Chapter 2
Miss Holly Short, formerly Captain, stared at the ceiling as a solitary tear trickled down the side of her cheek. It had been nearly six months since Julius's death, but she couldn't get over it, unlike the deaths of her family. Perhaps back then she had reasons to move on. When her father died, the middle-aged elf had said he'd see his loved ones on "the other side" while chuckling. That, and Holly had her brother Joey. Her mother deserved what she got, and Holly still had Joey. Finally, when Joey disappeared, there was no body, and he didn't really disappear. He simply went to Atlantis to try and get a better paycheck and taught everyone he wasn't good when it came to keeping in touch. Now, the only good things in life were Mulch, Artemis, and the fact that the detective agency S&M had been getting more cases than the LEP. The commander told Holly to "be well". Why wasn't she?
Not only was she grieving to the point of creepiness, but Holly was changing physically. Her eyes were sunken, and she was getting thinner, no matter how much she ate. She went to her doctor, but she was in better shape than ever. That was what the test results said. These changes were enough to worry about, but Mulch was tactless and couldn't resist adding his two cents. King obvious pointed out her resemblance of a skeleton, and added that she had been acting weird, too. He gave Holly subtle-as-a-bomb hints about these mood swings he swore existed. They were always shrugged off with a scowl.
Mulch had been so tiring, Holly told him to take the day off. She was about to call young Artemis when there was a quiet knock on the door. A young elf strode in, making no noise whatsoever; she reminded Holly of her older sibling. "Hello, my name is Samantha, forget the last name." the child murmured. Holly disturbed by a sudden memory of Joseph, stammered, "H-how c-can I help you? Here, sit down." "First, I can stand. Second, I need to see Miss Short." "This is her, why?" The teenager sighed and replied, "My father just got into the recon and I heard about you. I thought it would be nice for the two of you to meet. I'll wait until the end of your shift for an answer, when I'll either pick you up-I don't know our address, it's new-or shrug and go away. I prefer the latter." With nothing else to say, Samantha left.
Holly was stunned, to say the least. Should she see this mystery person? The officer still inside of her noted that the girl was telling the truth, but Samantha could leave something out. There were many voices in her head, all giving suggestions. One small voice, silenced since it was sixty, noted that the child looked like a female Joey. Besides, you've been pretty lonely without friends other than a rude dwarf and an emotionless mud boy. Holly sighed and decided to close early and wait for Samantha.