Chapter 4

"You say it was an alchemist? Wow- who would have guessed?"

Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc was propped against the wall of the basement hallway, staring down at the small area roped off where the attacker had made his escape the day before. His green eyes watched Rebecca contentedly as she gathered together her tools and placed them in her small leather bag, wrapping up her investigation with the physical evidence.

Standing up, she removed her rubber gloves and sighed, stepping over the ropes that separated the small crime scene from the remainder of the hallway.

"Yes, sir." She said, glancing back at the moisture that remained on the floor. "Most of what's left on the ground there is the product of condensation. Lieutenant Hawkeye and the Colonel both reported to have seen a fog rise up from around the fallen attacker, and when it had cleared, the person was gone. As you know, alchemy is the process and understanding of equivalent exchange. In order for this person to have created the fog effect, they were to have had to make their own transmutation circle. There are what looks to be slight remains of chalk in the floor, but most of it managed to become washed away with the watery residue. However, if you look at the shape of the residue, it is in the form of an almost perfect circle itself."

Havoc narrowed his eyes in thought. "We still need more evidence that it was alchemy." He said. "There must have been some sort of equivalent exchange…"

"Yes." Rebecca nodded, happy to have someone to discuss her findings with. "That brings me to my next point, sir. You see, that's exactly the first thought that crossed my mind when I was pondering the possibility of the use of alchemy. Fog is a direct link to water, through evaporation. If the attacker had water with him at the time, he would have been able to transmute the water into a nice thick fog, allowing him enough time to make his escape."

Havoc smiled and nodded. "And you found that the attacker had sought shelter in one of the empty offices during the attack. It was reported that he left behind a bottle of water he must have been carrying… I certainly would have needed water after all that frantic running. Either that, or maybe he thought he could use it against the Colonel's fire." He grinned at his own joke, imagining someone attempting to fight off the Colonel's powerful fire blasts with a water bottle.

Rebecca smiled and opened her bag, pulling out a water bottle encased securely in a plastic bag. "Evidence B." she announced. "The mysterious water bottle found further down the hall. It could link to the murder scene, and tie in with our proposed use of alchemy and bring us closer to our attacker."

Havoc smiled approvingly. "Well, I've got to be heading back to the dormitories now. It's getting late." He said. "But it sure does seem like you have your work cut out for you. You're doing well so far, Private. I expect the best results for your hard work."

Rebecca nodded. "Thank you, sir." She said, checking to make sure she had everything with her. "Thank you for your time as well."

Havoc grinned and pulled out a cigarette from his uniform pocket. "Any time." He said, reaching in again to get a lighter. "Really- any time."

Rebecca watched the handsome blonde haired soldier wink at her and began to walk down the hallway, humming some nameless tune under his breath. She smiled and headed in the opposite direction towards the stairs. She needed to get to her office and analyze the situation. With her new findings, she would be yet another step closer to who their assailant was.

As she stepped off the last stair, the atmosphere immediately changed. There was no more of a dark and dismal air; a few soldiers and military officials wandered through the hallways, preparing to leave for the night.

Reaching her door, Rebecca pulled it open and stepped inside, enjoying the cool wave of air that rushed against her face from the door. Closing it behind her, she placed her bag of evidence and tools on the floor next to her desk, and rummaged around to find a few papers to file the crime scene evidence onto.

Forgetting her cup of coffee still sat on her desk from that morning, she had to grab it quickly from pouring all over her desk as it tipped over from her rushing around. A few drops managed to spill onto a small yellow paper that lay on her closed notebooks. With a sigh, she picked up the paper and was about to toss it in the garbage when she realized it was not blank.

Turning it over carefully, she let her sleeve fall over her hand and dabbed up the coffee drops from the paper, trying not to spread the ink illegibly. Her eyes clouded over in confusion as she read the short message to herself.

The world is full of choices to make…

Will you answer to the call of fate?

The words didn't make any sense. Who would leave her such a note... and what did it mean? Looking around the room, she sighed and walked over near her desk. Sitting down in the chair, she scooted it closer to the desk before opening a notebook to write in.

As soon as she touched the tip of her pen to the paper, however, the telephone on her desk suddenly rang, startling her in its relentless shrill tone. Slightly annoyed, Rebecca sighed and lifted the phone from its hook.

"Private Investigator Rebecca Quinn, How can I help you?"

A thin silence on the other end of the phone proved to be her only answer.

"Hello?" she asked a little louder. "Is someone there?"

With a frustrated sigh, she hung the phone up back on its hook. Her arm accidentally hit her ink well and splayed black ink across a few stray papers on her desk.

"Dammit!" she cursed, looking around for something to soak up the mess. However, she suddenly froze, looking back down at her desk. The ink seemed to well up around the edges of the small yellow paper that she had found on her desk earlier.

The words seemed to jump out at her, and she narrowed her eyes in thought.

"The call of… fate?" she read out loud. "Wait… what does that…"

She was interrupted as the phone on her desk began to ring again. Motivation seemed to take control, and Rebecca reached for the phone with a new determination. Perhaps whoever left her that note was trying to contact her…? She could only guess.

"Hello? Can I help you?" She spoke into the phone, this time a little louder.

Another silence seemed to be her only answer. She sighed.

"If you cannot speak, then I'm afraid I can't be of use to you." She said, hanging up the phone again. As luck would have it, immediately the phone rang again.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself, she picked up the receiver, this time fully prepared not to say anything until the person on the other line did.

"Hello, Private."

In response to the unexpected voice, Rebecca gasped and slid back in her chair away from the desk, dropping the phone. Quickly regaining her composure, Rebecca returned closer to the desk, still slightly startled from the unexpected voice. Whoever it was, there was obviously something suspicious about the whole thing… she probably had been given some kind of prank by one of the officers at the base. She was a "newbie" anyway.

"Okay, now this has gone too far." Rebecca sighed to herself in frustration. A joke was a joke… but whoever this was, they were starting to become annoying. She picked up the phone and placed it back in place by her ear.

"Alright, who is this?" she demanded. "Why do you keep calling me?"

A cold and sinister laugh could be heard a moment later. She frowned, disturbed by the eerie sound.

"Your incompetence amazes me, but I believe this will prove to be more fun than I expected." They spoke, their identity still hidden from her. "I don't believe you really want to know who I am. It will only make things confusing for everyone."

Rebecca narrowed her eyes, growing fed up with the person on the other end of the line.

"I do have to say- it's not the best idea to play pranks on me- I could have you brought up on some serious charges." She said angrily, not caring who was on the other end of the phone anymore. All she knew was that this joke had just gone a step above annoying.

"You sound mad, Private." The person spoke. "You should be glad I am not telling you… you know what I would have to do if you found out."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah I know- you'd have to kill me, right? Real original."

For a moment, the person on the other end of the phone grew silent, as they had been before. When they finally spoke, their voice had grown even more eerie than before.

"Welcome to the game, Private."

The phone clicked, and the person hung up on their end of the line. Rebecca frowned, repeating the words over and over again in her head. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she whispered. She sighed, hanging up the phone.

"Dammit!" she cursed. "That figures. They got away."

Rebecca rested her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes. She was probably going to be bothered by this stupid prank for a long time.

"Forget it- this is just stupid." She muttered to herself. "It's time for me to go home anyway. I guess I just need some rest."

Gathering up her coat and papers to review later on that night, she rose from her desk chair, keeping one eye on her phone, almost expecting it to ring again. She hurriedly slid her jacket on, and made her way towards the door.

Just as her hand touched the knob, the phone on her desk began to ring again. She stood there with the feeling of the cool metal on her fingertips, not sure if she should just ignore it again and go home or not.

A small light next to the phone lit up suddenly, and the phone stopped ringing. She sighed in relief, and turned back around to leave.

Nothing could have prepared her for the shock she received when a loud, crackling white noise static suddenly boomed from the phone's answering machine as if someone was leaving her a message.

A frightened cry escaped from her lips as she jumped away from the desk, almost tripping backwards into her file cabinets that stood on one side of the doorway.

"You want to know me?" the eerie voice seemed to slither through the air like a venomous snake. "No one really knows me. There is nothing of me to know… I am hollow. Cursed and hollow."

Rebecca shakily regained her balance against her file cabinets, reaching once more for the door.

"This is your fault, Private. Remember what you said before? If I were to tell you about myself, I'd have to kill you. It was your idea, you know."

Without thinking, Rebecca grabbed a notebook from the edge of her desk and launched it at the phone. With a perfect aim, the notebook knocked the phone off the desk and it hit the floor, breaking into a few pieces. The light on the phone flickered and went out.

She stood there for a moment, hearing the silence, still staring at the place where the phone had sat at her desk, almost expecting it to start ringing again. She suddenly seemed to snap out of her stupor and yanked her door open, rushing outside.

The prank had suddenly turned to a threat.

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Author's Note:

Cliffhanger! Haha… sorry about leaving it off like this, but I am going to update every day if I can, so if you hang on for only a day you will see what happens! LoL

There's not much to say about this chapter… just hope you like it, and give me your feedback and comments! Thanks for reading! .