Chapter 1
Best private eye in the world done it again!
Ennard solves the mysterious disappearance of a Hollywood sex symbol!
Innard brings down drug ring from the inside!
Ennard and his partner saved a hospital from a bomb!
He did it yet again!
Saved hundreds of lives!
Stopped a virus!
Caught the criminals!
Over ten arrests were made on this one day!
Stopped a train from derailing!
We owe to him!
Our local hero!
Those were the biggest headlines all the way back in the 1990s. An unlikely hero burst into the scene all of a sudden. A young man who had just celebrated his 19th birthday put in a request to join the police force as a private detective. His last name turned their noses up. His full name Ennard Innard. Innard being an uncommon last name most likely meant he was related to the infamous Killer Edward Innard, who was jailed for life.
"Yes he's my dad. So what?" He asked. He looked nothing like his father. He took more after his kind and elegant mother who was murdered by his father. He had her soft short silver hair, which curled at the tips, barely touching his shoulders and even straying away from touching his neck. He beautiful bright blue eyes that were quiet hypnotising to stare at, like gems almost, or a sparkling ocean with no disruptions. He had been raised by his grandparents since the night his mother died, despite his father wanted to fight jail to get back to him. He claimed he still wanted to raise his son. Ennard wanted nothing more than to scream at him how he ruined his life.
This was the talk he had gotten after applying, he presented very good, he wore a suit with a tie and a belt around his pants. He had a backpack which contained very little items besides a book, wallet and his house keys. He had self defence training and had high recommendations from a few reliable sources.
"I wish you would have told me that." The chief of police told him. He was a stern looking man with a rough face and he growled a few times. When Ennard heard the phone ring, he thought he got the job. He didn't think he would be questioned about his father who he hated.
"The form didn't ask me to disclose the full names of my birth parents." Ennard reminded him that the form never asked for the name of his parents.
"You know your father was a very bad man right?" The officer questioned. Ennard scoffed, he was treating him much worse then some social workers did. It was like he was six years old all over again.
"He killed my mother. Of course I know he's a bad man." Ennard scowled, "Look I shouldn't be interrogated. I haven't seen my father since I was four and that was the night he stabbed my mother to death."
"I know... it's just... some people... they're concerned. A lot of people believe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The officer nodded.
"Well then screw that old saying. I'm nothing like my dad." Ennard at time would have defined himself a man of love, peace and passion.
"Some officers are quiet scared of that man." The officer spoke the truth. Some rumours about him sent chills down his own spine.
"Just say it. You don't want to hire me because my dad is a murderer." Ennard began to sense what was going on that day. He knew they were breaking him down because of his last name. He really wanted to disown the name. He was planning to take his mother's last name some point in the near future or if he ever got married, he'd take his wife's last name.
"I didn't say that." The officer defended himself.
"No it's perfectly fine. I'll just go somewhere where I'm WANTED for my skill and not KICKED OUT because of my dam LAST NAME that I DIDN'T ask for." He marched out the door.
You'd think it'd end there. But they actually called him back and asked for him to to a set up crime scene to look for clues. He solved it within record amount of time. He smiled while doing it too.
"How?" They asked.
"I have 20/20 vision and I have a huge word search book, I tend to be able to find all the detail within the place."
Soon his number was on speed dial for the chief of police, each time he got a call about a murder, kidnapping or rape he'd shout "Someone get Ennard on the phone! We need him now!"
When the phone rang at any time, even when Ennard was asleep, he'd spring outta bed, speak on the phone, ask basic questions then he would shout "I'm on my way! Give me twenty minutes!" He'd spin quickly into action, getting out of his pyjamas, packing a few items into his backpack and grabbing his suitcase, he'd rush out to his car and be at station in 15 minutes.
Ennard was soon partnered up with a young woman named Ruby. She was top of her class, she was the first woman to be pair with a male on a case in their state. First thing he noticed was her intelligences. Secondly, she was beautiful. She had red hair that she tied into a loose bun very often, when it wasn't, it was long against her back and Ennard had to resist the urge to feel what the hair felt like, it looked soft, plush and he sometimes smelt her shampoo lingering in her hair. Those bright green eyes, she could look at you and already make you feel safe, they weren't like evil green, they were calm, soft and people already said it looked like they were full of love only after meeting her. Her teeth were perfectly white and her cheeks were a soft pink, her lips were red like roses and had the most cutest giggle he ever heard, she was ashamed to have such a cute giggle but Ennard enjoyed it, hearing the giggle always meant she was so happy. They both solved crimes together and earned themselves many nicknames in relation to how well they worked together, like yin and yang, it appeared one couldn't exist without the other. Everyday, Ennard found himself falling more in love with everything about her, even her little quirks, like how she drank hot coffee in small sips. He worked up much more courage and he had found the most awkward way to ask her out.
"You took out three guys."
"Yea I know." Ruby brushed it off like it nothing. It was the end of another mystery and late at night, usually Ruby and Ennard would part ways and return to their homes. She had that trick, she was small but tough, she had just taken out three men who were near double her size without breaking a sweat.
"That was amazing."
"Well you solved it." People joked often Ennard was the brains, Ruby was the muscle.
"This is going to appear weird. I'd like to take you to a fancy place one day. I think you'd like it."
"Of course I'll go out with you."
From there. It was uplifting. Ennard solved many crimes and was declared a hero, he was short listed as one of the world's most heroic human beings along with his wife. Yes he did decide to marry Ruby. Many people pushed for it and Ennard desperately wanted her to say yes, he felt complete when he said his forever vows to her as he placed the ring on her finger.
"I'll love you forever. I'll be a shoulder to cry on when you need it. I will lift your sorrows and always will work to bring a smile to your face. With this ring, I ask you to forever be mine." He recalled that part of their vows.
Two years later, Ruby was pregnant. They were happy and ready to be parents. They brought a house together and managed like a normal couple. But Ruby still wanted to be on the job even when she was heavily pregnant.
"I'll be fine you scaredy cat. Baby's not coming for a while." She told him, even though her belly was inflating and she was eating chocolate iced donuts with marshmallows and caramel sauce.
Waking up on early Sunday mornings when a case arrived was different. Ennard never wanted to actually wake her up but he usually did while he was getting dressed to go, and she pester him as to why he was letting her sleep in. Cue the lecture in the car about that. People would tell Ruby it was normal for Ennard to be protective regarding their jobs and the fact she was now bearing a child. Ruby would always cry to Ennard about how she didn't want to be crippled because of pregnancy, when ever she cried, he lost the argument. He could accept that.
Then. It happened. He remembered it. It was still fresh in his mind. They were called to the scene of a murder, then they chased the suspect and hid, performing an undercover job following the man.
"Twenty three hundred hours. Our suspect still hasn't emerged from the McDonalds. He is taking his time eating his burger." Ruby spoke into a tape recorder she loved.
"You are too." Ennard reminded her, cravings got the best of her so she asked Ennard to buy something at the drive thru for her.
"Besides the point." Ruby told him breaking out of a police character, it seemed they had two personalities, the "Police partners" and the "Married couple". One world often crossed over as they said.
"I think this is dangerous."
"I think you're just scared."
"I've seen dismembered bodies and children in dark corners bawling their eyes out. Nothing really scares me anymore." Ennard reminded her what he had seen after ten years of his work.
"He's emerging. Let's go!" Ruby spoke eager.
"I'll go. You stay here." Ennard warned her, he knew this guy had a knife and he was putting his foot down,"You're seven months pregnant. That makes you a target."
"No way! Come on!" Ruby gave her smile and got to her feet then ran towards the man. He gave an annoyed groan and followed her. He wished she would listen.
"Hey you're coming with us!" Ennard yelled at him.
"What the fuck for?!"
"You're under arrest for murder of 53 year old Mr Walsh." Ennard told him.
Out of nowhere he pulled out a gun and shot him clean in his leg. He cried out in hurt and screamed, he fell to the ground and people started to look in their direction. The man ran.
"Ennard!" Ruby yelled, "Don't worry I'll get him." She smiled again.
"Ruby no wait!"
"Wait for an ambulance. I've just pressed the buzzer. They'll be here in ten minutes." He knew she had a buzzer remote that would immediately set of an alarm at the local paramedics station, it was only used for emergencies.
"No wait! Don't leave!" Ennard exclaimed trying to get to his feet. She ran around the corner. A few minutes later he heard a blooding chilling scream.
"Ruby?!" He asked startled, "RUBY!" He sprung to his feet and limped as fast as he could around the corner.
He gasped when he came around, she was dead. Bathing in her own blood. Her eyes were wide and lifeless. Everything about her had vanished. The world was silences, her face was drained of her beautiful colour, even her hair appeared dirty. He had seen dead bodies before but hers was the worse one.
"No! No! No! Please god no!" He screamed with tears springing to his eyes, everything he loved was dead.
He snapped his head up and looked at the man who held a bloody knife.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" He cried out in anger and hurt, he wanted this man dead. He took away a good woman who was his wife and everything he loved and valued. He was going to kill him. He was going to kill. He didn't care anymore. She was gone.
It was his fault. He had to pay the price.
The man panicked then threw his knife. It landed perfectly in Ennard's left eye. He began to scream, then the man knocked him down and took the chance to rip him apart. Slicing into him, chopping off the top of his fingers. Everything began to hurt, it was sneering and blood dripping, he reached out to defend himself then he tried to bat away the man, he couldn't exactly remember what happened, because after what felt like hours of suffering, he saw a wash of red and blue. The ambulance arrived, then the welcoming darkness embraced him and erased his pain.
It all fell apart when he woke up in hospital. Half blind, missing the tip of fingers and toes. He couldn't recall what happened before he was stabbed because he was heavily drugged by painkillers that made everything foggy and he was unaware of the world going on around him.
He cried when he learnt he lost Ruby and his child. He was told by the doctor, he couldn't believe she was actually gone. He was too traumatised to go to her funeral and just sat in hospital eating a cake that the chief brought for him. No one else besides the chief, Lance Stone, came to comfort him. In light of Ruby's death, everyone was grieving and Ennard became a background character. When the funeral was over. Lance woke him up from his sleep in his hospital bed, he was wearing a black suit and looked depressed, he only said a few things.
"They never mentioned you." He shook his head.
Ennard wasn't sure what he meant, when he was handed the pamphlet Lance received at the funeral. He threw it at Lance and demanded it should be removed from his sight. But Lance read out something and Ennard snatched it back and looked over it. On the cover. He was right.
It said;
Ruby,
Daughter of Alex and Dimitri.
Sister to Jamie, Will, Hannah, and Max.
Granddaughter of Peter and Rose.
Much loved Niece.
A friend to many.
Nowhere did it say:Partner of Ennard or Wife. It didn't even say she was carrying a child.
No attempts by the family were made to contact Ennard, he learnt that some family members of hers, like her two Uncles and Aunt were unaware she was even married. After a few months when he finally came home, he wrote to her mother, apologising and promising from this point on, he'd never speak to her again if she didn't want it. Two weeks later, the letter returned to his house, unopened. It had writing on the front that he recognised as her father's writing, which said:
Never contact us again.
After that point, Ennard had never felt more lonely in his whole life.
He left hospital a different man; his hair appeared to grow a darker colour, his bright blue eyes were now shadowed with forever anger and darkness of a former life. He had to support himself on a walking stick and that made him annoyed, he was only 29 and he should had his whole life ahead of him. Now he had to take countless pain killers, muscle relaxations, vitamins and minerals and he had to make regular trips to the doctors.
He had a new list of Do and Don't
DO
Take medicine.
Visit the doctor.
Go to the hospital every three months.
Collect new prescriptions.
Ask questions to the doctor.
Regular exercises that doesn't stain muscles.
Eat a balanced diet.
DON'T
Operate heavy machinery.
Drive for long periods.
Avoid medications.
Mix alcohol with medicine.
Avoid eating.
Avoid sleeping.
Take certain medications unless your doctor tells you so.
Get yourself all stressed.
He returned to work, trying to get back on his feet, rumours began and that's what broke him. Some people tried to fabricate that he murdered her and mutilated himself to get away with the crime. It got to point where he began to rapidly lose friends, even people refused to look at him. The doctor informed him three weeks later he had such high blood pressure that he was at the risk of cardiac arrest or stroke. Without regret or a goodbye, he just slapped his resignation papers on Lance's desk.
So he quit being a detective and refused to answer the phone, even when it rang at three am, he rolled over in bed and shut it out, he decided to file the paperwork to use his mother's last name and he looked very ghostly now.
These days, Ennard Kikai restricted himself to keeping a quiet life, working as a waiter at Bea's Diner, which was known for good meals from anything to sandwiches, soups and salads. His favourite part of the job was being an ass to customers who had it coming and then it could be blamed on his medications because they gave him issues regarding strength and emotional control. People who once knew him didn't recognise him anymore, he was so different since he hung up his hat. Dropping his detective act was now like he was wearing an invisible mask that hid his past. Ennard was okay with that; he didn't want to be haunted by his past anymore. It was locked away now behind a vault which he never intended to open again.
He abandoned everything related to his old life, he sold his house and brought an apartment near the city, he placed photos of Ruby in a box that he shoved at the back of his closet and he left it there. He acted and looked like a normal person now.
He always showed up for work at 11am for the lunch time rush and worked until 8pm.
He kept his day in line always. He'd wake up at 9, have a warm shower and wash his hair, then he'd make breakfast while sitting in his white bathrobe with a towel around his shoulders. His breakfast was usually oatmeal that could be heated up in the microwave, he'd take his medications with a glass of water then he'd get dressed. He'd show up to work, have a few laughs, yell at some customers then he'd leave and either get take out food or go home to make some easy meal. He didn't speak unless he saw it was necessary. He didn't use a person's name sometimes. He didn't look at people who would look at him.
"Find some people to talk to." His doctor told him, "someone will share a common interest I'm sure."
Common interest. Whatever he thought. He didn't really find pleasure in anything.
He'd give anything to just take Ruby's place. Whenever he thought of her beautiful face, he'd cry, because he knew; it should have been him that died that night. It should have been him who took the knife to the gut. It should have been him that died on the pavement. He was angry because he was alive and Ruby wasn't.
After all, a son of a killer didn't deserve to live in some people's opinions. He just wanted to be dead. He was mad, angry, annoyed, and frustrated. He wanted every criminal in the world dead and he wanted Ruby back. He just wanted to hold her again. He wanted that life to embrace again. He wanted time to turn back to that night, then he'd change events and he'd go back into a perfect world where he and Ruby were raising their child.
"Why did I survive?" He asked himself, he practically dead on the inside anyway. Nothing made him excited anymore. He was no longer happy.
And he no longer saw himself as worthy of living on this cruel planet.
Another idea written in less than a week. I thought a mystery would be good. I think you know why Ruby looks the way she looks.
All the sister location characters will be included and I will try to include the other characters.
In the meantime, please enjoy this story and some of my other ones.
EDITS AS OF THE 21st of NOVEMBER 2018
-some grammar and spelling mistakes.
-added on new pieces to the writing.
-added the part about after the funeral.
-added some things.
-Gave an actual name to the place where Ennard works;Bea's Diner. Future chapters will be fixed to present this. I thought giving it an actual name would be better.
SHORT MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR:
I'm glad I did some edits on this thing, I did originally rush this when I first wrote it, it's quiet good now I've managed to fix things. On a more personal note: I now have more free time! My exams are done! I have been spending a hell of a lot of time on writing Infection, cause I really love it, I've just gotten into writing it. I haven't forgotten about this story, I'm hoping that I will get a new chapter out in a few days or at lease some more edits on chapters.