I sat on the rooftop, looking over the streets, thinking. Just thinking. Man, I haven’t been able to do that in forever. With this, that, and the other thing always going on, I had time to myself in… well, actually, when I say “always going on,” I mean always going on as of a week ago. Was it really only seven days ago that this all started? Wow, how time flies when you’re having fun. You know, insane, running, being shot, being thrown in jail kind of fun. Guess that’s why I wrote this to all of you. I need someone to know what happened. I’ll be sending this transcript of the past week of my life over the entire world and, if I can, through time and space. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to have everyone know about it, like Twilight and Harry Potter. If you don’t like it, you still know what it is. Make a movie, write a comic, write some fan-fictions, do anything you can to get the word out. Even if you don’t believe it’s true. I mean, thinking of all the stupid stuff people convince themselves of, why would you not believe this? I mean-
Tokyo stopped writing, knowing she was just stalling because she didn’t want to do what she knew came next. She took a deep breath, trying, and failing, to calm her panicking heart. She looked up at the sky, on the verge of tears, then, taking another deep breath, continued writing.
I guess what I’m trying to say is do whatever it takes to share my life. Make it so that it was worth my time living. I’m crying anyway, but I’ll come haunt all your asses if I die without helping people. Great, now the ink is smudged from my tears. Stupid emotions. Guess I should go before Hurricane Tokyo opens up all over my notebook. Goodbye…
Signed~
Tokyo Alkaline
Tokyo closed her notebook and put an old fashioned lock on it, putting her pen in the spirals. She sniffed, more tears spilling onto the snow leopard on the cover of the journal. She set it down beside her and stood up slowly, letting the cool embrace of the night air try its best to comfort her. She licked her lips, setting a stony look of determination gently on her face. She looked at her journal on last time, whispering to herself, “Find your mark, my beauty.” Then she found brief serenity in the cold rush of air before her now broken body was caressed by the chime of midnight.
Chapter 1~
Has the Time Come?
The Scotland Yard inspectors arrived at the scene twelve minutes past 2 a.m. The car screeched to a stop outside the abandoned factory and three detectives got out. One yawned. “Does it ‘alf to be so damn early in the mornin’?” he said in a thick Scottish accent.
The youngest of the three, who was getting out of the back seat, where the criminals usually sat, said, “Well not everyone has the luxury of choosing a later time to die for our convenience.” He was very sarcastic about it, letting them know he didn’t like where he had to sit.
The only female there got out of the driver’s seat and onto the sidewalk. “Aww, come on, guys! Cheer up!”
“If you don’t start acting like you want to be here,” she added, pointing to the youngest one with what it seemed was a sudden mood swing. “I’m going to tell the chief that you aren’t ready to be in the field as a detective yet.”
“No, no, no! I want to be here!” he said, super nervous.
The girl shook her head, laughing quietly. “I’m joking, kid. Calm down and go with Smith to check the roof.” Detective Smith sighed and took a sip of tea.
“U-u-up there, ma’am?” the young one asked nervously, looking up at the roof, then the old building.
She rolled her eyes. “That is what I said, now get off your lazy arse, Smith, and go check it out with Davidson.”
“But, we have to go through the building and it’s n-night time,” Davidson said in a shaky voice.
Smith laughed creepily. “What? You scared, rookie?” he said. Then he patted him on the shoulder. “Stick with me, I’ll get you through the ‘scary old building’,” he said, putting air quotes around ‘scary old building’. Davidson took a shaky breath, trying to gather some courage, then nodded and followed Smith into the building. Davidson was super tense and on edge. He jumped at every noise, finally taking out his flashlight and turning it on. He thought he saw something and tensed up, then took a step towards it. A black cat jumped out, running across the flashlights path. Davidson, who had fallen behind, screamed in a very unmanly way, throwing his hands over his face. Smith came running back. “John, you alright?” he asked, using Detective Davidson’s first name, which is very rare.
John nodded. “Y-y-yeah, I-I’m fine,” he said, straightening out his jacket and wiping his hand off. “It was nothing, William,” he added, trying to sound composed and using Smith’s first name.
Will sighed. “Well, try to keep up, will ya?” he said, walking off again. They found the stairs and climbed 19 flights. By the time they got to the top, John had worked off his adrenaline and was feeling fine, while his slightly heavier mustachioed partner was not doing so well. Will had become all sweaty and red and when they finally opened the door to the roof, he collapsed and laid there, panting. Johns laughed. “Man, you need to work out more.”
Will rolled over slightly, looking at John through narrowed eyes. “This is my exercise for the year,” he said.
“Well, you better get up, this is still part of the crime scene,” John said, putting on his rubber gloves.
Will grunted, getting up to his knees slowly and put his gloves on too. “I’ll look over here, you look over there,” he said, pointing to the edge leading back to the street where the pulled up, where the body was 19 stories bellow. John nodded and walked that way slowly, pointing his flashlight around him, looking for anything to suggest that this wasn’t a suicide like they suspected. When he reached the edge, he found a locked journal. He picked it up, shining the flashlight on the cover.
“Snow leopards, pretty,” he said to himself. Then he took a closer look at the lock. “Wow, how much did she want to protect this thing?” he whispered.
“What are you talking to yourself about, rookie?” Will asked.
“Hey, keep an eye out for a key,” John said. Then he looked over the edge, down to their chief, Talien, who was putting up the crime scene tape. “Who would ever jump that far? How bad could life get where you think that is your only option?”
Talien sighed after finishing putting up the crime scene tape. She looked at the broken body of the young girl who was laying on the sidewalk. So young... she thought to herself. She couldn’t be any older than 25. But of course, Talien herself was 25. She sat on her heels, examining the body. Something shiny caught her eye. She reached her gloved hand forward to grab it, but was interrupted by the sound of an approaching car. Talien stood up and turned towards the street, seeing another inspector’s car pull up. As a heavyset man stepped out with a tea in his hand, Talien sighed. Her boss was probably just here to give her hell. He always did, since she was the youngest chief inspector on the force, plus the only girl. Her boss always looked for the tiniest imperfection to ridicule her about. He smiled. “Hello, Inspector Alko,” he said cheerfully.
“Good morning, Chief Evans,” Talien said politely. “You seem chipper this morning.”
“Indeed, I am, Alko, indeed I am,” he said with a laugh. Should I be worried? she thought to myself. The Chief took a deep breath and let it out, smiling even wider. I should definitely be worried, Talien decided. “So, where are you two little projects, Davidson and Smith?”
“Um, on the roof, sir, looking for evidence,” Talien said.
“Good, well, it looks like you have everything taken care of here, I’ll be on my way then,” he smiled, getting back in his car and speeding off. Talien watched him go, then shook her head, slightly disgruntled. Suddenly, she remembered the shiny thing. She laid down on her stomach to look for it again, but couldn’t see it. She sighed, thinking they would find out what it was when they looked more closely at the body.
From behind Talien, there was suddenly a squeal of tires. She turned around quickly, seeing a taxi stopped in the rode. She ran over to it. “Are you alright, sir?” she asked through the window to the driver.
“Fine, fine,” he said, waving her off. “There was just some bloody cat in the road, had to swerve to avoid hitting it. It was black, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it had it not had something shiny sticking out of its mouth. Anyway, I should be off now. Bye!” he said, speeding off. Talien took a few steps backwards, watching him go, she looked around for a cat, but didn’t see one, so she turned around and went back to the crime scene as Will and John came back out with the notebook.
The black cat ran into a shadow and shook itself off, looking back at the cab that had almost hit him. He growled quietly in his throat as a girl ran over to the cab to see if it was ok, but not caring at all about him. He shook himself again, then sat down and watched as the cab driver drove off and the girl went back to her side of the rode as two more humans came out of the building he had just been in. One he recognized as the person whom he had frightened.
The cat turned around again, heading into the ally, but glanced back one more time, and the only things showing out of the shadows were the moonlight glinting off his eyes and the key he held protectively in his mouth.
Chapter 2~
Just the Beginning
¬ “What just happened?” John asked, looking at the corner where the car had turned.
Talien sighed. “Some bloody cabby man almost hit a cat. I went and asked if he was ok, and he just said he stopped because he almost hit this black cat, then sped off. I didn’t see any cats once he left, though,” she said, rubbing her forehead.
“Black cat? I saw one inside,” John said, pointing towards the factory with his thumb.
“Really? Weird, but unimportant right now,” Tokyo said with a wave of her hand. “Smith, start taking photos of the scene. Document everything within the tape.” She handed him a camera, then walked back to the car. She leaned in the window, looking to see when the proper forensic team would be getting there. Another 20 minutes, she sighed to herself. She got back out, stretching, then leaned against the car, resting her chin on her chest. Her eyelids drooped a bit. I might as well close my eyes for a few minutes, she thought to herself and got in the car, leaving the door open and her leg out. She leaned against the chair and closed her eyes, the consistent click of the camera lulling her to sleep.
Talien opened her eyes, sitting in the car. She yawned and got out. She looked around, but didn’t see John or Will around anywhere. “Smith! Davidson! Report!” she said looking around. When no one replied, she said it a bit louder. She looked at her phone, wondering how long she had been sleeping. Her phone said it was 2:35. She had sat down in the car at 2:34. “Where could they have gone in a minute?” she asked herself, a little frustrated. She looked back at the crime scene and then immediately backed up into the car. The body was gone.
The black cat watched the girl sleep soundly in the car. He smiled a little to himself, as the two incompetent detectives fought over who got to take pictures of the crime scene and the body. Sleep well, Talien Koy Alko, the cat thought to himself. Sleep well.
