Hi! Sorry for the late update. I had some problems with my computer. This little traitor breaks down in the worst moments!
Thank you very much CamillaMB and Xoverguy for reviewing Chapter 5. You're great!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Power Puff Girls or The Power Puff Girls Doujinshi.
The path to death
Chapter 6: Alone
Dexter went to his lab after having taken a hot shower and changed. When he had arrived home he had done his best not to let his mother see him. He was sure that if the red headed woman had seen him in the state he had been in she would've fainted.
His mother was a cleaning maniac and would've gone mad if she had seen the mess that he was when he returned with Blossom. But most of all, his mother was a caring and sensitive woman. He knew how worried she would've been if she had seen Blossom and him covered in blood; not to mention bringing a dead girl with them. It would've really scared her.
He sighed looking around the lab. His eyes fell almost instantly on the place where the body of the White Puff was lying. Blossom had made him promise a hundred times that he wouldn't even touch the girl. "It must be very important for her." The boy thought continuing to stare at the bloody figure.
He never knew how close the two girls were. He never wanted to know. After Blossom broke up with him, he had blamed Bell for some time. That hadn't helped him very much. It had just made Blossom angrier with him and made him feel worse. He had convinced himself, after many long inner battles, that the white haired girl wasn't the one that made Blossom make that decision.
That thought made his blood boil. He punched one of his computers, ignoring the pain the action had caused him. He knew that the break up was his entire fault and that made him angrier than he would have been if there was someone else involved in it.
He walked to the area where he kept the medical instruments and got out the things needed for an autopsy. He stopped after a few moments, staring at a little scalpel that he held in his hand. Did Blossom really want to do that? He knew she wanted to catch the one that had killed Bell and make him pay. He knew that studying the dead body could provide some useful information. But the question was: could Blossom do it? Or even be aware that something like that was being done?
The boy wasn't sure. He knew the Pink Puff as the kind of person that does what she has to do. But he highly doubted she had ever been in the position of cutting her best friend's body. Even if it was for the better, will Blossom accept it? He couldn't answer.
The White Puff had been the pink eyed girl's only friend and support for months. The boy thought of his sister. She would've never been capable of doing something like that to such an important person. And he was positive that she wouldn't even let anyone touch someone that had meant so much to her. But Blossom was not DeeDee.
He shook his head. He couldn't believe that he had actually compared the two girls. They were so different, but then again he loved them both, not because one reminded him of the other, but for who they were. He sighed putting the scalpel away with the other instruments. Then he took all of them and brought them to the dead body of the White Puff. He placed them on a little table next to the girl.
He looked at the lifeless body. She looked almost like a natural sized doll. And he was sure that if she would be cleaned of all the blood that still covered most of her body, someone could easily mistake her for a white doll. It was rather strange how the body was still in such a good condition. Judging by the time of her death and the time that had passed since she had been discovered, anyone that knew at least something about death would be very surprised to see the excellent condition the girl's body was in. She looked like she had died only half an hour ago.
The sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts. He turned around to be greeted by the sight of Blossom, dressed only in black, with her hair still a little wet and with her eyes staring into space. For a moment he was surprised to see her like that. However, as that moment passed he wondered why he had thought of something like that. In fact, he mentally lectured himself for not expecting this. He was aware only of a little part of what had been between the two girls, but that was enough to think that in such a situation the red headed girl would be very depressed.
They stayed like this for several minutes. Dexter was looking at Blossom with worried eyes. Blossom was staring into space, somewhere behind the boy, looking like she hadn't even noticed him. Feeling like he wouldn't be able to handle it for long, the red headed boy began walking towards the girl. She didn't seem to notice the change. Even when Dexter blocked her view she continued to stare like she was looking right through him.
Only when the boy got in front of her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, she seemed to notice where she was. She raised her eyes and locked her gaze with his. For a moment the blue eyed boy was scared to do anything, feeling like something was wrong. Was it a good idea to let Blossom do it? He wasn't sure, but if she wanted to do it he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop her.
"Blossom?" he said in a tone that was just above a whisper. Her eyes, which had been practically empty until then, gained a questioning look as she continued to stare at him.
"Are you O.K.?" he asked. He had got closer to her body and now he was almost hugging her. The sensation of her cold skin scared him, but he didn't let go.
"Yes, I'm fine." She answered with an emotionless voice. He ran his hand through her long hair. She didn't react. It was like she didn't even notice what he had just done... like she didn't even know that he was there. The thought made the boy shiver. He opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by the red headed girl.
"You haven't touched her, have you?" she asked, her attention now directed to the boy in front of her.
Dexter was a little taken aback by the question. He really hadn't expected something like that. He rather thought that she would be sad, that she would ask for moral support. But no. The first thing that she had asked him was if he had kept the promise he had given her. He felt hurt by this. Didn't she trust him? He had been by her side so many times…
"No, I haven't." He answered, without managing to hide the hurt and offence he felt. Blossom ignored his tone and the look in his eyes. She nodded absently and began walking towards the dead body of her friend. Dexter watched her. Her walk was slow but resolute. He followed her.
Blossom stopped near the White Puff. She looked at the body that, just a few hours ago, had been a living girl. She still had the aspect of a living being; death hadn't stolen her beauty or the innocent look on her face. The girl reached her hand and touched her friend's cheek. She startled at the hot skin that her hand found.
Her heart pounded hard in her chest. Something in her head was screaming at her that the girl was still alive and only asleep. But she didn't listen. She knew all to well what had happened and wasn't going to hurt herself even more by harboring hopes that will just be destroyed.
She turned her eyes to the medical instruments that were lying on the little table. Did she want to do this? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She reviewed, in her mind, all that had happened. She had found Bell in the cafe's bathroom, in one of the cabins, nearly dead. She had tried everything that came to her mind to save her friend, but failed and the girl died in her arms. And now she was about to cut her even worse in order to find the bastard that had done all that to her. She cursed the criminal under her breath, swearing, again, that she would find him and make him pay.
She opened her eyes again. She looked at the instruments that she would use for the autopsy. In ordinary circumstances she wouldn't have made so much out of them, but now, she was almost scared of them. Now, they would cut through her friend's body to find clues that may not even be there. The thought of not finding anything after the autopsy made Blossom's blood go cold. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and her mind.
"I see that you've got everything ready." She told Dexter, who had been watching her from behind. The boy startled at the sound of her voice and at the cold tone she had used. But then he nodded.
"Yes, I did." He said getting a little closer to her. "We can begin anytime you want..." he continued, but the girl didn't let him finish.
"No." She said in a firm voice. The boy thought that she had changed her mind and didn't want to do the autopsy anymore. Even if this had appeared to him as a possibility he had never thought that it would actually happen. Blossom had said that she wanted to check up the body and she usually kept her word. But in that moment he could understand the girl's decision to stop and had to admit that he was a little scared too.
"It's O.K." he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "If you don't want to do this you don't have to. We could try to find the criminal without that autopsy..." again she didn't let him finish.
"No." She said again, in the same firm voice. She turned to face him and the boy could see the determination in her eyes. She never had that look in her eyes if she was going to give up something.
"I will do the autopsy. No offence Dexter, but this is personal." She said looking in his eyes.
"But won't you need help? I know more about..." he began to protest but got cut off.
"I have all I need to know right here." She said showing him the books she had brought. "Don't take it personally Dexter, but I don't want to let someone else with her." The girl said in a gentler voice, motioning to the White Puff. "You have to understand that she in my best friend, that she has been attacked and that she has died in my arms. I can't forgive myself for this. Of all people, I had to protect her more than anything else, because I cared for her more than for my own life. But I didn't... I wasn't able to save her from the one that did this to her." She continued, involuntarily motioning to the girl's open wounds. "Now, it is my duty to find who did this to her and make him pay. Do you understand? It's my job and no one else's."
"I... I understand..." Dexter said, not very sure if that was the truth.
"I'm happy to hear this." She smiled a bit. "That means you understand I won't let anyone help me. I'll do this alone." She said in her firm tone. The boy seemed a little disappointed. Then an idea came into his mind.
"What if the one that killed Bell will attack again?" he asked. The girl seemed to think about the possibility, for a few seconds.
"If this happens, I promise that I'll tell you everything that I will find. But if it doesn't you must promise that you won't try to interfere in my work, that you will let me do everything I have to do without even trying to find out what I'm doing. Will you do that?" she said. He looked at her, paralyzed, for several seconds. He wanted to help her, to get close to her, but her verdict showed him that wasn't possible, that she wanted to work alone. And the look in her eyes showed him that he didn't really have a choice. He sighed.
"O.K., I promise." He answered. "But remember that I'll always be here if you need something." He told her. She nodded and he hugged her. She didn't react and he understood that nothing was going to make her change her mind. He let her go and headed to another part of the lab, intending to get some work done. He knew that if he tried to sleep he wouldn't even be able to close his eyes.
Blossom watched him as he went away. She knew that he wouldn't disturb her, at least not that night. She turned around and faced the dead body of the girl that had been the most important being in her life. She sighed, walking closer to her.
"Bell..." she began. "... I'm sorry for what I'm going to do, but I have to. Someone did this to you and I want to find out who. And don't worry, I will, and I won't make any mistakes. But for that I need to take a look inside you, to see if he has left any traces. You'll forgive me, won't you?" Blossom said stroking the other girl's cheek. Then, she bent down and kissed her, still warm, forehead.
She got up, feeling a little better after she had told her friend what she was going to do. She knew that the girl was dead, but felt that it wouldn't be fair if she didn't tell her what was happening. And she was sure that, wherever she was, she could hear her and she had given her permission to do it.
The red head smiled a little and began her work.
Well that was all for now. Blossom started her investigation and she wants to be alone. We'll just have to wait and see how far this will get. And since I'm the one writing this story you can be sure that it will go far enough.
I honestly don't know when I'll update the next chapter. I still have some work to do and it's possible that I'll have leave town next week. It all depends on my parents. 'Till then I'll try to update, but I can't promise anything.
See ya' in Chapter 7!