The Experience Hunter?

Jay breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Carlos head disappeared in the classroom. The boy was more enthusiastic in going to school than he has imagined. Stopping his track of thought he couldn't help but notice the fluttering of his stomach when he watched a neon jeans passed in his vision. He followed its movement until it stopped at the woman that Carlos was just talking with. Her legs were flailing like a jumping kid who was having a good day. She was wearing a worn sneaker, and on top of her neon green shorts were white plain shirt, which is thin enough for him not to see the brightness of her brassier that was in fact a neon as well, beneath it. He looks at her face and failed to see her eyes but he could just imagine it somehow. She was wearing her spectacles, with a red frame. Her hair was pulled back, away from her face. He could see the light teasing her hair, leaving an almost gentle impression on the on looker. It was almost like she could be the kindest being he could ever know, except he knows her enough to know that she could never be.

She was talking comically and with no doubt she was pestering the woman in front of her, and he wasn't wrong about that, he could see the ominous aura of their surroundings. The woman that she was talking with, lean towards her, and the way she greeted her teeth while whispering somehow proved the woman's hostility towards her. However, as always, just as how he knows who she is, her face was not betrayed by a single emotion. She wasn't even swayed by how the other woman openly showed her dislike towards her. Unthreatened and unbothered she whispered back something, and Jay felt like he was being swallowed alive by a snake by the way the hair at his nape stood and a chill run down her spine. He didn't know if that's how it was supposed to be, but seeing her like that frightens him to the core. He slightly looks at Gabriel who seemed unfettered by what he was seeing.

"That's' your little friend right? Do you know what they were talking about?" He asks as he mauled the sandwich in his hand.

He shakes his head and get back at eyeing the two woman. He watched as she slowly backs away giggling to herself, as if she found everything amusing. She stepped away slowly and then as she was about to turn in the corner she looks back, and that had sent shivers right through him. With that look in her face a thought had cross his mind: Isn't she the one he was supposed to put behind the bars? Isn't he supposed to forget the serial killer right now and just find a concrete evidence to put her in an asylum?

"I don't trust her." Gabriel commented, just like him he was watching the bizarre woman.

"I can't not trust her." He answered, sighing at the real impact of his words.

"Come on, what's there to trust?" Gabriel stated exaggeratedly in his sit, he was even waving his hand spilling the sandwich crumbs inside the car.

"I know, she doesn't look somebody to be trusted with your life, but come on Gabriel trust me on this she wasn't the killer that we were looking for." He said convincing himself more than his friend.

"I don't know man. I trust you, but I don't know about her."

Jay watched as a blue car round up the parking lot. It's the stake out that he was requesting. He needed to cover more grounds. He still need to check out the evidences, he might find something from it that could be pin pointed towards the killer. He turns on the ignition, and started to leave the parking lot. "Maybe, you just needed a second meeting with her how about late lunch? I'll call her."

"Sure, call her." Gabriel say and contrary to his usual character he was more open minded in this regard.

He reached out for his phone and just then he realized that he never had a means of contacting her. It was her who always shows up out of the blue.

"And that my dear friend is what I'm talking about, not being able to trust her." Gabriel was smirking in his side. Winning in a fight that he never declares as a war.

Jay shrugged his shoulder as just ignored his friend all along. He wanted to argue to Gabriel's point but he could not found anything arguable. And if there is, he felt like he himself is questioning is going to question his own judgement in life.

"Seriously man, that woman wherever you look at her was not part of the society. A complete…what do you call those sick people?"

"What sick people?" Jay asks, completely understanding what Gabriel were saying.

"Come on dude! Only those who had a loose screw in their head would be able to murder those boys."

"And that woman, your little friend, I'm sure as hell that she was part of this case one way or the other."

Jays' brow furrowed, silently agreeing with his partner. "What made you say that?"

"Because she my man, is a whacko!" Gabriel even motioned his temple to clear his point.

"I swear you were one of those creative people with words Gabby." A giggling voice resounded inside the car.

Jay, automatically step on the clutch, "How the hell did you manage to be there?" He exclaimed, looking at the woman that was just their topic a moment ago. She was on the other hand were frantically holding on to her sit, as if her soul life depended on it.

"Gosh Jaybird, didn't your mother teach you how to drive properly? You could have killed me!" her statement was full of convictions but her facial expression lacks otherwise. She was stifling a giggle and was just enjoying that were occurring at that moment.

"When did you get in there?" It was Gabriel who asks this time.

She looks at him and grinned widely. "When you're not looking, perhaps?"

"God!" Exasperated, Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Nope, its' just me, Mary." Still grinning she retorted back at the almost furious man.

Gabriel feeling his energy draining from his body, shook his head and stilled himself.

"Why are you there Mary?" Jay asks, feeling a little bit pitiful towards Gabriel.

Mary pouted and look at Jay, "'Cause you wanted to have late lunch with me?"

Copying Gabriel's reaction, a moment ago Jay faces the wheels, and rolled his eyes.

"And you said she's okay?" Gabriel said dryly.

"She called you this morning right?" Jay glances at the rear view mirror. She was settling on the back seat trying to lay down.

"Why are you asking that?" Gabriel asks, trying to insert himself in the conversation.

It took her a few more turn before she could settle down on the back seat. She lied down swinging her legs back and forth. She threw a glance at Jay that was occasionally looking at her. "Jaybird?"

"She did." He briefly responded.

An amused look slightly crosses her face momentarily but then she looks at the window opposite her. She just looks out there and does not make any noise.

"I heard you're a law student as well." Gabriel said, trying to be friendly, for one she seems like someone they would be working with for a while.

But to Mary, Gabriel's' existence was like a fish in the tank, it's there but its' of no importance.

"And I also heard you're a Psychology graduate. Honestly aren't you too young to be already an undergrad student then here you are taking up another course? How old are you anyway?" Gabriel chattered about as he lit up a cigarette, but to no avail the woman at the back seat was unresponsive.

"She isn't talking man." Gabriel whispered at Jay, opening the window at his side.

Jay looks at his partner. With all the façade that he had experience with Mary he could not help but sympathize with his partner. With Gabriel's personality he was actually surprised that the man was taking the initiative to talk to Mary, he had long given up the fact that Gabriel and Mary would be able to collaborate. "Let her be Gab."

Gabriel shrugged his shoulder, "Fine, I was just trying to be friendly."

"I know what you're doing and it's a nice thing that you were trying, but for now just leave her alone."

"Damn!" They both fell quite when Mary suddenly spoke from the back seat. Though her words conveyed a surprised tone in it, her body on the contrary did not move an inch. Then she giggled. "Look Jaybird the clouds are making funny faces." She said between giggles.

Instead of Jay it was Gabriel who look outside the window. He tried to look at the direction were Mary was pointing out. However, when he did look all he saw was just the accumulating dark clouds in the atmosphere. There wasn't anything funny about it. At most it could be raining any minute now. "You think it's funny when its' going to rain?" Gabriel as he gets back to his seat and throw his cigarette butt at the road.

Again Mary did not respond, if she heard Gabriel's comment she did not dare put a single reaction towards it.

Jay rolled his eyes towards the two. Why does it felt like Gabriel was trying too hard to get familiar with her, while Mary would blatantly ignore the mans' presence? A soft giggle was heard at the back seat, when he looks at her from the mirror she was looking directly at him. Making him felt like she knew exactly what he was thinking that time. Furrowing his brow at her and shaking himself to focus on the road, if Gabriel was right it could be raining any time. Suddenly an aqua-marine minivan cut through him in a rush almost hitting his side-view mirror. He does not appreciate being cut through, but that he could cool down from, but almost getting into an accident that raises his ire. Trying to still himself and relax he thought of something else.

"What do you want for lunch?" Jay ask his two passenger, mainly looking at the eccentric woman at the back.

She does not pay attention to his question, instead "You should have looked closer Jaybird. You could have seen it. That was your last chance. You always tend to close your eyes at the most crucial times." she said. Her tone was so low, its' as if he had disappointed her for a thousand times. He could not help but think back and understand that she was conveying something more than what she was saying. For another second none of the people in the car spoke, he could see Gabriel wanting to say something but before he could even say a thing, Mary did, "I want lamb." Jay felt the chill in her voice, and with no doubt he was sure Gabriel felt the sudden coldness in the car. They both look at the rear view mirror. There she was smiling foolishly, like a joker. The woman that had suddenly disappear from the day the mutilated dog was found was there at the back seat. Her cold eyes boring right through them, mostly right through him. "Do you remember Hannibal Jaybird? I hope you at least remember him. I want the thing that Hannibal ordered before he escapes."

Jay's mind runs wild. He couldn't be mistaken; Mary is telling him something else. Something of importance. Hannibal? Hannibal Lecter? Did she mean every criminal investigators book? Who doesn't even know the man? Suddenly a thought had strike him. He hastily steps on the break a halted on a side walk.

"Man!" Gabriel cursed as he almost bumped in the compartment. "Damn, give me the wheels."

As if the tenseness inside the car wasn't enough, the rain has started to dribble in the car. Lightning and thunder were heard from a distance.

"That's your cue honey." Mary said trying to seat nicely at the back. She was looking at the window as if there was something admirable in the play of light in the sky. The lightning continuously slashes and betrays the smooth blackness of the sky. The thunder hollered non-stop in the land, scaring every little being from their homes. The rain was almost deafening if not for them being in the car, conversation was almost impossible.

However, to Jay the rain matters not, nor the thunder and the lightning. Even Gabriel's damning the weather matters less to him. What matters most for him is what Mary had said. 'I want the thing that Hannibal ordered before escapes.', if it was said by just some passerby he would just readily brushed it off, but this was Mary! The epitome of riddles! He could not just let it be. She was telling something to him. He looks outside the window, gathering his thoughts. He could almost hear the rain drops on the sidewalk. Some teenagers run off from the shelter and take their chances happily in the rain. They run without reservation. And then just suddenly it hit him. He looks at reflection of the woman at the back. She was there watching him, smiling proudly at him the moment she saw that look at her eyes. She knows it! She knows that he already understands what she was talking about.

"Where?" He croaked, almost unbelieving everything.

A playful smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "What do I get from this Jaybird?"

"Damn! Can't you talk properly?" Gabriel exclaimed, seeming frustrated.

Unlike Gabriel who was ready to run off his mouth, Jay losing his temper loose his reasoning as well. He stormed out of the car and circled to the back seat, harshly grabbing for the door he threw it open and grab Mary by the collar. She was so limp and not even resisting behind his prying fingers. He felt her unresponsive. She doesn't seem concern the way he handled her. Its' almost as if she was actually so used to it she was bored. She looks at him almost like challenging. Asking, 'Are you gonna hit me or what?' Feeling confused by what he saw Jay fist softened but it was still grabbing her collar, this time it was just a little bit gentler.

"What do you want?" He then asks ready to negotiate.

Mary put her palm against her chest. She felt the erratic beating of his heart, that she could guess he did not notice at all. She puckered her lips look at Gabriel, and Jay didn't know where the notion had come from but he thought at that moment she wanted Gabriel, he knows not as a man, but as a toy. And she of all people can ask for impossible and magically make it happened. "You don't want candies to be handed to you Jaybird," Mary looks at him, with an intensity in her eyes. Jay could envision himself starting to be a pawn in Mary's game. And he could feel her winning with her special piece –him-. "You would want them to be gained." She continued and pried off his hands from her clothes.

Jay, being stupefied watched Mary being whirled around to face Gabriel, who somewhere between her speaking and him contemplating, get out of the car as well. "We are not playing with you, woman!" Gabriel spoke with his teeth grinding. Jay knew that making Gabriel tick into this level of annoyance was not a smart move. However, when he looks at Mary she does not betray a single emotion, she does not even flinch. She was still there, compose with her cocky grin. Either you tell us where the Eye Banker is or you would need and attorney in the next twelve hours."

Mary's eye narrowed down locking into Gabriel's eye. "No detective." If Gabriel had venom in his voice Mary had a cold ice stony tone that never fails to send her whole message. "Either you play my game or you will sulk for being incompetent for your whole life."

That was the last straw for Gabriel. If not for Jay's fast reflexes he wouldn't be able to stop Gabriel's assault. "You're already playing in her game, Gab. And you're losing quickly." Gabriel's fist was a breath away from Mary's face. Jay could feel Gabriel's shaking in anger. He knew that Mary has gone too far, but he could not watch and let his partner hit someone as twisted as this woman in front of them. Making her as the enemy right now would mean another dead eyeless guy on the street.

Gabriel sighed deeply. He removed his fist from Jay's grasp and opening his palm as if surrendering he gets back inside the car. Just this time he sits at the back.

Mary was smirking when Jay looks at her again. "What do you want Mary?" Jay's voice was controlled. If he would like to deal with her he need patience.

Mary's smirk turns into a wide smile. She looks like a kid that just suddenly had her candy. "That's a debt." She happily punches his chest and turn in the car. "Come on I'll tell you how to catch her." She opened the door at the passengers sit, and then she hesitated. She looks back at Jay and grin.

Jay new exactly what was going on inside Mary's mind right then. She circled to the drivers sit. Grinning goofily at him she sat behind the wheels, and punch the horn.

"Come on Jaybird, you wouldn't like to miss the party." She shouted.

Jay looks at Gabriel that was looking at him, as it was the first that he was seeing his partner. The look of disbelief was undeniable in his face. Jay just shrugs his shoulders, and sit on the passenger sit.

Goofy grin was still intact in Mary's lips. She was looking at Jay as if he was her favorite person in the world. Her hands were tapping the wheels. "So… how do I do this?"

"Jesus!" Gabriel gasps at the back when he realizes what Mary was asking.

Mary puckered her lips crumpling her face she looks at Gabriel, "Grumpy Gabby!"

"You don't know how to drive?" Jay barely manages to ask the question.

Mary looks at his direction and again smiles at him.

"God! Woman, why do you have to sit there if you don't even know how to drive?" Jay felt his meter of irritation towards Mary runs off the roof.

He grabs the door of the car and was about to get out when he heard her. "I won't give the wheels Jaybird, so either you teach me or we let things go the way it should be."

Jay froze in his seat, he looks at Mary tapping the wheels impatiently, but the grin in her face is still plastered in it. Jay heard Gabriel cursing and then grabbing for a seat belt. Jay nodded. He knows what she's doing. She's manipulating them-him- and she's getting what she wants.

"Turn the key." He submitted.

***

Turns out Mary was lying about her not being able to drive. More like she could win a drag racing contest in her skills. Meaning she drives so fast. However, despite of her playfulness she kept her silent and just drove to his house.

"Why are we here?"

Instead of answering him Mary march to the door tinkered on it a little bit and suddenly you can hear the latch clicking and the door opening.

"You need to change your lock." Gabriel mocks him as they followed her inside.

"If that would change anything I would love to." Jay sighed, looking at the now broken lock he directed his attention to the woman, who is nowhere in sight. "You could ask for the key you know."

Jay was stepping into the door when he heard Chimp whimpering, followed by Mary's cajoling tone. "Maya did it?" There was a disbelief in her tone, and she paused as if she really understood whatever the dog was saying. "Oh poor darling. Come here you! Don't worry were going to tell Dada about it."

"I really don't understand why you said she was okay." Gabriel picks up a towel that was discarded in one of the chair in the room.

"Dada, Maya pipi in the towel and sweet Chimpy's food." Mary sounded like a child as she spoke.

Jay frowned. He couldn't understand what she was talking about. And he doesn't have any clue if she was saying something and meaning the other things.

"This towel?" Gabriel asks, seemingly understanding what she said, while showing off the towel that he was holding. He suspected as much since he could smell the turpid scent from the towel, but he just wanted to be sure.

Mary whistled, she looks at Gabriel goofily, "I don't see any other towel, do you?"

Gabriel cursed between his breath and storm to the bathroom.

Jay has just gone to his room and brought back a new towel and change of clothes. Laying it on the table in front of Mary, he looks at her cooing at the dog. He just notices how her wet clothes had clad in her body. As a man, he could not help but admire Mary's body. She could be even labeled as hot if not for her lunacy. But even without canceling the knowledge about her eccentricity, Jay couldn't help but acknowledge the growing fascination for the woman. A fascination he does not want to acknowledge but was there pestering his every nerve. Jay sighed and focuses on the matter at hand. "You should change first. You could use the bath in my room. I trust you know your way around."

Mary's hand froze momentarily from petting the dog. She looks at Jay for a moment. "Have you ever been bullied Jay?"

Jay froze as well. 'Jay?', this was what registered to him. She was calling him by his name this time. does this mean she was serious? Does this mean she was teaching him right now?

Clearing his throat, he spoke, "I'm part of the normal club."

Mary look at Jay and smirk, "Is that how you remember things my little bird?" She stands up, pick up the towel and the clothes that he had offered her.

He watched her every moved. He was actually curious about what she says about his memory. She was always hinting something about 'what he remembers'. Thinking back even his dream a night before she was also saying about him 'forgetting'.

"Very well," She then said cutting off his contemplation, she looks at him squarely in the eyes, "Do tell me Jaybird what defines your normal club?"

Feeling lost at her trance Jay couldn't spoke. He felt like she was changing every second. One second he thought he already understand her, then the next thing he knows he was facing another part of her and he was too far from understanding her at all.

Mary walks a little closer to him. "Tell me Jaybird, is your normal club means that you go to school then left after class? Then you go to outing with your normal club friends? You then dated your closest girl-friend. Then when you broke up you just drifted apart but you still were friends. You watched as the jack bully the nerds. You walk past them in the locker seeming oblivious in the things that was happening in your surroundings. Tell me little bird is that how things were supposed to be?"

"Wow, knowing Jay I think that's how it goes in his school days." Gabriel commented, not being able to stop himself as he heard Mary's account.

Mary giving him a bitter sweet, tap his cheek and left them in the room.