[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250201/e59bd323b41254e9b1613da26ec73422.png[/img][/center][hr][right][i][color=90c0ce]Mentions:[/color] Everyone
[color=90c0ce]Setting:[/color] 10-ish AM, Saniwa Family Estate[/i][/right][hr]
Throughout their investigative trek through the estate, Alphard trailed towards the back, Kelly the last person behind him. Which—

Alright, look. Kelly was [i]amazing[/i], amazingly lethal too. [i]Very[/i] dependable in a fight. Having him there made Al feel safer, even when there was no one who’d attack them around. Also, [i]also[/i], he could be nice. Honestly. It was just– Just the notion that maybe, just maybe, what Alphard was doing was making him wait.

It was just the [i]slightest bit[/i] nerve-wracking. 

Kelly never said anything about it, though, and neither did anyone else. They were all too preoccupied gathering clues. [i]Of course[/i] that took time. So, it was fine if he had to stop every once in a while, switch out to another pair of disposable surgical gloves, touch a wall here, a bloodstain there, close his eyes, and witness what memories lingered.

There wasn’t much of note, not until the first flower-headed corpse.

After that…

Well.

Suffice to say, he had no room to feel self-conscious when [i]that[/i] was what they were dealing with. Horror set in, and he had to swallow down the bitter bile trying to crawl its way up his throat. He had seen grisly scenes before, but even after a year in Section 7, he felt that [i]nothing[/i] had come even close to this. The heads looked like they were exploded from the inside out. Not only that, the flesh, blood, bone, and brain had been sculpted into the shape of lantanas with a flair of macabre artisanship.

[color=87ceeb][i]Body transfiguration?[/i][/color]

The victims themselves offered few clues. Yet, by the time they made it to the final room, Al’s complexion had whitened to the sullen blue of a foggy morning, a tinge of sickly green creeping in. Two more bodies to go.

[color=87ceeb][i]Someone or something watching…Maybe.[/i][/color] Besides the victims’ emotions at the time of their death, this was his only clue so far. Coincidence or not, it was enough to trigger a vision more concrete when he exerted his psychic power upon the last corpse.

[i]Terror. Panic. Paranoia. He was being hunted. There was no hope of resistance, no hope of escape, no hope of being spared or rescued. There was nothing he could do. Fear gripped his heart. It was as if a mass of twisted vines wound their way around him, stifling, squeezing, strangling. Wicked thorns dug in, bathed in the crimson of his leaking life-blood. A most insidious venom seeped in, infecting him whole. The burning knowledge that it was his turn next paralyzed his entire body. Tears trailed down his cheeks, whispers of a fervent prayer ghosted his lips. One final peek, hoping against hope he had been left alone–

That was when he saw [b]It.[/b][/i]

Alphard came to with a gasp, reeling from the pain as much as he was from the vision. It felt like his head had been split open, but more importantly…Wide-eyed, he disposed of his gloves, and hastily withdrew a small, worn dark blue notebook from an inner shirt pocket. As the chief started up the discussion of the crime, Al scribbled and sketched with frenetic energy. He stopped long enough only to nod, glance, or react to his co-workers who were all pitching in with clever ideas and nuggets of wisdom.

The sense of tension between Miss Smirnova and Marty had him instinctively pull up his shoulders to his ears as his gaze flickered from one to the other. They sounded like they might get into a conflict at any moment now. He really hoped they wouldn’t?

Thankfully, the conversation moved on without incident. For an undetermined time, he was lulled into a false sense of security. So, it was inevitable that at a sudden loud clatter, he let out a, [color=87ceeb]“Meep!”[/color], almost falling over himself in surprise. Rather than inexplicably being under attack, though…

[i]Oh.[/i] It was just Kelly. 

By the time Barbatos took it upon himself to introduce them all to the Section 6 officer, Al was done messing around with his notebook. When his name was called, he waved shyly at her.

The next in a line of surprises was, at the very least, a very pleasant one. Officer Lorelei brought drinks for everyone. A smile soft as a fuzzy cloud graced his features as he accepted his favourite treat for frazzled nerves, a honey chamomile tea latte. [color=87ceeb]“Thank you,”[/color] he told her earnestly. He even managed a brief moment of direct eye contact before he looked away, stuttering a concerned, [color=87ceeb]“Di-didn’t you get any for yourself?”[/color]

Having been patiently listening, bobbing his head up and down in agreement or approval, it took a lull in the conversation and several pairs of eyes swiveling his way before Al realized he had yet to contribute. [color=87ceeb]“Oh, UM!”[/color] His tail swished from left to right, and he giggled nervously. [color=87ceeb]“Right, thoughts to share…”[/color]

His gaze travelled to their resident fly demon. [color=87ceeb]“I’m not brave like Marty, so I don’t know about that, but…”[/color] He scrunched his eyes, images flashing beneath his eyelids. [color=87ceeb]“They had no way of fighting back, even when they tried.”[/color] Another thing his friend/mentor mentioned had sparked further insight. [color=87ceeb]“We have missing bodies, missing weapons…I guess the arms and the armed could have all been turned into, er, goo?”[/color] His fingers made an awkward scrunching motion.

[color=87ceeb]“In 10 to 15 minutes,”[/color] he nodded at Miss Smirnova, [color=87ceeb]“the perpetrator did all of [i]this[/i], while hardly leaving any evidence. Fast. Brutal. [i]Unstoppable.[/i] Stealthy, too – another ability, or because whatever it was naturally wouldn’t have left much of anything behind? I think it’s interesting the critters avoid this place, too. The smells [i]are[/i] here,”[/color] he tilted his head towards Kelly, [color=87ceeb]“so rather than this place not being attractive to them, is it repulsive for some other reason? A sixth sense kind of a deal? I didn’t get much of a read on the estate itself though – almost no memories, no sensations. Could be the wards, could have been scoured clean. What’s interesting is that the outside has mundane memories. It does happen sometimes that murderers don’t leave any psychic imprints themselves, but it can be another hint about who or what we’re dealing with…”[/color] Forced to take a deep breath, Al realized he was rambling.

There was at least one noteworthy piece he ought to share, he knew, even if what he’d said so far wasn’t all that useful. [color=87ceeb]“Th-there [i]is[/i] one thing I saw about what happened…about the killer. W-well, [i]probably[/i] about the killer.”[/color]

He opened his notebook on its last page, facing it towards his colleagues. There, in horizontal facing, was a vivid, lurid sketch of an eye.

A glass eyeball – indications of it being see through marked in pencil – the only hint of colour penciled bold and strong smack in the middle. A pitch-black iris overtaken by the pupil, bleeding out into the sclera. Like a splotch of ink spreading out, devouring. Dread manifested.

Staring…

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[right][i][b]YOU.[/b][/i][/right]