Laxus parked his car right in front of the house. It was a small brown colored triangle pointed roof house, a cliché of a house you can find almost anywhere around the city.
The two got out of the vehicle and walked towards the front door. "Hey mister!" A little girl playing kickball with a friend came over to them, stopping them from going up the stairs onto the porch.
"Um, hello there." Laxus greeted the two.
"Are you two like cops or something?" The little girl asked them.
"Maybe," Gildarts told her. "So what brings you here little girl?'
"Are you here to visit the nice blondie who lives here?" She asked them while giving the two an innocent smile.
"Oh you know who lives here?" Maybe Laxus could get a bit of info on the Strauss sister before going and knocking on the door.
"I think her name was Lisanna or something like that." The girl's friend said.
"Well we know that much as well," Gildarts chuckled as the two kids gave them information they already knew. "Anything else besides that?"
"She hasn't gotten out of her house in the last few days." The little girls answered.
"And her cats have been meowing a lot lately." The boy added.
"She has cats?" Gildarts asked nervously.
"Not fond cats now, agent?" Laxus snorted, holding back his laughter.
"I have cat allergies, so yes, I'm not fond of cats." Gildarts rolled his eyes at the Detective.
"Yeah, she has 3 of them," the little girl held up three fingers. "Snowball, Cherry, and Rick."
"Alright, thanks for the lovely information children," from the corner of the detective's eye, the next door neighbor looked at them, probably the little girl was their daughter. "Now run along now, I think your mother is calling you."
The two children looked behind, back from where they came from and then looked back at them. "Okay now, bye." The two of them said in together and ran back into the direction they came from.
"Cute children." Gildarts said as he saw the two children head back inside their house.
"Would it be too soon to say that I want a kid?" Laxus scratched his head.
"Yes, yes it would be," Gildarts answered. "Come on now detective we have someone to meet."
"Right." The two continued on with their task and walked up onto the porch.
Laxus rang the doorbell in hopes of the Strauss sister, Lisanna, answering whilst Gildarts peeked through the window as best as he could while the drapes covered most of the view. "Hello, Ms. Strauss, are you home?" Laxus continued to ring the bell.
"Try knocking." Gildarts suggested.
Just as Laxus was about to knock, the door slightly opened by itself with the sudden breeze. "It's not locked?" The detective instantly looked at the agent.
"I'll go through the back." Gildarts whispered as he took out his gun and quietly headed out to the backyard through the side passage.
Laxus took out his gun and slowly opened the door with his left hand. "MPD!" Laxus yelled out into the house.
Slowly, he entered the house. Only the sounds of his footsteps, the floor creaking as he took his steps and the sound of a leaky faucet coming from the kitchen can be heard. The first room he entered was the living room. For the most part, everything looked clean besides the mess on the coffee table and the TV on.
He made it towards the kitchen where he met up with Gildarts. "Anything?" He whispered.
"Nothing yet." The two split up once again.
Gildarts headed upstairs whilst Laxus took the basement. Just as he opened the door to the basement, an awful stench hit him like a brick wall. "Oh god…" His stomach instantly turned green.
He covered his mouth and nose with his jacket. He held his breath once more before mustering up the strength to enter the basement.
He slowly walked down the stairs until something caught his attention. A decomposed dead body inside a carton box under the room's flickering light. "Oh…" The body made the smell a bit more gruesome now.
"Nothing upsta-" Gildarts cut his own sentence when he inhaled the odor of death as he went downstairs with Laxus. "Bwuuh…" He held both his breath and vomit.
"I think I found her…" Laxus told him, still trying hard not to vomit himself.
Gildarts put his gun away and placed both his hands over his mouth and nose and continued to press on to go down into the basement. "How long has she been down here!?"
"I give it more than a week old." Laxus did the same thing as Gildarts.
They approached the box. "There's something on the wall…" Though there was light, it was dim, which made it hard for it to see the rest of the basement.
Thankfully, the light was movable and Laxus pointed the light at the body of wall.
What they saw only sent shivers through their spines. LET'S PLAY A GAME, DETECTIVE, were the words that were written in blood on the wall.
…
A few more patrols were called out to the house and the MEs as well.
"Who could do this to another human being?" Evergreen said, wearing a face mask as she took out the bloodied bones from the box and placing them on a white sheet next to her.
The room was now filled with bright LED lights. "A psychopath." Freed said as he helped her with the bones.
"Now, now, not all murderers are psychopaths." Bickslow said, taking pictures of the box, the bones and the words on the wall.
"Can it you three." Laxus told them, now wearing a face mask himself.
"Sorry boss." The three finally shut their yaps.
"We found nothing around the house sir." A cop came down the stairs and informing the detective.
"Alright." As he saw the grunt cop going away, Gildarts came back down to the basement with a face mask as well.
"How are the MEs doing?" Gildarts asked.
Laxus only nodded his head towards them, telling him to look for himself.
Gildarts looked towards them. "Oh."
"Oi, detective, you said that the girl also had cats?" Freed asked.
"Yeah, well, the neighbor's little girl told us." Laxus answered.
"Would you tell the other officers to look for them? They probably starved and they may have started to eat the body." Freed continued.
"I'll go and tell them," Gildarts happily volunteered. "Just looking at this place makes my stomach hurt." And with that, the agent rushed out of the basement.
Laxus now walked towards the trio. "Anything that could tell you the cause of death?"
"The body was severely eviscerated," Evergreen showed Laxus the deep cuts on the bone. "It's too early to assume any cause of death."
"Is it also too early to assume this is the assassin's sister as well?" Laxus had hoped.
"No, the bones are really the woman's." Bickslow said as he continued to take more pictures.
"Yeah, the bone structure tells us that this was a Caucasian woman in her late 20's, early 30's, all that fit the sister." Freed said.
"I was hoping it wasn't." Laxus deeply sighed.
"Once we get back to the lab, I'll do some DNA tests and Levy can put image on the skull with her computer, just to be sure about it." Evergreen told him an in attempt to bring some of his stress down.
"Alright." Laxus massed the his neck with his right hand.
"Shouldn't you be more worried about who killed her and about the message they left you?" Bickslow looked at Laxus and the blood written message on the wall simultaneously.
"You think it was the sister?" Freed threw in another question.
"No, it's probably just some other psychopath." Evergreen answered.
"I think it was the sister."
"Are you only saying that because I think not?"
"I think Evergreen is right, I think it's someone else who's trying to play a game with the detective."
"Oh come on, you guys really believe that?"
The three of them started to bicker once more only causing Laxus to get a migraine from it. "WILL YOU GUYS SHUT THE HELL UP!?" Laxus yelled at them and like that, silence ensnared the room.
"Sorry boss." The trio said in synchronization.
"Thank you."
…
The day went by quickly. Laxus was now back in his office doing finishing his paperwork.
A familiar petite bluenette scientist came by his office. "Are we still on with our date tonight?"
"Hmm," Laxus turned to look at the door and saw Levy standing right in front of it. "Oh, hey Levy." He didn't sound to enthusiastic upon seeing her enter his office.
"I guess that's a no," she saw this coming but still, Laxus being stumped and overworking was killing her mood. "Staying the night?"
"Unfortunately," Laxus stopped writing, placed the pencil on the papers and wiped away sweat from his face. "I'm really sorry about this."
"Don't be," though she wanted to spent the rest of the day with him, Levy knew that the case was important. "I heard the way you found her was pretty bad."
"Yeah, it was." He could still remember the gruesome image of the body inside the box under the flickering dim light in the basement. An image like that would always linger in the back of your head in this line of work.
Levy walked closer to his desk. "Bickslow also showed me the blood written message on the wall," she grabbed his left hand with both of her hands. "Aren't you at least bit worried about it?" She nervously asked him.
"Just a tiny bit," Laxus truthfully told her. "Don't worry, if the message is directed at me, I won't let anything happen to you."
"You promise?" Levy asked.
Laxus gently dragged Levy towards him, hugging and caressing each other on the chair. "I promise."
"Ahem!" Suddenly, Gildarts caught their attention towards him.
"Oh uh, hey." The two quickly separated and acted like nothing happened in front of the agent.
"I should be going now," Levy now walked out of the room. "See you back at home."
"See you." He waved goodbye at her.
"Well that was unexpected." Gildarts entered the office.
"Sorry about that." Laxus scratched behind his ear, embarrassed that the agent had to see that happened in his face.
"It's fine really," Gildarts took the chair across from Laxus. "Anyways, I'm here to tell you that my work here is officially done."
"What? Does your boss not think that what happened to Lisanna Strauss is not connected in anyway to what happened to Mirajane?" Laxus felt his anger coming up. Does the FBI not have the decency to at least check up into it?
"Sorry man, as much as I want to continue this, my boss just wanted me to investigate the Dark Rose case and it's finally been cracked by his standards," Gildarts deeply sighed at the news he's given the blonde detective. "I have to go back now."
"Alright I guess," the anger he felt inside was no longer there. "It was nice working with you man." Laxus stood up from his chair and with his right hand, tried to shook his hand.
Gildarts did the same thing, firmly griping his hand for the handshake. "Yeah you too," just as he was about to head out, he stopped right in the office's door way. "Oh almost forgot."
"What?" Laxus stared blatantly at the agent.
"You told me back in the car drive that you were nervous about getting an engagement ring for your girl," Gildarts told him. "If you love her a lot and vice versa, don't be nervous, she'll definitely say yes."
"That's some good advice." Laxus said.
"Yeah, if you say it with your heart, she'll definitely say yes." Gildarts continued.
"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Laxus thanked him for the advice.
"Alright now, see you again." Gildarts finally left.
Soon after Gildarts left, Laxus got himself up from his chair and went down to the ME's office where the body was.
Several minutes of wandering around the Department, he finally made it to the basement. As he entered, the only ME in sight was Evergreen. "Hey." Laxus greeted as he entered.
"Oh hey, just the man I was looking." Evergreen turned to look at the blonde detective while writing down something on her clipboard.
"Just came down here to see your progress," on the table laid the bones of whom seem to be Lisanna Strauss. "Where are the other two?"
"Freed went home already and Bickslow was going to grab something to eat." Evergreen answered.
"Did you find the cause of death?" Laxus moved along to the topic at hand.
"Yes," she brought him along closer to the autopsy table where the bones were cleaned and organized in the way it should look in a body. "Upon closer inspection, I found a couple of stab wounds." She explained her findings. "Common kitchen knife was used, but the extent of the attack was brutal."
"How brutal?" Laxus asked.
"The person was stabbed at least 15 to 20 times in the abdomen, but not fast, but slowly, as if the killer was enjoying giving the person the stabs." Evergreen explained further.
"Geez, overkill might not be the right word for this." Laxus had an alarming stare to his face as he gazed at the broken bones in the chest area where the stab was made.
"You're telling me." Evergreen took a seat on her chair, exhausted at the work she's done.
"Have you notified her brother?" Laxus asked.
"Yeah, says he's coming by tomorrow." Evergreen sighed.
"When he comes, which body are you going to show him first?" Laxus took the seat next to her.
"Why not both at the same time?" Though she's showed people their loved ones before, this was the first time Evergreen had to show sisters killed from different sides: one who was killed slowly and the other who worked as an assassin who, predictably, died in her line of work.
"I guess." Laxus deeply sighed.
"You had plans with Levy didn't you?" Evergreen asked.
"Yeah, too bad my work life is getting in the way." Laxus slowly turn his chair from left to right, steering it with his legs.
"I'm sure she understands, she's in the same line of work as you," Evergreen told him. "Oh well, not exactly but she still handles the evidence and stuff."
"Yeah I guess you're right about that," she was right. There have been many times where the two had to work overnight, still that never really stopped their relationship before. "Speaking of Levy, I wanted to ask your opinion on something."
"And that is?" Evergreen waited for him to tell her.
"How… do I propose to Levy?" He mustered up the strength to finish his sentence.
"You're asking my opinion on that?" Evergreen was slightly shocked to hear this words come from his mouth, out of all people.
"I figured since you're a girl, your opinion would be rather insightful." Laxus explained.
"While I respect you for having to come for me for this advice, I'm going to have to tell you that you're barking up the wrong tree buddy." Evergreen fixed her glasses.
"Oh come on, help me out here." Laxus wept fake tears.
"Just be yourself, is how she fell in love with you in the first place." Evergreen assured him of that.
"I know that, it's just, the way I need to plan it." Laxus told her. His heart was in the right place, just not sure which direction it wants to go.
"Look, the way I see this for you is two options." Evergreen said, clearing her throat.
"Two?" Laxus gave her a puzzled stare, not sure about what options she's talking about.
"1. Go out of your comfort zone and do something with her you've never done with her, most likely, she'll say yes when you two are done and you're on your knees proposing to her," Evergreen held her index finger up. She now took out her middle finger, marking the number as 2. "Or 2., do some type of cliché and hope for the best."
"Out of my comfort zone? That sounds a bit more complicated than anything else." Laxus scratched his head as he thought of other ideas.
"Trust me, as long as you tell her from the bottom of your heart, she'll say yes." Evergreen looked at her wristwatch and got up from her chair.
"I'll tread fully take your advice." Laxus did the same thing.
"Then I'm glad I helped." Evergreen gave him a small but reassuring smile.
"Yeah, thanks."
…
Erza was now back at her hotel room. The police guards had finally let her go home.
In her pajamas, she laid on her bed, staring at her roof of her apartment. RIING! Her phone started to ring.
She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Jellal, calling for the fifth time in a row. She chose to ignore the first 4 calls, as she was conflicted at what everything that has transpired in the last few days.
Her phone continued to beep. As much as she wanted to continue to ignore his calls, she finally chose to answer him. "Hello?" She greeted followed by a sigh.
"Erza, why have you been ignoring me?" She could hear the annoyance in his voice.
"Sorry, I was in the shower." She lied, hoping it was enough for him to back off of her.
"You know what, whatever," he didn't bother to ask more questions about the earlier calls. "I was just calling to ask if you know what happened to Mirajane."
Mirajane, the least person Erza wanted to think about before going to sleep. "What about her?"
"One of my contacts says that the MPD found her dead body near the beach," Jellal told her. "Did you have something to do about that?"
"She was interfering with my contract, so I has to dispose of her." Erza couldn't lie at him forever.
"Is that so?" Jellal asked. His tone quickly changed from anger to intrigued.
"Yeah." She sighed once more.
"Good riddance I suppose." Jellal didn't know how to feel about her being killed by Erza much less by any other person.
"Is this the only thing you called me about?" Erza yawned.
"My client is getting impatient, he wants to know when you're going to kill you-know-who." Jellal told her about his predicament with his client.
"I got it." As much as Erza thought she was prepared, she wasn't, not yet anyways.
"I'll give you 2 more weeks," Jellal gave her a deadline. "If he's not dead in 2 weeks or less, I'm going to send Dobengal to finish the job."
"What!? You're giving me a deadline!?" Erza raised her voice at her phone. She always took her time seducing and killing her targets, but now she was given a deadline. It absurd her that much that Jellal would do that. "And why on earth will you send him?"
"You're taking way too long on this contract," Jellal told her. "That's why I also sent Minerva to deal with that detective and the rest of the cops."
"Out of all the people to distract the cops, you sent her?" Minerva was unstable and much less unpredictable. She'd kill pretty much anyone if it pleases her.
"Yeah," Jellal answered. "Like I said, you have 2 weeks, don't disappoint me."
"Hold up." She stopped him from hanging up.
"What?' He waited for her to respond.
Mirajane's words echoed through her brain again. Would she ask him of her parents again? Would she ask him if he's lied to her before. All these things ran through her head but none of which she'll speak of anytime soon. "You know what, never mind."
"Fine, I guess." And Jellal finally hanged up.
Erza took the phone away from her ear and placed it back on her bed. You have 2 weeks, don't disappoint me Erza, those were the final words that echoed through her head before finally going to sleep.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it. This also marks the new arc in this story. This was also the last chapter of the "Mirajane Arc" if that's what I'll call it for now.
Also, back in chapter 2 or 3, I said that the rating of the story might change to that of M. Sooner or later, the moment will come but not yet just in case of that's not your cup of tea.
Before ending this, I want to know how you feel about the story so far. Predictions and your theories on what's going to happen next are welcomed
Like I said, hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you next time.