Eden Cooper
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Detective Eden Cooper, a smart and intelligent working lady in her late twenties, had just been transferred to Willowbrook where she was to help protect the small town. After graduation from school, with grades as perfect as her parents had wanted, she had opted for the police academy, much to their surprise. It took years of convincing and holding grudges before she finally reconnected with them. As she turned twenty-eight, her mom no longer talked about her choice of career but to find a life partner as soon as possible.
She could remember telling her mom few months ago that she just hadn't found the right person.
"Mom, I haven't seen whom I am interested in, and you know for sure I'm all about matters of interest."
"No," she had countered. "You're just being unnecessarily logical about this."
"Isn't that required in this case?" Eden asked. "You know how many heartaches I've been through, Mom. And if anyone is to talk about being rational in picking a life partner, it should be you." With this, she had walked out on her mom back in Florida and had never talked about it anymore.
"I take it that you have a very tangible reason for missing work for a week.", the chief stated in his hoarse voice, stomach bulging out with his blue ironed uniform barely holding them in. He had a pen and small jotter in hand.
Eden cleared her throat before moving closer.
"I really don't know how to explain this to you...it may sound crazy."
He huffed. "Every officer who have done something bad always come up with crazy stories. What makes yours any different?"
"Because it's about this recent incident." It slipped off her tongue, but being a pretty decent cop from the city, she was forced to let it out. Besides, she couldn't take on the investigation herself. The chief stopped what he was writing and he looked up at her with an arched brow.
"Don't tell me that's what you've been working on." He pleaded, but Eden let out a resigning sigh.
"Look, Hamilton, this is serious, okay? And with what I've just discovered, everyone in Willowbrook is in trouble."
"Why?" Hamilton dropped his hands, inching closer towards Eden who frowned in confusion. "Do you know something?"
Her heart raced as she remembered his eyes glued on her with his broad muscular chest and tantalizing physical appearance. She shook her head.
"Nothing…", she swallowed. "…sir."
Looking back at the narrow pathway through which she had almost been killed, her mind was filled with several questions, but only one was majorly lingering in her head.
"What happened?"
The rest of the morning was spent on checking up on the residents living around the woods, asking questions and struggling to lay off journalists. As soon as she was free, she asked Willy to stand in for her.
"If Chief asks for me, tell him I'm in town for lunch," Eden told him, slipping into her coat and getting ready to find things out for herself.
"Where...where are you going? You just got here." Willy's eyes were widened.
"Yes", she snapped, fixing her revolver in place. "And I'm leaving now; It's time for lunch, okay? Just tell him I went to Katie's to eat."
Eden moved into the dark place, hands wrapped around her holster so as to grab her weapon in any case of emergency. The afternoon sun was a lazy ball of illumination with barely any ounce of warmth. She could only feel chills on her skin that was covered in coat. Stems and twigs snapped beneath her boot as she walked in the silent woods; only the chirping of birds was heard. She got to the steep mountain and she climbed it, remembering how she'd ran and fell. Something had fallen from her hand.
"The camera..."
Rushing down the steep mountain, she looked around for the camera, but she saw nothing. She reached the river bank that was flowing heavily, and could only conclude that her camera had been washed away that night. It was all lost. She let out a disappointed grunt as well as a sigh of relief for not leading Hamilton on about what she had found.
Either way, she had lost a vital piece of information, and it was as a result of her carelessness.
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Driving through the garage, Eden turned off the engine and got out of her car, tired from the day's work. The family of the deceased didn't make her day any better with their rants. They were accusing the police of being incompetent and negligent.
Turning the key in the door, she turned the knob and walked in, ready to munch on the leftover food she kept in the fridge. As she flipped the switch in the living room, it took her cop instinct to stop her from flying out of the window.
A figure was sitting on her favorite study chair by the corner of the living room. It was the black hair she saw that made her know someone was there.
"Who are you?" She tried to comport herself, but her shaky voice gave her away.
The chair turned a 360 and whom she saw made her heart skip a beat. Her hand instinctively touched her holster, but she quickly remembered that she dropped it in her car.
"Fuck!" She muttered, eyes lowering, as she was getting ready to see what the man would do.
He wore a black hoodie jacket over a red checkered shirt, leaving the first three buttons opened to reveal his broad chest. He has a clean shaved chin that angled in a picture perfect manner, matching the smirk on his thin lips. His hazel green eyes glowed under the orange chandelier, as he stared straight at Eden whose feet were glued on the floor. She tried to speak, but she couldn't.
Memories of that night came rushing back, and she remembered looking into these same intimidating eyes. He came closer and raised a hand, making her wonder if he was going to slit her throat right there and then. His other hand was dug in his pocket, and when he got too close, only a few inches was between them. He placed the raised hand against the wall.
"Looking for this?"
His deep voice asked and she frowned in confusion. He removed his hand from his pocket, holding her camera to her face.
"My cam..." She made to grab it, but he stepped backwards a bit, keeping the camera out of her reach.
"No! Don't even think about it."
"What the hell are you doing in my house!?," Eden managed to yell. "You better get out before I call the cops on you."
He raised his beautifully carved brow. "Really?" His voice sounded deep, dark and rich in texture. She could easily accede to his orders without hesitation. "You'd call the cops? With what?"
"I don't know who or what you are, but I want you out, now!" But he didn't seem like he was ready. Instead, he heaved a long sigh, moving away from her with his hands dug in his pockets.
"You know me; I know you, but maybe not like you think. I'm not here to harm you; I'm just here to see you."
"For what?" Those questions oozed out before she could stop them.
As his back was turned to her, she managed to grab the lampstand nearby and walk stealthily towards him. Her legs shook, but as a police officer, she couldn't give in to her fears. As she raised the lamp to hit him…
"You're my mate."