AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter takes place the day after the confrontation. By the time Dahlia poisons Doug Swallow in this fic, Mia's visiting Maya, Phoenix and Iris.
Phoenix Wright: Everything Gone Wright
Chapter 9: Dahlia's Escape
Dahlia came out of the Pharmacology building, thinking quickly. She had just poisoned Doug Swallow, being able to slip the poison in his drink while he wasn't in his lab, and then hiding in an obscure place until he drank it. She was sure he was dead, as she had checked his heart; it had stopped beating entirely. She now knew she had but one avenue of escape; she had to get out of the University before she was caught. She quickly made her way to her dormitory, grabbing a couple of necessary things and putting them in a small pink handbag: Some money, a few things to keep up her appearance, and a couple of books just in case.
She tried her best not to break into a full run as she exited the dormitory; instead she kept a steady fast pace as she walked across the campus. Her mind was currently racing; she never thought about where to actually go after carrying out this plan. She made sure the poison vial was in her bag; if she had left it at the scene she would have been convicted. Of course, her having on her wasn't a good idea either; if the police found and searched her, she'd be arrested as well. But she figured it was better to have it where she can keep an eye on it.
'First thing's first', she thought, 'I have to hide this vial somewhere... somewhere they'll never find it!'
She walked past groups of people, not daring to look back - many people gave her looks as she passed by them. She knew that almost every boy on campus would look at her - she did maintain that 'innocent bystander' look, but she didn't pay them any mind. Right now, she had to dispose of the vial, and fast. She finally broke into a run, passing the Science and Mathematics buildings, and finally out of the campus itself, and up the hill towards Hazakura Temple.
It was finally warming up around the area; the grass and trees finally began looking more green. Dahlia passed by all of them, running up the mountain, determined to get rid of the vial. She listened intently as she dashed, looking out for any sounds of sirens or megaphones. Her free time was short; she had to be free of the evidence, by any means necessary.
Finally, Hazakura Temple came into focus to her left, but she kept going, heading for Dusky Bridge. She had a quick thought; she could easily drop the vial into the Eagle River. There it would wash off her fingerprints, and, if she was lucky enough, the vial itself would shatter.
She ran up to Dusky Bridge, and began to cross, taking care to step over the plank that had snapped off during her last encounter with her sister and the spiky-haired idiot... and then, she took out the vial. With one great heave, she threw the vial as far as she could, and watched it fly through the air. It spun rather ferociously, and fell into the Eagle River with a small splash.
'Well, that's that...' she thought. 'They no longer have any evidence linking me to Dougie's murder... hee hee.' She decided that her next task was to seek out Iris, and more importantly, 'Feenie.' She walked up to Hazakura Temple, determined to get answers out of the nun, Sister Bikini, this time around.
Bikini noticed her coming, and she immediately shuddered, thinking, 'Oh no, here she comes... what does she want with me!?'
Dahlia walked up to Bikini, and didn't bother trying to look innocent. "Why, hello there, Sister... I've come for answers."
Bikini straightened up; well, as much as she could without her back hurting. "W-What do you want!?" she screeched, immediately hobbling over again. "What do you want with me!?"
"Oh calm down, you fat nun," Dahlia's voice resounded. "I just want to know where that backstabber of a sister and that spiky-haired idiot went. And I want to know now."
Bikini stepped back. "I'm not telling you!" Her scared voice resounded back, showing her fear.
Dahlia smirked. "Afraid of me, are we?" Her smirk widened. "Afraid of getting hurt?"
"You... you're not going to kill me, are you!?" said Bikini.
Dahlia just smirked wider. "Oh no. I may kill people who cross me, but even I'm not as petty to try to harm someone for information, let alone kill them..." She then put on her sweet, innocent face, and continued, "...But I just want to know where they've gone... can't you tell little old me?"
Bikini rose an eyebrow. "You know as well as I do that I won't fall for that..."
Dahlia looked quite angry. "Fine. If you won't tell me, I'll seek them out myself!"
"And that could take hours, days, weeks..." said Bikini.
"Not really..." Dahlia again smirked. "I know they went to the city, or somewhere near there. They couldn't've gone too far..." She then began walking off. "And I'll find them. No matter how long it takes, I will find them!"
Bikini watched Dahlia go off, and sighed. She hoped that they were far away by now, but she also knew that if they had found Mia and Maya by now, that they would be safe and hidden from harm. She thought of writing them a letter just in case, but then she feared that Dahlia would hunt her down in the end. She decided to go back to the Temple to rest her hurt back. She had to stop flipping over the snowmobile in the winter months.
Dahlia walked on down the mountain. She decided that she would go to the city, and search around for any sign of them. She reached the train station, and went ahead and got a ticket, wearing her innocent guise to fool everyone. She didn't want to take the risk of any law enforcements seeing her, but thankfully the metal detector guard wasn't paying attention, and didn't recognize her. She slipped into the train and rode into the city...
She sat down on one of the train seats, thinking about everything that has happened so far. Did she regret it? Of course not. She had to shut Doug up before he let her secret loose in conversation. But now, most importantly, she needs to get rid of the two people that crossed her - Phoenix and Iris. As the train sped across the tracks, she thought about how she would deal with them. She knew that confronting them would again be a bad idea, since she remembers what happened last time.
She would simply have to deal with them indirectly somehow.
The train came to a halt in the city; Dahlia exited the train, passing by the guards. Since no word of Doug's death had reached the town yet, the guards had no reason to search her, and she made it out of the station and into the city.
She used her hours wisely. She checked stores, the park, the carnival, anywhere where she thought she might catch where the two of them were. Unfortunately, she came up short; she never was able to find them.
Until she went by the train station again... she saw them. Spiky-hair, then her black-hair twin... and...
Mia Fey...? Dahlia couldn't believe it. They had found Mia Fey of all people? The one who exposed her lies in court and almost got her convicted for framing Terry Fawles...? But, before she could start walking towards them, they had already gotten on the train and it sped off. She decided she would wait; she had no idea where they were going. It was getting dark pretty quickly by now; she had searched the city for hours looking for them before now. And she had no place to sleep.
Until a door opened in the residential area and a woman saw her walking around. She called out, "You shouldn't be out this late! It's dangerous!" Dahlia turned around.
"I can handle it," she responded with her sweetest smile.
"Well, do you have a place to stay?" the woman asked. When Dahlia shook her head, she continued, "Come in, come in, everyone needs a place to sleep. There's nobody else here, and I don't think it's good for you to sleep outside... there's thieves and burglars in the city."
"Ah... thank you," said Dahlia, still wearing her innocent guise. 'Heh. Works every time, I guess.' She went inside, and the door shut.
Tomorrow, she would find them... she knew it. She would do whatever it took to make sure they were taken care of...
To Be Continued...
