"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Warning: Shall be creepy. ;)
The door swung open to Cheif Beifong's office so fast that the papers on her desk stood no chance against its flow of air. Lin bit back a scowl.
"Chief, there is something we've got to tell you. And, it's not good." Song's brows dipped down over his tired eyes, the wrinkles from his frown making him look older than he was.
"Well, spill it, Song! We've haven't gotten all day." Lin tried not to be snappy, but lack of sleep, and being in a windowless room that was so hot she could practically feel her skin melting off due to a certain blasted air conditioner having yet to be fixed, was not helping any one's mood.
"We didn't find the girl's body."
"I would assume that to be a good thing, Officer,"Lin's lips thinned,"if I haven't been given other information by the Avater herself. But since Mako's brother did 'see' this girl killed, I don't think it needs to be said that you need to look harder."
Song cleared his throat. "Ma'am, I am not doubting you, or the Avatar's friends. I am just saying that, well...we didn't find the body, and-"
"-Song, please, get to the point. It's bloody hot in here and you're taking up air." She attempted to arrange her files back in order.
Song sucked in a breath. "We found body parts."
Lin's head snapped up so fast she nearly felt the room tilt.
"What?"
"A hand on the table, the legs buried under a fence in the backyard, the head..." Song gulped.
Lin pitched her nose and held up her hand to stop her Officer. Lin sucked in a gulp of air, "Are you sure it was the victim we were investigating?"
"...Positive, ma'am." the hitch in Song's voice was like a dog whining, "I was the one to bend the head out of the ground. The DNA matched perfectly."
Lin cursed under her breath, "Damn it, kid, why do you always have to be right about these things?"
But for not the first time in Lin's life, she could say she had never regretted having children. The only imaginable heartbreak was nearly not worth it.
"And the killer?"
The room was silent for a few seconds.
"Took off. We searched the house and he left no evidence, the monster."
Lin took great interest of trying not to bite her own tongue off.
"...How should we notify the parents, Ma'am?"
Lin shook her head, gripping her desk with white knuckles. "Not yet. There's some people I have to talk to first."
The silence in the room was deafening as Lin told her officer's report to Korra and her friends.
Mako's and Korra's faces were drained of color, Asami had a hand over her mouth like she was about to cry, and Bolin- he just looked competently empty, his eyes lacking any emotion.
"So," Lin sighed, "That was what they found. No lead to the killer, though-just took off."
"What do we do now," Korra asked.
"Now, we keep searching." She replied, "Mako," said firebender looked up,"I need you on the scene first thing tomorrow."
"Yes, Ma'am," he said, taking a great effort not to look at his brother.
And with that, she left, leaving the friends in the eeriness of the room.
They all had dinner at Air Temple island that night, everyone trying to get their mind of the case for the time being, but the underlying tension was brewing.
Bolin had yet to say a single word since Lin's confession of the case, and the Earthbender's lack of talking or eating was making itself clearly known.
Bolin had tried to politely excuse himself once, but Pema had come back in the room with more food, the kids had started yapping happily, and a piece of congee had managed to fly unto his shirt from across the table before he could leave. Not like he had the energy to move, anyway.
Mako squeezed his knee from underneath the table, and rolled a dumpling onto his still-full plate, urging him to eat it. "They're really good, Bo. Eat some for me, okay? You'll feel better."
Bolin didn't know how to say that he didn't know how to eat when Nyla couldn't eat anymore. Or that when Ikki started talking, her voice almost sounded like her. Or that the only way he'd feel better was to erase any vision he ever had from his memory and be normal again.
In the end, he plopped the dumping in his mouth without tasting it, the gooey dough sticking his tongue to the roof of his mouth felt like it would be a little girl's favorite.
He saw a green bow that had been tied around Nyla's dress lying on the floor in the corner, the ends stained with red. He heard a little voice asking to play, sounding sweet and innocent, and One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
Do you know what it means to save the best for last? Nyla asked.
No, he shook his head, what?
Shhhh...she held her finger to her lips, no cheating.
And then she was gone.
He knew no one else saw or heard these things.
He squeezed Mako's hand until dinner was over.
"But, Mako, it was an accident that time. I mean, I've never tried to sense someone before, and I really don't think I want to."
Bolin was sitting on the couch in their apartment, bundled up, chin resting on his knees. He remembered when Mako had had his last murder case-an Equalist serial killer whose's victims were all people who wanted their bending back. He remembered how he had stupidly played with the knife-that-he-did-not-know-at-the-time-was-the-murder-weapon, saw a Red Monsoon get stabbed/he get stabbed/ Monsoon/ him/No-Monsoon, and how it gave him a very fast and very painful fall into unconsciousness.
He knew where Mako was going with this, and he really didn't wanna know what would happen if he tried to sense the guy.
Mako came over to sit by him. "I know, Bo, I don't like it either. But maybe if...if I find something of his...something the other guys missed," Mako considered, "and then I can bring it to you. Maybe you can feel it, like you did the knife, and-"
"-No."
"But, Bol-
"-I..." his voice got real tight, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed, "I can't, Mako. I'm sorry."
"Bolin, I know it's scary, but think about-
"-Shut up! You don't know anything!" Bolin suddenly yelled, "You have no idea what it's like!"
Mako's mouth opened and closed, startled by his brother's outburst.
"You're asking me to try to sense a killer, when whenever I do go all freaky-vision-eyed, it makes me feel like I am literally dying and being put back together. That when I do come out of it, I feel like my insides are jelly and I'm ready to puke and pass out, not to mention what I have to see." Bolin stared at his brother, his eyes blazing.
"I...I'm sorry, Bolin," Mako put a hand on his shoulder. The guilt was written on his face, "but think of it this way. You'll be helping all those people. You've always wanted to help others, and now's your chance. You'd be a really useful tool for our case!"
"'Useful tool'?" Bolin scoffed. Mako didn't know who he was talking to. Bolin went on, "I'm not just some new toy to help you play detective, Mako! Is that what this is? You just want to use me so you can win this case and get the guys at the station to like you?"
Mako looked at his brother incredulously. "What? No! Of course not! And the fact that you would even think I'd feel that way, really hurts."
Bolin shook Mako's hand off, "I have to see people die, very violently, so you asking me to do this, when I don't even know if I can...It something I never want to see again, if I can help it." Bolin sighed wearily, feeling his anger leaving. "The fact that you are asking me to do this like it's not a big deal-that really hurts, Mako."
The brothers were silent for a few moment, neither one looking at each other.
"I'm sorry for not being more understanding, Bo. I'm being real insensitive, aren't I?"
Bolin snorted, his eyes hard, "Yeah, well you can get that way sometimes. You get all job-crazy and think being a cop is more important than your relationships." Bolin got up and went down the hall to his room.
Mako looked down in his lap and knew Bolin was right. Maybe then if he had actually listened to his friends and tried to be more understanding instead of thinking of his job, he and Korra would still be together. Maybe Bolin wouldn't have had to move back in, because he wouldn't have felt the need to get away and move out in the first place. Maybe he wouldn't have hurt Asami for the billionth time.
Mako sighed and shook his head. He began walking to his brother's room to apologize. When he opened Bolin's door and saw him, he nearly had another heart attack.
His brother's clothes were off, and he was left in only his tank-top and boxers for bed. It looked like someone had taken a knife and tried to chop up Bolin's limbs; ugly red marks marred his skin right where the arms met his shoulders, just above his knees-and his neck...
His brother's neck looked like someone had tried to crush it and mar it off with a butter knife; the skin all bruised and swollen just below the jaw, the blood-red scar nearly meeting both sides of his collarbone.
Mako swore he saw the outline of a hand print circling his brother's throat.
Mako felt bile rising up inside him, "Bolin!" he screamed.
Bolin jumped and faced him, "What?"
Mako tried in vain to keep the tears from stinging his eyes.
We're afraid that the victim's body was not found intact, Cheif Beifong's words stung his mind, but that we are dealing with a much more disturbing dilemma. My officers found body parts scattered about the house and buried in the yard- two full arms, the legs off by the knees, and the head just below the neck- all seeming to be cut off with a knife. An alert is going out to the people and further investigation is ongoing.
Words could not describe the look on Mako's face. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked desperately.
Bolin turned away and got in bed. He pulled the covers over his head.
"Bo?"
"I did tell you. I feel whatever they feel. You just didn't listen." he turned off the lights, leaving the room in blackness, "Your powers of deduction are impressive, Detective."
To say that Mako had been surprised when his brother had shown up to the crime scene at seven the next morning, would be the understatement of a lifetime.
He saw Bolin and Korra walking up to him, and needless to say, the depressing mood was clear on their features.
"Bo? What are you doing here? I thought..."
"Cheif asked me to come," he said simply, "she thought I'd be helpful or whatever."
"But last night, you said...I mean, you said you didn't wanna do this." Mako was cautious. He'd been a jerk to his brother last night, and didn't want to make matters worse.
"I know what I said," Bolin replied, showing the officers his badge to allow him access to the scene, "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for the family." And with that, he ducked under the yellow tape and started walking away.
Mako felt something pitch in his stomach. He felt Korra put a hand on his shoulder, and give him a sad look. "Just be his big brother, Mako. That's all he needs right now."
"Lately I can't seem to even get that right," Mako sighed and pulled the tape up for Korra to walk under.
Lin's officers were right; the body parts were scattered everywhere, and it was all it took for him not to puke.
The bubbling heat of the sun, even at the early hour, was making everything stink horridly, with a mixture of sun-baked dirt. The parts were being delicately wrapped into sealed bags for further evidence, with angry metelbenders barking orders and wiping sweat from their foreheads.
Mako tried desperately to search for his brother through the crowded yard and house, cutting through hallways, and opening locked doors with warning signs. He opened every drawer, and found nothing but broken pencils and an old container of mu shu pork that smelled older than he was.
Sure enough, Mako found no evidence supporting that the man had been here, except for the large hole in the basement wall where Bolin had said it would be, and the smashed radio that still lay in pieces on the floor, tape around it.
It was like the guy just...vanished...? Mako vaguely wondered if the guy possessed the ability of super speed, before telling his mind to shut up.
Mako was ready to go back upstairs when he caught movement behind him, by the bend in the room off to the left.
Bolin was standing there, his green-clad back facing him, his fingers rubbing back and forth along the broken cement in the wall.
"Bo...?" Mako stepped closer, "Hey, you okay?" Mako kicked himself. Of course he wasn't okay! What kind of stupid question was that?
Bolin just turned his eyes slightly to the left, voice numb, "She died right over there, by the couch. That's where he smashed her head."
Mako sucked in a breath and dared a look to where his brother was referring. Try as he might, he couldn't see what his brother saw. Was his mind still replaying that horrid moment over and over?
This was a bad idea, he couldn't believe he had let Bolin come here, or even wanted him to come last night. What kind of brother was he, putting Bolin through this?
"Do you see?" Bolin asked.
Mako saw a tiny indent in the wall, a little faded red mark that was sure to be a blood stain, but that was pretty much it. The monster had cleaned up well- almost too well, as if he knew that he had to leave soon.
Mako swallowed, "I do." he said, voice high. Then he asked, "What do you see?"
Bolin's face betrayed something for a moment. Mako wasn't sure what emotions passed behind his brother's eyes, but he concealed it quickly.
Bolin's hands were shaking.
This was a bad idea, a really bad idea, Mako thought. Bolin was too innocent, he wasn't cut out for this.
"Bo, let me take you home," Mako put a hand on his shoulder. Bolin flinched. "Come on, bro..."
Just as Bolin was about to say something, a voice rang from upstairs.
"Hey, detective, where are you?" Saikan's called.
"Mako, Bolin?" Korra's voice.
The patter of fur boots on the stairs made both brothers' head jerk up. There was Korra, face sweaty and hair stuck to her forehead.
"Mako, Lin needs you outside. She's discussing patrols, and possible leads."
What possible leads? Mako thought, we have nothing to go on. But he motioned for Bolin to follow him back outside.
Mako opened the door to the yard, catching Lin in mid-sentence.
"Well, officers, it seems that no evidence of the man or leads have been found, yet. Needless to say, this man is tricky, and most likely knew we were coming, which make him all the more dangerous." her voice was booming in the quiet yard, "Chang, take your squad and go do another search of the East Side. Song," she said, "take five of your group to do another sweep of the yard. If you need to tear the ground apart, do it."
"And you," she turned to face the three friends. Her face softened, "Just...try to find anything you can."
She nodded and went to follow the men around back.
"Well," Korra said, "I guess I can help dig up the yard..." She didn't really know what to say.
"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea-"
"Hey, kid, what are you doing!? Don't touch the evidence!"
Mako and Korra turned around to see Bolin at the other side of yard, peering into the bag which stored the decapitated head. His eyes were glassy and far away as he stuck his hand in the bag.
"Bolin!" Mako yelled and the two sprinted over to him.
What Mako saw next made his breath nearly stop. Once Bolin's fingers touched the corpse's forehead, his eyes started glowing a harsh green light, illuminating his whole face.
"B-bo...?"
Bolin wasn't sure when the feeling happened, but a huge pit in his stomach had been threatening to drown him since he stepped on the property. It was like an overwhelming feeling of dread tugging at him once he got on the lawn, like they knew he was here.
He didn't even know who they were. But they were here, watching him.
He was drawn to her- to her head almost instantly. Like someone controlling his body, he went over and opened the bag. Slowly, slowly, he placed his fingers on her forehead.
He was aware of someone yelling his name, but he couldn't respond. He felt power rushing through him, a green light stinging his view, as he felt his eyes roll back into his head.
He always saves the best for last.
This time was different, for he wasn't someone else, like in his past visions. It was like he was watching it all happen from above.
At least, at first he was.
The man was checking things off on a piece of paper with a pen, as if he were going through a list. The stench was nearly unbearable, like blood being heated up. The names written on the list were from all different Nations and somehow,with each name being written down and checked off, Bolin could see who they were, how old they had been.
There were four names before Nyla on the list. Twelve names in all.
He became each of them one at a time: dying, then coming back, then dying again.
He was:
Watertribe, male, 12: Hotah.
Burn, burning, white-hot fire that chewed up little Hotah from the inside out. Slowly, slowly, no ice to cool him down.
Earth Kingdom, female, 9: Sasha.
Shiver, shiver, numb, numb. Blue skin, crystal cold. At least Sasha had gone quick, at least Sasha hadn't had anytime to be afraid because she'd been unconscious for most of it.
Fire Nation, male, 14: Ling.
A rope here, and rope there, rope, ropes, everywhere. His limbs being pulled apart like jelly, stretched so far until one last 'yank' and- dead.
Water Tribe/ Fire Nation, male, 11: Oroza.
Smash, smash, the rocks come down, until your brains spill all around.
Then Nyla came again and it was like he had to watch everything in slow motion.
He died, and came back, and died once more until he felt his soul come back to him and-
'Do you know what it means to save the best for last?' He felt Nyla say inside his head.
'No. What?'
'Look at the List. The List knows all.'
He forced himself to look back at the man, writing down the names. He scrolled his eyes down until number 'twelve' was in clear view.
Earth Kingdom/ Fire Nation
Male
17
B-
The man turned to him now, as if he could see him. "You'll never find me." he said, "All I'll leave is a trail of their body's. You'll never save them, and you'll never find me."
With that, he took his knife, raising it high above his head, and stabbed it in Bolin's heart.
"Poor Bolin. If only you'd have played nice. Don't you know that cheaters never win?"
"BOLIN! Snap out of it! Bro!"
He comes out of it screaming bloody murder, falling to his side and spewing vomit on the ground.
Mako's hands are on his back, holding him, rubbing soothing circles as he vomits again, clutching his chest.
"Bolin, it's okay. It's okay, now, Bo, I got you!"
Officers come running to the yard to see what the yelling is about, Korra and Mako holding him as the green light leaves his eyes.
"What the heck happened?" one yells.
He groans, "The-the List..." he rasps.
Mako leans in closer, "What, Bo?"
"The List...He-he left a list...a copy of it..." he coughs and dry heaves once more. Mako grips his shoulder. "The list of h-his victims...bottom drawer, basement..."
And Bolin fell to his side, his eyes sliding shut, and passed out.
Everyone looked at each other, incredulously. The silence in the air could be cut with a knife.
Everything seemed to happen at once. Mako looked to Bolin, shocked and panic in his eyes. Then he looked towered Korra.
"Go." she says.
And Mako sprints to the basement, Officers right behind him.
The stairs nearly give way from all the pressure on it at once.
"In here!" someone yells, "Hurry, open it!"
The wooden drawer is wrenched open, but nothing is there.
"What? It's empty! There's no copy!" Chang says, "Kid, your brother's crazy!"
"No, he's right." Mako sees the flap, the hidden cover of the drawer, hiding the bottom underneath.
Mako takes the top layer off and troughs it to the side. The paper is folded at the bottom, stained and crinkled.
"Well, does it say the victims?" a metelbender asks.
And Mako doesn't know how to respond. He doesn't know how to say that the first five kids, including Nyla, are all checked off with a big, red, mark. He doesn't know how to say that out of the twelve on list, they are all seventeen years and under. Or that at the bottom of the page is a little note saying their time of death, or how much blood they lost. He can't tell them how the monster has coordinates to all the still-alive seven victims' houses, or where they work, or go to school.
Mako clutches a hand to his mouth, feeling the color drain his face when he see's his brother's name at the very bottom, number twelve. His age, Ethnicity, gender, background-everything. His brother's name is enclosed around a big, fat circle. Right underneath Bolin's name is a phrase:
The best is always saved for last.
"Mako? Hey, kid, you alright? What is it?"
Mako's hands shakes, he has to grip the drawer to keep his head from spinning.
"Does it say anything similar about the victims?" Chang asks.
Mako swallows, and looks at them all.
"He's killing everyone with Abilities."