Adrian pulled the car up for the two to enter. It was now 4:00pm. Kore was beat. Her 45-minute nap in the car did not give her the boost she thought it would. She threw herself in the car, letting out an exasperated sigh. Aidoneus slid in beside her.
"I'm so beat" she flopped her arms out, grazing Aidoneus's hand with hers. She flung her head back sighing.
"That's quite alright agápi̱ mou, we'll take you home now" Aidoneus gestured for Adrian to start making the drive back to her apartment complex. The rain started to pick up again, the sky darkened.
"Looks like it'll be like this tomorrow as well" Kore said looking up at the sky. Adrian turned on the windshield wipers. Aidoneus pulled his phone out to input Kore's new number.
Bing! Kore jumped and looked down at her phone. She smiled at the text she got.
"I had a wonderful time today agápi̱ mou" the green texted said. She added Aidoneus's into her phone and replied with a smiley face and snooze emoji.
Adrian pulled around to the back again, as Aidoneus was insistent on walking her up to her room. As Kore exited the car, she waved goodbye to Adrian excitedly.
"It was nice to meet you, Adrian! Hope to see you soon!" she said as she turned to head into the back garden gate. Aidoneus was already at the gate waiting for her to say her goodbyes.
She hurriedly walked up to Aidoneus , rain already on her shoulders. He glanced down and quickly looked away. Kore was wearing a white shirt, and it was obvious she was cold. He blushed, and Kore felt the air around her turn warm.
"Aidon, you don't always have to keep me warm. I like the rain" she chuckled, completely oblivious as to why he did what he did. Her sweater was tucked neatly in her purse making it difficult to find her keys. She fumbled around and finally managed to get the keys out. They headed inside. Adrian turned on the music in the car, he smiled. 'Might be here for a while' he grinned.
They entered the lobby, the desk empty still. There was one person in the mail room, checking their mail. It was a sketchy looking man wearing a hoodie with glasses, his dark hair stuck out from the hood. The mailbox he was checking in was room 66. Kore didn't notice him; she was too busy getting Aidoneus through the door. She walked past Collin, who froze when Aidoneus walked by him. Aidoneus shot him a cold glance. He could feel something off with this man. He ushered Kore up the stairs.
Kore happily hopped off the top stairs to her room. She stopped, glancing at room 66, the occupant wasn't looking at her. She let out a sigh of relief, she didn't want any issues between them and Aidoneus . She turned, Aidoneus on her heels.
"No, I am not inviting you in!" she chuckled. Aidoneus pouted; Sam was whimpering behind the door.
"I won't get anything I need done, you're too much fun to talk to" she poked his chest.
He gently grabbed her hand and pulled her into him. He wrapped his arms around her and inhaled her addicting scent. He didn't know when he'd see her again. He was regretting leaving. She could feel the warmth from him and nuzzled into his hug. He squeezed tighter, she nuzzled up to his neck
"Aidoneus ..." she whispered. It sent wanted chills down his spine, he hasn't heard his full name said like this before. She kissed his cheek and then moved away from him, beat red. She placed her hands behind her back and sheepishly moved her foot back and forth.
"I'll text you?" she said looking up from the ground and making eye contact with him. His heart was beating in his chest. He took a deep breath, placed his hands in his pockets and smiled devilishly at her. "I look forward to it."
Kore entered her apartment, closed the door and leaned on it. She didn't want him to leave, but she knew she couldn't be selfish. He had a lot of work to do since he took the day to be with her. Sam whined and clawed at her to be let out. She looked down at him and smiled. She picked him up and walked towards her balcony to let him out.
Aidoneus was leaning his forehead on her door. He stayed there with his eyes closed. He inhaled deeply, her floral smell still lingered. He had his hand ready to knock on her door when he heard a Bing! From his phone. It was from Kore, a picture of her and Sam. The body of the text read "Can't wait to see you again! Sam misses you, please give my number to Peter and Adrian, they need someone else to talk to other than your grumpy butt!" there was a kissy emoji at the end. He quickly saved the picture and made it his new wallpaper. He turned and headed down the stairs.
Kore tossed her phone onto the bed after sending her message. She grabbed a new set of underwear and the shirt she stole from Aidoneus . She headed to the bathroom; she turned the water on. She had it on luke-warm at first but turned it up slightly. She stuck her hand into the shower to test the temperature. She blushed, she wanted the water to be the temperature Aidoneus was. She undressed and stepped inside.
Aidoneus stormed outside. He flung the back door to the car open and flung himself inside. Adrian turned the music off and looked at his boss through the rear-view mirror. The car temperature was rising.
" Afentikó, respectfully, please calm down" Adrian started rolling the window down as he started breaking out in a sweat. Aidoneus closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Just drive", he grumbled with his arms crossed. Adrian started the car up, turning the AC on full blast. He backed up out of Kore's apartment complex. Aidoneus pulled his phone out, flipped through some texts and told Adrian to head towards the South end of the lower district. Adrian looked at his boss with an eyebrow cocked, he knew the red-light district was there.
"Get your head out of the gutter" Aidoneus scoffed. "The crime scene we need to look at is there". Adrian nodded and pulled the car out onto the road. He took a right towards the South end of the lower district.
As they pulled up to an area crossed off with crime scene tape, the rain started to pour more. Adrian crawled the car to a stop, he exited the driver's seat to let his boss out. Aidoneus stood there, he let the rain hit his skin for the first time in a long time. 'The cold should calm me down' he took in a crisp breath. Adrian stood there covering himself with the umbrella. Aidoneus turned and started walking towards the crime scene, dripping in the rain. An officer stationed there put their hands up in a halt motion, but immediately put it down once he realized who it was walking up.
"About damn time y'all showed up" the officer said in a heavy southern accent.
Aidoneus ignored him, he kept moving forward, bent under the tape and continued toward a shipping container that was placed within the alley.
"He ain't in a good mood like always I see" the officer spat onto the ground. Adrian nodded and followed his boss.
Aidoneus entered the container, he was immediately hit with a chemical smell. He covered his nose with the back of his sleeve.
"O fílos mou, don't come in here, we don't know what these chemicals are, and I don't need my driver passing out", shooting Adrian a look. Adrian nodded in agreement. The boss was in a mood, and now was not the time to argue. There was a barely clothed woman standing in the back.
Aidoneus flinched at first, he didn't notice her in the back, the front was decorated like a doll house. The woman was standing perfectly still, with her entrails spilling out onto the display she was on. She was posed with her hand reaching to the sky, an apple in it and a snake intertwined in her intestines. Aidoneus stepped forward cautiously.
"Yea, everything there is rock solid" the officer shouted at Aidoneus . Whatever chemicals were used made the victim petrified. With his hand still held up to the back of his nose he inspected the woman.
She was Dimitra Adamos, the youngest daughter of Nikolas Adamos and Maria Adamos. The 4th wealthiest family that owns stocks in Technologia. Aidoneus walked around the human corpse statue. Her skin was painted over with makeup that matched her skin tone. Aidoneus looked around and saw a box of gloves the forensic team had left behind. He grabbed a pair and snapped them on. He cautiously made his way back to where he was, reached over and removed some of the makeup to reveal bruising on her.
'Just like the other victims' he rubbed his fingers together, looking at the consistency. 'Appears to be air brushed on' he looked back up. The apple and the snake were shining from the gloss the killer used. She appeared to be stationed on a pond to resemble a fountain statue.
Aidoneus turned around and walked through the rest of the container. Everything seemed to be items from Adamos's home, placed neatly to make the scene look like a garden. The tables had teacups, filled to the brim with a red liquid, plates were placed with pieces of pastries on them. There was a piece of paper on the last table towards the front.
"You guys logged this, correct? " Aidoneus questioned while lifting the paper up.
"Yes sir, everything is logged, we haven't removed anything yet" he spat on the ground in front of the container. Aidoneus made a disgusted look towards the officer, then returned to the paper he had at hand.
"Debt owed: 4 million to Atticus Hyperion, if the debt is not collected in full by November 13th, 2035, we shall take what's ours" Aidoneus read aloud. He put the paper down. There were other articles on the table. A newspaper headline read "Doukas brothers Grand Terrance ball a big hit" along with the guest list from the ball, pictures of the Adamos's family taken from someone stalking them and check that was ripped in half with "Your next pig". Everything was dated. The ball happened on November 13th.
Aidoneus removed his gloves while chewing on the inside of his lip. He headed over to Adrian and the police officer.
"We've been hunting the doll house killer for a while, we know he has ties with the Hyperion family, which makes it impossible to continue forward." Aidoneus tossed the gloves in the trash can. He leaned against the container, arms folded, studying the ground.
"Tell me something we don't know boss" the officer said spitting on the ground again. Aidoneus rolled his eyes. He's been hunting this man for a better part of the year. The Hyperion family has been giving loans out to families who are desperate, then the families turn around and get loans from the Doukas's family, making it Aidoneus's job to collect. The amount of people he's killed just to get to certain families was insane. He looked down at his hands and caressed the scars.
He let out a sigh, that was visible in the cold air. He stood up and gestured Adrian over with a head tilt. Adrian walked over to his boss.
"O fílos mou, please head to the police station in the morning and have Detective Alexander fax us the evidence log. If we can get anything solid, we'd be able to back the Hyperion family into a corner and get them to hand over the culprit." He placed his hands in his pocket. "Dead people who owe debts don't keep our business open" he said while looking up into the sky. Rain fell onto his face; he closed his eyes to take in the feeling.
Kore nuzzled up on her couch with a bowl of chicken and orzo pasta. She grabbed her T.V remote and turned it on. Sam jumped up, curling up next to her. She flipped through the channels and landed on the news.
"Atlas channel 6 news... Breaking news!" The font faded out to reveal a news woman.
"Breaking news tonight at 7:00, we've received news of another victim of the Doll House killer." The news lady tapped her papers and continued reading the teleprompter. "Authorities have been urging the public to follow the curfew of 8:00pm for the downtown district, until the murder is caught. If anyone has any information, we urge you to step forward." Kore took a bite of her food and changed the channel. She didn't want to focus on the negativity surrounding the district she was in. As long as she knew the curfew was still in place, she was good. She finished up her dinner while watching a comedy.