Chapter 2: Dark City

The newly formed Inquisition investigate cases around New Mitos. Elric and Hajar team up to tackle one such case.

It has been 3 months since we were appointed our posts as the Inquisition. The elders have not reached out to us once. It doesn't matter. We were making a way for ourselves. Recently things have been down hill a bit. Reports were showing an increase in murders of young women around the Slums of New Mitos. It doesn't help that it has been raining. Many parts of The Slums flood and are completely inaccessible. It just so happens the murder areas are the ones that flood. Hard to find leads when things are washed away. Now normally these kinds of things aren't even looked into but unfortunately, these weren't regular murders. These young women were mages. They were found with their throats cut and bodies drained dry of blood. Left behind at scenes that could be gotten to before the flooding were ritual sites. Signs of Black Magic. Old. Like the curse put on me.

So we decided to investigate. Investigate? I laughed a bit to myself. There has to be a joke in there somehow. Hajar reaches over and nudges me. I come out of my thoughts. "That was hurtful. Really it was. I could have been figuring out the source to all life and you decided to.." She cuts me off. "Elric, focus." She says. " I thought you were an Investigator. This should be your field of expertise. Here comes our suspect now." She was right. These murders are so unusual. Young mages should never come to the Slums. It left me with an uneasy feeling. I could tell Hajar was on edge as well. This was her first real mission and it had to be The Slums. Regardless our time spent here will be good for her. I hope.

We had been narrowing down our commoners to the murder areas and got a few leads from locals. I have done work before here so I had connections. Of course I had to teach Hajar how to blend in. Her designer mage clothing was not going to do. It screamed: Oh my! I am so rich! Could you please tell me what illegal things you do so I can run and snitch. At least that's what I thought. She comes from a first rate family. In New Mitos, first rate means your family descends from one of the original mage founders of the city. They lived lavishly and had a powerful blood line. That didn't count for anything in this hell hole, so I got her and me some worn down clothes. Shockingly she did not mind. I guess she wanted to prove herself.

She had the least real combat and worldly experience out of all of us. That explained her being uneasy about taking on this mission with me so soon. We told her she made up for her lack of experience with being taught by Adam Century. She liked that. Regardless, I still explained to her that out here, things could get messy and to be prepared. We watched one of our suspects come out of his apartment. We had been sitting in a car that I borrowed from one of my slum buddies. A 21st century car at that. Most people around The Slums drive antiques just like it. I put the car in gear as our suspect made his way down the sidewalk. He stumbled a bit and walked with a slight lean. Moving very slow he wasn't in a rush at all. His dirty tattered coat wrapped around him tight.

The Slums. They were a terrible place. Originally the first built parts of New Mitos they had become the residential graveyard for people who were deemed unfit for society. Disease. Famine. Death. All but one Horseman owned this part of the city. Only because us mages locked him up a long time ago. Run down buildings and old residential areas. Only certain parts had power. Occasionally, mages would come to do charity work and help those that are here. I say its a waste of time. These people were the lowest of the low. A few are here by circumstance, but most because they are criminals. Cut off by a magic barrier from the rest of New Mitos, only mages are allowed to pass in and out. Seems a bit unfair. What if a mage commits a crime? They can sneak back in. But that isn't so. No mages are sentenced here when they commit a crime. Unlike regular people, we have our magic stripped from us and beheaded. There is no second chance. That's the responsibility of a mage. Use your craft for good, or lose your life all together.

He stopped walking. I pulled the car to the side at a safe distance and put it in park. The hulking car clunked in response and I turned the key back. The car died and things got quiet. We watched as he looked around and quickly ran into a building in front of him. This was definitely our stop. My instincts were yelling at me. I opened the car door without a moment's thought but Hajar quickly grabbed me. I turned to look at her and the expression on her face was a mixture of concern and fear. The more I stared at her, the more innocent she got. Her long black hair was braided back into a single neat braid. Her bronze skin glowed with radiance even with the sun behind dark storm clouds. I met her dark eyes and that completed the look. She was gorgeous. I opened my mouth to say something but she cut me off. “We need a plan. You were about to go running off again and Orion told me to make sure we had things under control.” There was concern in her voice. She brushed a string of hair and settled back in the passenger seat. She was right. I lingered a bit staring at her as she sat there with her arms crossed. The beating of the rain making metallic sounds on the rusty car.

She raises her eyebrows with a questionable look. My thoughts were getting the better of me. I am not use to working with someone. I throw myself head first into danger because I can handle it. In this moment though, it isn’t just me in danger. One wrong move and I could be coming back alone. I get back into the car and close the door. She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I really thought for a second there you were going to just leave me behind." She says. I look out the window at the building our suspect went into. "No I wouldn't do that to you." I tell her. "I would instead send you in as bait." I smile at her and she rolls her eyes. Looks like I still have a lot to learn.

After a brief breakdown of planning we both exit the vehicle into the maelstrom outside. The rain only got harder as we went but it wasn’t such a bad thing. Our hoods hide our faces. I have only done investigations here so I am not a regular face, but I could probably pass since I have let my facial hair grow. Unfortunately, Hajar would be a dead give away. Women of her caliber don’t visit the Slums. At least that I know of. We walk down the sidewalk and pass the building that our suspect went inside. Of course it was too dark to see anything. We continued to walk to not draw attention to ourselves. I told Hajar that to blend in we have to move slow. People around here are never in a rush unless they are up to something. So we took our time. Passing people as we went.

When I thought things were safe I turned around to look at the building. No one had come out. Seems like this is our spot. If only she had let me run in there. As I turned back around I bumped into someone hard. They fell down and I stepped back. People watched but kept walking. A stern voice came from the person on the ground. “Well, Orion said you didn’t pay attention but that was just rude.” I realized it was Hajar. She sits up and gives me a sinister look. I smile and reach a hand down to help her. She takes it and I pull. Her hood flies off as she comes up and she looks down and grumbles. “Now I definitely look the part. I’m dirty, soaked, and my hair is wet.” I stare at her as she cleans herself off. She truly was gorgeous even as dirty as she was. She looks up suddenly and puts her hands on her waist. "What's with that look?" She asks. I shrug and say, "I’m just glad you have fallen from grace to enjoy the real world.” She didn’t like that comment. She starts to put her hood back on when a guy walking by grabs her wrist. I step forward fast and push him back.

The guy stumbles and walks back forward jabbing a finger at her. He yells, “You ain’t from here! I can tell by how ya look. No girls round here are that pretty.” A few other guys come up behind him. He slaps ones chest and nods in our direction. “She smells nice too boys.” They grin and start to laugh. I step between me and Hajar and put on my roughest voice. “Y'all right. She ain’t from round here.” They look pleased and step forward. I step forward as well. Me and this guy are face to face. He has infected scars all over his weathered skin. Pus oozing from them. His crooked nose was twisted and one of his eyes was glazed. His stringed thin hair was matted and full of dirt. The smell that lingered off him was something I could not describe. I jabbed a finger into his chest and said, “She’s  mine. I caught her and she obeys. So step off.”

He peers into my eyes and snorts. He steps back and I grab Hajar. I pull her roughly in front of me and look her in the eyes. I hope she gets what I’m doing. I pull her close to me and reach down into her coat. Rubbing her sides slowly all the way down. I hear her breathing change as I get lower. I grip the bottom of her butt and pull up. She jumps in response and whispers, "Elric. What are you doing?" I look over at the guys standing as they watch. I grab her face and pull it to mines. Before our lips meet, I whisper “ Go with it. Trust me.” She doesn’t respond but pulls my face into hers. We kiss. Her lips soft and refreshing. The moment flushed over my body. I forget we are in the closest place to hell since I feel so much in heaven. Time stands still before I pull away. I hesitate for a moment. The rain beats down on us both. She doesn’t say a word but lays her head on my chest. I quickly look up and the guys grumble and turn around. The man with the scars spits on the ground still staring. I raise a hand and give him the middle finger. He slowly turns around and keeps walking.

As soon as they disappear, Hajar pushes away from me. She walks away a bit and turns back around and stops to look at me. She says calmly, “I was pretending. Going along with your last minute thinking. Orion warned me about that too. So don’t get any ideas. I know it was acting for you as well.” She looked away and fixes her coat. I just stand there. The aftershocks of what just happened vibrating through my body. She looks back up at me and shakes her head. " Fine Elric. Let's just keep this between us. I know you are coming up with some kind of joke so save it." If only she was right.

I gain my composure back and I walk up to her. I fist bump her shoulder and say, “Don't worry. It's our little secret. Plus I know you have a thing for Adam anyway.” Her face blushes up and I give her a wink. Before she can respond we hear a noise behind us. Our suspect comes stumbling out of the building. He falls to the ground but gets back up. He looks around frantic and starts to run. I look back at Hajar and ask, “So you still want to take the observing route?” She smiles and her eyes shift colors from dark to a glowing ice blue. Sparks come off of them. “No. I’m already fired up. Let’s get him.” She says. We take off running behind him. Soon we will have answers. The Slums are a dark place but lately, I fear, it has gotten darker.

Author's Note

Second chapter rough draft. Leave a review and tell me what you think? Good or bad. I'm still experimenting with writing and trying to improve.