Rain. That was all she could remember. The night opened up like a great sea of darkness, where the monsters of the past lurked. The castle stood in the distance, serving as a terrible reminder of what happens when there are disturbances in life. Flash. Lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the glass window panes of Forbodium castle. Her eyes stung with tears, knowing that her mentor was trapped inside the carnivorous building. He promised he wouldn't go alone. He promised...
"Come, were here," Hilda motioned for the girl to get out of the car. It seemed so impossible that only hours ago her and her mentor were happily solving their cases together. Now he was alone, searching that blasted castle for answers that he shouldn't know. Looking back at the Interpol agent, the girl saw that she, too, looked distressed. Her best friend of many years was inside that castle as well. Her periwinkle over coat was drenched from the rain, much like the girl's uniform.
Nodding to Hilda, the duo set off for the castle, the girl sprinting ahead. Upon arrival of Forbodium, Hilda stopped her.
"Now, before we enter, you need to stay right beside-" Hilda's voice was cut off by a familiar gruff tone.
"Help... Help someone..." That gruff tone could only belong to one agent of the force. Before Hilda could catch on, the girl turned in the direction of the screams and ran. She twisted around the labyrinth of corridors, searching for her mentor. Finally, she saw a light coming from a door at the end of one of the hallways. Relieved, she burst into the room, only to find no one, and the door locked tightly behind her.
"Hilda?" The girl's voice quivered. "W-where did you go?" An audible crackle of a loud-speaker came from before.
"Oh, my dear. Wot were it that 'Ilda said to you? Stay right beside me?" A thickly accented voice came across the room. The girl turned around in alarm. "Hehe. Now you've been ensnared right in our trap."
"You have no right to do this? Where is he?" The girl answered, with more bravado than planned. She gulped, hoping the voice wouldn't punish her.
"Oh, look at tha'. Little Diane finally growin' up?" Lucy Baker's voice taunted. How had it come to this? Diane wondered. It was just months ago when she had met Inspector Justin Lawson, and become his assistant. Now she was up against the woman who killed his partner, Alfendi Layton, four years ago. Before her father, Keelan, had passed, he had told her about Inspector Layton, and how he had tried to crack the Jigsaw Puzzle murders years ago with Commissioner Makepeace, but no one was ever caught, until four years ago. It was revealed that the culprit was holed up in Forbodium Castle. Alfendi had cornered Lucy Baker, the mastermind of the crimes. Her father remembered the ring of gunshots, and the cackle of a shrill woman. When the force arrived on the scene, the blood of Alfendi Layton was found, but his body was missing, along with their culprit.
"Too scared to go on, little Diane?" Now that fiend was back.
"What have you done to Justin?" Her voice quavered as Diane said his name. She hadn't heard any gun shots, but her and Hilda had just gotten there. Hilda. "Where's Hilda?"
"Oh, they're both safe for now, DC Makepeace. Tha' is, if you solve my puzzle," she giggled as a different voice came across the speaker.
"Now, Lucy," as male voice spoke. "We wouldn't want you to take all the credit." The man's voice was sharp, like a knife.
"F-figures that you have a man to do your bidding, Lucy. Can't do it all on your own?"
"Ooh, the lil' dog bites back. It's bout time. You don' think tha' I did all on my own did you?" Lucy paused. "I never did."
"What-"
"Now to th' puzzle, my dear Diane," Lucy cut her off. More fun for her not to know everything. "Solve this little number I did a while back, and you can have your freedom," she voice faded as her menacing laughter grew softer.
"But what about Justin?" Diane shouted, to no avail.
"She's a fun little specimen, Justin," the man chuckled. Bruised and battered, Justin Lawson sat in front of the duo. His right eye was swollen shut, and his arms were tied behind his back. The pure shock of the man standing next to Lucy had allowed enough leeway for her to attack. Betrayal cut through the inspector like a knife.
"Don- Don't hurt her. She has nothing to do with this, Baker," he managed to respond.
"Oh, don't worry, Lawson. I won't lay a finger on 'er," she leaned in closer, whispering in Justin's ear, "No promises 'bout you though. Tha's the worst kind of pain." Lucy paused, her blood-red eyes shining with a cold light.
"As long as she's safe, I don't care, Baker. As long as Diane doesn't get hurt-"
"She'll hurt alright, Justin," the man's voice cut in. "Can you imagine, the only person you trusted, gone, just because of the mistakes he made? I certainly can." Justin winced. He had already lost two good friends on the force, and the most recent had been his past intern. Poor Hague had jumped the gun, and ended up being one the wrong side of a bullet. The man's harsh laughter jolted him back to reality. "Poor little kid, rested already because his mentor couldn't live up to his name." His voice took a colder tone. "Not so great being the end of everyone's rumors, now is it?"
With every sentence he said, Lucy edged closer and closer to Justin, until she was behind him.
"Now, now, boys. Fight nice," she cooed. "Now let's see wot little Diane is up to now." Lucy turned on a little television screen right in Justin's line of vision. Justin struggled as he saw Diane frustrated yet determined, try to solve the case Diane and her man had set up. How dare he Justin scowled. A small beep rang when Diane finally found the button that called Lucy.
"Ah, Diane. I see ya found ta button. I presume tha' you know the culprit then?" Lucy's voice was sickly sweet. Her gaze wandered over to the beaten inspector.
"What? Oh, yes, the murder... It was the housekeeper, correct? Rooster swiped the money as a motive," Diane reasoned. Of the four suspects of the case, Diane had found Rooster to have the best motive. Pony, the jeweler, didn't have anything really, other than the dead woman demanding more jewelry. Tiger, the husband of Swine, had no motive at all. Poodle was shady, but Diane hadn't found anything to make her suspicious of her yet.
Justin was struggling now. He knew this case, and so did his captors. He had almost solved this case, but there was a lack of evidence to prove anyone guilty. All he was sure of was that it was defiantly not Rooster. An inspector only makes that mistake once.
"Ooh, so sure, little Diane?" Lucy giggled. "Prove it." She ushered her partner over to the microphone, and motioned for him to speak.
"Oy! What have I done wrong?" His voice was completely different now, kinder. It was flustered, but the way he looked at Justin just proved that this was all an act.
"What's this?" Diane was confused. "Who are you?" She screamed.
"Cluck- This is Rooster, who else!" The man's eyes were full of cold hate. "Now why is it that I -Cluck- did it? I certainly would never do such a thing to my master!"
"Eh? What do you mean? Of course you did it! And it's the bottle of wine that proves it!" Justin sighed. At least she had the murder weapon. "It's you who had the opportunity to dispose of it, but the hidden cameras caught you moving it to avoid suspicion," Diane finished.
"Cluck! Hate to burst your bubble there, but that just -cluck- isn't possible!" The man and Diane went back and forth, with Diane finally being defeated. The man chuckled, letting Lucy take over the microphone again.
"Oh, poor little bird, Rooster got your feathers all ruffled?" Diane scowled. "Better ta mess up now than later. There may be... consequences." Justin saw Lucy's eyes soften with sadness for a moment, but their cold sheer took over not a second later. "Ring me up when ya really 'ave the answer."
"Ah, you finally got me!" Lucy had disguised her voice, replacing her devilish cockney accent with an american one. Weirdly enough, it was spot on, with out her ever being in the presence of any American. Diane had finally figured out that it was Poodle. Hope gleamed Justin's eyes as he watched his assistant solve the case. That all ended when a rough piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes.
Diane sprinted through the hallways, once again in search of her mentor. It worried her knowing that not only was he dealing with Lucy Baker, but another devil of a man as well. If only she knew who he was...
Finally, she came upon a gilded door. When she reached for the handle, a gunshot rang out in place of thunder. Whipping the door open, fear strangling her heart, Diane chocked at the sight in from of her. Hilda lay face down on the cold stone floor, her periwinkle jack soaked with blood in place of the rain. Rushing to her side, Diane discovered that the woman was on the brink of death, but was still gripping onto life with one finger. Diane quickly called an ambulance, and was startled when a cold hand feebly wrapped around her ankle.
"Diane... Is that you?" The detective constable sobbed in relief.
"Hilda! It's going to be okay." Diane reassured. "Who did this to you? I swear to God if this was Lucy, she will be gone faster than she can even beg for mercy." A harsh glare in her desperate eyes just showed how loyal Diane was to her friends.
"Oh, lord, Diane don't talk like that," Hilda winced. "It wasn't her." The Interpol agent drew a sharp breath. "He shot me... How could- how could he..." Hilda was crying now. Diane couldn't tell if it was from the pain, or from whoever this man was. "He promised he would always protect us, but I guess Baker was right."
"Baker?" Diane asked "What does Lucy Baker have to do with anything?"
"I- I was in your position once. All alone in this castle, looking for the only man I trusted. When Lucy trapped me, much like she trapped you, she only spoke one sentence that I can remember." Tears slipped down her cheek as she spoke. "'Don't trust him' she said 'It won't end well' she warned." Hilda was fading fast. "Now after all these years, he comes back, just to say those words right to my face. "I see you never believed her.' How could I?" Her sentences were said to no one but herself anymore. Finally, she looked Diane straight in the eyes, awake as ever. "Do not trust him. Do- don't trust h-him..." The lights left her eyes as quickly as they came. World renowned Interpol Agent Hilda Pertinax was dead, just like the man she thought she knew.
Diane was beside herself. She couldn't help but think it was all her fault for leaving Hilda alone, but had to get a move on. This wasn't going to end like her father's story. After locking the door behind her, Diane set off to find Lucy Baker, and the man who killed her friend. Her foot-falls echoed through the castle like deafening claps of thunder, and they would occasionally fall in line with the streaks of lightning outside. Diane's mind was reeling from Hilda's dying message. Who couldn't she trust? She could tell that Hilda had known her attacker, but if that was the case, why didn't she tell the Yard that Lucy had an accomplice. Suddenly, the familiar ring of voices stretched down the hallway. Stopping, Diane listened as the voice of Justin Lawson reached her ears.
"How dare- how dare you hurt her!" Diane held back a sob. She knew how much Hilda had meant to the both of them. "How could you! You loved her, promised to keep her safe!" Who was he talking to? Surely not Lucy... "Now Hilda is dead. Shot by the one person who should have stayed dead," Justin spat.
"I never did anything of the sort," the man's sarcastic tone replied. "Oh, yes. Hilda was in love with me. But then again, who wouldn't be?" At this Diane snorted. Covering her mouth, she realized it was too late. The room had fallen silent. Finally, Lucy spoke up.
"Eh, is that little Makepeace? I were wondering when you would finally get here." Diane froze. She took one step closer to the cracked door frame.
"D-don't do it!" Diane's heart jumped. "Don't risk yourself for me," Justin called out.
"Ooh, I wouldn't do that, Detective Constable. If only he could see what he had gotten himself into!" Lucy shrieked with joy. If he could see? Diane wondered. Deciding that Hilda would be the last person to die at Lucy Baker's will, she entered the mystery room. Tears pricked her eyes when the last thing she saw was a flash of crimson holding Justin Lawson, blindfolded, at gunpoint.
As she peeled her eyelids peeled open, Diane's heart stopped. Where was she? She struggled around, but found that her wrists were bound together, much like her mentor's. Justin. Whipping her head around the darkened room, Diane searched frantically for the inspector, but to no avail. He wasn't there, leaving Diane alone once again. She had no mentor, no friend to back her up. At this point, Diane was starting to doubt if she had anyone left alive who cared about her. Salty tears began to stream down her face, until a sliver of pale light fell across the room, alerting Diane to a visitor. Pulling herself together, she held her head high. A cold voice of the male from earlier greeted her.
"Ah, your awake." His voice held a twinge of sympathy, almost as if he felt remorse for what his partner had done. But he had shot Hilda. She had said that he had shot her. "Be glad that it's me who found you and not Lucy," Diane could feel his smirk without seeing it.
"Who are you, you bastard?" Diane growled. Her nerves were on edge, making every spark in her body flash in anger.
"Cocky, are we?" His voice became menacing. "Be careful, or you may find that your precious fingers will be, disconnected," he snarled. With every step he took, he got closer and closer to Diane. Finally, when he was right behind her, he spun the chair around, causing Diane to look right in his eyes. Diane gasped. Staring into her soul were two cold, amber irises, which she had never seen before on anyone.
"What?" He spat. "You beast of a father didn't tell you about me, Diane?" The man held his hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Figures." He flipped his long hair back. Taking Diane face in his rough grasp, the man held her gaze once more. "Dear Diane, tell me a mind as simple as yours has at least an idea of who I am, no?" He teased.
An inkling of realization crossed her face as a story replayed her in mind. It couldn't be-
"Oh, believe it, DC Makepeace," he said, a crooked smile dancing on his lips.
"B-but your dead. My father found-"
"Your father found my blood. Blood and body have two different meanings, am I right?" His burgundy hair fell in front of his eyes as he chuckled darkly at the sputtering detective constable.
"You should have stayed dead, Inspector." Diane shot back. She knew exactly who he was now.
"Ah, that's where your wrong, dear," the ex-inspector stroked her face as she squirmed under his grasp.
"That's right. You have no honor, Alfendi Layton." The man's nostrils flared. Diane was right in her assumption. "How dare you kill her!" She screamed. "All she ever did was miss you! Do you have any idea how much you hurt her? I swear to God if you ever let me go-" She was cut off by a fierce slap to the face. Rage and sorrow burned in Alfendi's eyes.
"Do you think I don't know that?" He hoarsely whispered. "You think I did that? Oh, no," he continued. "Maybe you could think twice about who you trust. If I'm correct, Hilda only said he, hm?"After several seconds of Diane and the Layton staring each other down, Alfendi got up. "I'd tell you to sleep well, but I think you can figure out what happens next." He chortled. Turning around, Diane shouted one thing after him that stopped his tracks. "S-she was crying about you, though," Diane spat. "I don't care who shot her. It was you who shot Hilda through the heart, you-!" She fought against her restraints, the mental stability she had worked on disintegrating. Her mind-state was now feral.
"Careful, little Diane." Alfendi looked as though every word actually hurt. "Or I may have to shoot you like the yapping bitch you are."
Diane was by herself for hours. She heard everything that was going on around her, how Lucy had disguised herself as a commoner so that the police could find Hilda. Alfendi's laughter ringing through the castle wall as if he knew the exact thoughts running though the detective constable's mind. Thousands of them came in a rush, from the relevant one, like how to get out of her prison, to obscure daydreams like of a picnic her and Hilda had surprised Justin with. Heartache ran through her veins, pulsing with every pump of blood. Diane had given up on crying; it wasn't worth it to show weakness. Not after everything that had happened.
All by herself, all she could think about was last words. About Hilda's warning. Alfendi's hurt and threat. Her father's had been an apology to a fallen officer. Now Diane had an itching feeling that her father had been gravely wrong in his dying breath. Her mother had died when she was young, but Diane still had a picture of her from when she was a little girl, when her mom had thrown her a birthday party. She had died the next day, her last words being, "I'll always love you, darling." Diane almost thought that her mother had known she was going to die, but couldn't admit it. She had been five at the time, newly five, never again naïve.
The demons of her past flew by Diane, each memory more painful than the last. The day of her mother's funeral. Her father, tears streaking down his gaunt face, over his wife. The day the Keelan Makepeace was shot and admitted into intensive care. Finally, Diane remembered the day of her father's funeral, when there had been no one to cry over his casket.
Diane faintly recalled all the officers who had been below Commissioner Makepeace, wishing her the best. She was nineteen, after all. A legal adult. Finally, a gruff man of tall stature came up to her. He looked sincere, but unsure on how to confront a teenage girl who had no parents.
"Justin. Erm, Justin Lawson," he introduced himself. He told Diane stories of her father in the force, and the two forged a friendship. Now, yet another Makepeace was staring death in the face. Diane's pulse slowed. She wasn't going to die. No, she would be victorious. But... Diane's head drooped. The emotional turmoil of the day had finally caught up with her. Her eyelids fluttered. No! I need to- I need... Diane fought the subconscious abyss tugging at her vision, but in her last moments of light, she could have sworn that a long lanky figure stood guard at her prison.
Twice, Diane thought. Twice I have fallen asleep. Alone, unguarded. Her mind was running circles around her sanity, slowly driving it into a rut of her own doing. BANG. The door of her prison cell slammed open. Ever since her visit with Alfendi, Diane had faced the way in and out, her escape just that close, but yet impossible. Lucy Baker now stood in that doorway, ruining all the hope that Diane had pent-up. A slightly pissed Alfendi stood behind her, still reminiscing all the words him and Diane had shared the day before. However, Diane wasn't worried about Alfendi. Oh no, Lucy was her concern at the moment. With the evil woman in front of her, wishing her the start of the morning, Diane had a dreadful feeling that it would be her last. Lucy's presence meant death.
"Ah, little Diane is awake I see," Lucy mocked, and leaned forward. "Based ont' bags under your eyes, I 'ave ta say I sleep a blink or two more." She smirked.
"Hmm..." Diane cleared her throat, which was as dry as the desert. "I don't know, Lucy. I can't look demons in the eyes," she bit back. Alfendi just smirked at the two feuding women. He came up behind his criminal partner and put his hand one her shoulder. Lucy looked as though she was going to kill the Makepeace girl. She would have shrugged Alfendi off if she hadn't already had a plan.
"She's not worth it right now, love," he whispered in Lucy's ear. Slowly, Lucy tore her gaze away from Diane, but did not leave the room.
"You 'ave a visitor, little one." Her voice was hard, all joking gone. The only pleasure Lucy had left would be the girl's next reaction. "Oh, prisoner of mine!" Lucy called, her voice sickly sweet once more. "Why don't you come in and give my little friend a visit?"
The door opened very slowly, like the person didn't have enough strength to open it all the way. In this case, it was. Diane watched in horror as Justin dragged himself into her cell. His head was badly cut, and wasn't treated at all. The inspector's right eye was completely black. Justin's arm was bend at an unnatural angle, and there was a deep laceration on his right leg that was crusted in rusty blood.
"Justin!" Diane exclaimed. The beaten inspector looked at her with tired eyes. They were filled with relief that she was okay, but there was a sadness there that Diane couldn't place. Her eyes landed on a collar just below his gruff chin. Several wires and pieces of metal gleamed in the harsh glow of the room. The wires sparked with blue electricity, causing Diane's fear level to elevate. She pretended not to notice just in case it would save them both later.
Justin looked Diane in the eyes, pleading, giving her the look he gave only when he honestly needs something. His dark irises screamed for her not to say anything, not one word, to their captors. Alfendi abruptly kicked the inspector behind the knees, causing him to tumble over, and smack his head in the process. Yet another wound was added to Justin's body, and the gash on his forehead split the other, both of them gushing blood. Diane's eyes stung with tears as she watched helplessly as her mentor was slowly beaten.
"JUST STOP!" Diane cried out. She didn't care anymore. "Stop, p-please. What has he ever done to you?" Diane regretted the question as soon as it left her mouth. Alfendi's head whipped towards her, his irises glowing with anger and hate.
"What has he done? WHAT HAS HE DONE?" He screamed. Rage was pulsing through his body. "I will tell you, Diane Makepeace, what Justin Lawson has done."
"Al, stop!" Justin spoke for the first time. His voice was broken. "She doesn't need to know." Diane looked at her mentor.
"I don't need to know? What don't I need to know, Justin?" Diane's words were full of disbelief. Her heart was heavy with dread. Lucy had her head down in the darkened corner with a smirk on her face. It seemed as though she had planned the whole charade.
"Alfendi Layton, tell me right now what is going on," Diane's cool voice questioned.
"Now, now Diane. Are you sure tha' you want ta 'ear this?" Lucy spoke up as she strutted over to the detective constable.
"No, Lucy. She needs to know." Alfendi interjected. "It all started here, right in this room. Justin here was the popular jock in school. Had all the girls, the best friends. Everyone wanted to be like Justin Lawson," he paused. "So, it was only natural that I wanted to be like him."
"We all did," Lucy spat. She had rejoined Alfendi.
"He," Alfendi kicked Justin, "took us under his wing. We had the perfect team. The jock, famous high-school star Justin Lawson, the child prodigy, Alfendi Layton, the brain, Lucy Baker, and the beauty, Hilda Pertinax. That euphoria lasted until Justin went to college, Hilda and I joined the force, and Lucy finished her college degree at the age fifteen."
"F-fifteen?" Diane sputtered.
"Don't look so surprised, Diane. Just 'cause I 'ave an accent, doesn't mean tha' I can't be smart." Lucy bit back, her tone clearly hurt. "Anyhow, Mr. Perfection over there quickly realized what 'e had become after losing us, and retired back to th' force. Now," Lucy paused, "Insert a devilishly beautiful girl and a wonderfully witty inspector, and there, you 'ave the A team." Lucy finished with a smirk.
"Now, Lucy, darling. That's an understatement. You needed me just as much as I needed you," Alfendi teased. Diane gulped as she realized that the duo together was much like the old story of Bonnie and Clyde. She was screwed before she could even move a pawn.
"S-so what of it, then? Why did you chase Lucy down if you were so involved?" Diane quizzed.
"Ah," Alfendi started. "I actually didn't meet my dear Lucy until much later in the investigations. I received a letter telling me the much needed answers to all the perfect murder cases the force had taken on. The letter, came from the one person who could pull it off," He recalled. "Lucy Baker, the mastermind in high-school, had always found ways that you could commit an unsolvable crime, and now she had." Lucy was grinning from eat to ear by this point.
"'E wonted in, he did," Lucy chuckled. "And 'e certainly were the best help I could ask for, eh? However, it got boring. I devised a plan, leading all of our old accomplices back to the one place they and they alone would know; the building in which you currently... reside. Alfendi Layton, aspiring inspector, distinguished member of the Scotland Yard, would finally solve the Perfect Murder cases. Leading himself, Hilda, and Justin here, Inspector Layton would dash up the stairs a hero, but never come back down."
"Lucy Baker, old friend of all the agents, would be revealed as a murderer, and just as they would be told, a gun shot would ring out. Where was Alfendi? Oh he was long gone. Shot, presumably," the still very much alive Alfendi mused. "All it took was a few pints of blood, and a gun through it. Alfendi Layton could be dead, and Lucy Baker an enigma. And we," he nuzzled Lucy's hair in a loving and creepy way, "could finally live away from lives we never wanted. "
Diane was shocked. Not only was the plan had almost no weak points, but it had been executed perfectly by the mysterious duo. They were literally the flawless criminals.
"However, there was one thing that bothered me. Justin Lawson, as idiotic as he was, had once been my friend. I had my... associates look after him. Not one word of Lawson. Didn't even come to the service," Alfendi's voice was full of spite. "Before I so tragically left the force, there were rumors at the Yard. Namely about yours truly. All because of someone who I thought to be my friend. He was glad I was gone."
A strenuous silence fell between the four. Justin was still trying to regain consciousness.
"Now, now," Lucy started, " Back t' the matter at 'and. 'E have two very weak, very naïve members of th' Scotland Yard. This sounds like a part to a puzzle, eh?"
"I think I have the solution, Lucy. But, we are missing some information. First," Alfendi pulled out his gun, "Two criminals are locked in with them. One has a gun, one has a needle with a strange liquid. Who. Dies. First?" Each word was staggered. Diane's heart accelerated. How would she get herself, and not to mention Justin, out of this? It was impossible. BANG. A bullet from Alfendi's gun whizzed past Diane's ear. She screamed in surprise, not knowing if she had actually been hit or not.
"Just a warning shot, Diane. Next time, if you don't shut up, the bullet might be lodged in your skull," Alfendi snarled. "Now, now. Back to the puzzle. I believe, if I may presume, Lucy, that it hurts to see a man die more that the heroine?"
"I do believe tha' you're right," Lucy giggled. Her blood-red eyes glinted in the light of the cold metal in her lover's hands. Alfendi slowly raised Justin up like a puppet on a string until he was hoisted against the wall in front of Diane. She realized what was happening.
"NO!" She shrieked. Tears cascaded down Diane's cheeks, begging her captors. "Anything but him, please! Take... take me instead," her words ended in a whisper. The events of Forbodium replayed in her head; Hilda's death, her own capture, and Justin's wounds. In Diane's mind, it was all her fault. If only she hadn't come, joined the force at all. It was her job, but now it was a burden that she couldn't carry.
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in the back of her neck, followed by the oozing sensation of a liquid going into her blood stream. Then a dull knife grazed her wrists as Diane's hands were miraculously freed. She flew up in an instant, until a blow from her own mind caused her to fall again.
"Now, little Diane. Just because your hands are free, does that really mean that you are?" Alfendi glanced at her. Diane realized now what was happening. The feeling had been a needle. Lucy had picked her target, and now Alfendi had his.
"D-Diane," Justin spoke for the first time. Diane's almost unconscious form smiled, but then shattered. "Don't, he's right. I-I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, and I hope you can... forgive me, Diane. For all the things I never told you. The things I never will tell you. I'm so sorry." Diane started to sob, the black closing in on her vision, and there was a gun shot. To Diane, the bullet hadn't hit Justin, but rather, herself. Propelling her body forward, the last thing Diane felt was the warm liquid she knew was blood.
Four Years Later...
Inspector Diane Makepeace sat troubled at her desk. It was one of those days again. A splitting head ache had pained her all day. She entwined her fingers in her long blonde ponytail that had fallen into disarray from lack of caring. She no longer had the excitement from her young self from four years ago, a topic that she barely remembered.
Diane winced. It wasn't like her to be this weak. After waking up from a coma in late September, two months after the incident, her heart was cold. Gone was the youthful, happy Diane. This was Inspector Makepeace, the stoic woman who could snap at any moment. She had awoke to no memory of the incident, other than Hilda and Justin both being dead. Her memories of the elusive captor was gone, only the fact that the others officers knew it was Lucy Baker. However, when Diane was alone, she could feel the nagging sensation that it wasn't all there. That there was a missing piece.
Diane sighed, glaring at the open case file in front of her. There supposedly was evidence that Lucy was back again, and that her targets weren't as random anymore. Diane felt a resurgence of hate for the woman who was merely three years older than her, and yet she had killed so many in cold blood.
'Surely the bitch couldn't have done it alone,' Diane thought coldly. There was no evidence at all, and Diane had recently been doing some research, and all of Lucy's supposed past cases were similar. They were all just to perfect for any one to be able to pull off, let alone one person. Diane felt her anger levels rise, and a sharp pain where a small scar rested on the back of her neck.
In a fit of rage, the contents of Diane's desk were across the room. Papers flew away like her memories, the lamp and light bulb shattering like her self-control. A name in the papers caught her attention. Snatching the piece out of the air, Diane screeched in rage. The name on the page enraged her, but what really angered her was the fact that she couldn't figure out why.
Diane sank to the ground on her knees. Voices she couldn't place filled her head, saying that it would be alright. Others screamed that Justin Lawson had been killed in front of her. He was shot! They yelled. It was him! They directed their voices to the thirteen small letters that made up the name on the page. Diane ripped it apart in seething hate.
Subconsciously, Diane took up a pen and began to write. Nothing made sense, it was just words. Soon after the ink from the pen ran dry, so had her tears. A calm washed over her. Her knees buckled, and the inspector fell to the ground. Before the black surrounded her fully, Diane couldn't help but wonder how it had happened. Why she was like this. Why the voices in her head sounded so much like Justin. How she couldn't remember the death of her two and only friends. Diane blacked out, her mental sanity slipping away further than it had years, the original Makepeace wishing she could speak again.
When the other officers found her, there were words written all across the papers scattered on the floor. Diane was dragged off to a resting room, her mind still blank. The officers at the Scotland Yard still refuse to talk about the things they saw in the disheveled office of Inspector Diane Makepeace. One by one they picked up the sheets, each word more chilling than the last.
Why can't I remember you?
Why can't I remember me?
Who are you?
What have I done?
WHO AM I?
The detectives brought the documents to the commissioner, who was now Florence Sich. It was an unlikely job for the forensic analyst, but the Yard was short on staff. Florence knew of Diane's predicament, and had known the girl since her father had brought her around when she was younger. So, when Blaine brought in the evidence of what had happened, Florence found it hard to stomach. The worst was the tiny scraps of paper that spelled out a name the Scotland Yard had tried so hard to forget. Silently, Florence tipped the pieces into an evidence bag, and with a sniffle, wrote the contents.
Alfendi Layton~
This got a lot longer than I intended... It was originally supposed to be around 1,000 to 2,000 words but this worked better. I felt as though an allegiance swap fic was needed so this happened. Please review! They mean a lot. ~Me
