CHAPTER 1

JACE

It came again; the attacker, the loud grunts, John, the stabbing, the failure, the tears, the helplessness, the urge to move, to do something, and the eyes.

He jerked up, his breathing heavy as he brushed away the hair that had become sticky and matted with sweat away from his face.

Jace had always loved John's eyes; it was something he had brought up frequently with them. He always said something that would make John laugh anytime he was asked. Some of them were true, other reasons were because he always seemed to understand and decode John just by looking at his eyes. John's grey eyes might look plain to others, but to Jace, it was a part of John that could look at him and find out what was wrong. But now, it was what tormented him

He stared at himself in the mirror. The sound of water dripping from his hair was the only thing he could hear apart from the rising and falling of his chest. He tore his eyes from himself not long after; he hated himself. He hated the helplessness he felt, he hated everything about that day, a part of him was angry at John for dying, and most of all, he hated that person. He had always wanted to go back and either save John or replace him.

"If it was you, do you think I would have been happy? Do you not think I would be in your exact state right now? I might even be worse than you"

He wiped away the water from his face and walked out of the bathroom

"What? Do you not care whether it would be the same for me? I never knew you were this selfish"

Jace took two of his prescribed medication before he spoke

"I should have told you then, that I was selfish. I should have told you as were grew up together. I should have found the time to tell you as we went to the same schools all our lives and even worked together. I should have told you that I would not want to lose you, or that I should have been the one to die and leave behind my other half. I should have been sure to tell you that I wanted us to continue being inseparable. How could such a thing slip my mind?"

As he had predicted, John disappeared before he got to speak again

He flopped down on the bed; he had no right to talk to John like that. But there was nothing he could do. He knew he was supposed to get punished; he wanted to get punished, but he had to know the last strand of fight left in him if he was to find that person. he was going to do exactly what he did to them back to him. he was going to carve out his intestine and set him on fire- exactly what he did to John. And more

"Yes, come in,"

He was still looking at the documents on his table when his assistant entered

"Good morning, Alex. Someone is here to see you"

He rose his head

"Who is it?"

"'I don't know, but he said he's to start work today"

"Oh, I see. Let him in"

"Roger that" she smiled and left

Seconds later, someone knocked on his door and entered

"Mr. Welkins" Alex greeted

He stood up and stretched his hand

"Mr. Jason" Jace said as he took the hand he was offered

"Please, have your sit"

"Thank you"

"So, you begin work today"

"Yes, which is why I am here"

Alex smiled

"That's good to know" he commented

"But before we go any further, just some few house rules. We use first name basis here, so I call you Jace while you call me Alex. Office romance is allowed if there will be no intolerable PDA. Overtime happens only when necessary. When carried out, however, you must input the needed information, so you get paid. Other rules will be noticed as you continue "

Jace nodded

"Just a minute, please," Alex said

He dialed a number with the office phone

"Helen, could you come in for a moment, please?"

"Thank you"

They waited a while before the lady who brought Jace in re-entered

"Yes Alex, you called me," she said the moment she was in

"That I did," Alex said with another smile

"He looks like an easygoing fellow, does he not? I like him already"

Alex continued, "This is Mr. Welkins and he will be working with us from now on, so I will need you to introduce him to the others. Also, he will be working with Melanie".

"Okay" she replied to Alex

Jace thought he saw the glitter in her eyes

"Mr. Welkins?" she signaled to him to follow her

He stood up but turned to Alex first

"Thank you"

"You are very welcome, and I look forward to working with you. I have a strong feeling you will do your best"

"I sure will" I replied as I exited the room.

They walked across a hall silently and Jace used that opportunity to look around. The hall was not excessively big but was spacious enough for two people to walk alongside each other freely. It also had paintings; most of which he recognized because of his previous job.

"It may not be up to what you anticipated but I hope it is okay," she said

"I had no anticipation"

Soon after, they reached a door

"I wonder what is behind" Jace could hear the excitement in John's voice

"This is your office, Mr. Welkins" Helen said, opening the door

It was just like a normal office. It has the same sitting arrangement with a few files arranged on the table, next to a system and other things. At what would be his right, there was a small shelf. On the left was a small coffee station

"Alex likes his staff to be as convenient as they can. And besides, you might be too busy to go all the way to the kitchen to prepare some" Helen said

Jace nodded, walking into the room

Behind his chair was a window covered with a curtain: there were also ancient paintings in his office

"I guess you all like paintings"

"Oh no, it is all just Alex, but we do not mind. A few paintings here and there can do no harm, right?"

Jace laughed, "Right"

He placed his bag on the table and sat beside it.

"My guess is that I am sharing this room with someone"

At his top left, just a few feet from the door was another station just like his

"Yes, with Mel. She could not come in today, for some reason"

"And failed to witness the grand entrance of her partner. What a pity"

Helen laughed

"Anyway" she continued

"Well, I will leave you to arrange your things and do whatever else you need to do; we can introduce you to the others later"

"Thank you"

He gave a slight bow

He walked to his seat and sat down. He did not know how long he was in that position, he just leaned on the chair with his eyes closed not thinking of anything. Actually, he was just not focusing any of the rushing thoughts he had in his head

It was not until someone knocked at the door that he raised his head

"Yes"

He sat up and no sooner did Alex walk in

"Ready to see the guys?" he asked

Jace rose and followed Alex. No one said anything until they reached what Jace presumed to be a conference room. It was just like any other conference room; the only peculiar thing was the fact that majority of the room was covered by glass with motorized blinds

"Guys, this is, our new recruit and Mel's partner" Alex introduced Jace before turning to him

John laughed, "Recruit?"

"Jace this is Olive and Ken, Sky and Jade,"

"Hi," Olive said

"Nice to meet you," Ken greeted

"Hello" Sky waved

"Looking good, bro," Jade gave him a bro hug

"It's such a relief that Mel has gotten herself a partner. Be careful though, she might be a bit of a workaholic mixed with melancholy" he added

"Since you are already hitting off, why don't you tell him what he needs to know"

"I have no objection. Do you?"

"I am cool" Jace replied

"See you later, guys"

"Okayyy, Olive and Ken are the head of all the department of our wonderful scientists. They control all the strange science stuff, autopsy, forensics, and the likes. Mel, you, Sky, and I are like the FOH"

"FOH? What is that?"

"Front Of House" Jace replied before he could catch himself

"Exactly" Jade confirmed

"We are the ones who go out and do all those cool stuff"

"Seeing dead bodies is not cool, Jade" Sky corrected

"Do not talk as if that is the only thing we do. And that statement is meant for those two"

"Hey" Olive and Ken protested

"Whatever" Jade said

With some chip-ins from the rest, he informed Jace on the case they had on ground. It was an assumed serial killing. They tried to find clues, but were unable to and decided to stop for the day