The smell of blood was sharp. Metallic. It almost made Skyler’s nose wrinkle up in disgust as he stepped into the room. What did cause his nose wrinkle was the sound of blood squelching underneath his shoes as he entered.
“Ugh, disgusting. The police force owes me a new pair of kicks,” Skyler called to the detective who was already in the room. The woman shot him an unamused look that was unmistakable even though her hand covered her nose and mouth.
“How about you help us out, and then we talk compensation, Mr. Ortiz,” she said, turning to the crime scene photographer. “Aren’t you done yet?”
Skyler chuckled a bit, pulling off the dark sunglasses he wore. His electric blue eyes peered around the room. There was blood everywhere - the ceiling, the walls, the floors. Nothing was safe, not even the couch. And yet, nothing seemed damaged either. It was simply covered in blood. With a heavy sigh, Skyler ran a hand through his hair. The photographer, who had been packing up his camera, scuttled out of the room, leaving Skyler and the detective alone.
“So, what do you think it is, Lisbeth?” Skyler looked at her for a moment before glancing around.A good bit of the blood seemed to have dried, but that didn’t stop it from occasionally leaking down off the ceiling or the walls. There were also no bodies. They must have been already taken, though Skyler had no desire to see them considering the state of the room. “I have my doubts about it being a human behind all this. Can you smell anything?”
Lisbeth shook her head, her brown ponytail swishing in the air behind her. “The blood smell is coving up anything else. Roxie should be here soon, once she’s done getting rid of the press. Maybe she can smell something I can’t.”
Skyler nodded. “Figures as much. Well, I think we can safely rule out humans. Vampires, too. I doubt your buddies would be willing to leave this much food behind.” He gave Lisbeth a wide grin, earning another unamused look.
“A vampire wouldn’t make a mess like this. I’m not certain of anything that would, to be honest.” Lisbeth turned to look around the room again. “Not a werewolf, nothing is damaged.”
“What are you trying to say about werewolves?”
Skyler and Lisbeth turned to the voice at the door. A tall woman with big, curly hair stood there, pinching her nose with her fingers. “This is gross, and absolutely not the work of a werewolf.”
“Roxie, look at my shoes!” Skyler lifted up a blood soaked shoe, whining at the werewolf.
Roxie gave him a pout. “Oh, you poor thing.” Going over to Lisbeth, Roxie gagged a bit. “This smell is so bad. How are you just...fine?”
“Dhampir don’t smell as well as vampires. Or werewolves,” Lisbeth said.
“I’ve just got good old Mom’s nose,” Skyler said, tapping the side of his nose while winking. “It’s as human as can be.”
Lisbeth sighed. “Right. Well, our noses clearly aren’t getting us anywhere. Is there anything you need from the scene, Mr. Ortez? Or anything you think you can gather?”
Skyler nodded. “I’ll take some samples of the blood for my brother. Maybe he can figure something out with it. Otherwise, let me take a lap through the apartment without you in it, so I can recall everything later.”
Lisbeth nodded and went to step out of the room, followed by Roxie. Skyler only took a moment to stride through the studio apartment, even the bathroom which was untouched by the bloodbath in the other room. The detectives returned when he was pulling out vials, dripping some blood in them from various places.
“Try not to be seen taking that out of here. I don’t want to explain why a consultant needs blood.” Lisbeth gave Skyler a serious look. When he nodded, she continued. “I need to ask. What are the chances that this was done by fae?”
Skyler paused for a moment before finishing capping off the last vial. He wrote a brief note on it before speaking. “It’s possible. It could easily be some unseelie who had a little bit too much fun. It’s less likely to be seelie, but not impossible. The Summer Court isn’t known to love this much mess.”
Lisbeth nodded. “Just want to make sure you keep an open mind in this. You and your brother.”
Chuckling, Skyler placed the vials in his hoodie pocket. “Trust me, Detective. If it is a fae, my brother and I will have no problems doing what needs to be done.”
An hour later Skyler strolled into the Ortez Private Investigators building, a bag of takeout in one hand. The rubber soles of his shoes were stained red, despite looking like they had been scrubbed clean. Striding through the open door between the waiting area and the back room, he paused briefly when he saw it was empty.
“Jeyx? I’m back. I brought food.” Skyler looked down the stairs to the basement as he called. There was a shuffling sound and a thud before a man emerged up the stairs.
At first glance one wouldn’t guess the two were brothers. They were almost opposites. Skyler’s short dark hair and bright blue eyes contrasted well to Jeyx’s long white hair and dark eyes. However, they shared a striking resemblance in the face and their light brown skin.
“Took you long enough, I expected you back half an hour ago.” Jeyx took the takeout from Skyler and sat at his desk, opening up the box and grinning a bit. “But the food is still warm, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.”
Skyler sat at his own desk, opening up his food and taking a bite. “Good. We have an interesting case, this time.”
“Well, please share,” Jeyx said, watching Skyler with interest. He nodded, listening along to Skyler’s words. His face seemed unconcerned throughout the description of the room, his nose only wrinkling slightly at the mention of the blood.
Once Skyler finished his explanation, he pulled the vials of blood out and put them on his desk. “I figured you could do something with these? Lisbeth said to keep it somewhat hush-hush that we have it, but any information would be helpful.”
Jeyx nodded, motioning to the vials with his fork. “I’ll take them down to the lab when I’m done eating. Do you have any ideas from the crime scene?”
“Well, we've effectively ruled vampires and werewolves out.” Skyler looked away for a moment before looking back at his brother. “Though there was the mention of fae.”
Raising an eyebrow, Jeyx tapped his fork against his lips while he finished chewing his food. “I won’t say it isn’t impossible. Especially for unseelie. But if we continue down that path then you know who we need to talk to.”
Skyler sighed. “Yeah, I know. And I’d rather not.”
Jeyx looked over at his younger brother. He was pouting, something that honestly brought a small smile to Jeyx’s face. Sometimes Skyler still acted like a kid, honestly.
“Don’t worry. If it leads that direction I’ll be there with you,” Jeyx assured. Skyler rolled his eyes.
“I’m not worried. I’m annoyed. I’d rather not talk to him if I can help it.” Skyler finished up his food and tossed the trash in the bin.
“Alright, if you say so. Either way, it’s not something we need to be concerned with until I at least look at that blood.” Jeyx tossed his own trash in the bin and stood. “Thank you for the food. You know where I’ll be if you need me.”
With that, he took the vials from Skyler’s desk and went back down the steps. Skyler ran a hand through his hair before booting up his computer and searching the web for a new pair of shoes.
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