Tuesday morning went smoothly. Jake and Erick woke up to the first alarm, cleaned up and dressed calmly. Jake made breakfast and lunch for Erick, made sure he had it in his backpack, and took him to the school's entrance a couple of minutes after the door opened.

Aubrey had woken up earlier than Mitzi, giving her time to dry her hair completely, filled Lady’s bowl with her meticulously cooked diet, and prepared extra food in case Erick forgot his lunch again before leaving. This time the girls were able to go through the human neighborhoods calmly.

On their way they passed Leroy. Making sure no one who knew them was around, Aubrey approached him to talk, grabbing his arm to greet him.

“Good morning, Roy.”

“Hello.”

The boy placed his hand on Bry’s hand, noticeably surprised and happy that she was the first to approach.

“Today is Linda’s birthday, right?”

“Yes,” he replied, somewhat discouraged.

“Are you going to her house?”

“Yes”.

“Then…”.

“Yeah, yeah. I know, I will”.

He was now upset; he lowered his hand and turned his gaze. Regardless, his movements remained relaxed, he walked as if he didn’t feel the touch of the wind. It was that passive part of his personality, in contrast to his words and thoughts, that had caught Bry’s attention when they met.

No matter what was happening around him, how hurt he was, how scared or upset he was, Leroy always remained calm. His emotions were limited to expressing themselves on his face and voice, without affecting the rest of his body. Although this didn't mean he would keep his opinions to himself, he always made his limits and his dislikes clear, he was even capable of shouting and fighting bare-knuckle with others while keeping his body completely loose, his blood pressure low and his mind clear.

Seeing the disappointment on her only friend's face, Bry stopped in front of him, made sure again that no one they knew other than her sister was around and took his right hand with both of her, bringing it under her chin, almost touching her lips.

“Thank you. I know I'm asking a lot of you but it’ll all be over soon, I promise. Especially now that Erick is around. It’ll be like before..

“It's not a lot” her face reddened “and it's not that hard” she sighed “it's just that…”.

Suddenly Bry let go of his hand and stepped away, back to her sister's side, cutting off Roy's words. He worriedly looked around until he found the reason, Linda was a couple of blocks behind them. He looked at his hand, looked at Bry, gritted his teeth, fist closed, and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Mitzi, who had witnessed everything from a distance, whispered in her sister's ear.

“Is everything okay?”

“As usual”.

“Are you sure?”

Bry looked at Leeroy, his carefree walk blending beautifully with the soft morning light, standing out among the hustle and bustle of the rest of the people. If she didn't examine him closely, the tension in his hand and mouth would go unnoticed. They exchanged glances for a couple of seconds.

“Yes, I am”.

“Why don't you invite him over this afternoon? I'm going out with my friends, and dad and mom won't be back  from their meeting until tomorrow, you'll be home alone, no one will see you. No one who matters at least.”

“Well… How about you help me see him tomorrow?”

“Fine, but you have to bring me a gift in exchange”.

“Done”.

The sisters laughed, sealing their agreement. Seeing Bry's smile from a distance, Roy relaxed his jaw.

Linda came running over, jumping behind him, his attention now on her, struggling to take his eyes off Bry, pretending not to want to walk beside her.

At the school gates. Bry saw Erick arrive, happily running to greet him as the motorcycle he was riding drove away.

“ERICK! Good morning”.

He didn't answer, he was too overwhelmed by the girl's energy to respond, it would take him a while to get used to the bright appreciation of someone beyond his two guardians.

“Who was the person who brought you?”

“Oh” regaining control of himself, he was more than happy to be able to talk about his family “he's my cousin Jake. He's the one who takes care of me and everything”.

Aubrey's face turned pale, sad and with her eyes downcast, feeling a strong pang in her chest.

«So Jake stayed with him».

She let out a heavy sigh before composing herself and happily pushing Erick into the institution.

“Let’s go before they close the door on us”.

“Ok…”.

Erick looked at her with concern, her unexpected reaction had left him baffled.

After thinking about it for a couple of minutes he came to the conclusion that Bry felt sorry for him, for being an orphan or having been abandoned by his parents, something easy to assume given that another family member was his guardian.

Those kinds of thoughts normally bothered him, the look of superiority that others hide under kind words out of supposed pity had always been repugnant to him. He knew that while they showered him with ambiguous flattery with double meanings, those people praised themselves for not being at the same level as him, thinking about how lucky they were not to be his equals, not to suffer like him.

In the end, the pity was always about themselves, their egos and how wonderful their life was compared to someone unfortunate like him. But with Bry it didn't seem that way, there was something in the way she looked at him that made him feel genuinely appreciated, similar to how he felt being with his tutors.

Jake arrived at the police station in the south of Xipe City, straightening his tie before entering, waiting for his colleagues' reaction to confirm if those he suspected had attacked him. His thoughts, impossible to decipher behind his cheerful face.

“Good morning everyone”.

“Good –”

The police chief who was passing by the entrance, a human of African descent, dark complexion and shaved hair with gray patches on his sideburns, noticed the scratches on his face. Although they had improved a lot since the night before, there were two that still stood out, the one across his nose and the one on his lip, framed by his white skin, but this was not what had caught his attention.

“Mr. Yang, why is there a cat at your feet?”

Lady stretched her front legs, bringing her furry body back between his legs. Jake carefully lifted her up to look at her face.

“She must have followed me from home. It's already a bit late to bring her back.”

“Well, just keep an eye on THAT” Other officers had brought worse things to the office before, nothing surprised him anymore “especially since you're going to check a body with Arles”.

Officer Arles, an experienced human detective, strict with his peers and very diligent and efficient in his job, stepped in between them upon hearing such news.

“Why me?! I already showed him the facilities yesterday. Besides, I don't think he's in any condition to go”.

Arles' eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Jake, as if he didn't expect him to be in such good shape, as if he knew something had happened to him. Being one of Jake's colleagues, his reaction did not go unnoticed.

Jake discreetly used one of his abilities, seeing through people's souls to discern their thoughts through their emotions and impurities. He continued talking to the boss about his assignment, playing with Lady's ears to dissimulate.

«What?! How?!»

Confusion.

«With the beating they gave him, he should at least have a broken rib».

Worry? No, anxiety combined with remorse and bewilderment.

«Maybe he IS what they thought… I don’t know how else he would have just a couple of scratches».

Fear, anger, more anxiety, more guilt, and some disappointment, with himself and with Jake. Finally, guilt dominated the rest of the emotions.

For Jake this was a confirmation of his role in the attack. Looking at his badge he knew that he had been the one who covered his head so that the others would beat him.

“Ugh… Okay, but I won’t be your babysitter or anything, you’ll have to keep up with me.”

The chief handed them the case papers and they both headed to the parking lot to board a unit. Arles drove while Jake sat in the passenger seat with Lady in the backseat, sleeping on Jake’s sleeping bag.

Upon arriving at the scene the cat remained in the vehicle while police personnel on site gave them information, obtained so far from the scene and the neighbors that the responding officers had interviewed prior to the arrival of the detectives.

The victim had been identified as Jane Dawn through DNA testing, reported missing a week before her body was found. The state of decomposition marked her death four days earlier. Neighbors reported a strong smell of rotting flesh coming from one of the uninhabited houses in the area, leading to her discovery.

A female officer of the goblin species, rarely seen in a city of human domain, with bright green skin and tall stature by the standards of her species, led the two detectives into the crime scene. On the way she explained the condition of the victim, visibly disturbed by it.

They entered the room where Jane's body was located, both staring at the scene while the officer did her best to evade it.