One week later.
I see everything. That is my curse.
Those I see are dead.
I hear a choir singing a song I don’t know the words of. I think I used too. It was a simple song. It was quite and calming. A comfort. It was a child song. A lullaby.
After she died, it became haunting and bitter. It used to be perfect, but perfection is quick to bore. As I grew it twisted. I heard its flaws and once I did I could never un-hear them.
Now what I hear is a broken melody. It was more beautiful than any other song I’d ever heard. But of course, as many things do. It warped over time. That simple song turned into a song of pain and oppression.
I think sometimes I sing that song. I think my mother had sung it to me. Maybe I had always known it. Had it mixed into the choir at some point? The two were intertwined and inseparable. I couldn’t hear one without hearing the other.
I turned my attention to the man in front of me. He was humming a song, that seemed to echo through the night. He balanced on the edge of the pier. I thought he was going to tumble into the freezing waters of Murry harbour. I watched as Prometheus swooped, trying to knock him into the water. I smiled, looking over into the inky black water.
This was close to where we first met. Was he reminiscing? Koa, laughed when Prometheus got close to his head and perched there. It wasn’t often that Prometheus joined me, on patrols. But for the past week, he’s barely left me alone.
I had a horrible flare-up and an emergency trip to the hospital. That happens when I get stressed. Prometheus hadn’t left my side since. I don’t think Koa knew why he was here, but he enjoyed the company non the less, I suppose.
“Beautiful night,” Koa called.
I looked up at the overcast sky. The night was anything but beautiful. It was cold, and the wind was harsh and bitter. I didn’t understand why Koa was so happy. He hated patrols down by the harbour. There were no monsters to fight down here. It as all drunks and druggies. Was he still shaken up about the flesh mound?
I sighed, always grateful for the lack of monsters. My head was throbbing in a dull pain, and my entire body felt stiff and sore. I pressed my fingers into my temples, knowing it would do nothing to relieve me of pain. “If you say so,” I groaned.
Koa, looked back over his shoulder to look at me, his hair done in a high ponytail. He wore a ratty hoodie, a tight shirt, and baggy black pants with combat boots. Around his lower jaw, he wore a shark’s jaw. I didn’t understand why. On his right arm was an armed guard.
“Are you all right, you don’t look well,” Koa noticed.
“I’m all right,” I lied. “Just a headache.”
“Do you have pain killer? I think I have some Tylenol,” Koa reached into his pack.
“I took painkillers before I left my house,” I said, stopping him from getting the pills.
“Okay… just take it easy, Virgil.”
I smiled and promised that I would.
Hours passed, without much incident. Everything we found was rather mundane. Drunk kids, drug dealers, the occasional person without shelter. We helped where we could and took out the threats. As the night turned to dawn, I saw her.
Koa was helping the harbour police, bring in a drug-smuggling boat, so I was left alone on land. The woman was standing a few meters away from me. Staring out to the ocean. Her hair was short and fluffed out in tight coils around her head. It was black. She had warm rich, brown skin. She turned to me and smiled sadly. Her eyes were as dark and obsidian, twinkling like stars in the dim light.
I waved to her, and she waved back. She was wearing a beige winter coat and black pants, with snow boots. I wondered what she was doing out here alone, so early. Why did she look so sad?
“Are you all right?” I asked her. She didn’t respond. “Ma’am?”
She turned away from me and beckoned me to follow. I looked out to the harbour. Koa wouldn’t be back for a while, and I couldn’t help but think that she might have really needed my help. I sighed and followed her. Koa would find me later.
“What’s your name?” I asked. She didn’t reply again. Was she forced to stay quiet? I wondered as we walked farther and farther away from the main docks. The woman kept a wary eye, on Prometheus who was curled around my shoulders.
“He doesn’t bite,” I assured her, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just kept walking. When we finally arrived, at a warehouse. The door was wide open and filled with crates, making a labyrinth of wood.
She walked at a leisurely pace as if what awaited us, didn’t need direct attention. Like it wouldn’t be going anywhere. The entire time she remained silent. I didn’t have anything to write with, nor did I know any sign; in case she couldn’t speak at all.
The further we walked through the maze I could smell something, almost like rotting meat. Was their expired food inside the crates? That seemed rather odd to me, why would they have been left it here. The woman didn’t seem to mind the scent. It was mild for the moment, so I just shrugged it off, at first. But the deeper we walked the worse it got. I lost sight of the woman when she rounded a corner, and the smell was unbearable at this point.
I covered my nose and rounded the corner and found the woman.
She was slumped over in a chair. Her hands were bound, and her face was beaten. Dry blood-covered infected wounds. The rot had started to set in. Her skin was blotchy, and flies buzzed around her.
I scrambled back into a crate and slammed back into the hard wood. I fell to the floor, staring at her course. I watched the buzzing flies and maggots that crawled in and out of her body, and her now empty eye sockets. How long had I stayed there? I don’t know.
“tell me again,” Koa asked, as we sat on the docks. Koa had placed his coat around my shoulders as the corner took the woman’s body away. I took a deep unsteady breath and told him again.
“I saw a woman, she beckoned me to follow her; and I did. She took me into that warehouse. I rounded the corner and there she was; dead.”
“So, you saw a ghost? Did the choir spike?”
“No, it didn’t. There was no threat.”
“But—”
“Koa,” I interrupted. “She wasn’t a threat, all she did was take me to her body, can we please just drop it?” I pleaded.
Koa huffed and helped me to my feet. I stood alone as he went over to a group of officers. My arm felt like it was crawling with maggots. I itched it and tried to push the feeling aside. Koa made his way back to me and placed his arm around my shoulder. Prometheus waddling alongside us.
We sat inside the seaside café and ordered breakfast. I showed them my papers for Prometheus, and they let us inside. Sitting us in the far corner. Koa hadn’t noticed thank the gods.
“I’m surprised they let Prometheus in. I didn’t think the place was pet friendly.”
I could only laugh. We ordered breakfast and waited. I grabbed a pill bottle from my bag and sighed. Gabapentin nerve pain, and cyclobenzaprine for my mucels. Koa stared at me sadly.
“The headache?” He asked. How long could I lie to him? Prometheus rested his head on my thigh, and I sighed. I couldn’t.
“Kinda. I have, Gods this is hard to say! I have chronic pain. Prometheus is my… service animal I suppose… sometimes the pain gets really bad, and my joints can lock, so he alerts people nearby that I need help…”
Koa stared at me, then Prometheus. “Fuck,” He said running his hand on his neck. “How come I didn’t know?”
I shrugged looking down at the table. “I don’t like talking about it I guess. Pandora knows, but that’s different.”
“No, no I get it,” Koa smiled grabbing my hands. “Now at least I can figure out things I can do to help you.”
Gods, his smile was adorable. His scar would scrunch up, and there was a slight twinkle in his eyes. His shoulder would relax and anything that might have worried him would be lifted and he’d just be there.
Koa and I joked and chatted until our breakfast arrived followed by two police officers. One wore a leather jacket and led zeppelin shirt. They were tall and thin; around my height, I think. You’d have thought we were twins, but if you stared a little while longer you’d notice; that their skin was warmer and their hair while blond was darker. While I looked sickly they looked healthy. It was almost uncanny.
Next to them, stood sergeant O’Conner. He wore his normal uniform and stern expression. his face was squared and covered in freckles. Salt and pepper hair pushed from his face and piercing blue eyes that didn’t seem natural. He had a stubbly beard as if he hadn’t shaved in a few days.
“Virgil Di Angelo, I’m Detective Andi Tonner, I’m here to get a statement, about the woman you found.”
Andi was quite nice about the entire thing, apologising for the hassle, and it was a formal thing. I understood and told them about seeing the women’s spirit and how it couldn’t talk and how it led me to her corpse. Andi wrote what I said in a leather notebook, and I thought that was odd. Outside of school notebooks, were rare everything was digital. I wanted to ask them why they used a notebook. They must have noticed me staring.
“Didn’t have tech growing up.” They pushed the hair from their face and revealed pointed elven ears. “I like having physical notes.” They smiled.
“Well, you are free to go. A summoning won’t be necessary Virgil. I’ve contacted Anglerfish she’ll want to talk to you.”
“Okay, thank you, officers,” I said going back to the table to finish my breakfast.
Koa and I took a train all the way to my apartment complex. It was near the city centre, and I would not walk all that way. We got our tickets, and I showed the station officer my papers for Prometheus, and we got on the train. Other passengers were wary of him, but nobody came to ask. I appreciated that. Koa put his head back on the glass and Prometheus curled up as slept. I waited for the stop.
It was the first train of the morning, but it was filled with people heading to their jobs. One man came up to me. He looked like he wanted to say something about the dragon sleeping on my lap, but he thought twice and walked off. I kicked Koa in the leg. He chuckled and looked at me. His eyes glittered. He looked so tired. His hair had come loose from its ponytail and was falling around his face. I reached out to push it behind his ears out of his eyes. It was soft, and his skin was warm. He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand. I could feel my face flush. He grabbed my hand and grinned like an idiot. “Your hands are soft,” He said. I pulled it from his face and looked away.
“Come on, this is our stop.”
When we get to the apartment complex, my father walked out the front door. He was a tall sharp man, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He wore a pinstripe suit and has greying hair. Next to him, my stepmother gave him a kiss on his cheek. She had rusty hair in victory curls and fair skin. She wore a dress from the 1950s and her arms were covered in tattoos. She saw us and waved. “Virgil,” she smiled as we walked over.
“Hello, Solanine,” I said as she wrapped me in a hug. She was a short round witch who worked in a tattoo parlour and brewed potions for a living. She was nice.
“Come inside now it’s cold,” she said gesturing us inside. “I don’t have work today, so I was thinking of baking—Oh hello Koa dear.”
“Hello Mrs, Romano.”
“Please call me Solanine, now I was planning on doing some baking so maybe you two could help me?”
“Sounds nice,” I smiled as we headed inside. The inside of the apartment was warm. Solanine had convinced Koa to stay and bake with her. I didn’t mind. As the door closed I noticed just outside, a hooded figure leaning on the wall smoking a cigarette. The choir spike and I winced. I made sure to hurry inside before they could notice me.
The apartment was filled with the scent of lavender. Solanine, Koa and I spent the entire day baking while 1950s jazz played over the speakers. Koa begged me to dance with him while things were baking in the oven. When my father got home, he joined the fun. He kept looking at me, asking for help; but I just laughed and kept dancing.
“UNO!” I yelled, slamming a card down on the table, followed by protest from the others around the table. Solanine had suggested we play cards after we’d finished baking, so we did, soft music playing over the speakers. I and Dad had made pasta for the dinner, while Solanine and Koa, went out to stock up on supplies. When they returned we ate our food and played games until the room was filled with an artificial blue glow.
“Attention, Black Rose City,” An automated voice filled the apartment. “At 0600 o’clock this morning, the body of missing person Spes Gacy was discovered. She is the second victim of a brutal murder to be found in the past 24 hours. The first was one John Grant found yesterday morning, near ‘Sam’s Pizza.’ Please take caution and stay safe.”
I looked over to Koa. He knew it was the woman I found this morning. Spes Gacy… missing for three days now found dead. Our phones buzzed.
A text from Pandora in the group chat.
‘Stay inside tonight, police and I are going out looking tonight. I’ll contact you all with more information when I can.”
Koa and I exchanged glances before Solanine suggest Koa stay here the night, and my father went into the next room to make phone calls.
That night I had no dreams, I just felt scared and alone.
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