10 - The countdown starts...
Time for a new episode! And as you can see, the countdown has finally started.
This time we have a murderer on the loose! Um, just if you like, I will leave the mysteries unsolved in every part so that you can guess the answer as well. I'd be delighted to hear if I managed to make good mysteries!
Also, for news and information about my stories, please visit my web page! The things I write there will not be repeated here, so in case you're interested, you'll find the link to my web page from my profile.
EPISODE 08: Restlessness Part 01 Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
Link followed Chill into the office, having a weird feeling that the boy who was claiming to be their new partner wasn't actually any older than fifteen. However, when Chill stopped at the door to glance back at him to see if he was coming, he saw from his eyes that he couldn't be fifteen. In those eyes was something he couldn't explain, but it definitely didn't belong to a teenager.
He walked past Chill into the office, the boy following close behind and shutting the door. He walked to the desk and sat down on one of the chairs, lifting his boots on the table just like he did with Roy. How would Chill be any different?
Chill sat down on the chair opposite his, looking directly into his eyes. They looked at each other for a while before the boy said: "Do you have any idea why I'm working with the two... you?"
"To be honest, no." Link answered, just a few seconds before Chill's eyes had been icy, their gaze piercing through his skin, but now his eyes were kind... or as kind as they could be. He could feel a wave of memories run through him; Chillw as sitting on the same chair as Roy had sat on when they had first met, he had almost the same expression on his face as well.
Chill smiled. "It's because you don't think. You only investigate. I'm here to think."
"Roy usually does the thinking here..." Link said absent-mindedly.
"Well, that explains why Boss hired me." Chill snorted, still smiling. He hadn't wanted Link to remember the redhead; he wanted to ditch him because he was useless. Anyone could deduce what someone was thinking about. Psychologists were just a bunch of swindlers like fortune-tellers, they trusted that people were taken in by their fancy terms and complicated methods, stealing their money in the process.
That wasn't even the part he disliked most in Roy. He didn't even know the redhead, but he had seen that the two of them were very close. If he ever wanted to get close to Link, he would need to be with him more than Roy. He knew that wouldn't be a problem as long as the child was in the hospital, but after he would get home he would need to come up with some other plan. If necessary.
"So, tell me about yourself." Chill said with a smile.
Link glanced at his legs quickly; a suspicious thought running through his head but he dismissed it quickly. The memory of Roy coming to his office for the first time was messing with his mind; otherwise he knew he wouldn't be feeling the way he was. "Uhh… I'm a crime scene investigator, I gradu-"
"Mm-hm." Chill cut him off; he already knew that, it was a waste of time repeating it. "Where do you like to go to?"
"Huh?" Link was taken aback by the sudden question.
Chill leaned forward a bit, leaning his head and flashing a smile. "Something more personal, Link. That's what I'd like to know."
"You do know we're here to work, right?" The elf asked, a little confused with what was going on. He didn't quite understand Chill. At least not yet.
"Does that mean no office romances?" The boy questioned jeeringly.
"No… but…" The elf finally started to realise what the boy was after. He was being pretty direct of it anyway, why hadn't he noticed it before? The boy's eyes were fixed on his, and somehow their gaze began to feel nice. It wasn't scary anymore now that Link knew what the boy wanted. That gaze that seemed so cold and full of hatred was actually nice and caring. He was so confused. He couldn't understand why he was feeling what he was; he had no idea how to act.
"Well, then, what's holding you back?" The silver-haired boy queried.
"Is this why you called me here?" He asked, dodging the question yet again.
"No, but I'd like to get to know you better. " The boy admitted with a fond smile as he looked at his feet. "How about something like… dinner?"
"Well, sure…" Link said, a little astonished by the way Chill came onto him. It was something completely different he had ever experienced before and it made him feel… adored. Wanted. Something Roy had never made him feel.
He could feel his ego boosting up, becoming stronger and more confident. With Roy he had never heard any kinds of compliments or love confessions, only stuttering or blushing. He had never before even thought about it, but now that Chill was asking him out in such a straightforward way, he understood that he had only been waiting for Roy's confessions. And what had he got? ...He had waited in vain.
He quickly dismissed all of those thoughts, glancing at his watch. It was only 7:22. No wonder his thoughts were running in such a strange way. "What should we do?"
"Ah, yes." Chill got up ad fetched a pile of files from one of the drawers, jumping a little to reach. "…I have been troubled by this case for a while now. I don't think you're aware of this, but a lot of very crude murders have happened here in just a few months."
Link looked at him with a puzzled expression for a while. "Why hasn't it been on the news?"
"The S.F.B.I. wishes to keep it a secret from the masses to avoid panic." Chill said. "As you can agree, we don't want any of that."
"Of course not." Link agreed, nodding.
„This is a very troublesome case, because the murderer leaves clues behind. The victims aren't connected in any way. With every new victim we have found a new clue to when and where the next murder will be. So far I haven't been able to figure the-" He was cut off by the phone as it rang. Chill picked up the receiver, looking at Link as he said his name.
Through the brief phone call, Link watched his new friend. Chill reached barely his chest, but he didn't seem unfriendly at all. Maybe he was a bit strange, hard to be with before one got to know him, but Link was positive that under his icy-looking shell he was a very nice person. And he was also pretty sure that he wasn't thinking that only because Chill was coming onto him in such a wonderful manner.
"24th Avenue, one victim." Chill said as put the receiver down, waking him up from his thoughts.
Link got up to start going, saying: "We need to drive by the hospital to take Roy with us."
"Isn't it more important that he stays with the child?" Chill asked casually.
Link sighed as he put his jacket on. "Yeah, I guess so."
"I know so." Chill said, sailing into the corridor past him.
As they got to the murder scene, there were tons of officers investigating already. They were buzzing all around the body, making it hard for the two of them to get anywhere near it. A few ambulances had arrived as well, their blue lights flashing to inform danger to the pedestrians on the busy street.
"Has the victim been identified yet?" Link asked as the walked towards the swarm of officers. The blood from the victim had sprayed far, making the street look very gruesome.
"No and I doubt he ever will be." Chill answered, his icy gaze focused on the statue of a rider behind the victim.
Link looked at him, surprised: „Why?"
„Because there's no head."
Link nodded slowly, feeling a gush of disgust tangling his guts. „Oh..."
Chill glanced at him quickly, a devilish smile tugging at his lips. „Disgusted?"
The elf didn't get to answer as he saw a familiar brunette walking on the other side of the road. A quick thought ran through his head; now would be his chance to talk with Vyse! Now he could talk to him alone without Marth hearing! He didn't want to talk to the brunette about what he had seen in front of Marth because the noble might get mad at him for accusing his boyfriend for something as unbelievable as that.
The elf hurried across the street, avoiding the cars honking at him. For a passing moment he knew how it felt like to be the deer in the headlights just seconds before the crash, the bright lights and the long honking rose his adrenaline even though he knew he was rational enough not to run under a car. The thought brought Young Link back to his mind, the peaceful, pale face against the whiteness of the sheets, sleeping calmly. Panic tried to take him over, but he fought it.
„Vyse!" Link shouted as he finally got to the other side of the street, the memory of Young Link's face still flashing before him.
The teenager's walking slowed down as he looked around upon hearing his name. He didn't see anyone who would be calling for him so he sped up again, wondering if he had only heard voices from his head.
„Vyse!" This time Vyse stopped, looking around again. That was when he saw Link running to him and couldn't help feeling a little curious about his business since he had never thought Marth's friends would want to become friends with him because he was so much younger than them. He smiled as Link reached him, subconsciously noting that his white button-down shirt hadn't been ironed.
„'Ello!" The brunette greeted with a confident smile.
Link only nodded to him with a smile as he caught his breath. "Vyse…"
„Yeah?" Vyse asked, feeling a tiny knot in his stomach. He didn't like the expression on Link's face; it was too solemn for their meeting to be a happy coincidence. This was something serious, maybe it was about the child that had been taken to the hospital or maybe something... had happened to Marth? The thought alone made his eyes widen and he gasped sharply before realising that he was only assuming, he could be completely wrong as well.
Link had seen his reaction from the corner of his eye, knowing that he had caught the boy. Vyse had probably thought that as long as he could avoid Marth's friends no one would find out that Peach was paying him to be with Marth and play with him, but he had been wrong, oh, so very wrong.
„Vyse... You need to stop playing before it's too late." Link said when he could breath normally again. He would've wanted to say something like ‚I want you to know that Marth's love can be bought only until a certain extent', but that wouldn't lead anywhere. He didn't know Vyse so he acted like he acted with Roy; extremely carefully not to aggravate him.
„W-what?" Vyse asked, his eyes wide. He had absolutely no idea what the elf was talking about. He wasn't into sports in any way, what game would he need to stop playing?
„I saw you with Peach, accepting money from her." The elf said calmly. „I care about Marth and I don't want you to play with him just because that bitch is paying you."
„Oh me God..." Vyse said, scratching the back of his head. He was desperately trying to come up with a simple explanation that wouldn't ruin his face in front of Marth's friends. He didn't want to say that he had cheated the money from Peach because they had had a deal and he had failed it. That wouldn't make him sound like a good lover. „Hey, look! Ya got it all wrong!" He said quickly to buy more time.
Link sighed. He knew Chill was waiting for him but he had waited for a moment alone with Vyse so long and he was not going to let this drop. Marth had done him a favour when he had let him go and now was his chance the return the favour by freeing him before Vyse would break his heart. „How come this doesn't always come up when you confront someone about something?"
„No, really! Listen to me!" Vyse said, buying even more time. But no matter how much he thought, he couldn't come up with a better explanation that the truth. He looked around, pained, wondering what kind of a twisted image Link would get of him then.
„Fine. Talk." The elf said solemnly, crossing his hands on his chest and tapping the ground with his foot. The other pedestrians dodged them rather well, at times maybe an elbow or a bag hitting them softly on the side, followed with a quick ‚I'm sorry.' No one cared about them, they were just talking to each other on a sunny day, Vyse knew he couldn't even escape. Not from an S.F.B.I. agent.
He sighed heavily as he began his story: „At first... A friend of mine, Jake... he knows Peach from somewhere, told me that she needed someone who could be trusted. Jake told me she'd give me 200 dollars if I did something for her. Who wouldn't accept a simple job for 200 dollars, eh?" Vyse laughed nervously, feeling highly uncomfortable under Link's accusing glare. „Ehh... So I went down to her place and she showed me this picture of the three of ya that was all smudged and all, telling me to seduce the one in the middle. Then she just called me one night and told me where ya guys are and I came... But at first I was supposed to seduce you!" Vyse finished, pointing at the elf, his eyes wandering everywhere without ever meeting with the Hylian's eyes.
It was Link's turn to be surprised. And oppressed. „Me?"
Vyse smiled sheepishly as he continued, drawing a circle to the ground with his shoe. „At that time I had no idea it was you... I thought it was Marth since I saw Roy with him first, but when Marth told me about Roy getting married and leaving the one he loves I realised I should've seduced ya! But... I didn't want to go away from him anymore! I thought that it wouldn't matter, ya charlies could continue yer little affair and I could have the gorgeous charlie! No one got hurt!" Vyse found himself trying to explain his actions and quit before he would start sounding stupid. He had already risen his voice towards the end of his story, which hadn't been a good thing, at least not if he judged from the looks the passer-bys gave him.
Link thought for a while after the brunette had finished. „...And Peach's plan failed."
„Yeah! I'm not guilty at all!" Vyse threw his hands in the air in frustration, trying to laugh as if everything was all right.
„Thanks to Marth you failed." The elf said, still not smiling. He was thinking about what the brunette had told him, and it did make sense... although it sounded so unnatural and forced. After all Peach didn't have a motive to ask someone to seduce Marth, but if someone had seduced him it would have been sure Roy wouldn't have wanted to see him ever again.
Vyse didn't know what he would do if Link forced him to stay away from Marth. He had just got him back; he didn't want to lose him again, not now, not ever. He was ready to fight for his love, especially after telling the Hylian the embarrassing truth. „Yeah, and I love him! I really do! I'd do anything to keep him!"
„...Tell him." The elf said by length. „Lovers can't have secrets." He added, letting his gaze travel on the people's backs that passed them.
„W-what?" Vyse took a step back as if he was getting ready to run away. „Ya can't be serious! Marth would dump me right away if I told him!"
„Either you tell him or I tell him. Which one do you think is worse?" The Hylian asked rhetorically. If Vyse would tell the noble he would truly love him and Marth could make his decision if he wanted to love him. Link knew he was being a little harsh, but it was for Marth's best; this way he would know what he was dealing with.
The brunette looked at him with a scared gaze, afraid that he would lose Marth if he said the wrong thing now. „...Fine, I'll tell him." He turned his gaze to the ground, sighing heavily.
„Now." The elf continued strictly, as if he was commanding Young Link.
„W-whaat?" Vyse asked, his eyes widening yet again. He couldn't believe that Marth's friends were this motivated to keep him happy. But while it annoyed him, it also made him feel happy. Not many had friends like Marth's.
Link pointed at the brunette's school bag as he said calmly: „Take your phone and call him right now."
„No way!" Vyse took a hold of his bag as if he was trying to protect it from the elf. „At least I want to see him eye-to-eye when he dumps me!"
„Fine, do it your way." The Hylian said carelessly with a soft smile. As he started towards the murder scene where Chill was, he said over his shoulder absent-mindedly: „But tomorrow he will know. Or I will tell him."
After that Link returned to Chill, who was easily lost in the mass of officers. Every time he caught a glimpse of him, mostly his silvery hair, he lost it again because it was impossible to see him when he didn't reach anyone over his or her chest.
„Chill!" He called as he saw him stand still for a while. The silver-topped boy turned to look at him, flashing a smug smile as if he had known Link wouldn't be able to stay away from him. As Chill walked towards him he dug up a soft pack of cigarettes, Marlboro reds. Quickly he picked one out of the pack and placed it reflexively into the corner of his mouth, reaching for a lighter from his pocket.
He had already reached Link when he found the lighter and used his other hand as a shelter of the wind as he lit the cigarette. In a second a thin line of smoke began trailing towards the sky from his cigarette before he inhaled the smoke as he put the lighter away with a smoky sigh.
„The victim is a male, approximately 34 years old, he was decapitated during his lunch." Chill said calmly, looking at the mass of officers. At times they saw a glimpse of the bloody, headless body leaning against a statue of a rider.
„How do you know he was lunching?" Link asked, mostly to start a conversation.
„If you went to have a better look you'd see all the sandwiches lying around him." The boy answered with a smile, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
Link chuckled, not really finding the joke funny. At least not when they were still in the murder scene and the body could be seen in all its glorious grossness. „What was the clue in this one?"
„'The rider comes from the forest with a thirst of blood when the sun burns most.'" Chill answered monotonically. „Now that we see the victim it's easy to figure it out. The Pyri Park looks a lot like a forest and this statue's rider is coming out of there with a spear in his hand."
Link nodded in agreement. He knew already that he didn't like the case and he was feeling a bit uneasy with Chill's unconcerned attitude. It didn't seem like seeing a decapitated body and la lot of blood made him even crack a grimace.
„...Was there a new clue?" Link asked to continue the conversation. Strangely he had noticed that Chill didn't feel uncomfortable with silence. He could be quiet for a long time, just listening to others, judging them with his icy eyes. Everyone seemed to fear him, but also admire. He was nice when he wanted to, only when people were looking down at him or he had decided that he wouldn't like them he would act rudely.
„Yes." Chill said calmly. „Maybe we should discuss about it during dinner? The day after tomorrow?"
Link looked at him, slightly surprised. He had half thought that the whole thing had been a joke, but it really seemed that Chill was serious. And Link knew that if he wanted to know more about the case he could either tell Chill to tell him now and aggravate him (something he didn't really want to do) or go and have a nice dinner with him.
After a few days in the hospital Roy had an orange shirt to go with his dark blue jeans, he hadn't been able to find almost any of his clothes. Moving to Peach's apartment was a real pain to him, but he was happy that Marth and Vyse could have the apartment all to themselves now. He wouldn't need to worry about hearing them doing the nasty anymore.
So much had happened in just a few days. He had settled down with Peach pretty well, they were planning moving away quietly without anyone knowing. Roy definitely didn't want Link to know about his plans to run away from him. He would get really mad, try to talk him out of it yet again and they would have another fight over the child. It was useless telling Link about his plans from now on, he was only hurting him by telling him what he was planning to do.
They had had a few problems with Peach's broken leg, especially with her attitude. Ever since she had got out of the hospital she had commanded him like a slave. At first it had annoyed the hell out of him, but in fear of losing his child he had adapted. But adapting to her orders hadn't been easy and it had gnawed away some of his pride, almost driving him crazy. She could wake him up at night, wishing for steaks or French fries, explaining that it was a part of her pregnancy and that he was there to help – meaning that he would need to get up in the middle of the night and go get her some food.
They had also sent all the wedding invitations, when writing them Roy had had an odd feeling that he had actually been writing his will. Those thoughts had disturbed him a lot, but talking with Marth had helped. The noble had only listened to his worries without even frowning, wearing that calm and collected mask on his face. He had never said anything about his choices, just listened without judging. It was relieving to talk to someone who wouldn't judge him for anything he had done. In the end he had said that if Marth had anything to say, he should say it then, but the noble had only smiled encouragingly.
That had given him strength. Although he was sad that he could no longer feel Link near him, he tried to forget him in every possible way. Boss had let him have days off work because of Young Link, but he still couldn't understand why Boss wouldn't let Link stay in the hospital instead of him? Had Chill spoken with him, persuaded him that Link was more valuable at work than him? Whatever it was, Young Link's peaceful face reminded him constantly of it.
He walked to the window, looking outside at the city. From up there, from the twelfth floor, he saw wide and far over the city that was humming and buzzing in the rays of the sun. In the distance the countryside started gradually, the wide wheat fields spreading to the horizon where earth and sky joined. The sounds of the lively traffic seemed distant, the cerulean blueness calmed him in a way he couldn't describe.
He turned around to see the door as it opened slowly, hoping that Link would come, but of course, it was still only early afternoon. Roan walked into the room with a smile, greeting him a bit shyly. He went through the smalltalk with him, the ‚how are you's and ‚it's a lovely day's but other than that they didn't speak much.
In the evening Link drove to the address Chill had given him. He hadn't known how to dress for their dinner, but had figured that casual clothing would be just fine. The silver-haired boy would probably only make fun of him if he appeared to his door wearing a tuxedo. To his surprise the boy didn't live in a gorgeous mansion at the outskirts of the city but in a normal apartment building near downtown.
At the door he hesitated. Maybe he was in the wrong place. That apartment building was rather dirty, the corridors were narrow and judging by the length of them the apartments couldn'thave beenbig. He had been sure that someone with a mind like Chill's one would easily get enough money to buy a fancy villa on the countryside… but then again, he couldn't be sure he was in the wrong place before he tried the doorbell.
„Let's not go out for dinner." Chill gave him a smile as he opened the door, wearing a black pullover with light blue jeans. Link looked into his tiny apartment consisting of two rooms and a very tiny kitchen. „Here's much cosier."
„Okay", Link said as he stepped inside. „Wow, this place is tiny."
„No height-jokes, please." Chill said coldly, shuffling to the kitchen. His tone of voice was immediately softer as he continued: „I made lasagne, pretty much all I can do without a recipe."
„ Oh... I wasn't making fun of your height", Link explained quickly, feeling a little embarrassed for saying something like that. „I just... it's been a while since I've been in an apartment as small as this."
„I don't need a bigger one." Chill smiled as he came from the kitchen, clapping his hands together slightly as if to make the dirt fall off of them. „Say, is the child in the hospital yours?"
„Yeah." Link said, looking at his feet. He had gone to see Young Link right after work, but had had to leave pretty quickly. He felt a little guilty for that, but his job was his job and he needed to get it done. Roy and Roan could watch after Young Link until he came home.
Chill smiled encouragingly, something that wouldn't have suited his features at all. Link hadn't even been sure if he could make a face like that, but there it had been –and it had comforted him a bit too- making him feel the same, strangely soft feeling inside he felt with Roy. But why with Chill?
„Why are you so troubled?" The boy asked as suddenly, making him flinch.
Link's eyes widened. Was he really that easy to read? „I don't know... With you... I... feel odd."
„Yay." Chill said sarcastically as he returned to the kitchen. That moment Link found another strangely similar feature between Roy and Chill. They both got mad pretty easily. They just expressed it a bit differently. Where Roy shouted and moped, Chill glared or answered sarcastically. Link found the two of them strangely familiar to each other although in a completely different way. That was why he was so fond of Chill. He was almost like Roy and his heart was desperate to love just about anyone to forget the redhead.
Link looked at his feet, wanting to smash his head against the wall. He hadn't meant to say ‚odd' although it had been the word describing his feelings... Somehow it had just slipped. He followed the boy to the kitchen with a troubled expression: „I... didn't mean it like that... It's just that... it's been a while..." He fell quiet, deciding that it would be better to be collected in one piece before saying anything. „I... feel the same feeling with you as I felt with my ex-boyfriend."
„Hate and grudge?" Chill asked. Although he sounded serious, Link could see that he was actually joking. But it was pretty hard to tell.
Link laughed, just to be sure. „No, I meant that nice feeling..."
„Of falling in love?" Chill asked. „So do I." He continued without waiting for an answer.
Link just looked at him. He wasn't able to answer that yet... because he had no idea. In a way Chill was right, he was falling in love, but he couldn't understand why and how it was even possible. He had always thought that elves could fall in love only once. Was this just some reaction to Roy rejecting him so much? He was so confused; he hadn't expected it that quickly, not that directly. He had expected Chill to blush and squirm a little in front of him, but then again, Chill wasn't Roy.
„13. A wice old owl laived in an oak,
the amoore he saw the less he spocce,
tje less he spoke the moare he heard.
Why acan't we all be like trat wise old bird?" Chill said suddenly, facing away from him as he took a glass of water, offering him one too.
Link looked at him, raising his eyebrows as he accepted the glass. He thought he knew Chill well enough to know that he didn't have any kind of schizophrenic seizures.
Chill noticed his reaction and smiled as he wrote it down. „The new riddle. Help me solve it."
EPISODE 08: Restlessness Part 01 Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
I'll cut it here. Any ideas?
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