Shot to the Heart

Ayla lounged on the cushions of her plush blue couch watching a true crime documentary on television while eating popcorn in a fluffy white bathrobe over a pair of comfortable black shorts and a white tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a damp braid to keep it out of the way. "This world is amazing," she commented before checking the time on her phone. Richard was going to come pick her up in his carriage- no, car, and take her to his "welcome back to life" party in Old Town. "What do you think? How long to get ready?"

Roxy yawned. 'Ready in 29 minutes but make him wait an hour.'

Ayla popped a buttery kernel into her mouth with a satisfied crunch. "Is that just what women do here? Noble ladies have more complex garments that require assistance that take hours to dress. Your clothes are much simpler and this outfit is hardly that substantial."

'The plan is to make him squirm, right?'

"Of course." Red and blue lights of a squad car illuminated the night crime scene on the large screen. A grim faced crime scene investigator in an unflattering black windbreaker knelt, pointing to a fine spray of blood spatter against the sidewalk. The narrator described the type of for what sort of force could cause such a blood pattern, and the showed a computer generated scenario for the angle of such an attack.

'Then make him needlessly wait. If he complains, make him feel guilty for feeling unconvinced,' Roxy suggested. 'Guns are too obvious and messy as a murder weapon. We register ballistic fingerprints when you purchase firearms in this county. So if Richard ends up with a bullet in his brain, they will know which gun did it.'

Ayla nodded. "That is something to consider. Ripping his heart out seems more satisfying if difficult."

Roxy laughed. 'That is even worse! You have to strive for plausible deniability!'

"Do you even have a swamp or big to sink a corpse?" Ayla crunched on another handful of popcorn as she pulled up a map application on her phone. "Great Dismal Swamp sounds delightfully cheerful. Does it have a hag dwelling there or demons?"

Roxy shook her head. 'No, worse tourists.'

"People go on tours of swamps?" Ayla looked puzzled. "Why is that?"

'It's a state park so there are visiting hours and naturalists,' Roxy explained with a sigh. 'It was a joke.'

"Ah," Ayla leaned back in the cushions. "So anything that leaves a mess like that is out. Other things leave some sort of trace evidence in way of fingerprints, skin, and hair." She watched the dramatic reenactment of the pathology examination of the victim's remains. "Toxicology reports reveal poisons but they'd look to the people closest to Richard as suspects."

Roxy shrugged. 'The joy or premeditation is that you have time to plan. Do not forget, you also have magic. As far as I know, there is not a forensic process to identify such things unless you venture into men in black suit territory.'

"Men in black suits?" Ayla pictured the men in sharp suits on the road as

'A term for people working for a top secret government agency that is so mysterious that no one know the name.'

"Ah! I was about to say, it seemed like there would be many that wear black suits, it is a basic color." Ayla's phone buzzed against the coffee table. She retrieved it, unlocking the screen with a swipe of her fingers over the screen. Despite her formality in calling Richard by his full first name, she abbreviated his name to the less dignified derivative, "Dick". The small dig gave her a swell of petty joy.

"Hey sexy. On the way, be there in 6 minutes. (heart)"

Ayla frowned as she began typing, she had gotten enraptured with the true crime show and had not started getting ready. She felt inconsiderate.

'No! This works great, Ayla! He'll have a reason for waiting now,' Roxy reassured her.

Ayla shrugged as she hit send. "I am almost ready. I will leave the door unlocked so you can just slide inside."

"I like the sound of that! (heart) (wink) See you soon."

Ayla considered what to type in response and decided to close the messenger. She glanced to the screen once last time before turning it off, rising to her feet and tossing the remote onto the couch. "All right, Roxy, it is time to make him wait."

----

"Hey Roxy! It's me, Rich!" Richard called from the living room before the wind caught the door and slammed it shut. "Sorry! Didn't mean to do that."

"Be out in a minute!" Ayla called from inside her locked bedroom. She fiddled with her make-up, her palms sweaty. It had been one thing to plan and text Richard, but it was another to see him so soon after he killed her. She pressed her hands together and closed her eyes.

'It will be okay. There are some rules here.' Roxy reassured her.

"But he's alone in the apartment with me. How can anyone else stop him if no one else is around?" Ayla thought, drying her hands on a towel as she checked her reflection in the mirror.

'You do not have to do this. You still have time to back out.' Roxy suggested. 'You can just say f*ck Richard and start over again. No revenge, no murder, just live your best life here in the United States. I have lots of money, you could go travel the world and be free of him.'

Ayla shook her head. "No. I have to do this. There might be a chance to open a gateway back to Alpeach and repair the damage. We travelled across space, maybe there is a chance to turn back time."

'You are not a normal person, Ayla. If it gets too bad, just blast him with your magic!' Roxy suggested.

After several minutes of making Richard wait in the living room, a loud knocking echoed through the apartment.

"Roxy? You okay in there?" Richard asked in a playful tone. After a pause he added, "You know, if you need a spare set of hands, I can help."