Chapter 10 - Ghosts of the Past

Instinctively, Jay ducked, pulling Nya down with him. The girl tried to complain, but Jay pressed his hand against her mouth. "He can't see me here. We have to sneak out."

Nya pushed his hand away. "Okay, but don't do that again."

"Sorry."

Nya pushed Jay aside, keeping her body in a crouch as she led him through the maze of objects. Jay crawled behind her, doing his best not to make any sound. The chief's voice was louder now, causing the young cop's heart to beat even faster.

"We know Cole Brookstone came here before his death," the chief said, and Jay bit his lip, hoping the shopkeeper wouldn't mention him asking the same questions. "I want to know what he wanted."

"So many requests in only one day!" The shopkeeper laughed. "My shop has sure gained popularity, but not for the right reasons, no."

"The faster you answer the questions, the better it'll be for you."

The shopkeeper began to move, leading Chief Garmadon away from the door. Jay's body almost sagged with relief. When Nya moved again, he followed. He heard the shopkeeper's voice again. "There are many people who have bought things from me. Why, I do remember that small worker of yours buying very powerful sleeping herbs from me a couple of months back, but names, objects, they all blur together."

Sleeping herbs? Jay frowned, his mind attempting to make connections. Before he could do anything, however, Nya pulled him forward, dragging him out the door. "I thought you wanted to get out. Why'd you stay behind?"

"Sorry," Jay muttered again, "Ponytail guy was saying something about a cop buying sleeping herbs."

"Yeah, well some people do have trouble sleeping you know," Nya said, and Jay noticed the slight darkness under her eyes for the first time. "Not everything's part of the mystery."

They both headed towards the car, bits of drizzling rain still falling from the sky. Nya began to tap her finger against the wheel, a stressed frown pulling at her features. Jay watched her drive, running through different conversations to snap her away from whatever mental state she'd fallen into.

"You know, if the chief was at the shop, he must have his doubts about Kai," he finally said, breaking the almost suffocating silence. "If he truly believed he was to blame; he would have left the case alone."

Nya nodded, still silent.

"So," Jay continued, refusing to give up, "that gives us more time. If the chief believes something isn't right, he'll keep Kai in the police station. As long as Kai doesn't get sent to Kryptarium Prison, we should be able to get him out pretty easily, once we prove his innocence."

"Yeah," Nya nodded again. "We just need to figure this out."

"How about we dump all the information we have and just. . ." Jay took a deep breath, "talk about it over some hot chocolate? Pretty sure I have a bit of it at home. Plus, what better way to warm up from the rain, you know?"

The cop chuckled, feeling the blush rise to his cheeks. He expected the silence to elongate, expected Nya to stop the car, tell him he was being an idiot, and make him walk the rest of the way home. But instead, she smiled. It was a small, tired smile, one Jay had grown accustomed to seeing on his own face.

"Hot chocolate does sound nice," Nya said, and Jay beamed.

Once they returned to the apartment, Cole's head snapped up, and he stood from the spot on the floor he'd been laying upon. "You're back! Did you learn anything useful?"

"I'll get the hot chocolate, then we can talk about what we've learned," Jay said, with a brief look towards the ghost. Both him, and Nya nodded, and Jay headed into the small kitchen. Cole followed him, while Nya headed towards the window.

"What, you had hot chocolate and you never offered? I thought we were friends, Jay." The ghost leaned back against the wall, chuckling slightly as he remembered Jay's initial reaction upon meeting him.

After one look at Nya to make sure she wasn't listening, Jay responded in a soft voice. "Well, you want to try and drink some, be my guest."

"No thanks," Cole answered. "I'm pretty sure I'm liquid intolerant."

Jay chuckled softly. He dug through his possessions, finally coming up with all he needed. "You know; I really need to unpack one of these days."

Once the hot chocolate was ready, Jay headed back into the living room. "Sorry about the whole. . . no furniture thing. I still haven't quite settled into this place." Jay plopped down onto the wooden floor, and with a small shrug, Nya sat beside him. "Alright, well. . . What do we know so far?"

"You're really bad at home decorating, for one," Cole commented, and Jay gladly ignored him.

"Well, there's been three murders, if you include that one teacher who got killed a couple of days ago," Nya said. "And whoever did it, really likes strangling people."

"Wait," Jay shook his head. "Three murders? There was Cole, the teacher. . . and I thought that was it."

"You know that little town that got nearly wiped out by one of the earthquakes? Two days before, a man was murdered there."

"Huh," Jay frowned. "Then two out of the three had something to do with the earthquakes. The ones Cole was investigating. So we can assume he found out too much, and that's why he's dead."

"That's if we believe what Cole was looking into was more than just gibberish." Nya said. "It's just hard to believe someone could be causing these things, but it does give us a connection between everything."

"And we can't overlook that," the cop nodded, taking a small sip of his drink. "But that still doesn't give us many suspects. The shopkeeper seemed pretty suspicious, but if Cole went to the shop, why wait until he's back in his apartment to kill him?"

"It'd be a smart thing to do, if he wanted himself crossed out of the suspect list." Nya pointed out. "He's definitely hiding something. Murderer or not, there's something in that shop Cole needed. Maybe the chief will figure out what it was."

"Whoa, the chief was there?" Cole's eyes widened. "Man you are unlucky, aren't you?"

"No way he'll share any clues with me though." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, an idea sparked in Jay's mind. He shifted his eyes towards the ghost. "If only there was a way for us to know what he found out."

Cole smirked, giving Jay a brief salute. "Spying on people? Now that I can do."

The ghost stood, then headed through the door of the apartment. Jay turned back towards Nya, whose eyes were focused upon her cup. Jay noticed it was still full, heat beginning to dwindle down. "I'm sure we'll figure this out. We'll prove Kai's innocence, and put whoever killed Cole behind bars. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" Nya almost laughed. "How can I not? It's all I know how to do at this point. First, Kai and I lose both of our parents. We barely get through that. Then he's fine, and he finds someone to connect with at his job. Then that person ends up dying too. It's like we ride one tragedy after the other. Kai ending up in jail sounds more likely at this point."

"I'm sorry," Jay quickly added, feeling slightly startled at the sudden outburst. "But I'll have to disagree. He's not going to end up in jail. We're going to get him out. And I don't think you truly believe you two are destined to have bad luck. If you did, you wouldn't have done as much as you have."

Nya looked up, and Jay continued. "I mean, when it happened. . . You came out here, ready to solve it all on your own. So you do know it can be done."

"Well, I couldn't just not try to do something," the girl said, settling her cup down. "Kai's all I have, you know?"

"You will get him back," Jay's voice was a bit firmer now, and he was surprised at his own confidence. "I can promise you that."

"Can you?" Nya lowered her eyes. "I suppose we'll just have to see what happens."

Silence fell over them. Jay watched Nya's hands begin to tap against her leg. He recognized the movements all too well. As the atmosphere around them began to grow heavier, Jay looked through his mind, desperately searching for a way to help the girl before him.

"You know how I said my parents travel a lot?"

Nya looked up, merely raising her eyebrow in question.

"They actually don't," Jay chuckled, feeling the usual blush upon his cheeks. "They have a trailer, because they live in a junkyard. Growing up there was. . . quite the experience. Didn't have too many friends. I mean, who wants to hang out around a kid who smells like trash all the time? Now, if that didn't chase them away, my parents would. They're unique, to say the least."

"My parents were pretty nice." Nya's voice was soft, "but I didn't exactly have friends, either. We grew up in a pretty small town, you know, with the whole 'girls play this and boys play that' idea pretty deeply embedded. But dolls and those things were never really anything I enjoyed."

Jay smiled. "I bet. A girl who can punch like you didn't spend her childhood playing dress-up."

"Oh, I dressed up alright." Nya's lips mimicked Jay's smile. "I was more into pretending I was a samurai though."

"I'd pretend to be a ninja every once in a while. Fighting to keep Ninjago City safe! I'd make up all sorts of adventures." The cop laughed. "I didn't have any siblings, so I had to find a way to entertain myself. Luckily, that's not too hard to do when you live in a junkyard."

"Well, looks like you're living the dream then, now that you're a cop and all."

"Yeah . . ." Jay shrugged. "Just have to get used to it. I'm not the best at dealing with people, and I don't think I've made a good first impression."

"Well, if it means anything, I think you're alright."

The cop's blush deepened, and his smile grew wider. "Heh. Thanks."

"Now, how about you tell me more about these so called adventures of yours? Bet they're not half as exciting as mine."

Once Cole was out the door, he headed straight for Garmadon's apartment. The first thing his eyes went to was the TV, flashing with bright colors. It seemed to be a cartoon about a space hero, and something about it scratched at a memory within him. Cole looked away. He had a job to do.

Lloyd was sitting on the couch, his eyes wide and mouth even wider. Cole smiled, then briefly wondered what his own childhood had been like. Had he had a favorite cartoon, too? Had he ever stayed up past his bed time, maybe too immersed inside a book to care? What had his friends been like?

"Lloyd, please help me set up the table. Your dad will be home soon." Cole turned back towards the voice, watching as Misako stepped out of the kitchen with a couple of plates in her hands. Lloyd pouted, then sighed, reaching for the remote in order to turn off the TV.

"Okay, mom," he said, rushing to help.

Within seconds, the table had been set. Cole stood out of the way, watching as mother and son did their best to make a simple set up look welcoming. They managed to do an outstanding job. Cole felt a wave of longing.

"What do you think dad did today?" Lloyd said, pulling on a chair then climbing onto it.

"Lots of cool stuff." Misako ran a hand through her son's hair. "Why don't you ask him?"

"I will!"

Minutes later, Garmadon walked inside. Cole noticed his usual tired, angry features fading away into something more welcoming. Lloyd's eyes instantly lit up, and he stood up on his chair. "Dad!"

"Hey there, kiddo," Garmadon smiled, and Cole stared in amazement. "How was school today?"

"Boring," Lloyd said, slowly sinking back into his seat. "Well, me and Brad managed to scare Gene pretty badly. Now that was fun."

Garmadon shook his head. "Don't get into trouble now."

"I won't, I won't."

"So how was your day?" Misako said, setting the food down on the table. Garmadon pulled her in for a kiss, and both Cole and Lloyd grimaced.

"Same as usual," Garmadon shrugged, sitting down across from Lloyd. "Flintlock thinks he found. . . The one who's been behind everything, but I don't know. Something isn't quite right. I went to talk to this man about it today, but boy he was frustrating. Didn't really give me anything I didn't already know."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Once they were all seated, Lloyd jumped for the food, shoving it into his mouth. Misako gave him a look, which Lloyd responded to with an innocent smile. Cole chuckled.

"I sure hope so. I hate to think the man who killed Cole and Wu is still-"

Garmadon froze, flinching at his words. Misako covered her mouth with her hand, a small gasp escaping her lips. Lloyd's eyes shot up towards his father.

"I tried to shield Lloyd from it, he's too young to understand these things. I'd appreciate it if you didn't. . . say anything."

Cole remembered Misako's words, and felt the tension in the room grow. His hands turned into fists, and he wished he could reach out to the kid, watching as his green eyes glazed over his tears.

"Killed?" Lloyd turned towards his mother, a silent plea glowing in his eyes. "You said. . . Said he went away."

"Lloyd I . . . I didn't want you to worry, I just . . ."

Garmadon placed his hand on top of Misako's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "We thought it would be best to not . . . Worry about this too much."

"So you lied?" Lloyd pushed himself away from the table. "He's dead and you lied."

"Lloyd, please."

"No!" Lloyd shouted, stomping his small foot, tears running freely now. "You lied! He's . . . Cole's . . ."

With a few shuddering breaths and a shake of his head, Lloyd ran to his room, slamming the door shut. Cole followed.

The kid was hidden under a thick green blanket, small body occasionally shaking with sobs. Cole looked around the room, eyes lingering on the multiple drawings plastered around the wall. He recognized himself in a couple of them, and memories blurred in and out of his mind.

"I'm going to eat the most popsicles in a day," Lloyd announced proudly, hands on hips. "Break the world record!"

Cole laughed, handing him another popsicle. "Oh yeah? I'll write a story all about it."

"Then every kid in the world will want to be like me!" The kid took the next popsicle. "Do you think I'll be famous?"

"Oh, without a doubt, kid."

They heard footsteps down the hall. Then quickly recognized Misako's voice as she began to shout Lloyd's name. "Lloyd! Where are you?"

"Uh oh," Cole and Lloyd exchanged glances, looking down at the mess of popsicle sticks around them.

Cole's eyes wandered over to the next image, hungry for more information about himself.

"He did it again," Lloyd sniffed, wiping away a mess of tears. "Gene told everyone my dad would put them in jail if they tried to be my friend. Now even Brad's scared of me!"

"Aw, what?" Cole shook his head. "Brad should know better."

"But he doesn't, and now no one wants to play with me!"

"I still wanna play with you." Cole reached down, picking up the small boy. "How about we go get some ice cream, and think of a battle plan to get back at Gene?"

Lloyd chuckled a bit. "Okay!"

Next image.

"Duck!" Lloyd shouted, dropping to the ground. Cole followed suit, and they both dodged an invisible attack from an imaginary enemy. Lloyd's face glowed with determination. "Phew! That was close."

"We've got this," Cole said, handing Lloyd a stick, then reached for one himself. He held it before him as if it were a sword. "C'mon, kid. Team attack."

Lloyd nodded. "Team attack."

Cole sat upon the bed, sighing. He'd felt useless. He couldn't even help a kid. Focusing on his hand, Cole gently placed it upon Lloyd's shoulder. "I'm here little buddy."

The kid stiffened for a brief moment, then slowly began to relax. Cole stayed, waiting for Lloyd's sobs to turn into silent breathing, as he slowly drifted off to sleep.