"We were too late." Hero Terra clicked his tongue whilst staring at the burnt corpse of Houston. The fire had already been extinguished but the smell of smoke and foul stench of charred flesh and blood still lingered in the air. Heat radiated from the walls and floors and the firefighters were still going around checking everything.
Terra was the hero that Kin's henchman had identified. He had dusty brown hair and green eyes. Around said eyes was a mask similar to those worn at masquerade parties, just less flashy. Terra's hero uniform consisted of a plain black tank top and camo jacket, along with brown boots and black pants.
"Quite ironic that it was Ignite's own flames that mutilated his corpse." Beside Terra was another hero, Frost. He had white-blue hair and eyes. Frost's hero uniform was just a distinct red scarf and navy police-like uniform along with a black mask over his eyes.
Terra kicked a pebble on the ground. "We spent months preparing for this operation only to find him dead in his own quarters. If I find out who did this, I'll bury them 6 feet under!"
"Well, at least we didn't have to deal with him ourselves." Frost commented and walked out the room with Terra to get some fresh air.
Down the hall, they saw a member of the forensics team walking down the hall. Out of a whim, Frost spoke to him. "So, did you guys find anything?"
"Uh, a lot of things were lost in the fire but there's a room down the hall that's relatively untouched. We're checking it out right now." He replied.
"Hmm, let's go help." Frost suggested to Terra. He nodded and the two followed the forensics guy down the burnt halls, turning left and right in the maze of a building. At the very end of the hall was a burnt wooden door. It was charred black and but still standing.
The forensics guy pushed the door open, revealing a little room. Inside were partially burnt objects, but most things were relatively untouched. The fire hadn't quite made it there yet when the firefighters drowned the building.
The room consisted of a rather old and stained couch with a blanket messily thrown on top. There were drenched books stacked all around the couch and cardboard boxes lined up and put on top of each other like some kind of makeshift desk. Some of the cardboard boxes were opened, revealing a few sets of old, ragged clothes.
Perhaps the only lively thing within the room were the random pots of plants surrounding the window. There were cute and vibrant wildflowers, proud roses and tall ferns placed in a disorderly fashion. They were well taken care of, healthy and strong and survived the fire unscathed.
"Wow, the difference is quality is outstanding, even the hallway looks more decorated than this. Is this a storage room?" Frost commented.
"A storage room wouldn't be this empty, you idiot." Terra responded.
"I know. I was just saying." Frost chuckled. "So, what have you guys found so far?"
One of the forensics guys in the room was flipping through a book and answered. "All the books here are related to plants, mostly to do with illicit drugs and poisonous plants. I've flipped through a few of the annotated and tagged pages but they are extremely detailed on how the plant thrives."
Another forensics member chimed in. "If you turn the cover page, you'll see the same name written on all of them." He turned the book over, showing the name, 'Al Bert Hills' written neatly. "I think he was their botanist.
Intrigued, Terra knelt down beside the cardboard boxes that the guys hadn't checked yet and looked through the contents. He found another book inside. It was different from the others in that it wasn't a non-fiction book on plants but instead a novel. The novel wasn't very thick and was typically what a child would read.
"The Knight and the Dragon." Terra muttered, reading the title. He flipped the book over and raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Frost asked and walked over to Terra.
The back of the book had a white sticker with text printed on. 'Dolly Meadows Primary School', it read.
"What's a book from a primary school doing here?"
Terra flipped through the pages and noticed there was an unusually thick and stiff page. Thinking that it may contain some evidence, he tore the pages apart and found a photo inside.
It was an old photo with the date printed on it. It dated back three years and was a family photo. There was a father and a mother and their son smiling happily in the photo. The little boy was holding a cake in which the words, 'Happy Birthday, Albert' were written with icing.
Terra raised an eyebrow and flipped the photo over. There were words written in small font on the back.
"Dear Mum and Dad, it's been a while, about two years? This is my first time writing a letter so I'm not really sure how to go about it but I just feel like I should leave something behind...It's not really something you would be happy to know but I just thought maybe you had the right to know because, after all, you are my parents." Terra read. He paused and continued.
"...The day I was kidnapped, I really thought I would die. I was so scared that I begged him so that he would spare me but I really think that it would have been easier if I just died that day. Everyday was just an endless cycle of pain and fear. The beatings I got used to but the constant hunger is something that I can never get used to. Like the others, I just focussed on distracting myself to forget the hunger.
But, recently, I helped another kid. I was beat in their stead. I don't know what false sense of justice washed over me but I really wanted to go in her stead, to face the devil and die a hero. I didn't die but I think I will. He separated me from the other kids. He's going to make my hell even more of a hell."
The steady, neat handwriting changed. It was shaky and written aggressively.
"I always believed that someday a hero would come busting in and save us but I've come to terms with the fact that they won't. I, along with all the others, the burnt ashes of my friends, and sold comrades, we're all never going to see the light of day. I know that two years is a long time to accept this simple concept but when everything is dark around you, you can't help but to hold on to the tiny glow of hope. But, well, I've crushed it now, or it's been crushed for me.
I've finally decided to set out on the path of no return. I'm going to kill him. Be it to avenge my fallen friends or to free myself from his torment, I'm going to do it. For Quinne, for Wilson, for Elaine, for Rain, for Tim, for Yim, for Ursula, for Ivan, for Oliver, for Phoenix and the many others...
If I succeed, I'll burn this letter and greet you in person. If not, well, at least I'll have gone out in a blaze of glory, as those before me had.
Wish me luck, with love, your son, Albert Hills."
Everyone fell into solemn silence. The contents of the letter were quite damning and they needed a while to process it. From the shared name Albert, it was apparent that the author of the letter was the owner of all the books in the room. Thus, it was easy to make the connection as to what kind of things he was made to do.
Terra took a deep breath. "Frost-"
"I know, I'm checking it now. If a kid went missing, there should be some news online." Frost was tapping away at his phone, typing the words Dolly Meadows Primary School, Albert Hills into the search bar. Soon, articles related to the key words showed up. Frost's guess was right, the news did cover it.
"It's a match. They really did kidnap a kid." Frost revealed after skimming through the article.
Everyone sharply inhaled. The contents of the letter were real. Then that meant...the author of the letter and the other children mentioned in it...they were probably dead by now. Perhaps they didn't even have an intact corpse. Ignite did enjoy burning his victims to ash after all.
"Did they kidnap them because of his ability?" One of the forensic guys suggested, avoiding the more morbid topic. "Perhaps this Albert had a plant based ability and so they took advantage of it to grow drugs and whatnot."
"That's plausible. Plant-growing abilities are quite uncommon after all." Another chimed.
Frost nodded. "From our research, Ignite's drugs were rather special in that they were especially addictive and apparently of better quality. It's likely that the boy's ability enhanced the drugs somehow."
"That's not important right now." Terra injected. "Look through all the boxes and anything in this room. I'm going to send everything not related to the case to his family."
"Yes sir!"
"Let's go, Frost." Terra took a photo of the letter and carefully stuffed it into his pocket. "We're going to deliver the letter."