I glanced anxiously between the detectives and the head of the Sin Deckate. No one spoke, as if they were circling each other, sizing each other up.

“So, Detective Brooks, exactly what do you want from me?”

Robert’s sudden sentence made me jump in my seat.

“Oh, not much. But I was hoping you could shed some light on something for me.”

Ezyn’s calculating gaze and cold voice shook me -- and he wasn’t even looking at me.

“Do tell me more,” Robert asked curiously, leaning forward in his seat.

“Would you happen to know anything about the ‘Strange Happenings’ case?”

Robert’s eyes darkened. “Why would you think I know more than you?”

Amaryllis spoke up, “Cut the act, brother. We found your mark at six of the victims’ homes.”

“WHAT?!” Robert roared, standing to his feet. Taking a breath, he sat back down. “How were you able to find them?”

“Even if we hadn’t, you just gave yourself away.” Amaryllis smirked.

Robert glared at him.

“How we found them is of no importance--”

Wait. Did that mean I was of no importance?

I erased those thoughts.

“--However, all signs lead back to the Sin Deckate as the culprits. So? What do you have to say for yourself?” Ezyn finished with a condescending glower.

Robert sighed exasperatedly, leaning back in his chair. “I never gave the order for them to be killed. All the people who died were simply under surveillance. And we would never kill someone just to put their body in broad daylight.” He paused before admitting, “The government has already suspected us, though they didn’t know about the markings. That in itself has caused trouble. But, I may have an idea as to who the killers are.”

He signaled for his guards to leave, waiting until it was just the four of us to continue. Opening a folder on the table in front of him, he took out three photos, spreading them out on the table.

Darn it! I can’t see from here.

“I recently performed some investigations regarding the Markers who joined four years ago. Unbeknownst to me, three schizophrenics had joined. And probing further, I’d found that they were not making any purchases for medicine or taking routine trips to a psychiatrist. I’m not saying they committed the crimes, but--”

“The third year. What did they do in the third year?” Ezyn asked, paging through the documents on the table.

“That was the only year they took medication,” Robert confessed.

“Alright, brother,” Amaryllis said, arms crossed. “Bring them here.”

Here? Now?

I didn’t feel too secure about being in the same room as two severely mentally ill people.

~.~

Now that they were here, I felt much worse.

The first one acted like a child who ate too much sugar and drank loads of caffeine. His laugh sounded like maniacal shrieking, and I almost closed my ears to shut him out.

“Bo-Boss! Wh-what’s going on?” 

More maniacal shrieking.

The second seemed nervous, although I guessed he was actually paranoid. His whispering voice was completely drowned out by the laughter of the first.

The third seemed extremely sluggish, not responding to anything or even looking around. The deadness in his eyes terrified me.

“How could you let these unpredictable men act as Markers?” Amaryllis asked, he and Ezyn unfazed by what was happening around them.

I wasn’t even sure how I managed to keep a straight face throughout all this. I was shaken to my core, and…I wanted…I wanted--

“That’s a good question, especially since we never put them out in the field. Now, boys,” he said, turning to the schizophrenics, “someone has been going around killing people under surveillance we’ve marked, and I want to praise them. Do you know who they are?”

The first did not hesitate to raise his hand. “Me! Me! And Three and Four too! It was us!”

“Ah, I see. Can you tell me why?”

He quieted long enough for the second one to speak. Whether it was Three or Four, I didn’t know.

“Y-You see, they we-were going to be ki-killed eventually. I-I thought that since they-they posed a threat to you, th-they should be removed immediately.”

“Two, you agreed to this plan?”

“Y-Yes, Boss!” Two was the hyperactive one. “So did Four!”

Four must have been the sluggish one.

“I was the one who drew on them after attacking their pressure points!” Two revealed, not realizing he was confessing to his crimes.

“Did the symbols mean anything?”

“No! I drew them for fun! Four mutilated the bodies ‘cause he was too lazy to do it cleanly.”  

I nearly threw up hearing them talk about this.

“I drained the blood from them,” Three admitted, nostalgia in his voice as he remembered his murders. “Then I used their blood to paint my favorite warehouse. I washed it out when it got all sticky and dry, then used more blood!”

I don’t really remember what happened after that. I think…No, I’m positive Robert lost his cool at those three. But my head spun, my heart raced, and I felt totally sick. I’d hoped to forget my time at that place, yet there seemed to be no hope of doing that. My main focus was to keep myself from throwing up or passing out, and I soon found myself in Detective Willis’s car, Ezyn at the wheel.

“Esi…” I groaned.

“What is it, Nir?”

“I need to puke.”

“What? Why?” he asked anxiously, immediately pulling over.

I stumbled out of the car and vomited into the grass.

“The conversation got to me a little bit.”

“I knew something was off. But you said you were fine, so I didn’t press.”

Strangely, I couldn’t recall saying that and told him.

“Really? You acted so…yourself during that time, it scared me.”

“Everything’s blurry,” I said, feeling lightheaded.

“I get that, but maybe it’ll come back to you soon.”

“...No…not my memory…my vision. I feel dizzy…”

After that, I passed out.

~.~

My eyes fluttered open, and I sat up, head still pounding. I was on our couch, which took an immense weight off my shoulders.

I was glad to be home.

“How are you feeling, Nir?” Ezyn asked, kneeling at the side of the couch.

I looked at him, longing for his embrace, but I could never tell him that.

After all, during our conversation in the meadow, it hadn’t been lost on me that the person he had feelings for was quite likely me. It was great that he did -- phenomenal, actually -- but when he said “But I shouldn’t have. My mind was tricking me.” 

Well, to say my world had come crashing down would be an understatement.

Honestly, it was for the best. To be like that with him would mean giving all of me to him, and there was a pretty significant part of me I was sure he wouldn’t want.

All those depressing thoughts made my headache worse.

“My head hurts,” I told him.

“I’ll get you some medicine.”

When he came back, I took the meds. “The case was resolved, right?”

“Yes,” he answered happily. “It will be a silent resolution though. Robert wanted to deal with them himself. Detective Willis remained to see it through, so we won’t be hearing from him for a while.”

“Mm, okay.”

The happiness in his eyes soon switched back to concern for me, so I told him I would be alright and I wanted some rest.”

“Rest well, then,” he said. “And call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

I watched him go, wishing for more than we were, but for both our sakes, hoping it never happened.