Hi Guys and welcome back to Blizzard! I'm super excited to get this chapter to you, but I also feel like I should warn you! This is the beginning of the end! With this now being officially the longest story I have ever written, I feel like it's about time I started to wrap it up! Anyway, I will ramble more in the authors note at the end, so let's crack on shall we?
James sighed as he looked up at yet another Diamond Inc building that stood tall in the cityscape. This building was smaller than the Diamond Inc HQ building that Inferno had destroyed, but it wasn't any less impressive. Then again, James expected nothing less from a building that was filled with Diamond Inc's tech geniuses and storage servers.
Walking through the front doors, James was immediately subjected to a retina scan, which meant he had to try not to roll his eyes at the process. This system had always been in place but was rarely used. Now, however, after the Diamond Inc HQ attack, it seemed that security was everyone's highest priority and while he couldn't blame them, he certainly wouldn't mind if the security guard giving him daggers backed off a little bit.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before the retina scan finished, allowing him into the building and as he walked up to the escalator, he couldn't help but think of the last time he was here. It must have been years since he last stepped foot in here, and the memories that surfaced of when he did caused him to cringe slightly. It was after his 'off the rails' phase at 17, when his mother had died, and he remembered being sat in the PR managers office, trying to control all of the damage that he'd caused to the company.
During his time, the media were all over him, taking photos of him drinking and taking drugs, and of course, that reflected badly on the company. When he'd sorted himself out, however, the first thing his father made him do was atone for all of the bad press he'd gotten and that started with James helping to do damage control on everything that had been published.
Pulling himself from his thoughts as he arrived at the top of the escalator, James made his way through the open hallways of the building, looking for the one person he knew would help him. Apparently, her workspace had moved a lot over the years, but eventually, James was able to track her down, her red and black-streaked hair giving her away.
As James approached, he noticed that she had her headphones in, completely oblivious to his approach, and while for a brief second, James had the thought to scare her, he knew that he could never enlist her help if he did. Instead, James knocked twice on her office door, causing her to jump softly as she looked up at the door, a smile growing on her face as he did so.
This wasn't a good smile however; it was one of those smiles where James knew he wasn't going to win out of this conversation.
"Mr James Diamond, what an unexpected pleasure," she said as she gestured James to come in, causing James to flash her a small smile.
"Lucy" James said as he closed the door behind him before sitting down in the chair opposite her.
Lucy and he had been frenemies, for lack of a better word, for years, since secondary school. Lucy was known for her computer skills, and it was half of the reason that James had gotten her hired at Diamond Inc.
The other half of that reason was that Lucy had hacked into James' phone one day and discovered a lot of incriminating things about him. After a brief stint of blackmail, Lucy had done what she'd promised and deleted all of the information about him, but it was an unspoken rule between them that James would only go to her if he was desperate.
And in this case, he certainly was.
"So, what do you need this time?" Lucy asked, getting straight to the point, something that James appreciated. He knew that the repartee between them could go on for hours if they'd gotten started, so he was thankful that they didn't.
"I need you to back into someone's personal server," James stated, causing Lucy's eyes to widen briefly, while a sly smile grew on her face.
"You know, that's highly illegal." She replied, closing her laptop lid down slightly so that she could focus more on her attention on James. He felt himself shrinking under her gaze, despite the fact that he had nothing to be intimidated about. She was always able to do this to him, however, and it was once of the reasons that he'd never visit her unless he needed to.
"I know, that's why I came to you. I know you'll cover your tracks" James replied, causing that smirk on Lucy's face to grow slightly.
"I wasn't worried about getting caught. I was worried about what you're going to offer as payment. Something like this is going to cost you dearly." Lucy replied, causing James to roll his eyes at her bluntness. Once again though, he was appreciative of it as he always knew where he stood with her.
"What do you want?" James replied, causing Lucy to let out a little chuckle.
"Now, that really depends on who we're hacking and what we find," Lucy said, pushing her laptop lid up once again as if to tell James she's ready.
"I need you to hack into Doctor Helen Burrens medical files and see what you can find on my dad" James replied, causing Lucy's features to soften slightly behind the laptop. She was certain, however, that James couldn't see this.
"Can I ask why?" Lucy said, causing James to raise an eyebrow at her.
"What about the 'no questions asked' policy" he retorted, causing Lucy to just shrug as she began typing away.
As she did so, James was there, patiently awaiting the news of what she'd found. Of course, however, his heart was beating a hundred miles a minute, hoping that what she'd find would be the same as what James was shown in his father's office ages ago. A small part of his brain, however, knew that that wasn't going to be the case.
"I'm in" Lucy announced, pulling James from his thoughts. "But I've found two files under 'diagnosis.' Both made on the same day" Lucy continued, causing James to jump up from his chair and circle the desk, hovering over her shoulder as they stared at the two files.
"What does the first one say?" James asked, causing Lucy to double click on it, loading the PDF file waiting for them. The first one James instantly recognised as the paperwork that his father had shown him. As James began to scan through the document, he heard Lucy speak up.
"Wait what? You're dad's only 50?" she asked, causing James to just nod as he continued to read. All of the information on it was the same and at the bottom of the page, in the diagnosis box sat the words 'Chest Cold.'
Still, that only caused James' heart rate to increase.
"What does the second one say?" James asked, his heart in his throat as Lucy loaded up the document. Once again, the sheet looked identical to the one he'd previously looked at but at the bottom of the page sat a different diagnosis. One of three words, instead of two. "Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis" James read out loud as he stared at the words, trying to figure out what they were. "What's that?" he asked, causing Lucy to shrug next to him.
"I don't know, but with a name like that, it can't be good" Lucy replied, causing James to glance down at her briefly. She didn't make eye contact with him, instead staring at her computer screen and when James looked back at it, the three words had been typed into a search engine. Instantly, millions of results presented themselves on the screen, causing Lucy to click on the first reputable one.
As soon as the page loaded, both of them read through it, discovering all sorts of things that James knew he didn't want to know and see. The one that seemed to hit him the most, however, was the phrase 'as of current, there is no cure' causing James to swallow a lump in his throat.
"How much do I owe you?" James asked, knowing that he'd seen enough. When he glanced down at Lucy this time, there was no hiding the sympathy in her eyes.
"I…um, nothing. You owe me nothing" Lucy replied, casting her eyes down to the ground slightly, obviously reading the same part that James had.
With that, James found himself heading back towards her office door, but when he heard his name, he turned back to Lucy.
"Are you going to be ok? I mean, I know we're not exactly friends, but don't you want to talk about it?" Lucy said, causing a smile, sad smile to grow on James' face. That was the best he could do to hide how he was truly feeling.
"I'll be fine," James replied, before walking out of her office and back towards the front of the building. His heart felt like it was exploding in his chest, but he knew that he needed to keep it together.
He also knew where he needed to go next and once he was back out on the street, he didn't hesitate to call a taxi and begin the next part of his journey.
As James arrived at his next destination, his mood had shifted from one of sadness to one of anger. Questions were raging through his mind as to why his dad had lied to him about his illness, and why Doctor Burrens had created a fake diagnosis for his father. James was hoping to answer that second question now.
Stepping out of the taxi, James stared up at Doctor Burren's practice before taking a step towards it. As he did so, he put on a straight face, continuing to hide his emotions behind a mask. Opening the door to the practice, he stepped up to the reception desk.
"I need to speak with Dr Burrens," James said to the receptionist, who didn't even give James a cursory glance as he answered.
"Sorry Sir, but Doctor Burrens isn't seeing anyone this week" the receptionist stated, causing James to try and contain his anger further.
"But this is urgent" James stated, the receptionist not even looking at James again as he responded.
"Sorry Sir, but I've been given specific instructions not to let anyone up there all week" The receptionist stated, causing James to shift to a new tactic as he rolled his eyes and let out an audible huff.
"Oh, well my father told me that she was expecting me. Maybe I should phone him and find out" James replied, pulling his phone from his pocket. He had no desire to even talk to his father, but the journalist in him knew that he needed to do what he could to get the answers he wanted, and this was the best course of action in this occasion.
As expected, that statement granted him a small glance from the receptionist and as soon as the man's eyes landed on James, they widened.
"Mr Diamond, I had no idea that you were coming. You mentioned it was for your father?" The receptionist said, causing James to nod, pulling the non-ringing phone slightly away from his ear as if to keep up the charade.
"That's right. As you probably know, he's not well at all and I was told that Doctor Burrens had something for him" James continued, before putting the phone back to his ear, trying not to enjoy the panic on the receptionist's face.
"Well, I don't know anything about this" The receptionist began, causing James to roll his eyes as he subtly gestured the phone again in a threatening manner. "But if you said that Doctor Burrens is expecting you, then she must be expecting you. I'll send you up right away!" The receptionist said, causing James to flash him a passive-aggressive smile as he finally pulled the phone away from his ear as he pretended to cancel the call.
Sometimes he did love the power his name held, but most of the time, he hated it.
Ignoring that train of thought, James followed the receptionist as he walked around the desk and led James over to the elevator. The brunet watched as the receptionist used the card on his lanyard to activate the lift before they began their journey up to Doctor Burren's office.
The journalist in him was dying to know why all of Doctor Burren's appointments had been cancelled, considering she was the best consultant in Spirit City, and eventually, James had to break the silence.
"I am curious. Why have all of her appointments been cancelled?" James asked, causing the receptionist to shrug next to him.
"I'm unsure Sir. All I was told when I came in a week ago was that all her appointments had been cancelled apart from the one with your father last Wednesday. Since then, no one has come in or out apart from your father again on Friday" The receptionist answered, causing James' thought pattern to kick off again, trying to figure out what the hell was his father doing here on Friday.
'That was the day that Inferno attacked your apartment. Maybe that's why he didn't check up on you' His brain supplied, but James just shook his head. That attack took place late in the night, so surely his father wouldn't have been here so late. Thankfully, before James had the chance to recede further into his thoughts, the lift door opened.
"Doctor Burrens office is down the hall, first door on the left," The receptionist said, causing James to nod as he walked out into another waiting room.
"Thank you," James said before he took off towards his destination. He faintly heard the lift door closing behind him as he walked through the empty waiting room, an eery feeling descending over him as he did. There was something ominous about a place like this being empty causing James to pick up the pace a little bit
. Finding where he needed to be, James knocked twice on the door before waiting for a response.
Nothing.
The brunet knocked again, this time a louder hoping that she'd hear him this time, but once again, nothing. Knocking for a third and final time, James opened the door and as his eyes lifted from the ground and into the room, he couldn't help but gasp at what he said, the brunet bringing his hands up to cover his mouth.
Blood was covering the room, with it being sprayed on the walls, staining the carpets and covering everything that sat in between. As well as that, everything in the office was destroyed, like a wild animal had rampaged through it.
Her bookcase was in pieces on the floor, with all of the books being torn to shreds, her sofa was ripped apart and, probably the most horrific was the fact that Doctor Burren's chest had massive scratch marks down it as if a lion had clawed her to pieces, her dead corpse sprawled in her desk chair.
James panicked, taking a few steps back and the brunet jumped as his back hit the wall. Regaining some brainpower, James managed to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone, immediately ringing Carlos as he completely bypassed the rest of the SCPD.
"And no one else has been up to her office?" Chief Garcia asked the receptionist causing the man to shake his head. Thankfully, he hadn't seen the body as James was sure that he wouldn't have been able to cope. Just hearing about it was enough to make the man go pale.
"No, no one else apart from Mr Henry Diamond last Wednesday and Friday and then Mr James Diamond today. You can check the elevator log if you need too" the receptionist replied, causing Carlos to nod as he scribbled it down in his notepad. "Well, the coroner confirmed that Doctor Burrens has been dead since late Sunday night and if what you say is true, then no one else has been into the building."
"So, what does that mean?" James asked Carlos causing him to shrug slightly.
"It means that we currently don't have any suspects. There are no signs of forced entry on the doors or the windows, so that would point to it being the receptionist" Carlos paused slightly when they both saw the receptionist's eyes widen massively in shock. "But if what you've said is true and the elevator logs show that you've only used it when you said you did, then you'll be ruled out as well. From there, we'll have to give the crime scene a proper search to see if we can find any evidence to point to who or what did this" Carlos continued, causing James to nod, the brunet bring his arms up across his chest, suddenly feeling a slight chill go up his spine.
Thankfully, that felt alleviated when he felt a strong arm wrap itself around his waist.
"Ah Mr Knight, I'm glad you could make it…for James' sake that is," Carlos said, causing Kendall to nod, already catching onto what Carlos was saying. Nodding his head to the side briefly, Kendall and James followed Carlos to the side slightly, but the police chief paused when he saw James had still joined them. "Mr Diamond, I need to speak to Mr Knight alone."
"It's alright, Chief. He knows as well" Kendall quickly added, causing Carlos to nod as he took a deep breath. "Something about this isn't sitting right with me. No ordinary human could have done this, so I'm worried that we've got ourselves a new supervillain" Carlos stated, causing Kendall and James to nod ever so slightly.
"The real question is, why would they have targeted Doctor Burrens?" Kendall asked, causing Carlos to turn his attention to James.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing here?" the police chief asked, causing James to let out a little sigh.
"I was trying to get some information on my father. Turns out that ages ago he showed me a fake diagnosis and he actually has something called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. I wasn't quite sure what it was so I was coming to see Doctor Burren, one so she could tell me and two, so I could ask her why she created a fake prescription" James answered, causing Carlos to nod, while he felt Kendall's grip on him increase slightly which provided him with massive comfort.
"I have to admit, that's a little curious considering your dad was the last person that went in to see her. Maybe that's a lead worth following up. Maybe he knows something" Carlos explained, causing James to let out a soft sigh.
"I was going to go and confront him after I'd seen Doctor Burrens anyway, so I can do that. I need to get some answers of my own from him"
"Alright, well keep me up to date. I'm going to comb the office for any pieces of evidence. As of the moment, I advise that both of you remain vigilant. We don't know when they could strike again, but I want to be ready for when they do" Carlos finished, causing them both to nod.
As soon as he walked away, Kendall turned his attention straight to James. "Are you ok? I can't imagine that must have been easy to see, and then the news of your father on top of that"
"I'm fine," James responded, providing Kendall with a little smile. "I have to admit, I'm still a little shaken up after seeing that, but really, I just want answers. I just want to know why my dad lied to me" James stated, causing Kendall to take James' hands into his own.
"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, causing James to shake his head.
"No, I'll be fine, I think this is something I need to do alone." James started, before giving Kendall another little smile. "Besides, I think it's best for the city is Blizzard remains alert" James finished, causing Kendall to nod, placing a kiss onto James' cheek.
"Alright, well I'm here if you need me, just remember that," Kendall said, causing James to flash him a genuine smile, now placing a chaste kiss onto Kendall's lips.
"I'll let you know if I find anything out. I love you"
"I Love you too" Kendall replied, finally releasing James' hands from his own before walking the brunet walk into the distance.
Much like Carlos had said, something about this doesn't sit right, but for the life of him, Kendall couldn't figure out what.
So there we have it! James has discovered that his father lied to him about his illness, with the help of Lucy, and then we have the shocking discovery that Doctor Burrens is dead! The question is now, who or what could have done this! Like I said at the beginning, this is the beginning of the end, but I'm not quite sure how many chapters that will mean as I haven't written them. To be honest, it could be anywhere from about 3 to about 6, so we'll just have to wait and see!
I'd like to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, EpicallyObsessed and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing the last chapter and I'm so glad that you all liked it! You all seemed to like learning about James' mum, which I was glad about, as I felt like it was time for that, and you were also grateful that James stood up to his father! It's a shame that that didn't last long however, with him having to go back and see him again!
Another quick life update, but as for the USA trip, I'm glad you're as excited as I am! A quick rundown of my plan is that I start in Seattle, and have a 10-day field trip with my Uni, where we go all throughout Washington and Oregon, stopping at Mount St Helens, Richland and Baker City to name a few places! Then, when the trip is over, a friend and I are exploring by ourselves, starting with San Francisco, then heading down to LA, across to New Orleans, and then up to Chicago before finishing the trip with her in New York. So yeah, it's a pretty jam-packed trip and I'm probably going to be out there for a month, if not a little longer! As you can probably tell, I'm super psyched about this!
Anyway, I hope you've had a good week and that you have a good week, and I will see you next Monday for the next chapter of this! But until then,
TTFN 😀❄