell going to grab more snacks, so I was going to help him, but as soon as I got up, blood fell
all over the place
on my hands, on Stella’s face
it’s horrible. So horrible, please find whomever did this.” Carrie rubbed her eyes, while walking over to Clarissa and the others. “I see, thank you, you may exit this room and go back to your designated rooms, while I examine the body; Annalise.” Veran replied. Sullen, the family members (the butler and lawyer included) nodded, exiting the room, and Annalise shut the door behind them. Veran then put on some gloves—and Annalise did the same, searching for anything suspicious, when Annalise was near the farthest wall away from the murder victim, she felt something fall on her head, so she looked above, and noticed something glint. “Veran, I think I may have something.” Annalise rose her voice a little, but mainly due to being bewildered. Veran shot up and went over to her, and looked up, he noticed a glint. “Annalise, since you are acrobatic would you be able to get up there without a problem?” Veran asked. “I could try, but I think I’ll need a boost.” Annalise replied, and Veran went to go get a chair—or better yet, he grabbed the table instead, considering that it was higher than the chair seats, “Yup, this is good, thanks Veran!” Annalise grabbed onto the wooden diagonal-set railings that kept the ceiling in place, as another boost to get back where she saw the glint. “Veran, it’s dark up here, can I borrow your flashlight?” Annalise asked, somewhat crawling back to where she could see him, and saw as he went from his bag to grab the flashlight, and lifted his arm to give it to her, “Thanks, Veran.” “Not a problem.” Veran replied nonchalantly. Annalise turned on the light, and began to move the flashlight to see what was up here, and finally she found the glint.
"A-ha,” Annalise shouted in triumph, “It was a ring, Veran; I wonder how long it has been up here.” Annalise the scooched back to where he was waiting and threw down the ring. “You said that before you looked up, you felt something hit you, right? Then it shouldn’t have just been this ring, try looking for something else.” Veran asked. “Got it,” Annalise replied, and went back into the darkness. After looking around, she then noticed something peculiar, “Veran, I’ve found something weird, it looks kind of like a lever switch or a handle, and it looks very old, too.” “Try moving it, and do you happen to see anything else?” Veran asked. “I can look farther in; I’ll move the switch-thing when I get back.” Annalise replied, farther in the back—where her flashlight couldn’t reach, she found an old, small, chest, she slid it back up near where she entered, and tried to open it, but to no avail. “Let me see it.” Veran replied, Annalise nodded, and handed it to him, Veran set the small chest onto the table he moved, and tried to open it himself, and like Annalise tried—it wouldn’t open for him, until he noticed a peculiar rounded groove, which he found slightly interesting, and then he glanced back at the ring. He smirked and put the ring inside the groove on the chest, and lo and behold, he heard a click. The chest opened and he saw what was inside: photographs. Veran searched through them, they were all monochromatic, and then he came across one particularly interesting, but he didn’t say what it was out loud, in case the others were still listening outside. While Veran continued to look through the photographs, Annalise went back to the lever, and lifted it, and then both she and Veran felt rumbles, it was as if seismic pressure was rising up, after the rumbling ceased, they heard something jack out of place, and then they looked to where the sound was coming from: Behind them. They then saw the bookshelf scooched over to the right, and in its wake left an entrance and a staircase. “Now don’t I feel like I’ve just been warped into an old movie?” Veran shrugged, while Annalise jumped down. “Shall we go take a look?” Annalise suggested. Veran nodded, and grabbed their findings and stuffed it in his bag—so that if anyone entered, they wouldn’t be able to tamper with the evidence. They walked to the hidden entrance, and went down the cobblestone stairs. After the first curve in the stairs, it spiraled around one more time before it hit against the floor. Annalise’s first look of the room, had her in for a surprise: There were several candles lit, and what looked to be like a shrine; Veran and Annalise moved closer to it, and noticed several photos, that looked to be around the same vintage of the ones they found in the chest. They all depicted the victim in his younger form, with a woman and child—presumably his wife and daughter that were killed in the boating accident. To the left of the shrine, there was another space, kind of like a corridor. Annalise peered down it, and her face went pallid. “Veran, look.” Annalise tugged on his shirt and then pointed over to the “corridor-like space”. “Coffins, how interesting. So this must be not only his shrine for them—but also their resting grounds.” Veran replied, going closer to the coffins. He blew off some of the dust, and read their names: ‘To my loving wife, Synthia Bachovsky’ on one coffin; and ‘To my loving daughter, Belle Bachovsky’ on the other.
“If this is their true resting grounds, Annalise, you might want to cover your mouth.” Veran wondered, and then did something that surprised Annalise; he tore the covers off the coffins. For each one, he became more intrigued, “This seems to be a shrine for his dead loved ones, and yet, I see no corpses here.” “Maybe they couldn’t find the bodies—it was a boating accident.” Annalise replied softly. “That is a possibility, but if he loved his family this much, he would’ve used every resource he had to find their corpses, so I say this reason is now null. Also, I would have guessed that the bodies were moved—however, no one has touched these coffins in awhile, due to how dusty, and how rusted the nails are, hell the wood is close to rotting. So there leaves only one optioned left: They faked their deaths.” “But
why?” Annalise blinked. “I suppose we’ll know when this mystery is solved, I suppose.” Veran replied. “Could they have faked their deaths
because of the endorsement? I remember when Keithe Lazerwic stated that the main house threatened his family.” Annalise theorized. “That seems more than likely; however, if I remember correctly, he was one of the first to endorse it. It is true that he could’ve been threatened to endorse it before the meeting took place, but then, why didn’t they do that for Keithe Lazerwic’s family?” Veran theorized, placing the coffin lids back in place, “Hopefully no one else knows about this place, or else they’ll probably notice the tampering.” “Well, the quicker we get out of here, the quicker they won’t catch us down here.” Annalise smiled, racing for the stairs. Veran closed his eyes, and smiled; not bothering to say anything as he walked back over to the staircase. By the time they reached the entryway however, the bookcase was back in place, and they couldn’t move it. “Dammit.” Veran snarled. “Paul Bachovsky seemed to like elaborate, hidden entryways; maybe there is another one somewhere else?” “Maybe, it wouldn’t hurt to try. Otherwise, if we can’t get out, at least they have two coffins ready for us.” Veran replied, dark humor completely infected his voice. “That was totally not funny.” Annalise snarled, but her snarl didn’t last long, as what replaced it was a semi-depressed look, she leaned up against the curving staircase, and continued to sigh. “Well, aren’t you going to help me look?” Veran asked, checking the walls. “Yes, I just wanted to catch my breath.” Annalise smiled half-heartedly. “Well, if we don’t find one soon, there is a chance that the air will run out, and no, I’m not joking this time.” Veran replied. “I’ll check the floor.” Annalise spoke quietly, she crawled, stopping to move her hair behind her ear every few seconds, while checking each paved stone on the floor, however none of them seem to be triggering everything, by the time they checked all of the wall and floor, they had nothing, there were only two more places to check: the coffin’s location, and behind the shrine. Very carefully, they moved the shrine—not wanting to destroy it, and once the wall was exposed, there were a few indents that were different from the rest of the walls. Veran placed his hands on it, and then he heard a click. However, all he saw on the other side was darkness.
“Annalise, give me the flashlight I lent you earlier.” Veran asked, holding out his hand, she blinked for a moment, and gave it to him, “Thanks.” He turned it on, and peered in, it looked like a mix between catacomb-like passageways, and a wine cellar. “Annalise, I’m going to take a look around, you stay here.” “Why, you shouldn’t be going off in there by yourself—”Annalise protested. “I’ll try to find another exit, if there isn’t one, then I’ll come back—if we both went in here, and came back, there’d be a chance that this hidden entrance will be blocked off again like the first one.” Veran replied. “I see, just be careful, okay.” Annalise spoke softly, trying to hide her worry. Veran gave her a confident smile, and started to walk into the darkness ahead. He lifted his bag and placed it on his shoulders, so he’d only have to carry the flashlight, after looking at the many passageways—or rather rows that all connected back to where he entered there was only one road that went up ahead, in which he found random assortments of old wine (about a century old for most, give or take). When he passed the wine stacks, there was a crossroads, he peered down both ways of the intersecting paths, and the one that was ahead of him, he decided—to be safe, to continue down the pathway he was already walking. A few more minutes of walking, and the floor he stepped on felt different, it wasn’t hard like stone, but rather, firm, like wood, he looked more closely, and then saw another lever. “An old fashioned elevator
?” Veran thought to himself, but took the chance. He pushed the lever, and the wood moved upward, after pushing the lever enough, the wooden elevator started to move up on its own, until it slammed and then clicked into place with the next floor. When he stepped out, it looked similar to that of an attic, as there was a random set of things collecting dust and cobwebs, and then he noticed a faint light peaking in—a window, he looked out, and there was the tree Annalise climbed, so he must’ve been right above the room where Paul Bachovsky was killed. Veran started to move the flashlight in a back-and-forth movement, trying to find another door that would lead out, eventually he found a cellar door and moved it by grabbing onto the metal handle, it pulled out and he looked down. A sofa was right below him, so he shouldn’t have such an unpleasant landing, so he jumped down, re-grabbing onto the trap door. He landed with a thud on the couch, he took a minute to regain his composure and looked back up at the ceiling, and he saw no wooden door, only a white-painted ceiling, except for a few odd patches that somewhat concerned him. “I gotta admit the guy was clever; painting over the bottom part with a mix of white paint and cement so no one would notice.” Veran picked himself up from the couch and tried to move the bookshelf, however, it appeared it wouldn’t move without the lever. So he moved back to where Annalise found the ring and the chest, and tried to climb up it—which was a bit difficult, considering that he was bigger than Annalise, but after a few tries, he finally managed. Once he hit the lever, and jumped back down so he could tell her it was back open—and moving something in front of the bookshelf so it wouldn’t trap him in again. Annalise wasn’t there. “That idiot,” Veran gritted his teeth, “Don’t tell me that she went in there.” Veran scratched his head, while then muttering, “Dammit.” And once again, dove into the pit of darkness.
***
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Mar 17, 2011 15:12:35 GMT -8
Part II
Annalise stopped, in front the intersecting paths, and blinked, “Which way should I take? God, he’s going to be so pissed at me.”
Instead of going straight ahead, her gut was telling her to take a left turn, as she was about to go down that way, she heard fast movements.
“Annalise!” The incoming figure shouted: it was Veran.
“Uh oh, I’m dead meat.” She slightly shivered.
When Veran saw her in his sights, his pace slowed, and finally he just walked the final few steps.
“I told you to wait back there.” Veran snarled, pointing back in the direction both of them came from.
“Sorry…” She replied softly, barely making eye contact, “When I was waiting for you to come back, I heard this weird howl coming from the passageways. And then the next thing I knew, I was at the crossroads, and heard you calling my name.”
“Tch,” He muttered, Dammit, it happened again.
“Come on, let’s go back.” Veran let out his hand, but for some reason, she was hesitant to take it, “Annalise?”
“I don’t know why, but I can’t take your hand. Something is pulling me down this way, intuition, possibly.” Annalise replied, and continued to walk through the tunnel.
“I guess I’ll have to see it to the end with you, eh?” Veran shrugged.
Annalise turned to him, surprised, “You mean…you’re coming with me?”
“As if I can let you get lost, you have zero skills when it comes to direction.” Veran teased.
“Ha ha ha, very funny. VER-AN-ICA!” Annalise stuck her tongue out, but afterwards, she smiled, “So I guess you remembered that every lady should have an escort?”
“Oh jeez, you are still going on about that?” Veran’s eyebrow twitched.
“Of course I am, it’s an unequivocal truth.” Annalise teased him with a big grin plastered on her face, “So escort, guide me so that I—heaven forbid, do not get lost.”
Veran shook his head not bothering to argue, and started to walk slowly, trying to ignore her arm locked in his.
The pathway was surprisingly, quite long. After a few minutes, the path began to curve, and it connected to a platform. And as soon as they caught a glimpse of it, it was something quite surprising.
“This looks…like a child’s room. Could this have to do with the fact that his wife and daughter supposedly died in the boating accident?”
“I agree; like I stated earlier, the both of them dying was only an act. Hiding them in your own house, he was either very stupid, or very clever with a daredevil streak.”
“But these are all toys, and where could his daughter be now?”
“Considering the dates on the back of the photographs—and taking in her approximate age at the time, she’d be probably be around ten years older than us. That means, she probably has a family by now.”
“Or they found her, and she was killed as a result?” Annalise added, saddened by the thought, “If so…so many sacrifices for such a trivial belief.”
Annalise and Veran then started to look through all the toys, and they found something they didn’t expect to see: a shackle and chain.
“What the…hell…?” Veran stared in horror at it, “What happened here?”
As Veran started to examine the chain, Annalise felt a shiver emanate from her body.
“Once again…I hear that howl…” Annalise whispered to herself, she walked passed Veran, to one of the stuffed animals at the edge of the platform, afterwards she picked it up, and ripped it open, there was a camera inside.
Annalise stared at the camera for a second, and blinked; she opened the camera up, and rolled back the footage.
“Veran, come here and check this out!” Annalise shouted, urging him to come forward.
Veran set down the chain back in its place, and walked over to her—squashing several stuffed animals in the process, however the deflation only lasted a few seconds. He looked over her shoulder, watching the film play.
“…I’m baffled.” Veran stared at the footage, “…This was only a prop! Just a fake stage to fool the head household…I can imagine how it went: Either the head household tortured and killed them, or he would, and record it. No matter how cruel, he found a way around it.”
“This is…madness. I have no words for this. Do you see how long this goes on for, even if I skip, from when she was around eleven to later on at the end, she appears to at least be in her twenties. He played out this charade for that long?”
“Wait a second, stop the tape and wind back a few seconds.” Veran spoke, his voice somewhat trembling, “It was quick, but it was as I thought, it’s kind of a blur, but do you see the knife jabbed in her chest?”
“But…was that just another prop? Or was it a real murder?” Annalise looked at him, her face full of questions, when she felt that chilling howl again—and this time, Veran heard it too.
“To answer your question: I don’t know, the video is too blurry because this film is decades old. And what is that howl?!”
Annalise looked ahead, on the path—the only path they came from, “Is it coming from the right side? The only side of the wine cellar that we haven’t looked at?”
“It’s probably the place where he kept his wife. Follow my lead.” Veran’s voice was calming, and he held out his hand, which she grasped gently. He gripped hers firmly, and then they started to advance to the other side of this path.
It took approximately the same amount of minutes to get to each platform, and what they saw, was a bit more…disturbing.
A skeleton, indicated to be female, due to the femur and pelvis bones; the skeleton however, had its hand bones chained above its head, and all around the walls in blood it read: “I am a lying bitch. Forgive me for I have sinned.” over and over, until the walls couldn’t fit the phrases on its stone-canvas.
“If there was a camera in his daughter’s place of confinement, then there should be one here too.” Veran started to search, at a safe distance away from the skeleton—as it smelled, horribly.
There were a few ragged sheets, stained with dried blood, and what smelled like pee, Veran felt like he was in a rat’s nest. The odor of the skeleton and the stale air made it hard to breathe, to the point where they had to put masks on their faces—luckily, Veran still had his bag on him. They continued to look, until, they found the other camera in a similar location to the other one, however, it was hidden behind a stone in the wall.
As they opened the camera to view the footage, and they saw nothing; someone removed the tape.
“So, I wonder what it was that they didn’t want anyone to see.” Veran wondered, his intrigue growing higher with each given moment.
Annalise just stared at him for a moment before replying, “I guess we won’t know until we find the tape…if it is still in one piece.” Veran nodded at her statement, and they began to walk back to where the pathways intersect, and then they took a right so they could use the wooden elevator, luckily, there was a button that let the elevator come back down. Annalise went on first, and the Veran. Then Veran hit the lever and they started to go up…if in a shaky manner.
When they finally reached the attic—it was still light out, so Veran had no need to use his flashlight.
“Shall we check up here for anything as well?” Annalise asked, inquisitively, “We may as well considering this is one place we haven’t searched.”
“Yes, we can; however, before we wrap this case up, I want to take a look at not only the Will, but the victim’s room.”
Annalise was already down on her knees, looking for anything that piqued her interest—thus far, it was mainly broken things that Paul Bachovsky couldn’t seem to throw away, others were of furniture or paintings that had sheets (and cobwebs) covered over them, not wanting to inhale dust, Annalise readjusted her mask.
There was a long chest—that was originally hidden by all the broken junk, but there wasn’t a key, Veran contemplated about trying to use the ring, but the groove was different, the circle was a bit bigger in circumference, not to mention, there wasn’t a diamond-like groove like for the previous one. Veran then figured that he would need Paul Bachovsky’s wedding ring—except that Paul was not wearing one, moreover he had no idea where to find it. Annoyed, he used an alternative—pick-locking, as inside the indented circle, there was a lock—he may have placed it there in case he ever lost his ring. Veran searched his bag for a bobby pin, but to no success; he almost gave up, that is if it weren’t for Annalise passing him.
“Annalise, give me the bobby pin in your hair.” Veran half-demanded and half-asked, Annalise cocked an eyebrow but took it out of her hair anyways and handed it to him. He grasped it quickly, and then began to try and pick the lock, as it was really his first time attempting it; it took him a few tries.
Once the chest popped open, he found something which made him smirk, it was the murder weapon.
“Annalise, can you grab a plastic bag out of my backpack? I want to check it later for prints.” Veran asked her, she sighed, and managed to find one after rummaging through all the contents in his backpack.
Once Veran had the bag in his hands, he sealed it, and then tried to look for another way out—mainly because he didn’t want to land on the couch, because last time, it kinda hurt.
He looked, but to no success, the trap-door was the only way in and out (besides the elevator, however, he didn’t want to take another long detour.) He popped open the door, and told Annalise to go first. She froze and shook her head furiously, Veran however, pushed her down, and she cried, “You jerk!” She plopped down on the couch, her legs jumping up due to the impact and then falling back down again.
“I hate you.” She groaned, and had murderous intent gleaming in her eyes.
Veran looked at her, apathetically, “Well I’ll be damned, whatever happened to ‘my knight in shining armor’ or ‘my escort’?” His joke made her eyebrows furrow in annoyance, as she got up from the couch, he jumped down; however she slightly pushed the couch forward so he’d hit his head on the couch’s arm—he however, caught onto this, and barricaded his head with his arm.
“That was uncalled for.” He seethed.
She stuck out her tongue at him, “And so is mostly everything that you say, so there! We’re even!”
“You brat,” He gritted his teeth, while slightly rubbing his head, “Whatever, we don’t have time for this!”
Annalise turned her head so she was looking at him directly, “We are still going to look at the Will, correct?”
“Of course we are.” Veran walked up to her, and then they opened the door. Once they left the room, they began to wonder, looking for the lawyer.
Then, they heard a scream. They ran in the direction of the scream, they saw Stella outside an open door, her hands covering her mouth, and tears were swelling in her eyes. Veran and Annalise walked up to her, and then peered into the room. And then there was an unconscious man, the butler, Russell Donovan, his hands were behind his back chained around the heater.
And on the wall, in a red substance, was written: I, the butler, caused my master’s demise. As they say, the butler always commits the crime. Arrest me; I cannot hold the guilt any longer.
Veran, slightly appalled, whispered under his breath, “You pathetic vermin, if you think you can pull me off track, you are definitely wrong.” Annalise looked at him, her eyes full of worry, Veran caught her gaze and cracked his neck, walking up to Russell’s unconscious body and using a chemical spray to see if there were any fingerprints. Much to his dismay, there weren’t, he grunted, and then picked the padlock on the chain. Veran hoisted Russell onto his bed and asked Stella to take care of him, and asked her where Paul Bachovsky’s room was.
“What is it with this family!? They’re almost as messed up as the head branch.” Veran scowled.
“However, it seems as if the real murderer is trying to fool us, but made a counter-effect, considering that the butler is no longer a suspect.”
“I agree, ‘the butler always does it’ is a far-off tale from the truth. Not even one-in-ten butlers have a high probability of committing a heinous crime, unless if they are driven to madness and their mind happens to reach its breaking point.” Veran pointed out.
As they continued down the hallway, they finally came across his room. Veran placed gloves on his hands, and so did Annalise who walked to his humongous closet and began to rummage through Paul Bachovsky’s belongings. Currently, she hasn’t found anything suspicious amongst his suits and comfort-clothes. She began to sort through his boxes; amongst them were shoes, old ties still bound in their packages. And, then, bingo, a box of old letters. While, old, the ink seemed so pungent, that she wanted to plug her nose. The letters themselves didn’t seem too significant, but she handed them over to Veran anyway to see his opinion, moreover, they could check the cross-reference the handwriting from these old letters to the Will.
Veran looked them over, and he felt as if each letter had a hidden meaning, but he couldn’t seem to figure out what it was. He, however, wanted to find out who he was writing to, as the name “James” appeared in each and every one of them.
Getting annoyed, Veran rubbed his forehead between his eyes, “I’ll finish analyzing them later, we have other priorities.”
Annalise continued to look through Paul’s things, but besides the letters, she couldn’t find anything else that seemed important at all, and so, she shut the closet. Then she began to look in his armoire, its wood was a rich burgundy, polished and smooth. The glass in the doors had intricate patterns and grooves carved into them, which she went over with her finger before she opened them. And then she saw something: a tape. Just like the one that was found in the video camera. She quickly grabbed Veran’s attention and as they tried to look at the tape, all they saw was a black and white screen.
At first, they thought that he may have deleted the video data, but it soon began to play, it was somewhat unfocused, but that didn’t stop them from watching it.
They saw his wife—not in chains, writing on the wall, in a red substance—presumably blood. Veran became suspicious, as he looked at the bucket full of blood, as there would be no way she could still be standing if she lost that much blood.
“Clever, he must’ve fooled the main branch by using a substitute blood, such as pig or cow blood instead of hers. I’m going to assume that the bastards figured out his trick and decided to kill her as punishment. That could be the reason he was supposedly awaiting death.” Veran assumed.
“Unless if one could talk to the dead, I guess we’ll never know.” Annalise whispered, and Veran’s eyes narrowed, but didn’t reply to what she had said.
After watching the tape, they managed to find the old floor plans tucked away in his armoire, there were so many hidden entrances that they missed, it almost left Veran in a complete and utter shocked state, considering that he couldn’t catch them all. After regaining his composure, Veran grinned. He moved his head towards the door to show Annalise that they were going to leave his room, and ask for the Will.
After a few moments, they came across Stella, with a semi-conscious Russell. Veran asked her where the lawyer was staying, so they could check the Will.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him around in awhile, it’s almost as if he just disappeared.” Stella replied, hoping that he didn’t get attacked and chained up like Russell did.
Veran’s eyes narrowed at this statement, and he left Stella in Russell’s care once again, “Annalise, take out your earphone, we are going to split up and find him. We need to see that Will.”
Annalise nodded, and took out her earphone, and then clicked the ON button. Then they split up.
Since he is their lawyer, there is a chance that the victim should him the traps, just in case. If so, there is a chance he could be in any one of the hidden passageways. Veran deduced, looking at the map.
He decided to analyze it closer, so he went back into the room Paul was shot for long table. When he opened the door, he noticed that the sheet was taken off of Paul and that he was entering the stages of rigor mortis—he has been dead for about six hours, so the body was halfway to its maximum stiffness, which usually occurs around the twelfth hour after dead. After he finished examining his face, he then happened to notice a certain detail on his left hand: his ring finger that was missing earlier.
He grabbed a tool from his bag and dusted for prints, this time; he actually obtained a partial print, and took a shot of it with his camera. Considering that the ring finger had a print on it, there was also a chance that the sheet may have the culprit’s on there as well. Much to his dismay, there were a few sets of prints; one of them he already knew was Stella’s considering that she was the one who grabbed the sheet for him to cover up the body, and he remembers what places she touched with her fingers. One of the remaining prints matched the partial he got off the ring, and the last remaining print was unknown.
All he had to do now was figure out who they belonged to…
Annalise looked through each door that she came across, and then checked in the several hiding places in each room, under the bed, in the closet, and in their personal bathrooms. So far, she hasn’t found any luck whatsoever. After she cleared the second floor, she decided to go down stairs, and see if he was hanging out there.
As she was halfway down the stairs, she noticed two figures realigning the door frame back on the hinges. The light was somewhat dim, so she turned on the switch that happened to be at the end of the steps. They were somewhat startled at the light coming on that they immediately turned around, now, she could see their faces, it was the lawyer, and Kristoffer.
“Sorry, did I scare you?” Annalise asked.
“Ah, Miss Detective,” The lawyer smiled, “I hope your investigation is going smoothly.”
Annalise moved a piece of hair out of her face, and started to reply, “However, we wanted to check the Will and see if there are any clues, would you be so kind as to hand it over?”
The lawyer shook his head, which irritated Annalise, “I am afraid that I do not have the Will, Paul Bachovsky took it in his possession after it was written up. I was only called here to read the Will to everyone.”
Annalise heard Veran “Tch!” from her earphone, but it seems that they did not hear the sound, “Do you know where he kept it?”
“I am afraid that I do not. He wanted it hidden in case someone in the family happened to have tampered with it. He may have had it on him around the time of the murder…but…”
“When Veran and I checked the body there was no Will on him. Are you saying someone stole it in all the commotion?”
“Quite possibly,” The Lawyer replied, Kristoffer stayed silent, and continued to work on the door.
“Well thanks for your time anyway, and thank you too, Kristoffer, for fixing the door. Would you still like to be compensated for the damage?” Annalise spoke softly, but clearly so he could hear her.
“Just find out who killed my Uncle and that will be enough compensation.” Kristoffer muttered, not bothering to make eye contact with her. A few short moments later, and he completely fixed the door, he tested it by swaying the door back and forth to make sure he didn’t need to do any adjustments or anything, but it seems as there is nothing left to fix on it.
Annalise turned, but instead of going back upstairs, she decided to go into the door that appeared in front of her, once she walked through, she noticed an enormous kitchen, it could be considered a cook’s dream kitchen, however she never personally knew anyone in the cooking business, so she couldn’t be for sure. She passed the island; it was smooth and the overhead light fixture gleamed on it, to the point where it looked like it was sparkling. She slightly looked at the countertops which had several cutting boards lined up and the sets of specialty knives, she eventually approached another door, and once she walked through, it seemed to be a big living room.
She sat down on the seven-cushion sofa; it had soft grey fabric. She leaned her back up against one of the white satin pillows, and started to talk to Veran.
“You heard it right, Veran? It appears he doesn’t have the Will in his possession.”
Veran was irritated, “Yes, I heard. There is a chance that there is a copy of the Will somewhere. There is a large possibility that the copy that was going to be read was destroyed.”
Annalise sighed, and then she felt a warm glow surround her, she turned and saw a fireplace, a few embers trying to shoot out of its pit. The wood was practically charred, and there was ash from something on the floor of the fireplace, she got up to examine it, and she took out a piece of paper from her pocket—Dimitri’s phone number, and placed it in the fireplace, the fire ate it up quickly, and it became ash completely replicating the ash already in there, “I think I found it, it’s been burned, Veran. The culprit placed it in the fireplace, it was definitely paper—I just burned that bastard’s phone number and it duplicated the same form. If there isn’t a copy of the Will, we are screwed.”
“The bastard’s phone number—are you referring to Dimitri? I can’t believe you still had his number.”
“I forgot that he gave it to me.” Annalise replied, “But the Will has been burnt to cinders; any clues we could have gotten from it are long gone now.”
“Look around downstairs, see if he hid the Will down there, I’ll continue to look up here, maybe it is with all his old letters.” Veran answered her, and then cut the connection.
Annalise nodded to herself, and began to look in the enormous living room, after practically tearing the place apart, she found nothing that could even resemble a Will. She made a quick connection with Veran and told him about her findings or rather, lack thereof.
After proceeding to tell him that, she sat down on the sofa to rest and eventually fell asleep.
Veran looked back in Paul Bachovsky’s room, trying to uncover anything that could amount to a Will. Eventually, he found a small chest under his bed; it was perfectly hidden considering that it was attached to his mattress.
Veran yanked it off, and pick-locked it until it opened, he found an old orange-colored, 8 by 11 envelope and loosened up the string, inside was a document. It was typed up minus the handwritten changes on the margins, which contrasted much with his written style. Veran began to skim it carefully.
Then he noticed a certain point in the document that made him grab a yellow highlighter from his backpack and underline the paragraph.
He tried to connect with Annalise, but she didn’t pick up, so he decided to go downstairs to try and find her. Nobody was near the entrance, so he continued down and went through the kitchen doors, and eventually found her asleep on the other side, on the humongous sofa. Her breathing was shallow, and she slightly moved her arms, closer to her cheek, letting her face rest on them.
Veran sighed, and a slight smile emerged on his face, he walked to the small closet and noticed a comforter in there, he grabbed it and placed it over her, she slightly squirmed again, but she didn’t wake up.
Veran sat down on the remaining cushions, his arm resting against his head, and he managed to fall asleep himself.
Next Morning, 9:18 AM:
Veran stirred awake, mainly due to Annalise tapping his leg with her foot while in her sleep. Veran stretched his arms, and stood up. He took a quick glance at Annalise and decided to let her sleep for a little bit more, as she is usually cranky when she first wakes up, and he didn’t feel like having to listen to her. He grabbed his bag, and rechecked the contents, making sure that no one messed with it while he was asleep. Luckily, everything seemed to be accounted for. He grabbed the map, and the rough draft of the Will, and climbed back upstairs. Everyone was still asleep, so far that he could tell; except for Stella, who was still tending to Russell, even though he seemed to be fully recovered, or close to it.
She turned to him, gave said, “Hello,” quietly, and then gave him a weak smile, she then directed herself back to Russell.
“Have you been awake the entire time?” Veran asked, incredulously.
“Russell may be our butler, but he’s been one of my friends for a very long time, it hurts me to see him like this. So I’ll watch him until he makes a full recovery.”
“I may not have much medical knowledge, but from my standpoint, he looks almost to fully recovered to me, so you shouldn’t worry and get some sleep.”
She began to yawn, and quickly covered her mouth, her eyes began to water, and as she wiped them, she yawned again, “Okay…I’ll rest for a little while.” She grabbed one of the folded blankets from his closet, and curled up on the floor.
Veran slightly shook his head, somewhat hiding an intuitive smile, and closed the door behind him.
He went back to the study—where the murder took place. Unlike yesterday, he saw no tampering with the body this time, it had begun to smell worse due to decomposition, and so that’s when he decided to call a mortuary and have them pick him up, he would’ve called sooner, but in all the commotion on trying to solve the murder, it somewhat slipped his mind. Considering that there was only one mortuary, which was located on the outskirts of town, it took them around a half an hour to get there. Veran showed them the way, and they grabbed him with a gurney, one of the medical examiners was about to take the temperature of the liver for the time of death, however Veran said, “That is not necessary, I was passing by when I heard the gun shot, it happened around—”
The medical examiner shook his head and replied, “I would take your approximation into account, but I must do this professionally.” He then stuck the thermometer into Paul’s liver anyway. After recording the time of death, they began to move the body, so they can bring it to the mortician.
Once they left, Veran opened a window to try to get the body’s stench out with a breeze. The weeping willow outside had its branches wax and wane against the breeze. Its leaves shimmered, almost as if it was trying to say “Hello.” Veran took in a deep breath, and the crisp air left him much more refreshed. He then set up a table, grabbing his handy backpack; he grabbed his container of push-pins and posted the map of the house up. He left the Will in his backpack, and awaited everyone to rise from their slumber.
The first one to wake up was Annalise, she moaned, and tried to fidget back into a comfortable position, unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be possible—at least, not at the moment. She sat right side up, and then noticed the comforter over her.
“A blanket…who was it that covered me with it?” She blinked, and then shrugged, not really caring who it was. She pushed it off her, and then stood up right.
“I wonder where Veran is,” She muttered to herself, and then turned her earphone on just in case. No connection. “I wonder if his battery is shot. Or maybe he’s just ignoring me, oh well.” and then thought, Probably the latter—he always tries to ignore me whenever possible.
She cut through the kitchen, and turned to the direction of the stairs when she was at the front entrance. As she entered the second floor, she didn’t hear anything; she found the silence somewhat…eerie, but she shook it off and continued into the study.
And, like she thought, there was Veran, working on the case.
“Good Morning,” She smiled, her eyes still glazed due to sleepiness.
“Morning,” He muttered a reply, while continuing to scribble down something on a piece of paper.
“What’re you writing?” Annalise asked, kneeling over his shoulder.
“I’m looking for discrepancies in the rough draft of the Will, and cross-checking it with these old letters.” Veran took a pause, after finishing the writing the sentence, he continued, “Annalise, would you like to make yourself useful and round up all the family members, and the lawyer.”
“What about the butler?” Annalise blinked.
Veran shook his head, “I understand the concept of a culprit setting himself up only to be deemed as innocent; but the way Russell Donovan was chained up, there was no way he could do that himself. So I deem his as an innocent victim—well, as innocent as working for one of the families, I guess.”
“I’m still surprised that you wanted to solve this case.”
“Yes, well that is because, I am going to hit the culprit with a fury, no one should take are marked pray away from us.” Again, Veran’s eyes were filled with contempt. Annalise gulped, and then quietly walked to the door to gather everyone, as she was walking towards their rooms, the gum she put in her mouth earlier was becoming tasteless, as she lifted up the trash bin lid to her left, she then noticed something particular in the contents of trash and consulted about it to Veran.
Once everyone was gathered (excluding Stella and Russell, the butler), they all sat with nervous expressions—hoping that they wouldn’t be judged as guilty if they were indeed innocent.
“Good, you are all here.” Veran smiled cruelly.
Daniel then stood up, “No we're not, Aunt Stella and Russell aren’t here.”
“They have been annulled from being the culprit, shall I tell you why? The actual culprit made a very, very foolish mistake—quite a few, actually. First off all, the culprit tried to pinpoint all the blame onto Russell, by chaining him up with a guilty of confession—but the way Russell was chained up it was blatantly obvious that it had to be someone else as there is no way a single person could do that to himself, and Stella found him and tended to him. If she were the culprit, why would she tend to him, especially if he saw her about to attack him? If he did see her, then she would’ve shut him up when he was still unconscious, but she did not.” Veran explained, and all that answered him was silence.
“Moving on, amongst the murder scene, I noticed a few things, when I first initially examined Paul Bachovsky’s corpse, he was not wearing a wedding ring, then later on, someone had obviously tampered with the scene and placed the ring back—and left a partial print with it, along with the sheet that covered Paul’s corpse. As most of you probably realize, Paul Bachovsky loved elaborate traps, and hidden passageways; one of those passage ways led me to the attic where Annalise and I found a separate chest with a circular indention. His wedding ring was the key to opening it, but since I did not have it in my possession, I had to pick-lock it, and lo and behold I found the murder weapon. The murderer had to be someone close to Paul and eccentrics. He—and yes, it is a ‘he’, who used the trap door above to shoot. Not to mention while searching Paul’s room, I managed to come across a rough draft of the Will—Nathanael Perry, as his lawyer, you did tell us that the final draft of the Will was destroyed, as in burned into cinders, shouldn’t you have clued us into the rough draft?”
“My apologies, I wasn’t aware that he still kept it. I thought he had thrown it out.” Nathanael replied, sweat on his forehead.
“Along with the rough draft of the Will, I found a few tidbits particularly interesting; one for instance, goes like this: ‘I shall leave my adopted child, Kristoffer, this house of eccentric design—as I know he shall cherish it.’”—As soon as he heard the line, Kristoffer’s eyes went wide—“But then you noted that he shouldn’t leave anything to his adopted kin, and you managed to convince him of this. With it cut out of the final draft, you used it as leverage against Kristoffer to get him to help you.” Veran replied, but then was cut off by a shout.
“What would I have to gain by murdering him!?” Nathanael shouted, and Kristoffer avoided eye-contact with everyone.
“Hush, I’m not done yet. Before the shooting, you came early, and used a different passageway then the bookcase—by looking at the floor plans there is more than I was originally expecting. You went up to the attic, slightly opened up the trap door, and shot him. Once he was shot, Kristoffer distracted everyone while you came down. And with no imagination, with a rope no less—as Annalise discovered hidden within the garbage. Then, without being seen, you made it appear as if you came walking through the entrance as he was bleeding out. That way, no one suspected you. And you had everything to gain, with the Will; you added subtle messages that once everyone in the family was out of the way, that’d you claim his fortune. ”
“Heh, you’re smarter than I originally intended.” Nathanael perked a smile, and then in a flash he pulled something from his pocket—a gun, pointed directly at Veran’s forehead. The family was frozen stiff at the development, and Nathanael walked forward gun at hand. Once he was about ten feet away, and they stared at each other with hatred. And then he pulled the trigger.
Veran already calculated the trajectory and therefore was able to avoid it—but barely, he was about to give a satisfactory look but then something caught his eye.
“Annalise!” Veran yelled, and in less than a moment, a pallid Annalise went screaming as it impacted her left shoulder. She fell to the ground and Veran caught her.
“God dammit, I forgot you were behind me.” Veran’s voice went soft, as he tried to ease her pain, and wipe away her tears; when he realized that the bullet went far deeper than he thought. Afterwards he looked at Nathanael with pure bloodlust, “I will kill you.”
The look in Veran’s eye made Nathanael shiver to the point of dropping his gun, and that is when he fell to the floor—Daniel, who was the closest to him hit him in the back of the neck. Amongst Annalise’s wails of pain, Veran tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.
“Someone get me some bandages!” Veran shouted, and Mary Weather rushed out of the room to get the first aid kit, she came back rushing in, and Veran went grabbing the gauze.
“It…hurts.” Annalise winced.
“Don’t talk!” Veran shouted, “Save your strength.” After putting dressing on the wound, he carefully picked her up and placed her down on the sofa. She looked up at him as he moved her hair out of her face, “Don’t move, at all.” He commanded, and she gave a weak smile, then he turned to the Bachovsky’s, “Take care of her for a few seconds.”
Veran moved over to the unconscious Nathanael and resisted every urge to break all the bones in his body; he however, did smash Nathanael against the wall to cuff him, which caused Nathanael to utter a groan. Roughly, Veran peeled him from the wall and dragged him outside, as soon as they were in front of his car; he quickly opened his backseat door and threw him in, and locked the doors after wards with his keys. He turned and stormed back into the house, and when he went back upstairs he grabbed his backpack, and picked up Annalise in his arms, and then he caught the glance of Kristoffer.
“I’m sorry, it’s because I got manipulated so easily.” Kristoffer’s voice was shaky; he was probably thinking that Veran would beat him to a pulp as well.
Veran’s eyes were glazed over like ice, “I have no qualms with you. Yes, you did aide that bastard in the murder—but all you did was distract everyone so he could make his ‘entrance’, and you didn’t hurt Annalise either.”
“But, still, take me in anyway.” Kristoffer gripped his hands tightly, and his palms were starting to turn bright red.
“I don’t think Paul Bachovsky would like that, he did after all want you to become the caretaker of this house, take care of it well, because if you go down a path of crime, I will cuff you, always keep that engraved in your mind.” Veran gave him one last look and then he walked out the door.
“I’m surprised.” Annalise whispered.
“Stop talking.” Veran gritted his teeth.
Annalise shook her head, “I noticed you resisted that look of contempt you always get. Why did you change your mind?”
“Who knows?” He smiled half-heartedly, as he continued to walk down the stairs and then outside to his car.
Back Upstairs, Kristoffer noticed a few sheets of paper blew towards him because of the wind coming in from the window, he grabbed it in his hands, and he began to read it.
It was from Veran, it talked about how he figured out that the secret behind James—from Paul’s letters, how Kristoffer was the son of both James, and Paul’s first love, Caroline; and that Paul adopted him to be close to her, in a way, and as well as a few other family matters.
“You are very perceptive.” Kristoffer smiled out loud, “I didn’t think anyone would ever figure out that that was the main reason why he adopted me when both of my parents unexpectedly died—and how, Grandfather Bachovsky’s daughter was in truth, my half-sister…but he never hated his wife or his daughter…which makes him a good person, in my eyes.” Kristoffer continued to read through the letter, and learned of the chambers where Paul held his wife and daughter, and how the mother’s corpse is still there and his eyes went wide.
“Then again, some things will remain a mystery…that’s just the way life is, I guess.” Kristoffer then crumpled the letter, “You guys…let’s all…go home. And I…am truly sorry for what I helped do, I understand if you never forgive me.”
“It’s true that I do want to scold you, but because you didn’t kill him directly with your two hands, I can’t bring myself to hate you. Let’s just hope this’ll be a lesson for you later on in your life.” Stella replied sternly, after coming into the study and hearing the whole explanation with a completely conscious Russell.
Liar, you are totally pissed at me almost to the point of hatred, Kristoffer thought, and left the house with everyone else. But as everyone was leaving the estate, he stayed behind, and he pulled out gasoline from the shed, he poured it on every corner of the house, and then lit a match, watching the embers start to burn the old mansion down to the ground.
“Even if it’s a step down the wrong path, I’ll bury this secret…this possible sin for you, so that your soul has no regrets.” Kristoffer then watched the flames engulf the mansion and watched it for hours, until everything turned to ash.
***
Croathian Police Network Headquarters:
Veran pulled Nathanael out of the car, and brought him inside the station, and told an officer the situation with a brief overview and handed him over to the cops, he took a few steps, and then paused, “By the way, Nathanael, if Annalise dies, I will never stop haunting you until you go under yourself.”
After his threat, Veran returned to the car, to a now resting Annalise.
“I wonder if there’s something in the car I can use to get the bullet out?” He thought to himself, as he drove off, he eventually pulled back over near a stock of woods, and tried to find something useful. Much to his luck, he managed to find a pair of pliers.
“Annalise,” He softly spoke, lightly tapping her on her uninjured shoulder, “Can you wake up for me?” Annalise open up her eyes and her vision was blurry, “What is it?”
“I told you not to talk; but…this might hurt a bit, because I don’t have any anesthetic. I’m going to try to get the bullet out.” Veran replied, leaving his left hand open for her to squeeze onto. She closed her eyes and took a gulp as he unwound the gauze; her wound was still bleeding, but not as bad as before.
And then she squeezed his hand, while he dug the pliers into her arm meticulously to try and remove the bullet.
Three Days Later…Croathian Local Graveyard, 2:54 PM.
A certain gravestone read “Paul Bachovsky” and along came a female with a hooded coat.
She stopped in front of his grave, and then appeared a twisted smile on her face, “‘Bout time you got in a grave. It hurts Father, it’s throbbing…this ugly scar you’ve given me. Every time I think of you, it throbs more and more; I just wish I could’ve seen your expression as you watched yourself die.” His daughter, presumably, glowered at the slab of stone and then spat at it. After a moment, she turned and started to walk away, the heels of her shoes uncontrollably thrusting themselves into the dirt, as if she was trying to stab his already dead body.
She continued to walk back in the direction she came from, eventually coming across the sidewalk and the accompanying stairs, as she passed the stairs she walked back into her black, sleek limousine.
“Have you said your goodbyes to him?” Asked a voice, the tone indicated that it was male, and his body was hidden well within the shadows.
“I said goodbye to him a long time ago, after he thrusted that knife in my chest, engraving me with this huge, ugly scar. I hate him.”
“Well, at least you got your revenge, even if indirectly, isn’t that so, Belle?” He gave her a look of amusement.
“Don’t call me that disgusting name.” She spat.
“My apologizes, Lady Dahlia.” He smiled, but even though it was a smile it gave off such a sinister feeling, “Now, I wonder how my dear nephew and daughter are up to, I wonder if Claude has set things in motion already.”
“May I join in this fun game of hunting the prey?”
“Not yet, Dahlia, let Claude and his underlings have a chance, first, of course if they fail, I can always let you join in with the second wave.”
“The second wave?” She blinked.
He smiled again, “They are more sinister than Claude and the rest, but they have a habit of taking their jobs too seriously, and then things get…well, messy. You’ve never met them, but you will eventually.”
“I look forward to it.” Dahlia flipped her hair out of her face, and awaited the day she can continue her wrath.
/chapter four end.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Apr 15, 2011 17:55:24 GMT -8
Sorry for not updating in awhile, I do have both chapter five and the Interlude written in full, so I'll upload them when I can, possibly tomorrow.
I'm kind of stuck on chapter six, tho' *sigh*.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2011 21:52:26 GMT -8
Welp, time to blow some life into this thread. Allow me. First thing first: This story is nothing short of being very well written as far as technicalities go, aside from the occasional, like Fujiko mentioned above, redundancies and awkward turns of phrase. These minor errors are not going to be the focus of my review here, since I believe for a work of this caliber you would benefit more from an overall comment. What I will comment on is my general opinion of the story (or rather, the first chapter. It's a long story, you see.) So far, my major qualms are: 1) Annalise. There is something I feel... not right about her personality, for want of better words. First off, her response to a near-rape experience (a very close near-rape experience, may I add) is surprisingly, and maybe even unrealistically mild. Of course, this may or may not be attributable to a strong personality fortitude, but having just read the first chapter I don't really know. Secondly, she displays the same sort of rather predictable UST with the male lead as mostly every other fiction featuring a male and a female partner, where the male lead is a jerk with varying degrees of golden hearts and the female lead alternates between protesting, resentment and having romantic feeling for the former. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe you could make Annalise's personality more pronounced so as to make this relationship more unique. 2) Veran. He seems to be even more of the suave yet cold but concealing a hidden depth archetype. Detective/Conman extraordinaire? Check. Incredibly intelligent and has a neat special ability to go with? Check. Being a jerk and/or cold professional 99% of the time while being caring and supposedly adorable the remaining 1%? Double check. Has a hidden agenda and a particularly unique bond with the female character compared to the rest of the universe? Triple check. For this reason, I am reading him less like his own character and more like the faceless individual built solely from tropes and archetypes, and it still works. This should not have happened. 3) General note about your universe: At first I thought this is an urban fantasy/noir with supernatural romance elements, which, by definition, is set in what can be loosely called a mirror universe of our world and by and large similar to in except if specified. However, from what I read from the beginning of the second chapter, this seems to be not the case. The currency, the place name, everything suggests that this story is set in a much more exotic universe. This completely and utterly destroys the suspension of disbelief regarding the first chapter, which implies a very much modern-earth world, setting, background and everything. Then again, I have not read everything you've posted, so I could be very wrong there. My concluding remark: Despite the above criticisms, I generally like what I see. Well done. Though, as mentioned, there is quite a bit you could do to improve. Keep in mind, though, that this comment is made after only reading the first chapter. If there is something I missed from the following chapters that could have explained or justified the points I criticized, my apologies. Again, keep up the good work!
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Oct 11, 2011 2:23:46 GMT -8
I'M SORRRRYYYYYYYY ;A;.
Sorry I haven't updated...I've been busy and kind of lazy -_____-;. And with my days off...I kind of haven't been productive *cough*Playing Crash Bandicoot*cough*. Well...Veran I kind of wanted to make a tad unlikeable, and his way of reacting around her is like that for a reason, that's somewhat explained later on in the Interlude. Hm...Annalise, I can see if I can spice up her personality a tad; she also responded that way because she hates being considered weak, especially around him, because he tends to be mean enough as it is XD.
I'll try to remember to post the rest of the available chapters later today...I'm still stuck on chapter six...it's being quite the bastard-child to write *sigh*.
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Aunt Dew
Persistent Member
Retired Powerpuff Girl
Hello Sweeties
Posts: 2,271
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Post by Aunt Dew on Oct 11, 2011 12:43:18 GMT -8
I read through all of this last night when I was supposed to be sleeping, so the good news is you've got me hooked, and wanting to know more.
The concept I am getting of Veran and Annalise being on some kind of revenge mission after their families were going to sacrifice them, I like that.
Now for the criticism.
The end part of the Valetia Day were they discover the food had had aphrodisiacs added to it? I would remove that. I mean for one, as far as I know their is no aphrodisiac which actually causes you to lose your self-control to such an extent (I know this is a alternative world but still). And second I don't think it adds anything to the story or the characterisation of your two main characters.
I think the characterisation of Annalise improves as the story goes on. At the start she was very all over the place and I couldn't get a grasp on who she was.
Veran, I do like him, and I like the relationship he and Annalise have towards the end, but at the beginning the seemed like a fairly odd couple. Also, was it really necessary for him to blackmail her? It seems to me that she is quite willing to do what he says (with a bit of bantering of course) without him threatening her.
However, I am looking forward to reading more.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Oct 11, 2011 15:03:11 GMT -8
^Sweet, glad I got you hooked on it~~.
I was originally going to go for just a love potion, but that's too old of a cliche, in my opinion >.>;...I suppose I could change it to something made up which could make someone go "crazy"...like a new drug or something, I'd have to think about it XD.
Why he blackmailed her? It's because he's an asshole...I completely admit it. When he's meaner, he pushes her farther away, which is what he wants...a distant, yet trustworthy relationship I guess XD.
But thanks guys for the criticism.
*I'll now upload another chapter.*
Edit--Chapter Five is up now. I'll post up the Interlude shortly. Also, would you guys prefer me to put the whole chapter in one post [if it can fit] or would you prefer me to post it in chunks? I don't mind either way, just let me know.
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Mikashi
Persistent Member
I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Oct 11, 2011 15:15:01 GMT -8
The Fifth Engrave: The Garden of Bones
Visaria, Capital of C’lai; Visarian Hospital:
Room 1203
“Annalise, I’m coming in.” Veran spoke, turning the doorknob, he didn’t hear a reply, which somewhat troubled him, but noticed it was just because she was asleep, “I wanted to ask how you were feeling, but I guess that’s a little bit too impossible to ask for as of now.” As he was about to turn and leave, he heard noises of movement, “I’m awake. And I smell lavender.” “That would be from these here and the lilacs; the doctor wanted me to give these to you for some experimental aroma therapy.” “But
I’m almost healed.” She blinked, but then looked at him closely, “Wait a second, you’re lying. Are you too embarrassed to come out forthright and say it? I know you feel bad, but don’t worry about it, it was my own stupid fault for freezing up at the wrong moment just to get myself shot.” His expression became somewhat frigid, “First of all, I am not embarrassed, it’s just because you have a lowly presence like that of an amoeba and only gain a presence—albeit, an annoying one, when you’re making a fuss.” He then tossed them to her. “Again, I say liar. You may have put on a cold face, but your words had no cold emotion, it was like you weren’t even trying, don’t play me for a fool, I know I can’t comprehend everything, but at least I know that much, or are you trying to look down on me?” She replied, rubbing her fingers against the lilacs waxy petals, but noticed no other presence besides herself; “Wow, I didn’t even notice that he left, he’s gotten good at being really sneaky, and he says that I have a lowly presence.”
***
Vernat Residence:
“Juliette,” An older woman called, “Would you do me a favor and grab the mail for me?” “Yes, mother,” Juliette replied, pushing out her chair from the table to get up, it took her about ten paces to get the door, and once she opened it, she smelled a strange odor, so instead of grabbing the mail like her mother wanted her to, she went around back to where the smell was—hoping it was the garbage. She continued to walk, and noticed an infestation of flies and other insects, that’s when she let out a scream, “MOTHER! MOTHER!!” She heard a large bang from the inside and saw the door quickly open. “It happened again, mother.” Juliette whimpered, “Our backyard has become a graveyard once again.” “Oh
my God. Not again.” Her mother shook, and then quickly turned back towards the house, “Come back inside, I’ll call the police!”
Veran was in his car, leaning back in his seat while reading the newspaper, and he heard a frequency-noise coming from his radio; he raised an eyebrow, and turned the frequency’s channel.
“Excuse me; I need a police officer over right away! This is Katherine Vernat, I’m afraid that our yard has once again become soiled with
with
the bodies of corpses
” Her voice was shaky, her breathing was rapid, and the obnoxious noise of sniffling and tears were ever so present. Veran deduced one thing: Fear. And he was curious as to why their backyard was a corpse-nest. “Again?” The Officer on the other line uttered a noise that was between irritation and sadness, “This is the third time this has happened, this month alone!” Once Veran heard how many times they found dead bodies, his curiosity had reached a pinnacle point of wanting to investigate it, but he decided to sit back and wait, as he preferred to have Annalise’s condition improve than solve a case which could consequentially place her in more danger, especially considering that he believes she’s a naïve idiot that does not pay enough attention to details—well, ones that matter the most, anyway. “It’s not like we want this to happen, we don’t understand why the keep on appearing here! Please try to solve this as soon as possible!” Katherine Vernat pleaded. “I’ll send over someone right away, we are going to have a stake-out there tonight.” The Officer replied, and then he hung up.
Veran then turned off the radio, and looked up at the roof of his car, “This is somewhat interesting, oh well, if the police are competent enough they should be able to solve it.” He scratched his head, and lowered his seat to rest, his newspaper still blanketing his chest, but he didn’t bother to move it, even if there was a chance it’d get all crinkled.
The Vernat mother and daughter awaited near their front door for the cop car to come up. The officer was currently two blocks away, and he continuously muttered to himself, “I can’t believe this; once again, the clan of death has ‘graced’ us with another curse of corpses. I still don’t understand why we can’t just arrest them already, dammit!” He looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six, his hair was black and trimmed; his skin was slightly red—hinting at sunburn; as he turned down the road, he threw his canteen of water into the other seat, not bothering to check and see if the cap was locked back on, which he sooner than later realized when his passenger was getting soaked due to it leaking. “Ah, god dammit! Could this day get any worse?” He asked himself, “I hopefully won’t get an answer to that.” Once he pulled in, the mother and daughter were already near his car. “I’m sorry to trouble you to come out all this way.” Mrs. Vernat had a sullen expression. “It’s fine, all in a day’s work.” He replied, And, I guess this gives me a reason to see Miss Juliette she’s grown to be such a fine young woman. Ah—stop self! We’re here on business, B-u-s-i-n-e-s-s! “I’ll bring you over to the location, Officer Xives.” Juliette replied softly, and then they started to walk back. “Please, just call me Zacharia.” He smiled, and walked with her to the backyard. With each step, the bodies stench had significantly multiplied, especially now with the cross breeze in full rage. It came to the point where he wanted to just hold his breath and plug his nose; however, he noticed that Juliette wasn’t, so he didn’t want to come off as being “weak”. “I’ll leave you to your work now, Zacharia.” Juliette slightly bowed as a sign of respect and then walked back. Zacharia went down on his knees, shuffling through his bag for equipment, first he grabbed his walkie-talkie. “This is Officer Zacharia Xives speaking, I am reporting now from the scene at the Vernat residence, and I am requesting back-up.” The other side of the frequency was a bunch of noise until someone connected, “This is Officer Jasmina Xerxes speaking; I’ll be coming in as your back-up, unfortunately.” “What a sad thing to say, Jasmina, such a hateful words.” Zacharia frowned. “That’s because I do hate you, exponentially, you seem to be under the misconception that all women are there for your unwanted flirtations, and you do so, indiscriminately, even if they are taken, and that pisses me off.” “Ah, if you want, I’ll say them only to you.” Zacharia replied, but he heard no response, which meant she probably hung up.
“Stupid idiot!” Officer Jasmina Xerxes seethed, as she pulled out of a restaurant parking lot, and turned on her siren. She appeared at the Vernat residence in less than seven minutes.
She slammed her door shut, while clipping her walkie-talkie onto her pants left pocket. Jasmina then placed her bag strap over her shoulders and afterwards moved loose strands of hair out of her face; it seemed to be a lost cause if you factored in the wind. She eyed the side door and Juliette noticed her from the window and then waved at Jasmina who gave a nod back. She slightly picked up her pace and the pungent smell of death made her want to gag. Out back, she saw ‘the stupid idiot’ Zacharia taking photos and samples of the soil and other insects, as most of the skeletons flesh had been torn off. After placing samples of each type of critter into plastic containers with a yellow strip with black block-type letters that read “EVIDENCE”. “What do you need help with?” Jasmina glowered, seeing that he really didn’t need much help at all, considering that he just multi-tasked everything. Hearing her voice, he jumped up and looked over at her. “Jasmina, you came. I feel touched.” Zacharia smiled, and started to close the distance between them, which Jasmina kept trying to widen. “Must you always be so damned obnoxious!? It’s no wonder that I hate you!” Jasmina yelled, while also smacking him upside the head at the possible chance it may get him to think, that is, if he had any brain cells left. “Ouch, that hurt Jasmina-chan.” He looked somewhat stricken—probably to his ego. “Did I just hear you say ‘-chan’? Don’t add those weird honorifics from those damned comics, you stupid, blundering fool!” She glowered, then geared her head into the opposite direction, and walked over there for any related evidence. She set down her bag and looked down at the muddy soil; it was hard to move away considering that the mud was thick. She sighed, and then out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something weird. It was white and it was poking out of the soil, she almost missed it because it was carefully hidden underneath the plants. She started to remove the muddy soil surrounded it, and eventually, like she thought, it was a hand. All the flesh had rotted away, leaving nothing but a skeleton. “Hey, you blundering idiot! I found another one!” Jasmina hollered, Zacharia slightly slumped at once again being called a ‘blundering idiot’, but he got up anyway and walked over towards her. “Damn, how many are there?” “It’s almost like
this place is a garden of bones.” Jasmina blinked, somewhat terrified at her own analogy. “If that’s the case, then we are going to need more than just us.” Zacharia held his chin, somewhat examining the body.
Annalise’s hospital room.
Veran sat in a chair, facing the window, his crossed arms and head leaning against it, letting the breeze caress against him. “Veran, what’s the matter
you seem so
out of character.” Annalise tried her best to keep a straight face, but much to her dismay, her eyebrows were already ticking out of surprise.
“Shut up amoeba.” He grunted, still looking out the window. Ignoring his words, she continued on, “It seems as if you are restraining yourself from doing something. If it’s because of me, don’t; go ahead and do whatever you want, I’ll be healed soon, there is no need to restrain yourself and then get pent up stress over it.” Annalise then looked back over him, who just sighed. “What I want to do? Continue our revenge, but of course—that won’t happen any time soon considering that you are out of commission.” Veran’s tone changed back to his usual MO – a condescending tone, that is. “As untruthful as ever I see.” She giggled, as he walked back towards her door and slammed it, “And all he needed was a push in the right direction—and you thought you couldn’t be manipulated. Oh, Veran, and you say that I’m naïve.” She continued to giggle to her heart’s content at the irony of it all. While outside, Veran’s expression was that of a scowl, he had the instinct that someone was talking about him—and since Annalise’s mouth runs practically nonstop half of the time, he figured that it was her; ignoring the instinct, he settled into his car, and heard his radio acting somewhat crazy again, so he turned it on. “This is Officer Zacharia Xives and Jasmina Xerxes reporting back in, this is unlike the previous cases, there’s a bunch of skeletons this time
as Jasmina put it, it’s like a Garden of Bones. Department Head, what are your orders?” It was Zacharia’s voice, and he seemed to be completely serious. A voice picked up on the other line, “First, I want all of those bodies transported back for our anthropologists, and I want both of you to stand guard there tonight. Are we clear?” “Understood!” Zacharia beamed, while Jasmina groaned, then Zacharia disconnected from the line. “I guess I have to cancel my date with Ryan now, dammit.” She frowned and began to dial his number. “You’re still dating that dweeb?” Zacharia raised his eyebrows. Jasmina once again glowered at him, “He is NOT a dweeb. He may be a little geeky, but he is not a dweeb. And he’s much of a better catch than you, or have you not noticed the ring I have on my finger?” “That dusty old thing, I’m surprised you actually have the balls to wear that.” Zacharia stated, and then was hit by her police bag, which held, for lack of better terms, “quite the punch”. “It was his grandmother’s.” She scowled, and then ignored him, “Hey, Ryan! I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel our date tonight. Forgive me, and I love you.” When she hung up, she noticed a car pull in; it was a black Sedan that looked like it was recently polished. She already got annoyed because the spectators were already beginning to line up; she began to march forward, and noticed him coming out, it was Veran. To her, he was nameless. He had calculating eyes, an intrigued smirk which she didn’t really care for. As he shut his door, he walked forward, until the marching Jasmina was right in front of him. “Hey! This is a crime scene; get off this property right now!” Jasmina yelled. Veran looked at her, and in split-second, he reached for his pocket and put his fake badge right in her face, and he smiled, “I guess it makes me qualified to be here, right?”
“I’ve never seen you around here before.” Jasmina examined him, still suspicious. “I’ve been travelling the country, but I’m here so my cousin can recuperate from her injuries. While I’m here, I may as well help out.” She still found him a tad suspicious, but allowed him to walk to the “Garden of Bones” anyway. He kneeled down, one of his knees against the ground. “Interesting,” He uttered, “In a collective estimation, how many bodies have been recovered from here?” “Not including the ones from today, it’s already around 60 or so. Why?” “And I’m going to assume that they’ve already been examined by anthropologists?” He asked. “Of course,” Jasmina put her hands on her hips, and looked at him as if he was asking stupid questions. “Then they should know the approximate age and the approximate time of death, I want to see those records.” He eyed her, and then gave her another smile. Is it bad that I want to punch him whenever I see him smiling? Jasmina thought to herself, but kept herself restrained from the much urged-violence, “There will be a transport soon to pick up the bodies, so they can be examined, if you go with the transport, you’ll be able to get your hands on those records.” “I see. Thank you.” Veran didn’t look at her this time, but his words almost seemed genuine, or at least, she thought that they did. Then they heard a groan, it was Zacharia rubbing his reddened face. Not bothering to look at him, Jasmina replied, “Zacharia, gather all the evidence, transport will be here soon, probably.” “Have you guys taken statements from the family yet?” Veran inquired. “Of course!” Jasmina raised her chin, “Zacharia show him their statements.” “Oh
uh
I haven’t exactly
taken them, yet.” Zacharia scratched his head. “WHAT?” Jasmina screeched, “And you call yourself a police officer—you bumbling moron! Get your ass in there and take their statements!” “Yes ma’am.” Zacharia moaned and went inside, I guess that means that I’ll get to spend some time Juliette
kind of
as long as the crone isn’t eyeing me like an owl would a mouse. “And when you do so, no eyeing Juliette like she’s your prey, you perverted fiend.” Jasmina scowled, he jumped slightly, and then slumped. “Yes ma’am.” He breathed out, and moved lethargically into the house.
“The damned idiot
! He never changes, so hopeless.” Jasmina groaned, holding onto her head, as if it were trying to split into several pieces. After moaning about her misfortune of having to pair up with him, the transporter arrived, and out came two medical examiners. One was a woman with two black wavy pigtails, and she had emerald green eyes, her skin was pale, and she was about average height. The examiner next to her was a few inches taller than her—approximately a half a foot, he looked to be in his thirties, he had light brown hair which was already growing silver hairs, he wore glasses that had circular lenses, and his chin was started to grow stubble. The examiners came forward, the man didn’t say anything, but the woman smiled at them, as a greeting.
They walked onto the garden of bones and started at the one closest, the male looked at the bones, and moved the head, noticing a crack in the back of the skull. “It seems that this poor fellow was hit in the head with some object, for now I’m going to assume an axe of sorts.” He had a husky voice, and while examining the rest of the body, he used his free hand to push his glasses back up. Then both he and his partner placed the first skeletal body into a black body bag. Veran just leaned against the house as they continued to examine the rest of the bodies. Once they were finished, there were fourteen body bags. As he saw both of the examiners go back and forth to their mode of transportation, he continued to look at the garden. There was something so ethereal about it, as he looked at the beauty of each flower, and he figured, that just like the life spans of flowers, humans are also so ephemeral. As humans die every day, every second that passes someone’s life gets plucked, just like someone that picks a flower which withers and then dies. He wanted to laugh at the irony of his analogy, when Jasmina interrupted him, “They are ready for transport, you are still coming right?” “Of course,” He replied, and pushed himself off the wall, and walked alongside her. The Transport was already pulling out onto the road as Veran and Jasmina were getting into their respective cars.
They arrived at the anthropological institute about a half an hour later. The anthropologists continued with their examinations, while Jasmina guided Veran to the Records. In building of several corridors and doorways, Jasmina never seemed to get lost in the maze. Eventually, after passing what looked to be a lobby, they turned right and entered the room of Records. The room itself was more arranged like a library—even more believably so considering all the medical textbooks they had on display, they continued to walk forward reaching another door, which led them to several cabinets and files scattered all over the place. “Here’s the records room, it’s usually off limits, but since you are a detective—that enables you to have clearance. Well, enjoy, I’m going to return and watch them examine the bones.” “Before you leave, I have a question, what is the usual meteorological pattern for this town?” Veran inquired. “Hm, well, we have about a 35-65 percent ratio of sunny days and rainy days, respectively. As you can see, this is one of our more lucky days, with it being sunny and all. Though the weather forecast dictates we will have some heavy rainfall again. Why, where is the relevance in that, mind telling me?” “It’s just a thought.” He replied, giving her another smile of intrigue. Annoyed with his smile, Jasmina left ignoring her wish to punch him. He uttered a chuckle at Jasmina’s reaction before she slammed the door, and made himself comfortable in the desk chair. He scanned the reports one by one, setting them in a pile once he was done with them. No matter how interesting, most of them were not what he was looking for.
There were several more filing cabinets to go through, and he was determined to look through them all.
The next morning, Jasmina walked back into the Records Room, much to her surprise to find a sleeping Veran, and record papers scattered practically everywhere to the point the floor was ‘painted white’. She picked up the records while walking closer to him, she didn’t want to accidently tamper with the records because of her heels. When she was staring at him face to face, she smiled, “So, you actually have a genuine smile. Color me shocked.” Her voice made his eyes twitch, and then he snorted, “What?” “Time to get up sleepy head, they finished their examinations.” She told him. All that Veran did was rub his eyes, “Just send me their reports, I haven’t finished in here yet, still have a cabinet left.” Veran yawned while opening up the next cabinet and grabbing several files, settling them onto his lap. “You’ve looked at all those files
in just one night?” She blinked, almost astonished. “Do I sense ridicule?” He looked at her, his eyes red from sleep deprivation. “No, I’m not mocking you, I’m actually more along the lines of surprised.” Jasmina replied, and then held the door, “Alright, I’ll pick up the reports later, don’t overwork yourself too much.” “I’ll try my best, mommy dearest.” Veran joked, and instead of hearing her complain about his joke, she slammed the door in frustration. When she was walking to the library entrance, she heard her cell vibrating, and noticed it was from Ryan. “Hey,” She smiled. “Are you alright, you never came home last night.” Ryan replied, worrisome. “I’m fine; hopefully I’ll be home later. If not, don’t wait up, okay? Well, I’ll call you and let you know later, okay? I love you.” Jasmina replied, and then after he said “I love you” back, she hung up, and had a refreshed smile on her face, completely forgetting everything Veran said to bug her. As she walked outside the library she noticed anthropologists walking to and fro, and she stayed near the wall, trying not to get in their way. And she heard the jumbled chatter, which was pretty much all science-speak. She continued back down to the examination room where the “Garden of Bones” skeletons where being held. Once she was outside, the electronic glass door shot up, and she entered, and not a split second later, it shot down again, causing a slight draft against here. “Wallace, may I see your reports?” Jasmina asked, “That annoying, pompous son of a—anyway, he wants them to be brought to him, rather than getting off his lazy butt and grabbing them himself.” “And yet, you’ve become his messenger anyway
how adorably quaint.” Wallace’s partner chimed in, her voice having a nice façade, but in fact twisted in sneers. “Did I ask for your opinion, Dimelle?” Jasmina glowered.
“No, but you certainly got it, good for you.” Dimelle’s sarcastic sugar-coated voice made Jasmina’s veins continuously pop out of her skin, when Dimelle got to her ‘round-of-applause, Jasmina had to restrain herself from punching her in the mouth—something that she has always wanted to do ever since they met. “Jasmina, Dimelle, cut it out you two. I don’t want to have to examine two additional corpses; I’m already plate-full. If need be, blog out your vents or something.” Wallace umpired. “Stop trying to cut in so arbitrarily. It’s just pissing me off more. Especially if you think that I’m going to be killed off by HER!” They both shouted in unison, and then glowered at each other afterwards. “Fine, if you won’t stop, then get out! I have work to do and I don’t have time to baby-sit to adults who want to act like freakin’ children!” Wallace rose his voice—a rare occurrence for him, he has a habit of trying to solve things peacefully, but that patience must have worn thing. For once, the two dunderheads blinked at him stricken with amazement. “So, you finally let the balls drop, eh? It’s about time considering that you’re in your thirties.” Dimelle teased. “Dimelle, as my trainee, you should know that as your superior, I do have the authority to fire you, especially under terms of sexual harassment.” His voice seemed calm, but had several undertones of irritation, he moved his glasses up again and walked away from them and returned with paper in his hand, he shoved it in against Jasmina’s hands, and then pushed them out the door. “Now get out!” He yelled, and then the electronic door went down behind him, and afterwards pressed the red-colored LOCK button so he could have some peace and quiet. “Seesh,” Wallace rubbed his temples, “I’m getting to old for this.” Afterwards, he placed the bones in separate quarters for containment. Outside of the now locked-examination room, Jasmina started to walk as Dimelle started to pound on the glass door—which didn’t get Wallace to move an inch, and it wouldn’t considering that it was sound proof—a simple modification that he requested and thankfully for his sanity, he received. Jasmina snickered loud enough for Dimelle to hear—which Dimelle then glowered. Jasmina ignored her and then continued on walking and reading the report at the same time. Luckily, they were able to identify each victim through their dental records. She skimmed at each name, and their cause of Death.
1—VANE HEMERICK; Cause of Death—choked to death, due to a rope as indicated due to the left over material on his skeleton.
2—AMELIA SANCHEZ; Cause of Death—being hit in the back of the head with a blunt object.
3—SCARLETT O’HARA; Cause of Death—Suffocation.
4—DEVON ARCHENBALL; Cause of Death—hit in the back of the head with a dulled axe blade.
5—MARIANNA STEVOK; Cause of Death—Stabbed multiple times in her chest.
6—KRYSTAL PORTER; Cause of Death—Severing of the Spinal Cord.
7—CHRISTOFFER MATTHEWS; Cause of Death—dismemberment.
The list continued on and on, for seven more pages, she couldn’t take any more of it. The suffering that they received, it made her stomach lurch. So she closed it and threw it at Veran when she approached the Records room, and while he looked at her blinking with twitching eyebrows, she shut the door and sighed. “What the hell
?” Veran muttered to himself, “Well, whatever, now let’s see what you have in store for me, records.” Veran leaned on his chair, his left arm supported against the desk behind him, his right leg holding the collective reports as his right arm turned the pages. “It seems as if the perp. doesn’t like to do the same type of murder twice.” Veran turned his chair facing towards the desk and pulled out his laptop—which has been fixed from the fuse awhile back. He opened it up, typed in his name and password, and then he began, he opened up his internet; the first tab going to the weather forecast and checking the back data, and he discovered that for each time the bodies were discovered it had rained previously—just like he thought. His next tab was based around the city records. He wanted to know how long the Vernat family has been in that house, and then he found out the previous owners—there was three, Jaimee Benson—who has passed away, not that it was surprising, since the house was founded a little over a century ago, and none of the skeletons were indicated to be that old. So he dismissed her. There was also a family named “Tienners” and then with that he came across the next owner, Lorne Hawkins.
And since then he smiled, and opened up a new tab to check online obituaries, to satiate a curiosity that he had in his gut.
Once he was done, he wrapped everything up, and walked outside into the main part of the library. Jasmina was not there, he figured that she was probably back in the examination room, which turned out to be untrue when he discovered that it wouldn’t open, and the only examiner inside couldn’t hear a single thing, pissed off, he walked into a direction at random. He just followed a few other people, and he came across the cafeteria. It was enormous—and also had a linked terrace, where he saw a few eating while admiring the setting sky. Veran continued to look around, and he finally found her, and the girl examiner. To him, it seemed as if they were doing a staring contest, except to find out who could scowl better. He sighed and walked forward to them; he lifted both of his hands, and pushed their faces away from each other, which caused them to be a little startled. “Jasmina, if you have time to settle your scowling match some other time, we have a case that needs solving
most of which I have already done. So, time to go back to the Vernat residence. Or do I need to drag you?” “Don’t act so familiar with me, dammit, and no thanks pal. I can walk on my own two feet.” She sneered, and started to stomp forward. “Ooh, how touchy.” Veran smiled. “Shut up!” She ordered him, which didn’t come to pass, as he was still taunting her. She turned and yelled at him in front of everyone, “Do you have something that you need to say? Spit it out already!” after embarrassing herself, her cheeks turned a slight pink.
“Why turning pink? Are you expecting a confession?” He teased, and then replied seriously when she tried to smack him, “Nah, seeing you agitated like this is much more fun.” “I knew there was a reason I despised you when I first encountered you. You’re a bastard hiding behind that oppressive, fake smile.” “You do realize that ‘bastard’ and ‘oppressive’ mean practically the same thing right, given the context? So then wouldn’t you say that I’m not hiding my true colors at all?” Jasmina was too tired to give him a rebuttal, so she just sighed and started to ignore him. Veran slightly frowned at the fact that he can’t tease her anymore, and just open-fire taunts would be tasteless. He sighed, pulled his bangs out of his face. After a few calming, silent moments, she finally spoke, “For someone like you to have even an ounce of caring is laughable. I feel bad for your cousin who is stuck travelling with you.” “Annalise won’t leave me, she doesn’t have anywhere else to go, not anymore.” Veran replied, his voice slightly rigid. Jasmina suddenly stopped, and then turned to him, “So are you orphans?” “Such a blunt thing to say,” He chuckled, “Not really, we have a family—if they can even be called that.” Jasmina slightly opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn’t seem to find the right words to reply to that, so just sighed and shut her mouth, while continuously walk down that pathway that led to the exit. They got into their separate cars, and Veran pulled out first, Jasmina stared at him, with saddened eyes. She then pulled out of the parking lot and followed Veran down the road. Once they got to the Vernat residence, they went inside, and noticed the mother and daughter, and Officer Zacharia asleep. Jasmina went over to Zacharia, and smashed his head down on the table. He woke up instantly and jolted up. “What the hell was that for!?” “Because you were sleeping on the job, idiot!” She replied. “Ouch,” Zacharia moaned and rubbed his head. While those two were going at it, Veran rolled his eyes, and cleared his throat, trying to grab their attention. “Their statements, please.” Veran demanded, holding out his hand. “Oh, right.” Zacharia replied, and searched his pockets for it, once he found it; he threw it over to Veran. Veran skimmed it over, and set it down on the table. “Are you both awake enough, because I have already solved this case, would you like to hear it?” “What?” Zacharia’s eyes popped out in surprise.
“Okay then, we are already aware of the location where the bodies keep on being discovered. And if it weren’t for the meteorological patterns they most likely wouldn’t be discovered any time soon anyway. This is because the rain pushes away the dirt revealing the bones—now, you must be thinking ‘but skeletons need to be at least buried six feet to not smell them!’ remember, they were buried in a garden, most of the flowers have a very potent smell, which covers the stench up. The ages of the bones were also older than when the Vernat family first moved in, according to their dental records for each body, the victims have been missing for a very long time. This inevitably clears the Vernat family from suspicion. So I looked through the city hall records—who owned the house previously. There were three other previous owners, but the one who struck out the most would be Lorne Hawkins. I then checked for his current address and his personal records—which he did have one, he got caught attempting to sexually assault and murder a sixteen year old girl. His address, however it’s a permanent one considering that he’s been dead for almost a decade.” Veran paused, letting the news sink into the two other officers. Then Veran continued, “I honestly found it amusing—why did the police never do background checks on the previous owners? Are you all really that incompetent? Did you honestly think that the Vernat family was really all that guilty? While, I do find it somewhat odd that they decided to stay here after so many bodies were found, maybe they didn’t want suspicion to get attached to them if they ever tried to run away. But, getting back to the bodies, I would do a full ‘excavation’ on the crime scene, and find if there are any more bodies, because I am sure that their remaining relatives would like some closure.”
With that, Veran left the house, leaving both Jasmina and Zacharia to just watch him go, still a little bit shocked as to what happened. “Well, he’s a total douche. But he’s a smart total douche.” Jasmina admitted, regrettably. “I was barely any help at all.” Zacharia whined. “Zacharia, I do want to find out Lorne Hawkins last address—there is a chance that he started another collection of bodies there. How long do you think it will take for a search warrant?” “Um, depends upon our director’s mood.” Zacharia sighed. “True.” Jasmina slumped and left for her car, Zacharia following after her.
***
Veran was nearing the hospital when out of his rearview mirror he saw something heading straight for him, so he swerved trying to evade it. Fortunately, it was only his rear view mirror that got slightly damaged. He was a bit pissed, but as he started to head forward again, trying to be aware of his surroundings, someone shot his back tires, deflating them. “Shit!” He cursed, and got out of his car, not wanting it to get further damage. At that point, because he was slightly preoccupied he didn’t notice the woman headed for him, until he caught her in the corner of his eye, but at that point, it was too late. She collided against him, smacking her lips against his, after grasping the situation; he managed to pull her off. “Ten seconds. Not bad.” She smiled. Taking a better look at her, Veran realized it was Ursula Coerre, just with much lighter make-up.
“What the hell!?” Veran yelled, wiping his lips off with his sleeve. “Tick-tock. Tick-tock.” She smiled, “Time is running out for you, dear.” “What did you do?! And how the fuck did you get out of jail!?” He demanded, and he felt this burning sensation in his body, and he coughed off blood a few seconds later. “Oh, not much, just a little kiss of death; but I don’t use the same one twice. It was Verchalyl last time, this time, Chtyine. Have you ever heard of Chtyine? It cultivation mainly reigns in rain forests and other humid areas. And, its poison is a lot more potent. I grew one just for you, Veran, hope you cherish it with your remaining last moments, might want to say your last goodbyes to your partner—or should I say, your cousin, Annalise?” “Bitch, you’re working for him aren’t you?” Veran spat in disgust at the ground, and she gave him a nod and replied, “He’s the one who removed my sentence. I’m very grateful to him for that.”
While he wanted to punch her he ran ahead back to Annalise, even knowing that it would spread the poison even quicker.
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Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 26, 2011 18:03:01 GMT -8
I've just finished the bastard child that is chapter six, therefore, I'll be posting in bulk tomorrow, however, since I haven't posted the Interlude yet I'll start doing that now. I'll be experimenting with it by posting it in chunks, and I may stick to posting them that way.
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Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 26, 2011 18:09:25 GMT -8
Interlude: Inescapable (Part I)
Annalise was surprised when she Veran back, “Ah, you’re back already, so you got whatever was bothering you off your chest?” Once she got up to see him, she noticed that he was sweating profusely, his eyes were barely open, and he was panting like crazy.
“Veran, what’s wrong?” She asked, panicking, when he tried to speak, he started to fall to the ground, and she caught him.
“Let…let go of me.” He whispered in a raspy voice, “It may have gone through my skin tissue already.”
“What happened Veran?” She asked again, tears welling in her eyes.
“Poi…son,” He gasped, and collapsed again. Annalise ignoring the tingling pain in her shoulder, cradled his head against chest, when her tears were falling onto his checks, she heard two pangs on her door.
“Who…is it?” She asked, and defensively held Veran tighter against her.
The person on the other side didn’t answer, but opened the door, once her figure was in full view, Annalise glared.
“You bitch; you did this to him didn’t you!” Annalise’s voice rose, and her tears dried out of anger.
“So quick to accuse,” She smiled, “But to answer you, that I did. However, while you are accusing me of something that is already obvious, his life is draining quicker and quicker. His fate isn’t completely permanent though; would you like to strike a deal?”
“What type of deal?” Annalise asked.
“I’ll spare his life, if you come with us, willingly.” Ursula smiled.
At that time, her only thought was; exchanging one life for another? But she ignored it, “Fine. But I want to have reassurance that he will be saved before I leave with you.”
“I have an antidote with me, it’s a deal.” Ursula walked closer to them, and grabbed a syringe from her breast pocket, she grabbed Veran’s arm, and injected it into his bloodstream, “That should do it.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Annalise asked, in a mix of worrying for his well-being and being bitter at her.
“Then we will let you go immediately. Now it’s time, let’s go.” Ursula chimed in with a big smile. Annalise hated it, and at the moment she hated herself.
Hypocrite. It was the only word she could use to describe herself, especially because she knew that Veran would never forgive her for this.
With that, Ursula and Annalise walked out of her hospital room and into the night.
***
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Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
Posts: 2,547
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 26, 2011 18:11:40 GMT -8
Part II
Driving nonstop on the road, it was now morning, and they were reaching the check point between both the countries of C’lai and Vyal. Claude stopped the truck, and Ursula opened up the back door to check on Annalise. Annalise had her face buried into her knees, and her arms wrapped around them, both of which had shackles on them. “Come on now, cheer up. You did this to save his life, didn’t you? Are you regretting it already?” Ursula’s lips pursed, her tone somewhat condescending. Annalise lifted up her head, “I’m not afraid of you, I’m more afraid of what Veran is going to do once he wakes up.” Ursula walked inside, and pressed her fingers against Annalise’s chin, “I have an idea, but I’ll let you figure that one out.” Ursula then began to play with Annalise’s hair, which was really starting to get on Annalise’s nerves. “Get your filthy hands off me.” Annalise glared. “Ooh. So scary,” Ursula joked, but released Annalise’s hair anyway. Ursula turned, gave Annalise one more smile of triumph and then re-shut the door. Once the door was shut again, Annalise was in a complete wash of darkness, but it didn’t bother her, as in the dark, nobody could see her tears. While her tears streamed down her face, she recalled a memory. “Did you just say sacrifice?” Loke looked at Liana wide-eyed. “Yes,
why?” Liana blinked, and watched as Loke jumped down from the tree. “Do you know what it means?” Loke asked her, and she shook her head no, “It means to kill someone for an ideal. If you don’t want to die, come with me.” At that point, Loke held out his hand, and Liana was hesitant to take it. “I thought
you didn’t like me, why?” Liana voice stuttered. “I’m considered a sacrifice, just like you.” Loke replied. At that point, they felt a cross-breeze brush up against their skin, and Liana’s hair went into her face, as the breeze started to die down, she moved the out of place hair, and started to slowly, slowly reach for his hand. Once their skin touched, Loke gripped his hand, and he started to run towards the brick wall that acted like a gate. He started to climb it, and once he reached the top, he grabbed for her hand, she had to step on her tip-toes and stretch out her arm to be able to take it, Loke then used both of his hands to hoist her up. And there, they felt another breeze. “Shouldn’t we
pack something before we go?” Liana asked. “Then they’d catch us. Speaking of which, we can’t use our real names anymore.” Loke told her. “Why?” Liana blinked. “Because, it’s a weakness,” Loke paused and thought for a moment, “I’ll use the name Veran Nolk, because it’s an anagram.” “Anna-gram?” Liana repeated, “What’s an anagram?” “Where the same number of letters can create a different word
since my real name is Loke Varnn, it has the same amount of letters as Veran Nolk. This makes it easy to remember. What’s your full name?” “Liana Nais...how about
um, Lia Sanian?” She looked up at him. “I wouldn’t go for that. Liana and Lia are too similar. Want me to think of one?” Veran stated. Liana, a bit upset that her new name wasn’t adequate enough, she gave a slight nod. “How about, Annalise? It doesn’t have the same characters as your actual name, but it is pretty close.” “It’s pretty.” Liana—now Annalise smiled. “Okay then, that’s settled.” Veran gave a bit of a grin and jumped down from the brick wall. He landed on his hands and feet and stood back up, holding out his hands, “Jump down, I’ll catch you!” Annalise looked down at him, her lips quivering, and then she shook her head. “You can do it. You don’t want to get caught, do you?” Veran shouted, which encouraged her to close her eyes and leap off. In the next moment, they were both on the ground, Veran being the cushion. “Ah, sorry!” Annalise apologized and got off him. Veran sat up, and brushed himself off, much to her surprise, he wasn’t mad. “Now, let’s go.” “Okay.” She smiled, and grabbed his hand, and then they ran farther away on that autumn night.
The next morning, both of them were sleeping against a tree, and Veran eyes twitched once he felt water drop on his skin. “Shit, it’s raining.” He cursed, and woke Annalise up. Annalise moaned and then rubbed her eye. “What is it?” Annalise asked, still half-asleep. “It’s starting to rain.” Veran explained, and but the hood of his jacket on, and doing the same for Annalise who was still half-asleep and not completely understanding. After a few moments, the rain started to pour down harder, which jolted Annalise’s brain awake. Annalise grabbed Veran’s hand with her semi-soaked glove, and they started to run forward. Veran looked around, trying to find some cover, or a town, not only to get out of the rain, but to satisfy the hunger that was beginning to grow. Once they stopped to catch their breath, Veran heard noises, “Shit! They caught on already. We have to keep on running!” Instead of replying, Annalise just gave a nod, and with one last gulp of breath, she started to dash forward with him.
Annalise’s reminiscence temporarily stopped when she heard the truck stop with a screech. She jolted up her head, and wondered what was going on. She hoped it was Veran, but she knew it was probably unlikely, considering that they passed his car last night and it had two flat tires. The hopelessness just made her even sadder, so she slapped her cheeks. “Snap out of it!” She told herself, and leaned against a side of the truck, and she felt the tickling vibration of the truck, the motor that was ever turning its gears. And the smell of gasoline that made her want to hold her breath. Eventually, they started to drive forward again, which made Annalise slightly lose her balance—but she caught herself quickly. And just silently waited for the truck to make its last stop, the place she least likely wanted to go back to: Home.
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Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 26, 2011 18:15:30 GMT -8
Part III
Visaria
Veran woke up with a groan, and he held his head.
“Ouch, goddammit, what’s with the splitting headache?” Veran thought to himself, and looked around for Annalise, who was nowhere in sight, “Annalise?”
Then, he remembered last night.
“Fuck!” Veran cursed, “They took her, didn’t they? Goddammit!” Veran raced for the door, and opened it with a bang that reverberated against the walls. He sped down the halls, trying to avoid everyone, and he managed to get into the elevator.
Besides him, there was only one other person.
She looked slightly familiar, but he couldn’t place her face, and then she spoke.
“You seem to be in such a rush.”
“It’s none of your business.” Veran snapped.
Then she turned her face, her eyes piercing harshly at him, “Even if I told you the location of your missing friend?” Her lips pursed as she finished the last line, and he slammed her against the elevator wall.
“Where? Where are they taking her?” He gritted his teeth while impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She cocked an eyebrow, “Home. They’re taking her home.”
“Who are you?” He growled.
“Just a messenger, that’s all that you need to know.” After she finished speaking, the elevator door opened, and she walked out. Before Veran could follow her, it was already practically shut, because she pressed B1, the button for the basement floor.
“Shit.” He cursed again, and then remembered where he’d seen her. He only briefly glanced at her, but she was the Vernat daughter. Juliette.
Once the elevator stopped, he was on the basement floor; he pressed the button for the first floor and waited for the doors to open once he got there. Of course, Juliette was no longer in site.
“Dammit.” He gritted his teeth and ran outside. He already knew that his car was out of commission, considering the damage to the back tires due to the bullets. He went into his car and grabbed his earphone, turning it on, hoping to get a connection.
Nothing.
Trying not to get too pissed, he tried again.
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Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 26, 2011 18:20:09 GMT -8
Part III
Visaria
Veran woke up with a groan, and he held his head.
“Ouch, goddammit, what’s with the splitting headache?” Veran thought to himself, and looked around for Annalise, who was nowhere in sight, “Annalise?”
Then, he remembered last night.
“Fuck!” Veran cursed, “They took her, didn’t they? Goddammit!” Veran raced for the door, and opened it with a bang that reverberated against the walls. He sped down the halls, trying to avoid everyone, and he managed to get into the elevator.
Besides him, there was only one other person.
She looked slightly familiar, but he couldn’t place her face, and then she spoke.
“You seem to be in such a rush.”
“It’s none of your business.” Veran snapped.
Then she turned her face, her eyes piercing harshly at him, “Even if I told you the location of your missing friend?” Her lips pursed as she finished the last line, and he slammed her against the elevator wall.
“Where? Where are they taking her?” He gritted his teeth while impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She cocked an eyebrow, “Home. They’re taking her home.”
“Who are you?” He growled.
“Just a messenger, that’s all that you need to know.” After she finished speaking, the elevator door opened, and she walked out. Before Veran could follow her, it was already practically shut, because she pressed B1, the button for the basement floor.
“Shit.” He cursed again, and then remembered where he’d seen her. He only briefly glanced at her, but she was the Vernat daughter. Juliette.
Once the elevator stopped, he was on the basement floor; he pressed the button for the first floor and waited for the doors to open once he got there. Of course, Juliette was no longer in site.
“Dammit.” He gritted his teeth and ran outside. He already knew that his car was out of commission, considering the damage to the back tires due to the bullets. He went into his car and grabbed his earphone, turning it on, hoping to get a connection.
Nothing.
Trying not to get too pissed, he tried again.
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Mikashi
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I want it with Whipped Cream on it baby, gimme, gimme, gimme your love~~.[Mo0:0]
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Post by Mikashi on Nov 26, 2011 18:22:40 GMT -8
Part IV
Annalise was still in the back of the truck, when she heard a familiar noise, so she dove her hand into her pocket and grabbed out her earphone, and she managed to turn it on, and heard a connection on the other side.
“…Veran…?” Her voice showed her surprise.
“Finally,” He whispered to himself, “Where are you right now?”
“In the back of a truck with no light at all,” She replied, “More accurately, they let me out for a bathroom break, at that point, we were already past Ceserville. But I guess that’s pointless considering that the true objective is for me to return home.”
“Why did you go with them!?” He growled.
“I didn’t have a choice!” She rose her voice, “You were about to die—.”
Veran cut her off, “Then you should’ve let me die.”
“It’s cruel of you to say that, as you are the only person I trust in this world, even if you are a complete and utter asshole most of the time.”
As soon as she finished her sentence she heard the truck stop and heard them talking in the front. Afterwards she heard a door slam.
“I have to go; I think they are catching on. Hopefully, I’ll get to see you again.” Annalise smiled.
“Of course you will, dummy.” Veran shouted, determined. Annalise smiled and closed the connection, and re-hid her earphone.
A second after, the door slid open, the door crashing to the top of the frame.
Instead of Ursula, it was Claude.
“Lisanna, or should I call you by your normal alias?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She glared.
“Liana Nais,” Claude uttered. The recognition of her real name made her wince at the splitting headache, “Stop trying to stir trouble. Sit and wait for us to deliver you to the proper destination. If you try something again, I will hand out a proper punishment, and while I could do it, I’ll leave that to Ursula, because trust me, Ursula can be much crueler than I can be. You wouldn’t want to be injected with a poison or a virus would you? If not, keep quiet!” And with that, he slammed the door back down and relocked it.
“Veran,” She whispered, and reburied her face into her knees, not thinking about anything else but her memories.
Once they heard the family trackers, Veran and Annalise chased forward and finally came across a road. It was slightly busy, which was a good and bad thing. Veran whispered something into Annalise’s ear, and she nodded. They walked up to the vehicles, and managed to find a car with a trailer attached to it, once the vehicles stopped due to traffic. They quietly walked up to the trailer, trying not to get the driver’s attention and opened up the door, only opening and closing the door slightly so it wouldn’t show up in the driver’s rearview mirror.
Once they retreated inside, they hid under the table. Veran wondered about going into the bedroom—but he didn’t want to take the chance in case someone was sleeping in there, or if there wasn’t anyone, and then they fell asleep and get caught later.
Luckily, the traffic started to pick up again and the driver sped up. Veran sighed slightly; happy they evaded their pursuers, and wondered where they would end up.
The memory had given her a slight hope; they escaped their family before, then that means that they can do it again.
So she just waited…until the family reunion would come, so that her being rescue would come just that much quicker.
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