New York, November 12, 2023 8:37 PM
"Silas, have you checked on the new case yet?"
The middle-aged man with dark brown hair and hooded eyes asked.
"Yes, Senior Anthony," replied a young man with dark hair and brown almond-shaped eyes.
"To be more truthful, I even started the investigation, even though I could not find any dots to the strings. We spoke to all her friends, but they could not provide useful information. Everyone either said that they did not see her or that she went into the garage and perished."
Silas glanced at his desktop and the man towering over him beside the office table.
"How could a person vanish without a trace? And what is the mother saying about all of this?" Anthony asked with curiosity.
"Same as when she first reported, Anna just went down with kids to play and after did not come back."
At the response middle aged man only sighed.
"Well then.. I have to inform you that you are going to have a new partner in this investigation."
Silas looked at man with confusion, it was long since he was assigned directly with someone, pretty unusual feeling.
"And why is that? Pretty much sure I can handle this alone, there was no case that I was unable to accomplish by myself. New mate will just slow me down."
It was really a new thing to him, as a detective he was always working alone on the cases. In his mind working alone is way more effective than pairing up, as well that he does not like to relay on anyone. Even with this, his services never got any complains.
"I do not care, Silas. I did not assign you, you either work like this or just drop the case and I will find someone else to hook up to this."
Young man still tried to argue about it but it was useless, he did not want to drop this because for his morals it would be as bad as just giving up on duty.
"Anyways, your shift is over. Tomorrow go to the Bureau of Special Services, the new mate is gonna wait for you there."
Silas nods as a sign of agreement, what else could he do? He took his beloved suit case and was about to leave as Mr. Anthony stopped him.
"And please be easy on him, he is quite new to this."
Silas quietly left without saying anything, he was walking through the hallway with bothered look. Words: "he is quite new to this" were still running through his head, what did that old man mean by that? The fact that he was paired with someone who is new was even more disturbing to him. But.. perhaps it would change him? With this thoughts he got into the bus. After few a hour in traffic he finally reached his empty and dark apartment.
"At least some stuff never change, more likely shall not change." He smirked.
Yes, it was better for some things to stay the same. His apartment was small, consisting of just four rooms, with the kitchen and living room connected. In the center of the living room was a cozy green sofa, with a small coffee table and a TV that was never turned on in front of it. His bedroom was unremarkable, featuring only a bed, a working table with a laptop, a bookshelf, and a small drawer. After washing his face, he quickly went to sleep, his mind preoccupied with thoughts about what kind of fool he would have to work with.
When he opened his eyes he saw nothingness, there was only a sound, a crying girl's sound: "Mom! Mom! I am here, mom!" The girl was yelling and sobbing but she was nowhere to be found, there was only her voice. Silas was running through this emptiness trying to find the girl but his attempts were useless, it felt like he was running through endless halls and kept going to the same spot or how would he know if the spot was the same if it was so empty?
"Where are you?!" He shouted but got no answers to his calls.
He kept running and running. After some time he stopped, he could not run or move only breathe. Suddenly everything collapsed and he fell into the emptiness itself and the darkness or so-called nothingness embraced him. The girl's sob switched to laughter, and he started choking he could not breathe or move.
All of a sudden he woke up coughing and quickly reached for a glass of water.
"The hell was that..." He whispered to himself.
Silas pinched himself to make sure he was actually awake. After some time he realized it all was just a nightmare. He lay back down to the bed uncertain if he could fall asleep again after this experience.
November 13, 2023 7:30 AM
The alarm rang and it was a sign to get ready for work. Silas was not sleeping but still could not get up, he was thinking about the case and nightmare. Were they linked together? Does it have to do anything with the case? Is it even worth investigating? Is he sure he wants to go further into it? But it was his duty to accomplish this task, without a second glance he stood up and got ready for the work. He put on his beloved black suit that was so dear to him. At around 8 AM he locked the door and put the keys in his pocket, it was time to go to work. He always went to the bus early, he loved the feeling of being alone. Soon he reached the department and with slow steps started walking towards the Bureau of Special Services.
It was a few minutes that he stood in front of the door unsure if he was ready to go in, but he knew he had to.
"May the fortune be on my side." Silas took a deep breath and opened the door.
When he entered the room he saw a young-looking boy sitting on the couch and scrolling through his phone. He looked around when a pretty attractive woman approached him, she looked like she was in her 30s.
"May I assist you with anything?" The woman spoke with a gentle voice.
"Oh, yeah I got assigned with someone to investigate case A-097," Silas answered.
She looked pretty confused.
"I am not sure if we got any information provided about that.."
Before she could finish the sentence young man stood up from the couch and walked towards them.
"It must be me!" He warmly shouted.
Silas looked the young man up and down, studying him. He looked naive, open-minded, very soft-hearted, and foolish.
"Are you sure it is you? Maybe it is a mistake?!" Silas nervously spoke.
"Yeah, I am sure! Call me Adrian, sir! Adrian Morrow." He giggled as he introduced himself.
"I am Silas Reynolds, nice to meet you, fellow mate.." Silas sighed.
"Well then, good luck to you Adrian." The woman warmly looked at Adrian and went back to her work spot.
Soon after Silas left the bureau Adrian followed him. Adrian was pretty attractive, with light brown hair which was almost shining, greenish eyes mixed with brown, and a small nose. Would mention that he was walking very clumsily.
"This is going to be harder than I thought." Silas thought to himself.
They both left the department.
"Do you drive?" He asked Adrian.
"Nope." He pouted.
Silas released a loud sigh as a sign of disappointment.
"Then by bus, I guess..." He awkwardly whispered to himself.
Adrian was naive I would say too naive. He did not say a thing but agreed to anything Silas said like he did not know where he was and what was he investigating. When they reached the examination area Silas started exploring the garage once more as if he had never done it before.
"What are we doing?" The boy asked with curiosity.
"We are trying to find the traces... again." Silas exhaled.
"What do you mean with "again?"
Silas stood up and looked at him.
"You know this case was around for a while now, but we do not have any other hints other than this. I was here a few times and could not find anything new." He moved to a nearby chair.
"Is that so? Maybe it is your fault." Adrian chuckled.
"So now you are making fun of my investigating skills, huh?" Silas looks with a more serious expression.
"I think you're just looking at things superficially and not delving into their depths. Not just during the investigation, but in general, your life and the people around you."
He glanced at Silas and after back at the shelves in the garage. Silas went quiet for a bit as he was actually thinking about Adrian's words.
"Even today when we got into the bus you were looking at everyone as if you are exploring them but do not like anyone, do you? You do not like interacting with people, what is the point of your skills? You can have the best observation skills out there but still be worse than anyone."
The boy gave a last glance to Silas and went to the boxes on the shelf. Silas remained quiet unable to gather any words into a sentence, probably because Adrian's words were truthful to his heart. Finally, he managed to gather some words but into different subjects.
"It is useless to try to find anything there, I already checked it hundreds of times." He spoke with a gentle tone.
"Perhaps you did. Maybe if you move them?" Adrian said playfully.
"I tried that as well but still empty, It disappointing ending no matter how much you try. Do not bother with it."
Even with this he still did not stop and kept digging with hope to find something. That is how they spent around an hour or two.
"There will be something, I am sure of it!" Adrian was stubborn about this.
In secret, Silas respected the young man's stubbornness and dedication but what is the point of being so aspired to find clues if you know there is nothing? Just a waste of time.
"It is getting late, just leave it," Silas murmured.
"I can not leave it like that, I believe we just do not see something!" He was strict with his ambitions.
Silas stood up and started walking towards the entrance of the garage.
"Then stay, I do not have any will to keep being on the same spot."
"Okay, may you at least provide me with your contact? So I will be able to text you if I find anything?" He spoke while chasing the detective.
Silas froze as if someone was going into his comfort zone.
"Right.. here is my number," They exchanged numbers.
"See you tomorrow Senior Silas!"
"Catch you later, Adrian."
When Silas got on the bus, his phone started to ring in his pocket. It was Anthony. He quietly took the phone.
"Yes, Mr. Anthony?"
"Hi there Silas. You do not have to be formal over a phone call. How is the investigation going? Did you get along with your new comrade, hmm?" Anthony asked with curiosity from the other line.
"Still nothing, Anton. He checked the same shelves and boxes hundreds of times and kept digging into them. His stubbornness annoys me."
All of a sudden Ant started laughing.
"Well, that is exactly why I got him into this, he is a very gifted kid. He is smart and very obstinate, for a case as this he is the perfect candidate to work." He said in a playful tone.
"I do not understand what he can change but-"
Before he managed to finish the sentence Anthony cut him off.
"That is why you have to wait, time shows way more than words, won't you agree?" His tone became unusually serious.
"Yes, I understand." Silas agreed.
"Okay then, have a peaceful sleep, Silas. Just trust the boy."
"Alright I will try, Mr. Anthony," He said and ended the call.
When he put his phone in his pocket, the bus was already at its stop. He quickly got off, went to his apartment, and started getting ready for bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, he received a message, reached for his phone, and looked at it with bleary eyes. It was Adrian.
"Hey there Senior Silas! I wanted to inform you that I found some clues, I was walking around the building and found a strange painting under the roof in a corner close to the houses. It took me a lot of time but it looks like a map or something I can not tell. Let's meet up tomorrow for further inspection. Have a look at it: photo. I hope this will help. Have a peaceful sleep."
Silas reread the message three times to make sure it is real.
"Hell yeah, thanks A LOT Adrian. I will buy you coffee tomorrow for this as a sign of thanks for your hard work. You did it HAHA! See you tomorrow!"
He sent the message and lay back down trying to sleep but he was unable to from excitement at the same time he felt anxious as if someone beat him in the thing he was good at, yet he was still happy. Suddenly Adrian's words popped out, maybe he is only looking at stuff from the surface, perhaps he is not as great as he thinks about himself. But why did someone as naive as Adrian find clues before him? How is that possible? He felt bothered but at the same time relaxed. Without more fever, he falls asleep.