The sky was jet black without a single star visible as a woman, with long, curly, golden locks, walked down the dimly lit sidewalk. The woman, seeming to be very unbothered, fastened the top button on her pebble grey trench coat before she threw one side of her black and white striped scarf over her shoulder, allowing it to fully cover her chin. After a few seconds of quietly walking down the empty street, she caught a glimpse of someone. She noticed a man leaning against the wall of an old brick building as he had his arms crossed and head down. He looked up once the blonde woman walked by, causing him to start walking away from the building and follow her. This slightly alarmed the woman, causing her to shove her bare hands into her coat pockets before gradually picking up the pace. As she kept walking, the woman turned her head every few seconds to check if the strange man was still nearby and every time she checked, he was still following her. The woman then reached into her tan beige, leather purse, before pulling out her phone. She flipped it open, causing the light from the small, rectangular screen to illuminate her pale ivory skin, before she held it up to her ear.

"Hey, mom!" Greeted the woman, trying to sound calm, "Yeah, I'm almost there. I'm just heading to my car …" She paused for a moment, pretending that someone was talking to her on the other end of the line, "Mhm! Alright, I love you! Bye!" She turned her head again and noticed that the man had disappeared. She then closed her phone and slipped it back onto her purse before turning back around. She continued walking down the street for a few minutes before she approached a building. She entered the building and walked into the elevator. She pressed a button as the doors slowly closed. She let out a deep sigh as she heard her phone chime. She pulled it out again and flipped it open before checking her messages. She smirked as she read the text. She smiled as she began to type out a response.

"On my way." She spoke her message aloud before she hit send. She gazed at the small screen for a second before she saw another message pop up. Her smirk quickly shifted into an expression of slight confusion. "Huh?" She spoke as she wrote out her next response, "How did you know that?" Before she could hit send, the elevator doors opened up. She let out a sigh before she shook her head and closed her phone without replying to the other person's message. She slipped it back into her purse as she exited the elevator.

"I'll just ask him when I get there." The woman said to herself as she walked down the empty, dim hallway. She approached one of the apartment doors and reached into her purse again. She pulled out a small key and inserted it into the keyhole of the knob before twisting it to unlock the door. She eagerly turned the knob and opened the door.

"What the hell was that about, Kyle?" Asked the woman as she entered the apartment. She paused for a second, waiting for a response, as she closed the door behind her. "Kyle?" She flipped a switch near the door, lighting up the room, "Kyle? Where are you?" She took a few steps forward as she looked around the room, "Why'd he ask me to come over if he isn't even home?" She asked herself, sounding frustrated. Something then caught her eye. The woman noticed a broken bottle of wine on the wooden floor with all of it's contents poured out, staining the floor. She walked over to it, trying her best not to step on any of the broken glass, before she noticed a few rose petals on the floor beside the bottle.

"What the hell?" She was shocked but also concerned and confused, "What happened here?" She peered over to the small kitchen and noticed a deep red handprint on the cream beige wall. She gasped as she squinted her eyes and saw something in the dimly lit hallway by the stained wall. A man was laying on the floor, face down, with little streaks of blood leaking out from his chest.

"Kyle!" She said in a panicked tone as she recognized the body.

The woman took a step back, realizing what might've occurred prior to her arrival. She turned around and bumped into someone. She looked up and saw a tall man who was dressed in an anchor grey suit. Her eyes widened in shock as she seemed to recognize this man.

"Charlie?" Asked the woman, sounding very scared as she began to tremble, "What are you- How did you-"

"I followed you, sweetheart." Responded the man, sounding very bitter as his voice shook in sorrow, "How could you do this to me, Claire? Am I not enough for you?"

"Charlie, it wasn't you. I just-"

He cut her off, "No! Don't start with me."

"What did you do to Kyle?"

"Justice. He had to pay for what he did."

The woman shook her head, "No. no! He didn't deserve this."

The man paused for a moment and looked down as he sighed, "You know what? You're right, Claire." His voice began to break, "He*didn't* deserve this." The man then wept, "What have I done?" he brought his blood stained hands up to his face, "I'm a monster!"

The woman placed a hand on his shoulder and began to speak in a soft, calm voice, "No, honey. You're *not* a monster."

He peered up at the woman, "Claire, I just killed a man."

"I know, I know. But don't worry, dear. We can fix this."

"Huh?" He looked at her in confusion as tears trailed down his face, "But … How?"

"Just leave that up to me." She smiled.

Faded streaks of sunlight seeped through the slits between the thick, spruce blue curtains and spread across the peacock blue blanket. A woman, with egg shell beige skin, was awoken by her alarm clock. She reached over to her nightstand and tapped the top of her clock, causing it to stop ringing, before she slowly sat up. The woman rubbed her monolid eyes as she let out a big yawn. She climbed out of bed and walked over to her curtains while dressed in a set of baggy, fossil grey pajamas. She opened the curtains and gazed outside the window of her apartment. She was pretty high up but could still see numerous buildings which were far taller than her apartment building. The sky was a light shade of cloud grey as the streets were filled with people on their way to work. The woman ran her fingers through her long, messy, jet black hair as she walked into her bathroom to get ready for the day. After showering and brushing, the petite woman got dressed in a pair of high waisted black pants with a thick, hickory brown belt and a sky blue, button down shirt which was tucked into the waistband of her pants. After making herself an egg sandwich, she sat down at her kitchen table before eating her breakfast. She read the daily newspaper while she washed her food down with a cup of dark roast coffee. She then cleaned up and grabbed her bag before she hopped into her car.

A few minutes later, she parked her car in the parking lot of her workplace. Before exiting her vehicle, the woman reached into her bag and pulled out a police badge. She clipped it to one of her pant loops before stepping out of her car. The woman walked into the building and clocked in before she approached her desk.

"Good morning, Detective Li!" Greeted a man, with pale ivory skin, as he smiled. The man appeared to be around six feet tall and his smile slightly stretched out his thick mustache. He was dressed in a fawn beige suit with a maroon tie. His espresso brown hair was slicked back with some gel as his rust orange colored glasses contrasted with his icy blue eyes.

The woman smiled back at him, "Good morning, Detective Mason!" She sat down at her desk, "How was your weekend?"

"Not bad." Henry shrugged, "Martha asked me to take Timmy to his baseball practice on Sunday which wasn't great since the boy doesn't even like the damn sport but afterwards I took him out for ice cream at his favorite parlor." He sat down at his own desk which was adjacent to Mei's desk. "What about you, Li? How was your weekend?"

"It was very uneventful." Responded the woman, nonchalantly.

"Well how was your date?"

Mei sighed, "It was shit."

"Oh?" Henry began to sound pretty curious, "What happened? Did John get too drunk again and cause a scene at the restaurant?"

The woman shook her head, "No, not this time. Instead, he never showed up."

"Wait, what?" The man removed his wide lens glasses from his face, "But why?" He sounded pretty shocked.

"Well …" Mei placed her elbow on top of her desk as she rested the bottom of her jaw against her palm, "I asked him the day after and he told me that he had to help his new neighbor settle in."

"Settle in?" Henry raised an eyebrow, "What does he mean by that?"

"A new girl moved into his building and John decided that helping her move her things into her apartment was more important than showing up to our date."

The man inhaled through his teeth, causing a hissing sound, "Oh, dear. That's not good. That's a huge red flag, Mei."

"I know, right? John claims that he has the need to help a damsel in distress."

"In what world is moving a couch considered distress?" Asked Henry, sounding slightly peeved.

The woman shrugged, "I have no clue. It's been nearly a year since we started dating and I still don't understand why he does shit like that."

"A year?" The man looked down and shook his head, "Oh, dear." He faced her, "You sound really unhappy. Have you ever talked to him about this?"

Mei nodded, "Yes, I have. But he refuses to listen. He always says that it's part of who he is and that he just can't help it."

"Oh, lord. That ain't good. In fact, that just sounds like he's too lazy to change. Have you thought about ending things with him?"

"Well …" Mei peered down at her wooden desk and sighed, "I have but the thing is …" She shook her head, "I can't."

"Why not? I mean, it hasn't even been a year yet."

"I know, I know. But …" She faced him, "It's just that I've had such a hard time finding someone to date and so far he's the only man I've come across who seems to like me enough to be with me."

"Well have you tried dating an Asian man?" Asked Henry as he scratched his mustache.

Mei nodded, "I have but they all seem to be looking for a woman who's willing to be a full time homemaker and be one hundred percent obedient to them. That's not what I want."

"A homemaker? But I thought you weren't interested in marriage."

"I'm not. Which is another reason why many Asian men don't want to date me."

"Oh, you poor thing." Henry got up from his seat and walked over to her. He leaned in and hugged the woman, "I'm so sorry, dear." He gave her a few gentle pats on the back as she reciprocated his hug.

"Thank you, Henry." She responded in a melancholy tone.