Someone Else's Thoughts

Abel had to really focus to be able to hear the voice as he kept his hand on Ace's shoulder. He knew that it shouldn't have been possible but he couldn't deny the fact that someone else's thoughts or words were invading the kid's mind.

"Pity dear Ace and here I really thought that you would be able to go some place." The voice was of a deeper level and definitely belonged to a man.

"You were so good at doing as you were told and not asking too many questions as long as you got the money that you were promised." Abel was tempted to ask who was there or what they wanted, but he wasn't even sure that that the other voice would be able to hear him nor did he know if it would disappear if it realized someone else was there.

"I had such high hopes for you too which is why I put you with Ethan. Not the easiest person to deal with but he would've certainly helped you to get to the places you wanted to go." One thing the detective did notice was that no matter what was said to him, Ace didn't react at all. No thoughts, no body movement, nothing. Did he somehow paralyze or was something else going on that he couldn't see.

"Prose do you have any insight?" Abel asked his system hoping that maybe it could sense or analyze something that he was missing.

"It's hard to say. The voice is coming from within Ace's mind, but where it is being received from is not clear nor how the person is able to do this without having direct contact with the recipient."

"No matter. It would just seem that I will have to dispose of you before I can make use out of you the way that I had been hoping to. It's such a pity, but there will be others who can replace you no problem. No hard feelings. I just can't let those who defy me by speaking about things that aren't their place to speak about live." He was going to kill?! But how? there was no one else in the room.

"Wait! who are you?" Abel finally ventured asking, not sure if he was able to bring his thoughts into Ace's mind. He hoped so since he was able to hear whoever the voice belonged to clearly. At first he didn't think that he would be able to, but when a thick chuckle followed after a brief moment of silence, he was certain the other voice had heard him.

"Well, well detective. It would seem that I'm not the only one who is capable of this."

"Who are you?" Abel asked, trying to put as much authority into his thoughts as he possible could hoping that the other would answer.

"Didn't little Ace here already tell you who I was? I thought that you had been listening to him when he was telling you everything?" The voice questioned, a hint of amusement and something else in the voice.

"I want a real name." Abel replied to which was responded with a tsk sound.

"Now, now. Where would the fun be if I gave you my name? Things would end too quickly at that rate and I think that I just found something fun and interesting to play with." There was another pause before the voice spoke again.

"If you want to know who I am, you'll have to figure that out yourself from the clues that you've collected thus far. I'm pretty sure you're sharp enough to do that if you've gotten this far. Maybe that little system of yours will come in handy if you can figure out how to unlock it's abilities and use it properly." How did he know that he had a system? that was a thought for another time. Right now he needed to focus on getting as much information as he could out of the voice before it disappeared.

Abel didn't get as far as being able to answer any other questions however when something like a shockwave hit mentally but caused him to take a step back and push him back into reality.

What felt like minutes to him seemed to have only been a few seconds because Ray was still sitting down and trying to ask Ace what was going on. He must've been the only one who had heard what was going on.

"What's going on?" Ray asked as he looked over at his partner who was still a touch stunned from what had happened. He didn't think that it should be possible for someone to do that to another person through a mental link. The shock felt so real to him that he was certain he would see some indication that it had happened to him physically, not just mentally.

"I don't know but we need to get a doctor." Abel replied as went to the door to request that Jack bring a doctor. He was sure that the young officer was seeing everything that was going on and perhaps didn't know how to respond to it.

He didn't even get a chance to open the door before he heard a terrible sound come from behind him. He turned his head at the same moment Ace's chair tipped over with him still in it. His body convulsed on the floor and the terrible sound he heard that sounded like a mix between a muted scream and the sound of some one choking or gasping for air had come from the kid.

The sound and commotion only lasted for a matter of seconds before his body became limp and unmoving on the floor. Without either of them checking his pulse it was evident that he was dead by the vacant, straight ahead scared look in his unmoving eyes. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth but neither one had any idea of why or what had just happened.

Opening the door, he snapped for Jack to get a doctor as he hollered for someone else to come. They were both shaken by the strange turn of events but both of them knew that they couldn't just stay still and do nothing despite what had just happened.

Abel knew though that no matter what was said or asked about the events that had taken place that he couldn't tell anyone what he had heard, not yet at least. If he did, there would likely be consequences for him and things that he didn't want to have to explain that would get him arrested and removed as a detective. He couldn't let that happen until he found out what was going on and who was behind this sudden turn of events. He just hoped that Prose would be able to dig up some answers for him.