Chapter 34, guys :)

Chapter thirty-four-- Tracking the Rooftops

“Wake up! Now!” A sudden white light burst through my eyelids, my head sending up waves of pain. A sharp voice rang in my ears, and I opened my eyes with irritable resistance, noticing the dark ringlets and strut of a woman. Of Rachel.

“Ugh, how did you get in here?” I grumbled, putting my hair into a quick pony tail. As thick and messy as my hair was, it didn’t look half bad as usual.

“You left your door unlocked, and its time to get ready to investigate.” Rachel opened another curtain and more sunlight burned into my eyes. I grimaced.

“What investigation?”

“Sierra told Courtney that you and that red-headed girl favor some case. I don’t know what.”

The Mysterious Woman. I suddenly shot up out of my bed, and glared at Rachel to leave me alone so I could get dressed. She sighed and rolled her eyes, and walked out of the room. I could hear her tapping the heel of her foot outside my door.

While I was looking for combat boots, I only found high heels. I got dressed in the least dressy outfit I could manage, and the darkest; a black dress with slim pants underneath. It showed off my curves and not so much fabric as the long gowns.

Then, I began to search for combat boots once again. However, when Rachel became too impatient, I just slipped on a pair of black high heels, and rushed out the door.

“What the hell took you so long?” Rachel screeched like a bird, but she didn’t look too grumpy. Maybe she just didn’t like me.

“I can’t find any other shoes but these damn high heels.” I growled, stabbing the floor with the tip of my shoe.

“It’s Marleybone. Get used to it.” Rachel led me stubbornly to a group of people. I noticed Nikki, Blaze, Courtney, and four other boys. Sierra must have the day off.

“Yay, you’re ready!” Nikki rushed towards me. I noticed her wearing a similar dress to mine, but dark blue, with another pair of high heels. Her hair was down, as always, but in a loose braid. Her eyes dazzled in excitement.

“Hey, Nikki.” I greeted. I looked over to Courtney. “When are we to depart?”

“Right now.” She grinned. “Follow me, officers. We’re going to the rooftops. When we get there, I will explain the whole situation.”

We nodded, and began to follow Courtney’s footsteps. She led us through a few spiral staircases, through many stone hallways, and up a large flight of stairs. My legs were burning when we reached the morning air, and we were on a rooftop of a very strange area.

It was a rooftop: anybody in the world could know that. However, the roof tops were connected to each other by little wooden bridges, and it created a whole new street, in a way. The area was blank and empty as a desert. But with stone, not sand.

“This place may seem empty to you, but the case we have is deadly. Follow me, and you shall discover that this area holds many secrets. One, including a murder related to the Mysterious Woman. Follow me, Ladies and Gentlemen.” Courtney announced curtly, and we followed her to a landscape between a brick wall of a tall building against the roof, and a large metal chimney.

People gasped, and I made myself push up to the front of the Department, besides Nikki. Her eyes glazed in sorrow. I narrowly moved my eyes to the thing they were watching, and dreaded the outcome. It came anyways.

There was a woman, with silver black hair and a wide eyed expression. Her eyes looked as though they may have been beautiful once, but now, they were just green and blank. Her skin was pale as snow; as she had lost a lot of blood. In her arms, small and fragile, was a baby boy, also slaughtered. The woman’s stomach seemed to be torn up, and the child’s body was mutilated with five large gashes throughout its limp body. “By the Fates.” I gasped. “What in the worlds happened here..?”

“The Mysterious Woman, that’s what happened.” Blaze spoke up bravely. I gazed up at him, and I realized that he looked sick. I didn’t feel too well either.

Nikki had a blank expression on her face, but I could see the distaste in her eyes. She walked forward, and put two fingers on the woman’s face. Somebody hissed in anger. “You idiot girl! You know better to not touch the damn evidence..!”

Nikki shot up, her long hair turning into fire in the quick flash. Her skin was too pale, and she looked stressed. Ignoring whoever yelled at her, she rushed towards me and took my arm. Pulling me away from the crowd, people watched us in slight interest.

“Nikki, what is it?” I demanded. I don’t know how she could even touch the corpses, and shivered at her cold hand on my arm. I noticed a golden tint on my skin where she had clutched my arm, but I took it as the sun’s reflection.

“An S.A. wouldn’t have done that.” She decided immediately.

“I know.” I agreed. I glanced back at the corpses. “One of them is a baby boy. How could something be so cruel?”

Nikki nodded. “That’s why I think its something else. Remember those marks?”

I thought back to the five gashes drawn across the baby boy’s body. “Yes. They are similar to the gashes the Hellhound put on you.”

“Exactly, but not quite. I don’t think it was a Hellhound.” Nikki spoke quizzically. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s obviously demonic and it has monster claws. Not to mention, it most likely has powerful jaws.”

“Nikki,” I reminded, “We are in Marleybone, remember? What would a demonic creature, relevant to a Hellhound, be running around on rooftops?”

“How do you think I know? I’m not the controller of these beasts.” Nikki sighed.

“So, the Mysterious Woman is possibly being framed?” I asked. “How do we even know she could be an S.A.?”

“I wasn’t sure at first, but now I am.” Nikki opened up her hand. “Look at my two fingers. There’s blood.”

“Yes, there’s blood, but wha-“I gasped, staring at the incredible evidence smeared on Nikki’s fingers. Instead of red and normal blood, it was as though she dipped her fingers in gold paint. “So that’s why you walked over to them; you saw the S.A.’s blood.”

“Just a little, not enough to be noticed by anybody who is not part of the S.A.” Nikki took out a vile, and tried to get as much as the blood on her fingers into the vile. “It’s evidently the Mysterious Woman’s blood, and she is evidently an S.A.”

“How do we know that? We don’t even know if the Mysterious Woman was even here at the crime scene.” I ran my fingers through my hair.

“Yes, but what I do think… It may be a bit disturbing.” Nikki bit her lip, and rubbed her hands along her arms, as if cold.

“Sooner or later, you’re going to have to tell me; I wouldn’t even bother hesitating.” I coughed, looking everywhere but at Nikki.

“The beast that killed those two victims…” Nikki whimpered. “Mary, I think that its after an S.A., not innocent, mundane people.”

I suddenly saw in terror in my mind, of a girl with whatever angelic powers, dead and torn apart by a bloody, hungry monster. I shut my eyes to block out the thoughts. “Are you sure?”

“The beast had attacked the S.A. that was here; we know that because of the golden blood. However, the S.A. somehow got away. I hope.”

I nodded. It made sense. “Do you think it has something to do with the Fairytale curse?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Nikki grimaced. She looked frustrated, that she didn’t have the answers.

“Well, the most we could do is to look for clues.” I considered the Department, whom completely ignored us, looking around for evidence. About four people were studying the corpses.

Nikki glanced at her wristwatch. “We have about three hours. Lets get to work.”

Unfortunately, as much as we looked, there we no tracks. No more evidence, but that little bit of blood. The best part is, however, was that if we sent the blood to the Order, Alhazred could make us the tracking potion he made for Krokopatra, and we could find the next S.A. With this idea in mind, with the evidence of the crime collected (nearly nothing), Nikki and I stayed behind the group walking back to the Palace.

Slipping the vile with the tiny bit of golden blood in an envelope, I quickly wrote a note to Alhazred of our plan. Nikki sealed the envelope with a spell, to protect it from everybody but Alhazred: which was the smartest thing I’ve ever seen.

Quickly putting the envelope in the mailbox- how ordinary- we rushed away, making sure that nobody saw us.

Sneaking into the Palace was the easiest part. Nobody seemed to notice us, and once dinner was made, everybody was heading to the same place anyways, so it was easy to follow. Together, we made it through and secretly sat the tables that the Force were sitting at.

The dinner was grand; hot roast beef, sweet baked potatoes, roasted chicken, vegetables, fruits, apple ciders and dressings, hot and cold drinks, salads, beef, fish, and more. The tables were made out of gold, and the walls out of fine white marble. Long red rugs cascaded down steps of stone, and people danced around the large dining hall with shimmery silver gowns.

I would have never known in my entire life that I would see sights like this. I sighed, as if hypnotized, at the beauty. Then, with sorrow, I remembered what got me here in the first place. I sat up stiff and tense for the rest of the dinner.

Around ten or so, we were led back to our guest rooms, and bid our goodnights. Tomorrow, Courtney had told us, we would be analyzing the evidence in the Observatory. It seemed like a good idea, but I dreaded the fact being around those corpses again.

Sleep dawned on me, and I listened with serenity in the wind blowing in the curtains, the rustle of a bird flying by the window, my mother’s wedding present glowing in the moonlight.

All of a sudden, I heard something crash onto the floor. I jerked up, pushed my hair back, and got to my feet. With courage, I rushed to my dresser and obtained a ruby-hilted knife from my socks drawer.

I spotted the thing that had crashed. In front of the open window, glass littered the marble floor. Walking silently over, careful with my bare feet, I saw nobody.

Studying the glass, I recognized it as the glass lamp that was on a decorated table. I then studied the window, and wondered if somebody could escape. However, this was a four-story room: how could something that high be an escape route?

Looking out the window, I held on to the window sill in panic. The street down there was deserted; just a few parked carriages and a white cat.

Suddenly, I felt something close over my mouth. The skin of the hand was pale white, and was warm and clammy. A felt a pair of lips near my ear, as I clawed at the hand, trying to scream for help.

“Shhh.” The voice was recognizable, and I would have gasped if I had access. “It’s me.”