DEATH TO THE IMPOSTER

Impaled to the wall by four black rods, a female human whose ginger hair had been tainted by her own blood. An ominous message written slightly above her head giving off the aura of hatred and bloodlust. Blood dripping from her eyes and a vacuum in the middle of her chest.

"The victim's name was Hannah," the Chief said. "Hannah Truman."

We stood before the body like a group of critics looking at an art piece. Notes in our hands and concern on our faces as we tried to grasp the meaning of what we were looking at.

"One of the daughters of the senator," Lemon said, taking notes.

"Hmm," Chief replied, clearing his throat. "We thought this was a normal murder, until we saw the X carved on her chest."

"The X master," I said, taking a closer look.

"Indeed, the mystery continues," he replied, looking at me. "And then there is the issue of the message on the wall."

Yes. The message written by the victim's blood was indeed a new part of the mystery. Well, as far as the chief knew, it was still a mystery. But to Lemon and I, the mystery had practically been solved, and the message on the wall confirmed. It was the second time that name had come up.

Long live Eldenstar. Death to the imposter Ezra and death to the threat Lemon.

It was like the chant of a cult.

"When did Lemon become a threat?" I asked.

They shrugged looking at me. Then she said;

"I guess I'm that powerful, you better watch your back."

She smirked, with a smug glare at my face. But I was too busy observing the body to react. There was something familiar about those rods.

"The pattern of these rods look awfully familiar," Chief said as if reading my mind.

"Exactly," I replied. "They feel nostalgic somehow."

The chief exhaled. "Either way, it appears this Eldenstar is the centre of this whole mystery,

No kidding. Anytime I hear that name, I get headaches and strange fractured visions of something vague and difficult to understand. Lemon stared at me, waiting for my reaction as I looked at the victim.

"Do you see it?" She asked.

"See what?" I replied, whispering in like manner.

"The mark of the Knight you dumbass?" She said.

"Oh that," I replied, looking at her with all seriousness. "Yeah. I see it as clear as day, she was a blue knight, one of my own. Ratchina was right."

She exhaled. "This isn't the work of the Oppayean or Halo, this isn't how they do theirs,"

"Yeah, although the hole might likely be from Halo" I replied, walking away as the Coroners came to take the body away. "This so-called Null Standing is calling us out, I think it's time we answered."

"How do you reckon we do that?" She asked, following me towards the door where the Chief stood, talking to the leader of the forensic team.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

The chief turned to us when we finally got to him. The alien he was talking to gave a short greeting then he left.

"What's the 501?" I asked.

He shoke his head. "No results yet. We'll have to wait until the foresenics and the coroners are finished. In the meantime, you two lay low and make sure you call for back up if you find yourself in a tight spot. Stay safe kids."

At that he walked away. Lemon sighed, sliding her hands in her pockets just like I did. We needed clues, but the only clues in that crime scene were the rods used to impale the victim and the handwriting on the wall. Besides that, the house was clean. Wiped of fingerprints, arranged neatly and there was no sign of a struggle. It was as if the victim herself commited suicide. We needed clues.

I yawned. "I'm hungry, can't think straight when I'm hungry."

"We need to get clues Ezra," she replied, following me out the door.

"Yeah," I replied as we walked out the building. I pulled out my keys. "But we can't get any right now, we'd need the results of the autopsy."

"What's there to inspect?" She asked, getting into the car. "It's obvious that she was killed with rods, what else is there to know."

I looked at her with a brow up, starting the car.

"What?" She asked, shrugging.

"Apparently, you aren't thinking straight," I said as I reversed out the parking lot of the apartment building we just got out of. "You obviously need food."

She exhaled, facepalming. We arrived at Yolo-centre eighteen hours earlier, and weren't given an ounce of breathing space the moment we touched the floors of the airport. The Chief and a few troopers stood there, eagerly waiting for us. We had a few energy bars as we rode to the crime scene but that wasn't enough. We were in Cambrig, at the east border of the city. It was a quiet section of the city, quit normal and old school when compared to the center of the city. The neighbours seemed to mind their own business.

"You think they've got Burga Queen here?" I asked, looking around as I drove slowly down the street.

"Nah," she replied looking out the window. "A lot of convenient stores, not a lot of diners. Hey we could try that one."

She pointed at a diner. It's sign was partially broken, instead of Rodney's Place, it read oney's ace.

"We're not going to oney's place Lemon," I replied.

"Yeah, I wouldn't eat there either," she chuckled. Then she stopped smiling, finally noticing what I had noticed a while ago. "Hey Ezra, there's something strange about this place."

"You finally noticed huh?" I asked.

"What happened to the people?" She asked. "Everywhere is so quiet."

"They've gone into hiding," I replied.

"Hiding from what?"

Right at that moment, a large black rod fell straight from the sky into the road. It pierced the road before us and made a web of cracks. I made an instant curve, stopping the car before the rod.

"I guess we're about to find out," I replied.