"Ms. Lockhart, what's wrong with you?"
"Huh?"
The young brunette hadn't realized that she was daydreaming. Since encountering the red-haired man a few nights ago at the restaurant in Rocket Town, her mind has been swimming with unanswered questions. Tyler is still coping with the loss his mother, but he's coming around. As he promised Tifa, he has been performing up to his best ability in classes and even started participating at the youth center more.
"What's wrong with you?" The young man repeats again.
"Oh I'm sorry, Tyler." Tifa replies weakly. "I was just thinking about some things." She shuffles a few papers on her desk before continuing the conversation. "So, how's everything at home?"
"My dad has been more social since our last meeting."
"Social? Care to elaborate a little more?"
"Well, he goes out at least once every weekend and doesn't come back home until early the next morning."
"You sound disappointed by his sudden change in actions." Tifa notes.
Tyler hung his head slightly. "A little. I expected him to cope longer."
"Hm. Some people cope in different ways and times."
"Yeah." Tyler begins collecting his backpack and jacket. "Thanks for meeting with me, Ms. Lockhart." He got up from his chair and waves at Tifa before heading towards the door. "Same time?" He asks, his left hand touches the door knob.
Tifa nods and smiles sweetly. Tyler returns the gesture and left the office. When the door snapped shut, Tifa quickly began shuffling papers around on her desk. After a couple of minutes of looking, she found what she was looking for. She grabs the cordless phone from its cradle and dials a number.
"Hello?" A man on the other end answers.
"Hi, Mr. Shinra. This is Tifa Lockhart speaking. I was wondering if I could go home early."
"That's fine, Tifa." Mr. Shinra cheerfully replies. "You're a hard worker. It's no problem at all."
"Thank you sir. Have a great day." She hung up the phone and dials another number.
"Yes Tifa?"
"Papa, I'm going to be coming home late tonight so I'm gonna order you a sandwich for dinner."
"Okay, but don't stay out too late."
She rolls her eyes. Seriously, she's in her early twenties yet her father treats her like she's four. A parents love never dies, she supposes. "Papa, I'm an adult. A responsible adult. I know what I'm doing."
Papa sighs. "I know, honey."
"See you in a few minutes."
Tifa places the phone in its cradle, scribbles something down on a piece of paper, and heads out of her office.
"So how's the hunt coming along for you and Vincent?" Reno's voice echoed in the kitchen. Yuffie placed him on speakerphone while she prepares an early dinner. She and Vincent had a long night ahead of them, and she expects them to return home late.
"It's kind of inactive right now." Yuffie responded as she put a scoop of butter on top of her red-skinned potatoes. "He hasn't made any moves yet. How are things going for you?"
"Kind of rocky. I mean, my target haven't done anything but visit Rocket Town every weekend. It's a good thing I own stocks and a restaurant of my own because chasing this chick around the is beginning to get a little pricey."
"Rocket Town?" Yuffie arches her eyebrow.
"Yeah Rocket Town. Why do you sound so surprised?"
"Because our target visits Rocket Town often."
She hears a gasp over the phone. "You've got to be shittin' me!"
"Does the name Elena Ramado sound familiar to you?"
Reno is silent for a moment. "Holy shit. Well this escalated quickly."
"While she's here, I'll keep you posted on her movements, and if Genesis goes to Costa del Sol, you keep me and Vincent posted."
"Will do." There's shuffling and static coming from the phone. "Well you enjoy your dinner with the vampire. I'm gonna enjoy my evening with a little hottie that I met last night."
Before Yuffie could reply with a smart-aleck remark, Reno was gone. She ends the call and locked her phone before going over to the cabinets and grabbing plates. Vincent enters the kitchen moments later and grabs the pitcher of water from the fridge. He pours himself and Yuffie a glass and sat at the small table that Yuffie picked out a few days ago.
"I just got off the phone with our fiery red-haired friend." Yuffie said as she placed the plate in front of him. She sits down with her plate in front of her and continued the conversation. "And we all have something in common: our targets. Come to find out, his target is the mistress of our target."
Vincent nods. "It'll make things easier for the three of us." He shoved a piece of steak in his mouth before continuing. "We need to head out soon if we want to keep tabs on his movements."
"Yeah. Hey, I just thought of something. If Genesis is the real threat, why would Sephiroth make Elena Reno's target? Is she possibly involved with the crimes he commit?"
"That's for us to find out." Vincent finishes the rest of his water and places his plate in the sink. Yuffie scarves down the rest of her food, and followed behind Vincent.
"That's a good find but considering the amount of time you've spent on finding that one thing, that's nothing to go on. It actually makes things even more difficult for the department."
Aeris observed Cloud's progress in cracking the case. He's been working day and night, trying to find something to go on. From what Cloud could see so far, it's different people committing the crimes. Each murder that takes place happens in a different way. Some of the murders are done by simple strangulation or a quick, swift slit of the throat. Others are committed by several stab wounds, which could reflect an execution-style murder. So many killings are happening but by different people; it's not just one person. A group, perhaps?
"At least the department knows it's just not one person. We need to up our patrol cars and keep our eyes on anyone who looks suspicious." Cloud walks over to the white board that's positioned on a stand. "You see this woman right here?" Cloud points to a victim who had been stabbed over 30 times. "I suspect maybe a husband or a boyfriend."
"Maybe a jealous fling." Aeris dismisses nonchalantly. "It could happen."
Cloud gives her a weird look. What's up with her? "And look at this scene." Cloud points to a man who bled to death because his penis was cut off. "This murder was definitely by the hands of a woman. I can't picture a man doing that."
"The message was probably something like this: I bet you won't shove it anywhere else." Aeris comically replies.
Cloud nods. He glances at the clock and it reads 11:45 pm on top of the fireplace. Aeris gets up from the small couch, and went to Cloud and kisses him softly on his lips.
"I'm going outside for some fresh air."
Cloud waves at her, but tore his eyes away from the whiteboard. She stood still for a moment with narrowing eyes. The blond refused to let up. She walks out the front door and took her cellphone out of her pocket. As she dialed a number and awaited for an answer, she looks over her shoulder to make sure Cloud isn't behind. Of course he isn't He's too busy trying to crack the case.
"Hey. It's me. He isn't letting up."
Tyler is in his bedroom passed out on the floor with his TV on and the title menu of some movie Genesis isn't aware ofbeing played over and over. His father peers into his bedroom before closing his door completely. The middle-aged man grabs his overnight bag that he had packed earlier that day and went to the kitchen. He made sure that his son would see the note and heads out the home and locks the door behind him. He smiles to himself as he got into his car and tosses his bag into the passenger seat.
"Is everything like I asked?" His seductive, monotone voice spoke as he hit his screen a few times on his phone. His smile widened when he got his response. "Good. I'll see you there."
His engine roared to life and he begins to drive carefully into the night until he reaches his destination. Thirty minutes later, he's parking his car outside of a warehouse. He peers inside to see his blonde accomplice standing in front of their audience member. He grins devilishly as he closes the warehouse door behind him and approaches the two figures.
"I love to see a lady in red."
The red-haired man gives the blonde-haired woman's ass a quick whack. She smiles as a way to reply and turns her attention back to the audience member. The red-haired man caresses the young woman's face and chuckled slightly when the woman pulls back.
"You've picked a beautiful candidate for us this evening."
"Anything for you, Genesis."
Genesis gives his blonde-haired companion quick kiss before turning his attention to the young woman that's tied to a chair and dressed in red. He kneels down to her eye-level and observes her body. Her nipples were begging to be shown and he notices that the woman put up a fight. She had small, red scratches all over. The young woman's whimpers snaps him back into reality.
"Ssshhhh. Don't cry." Genesis began. "You can survive this if you do this certain thing with us."
"Wh-what thing?" The young woman's bottom lip begins to quiver in fear.
"Participating in the show, but you must enjoy it as well." Genesis answers as if the situation is normal. "My partner and I like to have fun. We think you'll be a perfect candidate for us this evening."
"Why me?" The woman cries out. "I was minding my business I- I wanna go home."
"You will." Elena shoots the petrified woman with a wicked smile. "If you behave."
Elena kneels next to Genesis and caresses the woman's breast. The woman kicks Elena in response and Elena simply smiles. "What's your name, hon?"
At first the woman didn't reply, but she saw the evil look Elena is beginning to give her. "Amanda."
"Amanda huh?" Elena repeats. She lunges forward and slaps Amanda across the face. "Don't do anything stupid like that again."
"She must be attracted to you." Genesis spoke up. "You see, you would've been dead for acting in such an ill-behaved manner but my blonde-haired beauty is feeling a little generous today."
He chuckled as Amanda's body oozed with fear. "Now." Genesis begins speaking again. "Let's try this again shall we?"
A loud creek shatters Amanda's feeble attempts of pleading. The three of them instantly ceased their movements. "Were you followed?" Genesis asks as panic slowly rises in his body and voice.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Elena hisses.
Another creek echoes through the warehouse followed by a gunshot. Elena yelps and immediately starts running for the door. Genesis swore incoherently and runs after Elena, leaving Amanda behind.
"Wait! Come back! Please!"
Genesis slams the door behind him and moments later drove off with Elena behind him. Seconds later, Amanda felt a pair of hands around her wrist. She closes her eyes tight and began to beg for life. She didn't even bother to see her next attacker. She slowly open her eyes when she heard a snap-like noise, and the pressure around her wrists is beginning to fade away. Before she could register what was going on, the pair of hands begins to undo another set of ropes, giving her relief seconds later. Amanda jumps out of the chair and quickly turns back to see a tall figure standing behind her.
"Go. There's someone outside waiting for you." The man spoke in a serious tone.
Without hesitation, Amanda nods and runs to the front of the warehouse with no questions asked. She opened the door and looks back. "Wh-whoever you are, thank you."
The man nods as he watches Amanda's slim figure retreat from the warehouse. The man pulls out his cell phone. "Yuffie, I caught them in the act. There's a survivor; get to her immediately."
"Does she need medical attention?" Yuffie asks as she peers through the bushes. She saw two cars fly down the street. "Damn! Those two cars must've belonged to Genesis and Elena!"
"Yeah they immediately ran when I fired a shot. From what I observed, the woman is fine but check just in case."
"Will do."
He ends the call with his partner in crime and went towards the direction he fired his gun. He picks up three rounds and exits through the back door that he had entered in. Vincent stops dead in his tracks when he notices fresh footprints. He didn't make any sudden movements but made a mental note to tread with caution and be ready to fire his gun, Cerebus, at any time. He knew for a fact that he and Yuffie weren't followed. He follows the steps slowly and made sure his awareness is still intact. He notices the footprints ends near the road where black skid marks have now formed. Looking both ways down the road and not seeing anything or anyone, Vincent decides to push the matter behind his head, but the thought couldn't remain there forever. If he and Yuffie were indeed followed, he would have to find that person and eliminate him or her as well. Their identities must remain intact, no matter the cost.