Aper kept waiting for someone to show up, but he only got stares from strangers. It was so odd that the people from District 2 were that secretive and quiet. Nobody dared to say anything to one another or lend a helping hand, thus making everything harder for Koden. He only wanted to get the book and get back home to wait for Skyleene - to talk with her about the case and watch her fall asleep after a moment of brainstorming. He did not want to admit it, but he missed her. Heck, he felt like he was losing his mind again.
Aper noticed how he became calmer and rational after meeting with Skyleene again. It was strange, as the first time he saw her, his mind went bonkers, but then it did not. He did not even feel the need to take his herbal teas anymore; just seeing the girl made him feel better.
"For fucks sake, what is happening to me" - he whispered, holding his head with both hands. "It's getting so frustrating, god damn" - he ruffled his hair. "No one is coming, and I'm losing precious time waiting here! Ugh!"
He waited for another half an hour and got more impatient than he already was. Skyleene's voice kept lingering in his mind: "His name is Nicholas Wade, an academic from my school. I believe he has something to do with this case. I also met him that night at the academy." "Nicholas Wade, Nicholas Wade - it sounds so familiar. Where do I know you?" Aper kept asking himself.
He took his phone out and called Kyle, hoping that he already found if that Nicholas was in those pictures. After two rings, Kyle's voice echoed through his ears:
"Hello?"
"Kyle, Aper speaking. I called about the case. How's it going?"
"It's going quite well. We gathered all the evidence from the scene, and I was just about to call you. I made a background search on Miss Sasha Shaw and found out she was missing on Earth. Her family back there consisted of her two children: Amanda Shaw and Jack Shaw, and her husband, Nicholas Shaw, who died ten years ago, known in Condemned City as Nicholas Wade. He is currently working in the Pneuma Academy, a member of P.A.S. and a loved citizen. His record is clear, and there are no signs of violence and not to mention that he was also a model citizen and a caring father while he was alive."
"Nicholas was the one I wanted to talk about, so good job. Skyleene told me that she saw him at the academy the night of Sasha's murder. She and I both have reason to believe he must've had something to do with it. It can't be a coincidence that he was this close to the scene and did not know anything. Not to mention, he didn't even show up."
"I'll keep digging about him then, although I already told you his record is clean. His interview is scheduled today anyway, in like three hours, so I'll prepare some good questions for him."
"I might get there in time, so save that man for me."
"Very well. How's the secret mission going?"
"It's going smoothly. Why are you asking?"
"I don't know. I find it amusing how you don't trust us enough to tell us what you're up to, but you believe that wench."
"Wench?" his jaw clenched.
"Yes, Aper. Wench. You know that too. You despise people like her - people who say they are good, but they use magic and strange rituals to <
"They are soul doctors, Kyle. There are more jobs out there than you know, and just because you don't understand one's work, that doesn't mean you can call them names. Focus on your tasks and stop being fucking rude to people who save lives," Aper hung up.
He got riled up with that call and smashed his phone on the passenger seat. He exhaled loudly and did some calming exercises. He knew that people hated Skyleene because of her work - he used to do that too. As time went by them, he grew closer to her. He understood that her living life sucked, and she did not deserve an afterlife like that. He also understood her work more. She was a botanist and skilled doctor who played a crucial role in the City.
He checked his watch: ten AM and no sign of anyone coming to open the library. He sighed heavily and got out of his car. Aper got close to the door and checked the program written on it: Mon-Sat: 8 AM-10 PM.
"This is bullshit. It's empty!" Aper said in disbelief.
Another sigh left his lips before his feet led him to his trunk. His hands took hold of a crowbar and went back to the door to part it open.
"There. Now it's open."
With the crowbar still in his hand, his feet carried him inside. The interior design gave away a feeling of old and a terrible stench of corpses in pickle juice. There were three floors, each of them with tons of books. The first floor had a counter desk in the middle and a circular staircase behind it. The furniture was out of musty wood, while the stairs were out of iron, painted white. The floors were well lit by some windows between each row of books, making each title stand out. The books were not in the best shape, some missing a couple of pages or even the covers, but Aper had to find a book that stood out from title to cover.
He wandered around the rows and let his eyes fly over the titles; nothing stood out. After checking half of the floor, he began feeling impatient. "Where is that stupid stack of doodled papers" - he thought.
After checking the entire floor, Aper walked up the stairs and got greeted by more books. He inspected them all and even went up the next floor, filling himself with anger and frustration. Walking down the stairs until the first floor, Aper realized that the book could not possibly be in plain sight. He groaned in frustration and took a seat on the chair behind the counter. It had been two hours since he broke in and found nothing.
"Maybe this book doesn't even exist, and I am here, believing an old man, dead for two decades", he thought. His hands massaged his temples slowly, calming his nerves down. In two minutes, his eyes scanned the entire dusty counter and found a drawer looking clean. He found this odd and decided to open it.
Inside there was a box that had a label "DANGEROUS. DO NOT USE UNLESS NECESSARY". He found that odd as well, so he opened the box, finding a weird-looking key. It looked like a flower with three petals, one on top of the other, with silver details and an end that would not fit in any hole. As he was examining the key, he heard the door open.
"Didn't I lock this damn door? What? No, boss, everything is alright. I got to the library. I will check on the book and call if anything happened."
As soon as Aper saw the man, he ducked behind the counter desk, shoving the key in his pocket. He listened closely to the heavy footsteps of the man's boots, walking by the counter without noticing the man hiding behind it. Aper noticed how the man jingled a bottle on a necklace. The bottle had sparkling, purple dust inside. The man reached the wall of the tower, and his back hid what he did there. The wall parted, and a staircase leading below appeared. The man walked down, Aper following close behind.
At the end of the stairs was a small room with a white pedestal in the middle. On top of it was an old, brown book that had the shape of the key on its cover. The book was pretty thick and had a silver case on it, which meant that it was valuable. There was a glass cage surrounding the pedestal with a keyhole in which the man placed the small bottle on the necklace.
"Seems like everything is in place. This dumbass got worried for nothing. And of course, I have to deal with these worries, or the boss will make my life hell. As if I wasn't dead already," the man said.
"That should be the book I need," Aper thought.
WARNING! MENTIONS OF BLOOD
He was about to close the door when Aper hit the man's head with a wood stick he found on the floor. The man fell flat on the ground, blood-shedding from his head, leaving the glass door open. Aper took the necklace from the man's neck and lifted the book from the pedestal. He heard a click and understood that he unlocked the security system. The walls shot at him arrows, but luckily he dodged them all, keeping both the book and the bottle safe.
"Damn, this book is heavy", he groaned.
In the air was a cloud of golden dust that invaded Aper's nostrils. The arrows he dodged ripped open some bags stuck on the walls and their inside filled the air inside the room. Coughing, Aper ran towards the stairs but heard a groan behind him. Turning around, he saw the man getting up.
"Hey, you! Give that book back before-" but he could not end the sentence before another beep echoed.
"Auto destruction starts in ten. Nine," a female robotic voice announced.
"Shit, man. You gotta put it back before we die die in here!" He wanted to say something else, but a rock fell on his head, a stream of blood going down his face, entering his mouth and making him spit out the metallic taste.
"No. Bye."
Aper ran up the stairs, with the man following and yelling at him. The robotic voice kept counting backwards as the room and stairs collapsed behind them. More golden dust filled the air from the bags.
Aper ran while books and bookcases kept falling. He swallowed a cough and huffed. The building was collapsing, and they had a game of persuasion going on.
"Man, this ain't a game. Give me that book!" the man shouted behind Aper.
"How about no!"
The man groaned and sprinted towards Aper, getting a hold of his arm, but Aper pushed him. The man landed in one of the bookcases, falling over. One of the pillars fell over the man, crushing him. Blood spurs flew around the squashed vessel, a hand trembling a bit as the man let out a last groan.
"O sheet farts..." Aper groaned. "Sorry, man. Have a good after-afterlife."
The wood shrieked underneath Aper's feet, making him hurry up. As he stepped out of the building, the walls collapsed behind him, the tower leaning towards the road where his car was. The detective hopped in his car, clenching his chest. He kept coughing, and a pain bugged him in his chest, but with the book under his arm, he accelerated on the driveway. The library tower fell in a cloud of smoke and golden dust behind him as he drove away in the afternoon sun towards District 1.
❧
Skyleene and Dulles took their equipment and set the road once again. They stopped at the field where they picked the samples.
"Why are we back?"
"The lab is close by; grab your stuff," Old Dulles ordered.
Skyleene took her bag from the trunk. Mushu hopped on her shoulder, purring reassuringly. Old Dulles took out a large case filled with laboratory equipment, from bottles to tongs.
"Let's go," he said before walking towards the field.
They walked and walked until they reached a meadow where there was a UFO looking building. It had a small staircase on the side and many windows. You could not see inside, but it seemed spacious.
Once they got inside, Old Dulles set everything on the tables and plugged the refrigerators in. The inside had two bookcases filled with tons of notes glued on, a doughnut-like table made out of steal, a couple of white wheel office chairs, tons of chemical substances and a crystal chandelier. "Quite odd for a chandelier to be here," Skyleene thought.
"This is where we will do our research. I already have an idea of what I can do. You can help me if you want," Old Dulles announced.
As Skyleene turned at him, Mushu jumped off her shoulder and walked around.
"I can help you, but how do I know that you will tell me everything when you get to a conclusion after your experiments?"
Dulles sighed: "I know I made a mistake, but you shouldn't think about it anymore. I already told you about Nicholas, so what else is there to be mad about?"
"You. You are the reason to be mad."
"How come?"
"Well, first you give me a mission with a false lead; then you stop me from finalizing a study for more than 10 years; then you take me to that reunion of yours and give me the news that you will retire. After that, you hide from me a possible lead AND dare to think everything is going alright! Listen here, mister. Everything is fucked up, and we needed you to help us, not to slow us down for your feelings!" she raised her voice.
She had a hurt tone, teary eyes and a frown. All she wanted was to prove her innocence, but she stumbled upon a greedy man and a dislocated pneuma. How thrilling.