My guts are telling me something
1662 Words
Once again, we all found ourselves in an empty classroom where we waited to hear what Ryker had to say about his brother.
“I just remembered something that might help with the case.” he began “During our times in the Unseelie colony, Zed was actually a part of this d**g gang.”
“d**g g**g?” my eyes widen “What did he do? d**g trafficking?”
“Something like that, they would sell illegal drugs across Fantastopia, most of them were obtained from your world.”
Whoa. That’s not good.
“I was actually really shocked when I found out, but he suddenly stopped when Sienna was born. After that, I haven’t caught him doing any more of his deeds. However, I can’t help but feel like he might have kept doing it during our times apart. Now I could be wrong, but I just felt like you guys should know this so you can look into it and see if he had any enemies in this g**g who might have wanted him dead.”
“Well,” I breathed “Thanks for letting us know about this. What else do you know about this g**g? What kind of drugs did they sell?”
“I only know a couple, there was cocaine and I think marijuana.”
“Damn,” Hazel shook her head “Two of the most illegal drugs in the world.”
“There could be more,” Ryker shrugged “But that’s all I know.”
“Anything else?” I asked, “Do you know how many there are?”
“Sorry,” he shook his head “I don’t. But I do know that one of the former g**g members lives up here now.”
“Really? Where?”
“I think he’s a student here. What was his name... Leo?”
“Theo?” Dale suddenly corrected. And by the look on his face, he seemed to know this guy.
“Yeah, that’s it. Theo. You know him?”
__________
So it turns out Dale knows this former g**g member and this Theo guy is actually a student here. Talk about a coincidence. But since the classes were already over for the day, we had to catch up with Theo outside were Dale caught up with him near the drawbridge.
“Hey, Theo” he called out “I did get your name correct, right?”
“Yes,” the elf guy nodded with a small smile.
“Oh, thank goodness” Dale breathed in relief.
I gave a small snicker as we all caught up with them.
“You’re Theo?” I asked him.
“I am” he responded, “And you’re Jesse, right?”
“Correct. Do you mind if we can talk to you for a moment?”
“Um, is this gonna take long? Because I really gotta get home and study.”
“We’ll try to be quick. So, Dale told us that he interviewed you about Zed’s murder.”
“That’s right,” he nodded.
“And you told him everything you knew?”
“Yes...” he responded with a concerned look “Is something wrong?”
“How come you didn’t tell me that you knew Zed from your past?” Dale demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“We found out that you and Zed used to be members of this d**g gang.”
At that moment, Theo felt himself freezing by the sound of that. It looks like Ryker was telling the truth.
“Um...” he suddenly mumbled with his head down, “Ryker told you guys didn’t he?”
“So it’s true?” Aria questioned.
“Yes,” he sighed, “We were part of the d**g gang.”
“So you were born a Dark Elf?”
He sighed again while lifting up the hem of his shirt. And just like Zed, there was the mark of the black crescent moon on his waist.
“No way” Hazel gasped “Are there any more Dark Elves up here that we should know about?”
“I don’t know,” Theo shrugged while dropping his shirt “But look, Dale, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. Like most of the Dark Elves who come up here, I’m looking for a fresh start. What I did before was all in the past.”
“I know but,” Dale replied, “You should’ve still told me about it. We need to know everything about Zed to find out who killed him, especially a motive.”
“I understand” he sighed “Once again, I’m sorry. I just don’t really like talking about the past.”
“I get it,” I told him “But this is a murder investigation, we need to know everything. Now, is there anything else that we should know about Zed?”
“No,” he shook his head “That’s all I know, I swear.”
“You sure?” I asked while crossing my arms “Because if you’re withholding information from us, that’s a serious offense.”
“I’m not, that’s all I know. Really.”
I continue to glare at him for a moment to see if he was telling the truth. But for some reason, I can’t help but feel that there’s more to this guy that we don’t know about.
“Does anyone else know about your past?” Aria suddenly asked him.
“Just my friend West.”
“West?” I raised an eyebrow “The wizard in training guy?”
“Yes,” he nodded, “I came up here around the same time Zed and his family did. West became my first friend up here.”
“Oh,” I remarked a bit amused “Well uh, that’s nice to know. But if you two know anything else that could help us, please let us know.”
“We will,” he promised.
As soon as we let Theo go, we all went back inside the palace where Cian suddenly ran up to us while carrying Zed’s pants.
“Guys!” he called out when he stopped in front of us “You all got a minute?”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I was looking through Zed’s clothes again to see if I’ve missed anything and look what I found in his pants.”
He reached into one of the pockets where we heard him unzip something. And as he reached his hand into it, he pulled out a small black drawstring bag which sounded like it contained some coins.
“Wait a minute” Aria’s eyes widen as she took that bag and opened it “Didn’t Flint say that he accused Zed of stealing his money?”
“Could that his money?” Dale pointed with a gasp.
“It’d have to be since it was hidden in a secret pocket.”
“So Zed really did steal his money?” Hazel remarked in shock “I can’t believe Flint was actually right about something.”
“Well, we can’t be certain that it’s his. Hazel, can you show this to him and see if it really belongs to him?”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the only one who’s not afraid of Flint.”
“That’s true,” she nodded while taking the bag and heading off.
I’m not surprised to hear that. I don’t even think Hazel’s afraid of anything. Well, besides hazelnuts of course.
“Okay then,” I spoke while checking the time on the wall “I still got some time left before I go. Any chance I can see Zed’s room?”
“Sure,” Aria responded, “Right this way.”
Most of the worker’s rooms were on the west side of the palace, and boy was there a lot of them. But as soon as Aria led us to Zed’s room, she unlocked the door and allowed us inside.
“Whoa,” I remarked once we were inside “There’s not much here.”
The room was about the size of a kitchen, all it had was a twin-size bed that was unmade, a desk, a small dresser, and a small closet.
“Um, do all of the workers’ rooms look like this?” I asked Aria.
“Pretty much” she shrugged “Although most of them actually take the time to clean up their space.”
“And considering that Zed worked here at the palace, I thought he’d make some pretty good money to tidy up his room.”
“Well,” she breathed “I guess he decided to use the money for other things. Now, we can’t stay in here too long, the maids are expected to come clean soon. So let’s try to be quick.”
We got started with the search. We looked everywhere to find any clues that could us with this case. But there wasn’t much in this room, all I could find was basic house supplies, nothing worth causing suspicion.
“Oh my God!” Dale suddenly gasped which caused me to jump.
“What is it?!” Aria and I gasped as well.
Dale reached into one of the drawers of the dresser he was searching through as he pulled out what appeared to be a comic book.
“Zed reads Marvel’s comics!” he exclaimed with a smile “I’ve always wanted to read these!”
Oh my- seriously Dale?
“Dale,” I muttered, “Put that away, we’re looking for clues, not comic books.”
“Would it be wrong if I took this?” Dale quickly asked, already flipping through the pages “I mean, it’s obvious he’s not gonna need this anymore.”
“Put that away” Aria ordered with a frown.
“Fine,” he grunted while placing it back in the dresser “But if I find something else worth meaning to me, I’m keeping it.”
We just rolled our eyes as we kept searching the room, but no matter how hard we searched, there was nothing we could find.
“How is it possible that this guy barely has anything?” I remarked in astonishment.
“Find anything?” Hazel suddenly appeared out of nowhere near me which caused me to jump in fright.
I then realized that I was standing next to the open door, how did I not hear her come?
“Um uh-” I quickly responded once I settled down “We didn’t find anything.”
“Well,” she responded while leaning against the door frame “Guess what I just found out.”
“That money belonged to Flint?”
“Yep.”
“Really?” Aria reacted surprised “Are you sure?”
“He told me that he needed the money to pay off his dad for something. And we all know that whenever Flint brings up his dad and money in the same sentence, he’s telling the truth.”
“Yeah,” Aria and Dale nodded in agreement.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow.
“We’ll tell you later,” Hazel told me as she turned to Aria “Oh, by the way, the maids are here.”
“Alright,” Aria sighed “Looks like there’s nothing in this room that could help.”
“Are we certain?” I asked with a concerned look “I can’t help but feel like there is something here.”
“Jesse, this is a small room and we’ve searched everywhere, there’s nothing here.”
“But-”
“Jesse, we have to go. And you need to go back to your college.”
Oh damn, I had forgotten about that. And she was right, I had to go back. But as we left the room, I still can’t help but get this gut feeling in me that there was something in that room. And whenever my guts get a feeling, they’re never wrong.
- Writer
