Well, two chapters in one week. Let's see if I can keep this train rolling. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to review.
Zelda's head was spinning as if she just gotten off of a roller coaster with many corkscrews and loop-De-loops. The whole thing last night was nothing more then a blur, though what stood out the most was the clinking of shot glasses, dancing and sooooo many sweaty bodies slamming against her. She smiled as she rolled over. If that was all that she could remember of the night, then it wasn't a night wasted. God how she enjoyed being able to do things such as that
She then felt something wet get placed against her cheek, like wet sandpaper. She thought it was nothing then it happened again as a little laugh escaped her lips. The same thing happened again and again to the point she was forced to open her eyes to see what exactly it was.
When she did, her scream was muted by Peach's.
There, licking her face in indiscriminatingly was a large, fluffy Saint Bernard. Zelda didn't hate dogs, but was deathly afraid of the big ones. She looked over to Peach mid scream and saw that she was wiping her face from a Bloodhound that looked as if he was just as confused as the third person sat up with her hands covering her ears.
"SHUT UP!" Elincia yelled at the top of her voice, and the two others did so. Though they scooted away from the dogs and stood up on sofas to set the distance away from them. Elincia uncovered her ears and breathed a sigh of relief. "What the hell was that all about?" She asked as she brought the St. Bernard closer to scratch behind the ears.
Peach was the first to respond, as she shook hr finger at the confused bloodhound. "What- what the fuck is that thing doing outside of a cage?"
Elincia was about to respond when a woman in a maid suit with short blue hair. "If she wishes to listen without screaming her head off, the pets of the Crimean house do not have cages. They have their places to sleep for the night just as humans do."
Elincia looked over to the maid and gave a nod of thanks. "Thank you Lucia. I couldn't have explained it better. Would you be a dear and fix three of your special omelettes and some orange juice?"
Peach again curled her lips in discuss. "Eli, I'm a vegan! I can't eat that."
With out looking around as she walked away, Lucia replied. "My brother is just about to trim the grass, so help yourself to the clippings."
When the clicking of her boots were dying down to almost nothing, Zelda spoke to Elincia, who stretched out as if nothing had happened. "Your new maid has an attitude?"
Elincia shook her head as she dusted off her dress. "She is maid and body guard both. Though I really don't like having some stranger watch me where ever I go, Lucia made the exception to the rule. She is a good protector as well as an advisor to both me and my father."
Peach jumped over to another sofa, causing Elincia to hit her side twice. The bloodhound came over and sat at her side, allowing peach to step down to the floor. "To think I was kissing that thing... Where is the bathroom?" She said in a quivered voice.
"Down the hallway and third door on your left." Peach took off runing while Elincia smothered a laugh at the sight of Peach kissing old Rex. Zelda hesitantly came off of the sofa and followed peach, trying hard not to catch the Barnard's gaze. God she didn't want to be assumed as a plaything for the animal.
Elincia shook her head at her friends and ordered the animals to their room while she looked around her room. Apparently they all staggered back to her house with Lucia picking them up from the night so no DUIs would be given out. But her short orange dress would need to be cleaned, as there were plenty of spirit stains where someone tossed a drink on her or she spilled some.
She pulled the dress off and applied some more comfortable clothes. It was a good thing that they came to her house today. Mia, their fitness and nutritional expert, was coming for their daily workout later in the day. Now that Zelda was back, she would be included. And today would be pilates and water aerobics, two of her favorite workouts. Though she really loved fencing, as Mia seemed to come alive in the play. She always would tell of the story of her old crone of a neighbor telling her of a white cloaked man who would beat her and steal her heart. I guess it was different strokes to keep people motivated.
She produced a white tee-shirt and some long shorts that were also white. She walked out the room with a bit of ringing still in her ears, such was her hangover. But she lived in this house for all twenty-two years of her life, so she could easily recall where to go with her eyes close.
Eventually, she found the other two in the kitchen with Lucia working hard over the stove to get the last of her special omelets done. The three glasses of orange juice were placed on the counter and Elincia took her seat and began to drink the liquid to slate her thirst. She looked over to her two other companions and could sense that Zelda had a question. "Ask."
Zelda decided to play her dumb card. "I wasn't going to ask anything."
The green haired beauty rolled her eyes. "Please Harkinain. I don't need to be a psyker to tell that you have something you want to say to me. Say it or heaven help us things will be different."
Zelda hesitated but was shot a hard look by Elincia that loosened her tongue. "I know I came off a little hard last night when I saw you with that guy, but you could see where I was coming from?"
Peach's ears perked up at this. "What is this? Zely was looking out for Elincia on some guy?"
Elincia downed that last of her juice in an angry gulp. Slamming it down, she looked ver to Zelda, her features still very cross. "You came down hard. You came down hard? Zelda, that was an understatement at the very best and an insult at worst. You basically called him a date rapist without giving him a chance to speak. You are protective of us and that has been very beneficial, but it has also made many problems for both us as well as you."
Zelda nodded as Lucia grabbed three plates from the cupboard. "But you didn't know who he was. He could have been a lawyer, a con artist, or even a cop."
Peach laughed, "A cop, in The Arena? That is too funny."
"Alright, I have two regular omelets and one picky eater one." Lucia said as she piled three seemingly ordinary omelets onto white plates. She passed them silverware, and Elincia dug in, while Zelda and Peach looked down at the food and prodded at it for a while. Eventually, both of them jut off an end and slid it to their mouth.
A moment passed before they made a really weird face. Zelda took another bite and swallowed with a grimace. "Lucia, what is in the omelet?"
"Oh some dark chocolate, graham crackers, and a handful of mini-marshmallows. Salt and pepper as well." she recalled as if it was nothing
Peach looked as if she was going to throw up. "In an omelet?"
She nodded with a smile. "Elincia's favorite. What did she always call it... oh, a smorelette."
"I'll be right back." Peach said as she ran back to the bathroom.
"Me too." Zelda replied. Rolling her eyes at her whimsical friends, Elincia continued to eat her plate of smorelette. All the while Lucia began to fill her in on the gossip of the upper class.
"So you will be heading into town for the morning?" Lucia asked as she began to clean off the the dishes of the two girls by scraping it into the trash and placing them in the dishwasher.
Elincia nodded. "I'll be taking the subway and running errands in the city." She brought up the last of her smorelette to her mouth and made her way to the door for some time in the city.
It was a pillow to the face, and not the ringing of his alarm clock, that brought Link out of his sleep. He felt another presence tackle him on the back, causing him to let out a gasp of laughter. "Wake up, big brother! You're going to be late."
"Alright, alright Toony. If you will get off me I will." His little brother got off of him and Link sat up straight and stretched. Damn, he was going to be late. He looked down at his clothes and realized that he must have fallen asleep in his clothes from the night before and looked relatively decent for work. After all, how could he go wrong with with wearing a green tunic and tan trousers?
Toony was an affectionate name Link gave his twelve year old brother. He was his responsibility when Link assumed the role of guardian after a gruesome custody battle which almost Link lost to his drug-dependent godmother. He was always thankful that he went into criminal justice at the local community college and spent a semester on learning the workings of such trials.
His little brother was, like his name implied, an almost toon like mirror of him. Where Link had golden blond hair, Toony had mustard yellow. Link had sharp eyes, and Toony had large wide ones. They had their differences and similarities. But then again which siblings didn't?
Link grabbed his coat and ruffled Toony's hair and moved to the kitchen, where there was a large bowl of cereal waiting for him. It was Toony's favorite, Smashin' Fruit Orbs. Link took chemistry in high school and knew what exactly was inside the ingredients they made that stuff. For something that could glow in the dark, he wondered why his brother wasn't.
As he spooned the sugar laced fiber into his mouth, Toony decided to talk. "So how was she last night?" Link had a big spoon full in his mouth and was thankful he didn't throw it up in shock.
He looked back at his brother and shook his head. "I don't know who or what you are talking about."
Toony did one of those over exaggerating thinking poses. "Hmm, your coat smells like perfume, the expensive kind. I found this," He pulled out a long strand of dark green hair, "on your sleeve. And you were muttering some girl's name over and over before I pounced on you. So, who are you going to be brining home?"
Link also regretted teaching Toony the tricks of investigation. He would be a better cop given enough time and dedication. "Ok, all right. I confess. I was with someone for a good portion of the night. Her name was Elincia."
Toony nodded and poured himself a bowl of his sugary concoction and then added whole milk to it. "So why wasn't she here with you? Did she find out you were a pig or did your lack of a personality throw her for a loop?"
Slugging his little brother on the shoulder, Link shook his head. "Nah, the only thing that ruined the evening was that one of her friends came up to the pad they rented for the evening. The friend thought I was just another piece of scum and basically shooed me away. I didn't want to make a scene, so I just walked away."
Toony shook his head and shoveled down the cereal. "What a bully."
Link rolled his eyes and rinsed out his cereal bowl. "Eh, her loss. By the way Toony, you lunch is in the refrigerator. I need you to run errands for me while I am out for work."
Toony drank the sludge of sugar flavored milk and placed his bowl in the sink. "Ok, I have the list in my room. As well as the checks. By the way, what kind of a lunch did you pack me?"
Link grabbed his lunch pail and made the way to the door as he spoke. "Well, I took the last of the casserole for my lunch today. I fixed you a peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwich with-"
"Again!? Blech, I swear if you make me another one of those I will cough up blood and die! Can't you make anything else for me?" Toony over-exaggerated by tossing himself on the sofa and looked as if he was going through a heart attack.
"You know, Toony, if you don't like it you are perfectly able to make your own lunch."
"...PB&J is fine. Thanks big brother." Ruffling Toony's head one last time, Link walked out the door attaching his sidearm and badge to his person. He would walk to his normal place where Marth would pick him up for carpooling since his car was out of commission with a broken transmission.
Marth sighed with some relief as he tied off his bathrobe. He had an hour to spare before he absolutely had to get his ass out the door. He knew he should have stopped at three, but he some how drank the entirety of the bottle and slept in later then he needed to. If the criminals weren't trying to kill him, his friends were driving him to drink himself to death.
He pulled off the facial mask he slept in, pealing the green plastic cling wrap like material off of his skin. Once he tossed that into the trash, he produced a long straight razor and a jar of Dead Sea Salt shaving gel. Flicking the razor open, he massaged the gel into his face, where he could feel some of the dead skin partials rubbed themselves from his face.
He ran the razor in a curve down his face, instead of directly down like most would do. He wiped the blade on the corner of the marble sink and continued to to the process. It the others found out about his morning rituals, they would probably mock him and then reinforce the homosexual rumors swimming around. "I am not gay, I am just more sophisticated then the norm." He whispered to himself as he continued to shave.
As he cleaned off the blade in running water, he flicked it shut and went back to his room to toss on his work clothes. Buttoned up dark blue shirt, dark gray dress pants and comfortable leather shoes. After making sure his hair was in an acceptable state, he grabbed his long coat and made it out side. He would grab some breakfast at his favorite coffee shop on his way to work. An egg white sandwich with green peppers, onions and ham washed down by a very bitter dark coffee.
He got into his car and turned the keys on the ignition. It looked as if it was going to rain today, at least in the morning. He rolled down the windows to get some fresh oxygen into the car and into the lungs. He cleared his mind of last night with his neighbor Caeda, who was waving to him in a skimpy see through nightgown as she put her mail out.. He shook his head and tried to focus on the road ahead of him.
That woman was in need of some professional help.
Ike's lungs burned as if they were on fire, sweat dripped from his brow onto the pavement beneath him. His breathing was heavy and labored. Yet he felt much better then what his body was telling his mind.
He had been up since five thirty in the morning, and running for the majority of that time. He looked down to his watch and saw that he had to be pulling in soon to get ready for the day ahead of him. He ran about eight miles in the span of an hour and a half, looping around the apartment complex after each mile. He had to make sure he wouldn't get fat and lazy, and a good morning jog would help him wake up.
As he reached the street that would lead him back to his apartment, he heard a roll of thunder akin to that of a bowling ball going down the lane. He picked up the pace, knowing that if the thunder was behind him, rain was also. The last thing he needed while he was investigating a murder case is to suffer a cold as well, which could contaminate crime scenes even if he could fully concentrate on them. He almost lost a case when he contaminated evidence which made him appear to be the one guilty.
He turned into the parking lot of the apartments and looked up to his room. He saw Aimee looking down at him, following him. It wasn't unusual, Ike thought in his head, she was usually up and about when he was finishing. But as he jogged up the stairs he noticed that her eyes were glued to him, specifically his mid section, as he often ran with out a shirt. While he wasn't a body builder or had muscles bigger then his head, he did have washboard abs and a fair amount on his arms.
As he slowed to a walk, her eyes were still transfixed on him. Ike felt a little uncomfortable with her practically drooling over him. She spoke once her eyes finally moved back up to his own. "So... did you have a good run?"
Ike noded and made his way to the door, but something pricked in the back of his mind that Aimee still had something to say to him. He unlocked the door and turned back around to see that she was suppressing something. She was fiddling with her hair and looked as if she was going to say something that made her sound crazy. She looked back to him and grunted. "Ike, I had a strange dream last night and-"
Ike chuckled. "Did it involve me for some reason?"
Despite herself, she let loose a single laugh. "Yes, yes it did. But it was weird and scary on how descriptive it was. You are probably think me crazy for it, but I feel I need to tell you it. "
Ike considered the idea of just slamming the door in her face, but she seemed disturbed If it was the least he could do was to get it off her chest, so be it. "I got the time. I just got to shower and get dressed for work."
She moved closer to him, and looked up into his eyes. "Fire. There was only fire. This wasn't just some random match, this was an inferno. I was in a building, bound by thick cords and trapped under pieces of smoldering and half burned wood. The smoke it was so real, I woke up with my breath held. I could hear you screaming for me, your body singed and your clothing burned as you searched for me. I could hear some noise in the background, like metal on metal. A lighter maybe. But you carried me out as I felt I was about to die."
Ike nodded thoughtfully. Either the woman had a night terror, her lust for him took over the rational dreaming brain, or she may have seen something from the future. He had some strange dreams that held an inkling of truth in reality, but it was nothing to drastic like that. "You must have had a nightmare."
She shook her head. "I wish it was, but I have learned that if a dream is this real, I has to be a foretelling of the future. Please, even though you think this is ridiculous, take heed of it. I do not know when it will come to pass but it will be soon. I beg of you, do not discard it."
Her hands flew out and grabbed his shoulders. He had the strong urge to yank away, but resisted it. He looked down into her eyes and suppressed a disgruntled sigh. "Very well Aimee. I will not discard it but I assure you it was a bad dream."
After a minute, she walked almost lobotomized like to her apartment and Ike turned on the shower. He grabbed his clothes and sack lunch Oscar prepared for him last night. The man was far too kind for his own good. After the shower, he would make sure his Glock was cleaned, oiled and loaded. After that, he had to make it to the Precinct, where hopefully they would find out what the hell was inside that flash drive that Warrio swallowed.
But as experience had taught him before, hope is nothing more then the first step down the long road to disappointment.
Alexander watched as the last of the three amigos came in and took their seats. He checked his watch. They had fifteen minutes to spare and each of them looked ready to tackle the case. The computer crime department hadn't discovered what exactly was on the encrypted drive, but were making steady progress with it. It would only be a matter of time for them.
He took another sip of his coffee, wincing at the bitter taste as he began to sign off on official orders and double checking reports. He needed to pull Malon aside and tell her the exact ratio of good coffee to water. It seemed to very from either too weak to strong enough you could cut it with a combat knife. Like many things in life, coffee needed to be consistent. And not something like a monkey pissed in battery acid.
He overlooked the arrest papers of some low level drug dealers. He had a stack and Sheik kept on brining more and more of them in for his review. The arrests were borderline pandemic, as more and more were being arrested by vice and undercover officers. There were always plenty of dealers in any large city, but the wares they had on them were something else.
Cocaine and heroin arrests were shooting up, pun not intended. The cocaine on the street was high end quality, and a quarter of an ounce was eighty dollars. Heroin was one hundred and twenty for half an ounce. And new nicknames and varies were popping up. Borec Bow, Hylian Heroin, Crimean Crack, Laguz Dust and the like.
He realized his pen was running dry and needed to refill it. He reached down to his drawer and pulled on it. Much to his surprise it slid open with ease. Odd, he thought he locked it last night. He pulled it open and looked around to see if there was anything missing.
Much to his surprise, nothing was missing. But something was added.
A small envelope, generic white letter type, was at the front with his name typed on it. He shook it, and heard paper tussling around and no sound that would lead to arsenic or anthrax. Still he held is breath and opened the letter. It was a newspaper clipping. He pulled it out and, satisfied there was no dust on it, looked at it.
His heart stopped as he realized what it was. It was an article of him with the title "Hero Cop Saves Many From Burning Building." It was ten years ago when this was taken, and Alexander tried to repress the memories of that day. But what caught his attention was the note written at the bottom of the article. It sent a shiver through his spine.
Remember, we ALL have our dirty little secrets. Don't we captain?
"What are you looking at?" Sheik asked as she came in with more paper work.
"Nothing Sheik." Alexander said as he grabbed the ink and placed the article in his desk. "Nothing at all."