Chapter 20
"How's her vital statistics?" Diana wasted no seconds to ask the nurse in shift upon entering Avery's hospital room guarded by a few constables at the door.
"She's stabilized, Lady Cavendish," the nurse replied. "Blood pressure and heart rate are monitored closely."
Diana felt her worries eased, "Any injuries?"
"Internal bleeding from a mild liver laceration, Miss," the nurse smiled as she glanced at the future head, the detective, and the patient. "Patient should remain in bed until the tests show bleeding has stopped. I will come back again to check on her."
A new and uplifting thought dawned on Diana. "Thank you."
The nurse nodded before leaving.
They hovered over Avery as she stirred awake. Diana quickly switched the lamp off, leaving just a dime of the yellowy one above the headboard. It took Avery a while to collect her thoughts and realized where she was.
"Diana?" Avery's eyes had no light in them, giving Diana an alarm for concern. She barely recognized Avery's voice. It came so airily and weak.
"I'm right here," she said in a grievous tone. "Everything's okay. You are fine." Her reassuring voice contradicted with the painful look on her face.
Avery tried to sit up, but Diana stopped her. Her purple eyes were not the same without its usual mischievous sparkle.
"You'd better rest some more."
"No, no, I must tell you, before I forget."
"Very well then," Diana said, sitting down next to her and grasping the shorter girl's hand. "Avery, have you any recollections about what occurred?"
Forehead creasing, Avery looked around in confusion. The Detective Inspector leaned by the door of the room, patiently listening. Avery suddenly had no memory of coming to this place. "I... I don't remember. I know the memory was in here somewhere… I was about to tell you! It was like a record that had been scratched or the burned film that gave out images in a disoriented view."
Diana inhaled sharply. "You were drowning and you said someone pushed you."
"Yes, yes... someone did."
"Who was it, Avery?"
Avery's face contorted as her facial muscles tighten, she bowed her head in shame. "I don't remember."
"What about the silhouette? Was it a man or a woman?"
"I can't tell." Something just clicked together, as if her intelligent light bulb just switched on. "It was like someone one who blended well in shadows. I can't help but feel there's some hideous truth lurking in a dark corner of my mind. I remember Andrew. He was carrying me, trying to get me away from danger. He managed so far... until his knees gave in and then dropped me to the ground."
Diana grasped the girl's cold and shaking hands, "Anything else, Avery?"
Avery searched Diana's face in panic. "I remember jumping."
"Jumping?"
"Yes, jumping!" Avery gripped on Diana's arm harder than ever. "However it was not of my own volition. It feels like I was possessed; like I was watching my body being controlled by someone else, a mere puppet on strings!"
A flicker of fear flashed her face. Diana hissed. "Avery, you are hurting me..."
Avery's free arm reached for Diana's crown as her voice raised an octave higher. Diana managed to dodge the evading hand a little. She saw a stray strand of her hair between Avery's fingers that was pulled in the commotion.
As more words came out of her mouth, Diana felt like Avery was so close onto tearing her skin. If not for the Detective Inspector pulling them apart, Diana couldn't get out of Avery's vice-like grip.
"You should rest, kid." She said with a low growl.
Tears began to fall from her eyes. "Y-yeah, I should. I... feel tired all of a sudden." Avery held onto the piece of DNA like a lifeline.
The Detective Inspector pulled Diana out of the room and into the white tiled floor and white painted wall hallway. Diana gasped in horror upon inspecting her arm. Avery's fingernail had torn some of her skin. Now it looks like angry claw marks given by a cat.
"She seemed so shaken." Detective Inspector Croix observed.
"She was on the verge of death, I would be too." Diana ran a finger over her torn skin.
"She's a necessary witness. She's valuable. But, she's traumatized. I will have to send some more coppers to guard over her, also some psychiatrist to help her recover. It would be distasteful if the girl is harmed by the killer or by herself. I have to know though, Diana. Have you any idea why they were targeted?"
"They were close to me." Diana didn't miss a beat.
"Really?" the older woman's brow furrowed. "If I were them, I should have gone straight to you."
"Either to scare me or to play a game," Diana paused, reiterating to herself what she had just thought.
"Oh Diana," she chuckled. "I didn't know you were such a threat."
Diana saw dripping sarcasm from her words. "But why would she kill Andrew and not Avery? It wasn't difficult to connect the dots."
"Murder alone makes no sense, but perhaps an accidental killing. A clandestine dalliance went wrong, per say."
"You mean..." a flash of memory hit Diana like a lightning. "Before Andrew and I separated ways, he placed a tracking device on Akko's hood jacket. He was on a stakeout for my entire wellbeing."
"Akko?" Detective Inspector Croix asked. "You mean Atsuko Kagari? The girl the late Kinsleys laid their injustice? You lost me by mentioning Andrew Hanbridge spied on her."
Diana had dived into the deluded depths of her reasoning mind. She ignored the older woman as she fit the puzzles together. "Yes, after Akko and I were together, he followed Akko somewhere and perhaps Miss Avery was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"I don't know what the fuck you were referring to but that sounds like too much of a coincidence." She crossed her arms together, reprimanding. "Even if your line of reasoning is plausible that Sucy Manbavaran is the killer we're searching for, there has to be a reason why Miss Avery is warranted by her wrath."
"I made Avery poke around into her past."
Detective Inspector Croix gaped, blinking. "You... did... WHAT?"
"Along with Akko's actually; perhaps Avery found something that she had to act quickly."
"Diana Cavendish! That was unprecedented and basically stupid! You hired an informant without guaranteeing her safety, I expected much from you."
She stared at the taller woman, unfazed with the raised voice. "I know you interviewed all the staff when you're investigating, but never underestimate the power of downstairs gossip. Avery happens to be good at retrieving them and exterminating all possible risks to her safety."
"Exterminate risks you say," she rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, look where that got her."
"Something must have gone wrong somewhere? And besides, it's just background checking, it wasn't supposed to be a perilous mission. I don't suppose you know why they specifically targeted Andrew and Avery then?"
"We might be asking the wrong question." Croix crossed her arms. "We don't know where Andrew and Avery were taken, we don't know what went on with them, and we don't have any physical evidence that ties us to our killer. They have clearly been planning this for a while. Whoever killed all those boys and tried to kill Miss Avery is a ghost who doesn't want to be found."
"Then what's the right question?"
"Who is Atsuko Kagari, and what does she mean to our ghost?"
"Inspector, you are basically agreeing with me that Atsuko Kagari is our connection to the killer." She placed a hand on her heart in mock happiness. "Can it be true? Do you finally?"
Detective Inspector Croix rolled her eyes, but she was being serious when she said. "Yes, I must admit, Atsuko Kagari adds up. And besides, I've observed the pattern of known serial killers the past 30 years. We're dealing with someone new who's very creative in her modus operandi. Share the information you retrieved from Miss Kagari while we look at a different perspective. But I must say, good work, fellow sleuth."
A small pat in the back seemed to serve as no feat but it made a smile to quickly dance on her lips. Diana placed a deliberate finger on her chin. "May I see Andrew's farewell message again?"
The Detective Inspector sighed and grabbed a handy copy of her case files on her phone's cloud, "Here."
"Here's my version of what happened though, Diana." Detective Inspector Croix said. "What if Avery, being a gossip fodder, was merely just killer's latest victim and it's just by sheer happenstance that Hanbridge stumbled upon the scene, while he's investigating or spying this Atsuko Kagari."
Diana's eyes swam onto the pictures on the phone while listening to her. Her fingers zoomed in and swiped as she meticulously searched for anything out of the ordinary. With an intake of breath, she said. "This isn't his penmanship."
"I beg your pardon?"
Diana zoomed into the photo. "I hadn't noticed it before because I was preoccupied with his state. This isn't his penmanship, I'm sure of it. His penmanship isn't that eligible when using cursive. Look at the swirls."
"Huh," the older woman smirked. "We should take great analysis with his other writings then. So, we have a slight chance to think his death was murder. You mentioned he talked to you yesterday, what did he say?"
Diana didn't need to dwell further; she could remember it clear as day.
It was a code.
She repeated the same words to her before cursing under her breath. "By the nines Andrew, Why didn't you ask for my help?"
"Sounds like he's preparing for danger, like all idiots do." she sneered. "Also, Diana less I forget, I have a better informant who you might want to work with at school."
"Who is this blessed person?" Diana crossed her arms.
"Me!"
A jolly scream from behind came surprisingly. It made Diana jolt, her mouth to forming the name, "Wangari?"
"Sorry I'm late, I couldn't find my shoes." The Luna Nova News Network President and reporter grinned at her. She was barefooted though and started narrating in her recorder in substitute of her microphone. "Scotland Yard: home of the world's most famous detective force specializes in the training of detectives and the way it investigates the crime. It is the cutting edge of crime detection. Detective Inspector Croix Meridies of the Yard, the Jane Tennison of the Met Detectives arrived at what she believes to be the first crime scene—Thomas Kinsley's murder. Further clues are emerging. She finds herself in trouble, asking for assistance from a recreational sleuth. By now, the serial killer believed himself to be above the law. As young Consulting Detective Diana arrived at the latest crime scene, the scenery gives her grisly clues. Cavendish knows what's happening but solid evidence is missing. Their only hope is to catch her criminal opponent red-handed. This is a huge case that will make or break her."
Diana couldn't believe her eyes and stared at the Detective Inspector. "So you two have been working since the beginning?"
"Uh no," Wangari said, pausing her recorder then stretching her legs apart as if she was practicing for a split. "The first article I wrote about Thomas and his chums were information I got when Amanda O'Neill helped me steal the files on the Inspector's desk."
Diana merely sent her a disapproving look while Detective Inspector Croix shrugged. "I found incriminating evidence that led me to her and now I gave her a proposition to work for me instead of punishing her for stealing."
"Isn't that illegal?" Diana asked.
The taller woman handed Diana some files she kept from inside her suit. "Wangari's legal and here's a nondescript disclosure she signed."
As Diana inspected the papers, "To the journalist's great delight, I must say."
"Oh my, Diana, it sounds like you doubt my investigative journalism."
"Trust me, I had never doubted your investigative skills, I distrusted your handling with information. You have the tendency to be sensationalist and sometimes outright dishonest. What do you have to say for yourself, Wangari?"
Wangari raised her shoulders. "I did it so that the Newspaper club in Luna Nova will continue running. Our club was on the verge of death you know."
"That sounds to me like you fail to capture your viewer's attention. And I don't suppose writing the relations about the Cavendishes and Handbridges, for instance, is only one-quarter factual with the remaining three-quarters being pure fabrication. Are you trying to get me in your crosshairs, Wangari?"
"True, nothing ever good and important happens in Luna Nova, after all, that's why I started publishing that 'sounds like your typical romance scam' thing."
"Alas, I assure you the odds of Gaelle and Professor Pisces romantically involved is as zero percent as my relationship with Andrew!"
"Those days are over, Diana! Have you heard what I just said before? Have you read my articles lately? I've greatly improved! Something good is finally happening to Blytonbury and the academy! This is when my skill will shine! A journalist's work is never done."
Detective Inspector Croix chuckled at their exchange. "Wangari's an enthusiastic recruit. Not the type to let a dead body get on the way of her naked ambition."
"Fine," Diana said. "Nevertheless, these disputable procedures of yours must not hinder our way of finding the truth."
"Good work, Diana. You're finally warming up to her." The older woman said, patting her shoulder before addressing her informant. "What have you found so far about Paul Hanbridge and why he didn't respond immediately when he was informed of his son's death?"
"Other than the fact he doesn't favor minorities in the name of politics?" Wangari asked. "He paid a visit to Lord Fafnir after attending Frank's funeral, and he was bedridden for a while."
"Lord Fafnir, the wealthy shareholder?" The Detective Inspector asked while cocking her left eyebrow in disbelief. "My, my, what business did he have with Lord Fafnir then?"
"Asides from the crookedness, Lord Fafnir is an alleged crime lord of illegal cocaine, another business maybe?" Wangari spoke while imitating the manner in which she had maneuvered the line. "Or the Earl has found himself loving powdered donuts?"
"Well, whatever's going on, it's suspicious. I must pay both a visit." Detective Inspector Croix deliberated before sending a look at Diana's way. "You don't need to come with me. If I haven't any luck questioning them, I will send you next."
Diana seethed a conspicuous strain on her jaw. "Right, I'm certain the Earl wouldn't want to see me once he learns why. I will try my luck searching for the mysterious penmanship in the meantime. Since it came with a bouquet with wrappings exactly like the ones Frank has, I'm heading back to a certain flower shop."
"Excellent work, Diana, keep your eyes and ears open. Also, you two might be too busy this week. It's the last week of the semester, isn't it?"
Wangari turned on her recorder once again. "Consulting Detective Diana Cavendish may have aspired from the fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes, but every superhero needs her nemesis. And if Cavendish is Sherlock, then the Yard is soon to face her arch enemy—A real-life Moriarty. But there's a higher chance that our Sherlock isn't facing a Moriarty but a Ripper instead. In the context of the history of serial killing, the Ripper murders are absolutely the grandaddy of them all. Jack the Ripper absolutely embodies everything that we currently associate with the concept of a serial killer. However, Cavendish seems to have the notion that the serial killer is a female student of Luna Nova. Certain facts are undisputed. In reality, men commit more violent crime than women, and women are more often victims of violence than perpetrators. Not that sex differences play no part in violent expression. The neurobiological research overwhelmingly suggests that there are sex-specific differences in response to stress, abuse, and other environmental variables—"
"I won't hesitate to destroy that recording, Wangari. Mark my words."
It was nightfall. One of the most bittersweet times of day, as the glorious, iridescent sky slowly darkened. The fiery, protective sun died as it descends, depriving the heavens of its protective light. Over time, it disappears into the horizon; the ever-changing sky slowly becomes a cancerous black color.
The serene moon and a few faithful stars are all that illuminate the darkened world. The beauties of these other celestial bodies are grand in their own right, but unworthy replacements for the blinding bringer of dawn.
Long has night fallen in Diana's world, and she will never see the sun rise again like before. Diana's neck snapped with a force as she turned, hunting for Andrew. He was holding a knife and Diana felt it punch through his neck, a clean cut through and through. He dropped behind her, clawing at his open jugular.
A swoop of panic nearly rooted her to the spot, but someone dragged her awake.
Diana cringed in her sleep, stirring, trashing, her sheets moved as she held on to her pillow. Soft whimpers and cries escaped her soft pink lips. The name of her childhood friend passed her lips a few times mostly in sorrow and misery.
Tears washed her cheeks and stained her silk pillow, soon following an ear-splitting scream before she woke up. She shook panting heavily as her heart raced.
"Andrew," she muttered slightly wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. "Just a dream," she panted.
Her long blonde hair was a frizz, reminded her of the chains from the abyss slowly pulling Andrew down in the purple light.
"No, it was a memory." A part of her bitterly reminded. Andrew is gone. It kept repeating as memories of Andrew being pulled into the abyss flowed into her mind.
She held onto her head in terror, her hair flowed from between her fingers. She kept hearing Andrew screaming as he slowly disappeared beneath the earth. She kept remembering what he screamed.
Her heart cringed at the memories. She wanted to scream again but it was caught at her throat, choking her. She shook viciously her face swollen red from tears.
This reminded her of her own mother all over again the day she died.
She cried their names, her voice breaking. "Come back please I don't want to be alone anymore."
Diana felt like she was six all over again. She snuggled into her fragile self, her knees pressed against her chest. "I hate being alone," she muttered burying her head in her knees. "Please."
She doesn't know what face to show when she will meet up with Paul Hanbridge soon.
Diana sobbed quietly until morning broke.
Her entire world seemed to be shaking. Sucy wondered if she was dreaming, her mind still somewhat groggy from sleep.
"Sucy? Sucy wake up! It's time to get ready for school! I hoped you studied for exams because I did!"
Nothing seemed out of place. The world was quiet and sleeping—something, she realized... that she should be doing as well.
The weather outside was something rotten, but that wasn't anything she could really change, could she? Sucy rubbed her eyes, a purely unconscious and reflexive motion before turning around to head back to bed and settle in the warmth of the covers. She barely accomplished a few steps when she heard a familiar voice softly call her name.
"Sucy."
All sleep-borne cobwebs in her half-awake brain vanished instantly as she recognized the intruder. The voice gave it all away: the softness, the way it seemed to take on a life of its own and pull her close before entangling her in its insistence.
Sucy opened her eyes; the first she saw was a mass of brown hair.
"Wait, hold on! You're burning up, Sucy!" Akko yelled with a sheer intensity of a loudspeaker, her hand pressed alternately on her forehead and her neck.
Sucy's attention shifted to a chuckling Loa who sat on the desk next to Sucy's bed. The doll was delighted for once that she no longer needed to hide in cramped spaces.
With Akko's help, Sucy was able to raise herself upright in bed. She looked around at her surroundings, finally mentally awake enough to register information. "I'm... sick?"
With some effort, Sucy swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Akko stood in front of Sucy, and helped hoist her into a standing position, pausing for a moment to make sure Sucy had oriented her balance. She was a little wobbly at first, but quickly gained control of her center of gravity.
"Are you sure you can to go to school? You can't even stand up. Come on, you need to at least change into new clothes, eat your favorite mushroom soup and go back to bed."
"Eh?" was all Sucy could muster. She was looking forward to today the most.
"Yes, you should stay and sleep. I'll tell Professor Ursula about the situation, for sure she can help you take your exams scheduled for today tomorrow or something. I'll get you some flu medicine too!"
Sucy whined at the loss of Akko's touch on hers. She grumbled a few seconds more before addressing the doll. "Why am I sick, Loa?"
"You used a high tier magic spell. Slept late tonight, ramming all your lessons for today's exams, it exhausts your energy. Rain catching you yesterday didn't help..."
"Maybe this is karma because you didn't eat the Belgian chocolate cake I brought you yesterday!"
"Akko there's no correlation to that." Sucy frowned.
"I was just saying. Belgian chocolate cake's good. I fed Diana some last Saturday and she agreed!"
A pang of jealousy rose from somewhere within Sucy didn't want to acknowledge, yet she was here, gripping Akko's arm hard. Her voice seething, "Akko, you're not allowed to spoon feed or even fawn over Cavendish or any other potential suitors you have."
"Sucy," Akko started. She paused, took a deep breath, and finished her sentence, her eyes locked on hers. "Are we dating?"
Sucy's eyes widened even more, so they haven't properly established that. No wonder, Akko just recounted her hang out with Diana without any regard to Sucy's feelings. Beside them, Loa cackled, entertained.
"Yes, yes we are. Aren't we? I confessed and you accepted my feelings and everything."
There. She said it. It was done. Akko was officially hers.
"Well, okay then?" Akko breathed, still looking unsure about everything, but accepting of what Sucy was telling her.
"But, remember that just because I tell you something, doesn't mean that it has to be that way." Sucy quickly reminded her. "Remember how I told you only you can tell yourself how you feel about me? Well, it's true. No matter what anyone might tell you, only you can decide how you truly feel."
Akko nodded slowly, "Yeah."
Inwardly, Sucy cringed at the pathetic attempt to rectify the situation. There was no taking back what she said, but she could at least try to make sure that any feelings Akko might develop for her were genuine, even if the circumstances were uneventful.
She reached over and ruffled Akko's beautiful brown hair before continuing. "I don't want you to like me because I told you to. I want you to like me because you do."
"But, if I'm dating you, then I have to like you, right?" Akko questioned.
"Well, yeah, that's normally how dating goes."
"Then I must like you."
Sucy helped up her hands in a mock gesture of defeat.
Akko stared at Sucy's bed clock before squirming. "Ah, crap. I'm getting late." She then stared at the doll next to them. "Do you think you could make sure she gets to do all of what I said? You're her servant, aren't you? Take care of your master!"
Loa eyed Akko with steel annoyance, unaccustomed to taking orders from anyone but Sucy. Still, she sighed and flew off to the kitchen do as she willed.
Akko leaned and gave Sucy a quick kiss on the cheeks. "I'll see you around after school, darling."
Sucy's heart somersaulted and her toes tingled and her spine rushed with electricity. "I'll be waiting."