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Chapter Eleven
Wednesday, August 28 2034
10:30 am
The General’s booming laughter filled his dull office. It was covered with black and white pictures of historical figures that he admired. On his desk were monotonous papers that needed his approval. Everything was white or black, and to add to it’s already professional drear, it had not a window to brighten its interior. The only thing that could be heard above the General’s howling laughter was the incessant buzz of the fluorescent lights. Giselle bit back a smart remark and kept her gaze on him, she patiently waited for him to stop.
“Oh lord, have mercy upon your soul! You want to be put on the murder case?! You? A teen-aged child?! The press would have a field day with that!” he exclaimed. Giselle narrowed her eyes at this and felt a fiery hatred for this man bubble up inside her.
“What does that matter when innocent people are being slaughtered and no one has a clue where to begin to catch the murderer!” she shouted and stopped herself. She took a deep breath. “The police are in way too deep and you and I both know Ace and I are capable of handling this case,” she continued as calmly as she could manage. The General sniffed at this and chuckled again.
“Yes, I’ll admit you are capable of handling it but why should you be on this case? You, who have your whole lives in front of you instead of your middle-aged more experienced elders?” he answered and smirked at her. Giselle placed her fist on her hip to keep from punching him and she frowned.
“Because we’re the best,” she answered simply. The General only nodded at this and began to stroke his upper lip.
“Hmmm…” he murmured idly before turning his attention on Ace. “And tell me, what are your feelings on the matter?” Ace cleared his throat and kept silent a moment, pondering the right answer. What were his feelings on the matter? He was willing to do anything to please Giselle.
“I feel that we would be the most capable of catching this man… sir,” he answered slowly. The General cocked a brow at this and went back to thinking.
“Perhaps… but… the press… I’d catch hell for it…” he thought aloud. Giselle stomped her foot impatiently and growled.
“To hell with the press!” she howled furiously. “We can handle it, you know we can! Put us on that damn case!” she shrieked and took a step closer to the desk. The General calmly sat back in his chair and began to twiddle his thumbs.
“You’re quite eager to be on this case. Why is that?” he asked. Giselle glared at him, but held her tongue. She didn’t dare to tell her why she wanted it so badly. Because she felt something like compassion for a girl in a psych ward who seemed to absolutely hate her guts? No, she wouldn’t say anything to him as to why she wanted it. And why should he care anyway? She knew he was just doing this to get under her skin (and he was doing quite well at that). Ace was the one to answer this question.
“Sir, you’ve kept us away from all of the action lately, we want to prove we can handle anything that comes our way,” he answered politely. The General turned to Ace and his lips turned down at the corners.
“You have a case,” he replied curtly. He apparently wasn’t pleased that Ace involved himself in his conversation with Giselle. Ace nodded and Giselle slammed her fist on his desk.
“No one gives a damn about those stupid kids! They can’t do anything to us! I want this case! Why would you deny your best agents the biggest case?” she demanded. The General stood up now, his face red with anger.
“Because I am the General or what about that do you not understand? Besides it’s not as if I don’t have someone to answer to either. Prime Minister Arden would have a field day with this!” he shrieked. “Count yourself lucky you have a partner like Ace otherwise you’d just be another little orphan on the street. Or have you forgotten what I’ve done for you?” he hissed. Giselle breathed in sharply and began chewing the inside of her lip. The General smirked clearly pleased with himself. “Now, you may leave my office,” he said in a clear voice and he turned his attention to an important looking paper and began to scribble his signature on it. Giselle stood still a moment debating on whether or not she should leap across his desk and choke him.
Ace grabbed her wrist and tugged her toward the door; she turned on her heel and strolled out still fuming. Once the door had closed she groaned.
“I can’t believe him! How idiotic can he be? He has no other reason to deny us this case other than the fact that he doesn’t like me. So because he wants to snub me all of these people will die! For his stubbornness! How ridiculously selfish he is! Why is he General when he clearly isn’t concerned in what’s best for his country!” Giselle groaned again and she stormed alongside a calm-faced Ace through the military base. Once they reached the street Ace sighed and Giselle calmed down considerably. “I’m sorry, but he knows, as well as you and I, that we are the best. Why would he refuse us this case?” she asked keeping her voice down. Ace shook his head and shrugged.
“I honestly don’t know Giselle… it is very selfish of him… but what can we do about it?” he asked sympathetically. She shook her head and her shoulders slumped over.
“Oh, I don’t know… what can we do? We’ll have to continue with our current case I suppose,” she answered half-heartedly. She knew entirely that her heart was no longer in that case. That group no longer posed a threat to her. Ace smiled in an attempt to cheer her mood and pat her on the back.
“What should we do now?” he asked trying to glimpse into her eyes. Giselle looked up at him and searched his eyes. He felt as if she was scanning his very soul.
“Let’s go and cool some of this steam off,” she replied slowly and then they both smiled.

Chapter Twelve
Wednesday, August 28 2034
11:45 pm
There was a pulsing seductive music that blasted out of the entrance to the club every time it opened. It had almost a hypnotic rhythm that the DJ and his manager called Hype. It was eerily fitting for the clubs atmosphere but undeniably a hit. Outside was a long line that seemed to last for miles and nearly half of the people would be lucky enough to make it inside. The club was an ancient crypt for some deceased ruler of an era no one bothered to care about. It was lit by candle light alone and the feeble glow of the dancers’ glo-sticks. Ace sat at the bar with a cup of something that glowed in the dark and was a sickeningly bright shade of green. His eyes scanned the dancers who were packed too closely together, moving in time with the beat of the music. He sighed and sipped at his drink despite its’ bitter taste and his eyes darted toward the door, expecting Giselle to be walking in. For whatever the reason she wasn’t here and he was beginning to worry about her. A girl with bleach blonde hair and cat-like green eyes was eyeing him from two seats away. Finally she got off her chair and sauntered up to him. Ace smiled politely at her but really didn’t wish to socialize at the moment. Still, she stood next to him; he couldn’t deny it, she was down-right gorgeous. But beauty like hers was never anything more than skin deep. She smiled and threw a glance at his drink.
“That one is a killer,” she whispered into his ear; it was absolutely pointless to try and shout above the music. Ace also looked into his drink then nodded and placed it onto the bar. She licked her lips and moved in closer. “You must be brave to try that huh?” she whispered again, this time louder than before. Ace frowned and shook his head.
“I don’t like it! It’s bitter!” he screamed but the music drowned his voice out; he couldn’t even tell if he was speaking English. The girl laughed and shook her head.
“I couldn’t hear you if I tried honey,” she whispered into his ear again and took his hand in hers. “Come dance with me,” she said and began to pull him toward the dance floor. Ace tried his hardest to be polite and slowly took his hand back, he leaned forward and screamed.
“I can’t! I’m waiting for my friend to get here! She wouldn’t be able to find me in there!” The girl’s lips puckered into a pout and she pressed up against him.
“Well, she’s missed her chance with you by being late hasn’t she? Come on, don’t be a party pooper! Dance with me!” she pulled him into the throng of hot sweaty bodies and this time he didn’t refuse.
Just as Ace disappeared onto the dance floor Giselle walked in. She wore her light brown hair down and wavy. She was wearing a form-fitting black halter top, blue shorts, and white sneakers. This was the closest she could come to dressing up. She looked at the bar where Ace said he would wait for her but saw that he wasn’t there. She walked to the bar and sat down, thinking that perhaps he was just in the bathroom. She ordered a glass of water from the bartender and waited for Ace to return. She turned her seat around so that she could observe the dancers, but mostly so that she could see when Ace would returning. The pulsing hypnotic beat of the music switched to something slower and the people on the dance floor slowed down, some left. She saw Ace pulling away from the dance floor speaking frantically with a beautiful girl. She felt jealousy bite at her heart but discouraged it. What did she have to be jealous of? Ace was her best friend! She felt the urge to walk up to say hello but instead stayed back to watch the scene play out. He was shaking his head at her but she was pulling at his hand, she seemed to be pleading with him to dance with her. Ace suddenly turned around and looked straight at Giselle and his eyes widened; he looked like a child getting caught stealing an extra cookie after dinner. He turned back to the girl and said something. She frowned and glared at Giselle and then dropped Ace’s hand, without another word from her she stormed back onto the dance floor and began dancing with another man. Ace walked up to Giselle and smiled nervously.
“Hey…” he said hesitantly. “Where’ve you been?” Giselle smiled and shrugged.
“Sorry. I was just… getting ready,” she lied. Ace smiled and took his seat next to Giselle and picked up his glass, he gazed into it then put it back down. He looked up to Giselle as if he was about to say something but she cut him off. “Who was that?” she asked. Ace looked surprised, and then he glanced out onto the floor where the girl, Lexcii he learned, was dancing seductively with another man, all the while keeping her glare on him. He looked again at Giselle and tried to seem nonchalant.
“No one, she just asked me to dance is all,” he answered. He hoped that she wasn’t upset with him. Giselle laughed and also looked toward her.
“I think she’s a little upset with you,” Giselle relayed to Ace and then playfully nudged him. Ace laughed as well and then turned to face her.
“Nah, she’ll be fine,” he said attempting to put any further talk about her to an end. “Anyway, you look beautiful,” he muttered and then blushed, though she couldn’t tell due to the lack of light. Giselle smiled and shrugged.
“You look pretty good yourself,” she laughed and hopped off her chair. “Come on,” she said and held her hand out to him. Ace stared at it for a while before taking it.
“Where are we going?” he asked dumb-founded. Giselle rolled her eyes at him before sticking her tongue out.
“To dance, where else? Unless you’d rather dance with her?” she asked and jerked her head toward where the girl was waiting. Ace shook his head and also got of his chair.
“No, there’s no one I’d rather dance with then you,” he answered with an eager smile and followed her out onto the dance floor.

Chapter Thirteen
Wednesday, August 28 2034
12:12 am
The line outside the hottest dance club was getting restless and rowdy. The bouncers standing at the door announced that they weren’t going to allow anyone else inside and quickly entered the crypt and guarded the door; no one was going to get in. Leona Ray pouted and turned to her boyfriend, Marc Thompson. He frowned and put an arm around her.
“Don’t worry,” he said bitterly and directed her toward his car. “There will still be a party tonight,” Leona turned her honey brown eyes up to him and ran her hands through her midnight black hair. She heaved a sigh and wrapped her arms around his waist as they walked.
“Now where would that be at?” she asked and smiled up at him. He smiled as they reached his sleek Ferrari and opened the door for her to get in. He walked around the front and opened the driver side door, and sat down. He put the keys into the ignition but pulled his hand away.
“They didn’t say we had to leave the parking lot did they?” he asked with a mischievous smile. Leona smiled at him and leaned forward.
“No, I don’t think they did,” she answered. The roar of engines began to sound around her and cars began to exit the parking lot. Soon the only cars left were those of the people inside the club and Marc’s. “So is this where the party is at?” she asked him and he nodded. He turned toward her and kissed her softly.
“Only if you’re ready…” he whispered. Leona stopped and pulled away, her face filled with doubt and uncertainty. “What, you’re not ready?” he asked suddenly annoyed. Leona shook her head and grabbed his hand.
“No. I’m ready, I’m just nervous. That’s all, Marc.” she answered hesitantly. Truthfully she wasn’t ready. He smiled and kissed her again.
“Don’t be nervous, baby. I’ll take care of you,”
Suddenly a knock came at the back window. Marc cursed, thinking they got caught and sat up, he struggled to hurry and put his clothes on and Leona was beside him doing the same. Finally, Marc was fully clothed, and he rolled the window down. No one was there. Leona, pulling on Marc’s jacket gazed into the darkness bewildered.
“Who’s there?” she asked him. Marc shook his head and opened the door. Still, nothing but the night was there.
“It’s probably some stupid joke,” he answered bitterly before slamming his door shut. He resumed his seat on the drivers’ side and revved his engine. Leona climbed into the passenger seat and raked her fingers through her hair.
“Don’t worry about it Marc…” she whispered and he frowned and shook his head.
“I’m not worried, it just pisses me off.” he answered curtly. She nodded and buckled her seat belt and Marc pressed on the gas. They turned a corner and suddenly a man with a smiling mask was in their path. Marc slammed on the breaks and the car swerved to the side. Leona screamed and jammed her eyes shut praying they hadn’t just hit that man. Finally the car stopped and they jerked forward. Marc was shaking Leona and begging her to tell him if she was okay. Finally she opened her eyes and took shaky breaths.
“Did we just hit that guy?!” she shrieked and hurriedly took her seat belt off. She jumped out of the car and ran to where the man was. Marc was behind her and they looked around. No one was there. Leona furrowed her brow and looked up to Marc. “But he was just here! I swear I saw him!” she exclaimed and he nodded, looking equally confused.
“I saw him too, but he’s not here.” He placed a calming hand on the small of her back and looked into her eyes. “Maybe we’re just tired and imagining things,” he said trying to find some explanatory reason. Leona wouldn’t accept it.
“Both of us imagined the same exact thing?” she demanded.
“It’s not like its impossible,” he answered and sighed. “Let’s calm down, it’s really probably nothing. Let’s just go back home and get some sleep okay?” he cooed. Leona clung to him and nodded.
“Okay…” she answered. The two turned around and there was the man with the mask. His head was tilted to the side a low deathly chuckle was gurgling beneath the mask. There was a glimmering silver streak at the man’s side. Leona screamed out of surprise and grabbed Marc’s hand. Marc swallowed and pushed Leona behind him.
“Who are you? What do you want?” he asked, his voice shaking. The man chuckled louder and took a step closer. Marc and Leona took a step back. The man’s laughter grew maniacal and Leona began to weep behind Marc.
“Marc, please, let’s go! I’m so scared!” she said through sobs. Marc began shaking but tried his hardest not to let Leona see him afraid. Suddenly the man began to hum; the tune was familiar to both Leona and Marc. They froze and listened in an odd trance-like state; too entranced to run, too afraid to stay. Leona still cried behind Marc but even her pleas to flee had died in her throat. Why was that song so familiar? Marc gasped suddenly and chocked.
“You,” he said accusingly. The man stopped singing and Leona’s cries grew in volume. They’d both realized why that song was so familiar; because that was their friends’ favorite song to sing, and this was the man who killed them. “You murdered them!” Marc shrieked at him and he lunged forward at the man. The man pulled out his knife and plunged it into Marc’s stomach. He howled in pain and stumbled back. Leona cried out in fear and began pulling at Marc’s shirt.
“Get up! Get up Marc let’s get out of here!” she begged, her voice shaking. He stood to his feet and they both ran to the club’s doors.
Leona and Marc began pounding on the door and screaming for help. With every second the man drew closer and closer. Leona turned around and heard the man shrieking with laughter.
“Oh, God! Please! Please I am begging you let us in! Help us! Please let us in!” Unfortunately their pleas for salvation fell on deaf ears. The pulsing Hype music drowning out any chance of the two being heard; the only person to hear their cries for help was the man with the mask. No one would hear the two again.

Chapter Fourteen
Wednesday, August 28 2034
2:15 am
Ace walked over the remains of the two bodies with great disgust. He shook his head and wondered how any being could be so evil and heartless to slaughter fellow humans like this. Giselle walked up behind him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Hey…” she whispered. He turned around and smiled wearily.
“Hey,” he answered and ran his fingers through his hair. “It looks like we have a long night ahead of us,” he commented and tried scraping some gore off of his shoes.
“Yeah, I just can’t wait until the inspector gets here. He’ll be positively thrilled.” she answered bitterly and sighed. “Well, there’s not much we can do here. This isn’t our case. I’ll make sure that he knows that.” Ace nodded and the two returned to where the young couple’s parents sat. Leona’s mother was hysterical with tears. They tried to deter her from going to the scene of the crime but she would have none of it. Instead she got the unpleasant surprise of seeing her daughter’s remains splattered across a gravelly parking lot. Marc’s parents were silent and wide-eyed with shock. They didn’t say anything just continued to stare as the parking lot was being combed over by the CSI and police dogs. Leona’s mother looked up at Giselle and Ace and burst out into a new sea of tears. Giselle felt her heart ache for this woman and she apologized for her loss.
“She was such a good girl. Such a good, sweet girl! How anyone could do this to her, I-I’ll…” she began sobbing and turned to her husband to be comforted. Ace nodded and sighed.
“It’s tragic ma’am. We’ll do everything we can to catch this man,” he promised and looked to Marc’s parents. The two hadn’t said a word and showed no emotion throughout the entire ordeal. He could only guess at how human they really were. “But, we want to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright?” he asked Leona’s father. He nodded and continued to comfort his wife. “Well, do you know of the earlier case?” he asked hesitantly. The man nodded and pat his wife’s back. “Do your children happen to be… connected to that case?” The wife gasped and shook her head.
“Oh heaven forbid not! They were horrible children that were fugitives from the law! Not that they deserve what they got but they were really bad kids! My Leona would never associate herself with people like that!” Ace nodded in agreement and turned to the parents of Marc.
“What about Marc…?” The mother looked up slowly and gave him a vacant stare. A body bag on a stretcher rode slowly passed and she got up, and walked over to the surgeons pushing it.
“Is that my boy?” she asked keeping her tone down. The surgeon nodded and unzipped the sheet. Inside was what was left of the once handsome young man. His thick blonde hair was matted with blood and his once beautiful pale face was bruised and broken. Mrs. Thompson shrieked and fell back. Her husband ran to her side and gasped. Mrs. Ray began to wail at a new decibel and hiccupped.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh he was such a nice young man!” she cried. Mrs. Thompson stared at her son’s mangled body in horror. She shook her head and then looked up to her husband. He was bent over and his shoulders shook with the sobs that wracked his body. A solitary tear slid down Mrs. Thompson’s cheek and she wrapped her arms around her husband. He held her and together they sobbed over their son’s body. Ace grimaced and the two walked away deciding to give the grieving families some peace.
The inspector assigned to this case pulled up in his blue and white police cruiser. When he got out he looked at Giselle and Ace shocked for a moment and then frowned.
“You two again…” he grumbled and then walked over to the scene of the crime and sniffed. Ace smiled and greeted the inspector.
“Hello, Inspector Jones.” The gruff man barely regarded Ace before he bent over and dipped his finger in the pool of blood. He sighed and stood up straight.
“Now,” Jones began suddenly. Ace jumped slightly and Giselle appeared at his side. “How is it two innocent kids are murdered at the same time and place that Croft’s two finest agents happen to be partying the night away?” Giselle cut her eyes at him and took in his demeanor. Jones was a pretty lean guy, almost skinny. He could stand to eat a cheeseburger every now and then. He held his shoulders with a straight backed self-confidence that bordered on haughty and arrogant that all government agents seem to acquire after a couple minor victories and peer acknowledgement. He was probably in his mid-thirties and for someone his age he was pretty good looking, if her mom was still around she’d find him down right hot.
“What are you getting at Jones?” she asked dangerously.
“It just seems pretty negligent-“
“If what you’re driving at is that we could have somehow prevented it you can stop. Unless you are suggesting we have inhuman hearing and chose to tune it all out?” she asked with a snarl.
“I’m only forced to make assumptions based on facts,” Jones answered curtly.
“And your assumptions are what? We’re responsible for this somehow?” Giselle shrieked.
“I know how you’ve been gunning for a place on this case. If Croft somehow finds out, I wonder how he’d react.”
“Easy,” Giselle hissed, “before you go making hasty threats like that I’d like to remind you that if you wanna play ball with me that’s fine. But you of all people should know the risks involved if you screw me over,” Giselle snarled her tone sharp as a blade. Jones’ face was a shade paler and he looked furious.
“Maybe you two should get off the scene of a homicide and go home. I can’t imagine how hard this must be on you two poor children,” he said mockingly. The inspector and Giselle glared at each other for a moment before Giselle smirked and shrugged.
“As you wish,” she said simply. “Let’s go, Ace.” As she walked off Ace was left standing awkwardly with Jones.
“Eh, have a good night, sir,” Jones said nothing but looked daggers at him. As Ace scurried after Giselle he wondered again how Giselle managed to have a dysfunctional relationship with every one of her coworkers but him.