Entry #7 - The Investigation

--1 month ago--

I sat in complete silence, unable to speak, unable to move. I've spent the last 2 days in this police station, looking for answers, something, anything. All I got was countless repeating of the same words: "it was ruled an accident."

Bullshit.

Someone killed her, and I want to know why.

I was so lost in thought that I hadn't noticed the shadow of a figure being cast on me.

Great, another officer to tell me it was all in my head, or tell me I'm crazy.

"Brian Shaw? I'm Detective Rachel Hayes. May I have a word with you?"

"Of course, come to tell me how wrong I am?"

Leaning down to get closer, She whispers, "I believe you. Come with me."

Rachel walks me to the side where no one else is listening and says, "I have been looking into certain deaths in the city. None of them are related, but all of them have the same thing in common. They are investigated briefly, before they are shut down, always ruled an accident. Your case suffered the same fate of being cut short of a proper investigation and I'm not sure why. It gets even more strange, however. I can never get ahold of any of the victim's wives, or husbands, you're the only one demanding truth. I need your help in solving this."

"Why me? What do I have to offer? I'm just a grieving widower."

Rachel, leaning against the wall, says, "You are the only person that believes that something is wrong, and we are going to figure it out, together. Do you trust me?"

--Present day--

I grab Rachel by the shoulder, and turn her towards me, "You and I tried figuring out why these strange deaths were occuring and people closest to them ended up missing. Well, I killed 3 men here yesterday, and now it is like they weren't even here. I don't expect you to believe me, but there is an organization that is killing people and trying to get those closest to them to join."

Rachel interjects, "How is killing loved ones getting people to recruit them, that makes no sense."

"It will." I say as I gather power into my hands. Just as I condense the magic, I realize that I don't know how to show her magic...I attempt to visualize it and make that which is invisible, visible, but I'm not sure how. Redirecting my eyes to the fridge, I find no other good option. This is the closest heavy object. I diffuse the magic in my hands and redirect it to my arms as I proceed to lift the fridge.

Rachel speaks as I am lifting the fridge, "What are you doing? Why are...wait, how are you lifting that so easily?"

"It's magic, Rachel. This is why they do it."

Rachel, puzzled, "You're telling me magicians are real, and you are all of a sudden magical, too?"

I proceed to explain and describe everything that the group had told me.

"They recruit people by causing traumatic events in their life to get them to unlock their powers through their emotions. That is how I unlocked my abilities, torn by the death of my wife. But Rachel, these are powerful people, you need to stop trying to get to them, otherwise, they'll get to you first. They sent 3 people after me and they were evil men. Then again, so am I."

Rachel, in concern, says, "What do you mean? You're evil?"

"Yes," I say with my head hanging, "ever since I killed those men, my aura has turned black. I will only end up hurting you, I've already..." I stop myself, I can't tell her about Kel and the group, I've only told her what is necessary, to get her to stop.

Rachel nods, "That doesn't necessarily mean you're evil. You seem quite sorrowful about that; how can you be evil and regret your deeds at the same time?"

"I suppose you have a point, I don't know." I say, unbelieving of the words.

Rachel walks towards the front door, "So what are we going to do now? What's next?"

"What's next?" I ask shaking my head, "What's next is you are going to go back to the station and pretend you don't know a thing."

Rachel, puzzled, says, "Why did you even bring me here and tell me all of this, if you didn't want me to help? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, but I only told you so that you would drop the investigation. I can't stand seeing you hurt. If they know you and I are working together, they could come after you and use you as leverage, or worse... I won't let it happen. I won't let someone else's blood be on my hands. The best thing for you to do is to let me handle it."

"By yourself? I won't let you do this on your own." Rachel says matter of fact.

"You have to, you'll only get hurt."

Rachel, interjecting, "You got magic now, you'll protect me, and I'll protect you. They won't..."

I interrupt, "AND WHO WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ME!?!" a tear forms in my right eye before I quickly wipe it away.

Rachel walks back towards me, "You trusted me, I am trusting you."

I can't even trust myself. How can she trust me? I mean, I just told her about a world neither of us knew existed; how can she just blindly accept that? I only accepted it because, well, I am a part of it.

"You don't need this. I am only putting you at risk; from not only me, but from The Organization as well."

Rachel, chuckles and walks back towards the door, "You think I was going to drop the case anyway? From what you told me, they would be coming after me for getting close to them in my investigation, this way I've got you back on my side. Just promise not to hang me out to dry again. Kay?"

We get back into her car, and she drives me to her apartment. She leads me to her bedroom and to her closet where she has a board with various pictures and papers all mapped out like one of those crazy people you see in the thrillers, usually coupled with conspiracy theories. She grabs a tack, string and a piece of paper, writes down "The Organization" and ties it to everything else she had placed on the board. "I've made quite a few additions to the board in the last week, seems like I am going to have to make even more adjustments." she says with a chuckle.

I look through the photos and I try my luck on some mind enhancement. Pulling magic into my mind, I focus on the energy into the parts of my brain that handles analytics and organization, mostly by just thinking about what I want to accomplish.

My concentration is broken briefly at the sight of that far too familiar scene. I can still hear the crackling of the engine, the sound of distant sirens, her groans of pain as she lets out her final words. Futile thoughts clouded my mind: If only I had my powers then, I would have been able to heal her. I feel my face contort with anger, yet drowning in a flood of tears that fall onto my chest and to the floor. Rachel touches my back to comfort me and I snap myself back to the present. Continuing my scanning of the board, I suddenly feel all of the information flood my mind, as if I had been reading it for the last few hours, but in a matter of a few seconds. Just as I take in all the information, I start to notice patterns in the cases.

"Rachel, you tried tying each victim together, but with the additional knowledge I have provided, we can analyze the loved ones of each victim. What do THEY have in common?"

Rachel eyes each paper meticulously before a shock emerges to her face. Turning to me, says, "Every one of the victim's loved ones that went missing had a job in the government. How did I miss that?"

My company was contracted to the government, so they had my files. This goes deeper than I thought. It makes sense that all the cases got dismissed as accidents, The Organization operates within the government, at least to some degree. What are we looking at: A secret government operation? Rogue agency groups?

Just as my thoughts form, we hear a faint knock come from the front door.