I really like how well my story is unfolding so far. But at the same time, I'm also trying to strike the balance between writing what I like in the story and writing what makes sense.

BALANCE IS NECESSARY! Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 3: Searches, Suspects, and Swords

The Bent Brick seemed as crowded as ever as Nick and Hank walked inside. Everywhere they looked, all they saw was casual conversation after casual conversation. Patrons sat at the bar enjoying their drinks and meals while the employees were absorbed in making drinks.

It was pretty hard to believe that someone had been murdered just after coming here.

As Nick and Hank approached the bar, a few of the patrons had looked up from their drinks and meals-most likely thinking to themselves: "What the hell are the police doing here? Shouldn't they be somewhere? Anywhere other than a bar?"

The bartender-a young man with smooth, black hair-was busy making a drink when he noticed Hank and Nick-or rather, their police badges-at which he suddenly went stiff before immediately standing up straight.

"W-What can I do for you two?" he said nervously.

"Oh, yes you can," Hank said.

"You see this guy last night?" Pulling out his phone, Nick showed the bartender Joshua Welmar's mugshot.

"Uh, sorry, I wasn't here last night," the bartender said. "But you could talk to my boss. He's in the back. Maybe he saw him. Follow me."

And so Nick and Hank followed the young man into the back room, where a middle-aged man-he looked about 55 years old-was sifting through some papers. As soon as he saw Nick and Hank's badges, he immediately stopped what he was doing and straightened his back.

"What did I do?" he laughed. "Ah, what can I do for you two fine men?"

Hank chuckled. "I'm Detective Griffin and this is Detective Burkhardt." He held up Welmar's mugshot. "We have reason to believe that Joshua Welmar was last seen here."

The manager laughed again. "Okay, what did he do?"

"He was murdered, sir," Nick replied.

If the manager wasn't awake, he certainly was now. "Oh. If that's the case, I'll help however I can. Uh, yeah, I do remember seeing him last night. He was real social, that one. He's a regular around here, so I know a lot about him."

"Did you notice anything strange? Anyone look at him funny or something?" Hank asked.

"No, no I didn't, the manager replied. "Josh didn't have any enemies. Everyone seemed to love him.

"Clearly not everyone," Hank mused.

"His body was found away from his car. Did he leave with anyone?" Nick asked.

"Sort of." The manager heaved a big sigh. "I didn't see him leave with anyone, per se. But there was this one woman he was chasing after. I only caught a glimpse of her, though. They were really hitting it off."

"Can you describe the woman?" Nick asked.

"All I know is that she had red hair. Like burgundy-ish, dark red. You can't miss it."

"We're gonna need to send us your surveillance," Hank said.

"I can do that."

"In the meantime"-Hank pulled out his card and handed it to him-"if you see this woman again, please call us." He and Nick walked out of the room and out of the bar. Hank sighed.

"Red hair, huh?" He looked at Nick. "That's new."

"Definitely a start," Nick replied. "Kinda narrows it down... sort of."

"Well, if she's the killer, she must be a kickass woman."

"Well, let's see what we can get from surveillance."

"Whoa, you really did a good job, Monroe!"

Monroe handed Derek Biscoe-a 25-year old blond, young man-his gold pocket watch, which he retrieved and proceeded to stare at it in awe.

"Oh jeez, you really touched up everything! Even the engraving!"

"Okay, Derek, I gotta ask," Monroe said. "Did a lady friend give this to you?"

"No, this is a gift from my sister Jenna," Derek said. "I felt really bad letting it get all worn. But I used her coming home from New York as an excuse to get it touched up."

"Feeling a little homesick?" Monroe asked.

"I dunno, I guess," Derek replied.

"You don't know what, Derek?"

Both men turned around to see a young, black-haired woman dressed in a black high-waisted outfit emerging from her nearby bedroom. Pulling a chair towards her, she sat down and stared intently at Derek.

Monroe supressed a giggle. Even without talking, Derek could already tell what we was going to say: "Someone's in trouble, mister."

"W-Well," Derek stammered. "I was just surprised that you came home so quickly. You were so set on staying in New York."

"Oh, so a surprise family visit," Monroe said. "Trust me, dude. I know how you feel. My parents showed up 2 years ago unannounced too."

Jenna reached over and pinched Derek's cheek. "Well, I wanted to see my little bro. Is that some sort of crime?"

"No," Derek laughed, swatting his sister's hand away. He turned to Monroe. "So how much for the repair?"

"Well, as tempting as it is to not charge a dime for that beauty," Monroe said, "that's $300 dollars for the repair."

"What?!" Derek nearly leapt out of his chair, clearly at a loss for words.

Jenna leaned over Derek's shoulder. "Next time, think twice before you ruin your gifts."

Derek laughed nervously.

"Oh my God! We made quite the haul today, Luce!"

Strolling through the sidewalk, Lucy's arms strained at the weight of so many shopping bags. Even now, she was half-running half-limping behind her friend as she trotted happily on the concrete, brown pigtails bobbing as she bounced.

"How are your arms not hurting, Dani?" Lucy asked.

"Not even I know," Dani said cheerfully. "Maybe it's 'cause I had a good time!" She turned her head back only to see Lucy's sorry state and chuckled. "Don't worry, Luce. You can put the bags down when we get to the car."

"I hope we get there soon. Why'd you park so damn far?"

"There wasn't much to choose from. You should know how crowded the parking lot gets at that time of day."

Dani started to slow her trot to a slow stroll and Lucy sighed. For several moments, neither one of them said anything. They just continued to walk, until Dani heard a metallic clink under her boot.

A few seconds too late, for she had already fallen on the concrete below.

"Dani!" Lucy rushed to her fallen friend and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Dani muttered. "What the hell was that?"

"I have no idea. There's nothing to trip over." Lucy looked back and immediately looked around. "Except maybe that."

Dani stood up. "Except what?"

"That." Lucy pointed to what looked like a light-green hilt laying on the edge of the sidewalk, half illuminated by the streetlamps, half obscured by the darkness of the park beyond.

Grabbing the hilt, there was a resounding scrape of metal on metal before Lucy pulled out a small but authentic-looking sword.

"What the hell?" Lucy mused, staring at the blade in awe.

"Oh my God." Dani rushed over to her friend. "A sword! Is it real?"

"No, idiot, people leave fake swords laying around all the time," Lucy replied. "Of course it's real!"

"Well, what's it doing in the park?" Dani cried.

"I don't know! You're asking the wrong person!"

Dani sighed, fanning her face with her hand. "I can't believe this is happening. What do we do with it?

"You return it to me, of course."

Both women turned towards their left, near a pair of dimly-lit buildings. Another woman wearing what appeared to be black jacket and gloves was advancing towards them in a nice stride.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked. Then she looked at the woman's hair. "Oh."

"Does this sword belong to-oh my God." Dani's eyes turned red. "It's you."

Lucy's eyes turned red as well. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, if you know who I am, then you should know why I'm here."

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Dani and Lucy woged into Blutbaden and immediately rushed the other woman with mighty growls and roars. The woman fought back, though not without sustaining many scratches on her body as she punched and kicked and knocked both of them back and together.

While Lucy and the other woman grappled with each other, Dani rushed towards the woman and sunk her claws deep into her arms, only to get kicked back onto the ground while Lucy was thrown aside, bruised and scraped all over, blood dripping from her lip.

Looking around, Dani saw the sword still lying on the sidewalk. With desperation in her movements, she grabbed the swordand lunged at the woman as fast as she could.

Only for the woman to grab her wrist.

Dani retracted. "Oh God, please! No!"

And that was when she felt her wrist get twisted. Dani yelled in pain as the sound of bones cracking filled her ears.

And she was silenced as the blade she had just held shredded her stomach. Finally released, Dani's lifeless body fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

"Dani!"

Retracting, Lucy ran as fast as she could into the park, hoping to God that the darkness would somehow disorient her friend's killer. Closing her eyes, she shook her head and wept, wishing that the image of Dani's entrails get ripped apart would just leave her head.

But to no avail. Finding cover in a nearby tree, she reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and immediately dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"H-Help me," Lucy whimpered. "Help me please! She killed my friend! Help me! Please! Plea-"

The last thing Lucy felt was a strong hand grabbing her by the head and slamming her against the tree. The last thing Lucy heard-as she felt a sharp blade slice open her chest-was her hysterical cries resonating throughout the dark park.

And that's the chapter. It seems our killer is upping the ante. A lot. XD

I'm really sorry that this took so long to post. I have a busy schedule, so free time is really hard to come by.

But I have no intention of giving up on this story! I'll tell you that much!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter all the same! :D