Chapter Seven

For three days, Jane kept away from the morgue, sending her brother, or anyone, down there to deal with anything death-related. It wasn't that she didn't want to see the new ME, the Queen, because she did. This burning need inside of her was spreading and sending waves of arousal and thoughts that she hadn't ever encountered with anyone else before. But it was impeding the investigation, and now they had two bodies. Emanuel Gonzales had been found in a dumpster behind an old warehouse. Just like Casper Weinberg, he was pale. Drained of the life blood that once coursed his veins. The difference this time was not bite marks to the neck, but a single puncture wound to the heart. Initially, he hadn't been considered a link to Casper. It was only Maura's keen eye that noted the subtle signs of a Discard.

Jane couldn't concentrate when she was within 10 feet of the woman.

There was something else knocking at the back of her mind. It was something that usually she wouldn't need to contemplate, but now, her mind felt like it had been fogged for the last 48 hours, and only now was it beginning to clear enough to think more clearly.

"Hey, Frankie? Remember when we were at the library, down in the vault?"

Frankie leant back on his chair and shoved a pen into his mouth like a cigarette. "Yeah, creepy as fuck."

Jane nodded; it had been. "What did the curator say Casper was working on?"

Frankie sat up, scratching the back of his head as he searched his desk for his notes. "Uh…mythical Boston."

Her eyes rolled and she stood up so fast the chair fell backwards, clattering to the floor. "How the hell? Come on, we need to read whatever it is that he was reading."

She hadn't taken more than three steps when she came to a halt and looked at the elevator. The number on the illuminated sign that signalled which floor the car was on was rising. "Let's take the stairs," she said hurriedly, moving toward the far side of the room. Her heart was beating faster, and her feet felt like glue as she tried to get as far away from the Queen as she physically could. Her palm pushed the door to the stairwell just as the ding announced the arrival.

Frankie chased after her. "Janie, hold up, will ya?" She was already down two floors by the time he took the first flight. "What's got into you?"

"Nothing, I just need a clear head," she shouted back as she continued down the concrete steps.

"It's Maura, right?" he said as they reached the bottom and came out into the foyer, both of them ignoring their mother's erratic waving as she desperately tried to gain their attention. "I've never seen you like this."

Jane stopped and pushed him into a quiet space. "Yeah. I dunno what she does to me, but…I can't think when she is around. And I need to think. Casper deserves that."

"So, what are we doing now?"

"I wanna see what mythical story he was researching. Read it properly. Maybe it holds a key?" She stepped back, and they continued walking towards the car lot.

"Alright, what can I do?"

Jane sighed and opened the car door. "Keep Maura away from me."

~R&I~

Korsak spun around, his eyes searching the room for Jane and coming up empty. "I swear, she was here a minute ago," he said, smiling amiably at the new ME.

Maura glanced casually around the room herself. She already knew that Jane wasn't here. She felt her leave as much as she could feel her arousal. "Never mind, it wasn't…important. I'll leave the findings of the Gonzales case on her desk. Maybe you could ask her to pop down when she isn't quite so…busy?" She was aware completely that Jane was avoiding her. Not that she could blame her; it was a daunting thing, to be consumed with the consciousness. She needed to fully explain it, so that Jane could make a righteous decision.

"Sure, of course, Maura."

He watched the beautiful woman turn and walk towards the elevator. But then she stopped and turned towards the stairs, her heightened sense of smell leading her to follow after Jane's scent.

When she was gone, Korsak pulled out the phone from his pocket and sent a quick text. Maura wants you asap.

~R&I~

She deleted the message as soon as she read it. Maura could want her all she liked; she wasn't getting her. It was too…intense, too…consuming. She couldn't breathe when Maura was around.

They'd been escorted down to the vault, provided with white gloves and strict instructions on how to treat the books they needed to read. Frankie had Casper's notes, while Jane read through page after page of myths and fairy tales. Most of it she had heard herself in playgrounds and bars. Halloween was especially good for bringing forth a good story or two. It was getting late and both siblings were struggling to stay away awake.

"I don't get it. There is nothing really that interesting here," Frankie said, closing the notebook. "I mean, he has hundreds of little comments and page markers, but nothing stands out."

"What are you expecting, the killer is…." She raised her palms in disbelief. "Come on, Frankie. You know it could be any tiny little thing."

He puffed out his cheeks and opened the pages again.

"It says here that before time began, two were born of one. Yin and Yang. Dark and light. They were the chosen ones. The ones who would lead the Plasmadian to victory," Jane read aloud. "Imagine being chosen like that, no say in it, just this is who you will be?"

"Yeah, not sure I'd want that." He flicked through some pages. "I think he had notes on that though, it sounded familiar." Jane waited as he searched. When he finally found it, he read, "QM and KC? Too much coincidence."

"What does that mean?" She let her gloved finger scroll down the page further and read. "Torn apart at birth. The offspring raised in separate bodes until fate brought them back together, unknown to each other."

Frankie's face said what she already thought. "I don't get it. So, they were born, then separated and then returned, but they don't know it?"

"Wait, then it says, she of the above, him of the below."

"That is creepy as shit. But what does it have to do with Casper's death, and now this other guy?!"

She shrugged. "I dunno, but something about it just…" She checked her watch; they'd been here over 5 hours. "Come on, let's call it a day."

AN: So sorry for the delay. It's been manic here. I've a new book out /LovesWitness and also, I am moving house, so its been hectic with packing and trying to get it all done. I will get this uploaded asap! C