iNto tHe BLaCk

This is my character fic *coughhellfreezesovercough* It features mainly my character, Rain and Chanson (an NPC just for this fic). It's supposed to get darker and more mindfreaky-ish later on (emphasis on 'supposed'). So comment or PM or IM and tell me what you think, or if you have any suggestions or whatever. And yes, the title is supposed to be like that xP. I hope you all enjoy.

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iNto tHe BLaCk

Episode O1\|E : A New Way to Ghostwalk



"Chanson de Noir,* girl, eleven years old, murdered with a kitchen knife to the chest by the infamous serial killer, Set."

Rain raised the old newspaper over his head, looking down under it. A young girl, roughly about eleven years old, looked right back up at him. Her face, hair and clothes were drenched in crimson. The handle of a kitchen knife stuck out of her chest.

"That’s who you are?"

Chanson nodded.

Pedestrians on the wet city sidewalk peered at the dark-clad man quizzically as he held up the musty papers over his head and talking under it, seemingly speaking to his shoes. Even a car or two slowed down to watch the man’s actions.

Rain lowered the papers, blocking the little girl from his view and began reading again.

The first time she came to him, she appeared as nothing more than a sort of dark mist carrying a musty, torn piece of paper. At first, Rain thought the mist was some sort of sorcery, but after seeing the old piece of paper, he realized that it was the spirit of a girl who had passed away a long time ago. Right after he realized that, the mist took the form of a girl with no face.

The paper read:

"…girl, eleven years old, murder…"

Rain was taken aback at first, but part of him knew that the girl meant no harm and that she probably just wanted help like most others.

You see, you have to understand; this was the first time Rain had seen a soul of the departed act like this. Usually, they look like how they were right before they passed away. This one…this one was different. The spirit acted upon what Rain knew about the person that passed away. Rain knew that she was a young girl, so the mist took the form of a young girl without a face; meaning that he did not know who she was, or what she really looked like.

The Grim Angel found himself following this no-face spirit around the city, leading him to clues about who she was. Their last stop was a man who keeps and archives old newspapers, after much convincing, Rain was allowed to look through these papers with the help of the ghost-girl.

She pointed out a fourteen year-old article.

After much more convincing, Rain was allowed to take the newspaper with him.

"Parents’ names are Percia and Dent de Noir," Rain kept reading, stopping only to chuckle slightly at the name of her father. He lifted the papers again, but just a little this time, catching a glimpse of a frown on the girl’s bloodied face.

"Oh! Sorry," he quickly apologized, sending a question right behind it, "I don’t suppose you know where your parents are?"

Chanson shook her head.

"Right…" Rain twisted his lips in disappointment, "You won’t know unless I know, is that it?"

She nodded.

"Do you ever talk?"

Chanson responded with a shrug.

Rain sighed, "Right…" He folded up the papers and stuck it under his arm. "We've got names now, so at least we have a lead. A phonebook probably has them listed. We’ll find that…in a phone booth."

Rain spun on his heels, causing stones to grate against the wet concrete. They began trekking around the area, looking for a phone booth. Chanson followed closely behind him, sometimes waiting until he got a little way off, then skipping up to him. She kept doing that until Rain stopped walking.

They stood in front of a small, red structure with glass windows on each side. It was only large enough to fit one or two people. There was a lit sign at the top that read ‘Telephone’.

There was a man with a hood fumbling around inside the booth with the phone.

Rain opened the door. "Excuse me."

The man jumped, letting out a small yelp of surprise.

"Can I get that phonebook over there for just a second?" Rain pointed over to the book that was leaning against the box of the phone.

"Uh...yeah yeah…sure, sure." The man picked it up and handed it over.

Rain took it without saying ‘thank you’ and closed the door. He leaned on the edge of the booth, beginning to flip through the pages. ”So do we start at ‘D’ or ‘N’? He asked, looking through the surnames that started with ‘D’. Rain didn’t look at Chanson, because he knew that she would not answer. The ghost girl began skipping circles around the Grim Angel, going through the phone booth a few times in the process.

Suddenly, she stopped.

Rain lowered the phonebook, leaning it up against the outside of the booth and raised his eyes toward her. She turned to him, looking deep into his bright gold eyes.

"Do you know where your parents are now?"

There was no action for a little while. She just stood there watching him. The wind blew, raising dust and blowing a few pieces of crumpled paper their way.

Chanson nodded, turning and raising her arm, pointing to the east with her index finger. Rain began walking in that direction, but this time, Chanson became the leader, he became the follower. She didn’t walk in front of him, instead, she seemed to teleport to every corner that he was approaching, always pointing in the direction Rain had to take.

She finally reached a corner where she stopped pointing. When Rain caught up to her, she looked up at him. In turn, he looked up at the street sign she was standing under.

Grayshaw Street. They live at number seven Grayshaw Street.

Chanson looked across the road from the street sign, prompting Rain to follow her gaze. His eyes fell on a shiny number ‘7’ pinned to the wooden door of a small, concrete house. The lawn in front of the house was unevenly cut, as if some parts were manually cut with a cutlass or machete and some were shaven by a lawnmower. There was a small, linear, concrete path leading straight up to the dark, wooden door of the faded orange house. The windows on either side of the door were outlined with white paint; dark red curtains were hung in them.

There was a figure just behind one of the curtains, as if the person inside was looking out at the visitor.

Rain knocked on the door, purposely ignoring the bell. A middle-aged man answered the door a few seconds later. He was shorter than Rain. Although his hair seemed to be dyed jet black, there were still some grey around the roots. His brow was wrinkled, as if he were permanently worried. His eyes were dim and small, searching Rain from head to toe.

"Yes?" Rain was cut off from observing him.

"Um…Dent de Noir, correct?”

"Yes. What do you want?" The man coldly responded.

"I’m…here about your daughter." Rain shrugged to himself, he had no idea what to tell this man.

'Hey Dent, your daughter’s ghost is right here and she needs help'.

That would definitely not work.

Dent frowned and opened the door a little more, but he leaned at the same time, reaching for something behind it. As he leaned, Rain’s eyes fell on a picture which was hanging right opposite the door. There were four people in it; one of them resembled Dent. The other, resembled a smiling Chanson, who was wearing a dark pink dress with small, red polka dots on it. At that moment, the ghost of Chanson de Noir ran straight through the man at the door, running straight up the red carpeted flight of stairs. Rain watched her go up until his attention was grabbed by Dent.

"Go away, I don’t have a daughter." He gripped a baseball bat firmly in his hands.

Rain muttered under his breath, "Oh fine. Be that way."

Dent, instead of using the bat, decided to slam the door shut. Rain turned around, ready to walk away, but he stopped.

Chanson, now wearing that same polka-dot dress, stood in his path. She wasn’t bloody anymore, and her loose dirty blonde hair was dry and bouncy. The knife in her chest was gone, too. She looked up at him before spinning around, showing off her dress.

She spun again and giggled.


*’Chanson de Noir’ = ‘Song of Black’

Saved!

***

Episode IIWO : Piano Black

Rain stood staring at the glimmering number seven on the door. He frowned slightly, glancing down at Chanson, who was looking right back up at him.

"You really want me to try this again, huh?"

Chanson frowned and nodded.

He sighed, ringing the doorbell.

A minute passed by.

There was nothing from inside. No one answered the door, no footsteps, no angry shouts of ‘Go away’.

Nothing.

The sound of the wind blowing up dust and scattering littered paper whistled in the warm morning sun.

Rain put his finger on the doorbell again, but before he could press it, the door opened. Dent stood firm, gripping the bat in his hand, twisting his hands around the handle as if he were getting ready to strike.

"I thought I told you to go away?" Dent gritted his teeth, "Can’t you hear?!"

"Yes, I hea-"

"Then go away."

"I was a friend of your daughter’s." Rain quickly spoke out the first thing that came to his mind. He glanced down at Chanson, who was looking up at Dent, who, in turn, was using his eyes to search Rain from head to toe.

"She never told me about any friends." Dent muttered, ignoring what he had just said a few minutes ago about not having a daughter. He moved to slam the door for a second time.

"She never spoke."

The man looked down, keeping the door open. Rain looked down at the little girl at his feet. She looked up at him with a tiny little smile on her face. Chanson nodded once, slowly. Dent turned around, leaving the door open. He took a step further inside.

"Come in…" He sighed.

The Grim Angel smiled to himself. That was easy. Rain stepped over the threshold.

"Oh! Um, thank you."

He didn’t know what it was that he felt right then; all he knew was that he didn’t like it at all. It felt like an electric shock, running up from his heels to his hips. A cold shiver ran up his spine; something he had not felt in a long, long while.

"Why did you come here?"

Whispers from everywhere.

Something was here. Rain felt the presence all through the house, but it felt very strong near the door. The whispering didn’t come from Chanson; she had already made a second dash for the upstairs. Dent made his way a little further into the house. Rain ignored the whispers for now and followed; there was little he could do without knowing anything. Mr. de Noir sat on a chair in the living room. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and putting both hands together.

"So…you knew Chanson before she…um…died, Mr…?"

"Seraph, Rain Seraph. Call me Rain if you like." Rain extended his right hand.

Dent just nodded, looking down at Rain’s feet, ignoring the extended hand. Rain slowly retracted his hand and looked around.

Inside the house wasn’t very amazing. In fact, it was rather dim with the thick, dark red curtains. The floor was carpeted in a light red--What is with this guy and the colour red?-- but the living room chairs were done in flowery cloth, although they were a bit faded.

The ghost girl ran downstairs, sat under the picture at the door for a few seconds and then ran back up again.

"So how did you know Chanson…Rain?"

Rain took a seat across from Dent, leaning back and resting his left ankle on his right thigh.

He had to make up an answer for this one, fast.

Looking around, Rain guessed that the de Noirs probably didn’t have enough money to afford tuition for a private school, and it’s not likely that Chanson would have been home-schooled…so a public school nearby would have been the best bet.

One lie spawns another.

"I met her at…school." Rain began, looking at Dent’s face for any sign of disapproval, "But I didn’t know her for long, though. I…um…moved away. I’m back in town for the first time in a long while, so I thought I’d check on her. That’s when I found out that she was um…de-"

"Yes...she was murdered." Dent sat further back into the chair, "It’s been fourteen years…"

Chanson did the same thing as before; running down the stairs, sitting under the picture by the door and then running back up again.

"She was an amazing girl," Dent continued, "The only time she cried was right after she was born. She never shed a tear after that. Chanson never said a word to anyone, she always smiled, frowned or giggled. She would nod, shrug or shake her head to answer questions. She even refused to say ‘mommy’."

Dent chuckled softly at his last sentence.

Chanson kept repeating her act with the stairs.

"She started playing the piano at age five. I know it sounds a bit early, but it was as if…as if age was no barrier. She played perfectly, she didn’t even have to learn to read the sheet music, she just gave it a glance and then started playing."

At that very moment, Rain heard piano music floating out from under his feet. It was soft and soothing, but it was the same tune over and over. It seemed to be something only Rain could hear, like the constant whispering of the house, because Dent didn’t notice either of them.

Chanson wasn’t running up and down the stairs anymore.

"Mr. de Noir,” Rain interrupted, “where is her piano now?"

"I-…In the basement." He responded, stuttering and trembling slightly, "We-…I moved it there about month or two afterwards…"

"May I see it?" Rain asked with a small smile.

The basement door creaked open. Dent stepped down into what seemed like a black hole. Rain followed, not too bothered by the darkness. Being nocturnal really is useful, you know. The music Rain was hearing got louder and louder, but another sense started to pick up something too. There was an odd scent of old paint and paint-thinners filling this room.

Dent reached up and pulled on a string, a small yellow light that was hanging on the ceiling clicked on.

"Geeettt ouuuttt!" It felt like something flew up and hit Rain smack in the face, making him see white for a few seconds. Whatever it was that Rain felt throughout the house, it was the strongest down here.

The whispers were louder and more threatening now. After the white faded away, Rain looked over to an old, dusty grand piano, with Chanson sitting at the bench. Her hands were on the keys, but she wasn’t playing anything now.

"She’s an old beauty, isn’t she?" Mr. de Noir smiled slightly as he stood over the dark piano, "It was my grandfather’s. I dare not sell it."

Rain scratched his ear, dazed because of the sounds and smells.

"Yeah…"

Suddenly, Chanson began pressing on the keys, making an even louder noise that drowned out the whispers. She began running her hands from left to right, pressing the keys down hard as she did so. The voices in the basement seemed to scream and writhe in agony as Chanson continued to play the piano.

They let out one last high pitched scream before dying out. As soon as they did, Chanson broke the wild piano playing down into that repeating tune that was being played while Rain was upstairs. Dent watched closely as Rain took a few steps toward the piano. He lifted the cover slightly, letting an old, musty piece of paper fall to the floor. Picking it up, he read what stood out the most at the top of the page.

"Greenbird." That’s what it said.

Dent watched in awe as the visitor sat on the bench, stretching out his hands over the keys. What Rain was really doing, was following Chanson’s fingers with his own. He began playing the tune almost perfectly, just by pressing the keys right after her.

"This was your favourite song?" Rain whispered softly over to her.

Chanson just nodded, still playing the piano.

"How do you…? You know that song?" Dent interrupted, "That was her favourite song!"

"I know." Rain responded, turning around with a small smile on his face, "Mr. de Noir, I have a question. Why did you make her start playing at such an early age?"

Dent sighed, looking away from the piano, "It wasn’t me, really. It was my wife, Percia. She forced Chanson to start playing the piano…"

Dent inhaled, rubbing his face before continuing.

"She made her play the piano so Chanson would stop killing."

Rain’s eyes opened wide. Chanson struck a wrong key on the piano, but she continued to play as if nothing had happened.

"Stop…killing?"

Dent nodded. "Mm…It started off small at first. With small insects, like ants and rain flies. Then as she grew older, she started killing bigger things, like butterflies and small animals...We had a small aquarium once, but she poisoned all the fish. Then a few weeks before her fifth birthday, she took a wire and strangled our dog."

Chanson started playing really badly now. Rain caught a glance of her face.

She was no longer looking at the keys she was pressing. Instead, her eyes were opened wide and glowing, looking intently upon the wall. Her pupils were like slits, like cats’ eyes. She was gritting her teeth and grinning at the same time, with trickles of saliva running down her chin. A second passed, and the saliva turned to blood.

"Right after that, Percia got scared, so she forced Chanson to play the piano in every free moment that she had. Chanson…wasn’t sad. She didn’t even frown…she giggled and smiled all the way through."

Rain glanced at the girl again, she was normal again, with her pretty little fingers playing the piano perfectly once more.

This is getting too freaky for my health.

"Mr. de Noir, what of Chanson’s mother?"

Again, Dent let out a heavy sigh, "She went missing on the day of the murder. There was no ransom call or anything…I never saw her again."

Missing…But Set was a serial killer, not a kidnapper.

"Mr. de Noir," Rain sat up, walking over to him, "what if I said that I may be able to find your wife, would you help me, if it would give you some closure?"

The man looked up at him with sadness and anger in his eyes.

"You’ll never find her. Even the police gave up after a month of searching."

"I’m not the police." Rain responded with a small smile.

Dent looked away, not prepared for an argument, "Fine. There’s a small box under the piano…take it. Look through it, burn it, I don’t care. Just take it and go."

"Don’t you dare touch that box!"

The whispers from before, but they were much weaker now. As soon as they started speaking again, Chanson played the piano louder, once again drowning them out.

Rain picked up a small, dusty shoebox from under the piano.

Once again, he was staring at that shiny number seven on the front door as it slammed once more in his face. Well at least, this time, he had this shoebox full of information.

Rain chuckled and walked out unto the sidewalk. He sat on the edge of the concrete, stretching his both legs out unto the road. He put the dusty box on his lap, opening the cover without even blowing it off.

"Paper," Rain smiled slightly, "lots and lots of paper."

The one at the very top was an old newspaper clipping.

Serial Killer Surrenders!

The infamous serial killer, Set, walked into the twelfth precinct police station today and handed himself over to the police. At first, the police were skeptical, but after questioning the man, they found that everything matched, and that this person was indeed the serial killer Set.

The man even went into the details of how he stalked each victim, how he entered the houses and how he committed each murder. Set basically admitted to all of the crimes except for two; the kidnapping of Percia de Noir and the murder of her daughter, Chanson de Noir.

However, the murder of the girl bore significant resemblance to the crime scenes that Set left behind.

-The beating of the victim.
-A knife from the kitchen of the victim’s house which had the victim’s fingerprints on it.
-A single stab through the chest.
-And the position the body is left in after the murder: Leaning against an object (in this case, a wall), directly facing the front door.

Even though Set did not admit to the murder, he will be held accountable for it. The kidnapping of Percia de Noir has yet to be solved.

Rain put that piece of paper aside, looking at the other right under it.

Serial Killer Set Declared Insane.

Rain skimmed through the details on this one, he didn’t read all the hullabaloo of the court ruling. Instead, his eyes found where Set was sent to be held; Vridia Insane Asylum.

He sifted through the rest of papers, looking for more clues about what happened to the serial killer. But that was it; just those two newspaper clippings.

"Looks like we might get lucky." Rain whispered as Chanson appeared next to him. He packed away the clippings and stood up.

"If Mr. Set is still alive in Vridia, we’ll have to visit, won’t we?" Rain looked down at the girl who only smiled and nodded in response.


*** *** ***


Episode THR3E : The Cube’s Fifth Corner

There was a heavy, cold wind as grey clouds floated in overhead. Some instances of white clouds were in between, making it look as if some of the grey clouds had cracked, letting in the light from heaven above.

The building before him seemed to rise up, touching those clouds. But at the same time, it wasn’t at all.

"Vridia Mental Hospital," Rain read out those large, silvery letters above the glass door entrance, "Looks like they made the asylum look nicer to the public."

Chanson began skipping around Rain in circles as he moved toward the door. She went through various people and objects, even in and out of the building as Rain walked closer.

The doors opened automatically.

Inside the building wasn’t dreary and grey as one would expect a former insane asylum to be. It was bright, white tiles, white paint, even the receptionist there wore white. She even stood behind a white counter.

Rain put his hand to his face and rubbed it, ruffling the front of his hair and speaking into his palm.

"Good God. Does another colour-obsessed de Noir live here, too?" He chuckled slightly, remembering the overall red colour of the inside of Dent de Noir’s house. He walked up to the receptionist, who was sitting quietly behind her computer. Rain put his elbows on the desk and rested his chin in his hands, smiling down at her.

It took a few seconds before she looked up at him.

She was pretty cute, light green eyes behind a small pair of glasses and long, very dark green hair with a dark purple set of strands that hung down in front of her right cheek, touching her shoulder.

"Hi, hi." She smiled back up, turning away from the computer and facing him, her silvery nametag gleaming from the light of the monitor. "Can I help you?"

Rain glanced down at her nametag, "Hi…um, Jessie?"

"That’s right!" She kept her perfect smile. She was obviously being paid to do this sort of thing.

"Fourteen years ago, a serial killer nicknamed ‘Set’ was sent here because he was declared insane."

"Oh! I know about him! Here, let me pull up his files…" Jessie turned away and began tapping away at the keys, searching the screen with her eyes. Rain saw the reflection of what she was doing on her glasses and on her nametag.

After a few seconds, she frowned slightly and turned to Rain again, "I’m sorry, but you have to submit a written letter stating that you have the police’s permission to see him. It has to have the police chief’s signature and stamp."

Chanson ran behind the woman and giggled, peeping out from either side of the chair.

Rain continued smiling, "That’s okay, I got it."

Jessie looked down, exiting the windows she had opened on her monitor to close off the files. "I’m really sorr-" She looked up and looked around. She even stood up and walked around the desk, looking for Rain who had just disappeared without a trace.

He knew the number of the room now, having seen the reflection of a ‘1’, a ‘0’ and a ‘6’ in Jessie’s glasses.

Rain had searched almost the entire building in a few seconds for the room with the numbers ‘106’ on the door.

It took him a second run through of the first floor to realize that all the numbers on the door were above ‘110’.

Which means, everything lower than room one-hundred and ten would be underground.

But the elevators in the building didn’t go below the ground floor.

Rain went through a door which led to a spiral staircase. The flight of stairs that led downward was blocked off by a padlocked iron gate with a white sign that had big, red letters.

'ENTRANCE IS PROHIBITED'.

Unfortunately, they didn’t bother to secure the center of the room with the whole spiral staircase, which was a straight drop to the bottom. Rain looked down; Chanson was already down there, staring straight back up at him.

She looked down and ran off to one side.

Rain walked through the last floor, passing door one and moving on. Now this place was what you expected an asylum to be; dark, creepy and in some areas, moist. Water dripped from the pipe network that was exposed throughout most of the underground darkness.

When he reached the door of room one-hundred, he started to hear chuckling. For every footstep that echoed, there was a chuckle. Rain reached a corridor where there were a few doors on the left and on the right. At the end, there was the steel door with the numbers ‘106’ on it.

There arose another problem. How was he going to open the door without breaking the lock on it? He certainly didn’t want to let an old, insane serial killer out.

Subconsciously, Rain put his hand on the door, and then suddenly stepped back as the door creaked open.

The chuckling that was there before stopped, replaced with an angry, scared voice.

"No! What are you doing?!" It shouted from beyond the door, "Close it back! Close it!"

Rain slowly stepped into the room, leaving the door open behind him.

"I said close it!"

There was a man cowering under a dirty bedsheet in the corner of the room.

Rain looked back at the door; he put his finger on it and slowly pushed it back in. His eyes fell on Chanson who stopped just outside the door, frozen stiff, just staring straight ahead. She refused to step into the room.

The room was a dull grey, everything was almost the same colour. The bed was made neatly, the only thing that was missing was the bedsheet, which the man had with him in the corner of the room.

"Close it!" The man covered his face with the bedsheet, "Don’t look at me. I’ll tell you how everything was done, just don’t look at me! Don’t open the door, otherwise she will come for me!"

He had a rough, hoarse voice, muffled slightly by the thick cloth he was hiding under.

"Are you…Set?" Rain asked, staring at the man.

"Yeess…I know you…You’ve come for the answers to life…I saw you before you woke up this morning…" He sounded as if he was smiling.

"I…see…you." Set said in a sing-song voice.

"I know all the answers…I know all the secrets…I keep them in the fifth corner of this room and only I know where that is."

The man laughed in a dry, hoarse way.

"You’re quiet, so you’re not here. That means I’ll have to start talking about everything to have some company."

Rain sat on the edge of his bed, facing him.

Set wriggled under the bedsheet, sitting up. He was still covered from head to toe.

"I will take you into my mind. I will take you into the black."


*** *** ***


Episode 4OUR: Seeing Sounds

"Heh heh…It started when I was young... ‘bout thirteen or so. I used to love the sound of a beating heart as it slowed to a stop. I didn’t start off small…No, no, no, no…I started off with large dogs; Pit-bulls and Dobermans.

Hahahah…the neighbour’s dogs…Large, filthy things. They used to keep them tied with chains, with muzzles over their mouths. Don’t see the point of keeping huge guard dogs if they’re not allowed to bite. Anyway…the mutts were annoying, always whimpering and panting. I always heard them, especially at night when almost everything else was quiet.

I heard them…I heard each one of their hearts beating. It drove me crazy. So when I couldn’t take it anymore, I beat the bastards down to nothing, the sound of their hearts were so…soothing as they slowed down.

I slept peacefully after that; remembering the sounds of the slowing hearts like a lullaby.

About four years later my mother took in bad with a sickness. Any time she coughed, I heard her heart beat furiously before slowing down. When she coughed, I always heard her, even if she was on the other side of the house, or if she was trying to muffle it with a rag or something.

About a month later, I heard her heart slow down drastically over the sound of water falling. She was filling the bathtub with water, but she never made it into the tub. Her heart stopped…and when I checked on her, her heart was…stuttering…like it wanted to start up, but couldn’t.

It drove me crazy. I couldn’t stand hearing it anymore. I took a knife and…you can guess what came next. I think…just as the blade touched her skin, her heart started again, but it was already too late, I was already listening to it slowing back down again…to a complete stop this time.

Man…it was…sweet. That’s when I couldn’t get enough of it.

None of my victims had anything in common…Hahahah! You want to know how, right? Ahahaha! You want to know how I chose my victims? Hahahahah! Mm…You’re still quiet…like a good little hostage. Alright, I’ll tell you.

The phonebook has its uses.

Ahahaha!

Closing my eyes and picking a person at random…that’s all there was to it.

I used to find their houses and listen in on everything. Every conversation…every message left on the phone…I heard the times they showered, the times they went to bed, I even heard the times when they took a dump…hahahah…But mostly, I heard their heartbeats…their pretty little heartbeats.

I kept listening to them each time they talked, just to find out when they might be alone. And the day I knew that they’d be home alone, or they were coming home alone, I found myself a way into their little homes…the chloroform that I stole from my high school Chemistry laboratory never let me down.

Ohhh…but the women were something…I used to love to hear them scream a little at least once before I knock them out or finish them. It used to rattle my ears a lot, but man…it was like a drug. You know it harms you, but it still feels so good…

Everything was perfect…the cops were stumped. Hahaha…I watched them run around like headless chickens with little or no leads. Everything was going so smoothly… I left the people who found the body a little present too…I set the body up so that they‘d be looking right at it as they came through the front door! Hahaha…I don’t know where I got that idea from…but it was so much fun to set up.

I used to be one of those onlookers when they were taking the bodies out of the house…I enjoyed watching the police run around and people freak out.

Then one time, after my fourth score, I think, I was one of those onlookers again. But there was something different. I was standing behind a little brat girl who was looking at the scene…and there was this annoying piano music in the air, it kept looping over and over and over…

I think this kid’s dad was some kinda detective or something back then. The guy was there for all of the crime scenes ‘cept for the first one. He used to walk up to her and tell her that ‘Percia’ and some other person was expecting her to go to school or be at home or wherever.

Anyway, after that time, I started seeing this kid more and more often. Right after my seventh one, I caught her staring at me when I came to look at the police taking out the body. I dunno…but it looked like she figured me out or suspected me or something.

But she was a kid, what could she do? What could she know? Right?

I was so frickin’ wrong in thinking that. On the night of my ninth score, she was right outside of the house where I just killed a woman and set up the body. I don’t think she saw me leave, but she skipped away after a little while.

Then, when I was about to set off to my tenth one, I caught the little ***** staring at my house. What in the hell...? Was she following me? I don’t know…I waited until she left so I could move out to my tenth.

Then I saw the little wretch in front of the exact spot I planned to use to enter the house.

It was like she was waiting for me."

Episode 5IVE: Candy Perfume Piano Girl

"The little wretch was waiting right there for me! I really wanted to rip her apart right there, but she was just a kid.

I don’t get off on killing little kids. Their heartbeats aren’t as…full.

Anyway, I kept myself hidden from her, I heard that silly little piano tune playing over and over and over. That really made me want to stab a few through her ears or her head or somethin’.

Right after that, I saw her enter the frickin house.

What in the…flying…I followed after a little while. It was late now, so the person was supposedly sleeping upstairs or something. The house was so black and quiet…man, all I could hear were three heartbeats; mine, the girl’s and the woman upstairs, and that goddamn piano music. I couldn’t hear no footsteps or nothin’. Don’t know where in the hell that little girl went.

Then all of a sudden, I hear this…exhale…then an inhale. She was holding her breath…it was like the little ***** knew I could hear her! But it looked like she was hiding or something. Heh, like she was scared.

What the hell did she come here for if she was just going to run and hide?

Meh, anyway, I looked around for her, but I didn’t find her. I didn’t hear her breathe or anything…just her heart and that piano music.

So she was hiding...leave her there.

I went to the kitchen and found myself a nice…shiny looking knife. Sharp and big. Just the shine made me want to see how well it cut sooo badly…
Stairs now…I was heading up the stairs…then I feel like something against my neck, and all of a sudden, I’m in this strangle hold with a wire around my neck and the kid pulling away at the back of me. I have no fricking idea of how she snuck up on me and managed to get that wire around my neck.

I dropped the knife, but I managed to knock her away and send her down the stairs. But before I knocked down…I swear…her eyes were glowing and they were like…slits. Fricking freaky kid. She laid there for a while; at the bottom of the stairs. Like she was out cold.

I decided to leave her there while I go make the quick kill.

That kill was sweet…I didn’t let the lady scream because of the kid downstairs…but still…uugghh…her heart was amazing…

When I went back to check on the girl, she was gone. I looked around for her and stuff, but yeah, she was pretty much gone.

I set up the body like I usually did, then I got out of there with my tail between my legs.

When I came back the next morning to see the police do their work, the little brat…the little demon brat…she was right there, staring at me. Good God, she knew it was me, she knew it. But no cop ever came up to me. I turned around and headed out early.

When I picked my next victim, she was there, at the house.

I decided that I wouldn’t go through with this one, I decided to pick another house to scope out.

She was at the other house too.

And she was at the other one. And the one after that and the one after that and the one after - AAHH!! I CAN’T TAKE IT! STOP IT! STOP LOOKING AT ME!

THE DEMON KEPT COMING FOR ME! SHE WAS THERE! SHE WAS ALWAYS THERE! SHE WAS ALWAYS LOOKING AT ME! AND THAT DEVIL PIANO MUSIC, STOP IT FROM PLAYING! STOP IT! IT SCARES ME!

Pleeaasee…Stop it…

Mommy, mommy? Where are you, mommy? Why can’t you keep me safe, mommy? She’s there, mommy, she’s right by the door. Help me mommy! The devil girl knows my favourite colour…does mommy know my favourite colour? Red? No, no, no. Mommy doesn’t know? Mommy doesn’t know? It’s black, mommy, black. Black Black BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK!! Stop playing that song, mommy! I don’t like that song!

The mattress! She hid it under the mattress! GET IT GET IT GET IT! TAKE IT! DESTROY IT! Just get it away!"

Set pointed to the bed that Rain was sitting on all this time.

"It’s there! The devil girl left it for me! Just take it and go! Take it take it before she comes back for it!"

Rain lifted the mattress and pulled out a dusty, black plastic bag. There was something hard inside, but it wasn’t heavy.

"No no no no no! She’s here! I can smell her perfume and I can hear the music and her breathing and I can hear her heart! She’s here!"

The insane man flew up, the dirty bedsheet still covering his whole upper body. I didn’t look like he was wearing any pants…or any clothes for that matter; just that bedsheet.

He lunged at Rain.

"You brought her here! You killed me!"

The Grim Angel sidestepped, tripping the man in the process. Set fell onto the bed and thrashed about, wrestling with the mattress.

"This is all your fault!"

Rain turned around, opening the door and quietly backing outside. A familiar face greeted him outside. It was Chanson, she was her usual self, running around and giggling before finally running the flight of stairs.

She hadn’t set foot in Set’s room during all that time that Rain was in there. Chanson had remained just outside the door.

Rain pulled whatever it was out of the bag and dropped the plastic on the floor; it was already dirty down here, anyway.

What he pulled out was a dull silver, circular object with a cord attached to it.

"A…CD player?"

He popped the lid open. Inside seemed to be newer than the outside, as if it hadn’t been opened in a long, long while. There was a single CD inside, it looked slightly scratched, but it also looked like it would still be able to play. Rain closed the lid and flipped the thing over, opening that little compartment that houses the batteries.

"Empty. I figured." Of course, there was no way that Set would have a fresh pair of batteries.

He wrapped the long cord -- the earphones -- around his right hand and held the player in that same hand as he walked up the stairs. Chanson was already at the door to the first floor as Rain started to climb around the gate with the large ‘ENTRANCE PROHIBITED’ sign.

The door swung open.

Rain was grabbed by a hand and pulled him through.

A woman, about eight or so inches shorter than him, started flashing a police badge right in front of his face.

"Thank you for giving me more work to do." She had a very strong, confident voice, "It’s just what I needed."

When she finally moved the badge away, Rain got a good look at her.

She was pretty enough, having long, straight, dark orange hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a long, dark brown jacket with a hood and-

"Stop staring at me like that. It’s impolite, Mr. Seraph."

Rain smiled nervously, Oh-kay, then. What does this lady want?

"I see you already know my name," Rain extended his hand, "And you are?"

"Detective Tanya Dayna Thracia." She folded her arms, looking up at Rain’s face.

Rain retracted his hand. What is with people and handshakes these days? Is it an old fad or something? He chuckled to himself.

"Anyway," Tanya continued, "You’re coming with me, because an old friend of the police department called and said you were digging up two personal cold cases." She grabbed Rain’s hand and began to drag him towards the entrance.

Two cold cases, huh?

"I don’t have the time to hang around talking. I don’t need to put handcuffs on you because if you run, I will shoot you." She glared at him with piercing eyes.

Rain went along peacefully. Of course, he could just escape, she’d never have a chance to aim; he’d be long gone by then. She was dragging him down to the police department, which would be a good source of information about Chanson’s murder.

Set didn’t kill her. Hell, he was too scared to even approach her. So who did stick that knife in her?

"I don’t think I can just take you in for digging up in stuff," the detective continued, "but I can book you for trespassing, which I just saw you do."

Episode 6IX: Red Wall Painted Black

"Okay…" The detective slid her gun and badge unto the shiny, dark blue table, "Why do you have something like this?" She held up the CD player that Rain had obtained earlier.

"This is supposed to be evidence. Evidence to a fourteen year-old case."

She put the CD player on the table and dumped the earphones on it before dragging a chair and sitting down, facing Rain, who was already in a chair.

He just smiled, allowing his mind to work behind the scenes.

Should I tell her the truth? She looks pretty young. She probably wasn’t involved in that serial killer case.

"Answer me!"

"Set gave it to me."

For a little while afterwards, there was a deafening silence in the room. Rain’s eyes wandered around, not looking at all into the detective’s eyes.

The small interrogation room had one bright white fluorescent light fixed in the center of the ceiling. The tiles on the walls and floor were the same colour, a very dark blue, but they were glossy and allowed some reflection.

"What do you know about that case?" Tanya broke the silence.

"I know enough to say that Chanson de Noir’s murder case wasn’t fully solved."

Another length of awkward silence.

The detective muttered something under her breath while rubbing her forehead. "Impossible…"

She stood up, "That case was solved. It was Set who had killed her."

"He admitted to murdering all those people, correct?"

"That’s right."

"So why didn’t he admit to killing Chanson?"

Tanya paused for a second.

"Because…he’s insane?"

"If that’s the case, then why did the police believe him when he admitted to all the other murders? It could have all just been some insane blathering."

She gritted her teeth, a little frustrated now. "Because all the evidence checks out against him."

"Even from th-"

"Yes! Even from the girl’s murder. Every detail pointed to him, even the details that were never released to the public; only the serial killer would have known that. Now cut the crap!" Tanya slammed her fist on the desk, glaring straight into Rain’s eyes.

"Okay, okay!" The Grim Angel smiled at her, "I’ll stop it…Only if I get something firs-"

"What is it?!"

Rain looked down at the player on the table and then pulled it over to him, "Batteries."

"…"

"Yes, I said ‘batteries’. For the pla-"

"I know what they’re for!" She let out a low growl, "I’ll…be right back." Tanya glared at Rain one last time before opening the door. In no less than two minutes, she was back in the room, throwing the two batteries at her prisoner.

For a second, she had a look of amazement when she saw him catch them with ease. He opened the compartment and fit both in with a few clicks before setting it back down again.

"You got them pretty fast." He wasn’t looking at her, but at the player as he plugged the earphones in and pressed the ‘Play’ button. Rain already had the receivers in his ears before she responded.

"I just knew who to ask."

Rain listened for a few seconds before pulling both ends out of his ears and putting them on the table. He turned the volume up all the way, so that Tanya would hear it where she was standing.

"Do you know this song?"

The sound of faint piano music filled the room.

She walked over and leaned over the desk, lowering her heard to listen more closely. Rain looked up at her, she shook her head.

"No. Does it mean something?"

"Greenbird. This was Chanson de Noir’s favourite song. This was the song that Set continuously heard when she was nearby. This was just one of the things that made him fear her and made him lose his mind."

Tanya pulled her chair closer and sank back into it. Rain kept looking at her.

"Percia de Noir’s disappearance was never solved. Chanson’s case was never solved either, isn’t that right?"

"What…what makes you think that?"

"Earlier, at the mental hospital, you said two cold cases, not one."

She leaned on the desk, putting up her elbows and putting her face in her palms. Such a stupid mistake. She nodded, "Yes…the murder remained unsolved. The police just let it out that it was Set. That quieted the public down."

"I see…but how do you know so much about this, anyway? You’re…about twenty-five, twenty-six, right?"

"…Twenty-seven. And why do you care about a case that may have happened when you were about nine or ten? You’re still a little brat."

Rain twitched. I’m a little…brat? I’m a brat now, am I? Listen, lady, I’ll have you know that--"I’m older than you."

"Bull****." She pushed her index finger in Rain’s face, "I’m at least three years older than you! You’re like…twenty-four, right?"

Rain grinned, she growled, quickly lowering her hand. Tanya began yelling at the top of her lungs. Rain could have sworn that he saw steam rising from her hair. He chuckled.

"Stop giving me that look or so help me God, I will give you a black eye, you hear me?!"

At that moment, something clicked in Rain’s mind.

"Hey wait a second."

"What is it this time?!"

Rain rubbed his face, ruffling the front of his hair while he thought everything out.

"Well?! Spit it out, Seraph!"

"The house. I have to go check something in Mr. de Noir’s house." He gently nudged her to one side before pushing through the door, intending to head outside.

"Hold up there, hotshot!" Tanya’s reflexes were quick, she grabbed Rain’s right wrist tightly, pulling him back, "You’re not allowed to leave the station."

"That’s fine." He looked back at her with a smile, grabbing her own wrist with the fingers on his right hand, "I’ll just take the police with me."

"Wha-?! No. No, no, no, no, no, no!" Rain had to practically drag her out of the station. She kept trying to pull him back while on her heels, but to no avail. She gave up when Rain reached the station’s front doors, Rain let go of her arm, but she didn’t let go of his wrist.

The first thing that Rain noticed when he got outside was Chanson. She was being her usual self: forever skipping circles around a person or group of people.

"Why are we stopping here? I thought we were going to the de Noir’s place?"

Rain smiled at her. "You’re still holding my hand, pretty tightly, too."

Tanya looked down at her hand, and then looked up again. She growled while her cheeks became red.

She quickly raised her left arm and hit him hard on the forehead with her palm.

"And just what do you mean by that?! Listen, you…you…Grr. I’m just holding on because I don’t want you running off. And to keep your ass out of trouble. Don’t you dare think otherwise!"

Rain chuckled, "Oh, so you care about me that much, huh?"

Tanya growled again, "It’s just because I don’t want any more paperwork!" She raised her left hand again and smacked him a few more times. "Now, let’s go already!"

***

Here I am again.

That same shiny number ‘seven’ reflected his gaze.

"Why are we here again?" The orange-haired detective still clung to his left arm, "Come on! Why are you wasting so much time? Ring the damn doorbell already!"

Rain twitched, raising his hand to ring the bell.

Ding-dong.

"People must think that we’re an odd couple; you holding my hand like this." He chuckled.

Tanya growled, "Shut up and ring it again."

Rain did it again, but no one showed up. He didn’t hear anyone moving around inside. Tanya impatiently put her hand on the doorknob and turned it.

The door creaked open. The two looked at each other. The instant that the door opened, the little ghost girl ran into the house, immediately heading toward the basement.

"Something isn’t right…" the detective whispered as she entered the house, letting go of Rain’s arm and drawing her gun, "Mr. de Noir!"

No answer.

The Grim Angel stepped into the house, closing the door behind him. Everything was set basically as before, nothing seemed out of line or out of order, except…

"Mr. de Noir?" Tanya slowly made her way up the stairs, on full alert.

Rain, instead of following Tanya, moved down to the basement.

Chanson was down there, at her place; the seat in front of the piano. However, she wasn’t playing anything. But the piano wasn’t in rain’s mind right now.

The dark wall at the back of it was. The voices that were flowing through the house before, they all came from there, but they weren’t speaking anymore.

He put his hand on the wall. It was sticky, like thick liquid spread on over the surface. Rain looked at his palm.

"Black paint." That’s it, that’s what I was smelling last time I was down here. Freshly bought paint.

"There you are." The stairs creaked as Tanya stepped down, "I can’t find him anywhere."

"That’s fine." Rain responded, not turning away from the wall, "We’ll catch up with him sooner or later."

"What the hell are you two doing here?!" Dent de Noir stormed down the flight of stairs, twisting that ever familiar bat in his hands, "Breaking and entering. This is breaking and entering! Get out, before I called the police!"

"To tell you the truth," Rain was quick to respond with a smile, "we entered, but we didn’t break anything. The door was left open."

Tanya cast a swift glance at him.

"You have absolutely perfect timing, Mr. de Noir. I have some questions that I need answered."

"Questions? No. I’m not answering anything. Get out!"

"Where is Percia de Noir?"

Silence was the immediate response. Detective Thracia just stood and glared at Rain, while de Noir seemed to be caught off guard by such a question.

"Wha-What?"

Rain took a few steps forward, repeating the question slowly.

"Where. Is. Your. Wife?"

"What…kind of nonsense is this?!"

"Your wife, Mr. de Noir!"

"Seraph! Stop it!" Tanya quickly grabbed his arm and tugged on it, trying to pull him back.

"Fine. If you can’t answer that question,” Rain was determined, not held back by the detective at all, "Why was that wall recently painted black? And where is the fourth person from the picture?"

Dent ignored the question about the wall; he seemed more interested in the one about the picture. "…Fourth…person?"

"Yes. The picture facing the front door. There were four people in it. You, your wife, your daughter and…a little boy, your son?"

"I…don’t have a son."

Rain rolled his eyes and began to stomp up the stairs, dragging Tanya up with him. Dent followed, still stunned by the questions.

When they got to the picture, Rain pointed to it. "See? Four people."

Dent and Tanya walked up to the picture and peered closely at it.

"There are…only three people there."

"He’s right, Seraph. Only three."

…What…? They only see three people. So why am I the only one that sees the grinning boy with black hair?

"Are we done here? Good. Get out."

Tanya grabbed Rain’s arm once more, pulling him outside while Dent held the door open, "Come on, you crazy idiot."

"No, wait!" He protested, almost pulling her back inside with his own strength, "I’m not done yet!"

"No! Seraph, we’re leaving, now!"

"No, we’re not."

"Yes we are! Now come on!"

Rain rolled his eyes but stood firm. The detective could not move him, not even an inch, no matter how hard she tried.

Tanya growled. Rain ignored her, turning his attention to Dent.

"The wall, why is it painted black?"

A small silence.

"Be-because," he began, "It was…it was red. I don’t like red."

Even Tanya stopped tugging on Rain’s arm to stare at the man.

"Wh-wha-what? Am I not allowed to dislike a c-c-colour, n-n-now?!"

The wall wasn’t red last week. The paint is still really wet, so it was painted very recently.

"What shade of red was it?"

"S-Shade?" Dent was fidgeting and sweating now. His eyes were dashing all over the place, "It-it was just red! That’s all!"

"Blood-red?"

Another small silence. Rain could have sworn that he was hearing Dent’s knees knocking together, or something. "What are you so afraid of? What are you hiding?"

"N-nothing!"

"Mr. de Noir, were you afraid of your daughter?"

Everyone was afraid of her. Even her own mother.

"Wha-what?!" He almost seemed to stumble backwards this time.

"Seraph! Stop it! We’re leaving!" Once again Tanya tried to pull him away, but to no avail.

Rain continued, "Her occasional cat-like eyes and her ever calculating mind. Chanson was a genius that not even you could match. She-"

"-Wasn’t the least bit human!" Dent cried out, cutting him off, "She was like this little demon who never talked. She only looked at you and smiled like she was hiding a knife behind her back and just waiting. What normal little five-year-old could just glance at some sheet music and just begin playing perfectly? What normal girl could solve a set of serial killings after just the first few? And those eyes…the cat’s eyes, you only see them when it’s dark. They glow…in the dark. She was a little witch! A demon! I knew she would have killed me if I hadn’t done anything first!"

Tanya’s eyes opened wide, "…You?" She raised a finger and pointed at him.

Dent gritted his teeth.

"Seraph! He’s going to run!" The detective rushed forward, trying to tackle him to the ground, but he was too strong for her. After throwing her off, Dent took off into the kitchen.

Rain was already gone, giving chase to the de Noir. Dent quickly grabbed up a kitchen knife and aimed it at his own heart. Rain’s right hand was quicker and stronger, grabbing the blade and moving against Dent’s arms, preventing him from stabbing himself.

The blade cut his palm. blood began dripping on the floor.

Dent looked up into Rain’s piercing gold eyes. "Your eyes…are unnatural…just like hers."

"I’m not done with you yet." Rain responded, "I’m not going to let you take this easy way out. No. I’m going to make you live and make you suffer."

There were sirens in the distance. The detective casually strolled into the kitchen, half-grinning and waving her cell phone in her hand.

Dent let go of the knife and remained on his knees, silently begging for forgiveness or mercy.

Rain smiled at Tanya, still holding the blade of the knife, "Nice work, partner."

As soon as he finished his sentence, her right hand came up and smacked him hard in the forehead. "You moron! What are you doing, holding the blade of the knife like that?! You’re bleeding!"

Rain chuckled slightly, "I’m fine, and the cut will be okay."

Tanya ignored him, beginning to raise her voice and her hand again, "And for the record, I am not your stinking partner!"

Episode SEVE|7 : Before the Fall

"So that’s it, huh?”"

Tanya looked down at the keys of the piano and pressed one down. Chanson’s finger followed and pressed the same key right afterward. Rain leaned against one of the wooden posts of the basement and looked up into the small, yellow light bulb that was hanging from the ceiling.

"That’s right," he exhaled, "Dent de Noir was paranoid. Fourteen years after the murder and disappearance and he still keeps a bat by his door. And he still kept painting that wall."

"Black Black BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK!!"

Rain raised his hand and stretched out his index finger. The detective looked to where he was pointing, "Why did he keep on doing that, though?"

"His wife disappeared on the same day as the murder, right?"

"That’s right. What are you getting at?"

"After the disappearance, did the police bother to search inside the grieving detective de Noir’s house?"

Tanya’s eyes lit up slightly as she put her finger to her lips, staring at the wall. She seemed to be thinking on something; probably remembering what she read or heard about the fourteen year old cases.

"They didn’t. I think the investigations division left the house alone because de Noir said that he wanted to be alone."

Rain took a few steps toward the wall. He leaned back on the piano, half-sitting, half-standing. "That allowed him precious, perfect time to hide a body, right in there, while just slapping some paint on to try to disguise the smell."

That’s the only explanation for the voices that I heard down here. Although, they’re unusually quiet now.

"Graah! You...You took too long!" One again, it felt as if something flew up and smacked him hard in the face. He saw white for a few seconds afterwards, which was when the second string of whispers reached his ears. "Nicely done, though. At least I can rest well, now. Don’t take so long next time."

The voice seemed to exhale before everything went quiet again. Rain smiled lightly as Tanya walked up beside him. Chanson had a scary mother.

"So, his wife’s body is in there?"

"That’s right, most likely, anyway."

She opened her mouth to respond, but her phone rang at that very instant. The detective picked it up and flipped it open, putting it to her ear. She turned and walked away from the black wall, and, after a series of ‘yeah’s, ‘mmhm’s and ‘that’s right’s, she grabbed up Rain’s wrist tightly again.

"I’m wanted down at the precinct." She said, looking forward as she dragged him along.

"But if you’re the one they want, why are you dragging me along?"

Tanya looked back and gritted her teeth, "Because you’re still going to get it for trespassing, you moron!"

***

"Heh…heheh…" Dent sat inside a dark cell. Not your usual jail cell with the iron bars, but a smaller cell with a heavy steel door between the prisoner and the freedom he usually desires.

Rain peered over at the door, trying to see through the small glass panel at the top. He’s…laughing…?

There was one security guard outside. "He’s been like that since we got him in there, mumbling something ‘bout some red spiral."

"'Red spiral'?" Tanya repeated.

"That’s right, ma’am. He’ll hear us talkin’, then he’ll start rantin’ again, so you could just stick aro-"

"You’re all fools!" Dent picked himself up and threw all his weight against the door, making the metallic sound echo throughout the corridor. "It’ll start to spin out of control! Don’t you understand? He told me that everything will start to go downwards once I’m caug--Ah?!"

"You’ve ranted enough. Now sleep"

"Aaaaah! Arrgh!"

There was a loud sound of a piece of metal scraping against something. The sound of a blade cutting through flesh reached Rain’s ears.

"Quickly!" Tanya almost pounced upon the guard, "Open the door! Something’s happened!"

The guard fumbled with the keys quite a bit before the door swung open by itself.

Dent didn’t seem to be inside the dark room and the only sound that was present was the loud dripping of some liquid. The guard took his little flashlight and lit up the room.

Tanya gasped.

A pool of blood lay in the middle of the floor. In the midst of it, there were some parts of the ground where the red had not touched, as if someone had used their finger to ‘write’ in the liquid.

'Round and round it will go. Will it stop? No one will ever know.'

The light of the flashlight moved upwards, toward the source of the crimson.

"Oh…oh my God." The detective put her hands over her mouth, the guard looked as if he was ready to get rid of his lunch.

Dent’s body was pinned to the ceiling. His face twisted and contorted beyond recognition.

There was a large hole where his chest used to be.

InTo ThE bLaCk

Red Spiral Arc

The Outer Circle

“ ‘Most wonderful time of the year’ my ass.” Tanya sat on her desk, clearing aside the clutter by shifting from side to side as she put her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees.

It had only been a few hours since the incident in the prison cell, but the only thing that changed about her was that her jacket with the hood was now on her table and not on her.

She seems pretty strong. Rain sat on the chair near her desk, looking up at her. “Hey, are you going to be okay?”

Tanya rubbed her face with her hands before inhaling and putting her hands on her lap. She looked up and not at Rain to speak, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve seen a lot of crap like that ever since I first came in here.”

She inhaled again and looked down. Suddenly, all her movements stopped. She turned to Rain.

Silence between the two. Neither of them said a word, the only sounds were the noise of the background. Voices and phones and paper and keys on computers being tappe-

“You’re…sitting in my chair.”

Silence again.

Tanya raised her fist and hammered Rain’s head, “Get off of my chair, you idiot!”

He quickly shot up. She slid off the desk and slid into the chair, moving aside the papers on her desk, with her hands this time.

“You’re…going back to work?”

She nodded. “Yeah…there’ve been four other murders exactly like this one in the past few weeks.”

Wait, what? Four others? How come I didn’t hear anything about this? It’s not even in the newspap-

“The Chief has some high friends in the press, so he got them to keep quiet about the whole situation for now.”

…Oh.

“The thing is, there was something in common with all the murders except for this one. The other victims all came from the same college.” Tanya spun around a few times and waved her hands around, her eyes darting across the table, muttering something under her breath.

“Pen, pen, pen, pen…” Her left hand swooped down, like an eagle going for its prey, upon a blue pen that was stuck under some papers, “Ah! Right…”

She bent over and began scribbling something on some paper forms.

Tanya shook the pen and knocked it on the table before writing again.

“…The guys that are here are pretty busy with other cases.” She continued, “Most of them are too well known to go undercover in the college and I bet you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this, right?”

Rain nodded.

Tanya put her pen on the table and looked up at him.

“You’re going to go undercover for me.” She grinned.

I don’t think what she just saw shook her one bit.

“What?” Rain looked at her, perplexed. He heard her, but he had to hear it again, just to make sure his ears were picking up things right.

“You’re going to go to that college as a teacher and report any weird stuff to me, got it?”

“But...wait. Why me?!”

“Because you still have that trespassing charge hanging over your head.” Tanya said it in a sing-song kind of way, as if she was enjoying the thoughts in her mind. “And, Mr. Seraph, I’ll take the charge away even if you curl up and die because you’re a bad actor.”

She’s…enjoying this. Erm…I better just…go along with this. Besides, something’s extremely wrong about this. I just have to find out how someone got murdered inside of a locked police cell.

They say curiosity killed the cat, but I’m not exactly a cat, am I?

“You can do this for me, or you can take the lock-up. Which will it be, hmm?”

“I’m um…I’ll do it. Are you happy now?”

“No. Now come on, you’ll have to help me set stuff up.”

***

A large red brick building towered over the two, it seemed dark as if it were haunted. The gray skies behind it just made it seem more so.

“This is where you’ll be staying.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the entrance, “You’ll be in room eleven and I’ll be in room nineteen, which is just one floor above yours.”

Tanya pressed the keys into his hand as they stood in front of the door.

“I already spoke to the landlord. The only vacant room is my room. Luckily, I’ve got two friends who live here. They’ll gladly let you stay, since it’s police work and all.”

Now, the first question that should have gotten into his head was ‘Who are ‘they’?’ Instead, Rain turned to Tanya and raised an eyebrow.

You have friends?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Rain half-smiled, “N-no reason…”

“Right. Well, knock on the door before putting the key in, they’re probably inside. I’ll be upstairs in my room.” Before Rain knew it, Tanya was already at the end of the hall, rushing up the stairs. “Ta-ta~!”

The Grim Angel chuckled to himself before raising his hand to knock the door.

Tap-tap.

The door flew open.

Rain found himself looking down at a petite purple-haired, purple-eyed girl. Her hair was long, very long, it almost touched her calves. She raised her fingers and pushed her wire-frame glassed further up on her nose. Rain opened his lips to talk to her, but she spoke out first.

“Ooh! Sheira, we have a cute one!”

Cute…?

In a flash, there was another one at the side of her; same purple eyes, glasses, but shorter, chin length hair.

“Hey, Sheena, you’re right! Hey there, mister!” the other one grinned.

Rain smiled nervously.

Heh...eheh…heh…Twins.

“So what’s your business here, mister?” The long haired one asked.

Rain held up the keys that were just given to him by the detective. ”Um, Miss Thracia-”

The short-haired one spoke up, “Oh! You’re the new Physics teacher that Tanya told us about! Come in!”

The long haired one grabbed him by the arm and tugged him into the apartment.

What the fu--Physics?!

“I’m Sheena-”

“-And I’m Sheira! And together, we are-.”

The two ended up in a back to back pose while they both faced Rain and spoke at the same time.

“-the Kirie sisters! Ta-da!”

***

It’s been a few days…So far, there’s nothing at the University. Well, nothing that I could find anyway. Just talking to people didn’t seem to help; everyone I asked knew nothing, but I’m not sure if I should take that as a good sign. It could just mean that…whatever’s going on is expertly hidden.

Rain found himself walking down one of the University’s halls carrying a load of books. He had realized earlier that he wasn’t going to use these things anyway, since no student in this institution was majoring in Physics. He thought it was a stroke of luck, but the detective had arranged for him to do that subject just so that he would have more time to investigate.

“Heeey!” the voices of the twins rang in his head as they walked in the opposite direction. He smiled and waved in response. They were really fun to stay with…even though he slept on the couch. Both girls were silly and intelligent at the same time. They were well versed in their Sciences, often setting up over-the-top experiments, just to ‘see what would happen’. The results would either blow up in their faces or have the whole apartment reeking from some alien fragrance, but even then, they would celebrate and say ‘Hey! That’s new!’ or something along those lines. They were truly a pair to look up to.

BUMP!

There was a flash of bright white hair as a loud crash rang throughout the hallway, everyone turned to see what had occurred. Rain squatted, picking up the books that had fallen out of the person’s hands.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to-” Rain began to speak, but then the person spoke at the same time.

“Ah! Sorry there, I was just a little lost in thought.” An elegant, male voice spoke as the man--who was also dressed in a blinding white--bent over to pick up his own books. When they both stood up, Rain blinked, thinking his eyes were severely deceiving him.

The man in white had white hair, almost chin-length. His eyes were also silver and his clothes were extremely similar to Rain’s, except, it had no dragon design on the front and his clothes were completely white. If Rain didn’t know that this was real, he’d have guessed that someone had taken a picture of him and inverted the colours.

Students around them stared at the two, most likely noticing the similarities--or differences. They were almost exact opposites of each other in image. Almost.

“Say, you’re a new teacher, aren’t you? You seem kind of fit too. I’d hate to ask this since we just bumped into each other,” he chuckled, “I challenged those hotheads in the Uni’s Basketball team to a game, but I can’t find any other teachers willing to co-operate with me.”

Rain blinked, “Basketball? Erm…what’s the catch?”

The person grinned, “If we win, they have to buy us lunch for a week. If we lose, we have to stop teaching them for a month!”

“A month? Why’d you agree to that?”

“Free lunch, of course!”

Rain smiled back at the person, nodding. “I guess I could do it.”

“Great! The game starts in a few minutes, so come on!”

Wha-wha?! A few minutes?!

The person began to move off in the direction of the basketball court, half-skipping, half-walking with a small smile on his face. Rain followed close behind.

“The name’s Rain Seraph.”

“Ah~!” He turned around, walking backwards, chuckling, “How rude of me, Sir Rain. My name’s Near. Near Cronqvist.”

Goog god, you're having story arcs now?

I'll read it once I'm not doing homework and I'm not feeling lazy.

But I'm excited.

Thankyewmuchly for reading, Wolfie <3



Inside Out


Students were already gathering around the court, awaiting the…fairly small game. Of course, either a free lunch or a month off of lessons was at stake! Two of the best basketball players from the team were already there, in their vests and short trousers, stretching and warming up.

When Rain and Near reached the court, no one seemed to cheer them on; everyone was cheering for their basketball team, after all, no one really liked teachers.

“Haha, those two teachers,” someone from the front line of the crowd muttered, “they’re gonna get beat down so bad…”

Rain turned to the student and smiled over at him, waving; indicating that he had heard what was said. The boy instantly became silent, bowing his head slightly while Near only chuckled at their actions. One of the two basketball players spoke out.

“Okay, here’s the deal. Ten hoops make the game. First to make ten, wins. That’s all.”

That’s easy. Rain looked over at the grinning Near. His teammate nodded as the ball was given to him, the two basketball players confident that they’ll have the upper hand. Quick as a flash, Rain found himself with the ball, moving towards the hoop. He was instantly marked by his opponent, even as he leaped through the air.

But something was entirely extraordinary during this situation. Rain and Near moved in perfect synchronization, as if they knew what each other was thinking before making their moves. In mid-air, Rain passed the ball to Near, who instantly got through his block to make the first shot--and the first score.

So far, the opponents couldn’t even get the ball, let alone score a point. Most of the crowd was silent, only one or two people muttered in disappointment.

“Woo! Gooo Rain and…guy in the white! Go you!”

One of the twins--the one with long hair, Sheena--was somewhere at the back, but she knew who was playing, so she cheered them on. Almost the whole crowd turned to her, but she didn’t notice--or at least, she pretended not to. Sheena continued cheering, while another lady squeezed her way through the gathering.

Rain passed the ball to Near having him make the tenth--and final--dunk. They looked at each other. His teammate was grinning, but something had caught Rain’s eye. Near hadn’t broken a drop of sweat during the game. At the same time, that woman appeared in front of the crowd, with folded arms and a frown. She had that familiar orange hair, brown coat and--

“Rain Seraph!”

--that familiar demanding voice.

“Erm…Ms. Thracia!” He responded, chuckling.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The crowd around them started to mumble.

“It’s the new librarian.”

“Is she his mother or something?”

“Hey, I couldn’t see! Who won?”

Does she really look that old? Rain couldn’t help but grin, Near started to laugh.

Just then, there was another shout, this time at the back of the crowd.

“Someone’s been murdered! Someone’s been murdered!” It was a cry of great pain.

It could have been a trick, but it was no time to think like that. Rain, Near and Tanya rushed to the person, who in turn, began to lead them swiftly to what had made him cry out like that. As they got closer, the scent of fresh blood filled Rain’s nose. He sped up, outrunning the three while following the scent.

It led him to a door that was closed. Blood was running out like a river from under it. The other three had caught up with him as he put his hand on the door. It was a few seconds later that the rest of the crowd began to appear, surrounding the area.

“Tell everyone to stay back…” Rain opened the door. A rush of blood-scented air made everyone turn away. His boots made a squishing sound as he waded through the pools of red.

“I-I saw the purple haired girl…she-she was pulled in by-by something and the-then the door c-closed and blood started to…under the door.” The young man couldn’t help but stutter.

Purple hair?...Oh no…

Rain’s eyes fell on the body on the floor. It was a girl, slightly shorter than him, with short, chin-length purple hair. Her glasses were half-off her face, but they didn’t have blood on them.

A large, gaping hole was where her chest was supposed to be.

“Sh-Sheiraaa~! No!! Sheira!!” Her sister was outside. She was so overcome with grief that other students had to hold her back, to keep her from rushing recklessly into the room. Neither Rain nor Near showed any signs of being thoroughly disgusted, even Tanya had to leave the room.

The dark clad man knelt beside the body, just staring at it. Something in the large chest wound had caught his eye. It looked like a torn, black piece of paper, which had patterns cut into it. The paper itself was shaped similar to a ‘v’ with the tips coloured red, probably from the blood, but the rest of it seemed like it hadn’t touched the crimson.

Carefully, Rain pinched the tip of it and slowly lifted it out.

“What’s that…?” Near whispered over to him.

“I don’t know…” he responded, shaking his head slightly.

Suddenly, the piece of paper seemed to gain life. It started fluttering wildly, struggling out of Rain’s grip. There was no wind passing through the room, so it couldn’t be that--but still, it fluttered violently. It eventually slipped away. It moved through the air, like a butterfly, but a lot faster.

What the hell?!

The paper zipped down, straight unto Rain’s lips. His eyes widened as he tried to pull it off, but it held on tight, using the red tips to force his mouth open. Near rushed to his aid, trying desperately to pull the thing from his lips, but it was too late; the majority of it was already forcing its way down Rain’s throat.

It was choking him as it went down. All Near could do now was watch as Rain coughed and hold his throat, trying to stop it from going further. His eyesight faded as his breathing started to get shorter.

“Rain! Rain!” Near cried out as he held the man who was still struggling, even as he couldn’t move around much. Darkness clouded his senses; he couldn’t hear or see anymore and soon after…he couldn’t even feel…

** **

There was a light over him now. He forced his eyes to open to face it. Everything was blurry as he sat up. He was in a white bed, with a white sheet off to the side. His clothes were the usual, but he had no idea where he was.

Where the hell am I?

“Oh Seraph! You’re awake!” that demanding voice again. The detective was sitting near the bed, looking up at him. Rain rubbed his eyes in order to see more clearly.

“Where…”

“The hospital,” she responded, “Near told me that you took a pretty nasty spill or something, but the doctor said that there’s nothing wrong with you.”

The…black half-butterfly thing…where is it…?

There was a tingling feeling along his right arm. He looked at it and saw a large bulge under the sleeve.

“What the…” Tanya whispered, looking at the bulge. It began to move downward fast, toward Rain’s wrist. What flew out of his sleeve left him amazed; a red paper butterfly with black tips with the piece of the black paper butterfly in tow. The red one let out a small screech as it began to rip the black one to shreds.

The two watched, speechless, as the red butterfly landed on the bed, folding its wings back and acting like a normal butterfly; opening and closing slowly. Rain began reaching towards it, but it didn’t move.

I wonder if it will land on my finger…?

At that very moment, it flew up and landed lightly on his finger, just as he had thought.

“Rain…” the detective got off the chair and took a step back.

“I think…it’s okay…”

He watched the butterfly.

What are you…?

The tingling feeling returned to his arm. More and more red butterflies started to emerge, from both his sleeves.

“Aaah!” Tanya screamed, “Rain, what the hell?!”

“Nngh!” Rain was overwhelmed, they kept coming, “Stop!”

The butterflies seemed to hear his command, they all stopped in mid-air, flapping their wings to keep them up, but other than that, they didn’t move. He looked at his palms; they had stopped coming out, too. Rain glanced over at the detective, who stood in awe at the sight; the white room was filled with red, fluttering pieces of paper.

Okay…now fly.

They began to move around again, flying where they could; from under the bed to outside the window. People in the street below looked up and pointed at the sight as hundreds of red paper butterflies flew out of the window towards the clouds.

This is…I…I can control these things…?

White Outside, No Inside



And yet the world turns…

A painful wail echoed throughout the rows of gravestones, carried on the winds and turned into whistles by the trees. The girl’s flowing, purple hair covered the dirt below as she knelt down, as if the strands wanted to shelter the grave from the grey clouds gathering overhead. They did all they could to keep the sand from getting wet, but the girl’s tears could not be sheltered.

There were only four people at the cemetery now; the rest had left early, fearing that they would get their fine funeral apparel soaked in the coming drizzle. The detective had turned away, continuously wiping her cheeks and eyes. Near was there as well--dressed in plain white and acting as casual as ever; hands in his pockets and leaning on a nearby gravestone. Before Rain himself had turned away, he held his right arm diagonally across is chest, his fingers near his left shoulder and his elbow near his waistline. Closing his eyes, he bent over, bowing before the grave.

In all these years…I’ve seen death, time and time again…

“Let’s leave her alone for a while.”

Tanya began walking away with Rain close behind. Near followed them soon after.

“This is insane,” the detective muttered as she passed the cemetery gates, “All this craziness makes me want to believe that there really are demons living on Earth.”

She slid down on a small, wooden park bench and yawned. Near helped himself to a seat right next to her, while Rain leaned on the arm-rest.

“You know,” she continued, “my grand-dad used to tell me stories about some legendary duo on Earth. One was an angel and the other was something called a reaper--they used to stop these kinds of things and anything else associated with evil…and…really cliché stuff. They both had eyes of gold, except--my grandfather said--when the angelic one was angry, his eyes would turn purple.”

Tanya chuckled after her last word while Rain just smiled and Near leaned further back, seemingly paying more attention to the sky than to anything else. There was silence afterwards, the only sound was the whisper of the wind.

“Rain,” Near spoke suddenly, “meet me at the Uni’s library later, I’ve got something that I want to show you.”

***

The sky was like fire--the ashes were the darkened clouds left behind by the retreating sun. The wind was cold, and like icy needles, it pricked at the skin. The man in white stood at the edge of the rooftop, leaning on the railing. The other man, dressed in black approached from behind.

“Near.”

“Hey, Rain, just in time!”

Near turned around, holding up a large, tattered book.

“This has the answers we're looking for,” he continued, grinning while his eyes narrowed, “you should come and look.”

Something’s different, Rain thought as he stood beside him and looked at the pages as Near was turning through them.

“They’re…blank.”

Silence; the sounds of the world seemed to be sucked away as the sun ran like a dog with its tail between its legs.

“Yes,” Near responded with a grin, “Empty, like the basin that holds my patience.”

Black Butterfly


He grinned, turning to the last page of the book.

“My patience is running thin,” he said, pulling out a black piece of paper from the pages, “if one more person dies, I wouldn’t know what I’d do.”

The sun was already gone, leaving the drifting twilight in its wake. The grey clouds were mixed with the gold ones, creating a swirling painting of brilliant beauty. To the east lay a velvet blanket of grey, with specks of shining dust here and there, to the west, a golden, fiery dance that celebrated the day’s end and the night’s beginning.

He held the black piece of paper by the corner and shook it. Near frowned, looking at the still paper. He shook it again, harder this time.

That looks familiar.

“Funny,” Near frowned again, shaking it even harder, “it was moving before. You remember this, right Rain? It’s like the thing we encountered when that girl was killed. The thing that almost killed you.”

…Choking him as it went down…trying to stop it from going further…Eyesight faded…breathing…shorter.

“Rain! Rain!” Darkness. Only darkness; I couldn’t hear or see…and right after…I couldn’t feel…

“I remember.” Rain responded, “Where’d you get it from? What is it, anyway?”

A flock of birds flew overheard, crying out as they flew towards their homes.

“It’s called a ‘Seize’, I think.” he responded, shaking the thing again, “according to the research I’ve done, they were once the servants of the Arc-demon Baphomet.”

He ignored the first question.

“‘Once’?”

“Yes, once. Baphomet is--supposedly--dead. Killed by that one angel that the girl was talking about earlier today, skewered through the head by a golden sword before he was given the chance to speak.”

Baphomet had butterflies? I didn’t know that. That moment…when I killed the demon…he opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t get a chance.

Bad guys always talk too blasted much, anyway.

“It’s too bad,” Near continued, turning around and leaning on the railing, overlooking the city, “it’s dead, now.”

Rain walked up next to him, looking at the black thing that just floated lifelessly to the ground below.

“You know,” the man in white stood, resting his chin in his hand, “things just keep getting weirder and weirder. The murders…the red butterflies you have, the black butterflies wandering around…the reference to Baphomet and this angel guy and his sister. Who are they? And what do they have to do with us?”

“You know what I think?”

“What?” Near’s hand moved from his chin and into his pocket. Gripping something in his fingers, he pulled it out, raising his arm ever so slowly behind Rain, keeping his eyes on the dark-clad man, looking for signs that he might be suspecting something.

Rain only smiled as he looked out at the horizon. The silvery blade that Near held in his hand went higher, flashing in the last light of the sunset.

“I don’t know who or what you are. Or what you’re planning.”

Near gritted his teeth at Rain’s words.

“But I’ll always be one step ahead of you.”

The blade flashed once more as it was pulled down at full speed. Rain spun around to face it.

And then suddenly, a gunshot echoed throughout the neighbourhood.

Rain is turning into a CSI ala Gil Grissom.

Except with more blood and demons.

(awesomeness)

Love the ending, such a cliffhanger.

<3

Hey Wolfie <3 Rain is also turning into someone's latest prey.

***

Lights Out


The bowl of black velvet shimmered with stars as no sound reached the ears of the three who were on the roof. Two were still standing; one was lying lifeless on the ground. The eyes of the two were fixed on the grounded one. One of them held a gun--a smoking gun--while the other held a silvery dagger with a black handle.

“I got here just in time,” the detective said as she exhaled, holstering her gun, “What were you thinking?!”

“I knew you were coming,” the man grinned, stretching out his hand, holding the knife out to her, “you can’t keep your eyes off me for a few seconds, can you?”

She growled. He chuckled.

“You knew he was going to try to kill you?!”

“No. How on Earth could I have known that?”

The woman growled again. She walked over to the body on the ground and knelt down beside it, as if to analyze it.

The man narrowed his eyes at the person on the ground. He’s not bleeding. At all.

“Near Cronqvist,” she muttered, “Who were you? What was going on in that mind of yours?”

She stood up and dusted herself off.

“Let’s go,” the detective said, “I’ll call the precinct in a few minutes.”

The two began to walk away as dark clouds began hiding the stars’ eyes, protecting their sparkling from being tarnished by the sight of the oncoming.

A low laugh rose up from behind them.

I knew it.

They spun around, looking at the body, but it wasn’t there. In its place, stood a person resembling Near Cronqvist, only his appearance and clothes had changed slightly. His hair was different now; it was spiked up at the back, while the front strands framed his face. His clothes were not all white anymore, but black. The only white was the piece of cloth wrapped around his neck, almost fully covering his left arm--Is that his left arm…? What happened to it?

It was slender, covered in the same black material as his clothes. His fingers weren’t fingers, but long, silver talons, each as long as his forearm, but thinner. Held between two of these talons was the bullet that was shot into the back of his head only a few moments ago.

The being raised his right hand--which was normal--to his chin and moved his head from side to side, breaking the silence with two loud cracks. He turned to the two and grinned, showing off his dagger like teeth and gleaming eyes.

Thracia drew her gun once more and aimed.

“Wha-what?” she stuttered, moving further away, “What are you?”

“Dear missy,” he grinned, holding up the bullet, “you fired one bullet and it did not work. Willing to fire more? They won’t work either.”

Each talon pressed on the piece of lead, slicing it up into tiny little circles.

“And I’m not interested in you, anyway,” he tossed a piece aside, “Now, run along little child, and let the elder ones talk.”

“I’m…I’m staying right here!”

“Stubborn, aren’t you? Well, it doesn’t matter; I suppose I can ignore you--I’m not sure if Rain here can, though.”

Near turned to Rain now, but he stood still, not moving towards the angel.

“So…we finally meet.”

Rain narrowed his eyes and put one hand in his pocket, “I don’t know you. Do you know me?”

“You don’t kn-” Near stopped short and laughed, “I shall introduce myself at a…later date. However, are you not the great Millennium Angel on Earth? The slayer of demons and evil angels? The one with the Millennium Reaper at his side?”

He stopped suddenly, switching to another line of questioning.

“Where is she, anyway?”

“I am that person.” Rain responded, blatantly ignoring the last question.

A small gasp escaped Thracia’s lips. Could it be true? It couldn’t, could it?

It can’t be true! Rain isn’t that…angel thing from the stories…he couldn’t be. He couldn’t even dodge my punches!

She blinked and blinked again, rubbing her eyes afterward. In Rain’s left hand, he held a long and straight staff. It looked extremely smooth as it reflected the lights on the rooftop.

“Ah.” Near responded to the appearance of the staff, “That answers one of the three questions I have swirling around in my head. Let’s test the second question, shall we? ‘Can you use it?’”

He leapt forward, opening the talons on his left hand, not intending to impale, but to crush whatever he grabbed. In a flash of blurred events, Rain pulled a sword from the staff, colliding it with Near’s left hand. With a swift kick, he sent the being flying backward.

Near laughed, standing up as he quickly recovered from the counter-attack.

“Hahaha…Oh my. Such skill. I guess that answers my second question. Now…for my third and final question for the evening!”

Screams rose up from every part of the city as glass rained down on the streets. The lights on the rooftops were the last to burst, plunging the entire city into a sea of black.

“‘Will you play my little game to the finish?’”, He leaped onto the railing and stood there, without even struggling to balance, “You shall give me the answer when we next meet…at the nearest power plant, perhaps? I do so hate when the auxiliary generators start up--so noisy. So kindly be there before then. I’ll be there just trying to prevent people from fixing the lights that I worked so hard to put out…Oh…I wonder how many people I’ll kill on the way…”

His voice trailed off as he consciously leaned backwards, letting himself fall off the railing toward the street below.

Rain exhaled. He didn’t know it, but he had been holding his breath the entire time.

“R-…Rain…?” the detective slowly made her way over to him, trying her best to see in the dark.

“Stay here. Or go home.” he said.

“But…what…? Why…? Are you going after that…thing? Near? I should come with y-”

“-You can’t see in the dark.”

She raised her arm, trying to reach out to him, but it was in vain. She was alone on the rooftop now.

Yey!

Real badass, although it is sometimes confusing trying to figure out who is doing/saying what. You use pronouns like "he" and I don't know which "he" it is.

Ah well. Awesome name for Rain and Raisha.

You like to emulate anime battles/dialogue in your writing, don't you?

Rain needs to post more often in his fiiiiics!!

/bump

I agree with Wolfen here. Poast, you.