"Your jacket, that's what. I think it would look better in black." Sunny told her.
"You'd be the first to tell me that. I'm Master Jet." The beautiful older woman held her hand to him with a slight smile.
She was as pale as Sunny, with short Raven black hair and icy-blue eyes that were cold but not unfriendly. She looked in her mid-thirties, wearing a dark blue jacket covering her dark shirt, pants, and black leather boots.
Her presence was similar to Sunny's; the cold morning air dropped a few degrees when she was around.
Master Jet was nowhere near as pretty as the song sisters, but was definitely beautiful in her own right. She gave off the feeling that she took no nonsense from anyone.
"Detective Sunless, you said it was because they were heartless, and it's a solid theory, but it doesn't help us get any closer to their motivation." He shook her hand with a nod, then turned back to the body.
"I know, it was just an observation, but it would make sense, right?" She nodded, moving to stand beside him.
Sunny put on his gloves and turned the body slightly to the left. "Yeah, it would. There are deep marks on his back, an illegible word that's been scratched out. No, not scratched or carved out. Come here and take a look." He moved away to let Master Jet look.
"You're right, that part of his skin is completely missing, gods only know why they did that." She shook her head.
They were dealing with a sadistic killer.
"The forensics team likely already knows about this, but double-checking wouldn't hurt." Sunny removed his gloves and walked to the crime scene's nearby biohazard disposal bin.
"I'll go to them; you can stay here to see if they missed anything. Like you said, it doesn't hurt to double-check. Besides, I have to get to know these people." Master Jet walked off.
Waiting for Master Jet's Sunny allowed his mind to wander a bit, and he thought about the past again, specifically about his time as a sleeper in the dream realm. Where he first encountered Changing Star and her friend Song of the Fallen, or Cassie as he called her, on the forgotten shore.
Sunny was closer to the latter, thinking of her as another Rain. He met her at the academy but truly bonded with her during his time in the dark city.
He couldn't say the same for Nephis of the Immortal Flame Clan. Yes, they worked well together in combat; they were inseparable, but that was it; anything else didn't work. Due to the fame of her father, Broken Sword, and as her Clan's only heir, she was also famous.
But that didn't mean she excelled at social interactions; it was the opposite. Nephis was awful at them. She was shy, awkward, and aloof, despite her mother being known as the complete opposite of her daughter in terms of personality. But despite that, he kept in contact with her, just not as much as Effie or Cassie.
He dismissed his thoughts when Master Jet returned. "They knew about it. So how long have you been on the force?"
"I've been here for six years. I joined when I was eighteen." Sunny told her with a shrug.
"I'll be damned, my new partner became a detective at twenty-four years old, and he's a decade younger than me." She chuckled.
Partner?
"So you're the one Captain Bloodwave mentioned. Why didn't you say anything?" Sunny frowned.
"I wanted a good read on who I would work with for now, and I thought Bloodwave told you who I was. From what I've heard from the Nightwalker, you seem like a capable young man. I can respect that." Master Jet nodded.
"Thank you. I'm going to write a report on this, " Sunny pushed his hair out of his face, and walked off to his PTV Rain poured down on his face. He had left his umbrella in his vehicle.
"I'll come with you. I already talked to the witnesses before you arrived. I want to see how you do things." She suggested, her hair soaked with rain.
"What are you, my field training officer? Sure, why not?" Sunny dryly joked and motioned for her to follow.
Opening the door and getting into the driver's seat, Sunny opened his computer in his PTV and began typing. The ascended woman sat down in the passenger seat, watching him.
"I take it you've assisted with investigations like this before?" Sunny asked, glancing at her while typing, then focused on the computer again.
He saw her nod from his peripheral vision. "Yeah, a few years back, an awakened named Kurt. His aspect was that he could attack a person's shadow; he worked for the government, just like me. Somewhere along the way, he went mad and slaughtered a bunch of people in a nightclub. I killed him." She leaned her head against the window.
"I heard about that. The people at the station talked about an ascended woman dealing with him. Now I know that was you." Sunny was silently impressed and curious. Few people's aspects were affiliated with shadows; they were scarce.
"Yeah, it's a shame, there aren't many shadow aspect wielders. I'm curious to know about yours." Jet sighed and leaned the seat back.
"I can control my shadow. I use it to scout whenever I go into abandoned buildings." Sunny pointed to nowhere in particular and commanded Gloomy to move on his own. His sullen shadow gave a lazy wave to Master Jet while Sunny had already gone back to typing his report.
"Neat," She waved back.
Sunny was also famous for being part of Changing Star's cohort during his stay in the dream realm. So many people knew about him; they even made an awful movie about the forgotten shore. It even had a sub-romantic plot between that fool Caster Han li and Nephis.
But even arrogant fools like him had their uses. His aspect was beneficial in the final battle. To this day, Sunny wonders whether sparing him was a good idea. After all, his mission was to court Changing Star and have an arranged marriage with her so that the Han Li Clan would become more powerful and influential.
They would practically be untouchable if they were allied with the Immortal Flame Clan. Caster failed miserably in his mission. Sunny had heard he was exiled from his Clan when they returned to the waking world. Even Sunny thought such a punishment was harsh and extreme. But it didn't matter now, for that was seven years ago. The last he heard of the exiled heir was from Changing Star a year ago; she told Sunny that Caster had gone off to the Eastern Quadrant of Australia, attempting to form a Clan of his own.
"Done, I apologize, Master Jet. I don't mean to bore you on your first day working with me." Finishing his report, he sent it to his sergeant and closed his computer with a sigh.
She waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, believe it or not, I have to do the same in the government. I take it you're done for the day?"
Sunny shook his head. "Hardly. I still have to talk to suspects and witnesses, but I have an hour to kill around this time before interrogation."
"In that case, I know a–" Master Jet was interrupted when the radio crackled to life.
"Five minutes ago, homeless civilians had just called and reported that they heard the sounds of screams along with gunshots inside of an abandoned building that is just blocks away from the awakened academy; the captain has ordered that any nearby units immediately report to the designated address of the area and investigate. Proceed with caution, should you encounter the serial killer now being dubbed as the 'DREAM HUNTER' by civilians. The use of deadly force is not permitted. Over and out."
Before dispatch could finish, Sunny had already sped off into the streets, his face calm but his mind running a million kilometers a minute. That was close to where his former teacher, now a good friend, Julius, lived. Julius usually walked down the blocks before work and helped out the homeless, mundane humans by giving them food each day before he clocked in.
'No, no, no.'
Teacher Julius was old but also awakened, and people learned to be cautious of those who lived to grow old. He lived for so long because the old geezer was still dangerous despite working as a teacher. But still, that didn't ease Sunny's fear.
"Detective, you alright?" Master Jet had taken note of his silence since the dispatch announcement.
"No, but I will be once we get to that address. I have a good friend who lives near there." Sunny never took his eyes off the road.
"Who lives there?" She leaned forward, taking on a more serious tone.
"Julius, he's a teacher at the academy."
"Damnit, old man Julius? I know him, we're not exactly on good terms, but I still like the old goat." A dark look crossed her face.
"Yeah, I'm just surprised that 'Dream Hunter' would strike this early morning. What the hell is their goal? To get back at a crime lord?" Sunny asked more of himself than his new partner.
"Lunatics like that don't follow logic like we do, Detective." She reminded him.
"I know that, we're here." He pulled up to the address, then parked nearby, getting out of the car. Sunny saw that there were already other police officers, some of them standing guard in front of the yellow tape they had set up in front of the murder scene, while the rest attempted to calm the gathering crowd.
Walking towards them, he flashed his badge while Master Jet pointed to the insignia on her jacket. They were let through, and a patrol officer greeted them.
"Good morning, Detective, Miss Soul Reaper. I'm glad you could join us. The victim is said to be in there; we haven't gone in yet." He pointed to the nearby abandoned building.
Sunny nodded. "We'll talk to the witnesses first, then go inside. Until then, do not let anyone into that building; that's an order."
"Yes, sir."
"Is Lieutenant Static here yet?"
"No, sir. He's on his way. The estimated time of arrival is three minutes, and the witnesses are over there." He pointed to three people in blankets standing off from the crowd.
"Thank you," Sunny patted him on the shoulder as he walked to them with Jet beside him.
"You think they're still in there?"
"The killer? No, they may be brutal, but they're not idiotic, but someone is so that it could be them."
"How can you be so sure?" Master Jet raised an eyebrow.
"I just know it," He vaguely told her. In truth, Sunny had extended his shadow sense to the building the moment they stepped out of his vehicle, so he knew that no one was in there. Unless, of course, they could hide from his shadow sense, but the only way someone could do that was if they had an aspect of true darkness like Revel, or if they were a Saint, or if they had an aspect that completely covered their presence, but Sunny had yet to encounter that. He was blind to true darkness, as it was the natural enemy of all shadows, from divine shadows like Sunny himself to mundane ones.
Master Jet shrugged, accepting the answer, but didn't look convinced. It took over thirty minutes to talk to three witnesses. As dispatch said, if one could even call them that, they only heard the murder happen.
"Well, that was a big waste of time." His partner sighed tiredly.
"It usually is," He nodded with agreement.
He hadn't seen Julius this entire time, which only fueled the flames of fear, but that shadow he sensed in the building doused them. Lieutenant Static had arrived while they were questioning the three homeless people. When the three of them walked into the abandoned building, Master Jet and Static summoned luminous memories, while Sunny didn't bother because he could see in the dark.
It was dusty, filthy and smelled of rot, having not been cleaned in decades. The ceiling was caving in, and the floorboards were uneven. Plenty of unholy things took place here.
Sunny tracked the unmoving shadow in the abandoned building, with Master Jet covering his six and the lieutenant following his lead close beside him. Moving to the second floor, he stopped at a seemingly empty room with a closed door.
This was where the person was hiding. He slowly opened the door as quietly as possible, walking through the darkness. Sunny stepped into what he thought was water, but that instantly vanished when he smelled the unmistakable scent of blood. Sunny looked up and couldn't contain his look of disgust and horror.
Just as he was about to alert his companions, the attacker jumped out at him, attempting to strike him. Sunny easily subdued them, having sensed their shadow moving. Hearing the commotion, Jet shone her memory on them both.
Sunny couldn't contain his shock.
"What?! It's you?!"
I hope the pacing is fine. If it is not, please let me know. I also apologize for the wait! :) I hope your week goes well!