Shirley sat at the other side of the apartment, silently and attentively watching the horrific scene. She’d been completely lost in thought for several minutes that she didn’t realize that all her colleagues had cleared the room. The strong vibration from her ringing phone made her snap right out of it. She took a hesitant look around the room and then realized shortly after that she was alone. She chuckled. Shirley: Hey! Thanks for bringing me back. Everyone else left without notice. Ackermann: Wait… Huh? Shirley: Oh, never mind. What’s up? Ackermann: Well, I just woke up and, heard the news… He really killed a baby…? Shirley: Hmph… We need to put an end to this. I want to say “before this gets out of hand”, but it’s already gotten out of hand. Ackermann: I know right? Anyways I’m sure you didn’t get any sleep last night, so um, after you’re done there, direct Azriel to me then you go get some sleep, okay? Shirley: Yeah, alright. Sounds good. Shirley hopped out of the chair almost immediately and started walking towards the door. But before she moved out, she took a second look at the dead mother and the baby for a few seconds and then whispers something to herself. She immediately remembered the disgust and indignation she felt at the very first time this “angel of death” madness began, and those feelings were accompanied by absolute compassion. The state of the first victim at that point was unreal and disgusting, and frightening at the same time; what the perpetrator put her through was so utterly inhuman that each and every officer at first glance of the outcome, had to bolt out of the building to get a great deal of air, except for Shirley. It wasn’t an act of bravery or anything close for that matter, the scene was unlike anything she’d ever seen, and that made her freeze for some time; her eyes fixated on the victim the entire period. “You’re most certainly trying to give yourself nightmares, or you’re just too weird!” The voice echoed in her ears, and she spun around almost right away because she didn’t recognize the voice. Shirley: Oh! It’s you. What are you doing here? Ackermann: Yes, it’s me. And what do you mean what am I doing here…? Someone has been murdered! It’s my job to be here. Shirley: Yeah well, this is my crime scene. Ackermann: Not anymore it’s not! Chief Tador: Hey you guys… Relax! This case is for you both to crack. Shirley: What’s that mean, Chief? Ackermann: It means we're partners, genius. Shirley replied to Ackermann’s statement with a condescending sneer. She turned her eyes to the chief, expecting him to nullify what Ackermann had just mouthed but that wasn’t going to happen. And she realized it shortly after reading his face. Her eyes widened as she stared at the chief, and they looked like they were about to exit their sockets. She’d never thought she’d be partnered with this guy whom she’d always referred to as “An Asshole” from the moment they met each other for the first time at the FBI Academy. The guy made fun of her look and her precious scarf; that’s where the hate started from, and the fact that he’d always top the class at her expense made that hate grow. Not that she disliked losing to someone, but the fact that Ackermann was that someone made her detest losing overall. Shirley was almost about to protest to the Chief about having Ackermann as a partner, but the chief raised his hands to stop her. “Enough of this drama Agent Shirley.” He said. “Whatever problem you two have, I advise that you solve it before I take you both off the case! Now Agent Shirley, tell me what you’ve learned about this homicide so far, and why there’s “angel of death” written on the wall, in red.” ---------------------------------------------------- Shirley came out of the apartment building and spotted Azriel right away; she hurried to her and tried to apologize for keeping her waiting for too long. She tried. She called her out countless times, but it seemed Azriel had been kept prisoner in her own mind for some reason. Her thoughts were so far away and lost and running wild that she literally lost connection with the real world. Shirley went ahead and tapped her on the shoulder. That brought her back alright, but in a frightening way. She gasped and jumped the moment Shirley’s hand came in contact with her. But that wasn’t the weird part; she whimpered and her legs collapsed underneath her, sending her right down to the ground, the moment her eyes met Shirley’s. She looked up at Shirley from down there like she was frightened of her and begging for her life. The color had drained quickly from her face, making her look like she’d suddenly lost pounds of blood.“Azriel what’s wrong?” asked Shirley, hesitantly. Shirley had never seen Azriel this way before, and it made her worried and a little frightened because she had no clue what was really happening, or what had caused it. Well, yeah they just examined a horrific homicide, but that wasn’t enough to make an officer act like this, and Shirley knew it. There was something else wrong. Shirley lunged into her and put her arms around her. “You are okay Azriel… You are okay…” She kept whispering that into Azriel’s ear until she bounced back to her senses. Shirley wanted an explanation for what had just happened but then Azriel’s face showed that she was more confused than a chameleon in a bag of Skittles. She was worried about Azriel, no doubt about that. But what really disturbed her was the fact that Azriel looked at her as if she was a monster. The amount of fear that she saw in Azriel’s eyes made her very uneasy. “Oh, Azriel wasn’t in her right mind”. She thought, but yet still she couldn’t shake off the feeling. For some reason, she was almost familiar with it. It was as if something like this had happened before; someone looking up at her with frightened eyes. It wasn’t a memory, but a Déjà vu. And she felt so uneasy. Azriel sat tight in the car while she went into the Jewelry store. ----------------------------------------------- Shirley went straight for the receptionist immediately she walked in. “Hi, I’m Special Agent Shirley. I need to ask you a few questions.” said Shirley as she showed her badge. The lady behind the desk leaned a little forward and squinted her eyes to take a better look at it. She nodded. “But before I’ll answer any of your questions…” she pointed to a petit box sitting idle on the other side of the desk. Shirley tilted her head quizzically. A look of puzzlement crossed her face. She took a second look at the box before she understood. “Oh, donation…? You should have just said so” she chuckled and reached for her pocket. She remembered that she had some loose dollars that she wasn’t going to use for anything. “But wait for a second, what’s this donation about?” “Oh, um, yeah it’s a small program my church is running right, and we hope to get a huge sum at the end of the month so we provide food and toiletries and other stuff to the various charity homes in the city to support them. Again, we hope to get a huge sum at the end of this month”, the receptionist pointed out. “Okay, Madam Receptionist, “HUGE SUM” I get it. I’m sure you’ll get there but this is all I have.” Shirley went ahead and slipped the cash into the tiny hole. ”Now let’s get down to my business here!” “No wait! Before that I just want to say, I dig your hair and your scarf. One would think you dyed your hair but then your eyebrows and lashes say differently.You look weird amazingly and beautifully” Shirley squinted her eyes and sarcastically tilted her head. “Well, uh, thank you…? I mean I hope that’s a compliment” She joked. The receptionist smiled and nodded in response. “Now, shall we?” ----------------------------------------------------------- Shirley came out of the store almost reluctantly, with her phone in her hand. She went through her contacts list and phoned Ackermann. She strongly caressed her eyes as the phone slowly beeped. She was unsure about what she’d just learned. “What is the meaning of this…?” She kept asking herself for she couldn’t believe what was happening. The phone vibrated slightly, and Ackermann had answered her call. “Hello Shirley, what’s up? I thought you were going to get some rest?” “Yes I am. I just found a lead on the case, and it’s…it’s…” “Wait, you’re telling me you just found a lead on our “angel of death” case?” “Yes.” Replied Shirley. “Seriously? Yet don’t sound even a little delightful about it. We’ve been on this maniac for years, and he’s made us chase our own tails since. But then you find a lead on him and sound like this? Tell me what’s going on Shirley.” He recognized the discontentment in Shirley’s voice immediately. Shirley just kept silent. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to talk; she was pretty dumbfounded. She wasn’t short of words. The thing is she wouldn’t know how to arrange them when she starts explaining; that is if she had an explanation for it. “I just sent you a video. I’ll drop by the station later to discuss it. See you then.
Shirley drove home with Azriel at her side. The entire ride was so quiet. Both of them lost in their own thoughts. Shirley couldn't believe what she'd just seen, and Azriel, too, freaked out to the bones even though she when hadn't seen the footage yet. Shirley wouldn't show it to her for some reason. "I can't show it to you, you can't see it. Not yet at least; not while you are in this state". Azriel turned her face to her side of the car, thinking hard about what happened to her earlier. It's never happened. At least not while she was still awake, and that's what made it even worse. When you're in a nightmare, it feels genuinely authentic, but then at the same time, it doesn't because you're asleep. Azriel's was a different story. She was fully awake. She could feel the wind rubbing her cheeks and blowing her hair from one direction to the other. So when she found herself in that situation, she was completely freaked. It all started with Shirley's description of how the homicide to
I-Shirley Chapter 5 Shirley went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. She’d worn her hair up, smeared a good amount of Aloe Vera on her face, but kept the region around her eyes dry for the blindfold. Drinking water before bed was something Shirley had done almost all her life, though she only found out about the health benefits a few years ago. Throughout the years, she knew it was a good practice to drink a glass of warm water before going to bed; at least, that’s what her mother told her when she was still a little girl. The woman would bring her a glass of water, make her gulp everything and then send her to sleep. Sometimes if Shirley goes to sleep without drinking, it wouldn’t make a difference to the mother because she’d wake her daughter up and hand her the glass, and Shirley would always be annoyed with her for waking her up, but the mother wouldn’t mind. After some time, Shirley would get a glass of water, stand in front of the mother, and finish it to avoid an
I-ShirleyChapter 6"So are you going to tell me what that w
REBEKAH MECEDA Rebekah had come across many villages even before she turned 21. The young woman had been on the road for over four years. She could have settled in either of the villages, but she refused to. She would say she didn't appreciate how this village smelled, and the next town she would say gave her a weird vibe, and she didn't like it. Every person in either of the villages wanted her to stay. Rebekah Maceda was a good "medicine woman" who had at least a piece of idea of every sickness and what kind of leaves or medicine could cure or control it. She left a mark on every village she passed through because she would attend to the sick and heal them. "You need to find a place to settle. These times of war aren't good, especially for young women like yourself." They would tell her and try to lure her to stay and take refuge in their village, but she wouldn't. Rebekah knew they wanted to scare her and make her stay, but she also knew they spoke true. The kind of world they w
Chief Tador shook his head vigorously in disapproval. He wouldn’t put his entire force on a ghost hunt and definitely wouldn’t waste time searching for whole bloodlines because one of his agents believed in ghosts. “Not only do you want to become ghost busters, but you also want us to find out about each and every victim’s progenitors? Are you aware of how many victims there are?” Spat Chief Tador. What Azriel suggested they do was simply over the bar, and the Chief wouldn’t climb that high, not while the Angel of death was still on the loose. Chief Tador was a straightforward fundamental man who appreciated facts. He wouldn’t go ahead with any decision if he felt a grain of dissatisfaction with it. He didn’t believe in ghosts; he didn’t believe in demons. And even if the shadowed man from the video told him he was either of the two, Chief Tador wouldn’t believe it and would still want to put cuffs on his hands. The Chief deemed Azriel’s idea simply unworthy of their time. “Th
Shirley and Azriel arrived at May's house fast. A drive that was supposed to take longer was shortened to about ten minutes. Luckily for them, there was no traffic, and Azriel herself was a fast driver. Watching her drive on a good day would make you feel like a formula one racing competition spectator. Shirley would tell her to relax behind the wheel; that is when Azriel is driving and alone in the car. But when Shirley's with her, she would ask her to feel free and operate the vehicle how she felt. Shirley enjoyed sitting beside Azriel when she was speeding, and she wouldn't get scared or anything – but when Azriel is driving alone, she gets worried for her. Weird really! Shirley untied the rubber band, released her hair, and made it run loose when they hopped out of the car. The vital air jiggled her hair slightly as she reached for her glasses and folded both temples around the middle of her blouse. Azriel drew closer to her, glared in her face from the side, and kept smiling sh
"Ah-ha… I've been wanting to ask you guys this question for a while now, but it skips me for some reason." Azriel said and strolled to the petit center table, where everyone sat on the floor around it. Each person, holding a glass of red wine. After dinner, the kids had been sent to bed, and the adults sipped their glass of alcohol and chatted about random things. "Why do all of you have Odoi as your last names, but only Shirley has "Angelus-Mortis" as her last name. What gives?" Azriel waltzed back to her corner jokingly with the whole wine bottle in her hand. She'd already had enough to drink, yet she went in for the entire bottle. "Well, Shirley here is the special one of this generation, hence the last name." May answered. The whole "Gang" sent their gaze to Shirley with a warm smile across their faces. "In our family, we believe that one person is selected out of every generation, to be the pillar and the protector of its members. And we believe Shirley is it in this generation
-ShirleyChapter 11At twenty minutes after one in the morning, Ackermann sat comfortably in an armchair in his apartment. He held on his lap a pile of the files of the very first five victims of the Angel of death, the shadow killer. He would go through each of them attentively, not missing a single adjective or an adverb. Before two, he had gone through the files and already gone over it a second time. “Still nothing….” He said as he sent his hands to caress his eyes and face. He Sighed and shook his head in discontent. Detective Ackermann was incredibly fed up with chasing one person and doing the same thing over and over and over again for years. The same thing had gone on in his life the same way, so much that sometimes he wakes up and expects to be called to a crime scene. It had become a formula for him. Wake up on a Monday morning to a phone call, “There’s been another angel of death incident, Detective, come do your thing. Ackermann would sometimes set the alarm for as early