'Why are you lazing about?! Shouldn't you be running all over the place trying to find evidence and security camera footage?!' she mentally shrieked, head butting his chest, 'You fool! There's only 7 days before Magenta makes his next appearance before we have to wait another 62 days!'
"Someone is going to die," Adam groaned.
'Oops. That too.'
"The next victim will also probably be another gray…"
'The next victim is going to be Magenta! I'm bringing a knife over to god knows where he's appearing and stabbing him… sixty four times! That'll show him.'
"I don't even have a plan yet," Adam trailed on.
'The plan is to stab him a lot.'
"It'll be bad if I don't come up with anything."
'It's okay. Stabbing is a decent plan. Just ask Magenta. He kind of did it 6 times already.'
He leaned over and starting typing away at his computer.
"Through my deductions, the next victim will most likely be Violeta Carlhart, who will be difficult to attack. She's all guarded up and everything, and her mother swears that she won't be hurt."
'If the murders aren't connected, how are you deducing the next victim? There's like, five hundred grays in De'Lapin. There's no way to accurately pinpoint one of them.'
"Her mom, Mrs. Carlhart, got all angry at me. 'How dare you say that my daughter is next! You have no grounding proof!'"
'She has a point, though.'
"The investigation force has concluded that the victims have strong aer capacities. They say the targets are known for their aer strength. So going off of that, the most likely target is Violeta, the "Gray Princess"," Adam rolled his eyes, his fingers doing air quotes around her nickname to show disapproval. "I told her that, but she wouldn't listen. So I'm going to their mansion tomorrow. Try to talk things out with the hag."
'Hag?! Ahaha!!' Leah laughed mentally.
"Hopefully I get to talk to Violeta, too," he sighed, clicking away at something on his monitor.
Leah looked up at him disapprovingly. "Two grays? As a couple? That would be awful."
Adam looked down and saw the kitten's judgmental face. "Something tells me you have the wrong idea…"
"Anyways… honestly, I should be resting now. Dealing with whatever family that is, hah…" Adam pet Leah's head woefully, "it's going to be awful."
'Says the guy with a questionable family aura here. I haven't seen any of your parents around!'
He picked up the cat and placed her back onto the foot of his bed, before picking all the papers scattered across it in one felt swoop and placing them on the ground. Leah flew back a little as he crashed onto the bed, face down.
"Mmrgh…" he grumbled into his pillow.
'Sleep tight, princess, you got a lot to do tomorrow,' Leah softly nudged his ankle, 'and I have a lot to do tonight…' she grumbled to herself, looking down at her mangled leg. Time to do some aer magic while she was resting.
"…going to see the Carlharts, despite them throwing a hissy fit?"
"Yeah… It's the least I could do. Everyone else on the case knows it'll be her, too. I've got to put some effort in."
"And what if Violeta isn't the next victim?"
Silence.
"Adam!"
Leah slowly came to. It took her awhile to remember her surroundings, and what had occurred the previous night. Killed. Revived. Cat. That's all she needed to know.
Her leg was almost fully healed now, or at least the wound wasn't visible anymore. Her back injuries were deduced to cuts, and the tiny one on her chin was completely healed. Though she wasn't completely used to aer in her car body, she could do a minuscule amount of what she could do in her old body. Heal, for sure, and perhaps increase her movement speed.
"I have to go now. I don't wanna be late," Adam said, his voice distant as if he were in another room.
Leah jumped. He was leaving without her.
Well, obviously he wasn't going to take an injured cat to an investigation, but Leah despised the thought of doing nothing while she could be out catching the perpetrator.
'It's time to see if I can do that speed enhancement,' she exclaimed mentally, increasing the circulation of aer into her legs. She felt them tighten up with strength, throbbing to the point of near pain, before she leaped out of the bed, dashed out of the room, and nearly flew down the stairs.
There she saw Adam and Lucy near the front door, arguing once more.
"You should stop bothering the Carlharts," Lucy prodded, pointing a finger at Adam. He held a bag at his waist, shoving in a folder without looking.
"I can't. Not. Help. Them," he fumed, his eyes focused on Lucy in a death glare.
'Now!'
Leah swiftly vaulted into his bag, just a moment before her zipped it closed. She heard Lucy gasp.
"Adam, wait, the-" Lucy began, but Adam was already storming out of the house.
"I'm not waiting for you any more. You're saying the same thing!"
"No, Adam, literally wait, the-"
"I'm going and you're not stopping me!"
"No, Adam, that's not the issue! Your-"
A car door opened and the bag was placed down somewhere.
"Adam listen to me! Give me your bag!"
"I need my bag, Lucy. I'm gonna go."
The car started and went into reverse relatively quickly. Adam was pretty angry.
Leah celebrated, knowing she had gotten away with it.
"Adam the cat is-"
And finally, her voice trailed off. The car had already driven quite a ways off.
'The cat's in the bag!' Leah nearly squealed at her victory. It was the childish feeling of playing hide-and-go-seek, where the seeker had just merely missed spotting you in some dark closet. The best feeling in the world, really. It made her feel godlike. Unstoppable.
Leah peeked out of the small hole near the edge of the zipper, where she caught a glimpse of Adam. His hair was like it was previously, messily pinned back by a hair band. The bags under his eyes were still dark and prominent, however. Leah flinched in horror.
'What are you wearing?!'
A baggy, black hoodie with saggy gray joggers. She had to top herself from audibly retching at the sight.
'No wonder why Mrs. Carlhart doesn't listen to you, you look like a homebody!'
She had imagined him dressed up all neatly, in a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up just beneath his elbows. If he had cut his hair… no, he could just put on some hair gel and get rid of the tacky hair band, he'd look so much more better. He had a handsome face, but the eye bags ruined it.
What a miserable loss. Another handsome face, gone due to incel practices. She nearly cried in sadness.
The car suddenly came to a complete stop. Adam shifted the gear into park, and rolled down the window.
'Huh? What's happening?' Leah carefully peeked in curiosity, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening. All she could see was Adam, but now just seeing made her slightly sad.
"We're going to have to do a security check up for any weapons," an unknown male voice said. Adam simply nodded and rolled the windows up.
'Oops… would I be considered a weapon…?'
Leah heard multiple car doors opening, as well as the trunk. The bag she was in was abruptly grabbed, and the zipper flew right open.
She was making direct eye contact with a guard.