Whoohoo!
I'm back guys! And I'm not going anywhere! Sorry for not updating lately. After I published chapter four, my mom felt sick for two weeks during mid-April and my dad had blood pressure later on, for a week after she recovered. Anyways, it was hard for me to write this chap with all that stress going on. And my little sister was not making things any easy for me at all, as she was analyzing everything like a boss, when a part of me just wanted to yell her off. But anyways, everything is okay now, my family's doing okay now.
"She's dead, Gabe, they have found her..."
"What? What do you mean by dead?" That got Tori's attention for an instant, she arched her eyebrows in confusion, at Gabe's worrying voice as he continued;
"So they really got Tyler, I mean, in here?"
"I don't know for sure, Gabe, all I know is that the new med examiner is doing the autopsy as we speak and he or she might do an DNA identification soon.."
"An DNA...You mean, as an proof that it might be her, for real?"
"That's what we are waiting for, Tess and I. Gabe, back in the past, when you were still with Tyler, did you ever...I mean..."
"If I ever did, what? Catherine, " had asked Gabe, worrying for the worst to come by any minute. Like, he's not gonna like whatever she has to say to him, he felt Tori standing up from the couch and walked up to him, with silent footsteps. It's gonna be a long story to tell.
"What's going on?" she asked him, Gabe just held up an finger, trying to listen what Catherine has to say to him.
"Did you ever, I mean, had beat her up? Gabe, is it true?" The ADA's eyes widened in shock at that kind of question and coming from the cop, that girl that he used to have a few dates with before her old flame complicated everything between them. He wanted to start a new beginning with Catherine, but it seemed that she holds herself from him or from any kind of relationship with a guy, at the moment.
"I'm sure, that together, we can do everyhting, Gabe, I can promise you this..." Tyler used to say that.
However with Tyler, she didn't think twice after she moved with him and it was kinda true, it was physical. At first, she fell in love with him, but he didn't. Time made its clocking and it finally turned out good for him, both together. The beating up wasn't quite his fault or maybe it was. He doesn't really remember of any incident he had caused because of the beast serum that he had been injected with, since he was a child. An inoncent four year old child with a beast serum running in his veins. Tyler never really minded any of it, she knew that it wasn't his fault that she always forgave him. But her parents did. Beast or not, she tried to save him by helping him to control his beast side with the pills she gave to him.
What kind of pills? Murfield pills? Only Tyler knew the answer and now, she's dead. When it worked for Gabe to calm down his monstrous side, it was killing Vincent, instead.
And after a few months, they have found her. Well, whatever is left of it now. He could end up in big trouble, once cops would dig up his past. The hatred her parents had or have on him, lame excuses about the beating up on their daughter, the beast thing, the experiments with Murfield, Vanessa Chandler, Reynolds, Catherine, Vincent and everyone in the picture. Exposure? Well, that might be worse and gross to endure. Just to think of the consecquences of his actions, made him sweat in panic. Tori looked up at him, unsure if she has to interfiere into all this.
"Gabe? Are you still here?" He blinked once or twice at the caller's voice, waking up from his thoughts.
"Catherine's still talking here.."
"Is that Tori? Gabe, are you-?"
"When you said 'they' who you were refering as?" asked Gabe cutting off both Catherine and Tori.
"You're not gonna like this, Gabe.." That made him snap, causing Tori to take a step back. She just stood there, wondering whatever Catherine had said to make him sound so angry or more panicking like;
"For god's sake! Catherine! Stop jumping into conclusions and tell me; who have found Tyler? Just give me an name!" He heard Cat sighing on the line as she followed;
"Detectives Santiago Medina and Cheng Nguyen, from NJSP departement New Jersey, I believe. She's been missing for a few months, around that time when Vincent got kidnapped, but I may be wrong. They found her at some haunted place and according to Medina, he believes she's been locked up in some fridge...From what Tess told me..."
"Haunted place? You mean at 6268 Rochester Court?" God not that place! He could be screwed for good.
"You may call it that way, that place you held me hostage once, remember that part?" She referred back to that period,not a good memory to share. He tried so hard to earn Catherine's trust after those events, but it looks not, the fact that his beast past could be exposed now the cops have found Tyler, dead.
He heard some rumors saying about a man, a cop from New Jersey that was trying to find some evidence proof, that he may have been an bad inflence to the defunt, or from what her overprotective parents had told her before. And what did Tyler do? She refused their help, telling over and over that he wouldn't never ever hurt her and that she was even planning to move out with him.
Bad decision ever.
However, she turned out dead and those cops would even might and want to dig into his past. Expecially with that Medina guy around in the block, things aren't gonna be so easy too.
"Gabe? You're shaking.."He looked back at Tori, who just stared at him completely worried, all anger and frustration were gone from her features but he could say that she was worried about him and whoever that dead girl was for him in the past. He hadn't realized that he was shaking ever since Catherine had mentionned the two cops names. Detectives, Santiago Medina and Cheng Nguyen from NJSP Departement New Jersey.
"I'm on my way, Catherine..."he hang up before she could reply to him back. He could tell that Karma was making up its mark and it was happening, by starting now. He had to go and run into the prenict, before someone can identify Tyler by some other ways, that he wouldn't want to know. He has to identify her, himself and take the body away. There's too many secrets in it.
"Gabe..."
"I have to go to the precinct, I can't tell you how long I would be gone Tori, but until now, don't try to do anything stupid..."he said as he grabbed his coat from his desk's chair and keys and went up to the door, as he followed to an confused Tori;
"Cause, if you do and harass Vincent or Catherine, I'll put a tracking device on you and stop you right away by myself..."At that, she rushed up to him hoping to put some sense into him.
"Gabe!" Before he oppened up the door, he turned around to give her warning look and with an trembling more-like finger sign up to her; this time he wasn't joking around when he followed with this;
"You stay here and don't move from this appartement and like I said; Go harass Vincent or Catherine and I'll put you behind bars..." That stoped Tori from objecting up, she stared up at him, remaining still, just like a girl who got herself caught after trying to escape her parents's sight to see her secret boyfriend behind their back.
"Gabe..please, I.."she tried to say, her eyes implored him to stay and to let her go, to find the precious thing she needed the most.
"Just stop Tori! I'll be right back and don't talk to strangers..."he said mentionning her name out loud before he went out as he closed up the door, leaving her behind.
...
"So anything new about our Jane Doe?" Tess turned her head at her partner's voice who just came into the new med examiner's office. That office used to belong to Evan once and now it belonged to someone else.
"Or is it Anna Anderson?"
"Who's Anna?" Catherine just her shook her head at that question as her partner followed;
"Not much, from what I had seen, the body was all covered up and with Jackass and Jackass into the room, I had to watch my mouth from cursing..." Catherine nodded as she rolled her long and blue sleeves up to her forearms and put her fists on her hips. "And the new guy?"
"You mean, the new med guy? I have to say, he's cute, not as cute like Evan with all that black beard on, but he's not bad. I heard he works at Benjamin's Hospital, at the morgue section, maybe Captain Ward hired him because that monk needed more hours, I guess..."
"A monk? Like, he has no hair?"
"He has hair, just too much on his jaw, for my taste..." Tess just rolled her eyes as a dark haired man in his mid thirties who wore a white doctor coat just came in the office, closing up his phone, letting out a groan.
"Sorry ladies, I had to take this call..."he told as he closed up his phone before he could look up to them. He stopped his tracks as his expression changed when he looked up to Tess and to Cat; "My, my, I have both detectives Chandler and Vargas in the office, that's great!" Oh a newbie! Just what we needed! Not impressed by the newbie doc, Tess just frowned;
"Sorry?" At this, the new doctor clarified his own explanation.
"I mean, the late Dr Marks and I used to be roomates back then at med school, so he told me a lot about you guys, expecially you, Detective Chandler..."He smiled at the brunette cop standing a few inches away from him and at Tess's left side. Evan Marks had told him about her? And behind her back, as well? She couldn't blame him for having strong feelings about her back then. When she was trying to cover up Vincent from being exposed. His death still haunted her, when he decided to sacrifice himself for both of them. Giving them his blessing for their fight, to live their love to the light.
Evan sacrificed himself for both us back then. Now, I might think he would roll back down into his grave if he had knew about the situation...' Catherine just closed her eyes as she took a long deep breath, thinking that it wasn't the right time to go emotional.
"Yeah, he was a great colleague and great guy, I still can't believe that he's gone now..."had followed the new med examiner guy as he walked to his desk and took a look to the computer as he opened up three to five windows.
Evan would have had killed Vincent if he had knew how much he had hurt Cat, in these last four months...' Tess looked up at her partner who tried to deal with her feelings, before shifting her eyes to the med examiner's note pad hanging on his coat; Achilles Kostopoulos..' Ah, a greek guy in the room? Looks, I'm gonna have fun...Hehe!'
"So anything new about our Jane Doe? Dr K?" As a wake-up call, Catherine just stared at her parther, unexepted by the tone of her question that sounded very teaseful towards the pathologist who just gave a frown to an very challenging Tess.
"Just call me Ash, if you wanna live..." Tess tried to not laugh at his reaction, following with this;
"How about; you telling us about the body and skip the flirting part?"
"I wasn't flirting with any of you, it was just an compliment that I just..." He signed at Catherine's direction trying to make up for whatever mistake they think he might did, but sighed giving up and replied with this. " Like Detective Medina guessed, she was locked up in a fridge back at that place. The death time was, I think, a few months, between six or seven I might say and pretty quick, also..."He said as he sat on his chair viewing up a few pictures of the autopsy with the dead girl on it.
"How quick?"had asked Catherine back to him, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Pretty fast, the victim got shot four to five times to the abdomen, hitting up her liver and pancreas, by the time cops had come to the crime scene, she was out of it..." "Out?"
"No blood, Detective, she was empty, well except for a few frozen organs, but bleed to the end of it..."he had added, rubbing his eyes hoping to get the fatigue away, after almost enduring an three hour of cutting up some freezing girl's body, on the autopsy table.
"Any scars?"asked Tess, who just forgot about all the fun and turned up all serious, Ash just shook his head, as he knew that question was coming to this;
"Very, there's a lot on her, that I can't tell you how much she has, but I don't think you should go and see her, if you had breakfast this morning, I mean.."
"Why is that?"
"Let's just say this; Death doesn't have a nice smell or have a great sauna scent...When the CSU took her out, she was already starting to perish up..." Tess just winced at that thought.
"And the body, you think it's Tyler Stevenson?"
"I'm running some tests and like I said; There's no blood in her, but I'll try to run an DNA identification with her teeth records or if it doesn't work, I'll try to identify her with her hair, I mean. I don't want to make up any false hopes, until I'm sure.."
"How long, the tests results would come out?"
"A few weeks, unless, some witness can identify the possibility of that girl might be this Tyler Stevenson, that we're talking about..."
"What about her parents? Are they coming over?"
"We heard that they weren't so optimist about her relationship with the ADA. Do you think that he might be the cause of her scars or bruises, if I might say?"had added Catherine to Tess's surprise face. Ever since that phone call event with Gabe, she started to wonder if he had anything to with it, expecially, when he heard that Tyler was found dead at that place that he once held her hostage once, he started to panic. Things could go bad for him, if Medina and Nguyen started to dig about his past. The dark haired guy just leaned to his chair, moving his shoulders, like he hasn't streched up this morning.
"I would like to know the answer of that question, Detective Chandler, really. Just to see the numbers of scars and bruises, that had printed to her body, I would want to know as much as you both do and catch that son of a bitch right away...I mean, what that girl went through was completely out of control and way too much horrible..."
"Who could have thought?" At this, Tess just patted her partner's shoulder for comfort, the two female cops exchanged looks towards each other, until..
"However, during the autopsy, I did found something unusual..." had added Ash back as both Tess and Cat looked back at him, astonished by this reply as he waited for them to answer. In silence, when inside, he was jumping like a little boy that finally had got their attention.
"Unusual? Like what?"
"Like I said, most of the organs were frozen, but what caught my attention was that hidious and pretty long scar on her chest and, before I forgot, that long purple line on her back, laying on her spine..." Catherine just furrowed her eyebrows at that answer. An purple line?
"What about the scar on her chest?"
"Looked like a surgical scar, I might say, I do believe someone had an transplant surgery..."
"So, what you mean is that her heart was stolen?" Ash just defended himself, raising up his hands, as if it wasn't his fault, but went through, anyway.
"I never said it was stolen, it's a theory, that's all. However, whoever had done this transplant was quite good at making stitches, but I don't believe the chances of that person who received that girl's heart, would live long enough, though..."
"Meaning?"
"The girl was dead long enough, the stitches were made around two months or so. So, if you think you can live long enough with an unfunctional organ without any care, then you're totally wrong...Even if the organ was or not a match, I don't think, he or she would had survived the transplatation...Giving the time, the girl's death...I mean.." He leaned his back at the chair, waiting for the girls to add something. Both Tess and Cat looked like they were lost in their minds, but for Ash's point of view and the thought of how he had dealt with cops before, he wasn't impressed by their silence. After a moment of silence, the two female stared at each other and Tess decided to add with this;
"What about that 'purple line' you're talking about? How does it look?"
"More of an old red scar that used to be, when she lived. If you know, how long is a back spine, than you got your answer, Vargas..."he said and with a come over hand sign" Come over...And see, for yourselves.."he went back with the chair,gving some space for them to see the evidences pictures on Ash's computer. They walked and turned theirs gazes to the at it and backs at the guy, Tess and Cat, couldn't hide theirs expressions at what they were facing at;
"Damn..."
"You're putting words out of my mouth, Tess..."
"I might go to hell if, whatever, Medina had said could be true, but...Do you really think that Gabe had caused her, all of this?"
"You mean, like; Attacking her in a wild animal form?" Duh!
"Maybe both? I guess..."
"I, really, don't know..."had whispered an shocked Catherine staring at pictures of an naked and marked up girl, with many bruises, scars and lacerations anything that looked pretty old marks after spending months of covering them up with make-up and winter clothes. At others pictures, they were showing the same dead girl but faced down on the table, her back exposed up. Like Ash had conclured, there was a strange and long purple scar on her spine. What kind of relationship Tyler and Gabe were having? No attached strings? However Catherine wasn't focused on that purple scar, but to the gunshots that ended Tyler's life. All in one night, she got herself trapped that haunted place with Gabe as his hostage, Tyler got killed, and Vincent got taken away from her father's orders, after that battle with an enraged Gabe. Everything had happened so fast. Now the three of them could be suspected. Mostly, Vincent and herself too. Medina, he'll think that Gabe had an alibi. No, two or four alibis, that night.
Just unbelievable...It just doesn't get any better than this!
"It doesn't make any sense, now..."
...
"I knew I'd find you here..." Vincent sighed at his best friend's voice coming over from the living world to join up the dead one. Hands in his coat's pockets, comforting them from the cold air, he just let out;
"I thought I needed some advice from the dead one, at here..." He pointed out at the tombstone standing in front of him, J.T just nodded his head.
"Will and Dan, huh?"
"Yeah, well, William, mostly..." Ever since that arson case, memories of his brothers had started to knock him hard. He tried to make up and catching up old times with his nerphew Aaron, that stuborn hothead kid who was proud enough to carry on the Keller name for his father and two uncles. However, he would have to think it twice, now that he might now the fact that his so 'dead uncle' was alive and had been hiding for ten years. Fear of being exposed as a beast or as a failing creature that should had been killed, from the start.
"Aaron must hate me now, believing his other uncle that died as a hero was only a freaking liar after all those years in hiding...Fearing of being exposed..."
"I wished I could told them..." "But you couldn't do it! You had to stay away to protect them from Murfield..."had cut in J.T
"Still, I should have, J.T...Maybe, if I had the chance to have turn them off from the beginning, things wouldn't have gone this far..."
"Man, what did I say about stop blaming yourself? About everything? Vincent, you couldn't have it prevented, no one could..." Vincent just sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he was staring at his oldest brother's grave, William Keller. He kinda had wished to be kicked by his two dead brothers, instead of standing here feeling hopeless...
"You still have a choice, you can choose to walk away and save yourself...Save Us.."
He could have. He could have just walk away. He should had trusted Catherine, not Tori, from the entire beginning, but how can you trust someone that you just can't remember?
"However, I remember everything now...But, for what cause?"
"Anyways, I didn't come around just to scold you, something came up about Gabe..."had revealed J.T. . As he completely forgot the reason of him being vulnerable, Vincent turned at him;
"Like?"
"Something about one of his exes..."
"Okay?"
"I'm not sure if you remember, I mean about certain girl blond and tall girl, Tyler..." At that name, Vincent knitted his eyebrows, not sure if he followed whatever J.T. was talking about;
"Why does that name sound so familiar? I mean, all of sudden?" J.T just grimaced at that, he turned at his left and noticied an playful Ed lying and crushing on a poor and giant rubber duck waving up his tail at his direction. He looked so happy and innocent at the moment now, all thanks to Vincent who decided to take him in.
"Kinda wished I was a dog too..."
"Earth to J.T. Forbes!" He jumped out at Vincent's voice such as a wake-up call. He turned back at him, trying not to freak out as his friend demanded an explanation. "You were saying?"
"U-Uh-uh? What were we talking about?"
"Tyler, Gabe's ex-girlfriend? The one, that we took in for a deal? Remember?" The professor widened his eyes, in shock;
"You?-" Vincent just rolled his eyes as he cut him in. "Just get over it! Damn it!"
"And yes, I remember her. You were supposed to watch over her, when I took off to get Catherine out of Gabe's hands. You were telling me about her.."conclured Vincent about that last event when they both held the blond haired girl against her will, to stop Gabe from doing the impossible, but when he threatened the former beast about killing Tyler if he didn't released Catherine right away, his answer was simple and easy.
Kill her. Kill Tyler. Vincent couldn't believe it. Did Gabe really cared about Tyler? Or it was just an act? Did Gabe really had wanted Vincent to kill her? For real? Seriously?
"Gabe was more in a mess state than I was..."
"Yeah. I got trapped and she walked out, I get that...But it's not about waltzing around the living world with her, it's about waltzing with the underworld one..."
"Under-Sp-Speak english! J.T.!" He was getting tired about the keeping guessing thing. J.T just gave up as he followed with a desperate sigh, cold air coming out from his mouth;
"Okay! Fine! Before I show up at your place, Tess called me and she told me about two cops that came all the way from New Jersey for a cold case, I think..."
"Cold case?"
"More of an current case, to specify..."
"What does it have to do with Gabe's ex-girlfriend?"
"That's the thing, they have found a body, at that haunted place last night, but does not look good, anyways. They think it's her. Tyler, I mean..." Flashing memories of that place went into his head such as like; when he rushed in to find an escaping Catherine. The second injection serum. The fight at the rooftop with Gabe. The kidnapping. Catherine's hand holding his hand from being taken away. His heart slipping away from hers. Vincent just shook his head as he groaned at that memory.
"Dead?"
"That's the word, Big Guy..." Vincent just sighed as he rubbed his temple at this; "Damn..." More trouble coming and going.
"I know. They have the body at the station, cops say, it can be anyone, but Tess thinks it's Tyler, in flesh..." Then, Vincent jumped into conclusions;
"What about Reynolds? I mean he stated in his report about being involved with Murfield and everything...What about Catherine in all this?"
"Rumors says that he killed her, but who knows? And as for Cat, I'll think that she'll know by now and Gabe, I think he might be in trouble and us too..."had added J.T, at last. At the mention word of 'Us' Ed walked back and sat next to his confused master;
"Us?" Vincent scratched Ed's ears, wondering of how much trouble they could get themselves into now.
"Well, since you and I were the last ones to have seen Tyler, that makes us suspects, but what's worse is that we can also be exposed...I mean, not only you, all of us...If it goes to the hands of the new good cop and bad cop in town..."
"Like if all these cases about me; killing beasts under Reynolds's command, Catherine's job on the line and the possibility of her ending up in jail, covering my hunter days as an assassin, Windsor's death and Gabe's big announcement about being a beast, past year, you say?"
"And so goes on! I believe you do know the formula, by now..."had followed J.T at the end. Vincent just shook his head, exhausted by the things he have just heard by now. After all the mess he made and endure everybody including Catherine the most, he just wanted to disappear and walk away from everything, but he just can't do it...
Feeling his hand being licked, he stared down at Ed's big brown eyes who looked up at him, like he wanted to give him some courage left.
"No, I don't want to give up on Catherine, but to prove that, I might need some help..."
"I think, we need a plan, J.T." He looked up back at J.T, but with an man in action attitude tone than of the vulnerable one he used to wore a few minutes ago.
...
Meanwhile, when J.T was talking with Vincent at the cementary, Cat and Tess went to the precinct's own autopsy room along with the medical examiner Ash. It was Catherine's idea to go and see the dead girl and that girl that might turned out to be 'Tyler' but from her own eyes. First, Ash walked in and ordered the girls to close the door behind as he placed himself behind the corpse's head whose body was lying on the exam table, covered up.
"What I'm about to present to you, wouldn't be such great sight, just to let you know..." The girls exchanged an concerned stare before they looked back at Ash who was waiting for their permission to lift up the sheet.
"Go ahead..."had said Tess with a nod giving the doctor to lift up the sheet so they can see the girl in there. The black haired guy sighed like he had no choice and after two minutes of trying to calm his inner self down, he lifted the sheet up to expose the blond haired girl's face to the two detectives's faces and folded the sheet down on her shoulders, leaving the rest of the body covered. Cat and Tess looked down on the the corpse, unable to express any words than those coming out from their lips;
"Oh, God..."
"Medina wasn't kidding around when he said about pictures being worth like a hundred and thousand words..."
The girl lying on the metal and exam table looked even worse than in pictures they've seen. Frozen figure, pale as snow, dark purple scars that might had been red when she lived on earth. Pale lips from the cold air, two lacerations, one on both cheeks, not scars, but old lacerations. Marks that looked like claws of an wild animal were on the bare of her shoulders and a small beginning of a long line of stitches on the girl's middle.
Dead or not, that girl suffered the most and horrifying martyr, in her living moments or so, and an very bitter one. Catherine tried to not speak out loud, but couldn't helped herself.
"No, it can't be...It can't possibly be Gabe, there's no way!" Catherine was just in denial, she just couldn't believe what she was seeing right before her eyes. Same state like her partner, Tess just shook her head, folding up her red sleeves to her forearms and crossed them against her chest. Letting a long and desperate sigh out, as she was shivering out of cold.
"Looks, like Medina was right, she did get beaten up-"
"And decided to stay with him, until the very bitter end of it..."had said Cat still in shock.
"How are we gonna tell Gabe, I mean about her? About Tyler?"had asked Tess giving an nod to the dead figure in front of them, just as Cat tried to respond, they heard an male's voice that sounded like a worried boyfriend who's been looking for his missing girlfriend, for a very longtime.
"Tyler?" That just stopped theirs tracks right away.
That shaking voice belonged to Gabe.
...
See ya!
