Chapter 1
How do I get myself wrapped up in these types of cases all the time? Phoenix thought to himself dryly as he approached the scene of the murder involved in his case.
The large, old, rickety house lay before him in the twilight, and as he looked at it, he felt a little shiver, never much fond of houses that looked like they were haunted. Slowly he made his way to the door, swearing he heard the whole house groan as he made his way inside.
Well, the quicker I finish my investigation, the faster I can get out of this place...Phoenix thought to himself.
From what his client told him, the murder took place on the second floor, in the room at the end of the hall. Phoenix took a big gulp as he examined the stairs, almost feeling like they would collapse the minute someone stepped on them.
Miles had finished work a little earlier than usual. He was now sitting at home planning what to cook for dinner.
I wonder when Phoenix will be home...? Maybe I should call him. Miles thought as he gave a quick glance at his cell phone.
All Miles knew was that Phoenix had to investigate for a case today. It seemed that whenever Miles had free time, Phoenix didn't. It was the same when Phoenix wasn't busy.
Phoenix carefully stepped on each step, every one of them creaking like nobody's business. He let out a sigh of relief when he safely made it to the top. He made his way down the hall to the room where the murder took place, and he found a horrific scene waiting for him.
There seemed to be blood everywhere. Phoenix was just glad that he hadn't come when the bodies were still here.
How could someone do something like this? Phoenix thought, feeling horrified and disgusted by the scene in front of him, How could someone disrespect human life this much...?
Phoenix hesitantly stepped into the room to start his investigation. Almost immediately, the room began to shake. It started like a little quiver, but it got bigger, almost knocking Phoenix off his feet.
An earthquake?! In here?! Phoenix thought in shock, realizing this was probably the worst place to be in an earthquake.
The house was creaking and groaning loudly due to the quake, and this didn't help Phoenix's nerves much either. He just tried to stay standing, when suddenly there was a loud cracking noise. His eyes shot upward, realizing the noise came from a loose rafter above him that was just about to fall.
I...I have to get out of here! Phoenix thought, trying to get himself into movement.
But all this did was make him lose his balance. As he tried to get back on his feet, the rafter finally cracked and broke, falling on his leg.
Phoenix screamed in pain when it fell on him, almost certain that something in his leg must have at least fractured. He was glad that the house had finally stopped shaking.
But now how do I get out of here? Phoenix thought, trying to think of what he could do, but the pain from his leg kept clouding his thoughts.
The earthquake had caught Miles totally off guard. As unwelcome memories of the fateful day his father died flooded his mind, he felt like curling up somewhere safe when a thought passed through his mind, Where's Phoenix?
So many possibilities came to mind and he became more and more worried. Instead of hiding away cowardly, his hand instantly shot for his phone and was dialing Phoenix's number.
Miles found that this time, he was more afraid of what happened to Phoenix than being afraid of the earthquake itself.
Why do I have a
horrible feeling when I think of him? He thought as put the phone to his ear,
listening to it ring, Oh god, please pick
up, Phoenix...
Pess ran to him when the earthquake started and he hugged the dog tightly. His
heart was pounding furiously and he felt as though his whole body went numb.
But he had to find out what happened to Phoenix.
Damn it! Just hurry and pick up your phone so I can know you're ok... Miles thought started to doubt that was the case.
Phoenix heard his phone ringing, and he frantically looked for it in his coat to ask whoever was calling for help. He realized the phone had bounced out of his pocket during the quake and it looked like the phone was just out of his reach. He tried his best to stretch out and grab the phone, but he just couldn't get it and his leg was in absolute agony.
Damn it. Phoenix thought, feeling a little hopeless.
Miles must have called him at least ten times by now. Each call, he became more and more afraid of Phoenix's current condition. He finally let the arm with his phone in it drop lifelessly to his side.
Wait! Someone has got to know where Phoenix is. Miles thought as he called the first person that came to mind: Phoenix's cousin, Mai. She should know what case Phoenix took or at least the current cases that are available. Phoenix always tended to take the most ridiculous ones he had ever heard of.
Luckily the both of them pinned a list of important phone numbers to their refrigerator, Mai's number obviously on there. He quickly dialed her work phone number.
I'll find where you are...no matter what it takes.
Mai's phone had been ringing off the hook all day, especially with the new murder case that had just come in. The autopsy report had just been completed, and since she knew Phoenix had taken this case, she thought she could just drop by his office to give it to him.
At least that'd give me a little break from all of this craziness...Mai thought, feeling very tired all of a sudden.
Suddenly her phone rang, and she almost didn't want to pick it up. But she knew that this was all part of the job, so after a couple rings, she willed herself to.
"Detective Wright speaking." she said very unenthusiastically, just expecting it to be someone adding on yet another thing for her to do today.
"Ms. Wright do you know where Phoenix is?" Miles hurriedly asked with no introduction of himself, his voice sounding urgent and extremely worried. "I need to know this instant." He'd apologize for his rudeness later, but right now the only thing that was on his mind was Phoenix.
By now, Miles had forgotten that the earthquake was the cause of this worry. He hadn't realized that he had stood up and now was pacing the room he was in nervously. Why do I feel like this one phone call will decide everything?
Mai was shocked to hear Miles's voice on the phone and she responded saying, "Oh, did you try his office phone, or his cell phone?"
"I tried his cell phone," he said, leaving the part out of exactly how many times he did call. "I just need to know where he went." He must still be at the crime scene...
"The only place I can see him being is at the scene of that murder that happened yesterday. He did take that case after all." Mai said, noting that Miles seemed to sound worried as he spoke to her on the phone, "If you don't mind me asking...is...something wrong?"
Miles thought for a second before the location clicked in his mind. He had passed by that house many times. It was easy to remember as so many people around his house talked about it countless times. Of all the places he could be! He knew very well the condition of that house and an earthquake could easily destroy it.
"I'm going to hang up now. I need you to call an ambulance right after I hang up." He knew he would have to give her reasons why, so he told Mai about the house and its current condition.
"Oh, God...you don't think..." Mai said in shock.
"I'm going to hang up now." Miles didn't wait for a reply as he hung up his phone. Miles soon found himself running out of his house heading towards the crime scene. He called Phoenix one final time, although he was pretty sure it would be a waste of time.
Phoenix heard his phone ringing yet again, trying to reach for it, but still failing. He wished that he hadn't been trapped under the ceiling beam on his stomach, that way, he could have at least tried to push the beam off of his leg. But now, there was nothing he could do but wait. This was especially hard since there was nothing to distract him from the pain in his leg.
God, I hope someone comes in here soon...Phoenix thought, groaning in pain.
Miles hung up, putting his phone in his pocket, as he ran inside the creaking house without hesitating. As he quickly scanned the place, he spotted the staircase. He would check upstairs first. It was the most dangerous area and he'd rather go through there now instead of later. As Miles quickly ran up the stairs, one of the steps broke under his foot. He fell painfully, also yelling in surprise. He quickly got up, and hurried onto the second floor, not wanting to find out if the staircase would cave in or not.
Phoenix thought he heard someone's voice from down the hall, so he yelled, "Is anyone there!?"
He was so glad someone had finally gotten here.
So he is up here...Miles ran towards where he heard Phoenix's voice. As he stepped into the room the first thing he noticed was all the blood. It sent shivers down his spine just thinking of the possibilities of what happened. He then noticed Phoenix stuck under the rafter.
"Phoenix!" Miles was relieved the other wasn't in any critical condition, but seeing him like he was still scared him.
"Miles!" Phoenix said, so happy to see Miles, "The beam...it fell on my leg during the earthquake."
Phoenix tried to gesture towards the beam, but he had a little trouble since he was face down on the floor.
"I can see that." Miles ran over and started pulling the beam off Phoenix. He didn't care if the wood dug into his palms or how heavy it was as long as he got it off.
Miles found that the beam was a lot heavier than he thought and hoped. But he was able to lift the beam high enough to have Phoenix get his leg out from under it.
Phoenix quickly tugged his leg out from under the beam before Miles dropped it and it crashed to the floor again.
"God, I'm so glad you came." Phoenix said, trying to smile, but the pain in his leg only making him cringe.
"We need to get out of here." From what he could tell, Phoenix probably either fractured or even broken his leg. He could probably carry Phoenix, if he tried. It wouldn't mean that it'd be easy as he would have to carry him down a fleet of stairs that could break at any given moment. But Miles probably didn't have much of a choice for that matter.
Putting Phoenix's cell phone in his pocket, Miles kneeled next to Phoenix. He put Phoenix's arm over his shoulder before lifting him up, keeping as much as Phoenix's weight on himself and away from the injured leg.
Phoenix could feel Miles's muscles really tense when he picked him up, and for some reason, he suddenly wished he weighed just a bit less.
"How are we going to get downstairs? I mean, those stairs..." Phoenix said as he tried to balance himself on one leg and Miles's shoulder.
"I'd tell you if I knew..." Miles wasn't sure himself. Hopefully the ambulance would be here soon. "I know how weak those stairs are, you probably heard me yell..."
"I was wondering about that..." Phoenix said, now that it made sense, "I guess we could try getting down slowly..."
But Phoenix's voice sounded unsure since he thought the steps would cave in even when someone wasn't trying to step heavily on them. He sometimes wondered why this house was still standing.
"I suppose we should just wait for the ambulance to come instead. It would be stupid trying to get down those stairs in your current condition." He didn't want Phoenix to get hurt even more, and it would be bad if he also got injured himself.
"Yeah, I think you're right." Phoenix said, noticing that his one leg was getting tired from most of his weight being on it.
As if it was right on cue, they began to hear sirens outside the house.
