Chapter 10
Hello again, loyal readers...and new ones, maybe. I'm back with chapter ten, and almost on schedule for once. I hope you all found the last chapter to your liking. I know it has taken up to now for the main plot of the story to come to light, but now that it has, how will this turn of events bode for our heroes? I'm sure you are all wondering at this point if Pinkie has returned somehow. All will be revealed, I promise. So without further ado, here's the latest installment. Enjoy, and please review.
"Sis...a moment, please?" I said, interrupting Budder from drawing. It was compiling on me. I had questions, and that meant seeking out answers from somepony who knew more about dreams and ghosts than I did. That meant a grown stallion approaching his teenage sister for advice.
"What's up?" She asked curiously.
"Ah, Dashie's out with Twilight, trying to round up leads with the constable. I kind of need to ask you something." I simply said. I motioned with my head, and Budder stood and followed me out of the guest room, and down the stairs to the study. I dropped into my chair, and she sat in a wing-back chair across from me. I was silent for a few moments, trying to decide how to go about asking the question that was bugging me so deeply. I decided to start off with a decent conversation.
"So...how's Scootaloo handling all of this?" I asked.
"She's okay." Budder sighed. "She hasn't been through anything like this...well, not in a few years. She was a little worried, but I told her it would be okay, that we would fix everything. It made her feel a little better, I think."
"That's good." I commented. I tapped the right arm of the chair with my hoof a few times. "Good job working crowd control earlier..." I added. "Heh...Instead of police tape, they oughtta start putting up Budders..." I saw her cock her head a little.
"Is something wrong?" My sister questioned.
"How do visions work?" I asked, right out of the blue.
"Huh?" My sister replied, caught off guard by my question.
"Visions...you know? How does that work?" I repeated. I reclined back in the armchair in the study of Twilight's library and closed my eyes.
"Well...I guess it's kind of complicated." Budder said, knowing I wasn't that well versed on the paranormal as she was. "Why, bubby?"
"Last night...I had a dream." I began. "In a way, I guess it kind of...foretold this mess. I don't know. I was just wanting to know how it worked."
"Well...like...the mind can sort of pick up on things that are about to happen, and you can see it in dreams and visions and stuff." She explained. "Especially if you're psychic or really strongly linked to a pony."
"Hm. Kind of like how I know when you're up to something?" I said jokingly.
"Funny bub...but it's kinda true." She stated. I opened one eye and stared at her to see if she were kidding or not. "What? You asked."
"So if I have...emotions...about somepony or something, I'm likely to be able to have like some...psychic sense about them?"
"Sometimes." Budder said. "What was your dream about?" She queried.
"Never you mind that." I returned. "But...in the dream, I didn't see the pony that got killed this morning, or the real killer." I paused a moment. "In the dream, it was Pinkamena."
"But she's dead, ain't she?" Budder pressed. "I mean...you killed her..."
"I killed the shit out of her." I growled. "I killed her to death and saw her on the slab at the morgue. But she was in my dream. What does that mean?"
"Psychic stuff can be kind of weird..."
"Please don't tell me her damned ghost has come back to start killing ponies again..." I groaned. "I can't even stand the thought of that. If she's haunting that place, I swear I'll have Luna come blast her into oblivion..."
"It might not even mean that, bub..." My sister said, trying to calm me down. "You're the best detective ever. You know that it might mean what you said before...that somepony is trying to be a copycat. That's all your dream might have been...like a warning that somepony is trying to be like her." It made sense. That had been my theory all along, not that it made me feel particularly happy that there was possibly a fan of the psychotic killer, trying to carry on her macabre work. Still, it was better than the vengeful spirit angle.
"Ugh...you're probably right..." I sighed. "Just...seeing that stallion dead in there...brought back a lot of bad memories, you know?" She nodded sadly. "Never get personally involved in a case...I can't help it with this one. I'm already involved in it, you know? It's just hard to screw my damned head on straight and try to think through it."
"She's dead." My sister stated. "You killed her yourself, so you know it ain't her."
"Yeah..." I said in a low voice. My sister walked over and hugged me.
"You're gonna find out who did it." She whispered. "You always do. And I'm helping ya, so you don't gotta worry, bub." I smiled and scoffed a bit.
"You got a lotta faith in me, angel..." I commented. She broke the hug and stepped back.
"Why wouldn't I?" She answered in a cocky tone. "We've been through worse, ain't we?" I thought for a moment, and couldn't help but grin.
"Heh...damn right we have..." I agreed. "Oh hell...guess I was just trying to see things that weren't there. You want to help me go interview some witnesses?"
"Sure." My sister said with a shrug. "We ain't done any real...detective stuff in a long time." I stood and threw on my saddle bags and hat.
"I know...it's all been paranormal stuff..." I mused. "Feels kind of funny to be chasing a killer again. It's almost...normal."
"Your life ever been normal?" The filly questioned cynically. I shrugged.
"Guess not. Ah well...come on sis, let's go play detective again."
A short chapter, but as you can see, this case is already getting to Drake. Is he just imagining things? Can he put aside his fears and memories and catch the copycat killer before they kill again? I will try to have the next chapter up soon, hopefully very soon. I have a few Monster M100's, so I might get worked into a pretty good writing frenzy tonight. So until next chapter, thanks for reading, everypony! -Drake