The morning sun rose with eerie silence. Looking down on the city of Fenn.
At one point in time, the people of this city used to be late sleepers, causing them to wake up in the morning as the sun was at its highest point.
Everything was normal at first, until one morning, the people of this city found their mayor's head resting atop a wooden prank in the middle of the city. And as for his body. It wasn't missing or anything like that. The thing was, it was still resting in his mansion. Headless.
Blood covered all his bed sheets, and with the mayor's large, flabby body, he looked like a giant chunk of meat waiting to be grilled by the mansion's cooks. But no one dared to approach it, cause they were all afraid that they'd be blamed for the murder of the mayor.
All they could do was watch from afar.
At his funeral, some people cried in sorrow while others were still puzzled about what would've ended the life of the good man they all called the mayor. And as for other people who were also present at the funeral, they were constantly looking around, making sure they weren't next on the list of whoever did this.
During the night after the funeral, no one had a nice sleep; no one enjoyed themselves. It could've been because their mayor was dead and they were mourning him. No. These people were still afraid.
The mayor had enough protection to rival a whole nation. How could someone that strong end up dead? In the end, it didn't matter how many guards he had or how much power he wielded; he was dead.
A few short days later, almost half the people who used to be his guards vanished without a cause. And a few short days later, they were found dead by the river in this beautiful city.
The people didn't know what to think or who to blame; all they could do at the moment was watch as the serial murders continued.
As things were going, every day during daybreak and every night, two people seemed to continue enjoying themselves.
Laughing without a care in the world.
They were a lad and a lass dressed in flashy outfits as if they were coming from an after-party of some noble event.
The lad was Kevin, dressed in his usual wear, a black suit with red lining. And the lass was Nyx, his little sister.
She had pale skin that almost looked white. Her black hair was styled into two messy buns with long, loose strands and blunt bangs across her forehead.
Her eyes were a tired blue, heavy-lidded with a sharp, almost bored expression.
She wore a tailored black coat with a high collar and crimson lining that flared dramatically behind her like wings of a raven mid-flight. Beneath it was a daring crimson corset that hugged her torso, its lacquered edges glinting under light.
Her shorts were sleek, black, high-waisted, yet they fell into a mid-thigh fit that gave her elegance.
Her legs were sheathed in stockings, both striped in alternating bands that drew the gaze downward to sleek, patent-black heels with delicate ankle straps...
They would stand in the middle of the cobblestone road and laugh until some of the people around the nearby residences would start complaining without pause. Even so, Kevin and Nyx never stopped laughing, and nobody ever dared to come make them stop.
They would laugh for some time and then disappear into the thin air like they were never there...
Two months passed by in a flash, and life had slowly started getting back to normal.
Some of the people in the city were still shaken up by the mayor's sudden death, while others had decided to move forward with their lives.
They had no time to take a seat and mourn longer, cause winter was slowly approaching and they needed to prepare for it before it hit them. Hard.
The mayor's house was filled with different people from both far and nearby cities surrounding Fenn, trying to investigate how someone had managed to kill such a powerful person in a single night, and worst of all, the mayor was killed inside his own house, then his head was taken out of it to be placed in the middle of the city as if display.
A man with a scar on his face said softly. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't seem to recall what I was doing when it all happened."
"I see."
Standing in front of him was a man wearing a long coat that reeked of the smell of cigarettes, and for some reason, it looked new.
"Okay, you're good to go." He said, pulling out a cigarette from his coat while looking at the man in front of him with his golden brown eyes.
The man with the scar nodded as he walked away, leaving the man in the brown coat standing.
A moment later, the man sighed. Slowly smoking his cigarette, trying to relieve the stress in his shoulders.
"What a day." He said, turning around.
"Detective Declan."
"Oh, did you need something?"
A young lad who looked like he was in his late twenties approached Detective Declan or the man in the brown coat with a smile on his face.
"No, I was just wondering if you were done questioning that man from earlier." The lad said.
His name was Nowa, a detective in training, and he and Declan were in the city of Fenn to investigate the death of the mayor of his city.
Declan chuckled.
Nowa blinked, curious about what Declan could be chuckling about. Was there something funny he missed? No.
"Yeah..." Declan uttered, putting away his cigarette as he walked passed Nowa.
"Now, let's go find the next guard."
"Okay, sir," Nowa replied hesitantly as he tailed him. Eyes wandering at the touring doors ahead of them, and beside it was a guard who looked nervous at the approaching detectives.
"You must be Leno," Declan said, closing the distance between him and the guard in front. And by Leno, he meant the guard standing at the doors.
Nervously, Leno replied. "...Yes, did ya need me for something?" Scanning Declan from head to bottom.
"Yeah, we have a few questions we need to ask ya. Could you spare us some time?"
"...S, sure"
A second later, they began questioning Leno, and as expected, Leno said the exact thing the guard with the scar across his face said. But their investigation wasn't such a waste, cause they knew that they were getting closer and closer to the person behind the mayor's brutal death and the serial killing that had been occurring in the city.
Later, after questioning a few more guards.
Nowa sighed, disappointed by the results.
"What a waste, none of the guards seem to remember what happened. What's the point of working as a guard if you know you're just gonna be wasted on the job?" He complained, glinting at his teeth while hitting his forehead with his thumb.
"Actually, it wasn't a waste."
Declan said, looking at young Nowa with a subtle smile.
"Huh...?" Nowa uttered, surprised.
He expected Declan to be angry or unsatisfied, and in his surprise, Declan seemed normal. Too normal in fact.
"Ya see, in this type of work, every feedback is important, cause we folks learn from that feedback to track down the real killer. Like in this case, none of those guards seems to remember what happened the night their mayor died. I think I know the reason for that."
Nowa paused, wondering where Declan was heading.
"It might have been that they were knocked unconscious by whoever killed the mayor."
"Knocked unconscious?" Nowa asked, looking at Declan with a confused yet curious expression.
"I think. Cause with the number of guards here, someone random can't walk by unnoticed, and if ya didn't notice, almost every inch of this mansion has security measures like traps and extra security. So, for someone like me to wander around trying to commit a crime, they would take me down in an instant,
"So, the only possible way is to use a sleeping drug to knock each guard on their feet at once. Yeah, something like that."
"So you're saying that the killer knows their way around, that they planned for all that before coming here?" Nowa asked, curious as he stared at one of the walls surrounding the mansion.
"Yeah. So whoever we're looking for is still in the city somewhere, living a normal life to prevent any suspicion,
but in any case, we need to find them as soon as possible so we can get the hell out of this stupid city." Declan said, taking a small step forward before he completely started working towards the exit of the mansion.
Upon reaching the door, he turned, looking back for a moment, making sure he hadn't let anything behind and making sure that no one was observing them as they left. And the thought itself irritated him.
"Is something the matter, sir?" Nowa asked, noticing the irritation on Declan's expression
Declan didn't reply with words; he only shook his head, gesturing that there wasn't anything wrong.