• Chapter 1
    The Path of Retribution
    Langston Hughes
    “Life is for the living,
    Death is for the dead,
    Let life be like music,
    And death be a note unsaid”

    Axel guided me out of the building, into the rain. Gloomy weather not managing to perturb him, he was smiling all the way. His chipper, yet snarky attitude was insufferable. I guess I’ll be putting up with him for while.
    “You coming?” He laughed out. I stood dazed for a second. I hadn’t realized we were already at his car. It looked nice enough. It was a shiny bloodred color. Cars were not my expertise, but his obviously was expensive. I glimpsed around it, gathering my surroundings.
    He looked over at me, smirked, and boasted. I ignored him and stared forward. “Not very talkative are you,” he grumbled to himself, turning the keys in the ignition.
    He turned the radio on to a rock station, turning it up loud. I snorted as I looked at my reflection in the window. I still looked 15, even though I was 20 now. Once inside, the people looked at me like I slept myself up through the ranks; in fact, was just smarter than all those dumbasses. I started laughing suddenly, at how ludicrous it all was. Axel glanced over at me, and he let out a lighthearted chuckle.
    “What’s so funny?”
    I stopped laughing, looked over at him, and returned my gaze out the window.
    “You know, if we’re going to be working together, the least you could do is be professional,” he said coldly.
    I frowned and muttered “Sorry, just shy,” I lied. He was right. But I don’t think I could. I had trouble showing my emotions. The only thing keeping me going was anger; it was like I couldn’t muster up happiness. My happiness didn’t matter anyways; I needed this revenge, and then… Then I don’t know what. Perhaps I could live my life then.
    My face hardened as I recalled the night of the accident; I tried pushing the memories away.
    “Hmmm….” He mused to himself, “I’ll get you to come out of your shell one way or another!”
    ♥♦♣♠

    We arrived at the crime scene with yellow police tape serving as a boundary around the alley. The smell of the putrefying body was horrific. A young girl’s body lay limp in the middle of a large alleyway opening. Her head bashed in, her throat slit, and a Cheshire was cut up to middle of her cheeks. The girl herself didn’t even bother me, what bothered me were the flashbacks.
    Axel handed me a pair of disposable gloves, put some on himself, and brought me with him under the boundary. As we got closer to the body, the smell became more potent I felt the contents of my stomach trying to escape. I was standing pretty close to Axel.
    Suddenly, her head turned towards me, “Roxas . . . Won’t you come visit me?” it said in an eerie voice. I stumbled backwards a little, knocking into Axel. Don’t worry it’s not real; Just another hallucination. I told myself.
    Axel made a grimace, “Pretty gruesome, eh?”
    “Ye-yeah,” I stuttered out, heart still racing.
    He walked over to the red haired medical examiner.“What we got here, Kairi?”
    “I won’t know the cause of death until I’ve performed a full autopsy. She has a significant amount of broken bones, including her hyoid, indicating strangulation. She has multiple stabs wounds. Any manner of things could have killed her, from exsanguination, organ damage, or strangulation. Blood lividity suggests she was moved. Estimated time of death is this morning.”
    “Actually,” I started, “in younger people the hyoid isn’t hardened all the way.” I said in a monotone voice.
    The medical examiner, Kairi I think her name was, just noticed me and she looked disturbed, if not a little embarrassed. I continued following Axel around.
    “So Axel, who’s your friend? Aren’t you going to introduce me?” I made no move to introduce myself. I didn’t like people. Especially perky ones.
    “Oh, that’s Roxas.. He’s finishing his training tomorrow. He’ll become my partner.” I said nothing as Axel spoke, rather relieved I would not have to speak to her. She just smiled, mistaking my apathy as demureness.
    “Was she identified?” He directed his question at the attending officer. I was a bit astonished how serious he was. I had fully expected him to be careless.
    “Yes we found I.D. on her person. Courtney Cox, daughter of a Daniel and Elizabeth Cox. Home address is 1431 Sioux Drive.”
    An officer informed him that they had found the knife, without latent fingerprints. I observed as Axel went around the crime scene. The object that bashed her head in wasn’t there.
    “We’re done here,” he announced. The medics put her into a body bag, loaded her away, and presumably took her to the morgue.
    As we left the crime scene, I followed him again, for what felt like the thousandth time today. He ashen, no doubt off put by what we had witnessed. I felt guiltier with myself, than I felt sorry for the girl, for not feeling badly. The object used to bludgeon her was not left at the scene of the crime.
    Still, I mumbled out in my usual flat voice “Are you alright . . . ?”
    “What do you think?” he retorted scathingly. Wincing back, as if I was suddenly slapped, the harsh sound of his voice snapped out at me.
    No one spoke for a while.
    “Sorry,”
    I ignored him, and instead asked, “Are we heading to the victim’s home?”
    He nodded. We sat silently. Minutes later he parked in front of a large house. He didn’t get out, instead he sat there.
    “Are we going in or not?”
    “Yeah, sorry, not the best part of the job.”
    We exited and walked up the cobbled walkway. Axel hesitated before ringing the door. After a couple seconds a woman called out.
    “Who is it?”
    “Aisidox Police Department. We’ve got some questions for you Mrs. Cox.”
    She opened the door hesitantly, and then invited us in. She had graying hair, and soft blue eyes.
    “Daniel, the police are here!”
    A balding, obese man walked around the corner. He looked to be in his mid sixties.
    “What do you want?” he said with a bitter tone.
    “We’ve just got a couple questions for you and your wife Mr. Cox.”
    I noticed Axel’s brow furrowed.
    “We’re sorry to inform you we found your daughter dead this morning.”
    A wave of dread washed over Mrs. Cox’s face, while a grim, wizened look rested on her husband’s. Axel looked ashen again. I said nothing, averting my look from the crying woman. After a couple minutes passed, Axel asked why they hadn’t reported their daughter missing when she had been missing for at least a week.
    Mr. Cox said “She was staying at her best friend Marcie Sullivan’s house.”
    He followed up with a few more generic questions. ‘Do you know anyone who would want to hurt your daughter?’ or ‘When was the last time you saw your daughter?’
    Mr. Cox only said that no one hated her daughter, than she was so innocent and so perfect.
    The husband did the majority of the talking, the wife in an emotionally catatonic state.
    “Did your daughter have a boyfriend?” The husband and wife exchanged glances.
    “Yeah, Nathaniel White.” They were obviously holding something back, but Axel didn’t pry.
    A little bit more time past as he continued questioning. We got ready to leave. As we neared the door, Mrs. Cox suddenly choked out, “When will we get to see her?”
    Axel’s eyes fell downwards, not looking at her. “Soon,” that was all he said as we walked out the door.
    ♥♦♣♠

    By now it was late, probably 1 A.M. Axel had just returned and handed me a cup of coffee. Not wanting to talk with him, I took a sip, hoping not to exacerbate anything.
    Axel pulled out a record of Nathaniel White. He was 23 and out on probation for aggravated assault. Obviously the girl wasn’t as innocent as the parents made her out to be.
    “Mmm, it says here Mr. White didn’t show up for a meeting with his parole officer last week.”
    I nodded, realizing that he was our number one suspect; or as they liked us to call them, ‘Person of Interest.’ It felt as if each tick of the clock was a passing hour; I couldn’t help but count the time, wanting this never-ending day to end. The ebony liquid seemed to be my only salvation from this prison. The black coffee, which was surprisingly good, began to make me jittery – how unpleasant!
    “Axel?”
    “Mmm?”
    “Do you need me here any longer?”
    “Nah, I was just getting ready to head out myself. Do you mind helping me finish up here?” he said, pointing to all the papers strewn about. Silently, I offered my assistance. In about 10 minutes everything was back in order.
    This time, he followed me out. I started to walk around the building towards my car.
    “Hey, hey, wait up,” he called. I stopped, and turned around, bleary eyed.
    “What?”
    “No reason to get mad. We should swap numbers. You know, incase either of us needs anything? Just good thing to do,” he wouldn’t look at me while he was talking.
    “Fine,” I sighed out, while fishing out my phone. We exchanged numbers.
    “Is that all?” I said.
    “Yep. Night, Roxie,”
    “Night,” I choked out, feeling tears surge to my eyes. I briskly turned around, not wanting to cry in front of anyone. I hurried off to my car, locking the doors. Sora had always called me Roxie. I felt sick as I sat there and cried. After I stopped sobbing, put my keys in the ignition and turned them. And again. Again. Just one thing after another right? I was not about to sit in a disgusting, filthy cab where other people had sat. I shuddered at the thought.
    I turned to my right and saw Sora sitting there. Damned coffee.
    “You could always call Axel, you know? He did tell you to call if you needed anything.”
    “No! Someone could follow me or what, what if he’s one of them!”
    “But Roxie . . .”
    I sighed in resignation. “Fine, I’ll ca-“ I started, but he was already gone. A few more tears shed, as I dialed his number. It rang over and over again. I was about to hang up, when someone picked up.
    “Hello? Axel, it’s Roxas.”
    “Oh, Roxie?” he said in a bubbly tone.
    “My car won’t start,” I mumbled out.
    “What?”
    “I said my car won’t start. Can you give me a lift?”
    “Aww, Roxie!” the next part came in a quiet, husky voice,”And here I thought you wanted me.”
    I felt myself blush . . . What the hell was that? And the way he said it!
    “P-Pervert!” I stuttered. “So, are you coming to get me or not?” I blurted out.
    “Of course I’d come and get you Roxie!”
    ♥♦♣♠

    “So where am I taking you?”
    “Do you know where the Watters Creek Lofts are?”
    “Mm, I think so. A bit far isn’t it? 10? 20 minutes?
    “Yeah. Sorry.”
    “It’s no problem.”
    By now it was 2a.m. but the city lights kept it bright out. I felt numb.
    “What got you into this line of work Roxie?”
    He caught me a bit off guard. He seemed rather persistent on being nice to me. It was odd. “ I could ask you the same.”
    “But, Roxie,” he whined, “I asked first!”
    I contemplated, thinking of what to say. “I guess I’ve just always liked mysteries, as cliché as it may sound.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a flat out lie either.
    Even though my remark earlier was sarcastic, he answered anyways “I guess I’m just a bit morbid. I’ve always wondered what goes in the killers mind.”
    He changed the subject to meaningless chit-chat, garnering small replies from me. Soon enough were at the lofts. I directed him behind the mall, towards the apartments. I felt nervous. He was the only person that had seen where I lived, but I still felt bad for dragging him all the way out here.
    “Sorry for dragging you all the way out here . . . Did you, um, want to come up?”
    He looked a bit surprised at the invitation. He smiled, nodded, and parked.
    I walked up to the private elevator, inserting a key card. The elevator dinged as it reached the 3rd floor. I dug around for my keys, getting even more anxious for some reason. My hands were shaking a little as I inserted into the lock. I opened the door, and stood off to the side for him to enter, closing and locking it behind him.
    The loft was grand. Cream colored walls, and deep-red mahogany flooring. The kitchen, pristine from its neglect, sat in the corner with granite surfaces. Across it lay the dining room, with a six seat table. The living room had two leather love-seats and a long couch along one wall, with an also unused flat screen. There were two bedrooms and three baths.
    I took out my keys and put them in the key holder by the door. “I’ll um, be right back, just make yourself at home I guess,” I walked off towards the bathroom.
    I splashed some cold water on my face. “Roxas?”
    I turned around and saw Sora standing there again.
    “It’s good that you’re letting someone in again. You’ve been alone for so long.”
    “What? That’s not it at all!” I denied.
    “Suuuure,”
    “I don’t have time for this!” I hissed out, trying to get him to disappear.
    I left, going towards wherever Axel was.. I saw him in my fridge rummaging around. “What the hell are you doing?”
    “Well you did say to make myself at home,” he drawled out. “Oh, lookie what we have here?” he pulled out my bottle of Belvedere Bear vodka.
    Oh. Oh s**t. “I- that is um. . .”
    “Don’t worry Roxie,” he said smirking, “I won’t tell anyone,” he said while pulling the bottle out. He rummaged around my kitchen. “Where do you keep your shot glasses?”
    “What?” I said, growing irritated.
    “Oh here they are!” he pulled down two shot glasses. He opened the bottle and poured out two, slid one across the table to me. I stared wide eyed, but drank it down nonetheless. He refilled the shot glass. I drank it again. This continued on for some time, as we drank in silence
    After my fourth shot I said, “That’s enough,” but it came out strange. I went to stand up and put the vodka away. I felt dizzy. I took another step and fell down on my a**. Feeling pain shoot up my spine, I let out a muffled cry. Was I drunk? Axel made his way over to me.
    “Are you ok? Someone’s a light weight, eh?”
    He knelt beside me. The pain was already gone surprisingly, replaced with a fluttering in my stomach. I started feeling giddy. Sitting there, I started shaking, trying to hold in my laughter. My head lolled off to the side, resting into his shoulder. It was futile. The laughter erupted, my limbs flailing about. I couldn’t breathe, just laugh. “Am I ok? Am I ok?” My laughter increased, if this was even possible. My chest started feeling tight from not breathing. Tears streamed out as I laughed, it started to hurt.
    By now, Axel had turned to look at me, his bright emerald eyes wide. Laughter fading, I just laid there resting against his arm, smelling cloves and cinnamon. Breath rasping out and eyes closing, I fell asleep.
    ♥♦♣♠

    Light filtered in through the drapes, pouring into the room. My head was pounding. I looked over at the clock. 6 A.M. it read. “Oh, ******** me for getting drunk,” I mumbled out. The sheets draped around my waist. I guess Axel had put me in here. . . Oh my God. Getting drunk. In my own house. After having a meltdown. Day already damned, I groaned, getting out of bed. I was too tired to care. I got up, went to the attached restroom, turned the shower water on, and brushed my teeth while the water warmed.
    I’d never actually gotten drunk before. I felt like I was going to throw up.
    After getting out and drying my hair, I froze hearing someone shuffling around in the front of the loft. With just a towel around my waist, I hurriedly got my gun out of the nightstand drawer. I cleared the hallway, and turned the corner into the main room. Someone grabbed me from behind. I screamed, or at least tried to as a hand quickly cupped over my mouth. I panicked, elbowed the person in the gut, turned around and kneed the man in the crotch.
    “What the hell Roxie?” I heard his voice hiss out. He let me go.
    Even though fear was still evident on my face, I let out a vicious glare. “What the ******** are you still doing here, and coming up behind me and, and, and, I mean I could’ve shot you and just and-“and he was the one that made me feel so awful.
    “Calm down, it’s not like I could drive home snockered, anyways I brought you something to help with your hangover. Finish dressing yourself.”
    I went and picked out an all black ensemble of snug-fit clothes. When I returned, I noted he was still hissing from getting racked previously. He had changed at some point too; he was wearing a pair of black leather pants and a bright orange shirt that barely covered his belly.
    “This,” he handed me a giant cup of coffee from Starbucks,”is for your headache, and this is for your stomach,” he handed me some foul smelling glass. It had apple cider vinegar in it. I just set it aside.
    I just stared at him. Then had an epiphany, “How the ******** did you go get this stuff?”
    He let out a huge grin, “But of course, I took your keys with me. Don’t worry though, it’s not like a made a copy or anything.”
    Oh God, I hadn’t even thought of that. Why wouldn’t he of just called a cab?
    “Roxas,” I was too caught up in my own seething thoughts to notice someone was talking to me.
    “Roxas!”
    “What is it Axel?”
    “I didn’t say anything.”
    “Roxas, over here dummy.”
    I turned and saw Sora sitting on the countertop. I just stared at him, wanting him to go away.
    “Roxas, you need to let him befriend you; otherwise, I’m going to follow you, forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever until you cave in.”
    I glared at him, “Fine.”
    “What?” Axel turned to look at me.
    “Ah- Uh, nothing . . . You never did tell me why you were still here.”
    “Well I couldn’t just leave my poor little Roxie alone during his first hangover,” he smirked, sipping at his own coffee.
    I wanted to scream. No. I wish I hadn’t known who it was and had managed to shoot him between the eyes. Scratch that too, that’s too fast. I wanted to torture him, the b*****d. I sent out my signature glare, took a big sip of the coffee he had brought me, downing the last of it.
    Axel’s phone started ringing; I rolled my eyes, and went to grab my wallet and keys while he was blabbing to whomever. I heard him snap his phone shut and make his way over to me. He took his coat off of the coat rack.
    “You’re seriously wearing a coat? It’s like 80 degrees outside,” I stared at him incredulously.
    He ignored my brash question, laughing it off. I suddenly remembered needing to call a tow truck to get my car taken to a mechanic.
    “So, that was the medical examiner, she finished the autopsy.”
    “Give me a minute.” I called a towing service, told them to take it to my mechanic. I then called the mechanic to tell them it was coming.
    ♥♦♣♠

    Axel had driven me back to work. We made our way down to the morgue. In my 2 years I’d been here, I’d never actually been down to the morgue. It was cold, and it had that horrible, sterile, hospital smell. I followed him to talk to Kairi, the medical examiner. She stood next to the girl’s body, as it lay in its ashen pallor. On the bright side, at least it didn’t smell like it had before.
    I stood and rubber my arm with my other hand. Now I see why he had brought a jacket It was really, really, ******** cold in here. I felt like punching him. He could’ve told me.
    Kairi approached us and proceeded to exchange pleasantries, then proceeding to tell of her findings. “Time of death is from 3 to 4 A.M. last night. Her cause of death was exsanguination; however, sever bleeding in the mucosa and colon, and inflammation of the stomach lining suggests arsenic poisoning, which the tox screen confirmed. This girl would have been dead within the hour from the poison. There were also flunitrazepam, or rohypnol, present in her system prompting a rape kit. No presence of bodily fluids. Damage to the endometrium and bruises on her wrists suggests bondage and sexual assault.”
    I stood there in utmost disgust as she went on about the girl. Who could do something like this? Axel looked seriously pissed off, making me feel rather uneasy.
    His usually perkiness was gone, “Roxas, I think it’s time we bring Nathaniel White to the station.”
    I quickly agreed, rather perturbed by his demeanor. Despite my general apathy towards . . . well everything, I was still easily frightened.
    Displacing his usual sunny disposition was a cruel silence. After 10 or so minutes my phone went off, breaking the eerie silence. It was the mechanic. They said the battery had died. I audibly sighed, and told them just to replace it.
    Axel pulled up alongside a house in the slums, the residence of Nathaniel White.
    Axel and I made our way up to the door. He knocked the sound resounding through the surprisingly quiet neighborhood. An unkempt man, presumably Nathaniel, opened the door, wearing boxer shorts and a sleeveless white undershirt. His brown hair was oily, as was his tanned skin. I frowned in disgust.
    “Are you Nathaniel White?”
    “Who’s asking?”
    “APD, we’d like to ask you some questions about your girlfriend.”
    He opened the door the rest of the way and invited us in.
    “I need to change real quick, officers.” he said. About time, how uncouth.
    I glanced around. The place was a sty, junk and old food plates littered the floor. I shuddered to think of what crawled around in there.
    I heard the back door slam shut.
    He was running.