Ezra gripped the wheel tightly as he drove, thinking through the thoughts that refused to settle.
The sun was already setting in the horizon, painting the city in hues of orange and purple. The streetlights were slowly coming on as night rapidly approached.
The car he was in was one of the standard issue police vehicles as he couldn't take his own personal cop car.
He wasn't supposed to be out in the field as he was supposed to be on break but there was no way he could stay away when he had heard the na of the victim.
Maya.
The sa Maya he had interviewed at Hyde's mansion, the one who had provided testimony that sealed the fate of another.
Now, she was dead. Or so he'd heard. Apparently, she had committed suicide.
But Ezra knew better. Vampires didn't just kill themselves, at least not in the ways humans did.
This was sothing else.
Ezra gave himself a quick glance. He was obviously not going to the scene as himself.
Instead, he was using his chaleon, wearing the guise of another officer.
The real officer in question was currently unconscious in a secured room deep within peacekeeper HQ.
No one would find him until Ezra returned.
The illusion he wore now, designed to keep himself out of public view, would hold long enough for him to get through this investigation without raising too many questions.
The car rolled to a stop outside the theater, an old building that was known as the place where dreams are made. Other places are where those dreams are achieved.
The reporters were already gathered outside, being held back by the police barricade. Their caras flashed, their eyes sharp with hunger for the story.
To them, this was just another tragedy, another headline. They were like sharks that had slled blood in the water.
Ezra stepped out of the car, pushing past the crowd and flashing his police badge at the officers at the barricade to gain access.
He made his way into the theater, walking past more grand old wood and decorations.
Gen was already inside, waiting for him at the center of the stage.
She had taken charge of the scene, her Aura subtly keeping everything in place, preventing anyone from disturbing the evidence.
Maya's body hung from the center of the stage, swaying slightly like a grotesque centerpiece in a twisted kind of performance.
A fallen chair lay at her feet, as if it had been part of so dark, final act.
Covering Maya's face was a black veil.
Ezra stopped in front of the body, his eyes narrowing as he examined the scene. Gen stood beside him, her expression calm but serious.
"You were right to call ." Ezra said, his voice low. "Maya's na didn't belong on a suicide report."
Gen nodded, her eyes flicking briefly to the body. "I've managed to keep everything in place with my Aura. No one's touched anything. The reporters would have had a field day if they'd gotten close."
Ezra moved closer, inspecting the body. Maya's lifeless body dangled from the rope, her arms limp at her sides.
The black veil covering her face seed oddly ceremonial, like sothing out of a twisted ritual.
"It's the sa killer that took Hyde." Gen said quietly. "Maya's blood inside her body, it's red. Just like Hyde's. You know that's not normal for vampires."
Ezra's jaw clenched as he nodded. This lined up with what he'd already investigated so far. "Whoever did this, they wanted this death to be seen."
"But why?" He stepped back, pacing around the stage, his mind working through the details. "Who found her?"
"The janitors." Gen replied. "This morning. They called it in imdiately, but they didn't touch anything. I confird."
"Anybody get in apart from them?" Ezra asked.
"Yeah." Gen nodded. "Two actors who I also confird didn't touch anything and…"
Ezra frowned, turning to look at Gen.
"And?"
"The sa reporter you went to et." Gen said.
"Wait, what?"
"Soone was able to circumvent your commands, especially since this is a new case." Gen said. "Fortunately, I ca in ti and took care of it."
She checked her watch. "He should be out of the city by now."
Chapter Your:
"Good." Ezra nodded once. It was better to have the reporter out of the city than to have the killer use him again or worse, have them kill him to keep the Law of Secrecy intact.
Ezra turned away to look back at the body again, his eyes scanning every inch of the stage. Sothing about this didn't sit right.
A vampire couldn't kill themselves by hanging from a rope. It was impossible. Just like a vampire couldn't die from simple poisoning or any other ans that would kill a human.
What was the masked killer trying to tell him? If they weren't sending a ssage, why were they ensuring the deaths were public?
"This has to be the work of a tattoo." Ezra muttered to himself. "No ordinary poison would work on a vampire."
"Any sign of struggle?" He asked.
"None at all." Gen said. "Either the person behind this cleaned up after themselves or there was no struggle at all."
Ezra chuckled to himself. With vampires, there was no way to tell either way. "Imprint?"
"There was no imprint." Gen answered. "Whatever happened here wasn't strong enough to leave an imprint on the natural vitality of the environnt. Just like with Hyde's murder."
Ezra sighed. What was the ssage?
But then his eyes widened. This murder was different from the rest. The killer had added sothing new.
His eyes flicked up to the veil.
"What was that?" He muttered.
He stepped closer to the body, his eyes narrowing as he examined the veil more closely. It was torn, right down the middle. A clean cut, almost as if it had been made deliberately.
"Why give her a torn veil?" Ezra asked with a frown. "What's the ssage here?"
Gen watched him carefully as he paced around the body again, thinking through every possibility. Then, suddenly, sothing clicked in his mind.
"A torn veil." He whispered to himself, his eyes widening slightly. "A broken veil."
He stopped, the realization hitting him like a wave. "Veilbreaker."
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