15. Omens

(Present tense)

Birds chirped outside my window signaling a new day. Sunlight beamed across my room, hitting me in the face, forcing me to get up.

(I haven't slept that good in a while...)

Last night I rid myself of one of my long standing nightmares. Brock didn't get an easy death and I honestly couldn't be happier.

I rose from my bed and stretched before getting ready for my day. It was Monday and I had school which i really didn't want to go but I have to. My parents would not be happy if I dropped out or started skipping regularly.

The last part for the void bracelet is supposed to be delivered today and I need to go to Kyle's house after school to complete it.

(That reminds me... Malka...)

Since Saturday evening I haven't seen her. I'm not really sure how to handle that situation. It's not like I need to take responsibility for every girl I sleep with but she isn't just a random babe. She's my best friends sister and she is also my friend. Not to mention that was her first time.

Thinking about it filled me with self-loathing but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. I made my way down and ate breakfast with my family as we do every morning. As I ate and tuned Cleo's annoying voice out, the tv in the corner was showing the news.

My eyes widened as I noticed the reporter on the news program was somewhere familiar. A certain bridge where a certain crime took place. But that's not what surprised me.

"...Duchess..." I couldnt help but murmur but luckily no one noticed. Behind the reporter cops and other people could be seen coming and going from behind the police line. But one person stood out to me and made me shiver.

Sarah Duke, Aka Duchess. She was a survivor during the apocalypse and to say she was scary would be an understatement. She led the remnants of the Star City police force and many survivors out of the city in the first week after the cataclysm.

From there she earned the nickname Duchess as she came to be the leader of a large group and rose to power. She, herself, was very strong and became very ruthless as the years passed. A gang of bandits that raped and killed a friend of hers ended up crucified. Literally. There was 47 crosses with men hanging on them lined up outside the make-shift city she founded. Ironically the city's name was Mercy.

If Duchess if the one handling the murder investigation then I need to lay low. She wasnt just known for her strength, she was known most for her cunning. I dont believe I left any evidence though.

After nabbing Brock, I drove him to the bridge using his car while wearing gloves and a mask while wearing my hoodie. There's no way I can be identified and even if she somehow catches my scent, without evidence, who's going to believe a 17 year old is capable of a murder like that. And what would be my motive? Even still, I wont get careless.

Cleo and I Got out of my mom's car once we got to the schools gate. As usually we both separated and went our own ways. Cleo is actually pretty popular among his classmates and he has several friends. I, on the other hand usually go unnoticed and only hang out with Kyle. However lately our duo has become a trio with the inclusion of Tania.

My classes passed quickly and when it was our lunchtime, I ate with Kyle and Tania at our spot.

"You seem a little strange today Jason. Are you okay?" Tania asked worried about me.

"I'm fine. I just have some stuff on my mind."

"I see..."

"Hehe, he's probably worried about our secret project..."

(Nice! Bring it up organically! Good friend!)

"Secret project?" Tania asked with curiosity.

"That's right! The last part we need to complete it should be delivered to my house already. We are going to finish it today. Wanna tag along?" Kyle told her and asked.

(Once she's involved it will be easier to ask for her help to get her father to meet with us. But if she goes to Kyle's house with us it will be awkward with Malka there...)

"Ok. I'll tell my driver to take us!" She sent a message to her driver and then we happily chatted as we finished lunch.

I decided to let jesus take the wheel on this and not worry about it.

*******************

At the same time, a voluptuous blond beauty got up from a bed. A young man laid sleeping still on the other side, a look of immense satisfaction on his face.

"Tch!" The beauty however did not have a look of satisfaction on her face as she left the bedroom and went into the restroom.

"That man was one of the better looking ones but the amount of life force was too little. And he has no stamina! How dare he make such a satisfied expression!" The beauty, whose name was Marion, couldnt help but scowl in front of the mirror. Her long elf ears reappearing as she deactivated her spell.

"I need to find a better man. I cant return with such a pitiful harvest, or I'll be a laughing stock. That bitch will rub my face in it." Marion recalled her rival that arrived on earth around the same time.

"Wait! Didnt I already find a better Male? I even put a tracker on him." The face of a boy she met in a cafe came to her mind. He wasnt the most handsome she's found but he was attractive enough and...

"He already discovered mana... it's not to the level of an awakening but somehow he smelled of mana much more than everyone else here." She became pensive for a moment before deciding. Someone like that should naturally have a stronger life force...

"I'm coming for you, hehe" Her smile would look beautiful if her words didnt sound so ominous.

******************

At an office within a police precinct...

Sarah Duke sat in office chair and was going over files sent to her by the forensics department. Her eyes darted around as she read the email that was sent to her.

"Undetermined cause of death... No trace of viral or bacterial agents. One stab wound that appears to be non lethal. Just what the hell was used to kill him? What could cause that?" She racked her brain and several minutes passed before she gave up.

"Not important! Once I find the culprit I'll make them tell me how they did it." She closed the window and opened a new one. CCTV footage from a traffic camera appeared. The video played quickly as it was being fast forwarded. Suddenly the video stopped as Sarah had paused it.

A red sportscar was passing through the intersection at around the estimated time of abduction.

"Got you!" Her hand moved the mouse swiftly as she zoomed the image in. Gloves and a mask that covers the nose and chin. Appears to be Male likely in thier early twenties if going by his size and his eyes, she could make this rough guess.

"Still not enough!" There wasn't enough for her to make any kind of identification with what she had.

"If I cant determine the who or how, then I must try to figure out the why." Her brain was trying to link the pieces together like a puzzle but unfortunately she was still missing many pieces. She opened up Brocks computer files that were brought from his home computer.

She had found many interesting and incriminating things. Many which left her disgusted and angry. Alot of the information on his computer was enough evidence to close many ongoing cases in the department.

"This scum deserved to die." She really felt that way but at the same time her resolve to find Brock's murderer didn't waver.

As she scoured through all the evidence from his computer she could say she had found many people who would want Brock dead. It was to the point that it was too many suspects.

"huaaah" She took a deep breath and shook her head. She reorganized her thoughts again before deciding to look at things from a different angle.

"This was a crime committed with the intent to not only kill Brock but to make him suffer. The killer went out of his way to bring him to that secluded place to kill him slowly after trying him up." Her thoughts moved to the killer. "Judging by his size and the area around his exposed eyes in the image taken from the traffic camera, I can deduce he was a young man with white skin, in his early 20's, give or take a few years. The crime itself was definitely pre mediated so the killer was probably jilted by something the victim did in the past. If we are to look at the fact the victim was a lawyer, we might draw the conclusion that either the victim likely defended a person who the killer did not like or was the killer himself"

She stopped. For some reason her instincts were telling her to think again. "No... This feels more personal. The killer wanted Brock to suffer, to experience terror and pain. This was a revenge designed to reflect the killer's own anguish." She looked through the files again on Brock's computer but her gut was telling her these things were all unrelated.

She loaded up the traffic camera footage again. "Looks like I'll have to watch all of the footage and see if I can spot the killer before he arrives at the law office." Her eyes remained glued to the screen as the hours ticked by. All the footage from cameras in a 1 mile radius of the law office played until she found what she was looking for.

The video stopped and an image of a young man riding a bicycle caught her attention. "The hoodie looks the same... And he looks younger than I thought... This is 3 hours before Brock was taken so it could be him."

The young man on the screen was Jason. Who currently has no idea that there are now two beautiful women that are chasing after him...