Hunting For Lies
By; DaCow Takao
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"blahblah blah" Talking
"blah blahblah" Dreaming/Thinking
Hilary, Kai, and Tala stepped into a dimly lit bar, Tala immediately going off to a group of women. Kai and Hilary pushed their way through the large mass of bodies in the building, going up to the bar, where a bar maid soon addressed them. After getting two beers, they headed off to a small table, sitting down on the stools next to it.
The only words picked up as Tala hit on the group of women he had were," Hello ladies! You're all looking fine tonight, if I might say so myself!" A charming smile added in, and all were swooning over him.
"So, why's you're brother here, again?" Hilary asked, as she watched the redhead with disgust.
"I don't know exactly, he just said he was taking time off from his police work and decided to come visit me."
Hilary let out a disbelieving chuckle," He's a cop? And I thought you hadn't touched base with you family for ten years?"
Kai shook his head, taking a quick swig of his drink," I didn't actually believe him at first myself, but as long as he's not just sitting at home doing nothing, I guess it's not that bad. And yeah, I haven't talked to them in a while, but I don't really blame Tala for wanting to get away for a while…"
"If I were you, I'd want to get away from him," Hilary commented, watching as a girl slapped Tala on the face and stomped off, the redhead calling after her.
"Tal's the only one I can stand in my family…"
"Whoa, I'd hate to meet the rest of your family then," Hilary stated, finishing off her beer.
A sobbing Tala slowly made his way over to them," hey Hil, you got any friends that might want to come down here?"
"I guess…"
"Dude, your friend was hot!" Tala exclaimed, as he and the other two stepped back into Kai's apartment
Hilary scoffed," First off, don't call me dude. Second, keep on talking about Mariah that way, and you'll find you're leg broken before you could dial 911."
Tala slowly backed away from Hilary, hiding behind Kai. The bluenette rolled his eyes at his brother's stupidity, mumbling something along the line of 'wuss'.
"What did you call me?" A rather shocked Tala asked, hand over his heart in a hurt manner.
"You know what you are, now shut up," Kai commanded, brushing his brother aside.
"You- Oh my God, my show is on!" Tala exclaimed, rushing passed Hilary and Kai, jumping onto the couch in the living room, and turning on the television set.
Hilary rolled her eyes," How old is he, three?"
"Actually, twenty-nine."
"What's the world coming to?"
The two both laughed softly, slipping into the kitchen, passed the now brainwashed looking Tala.
Hilary had to leave an hour later, since she had to get up early the next morning to go to work. Kai had grabbed his briefcase from next to the door, and sat down on the opposite side of the couch Tala was on. The said redhead still had his eyes glued on the TV in a trance like way, and Kai could almost picture drool slowly falling from his mouth. What a dog.
Hilary shut the door behind her as she entered her apartment, making sure to lock it. She threw her purse on the small table near the door, before proceeding to check her messages on her answering machine. All she found was a message Kai had left for her, and one telling her she'd work full time the next day.
"Great…" She mumbled, taking her jacket off and throwing it on her couch.
Hilary grabbed a quick snack, before deciding she should just relax for a little bit. Stepping into her bathroom, she turned on the faucet to the bathtub and waited until it was at the right temperature and level, before undressing and getting in. Taking a deep, relaxing sigh, she let herself sink a little farther into the water, her face just above the water. Soaking up the soothing essence of the water, she lifted herself up a bit more as she grabbed a wash cloth, but stopped mid-grab as she noticed something glint in the water. Something was hovering just mere inches from her, a pair of golden eyes behind the object. Gasping as she realized what the object was, she let out a short scream, before the knife made contact with her skin.
Glazed over eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling, soft choking sounds coming as blood poured from her neck into the water of her tub.
Kai woke up to the sound of his alarm clock going off. He got up to do his normal morning routine, at least when he wasn't woken up early due to a new case, it consisted of taking a shower, getting dressed, calling Hilary, and having breakfast, before leaving for work. After getting the first two things done, he walked out into the living room to take care of the third, calling Hilary. After grabbing his cell phone off of the coffee table, he stared disbelievingly at his older brother's sprawled out body, which had obviously fallen off the couch. Sticking a socked foot out, he softly poked his brother in the side, before doing it a bit harder.
"Wake up, Tally!" Kai cooed, as his poke turned more into a kick.
Tala only grunted a reply, putting his arms up in defense of his head, before turning to the side away from his brother.
"C'mon Tal, get up!"
"Fine, fine, give me a couple more minutes," Tala groggily replied, pulling the small blanket Kai had given him over his head.
"Whatever."
Kai just shook his head disapprovingly, before flipping open his Razor cell phone, and pressing the number for Hilary. After waiting a couple of minutes, Kai scrunch up his face in concentration, as he dialed the number once more. Why wasn't she picking up?
"Odd…" Kai mumbled, as he sat down at his small kitchen table, bowl of cereal in hand.
"What?" Tala questioned, as he slowly made his way into the room.
"Hilary isn't answering her phone," Kai stated, pocketing the phone.
Tala let out a loud yawn," Didn't she say she had to get up early for work, or something?"
"I know, but I've just got this feeling in the pit of my stomach that's seriously bothering me."
Tala raised a questioning eye brow, he would never get couples like his brother and Hilary," Right, well, I'm hungry, where's the food?"
"Cereal's in the cupboard."
"Aren't we a kind host?" Tala taunted, as he went to where his brother had directed.
"Shut up."
Kai and Tala walked into the SBI building, Kai having decided it would be a bad idea to leave his brother behind at his house alone, since he would eventually get bored, and Tala and being bored just didn't mix. Heading up to Kai's office, the two were met by an ever cheerful Rei.
"Hello Kai! Who's your friend?" Rei asked, flashing the two his signature grin, one fang like tooth hanging out.
"This is Tala, my brother," Kai informed, as he motioned for Tala to sit down in a chair to the side of his desk.
"Oh, nice to meet you Tala, I'm Rei!" He greeted, sticking a hand out for the redhead to shake.
Tala stared up at Rei, tilting his head to the side a bit as he noticed Rei's golden cat like eyes, they looked so familiar… Shaking the thought off, he put his hand out and shook Rei's hand, putting on a smile.
Kai cleared his throat," Well, we've got to be off to the Springfield City Morgue."
Rei was driving his car, for once, while Kai sat in the seat next to him, and Tala was stuck in the back, building a pyramid out of empty bottles and cans. They soon pulled up to a building, a sign in the front reading," Springfield Morgue", in big, gold letters. The three got out of the car, walking into the morgue. The walls were painted a pale blue, and a wrinkly, old woman sat behind the front desk.
"Hello ma'am, we're here to find out about a Max Tate," Kai informed, him and Rei pulling out their badges for her to see.
"One moment," The woman replied grimly, standing up and disappearing behind a closed door to the rear of the room.
The woman came back a moment later, followed by a man who seemed to be just a bit younger then herself. The man looked the three over, as the woman typed into the computer.
"Hello, I'm Mr. Hanes; please follow me into the back."
Tala cracked a smile as Mr. Hanes turned around, he leaned over towards Kai," I wonder if he could hook me up with some free underwear?"
Kai pushed his older brother away from him," Idiot, you're thinking of Fruit of the Loom, not Hanes."
"Oh," Tala had a look of confusion on his face, causing Kai to roll his eyes.
The two looked, and found that Rei and Mr. Hanes had already gone into the back room, and they quickly hurried after them. Coming into a small room, they saw Mr. Hanes handing Rei a folder, stuff about Max's body in it.
As Rei and Kai looked through the folder, Tala shifted uncomfortably under the hawk like stare coming from the solemn Mr. Hanes," Has anyone ever told you you've got a smile that brightens up a room?" A/N:Line borrowed, I do not own
"Hn."
As Tala and Mr. Hanes had a staring competition, Tala losing badly as the man seemed to never blink, Kai looked up from the folder he and Rei had been looking at.
"They found traces of sulfur on his neck?" He questioned, a confused look on his face.
Mr. Hanes nodded," Yes."
Kai looked thoughtful for a moment, before seemingly pushing whatever he had been thinking about away. Him and Rei looked through the folder a bit more, before the three left, going out to Rei's car.
"Hey, would we be able to go check out the house this kid was killed in, real quick?" Tala questioned, as he got back into the backseat.
Kai sighed," Well, I do need to go check on something there…"
Tala smiled triumphantly, as Rei started driving towards the Tate house, Kai still a bit uneasy.
The three got out of Rei's car, going into the SBI building. They had gone to the Tate's house for about half an hour, before heading back to Columbus. Once in the building, Tala hurried off to the vending machines, still hungry even after they had stopped and had some lunch. Kai went to the testing labs, muttering something about stuff to do.
"Stupid vending machines..." Tala mumbled, kicking the said machine trying to get the bag of chips he had chosen to fall from where it was stuck.
"I hate it when my food gets stuck in that vending machine, one of the reasons I never use it."
Tala's eyes widened at the sudden voice behind him, and he could feel his heart beating rapidly. He quickly calmed down as he turned to find a smiling Rei," Dude, don't do that! You about gave me a heart attack…"
"Sorry. So, you say you're a police officer?" Rei questioned, tilting his head to the side a bit.
"Yep," Tala answered, raising an eyebrow, wondering why Rei wanted to know.
"Where'd you do training at?"
"My home town."
"That would be?"
Tala rolled his eyes, he hated people who thought they could just interrogate whoever they wanted," Why ask?"
"Just wondering," Rei simply answered, shrugging.
Tala let out a short sigh," Right… So, where are you from?"
"Atlanta, Georgia."
"Really? I once went to a concert there!"
"I'm sure you did…"
Tala looked around the room, an uncomfortable silence settling around the two of them.
"Well, I'm sure you're busy, so I'll let you work. I'll just go read a magazine or something while I wait for Kai-man…" Tala informed, before heading towards the front room.
"Wake up Tala!"
Tala let out a short snout, opening his eyes to find Kai only mere inches away from his face. Kicking his brother back some, he stood up and stretched.
"Dude, what time is it?" Tala questioned, as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
"About 10:00, hurry up!" Kai answered frantically, hurrying out of the SBI building, Tala following closely behind.
"What's the big hurry for?"
"I called Hilary's work, and they said that she never showed up today! Something is really wrong, I can just sense it. We're going over to her house, now," Kai explained, as he threw open the door to the Impala and got in.
"Whoa, slow down Kai, and take a deep breath," Tala warned, doing an up and down motion with his hands as he took in a deep breath, then let it out.
Kai rolled his eyes," I won't slow down, because you know what? Something's happened to my girlfriend!"
"No need to yell, Kai-man-"
"Tal, just shut up!"
The said redhead let out a frustrated sigh, before turning to look out the window as Kai sped off towards the part of town Hilary lived in. Once there, the two got out of the car, Kai leading the way to her apartment. Once at the door, Kai knocked on it a few times, before he started searching his pockets for the extra set of keys Hilary had given to him, while in the mean time Tala stood, idly watching his little brother.
"I can't find the keys!"
Tala raised an eyebrow, before pulling a bobby pin out of his pocket," Say the magic word."
"What?"
"Never mind…" Tala muttered, using the bobby pin to unlock the door.
Kai stared at the opened door with astonishment, before turning to his brother," Do I want to know where you learned how to do that?"
"Probably not…"
Kai rolled his eyes, before focusing on the task before him. The two called out Hilary's name, as Tala went off in the direction of the kitchen, of course ever wanting to find Hilary, and not thinking of the bag of chips stuck in the vending machine he wasn't able to eat. As Kai walked towards the back of the apartment, he saw the bathroom door shut, light shining underneath it.
"Hey Hil, I came to check on you since you hadn't answered your phone or anything. I think my brothers raiding your fridge, so I hope you don't mind," Kai spoke as he stood next to the door.
When he heard no reply, nor any noise, he slowly opened the bathroom door. Kai nearly threw up at the smell emitting from the room, and actually did as he caught sight of his girlfriend. Before he could run and get Tala, he became fixated on Hilary, as she turned to look at him, light brown eyes replaced with golden cat like ones. Her mouth opened as she started to say something to him.
Tala sighed as he looked through the cupboards, having not found anything fitting to eat. He forgot about his hunger as he heard a short cry come from the back of the apartment, taking off in the direction of the noise. He came upon the scene of Kai on his knees, holding his head in his hands, as he stared with wide eyes at Hilary's dead body, which was in a tub full of blood. There were tears streaming down Kai's cheeks also, Tala tried to pull his brother up to his feet, but the bluenette fought against him.
"Stop! She's trying to say something to me!" Kai managed to get out, as he broke free of his brother's grasp.
Tala looked from his little brother, to the body of Hilary, which was staring up at the ceiling blankly. Not bothering to try and figure out what exactly was going on; he got Kai before he tried to hold Hilary's hand, dragging him out of the room and into the hall way, putting himself in the way of the bathroom door.
Tala glanced sideways from where he sat at the driver's seat of the Impala; his brother was staring blankly out the front window, tears no longer falling out of his eyes. The redhead let out an exasperated sigh, before returning to stare at the road in front of him as he made his way back to Kai's apartment. When they got there, he got out of the car, Kai following suite, and they headed back to the apartment. Once inside the house, Tala headed straight towards where he had his clothes thrown out all over the place, and started to pack it all up in his bag.
"What are you doing?" Kai asked, a far-off sound to his voice.
"I'm leaving. You'll need to call the police once I'm gone so they can go to Hilary's house," Tala simply replied, as he zipped up the duffel bag holding his clothes.
"Why are you leaving?"
"Because, my fingerprints are on the door to Hilary's apartment, plus inside, I've got to get out of here."
"Didn't you one time say that when you found dad's body, he had golden eyes?"
Tala froze, dropping the duffel bag he had been in the middle of picking up. He turned back to his brother, his eyes a mixture of emotions as the memories came flooding back.
"When did I ever tell you that?"
"You were nine, I was eight, and we had stayed up late. That's when you told me about the golden eyes…"
Tala pushed back the memories, along with all of his emotions," Why do you bring it up now?"
"Hilary… she turned to me, she had golden eyes…"
"Did she say anything to you?"
Kai shook his head," No…"
"You should probably pack up a bag of clothes, you can come back home for a while."
Kai finally snapped out of his trance like state, and stared at Tala with confusion," Why?"
"There are some things me and mom need to tell you."
"Mom? What does she need to tell me?" Kai's voice suddenly was full of venom, just thinking of the woman made his blood boil.
"Just shut up and pack your bag, I'll call the police on your home phone-"
There was a sudden knock on the door, Kai and Tala both turning to look in the direction of the object. Kai walked over from where he had been standing and opened the door a bit, surprised to find Rei standing before him.
"Yeah?"
"Where's your brother?"
"Why?"
"Because I recently looked him up, and there's nothing saying that Tala's ever gone to police training, thus he is impersonating a government official."
"Um, one second, let me get him…."
Kai shut the door on Rei's face, quietly locking it. He hurried over to where his brother stood, staring wide eyed at the closed door.
"What should we do?" Kai asked, looking to Tala expectantly.
"Quickly grab some clothes, and we've got to escape some how…"
"I know how."
Kai rushed into his room, grabbed a bundle of clothes, threw them in a bag, then went into his bathroom.
"Kai, this isn't time to be going to the bathroom!"
"Shut up and get in here!"
Tala raised an eyebrow, and nearly jumped a she heard Rei yelling from outside the door. He rushed into the bathroom, to find Kai standing before an opened window.
"What kind of an apartment has a bathroom with a window?"
Kai rolled his eyes," Just go!"
Tala threw his duffel bag out the window, before jumping out himself, Kai and his bag following shortly after. Managing to get to Kai's car without being seen, they threw their stuff into the back seat. Kai jumped into the driver's seat, and Tala did the same a she quickly got into the passenger's side seat. They quickly pulled out of their spot, and drove off.
As they got out onto the highway, Kai turned his attention away from the road for a moment," How far away is home?"
"You sure you want to do this?"
"I've got no choice now."
"A couple hundred miles, should take us about six hours if we don't stop for gas."
Kai raised an eyebrow," Then we'll need to speed things up," he pressed down harder on the gas pedal, the Impala's headlights disappearing from the sight of Columbus.
TBC...
A/N: Hope the chapter didn't sound too rushed! Also, sorry for the wait, I'm too lazy to keep focused on something too long, so thus it takes me a while to update. I actually enjoyed writing this chapter, a bit sick, but it's true. It's probably because of all the emotion put into it... Anyways, I would like to thank all of the reviewers! I'll have chapter three up eventually...
- DaCow Takao
