While the detective read the paper with frowned eyebrows, the witch thought about the day she first heard those words. They were spoken by her brother when they were young and naive. He considered that he could live without her and be the only one loved by their parents, but the boy was wrong: he was the only one loved by the two adults - at least, that's what she thought.
Nique glanced at the female statue next to him. She was so lost in thought that she did not even notice that he had touched her hand. The black cat curled around her neck, warming the forever-cold body.
"Why are you so cold?" Nique asked with his hand covering hers. "You were like this when I first hugged you as well. I know bodies here are known for their cold temperature, but still, they have some degrees in those ice coffins."
Skyleene looked at him with neutral eyes. Her body was no different. She could not understand if the warmth he was referring to was emotional or physical.
"I was always cold," she replied and looked away from him at the papers in Aper's hands. "I will sign it and leave. I have some stuff to do."
Skyleene's hand took the first pen she saw on Aper's desk and took the papers from him. He looked at her in disbelief and sighed. He would work with her on the case against his will. On second thought, he was relieved that the case could finally end, with or without Skyleene's help. He signed the papers and got up from his seat before Cathle could.
"Before you leave, you'll have to see the body and get a file about the whole case. It's the protocol that we signed," Aper said with a neutral face. "J. will also fill you up on the stuff you didn't understand. When you finish with the file, we can discuss what to do next."
Aper walked a few steps before stopping and turning back to face Skyleene.
"Please do it fast, though. We can not lose any more time."
She nodded, holding an asleep Mushu in her hands. His warm body made her feel safe and wanted since he never left in those 35 years. Her hands were not cold anymore; maybe Mushu's temperature helped a bit. Nique got up simultaneously, wished them good luck and left the office with them.
The walk on the corridor was quiet, her small heels echoing in their ears. The elevator brought them two floors lower and uncovered a long hall full of people with piles of files, wearing white coats. It was the autopsy level. The whole place made her scrunch her nose, the atmosphere being tense. She was a soul, and her ability to feel way better than humans. The tension was not favourable for those people's pneumas, and she was about to scream at them to get a cup of tea to relax, but that was their job. There was nothing to do. All those workers were souls in their Earth vessels, doing honest work to get to Lights City - just like everyone else in Condemned City.
There had been speculation that there were some living bodies in the city. They are vessels that work and fill the Earth with "living souls". These souls are like soldiers - they do their job on the front until they die and either take some rest in Lights City or survive the war and have to continue living in Condemned City. There was no in-between.
They walked the corridor until they reached a white door. It reminded Skyleene of the door she walked through with Mushu, but she did not say. It only made her smile sadly. The door was made of iron and had a small rectangular window. Aper opened the door and walked through.
On the inside, in the middle of the room, a table had a corpse covered with a white cloth. Aper unveiled the body, letting the man's blueish face penetrate her retina. The view was disgusting: his eyes had a blue colour around them, his lips were more purple than she would have imagined, and his skin started decomposing. The body was not doing well either: it was cold to touch, blue, with some missing skin parts. The dust that she heard about disappeared just like he said. The smell was unbearable, so Skyleene covered her nose with her small palm. That body was an active vessel, so she anticipated the stink. She had forgotten how a decomposing body looked.
This view of the terrified girl made Aper smirk in pleasure.
"It wasn't such a good idea signing that contract, was it?" He said teasingly, with his hands in his pockets.
She did not respond but took a closer look at the body. There were bruises and wounds. People from Condemned City were not alive, so he could not be a part of that world even if he wanted to. He was alive, that was for sure, so someone stole his soul. "What the actual fuck happened to you? Who would do such a thing?" Skyleene thought.
"He doesn't belong to C.C. How did he get here?" She said, turning her gaze on him.
"We don't know yet. We found no portal that connects our world with the living one."
"There is one way," she said, lowering her voice, distancing herself from the table. "Only if- oh my god!"
She ran out of the room, leaving Aper running and screaming at her to return. They ran through the halls. Some workers gave them curious glances but returned to their work. Aper reached his hand towards her, feeling the tips of her hair, but Skyleene was fast and catching her was not easy. She got to the parking lot and looked for a taxi. He came and turned her body towards him by the shoulder. She lost balance due to the sudden movement and tripped on her heel. Aper saw that coming: he snaked his hand around her waist, holding her close. His breath was unsteady, brushing the tip of her nose and cheeks.
"Where do you think you're going, woman? Don't ever do that again!"
Her eyes widened at the small distance between them. She freed herself and continued looking for a taxi.
"I have to get home, and quickly! I think I know how the body got here."
He sighed and walked past her. With a swift hand movement, he was in his black car. The girl looked at him as he brought his car and opened the door.
"Get in."
His gaze was in front of him. He smirked as the car leaned on the right side when Skyleene got in.
----------))((
As they got to her home, Skyleene dashed to her bookshelves. Taking a look around, Aper noticed her messy living room. Skyleene was in her bedroom and left the door slightly opened, so he managed to take a peek inside; "so many papers", he thought. He sat patiently on her couch, waiting for her to tell him something, but he fell asleep.
After some hours, Skyleene got flustered. She could not find the book.
"No, not this one," he heard her voice from her room and a bum sound. "This one neither," another bum sound.
He got up and was ready to knock, but the door was open.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a low voice.
She was startled by his appearance and dropped a book. Skyleene turned to him with a mad look but soon softened when she saw his sleepy figure.
"What happened to you?" she chuckled. "Don't tell me you managed to sleep while I was messing with my books and making noise."
"I might of," he shrugged. "Did you find what you were looking for, or Nah?"
"Oh dear lord!" she face-palmed herself.
The book that was on the floor reached her hands. The girl spun through the pages until she found the one. That book was about the three worlds and the two cities and what they needed.
"Come here," she asked. "This book contains everything that we need. Well, most of it."
"Three worlds, two cities". I have this book too. It won't help."
"That is because you didn't read it through."
She moved to the desk, shoving the open book under the lamp. The rows were not that distanced anymore, between them appearing new words and phrases. Aper's eyes went wide.
"You are a witch."