Murder mystery - Masterminds #1, Chapter 5
A year after our young Masterminds had been to their annual ball and had graduated, Heila and Judy had to face a series of strange murders in the city. Was this the doing of one of their kind?
One year later…
“There was yet another body who was found this morning covered in what appears to be injuries from an animal, similar to a snake. This is the fourth victim the police have uncovered in the past three days and who knows how many more they have yet to discover…”
Heila was watching the news on TV when Judy opened the door to the penthouse. She hadn’t noticed her coming in and almost jumped when the door closed itself with a resounding bang. She turned her head back and looked up at her from the couch.
Judy picked up the remote control that was lying next to her and muted the programme. Now, in complete silence, only the images were moving. Images of blurred corpses and bloody scenes.
“The mission’s officially on and, as expected, it’s been assigned to you,” Judy said as she took off her lavender-coloured coat and sat next to Heila. She sighed in relief as she leaned back. Her dark long hair, which had a few blue and purple streaks here and there, pressed against the couch.
Heila thought she looked tired. She would often complain that her back hurt after a long day of crouching over her desk at The Oracles’ headquarters. And recently she had been working even longer hours trying to wrap her head around these unusual murders.
Was this how she would be once she reached past thirty years of age? Judy was six years older than her, like Jake. Yet, both held a level of wit and intellect that went beyond their age.
It was no surprise that Judy had become her mentor ever since she turned twelve. She had enabled her to become the skilled Writer she was today.
“So They’re finally acknowledging that these deaths are being caused by… one of our kind, uh? A non-human. Just like we’ve been trying to tell them since the second murder happened.”
Four murders, weirder than one another, had occurred in the past thirty hours.
The first victim, a teenage girl, had died of spider bites all over her body. The second was a middle-aged man who had been found with multiple medical needles inserted in every part of his body. The third involved a retired man who had been buried alive in concrete… in the middle of the highway. And now the fourth victim was… strangled by a snake?
Of course, none of them had survived.
“Bureaucracy, what can you do about it? Anyway, this is your green light, Heila. There’s no more time to waste.”
It was Judy’s job to pick up on ‘abnormal’ crimes in their neighbourhood. After investigating, if these crimes are suspected of being orchestrated by a Homothean, or ‘non-human’ in layman's terms, their cases are moved from the local police department to… them.
Writers.
In human vocabulary, the term ‘writer’ was merely a profession, someone who wrote books or advertising copy or blogs.
But in their world, ‘Writer’ was a not title anyone could earn. A Writer was someone who was born with the gift of Creation: one who had the power to bend reality and create circumstances or objects out of thin air, all by scribbling words on paper, or any surface, really.
The abstract definition was more glamorous than it actually was, in reality.
Here on Earth, once Writers were trained to hone their skills, they were sent off to some part of the world to protect that area from non-human threats. Their true mission was to help maintain the peace and harmony that had been sustained between the world of humans and Homotheans.
That also meant making sure that humans never discovered their non-human side of the world.
Magic, superpowers, monsters… to humans, they had to remain fictional.
For their own sake and sanity.
But of course, some humans knew about their existence. Those they needed to collaborate with. Governments, the rich and powerful… and trickling down to the police. They didn’t all understand the full picture, but they knew enough for everyone to do their job properly.
Heila stood up and picked up her phone.
“Great, I’ll get the case files transferred to me now. I’ll contact—”
Her phone suddenly rang in her hand, as if it had read her mind. It was, as expected, her liaison within the police department, Kerra.
She answered. “God, you’re fast. Judy just came in to tell me the news.”
“And I thought you picked up on the first ring because you missed me.”
She chuckled as she stared out of the window, which extended from the ceiling all the way to the floor, facing the sunset.
“I’m guessing you’re calling because you have the files ready for me?”
Kerra’s voice took on her usual ‘work-mode’ tone. “Bingo. I’m wrapping things up at the police HQ now. See you in front?”
“Sure, see you in a bit.”
As she hung up, she could feel Judy’s eyes piercing through her back.
“Was that Detective Kerra?”
“Uh-huh.”
Although both of them were Writers, Heila had a different role as Judy’s mentee: she was way more hands-on in the field. She was not tied to a desk, instead, she was always on the move and getting her hands dirty.
She didn’t really have a choice.
As soon as she had graduated from the Writers’ Academy, she had been assigned to work directly with the local police department and was partnered with a detective, namely Kerra.
Kerra was like the city’s middleman between their two worlds and she was the only one who had been briefed on who they really were. She was younger than Judy but she excelled at her work and had moved up the ranks as a detective early in her career.
“Why is her name ‘Wife’ on your phone?” Judy asked.
Heila had seen this question coming as soon as she saw that Judy had peeked at her screen when it rang. Kerra looked like a stern detective, an overachiever and a fighter. But the more she got to know her, the more she saw a different side of her. In reality, Kerra loved to joke around and flirt with people younger than her.
Of course, Heila wasn’t spared.
“It’s an inside joke. From my rookie days as a detective’s assistant. You wouldn’t get it. I’m her ‘Husband’ in her contacts too. But it doesn’t mean anything.”
Judy sighed.
“What does Dany even think of this?”
“Dany doesn’t give a damn about these things.” She stood up to show that she had to leave. “He knows very well that I’m in a relationship with him, not with Kerra. We’ve been together long enough to fully trust each other.”
Daniel Lewis, called ‘Dany’. Mastermind of the Planets. Jake’s younger brother.
And Heila’s long-term and very serious boyfriend.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
Heila avoided her gaze and headed towards the front door.
“Alright, I’ve got to go. I’ll get those case files and start combing through the city right away.”
“One last thing before you go… You know what I’m thinking about this case?”
Heila finally looked back at her. She knew at that moment that it only took a glance for her to know exactly what she was about to say out loud.
After all, they had been inseparable ever since Judy had been assigned as her mentor, Writer to Writer.
“You’re thinking it’s a Rogue Writer.”
Judy reluctantly nodded. “Yes… and it has to be. There’s no other possible explanation. These murders aren’t done by Humans, that’s for sure… and there are no Masterminds or Witches who could go on a killing spree like this without leaving a trace. It’s been a blind spot even for The Oracles… and They’re supposed to know and see everything.”
So they were up against a Rogue Writer. Someone who had been gifted with the most powerful ability in the world, who could create anything they wanted out of the stroke of their pen, had decided to turn against the rules: their principles to do good and protect this world.
Someone out there was writing about inhumane murders to turn them into reality… and getting a kick out of it.
It was rare that a Writer became Rogue, a fugitive, but when it happened, there was little information on how this should be handled. The least dangerous way was to find out their whereabouts, trap them somehow and hold them captive for The Oracles to come and take them away.
Then, they would have to bear the ultimate punishment…
“This is going to be tough,” Heila said.
“Indeed. The best way right now is to try to anticipate the next murder… and catch them right at the act… which means that for us, we’ll have to be faster than their pen.”
“I feel like I’m in a crime novel.”
Judy took her pen out of her pocket and waved it right into Heila’s face with a smirk on her face.
“But remember, we’re Writers, not mere characters. It’s going to be a battle of words, Writer against Writer.”
Heila smiled back.
If they wanted to avoid any more casualties, both of them would have to take this as a battle of wits and strategy more than a battle of strength and power.
That depended, of course, on whether their instincts were right about the murderer.
Otherwise…
To be continued…
D. K. Waye