Read Golden Child :: Golden Child: Appearances

I've always hated my appearance.

There was no way around it.

Anywhere my mother and I went, I would get bullied for looking feminine...but I couldn't do anything about it.

I would've chopped off my long black hair, would've gouged out my ice blue eyes, would've skinned myself alive...I would have. If it wasn't for my mother.

I looked nothing like the blond-haired, green-eyed beauty, and I hated that too.

But she never looked at me with hate. To her, I was a separate person from the man I looked so similar to, incapable of the violence he had inflicted upon us.

"Esi, your hair is so silky. Mommy wishes her hair was like that."

"Esi, your skin is so fair. Mommy wishes she had skin like that."

"Esi, your eyes...so pretty! Mommy wishes she could stare at them all day."

"Esi, you are beautiful. Stay that way."

Even when I looked back at her dead body, though being forcefully pulled away, was her saying, "I love you" just my imagination?

Now, recalling her voice brought immense pain, for with those memories came the ones after.

The years I spent with my "father."

~.~

"...Esi...Ezyn?"

Nircoel's worried voice startled me out of those dark thoughts.

"What's up, Nir?"

"Don't just 'What's up' me," he scolded, annoyed. "I called your name multiple times. I'm surprised you didn't drive us off the road."

"Ha...I'm sorry. I was...thinking about some things." I made the final turn, parking in the driveway of 712 Steamer Avenue. "The name of the victim is Adam Reeves. He was twenty-four, lived alone, and was quite fond of the night life."

We stepped out of the car, Nircoel wriggling his arms.

"I'm so sore!" he whined.

I looked at him, slightly disappointed. "You didn't manage a proper push-up, and you're sore already?"

He glared at me. "Aren't we going inside?"

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry, okay?"

"It's fine, but..." He turned away. "Nevermind."

His tone made it clear that I wouldn't get anything out of him, so I began walking to the door.

"Th-there won't be any bodies, right? Or blood?" Nircoel asked, voice wavering.

"None that I know of."

"That you know of?!"

I shushed him, finding the door slightly ajar. Pushing it open, I called, "Anyone there?" My hand rested on the gun I carried, ready to pull it out at the first sign of danger.

"Oh, another detective?"

The unhurried voice belonged to a male appearing to be in his mid-thirties, with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail and stubble littered on his chin and cheeks.

"By that remark, are you a detective as well, sir?" I asked, bringing to mind the rules of etiquette when addressing a detective older than myself.

"Ah, nice to know that the young 'uns are still polite." The man got up from where he was crouching and walked over to us, extending a hand.

"I'm Detective Brooks," I said, returning the gesture. "This is my assisstant, Nircoel."

The man simply nodded towards Nircoel, as if he could tell something I couldn't. "The Detective Brooks? Shoals' best? It's an honor to meet you. I'm Detective Willis."

His name rang a bell, but I couldn't remember where I'd heard it.

"Thank you, but if I was truly the best, I would have caught the killer by now."

I didn't need to explain which killer I was talking about.

"I have no doubt you will be the one to do it." He sighed. "I'm here because a mutual acquaintance of Adam and I reported that he was missing and asked me to investigate. If you're here, I'll take the liberty of assuming this is part of a bigger case?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, actually, and we could use all the help we could get. Mr. Reeves was murdered, and you know which case I mean."

Detective Willis ran a hand through his hair, letting out a puff of air. "Let's search the house. Maybe we'll find some spot of evidence."

"Have you been here long, sir?" Nircoel asked, peeking out from behind me.

"No, just ten minutes before you two arrived."

Not enough time for a thorough search. "How should we go about this?" I wondered aloud.

"Why doesn't your assistant investigate the upstairs, and we search the main floor?"

Personally, I would have preferred to search alone or with Nircoel. But there were set rules as a detective, one of which being "listen to your elder detectives."

"That's a sound idea. Nircoel?"

"Um, okay. I'll do my best!"

Nircoel speedwalked to the second floor without looking back. He had gotten jittery upon entering the house, making me slightly concerned. Though he was introverted, something I noticed both when I first met him and when we took a walk later that week. That was also when I realized he took forever to get ready.

Trying to not be worried about him, I took a good look around the house. It was under orders not to be touched, so everything was the same as the day he disappeared.

The house itself seemed untouched, as if no one had lived here. The kitchen and living room were clean -- pristine, even.

That led me to anxiously ponder, What if someone got here first?

It would make sense. After all, this person was a professional serial killer. They would surely be able to slip past surveillance to cover their tracks.

I jumped, feeling a hand on my shoulder.

“Woah, there, kiddo. Are you alright? You seemed a little…lost in yourself.” Detective Willis looked pointedly at the nail I was mercilessly chewing on.

“Ha…Just attempting to piece things together,” I said, feeling my heart slow down.

“Esi?!” Nircoel yelled.

“What is it?” I called back, pushing down the thoughts of something terrible happening to him.

“You should come see this!”

I ran up the stairs, though making an effort to approach him normally.

“What is it?” I asked, standing next to him.

“I should be the one asking you that! What in the world is that?” Nircoel pointed to…

An empty wall?

“I…don’t understand what you’re seeing,” I told him, puzzled.

His shoulders slumped. “Really? You don’t see the huge circle with three triangles inside?”

A circle...with three triangles inside?

“No, Nir,” I said, holding in my excitement. “But it’s a miracle you can.”

“A miracle?” he asked, a small smile forming.

“Here, kid,” Detective Willis said, handing Nircoel a black marker.

Hesitantly, he took it from him, yet I still did not know the reason for his apprehension.

Turning to me, he said, “I can’t reach it from here…”

I crouched down. “Get on my back.”

He tentatively climbed onto me, and I realized he was light as a feather. I heard the older detective snicker as I stood.

“What is it?” I scowled.

“Nothing.” He snickered some more.

I ignored him, instead focusing on the wall.

“Here’s good,” Nircoel said, beginning to draw on the wall.

A few minutes later, the huge circle with three triangles in it was completed.

“Do you know what this symbol is?” I asked Nircoel as he got off of me.

“No.”

“It’s the sign of the Sin Deckate. Or should I say, it’s the sign they use to mark their next target.”