Tangled Pathways

Chapter One Pages 4-6

6 weeks later.

Monday, December 19th

Malyia's Home

6 weeks had passed since Austin and Malyia's incident and with that time she had not spoken to him and he had not spoken to her because the night she and Austin slept together he was nowhere to be found in the morning and he did his best to avoid almost as if she was one of his one-night stands and that hurt more then anything.

Christmas was approaching and thankfully the Magic murderer had decided to bestow a gift upon the town, No Murders had happened perhaps he was planning or just waiting but she didn't care as long as no more women died she could relax though It was a constant feeling for Malyia that the killer would attack at a random time and catch them off guard, The man loved to make them wait and make them think it was game to him perhaps to let the anticipation build and build until the blow came.

The sun was bright and beautiful it had been snowing a lot recently and to finally have some sun in the town was amazing and she sat up in her bed admiring it for a while before finally getting ready to go to work. .She let out a big sigh as she went inside the bathroom to take a hot shower before work , the water was heaven the chilly air in the house was unwelcoming but when the water hit her skin she couldn't help but close her eyes and soak in the water. The water washed away all of her stress and soothed her sore muscles. Though good things never lasted long and when Austin popped into her mind her eyes sprung open he had been on her mind lately and it scared her. She hadn't thought about him that much since he had gotten married and then later divorced and she hated that s*x had finally come between them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sickness this had been happening for about a week or two now she was throwing up or just sore constantly sometimes it would pass other times it lasted through the day. She wrapped the towel around her body and as she stepped out she grew dizzy for a moment but after drinking a cup of water and taking a few Tylenols she was felt fine. The routine of sickness then feeling fine was something that had been happening so she knew it was only a little cold and a few more days and she would be fine.

When she finally finished throwing on her work clothes she was walking out of her front door until she looked down and there on the porch was a bouquet of roses. The rose petals were a dark red color they resembled the color of blood. You never really know how something some pretty and light could be so dark and sinister until you've seen a dead body. Roses were her favorite flower though and she assumed they had been from Austin perhaps he had finally came to his senses and so she bending down to pick up the roses. "Oh wow," she said as she inhaled the smell of the fresh flowers and they didn't smell like fresh copper or that stench blood had but they smelled like sweet syrup and fresh rain.

A piece of white paper had caught her eye and inside of one of the flowers was a note that read "Hope your ready for files and food"-Detective James. She had felt horrible at first for not remembering she had invited Tristian the new detective over for dinner and she felt even worse that she had thought it was Austin who had gifted her these flowers. After putting away the flowers and locking the house up she left for work.

Austin stood outside the building almost as if he had been waiting for her and as she parked her car he had already made his way over. She stepped out of her car looking over at him.

"What's got you so happy?" he said, walking over to her, seeing as she couldn't wipe the smile off her face; she just smiled even brighter. " Nothing just having dinner with a new friend tonight " Austin reeled back almost as if he had been slapped in the face, and his voice came out as a low growl. "With who?" he looked at her as his hand pressed on her car door right beside her trapping her.

" The new investigator Tristan James he asked me out a few weeks ago Seems I forgot" Austin Scowled. "You can't be serious, you barely know the man" Malyia simply rolled her eyes as she pushed past him. "We've been working with him for over six weeks now I know him just fine" she said before laughing softly.

" This is none of your business we had s*x one time and you haven't talked to me outside of work work on yourself before you try and pull the overprotective best friend act" she said as she left him gaping with one last glare before she walked inside the station.

The conference room was filled with officer and when she walked in she was greeted by a few of the officers confused on why this meeting had been called. A few more officers trailed in and the room grew with chatter when Austin and Tristian walked in both caught Malyias eyes to which she did not meet theirs.

"Quiet everyone welcome" The chief's big gruff voice caught everyone's attention.

" Officers this is investigator Tristan James I'm sure a few of you have met him but for those who have not he has been helping us with catching this bastard" The Cheif said before he gestured over to Malyia. and with a smile as she stood up, walking to the front the room.

"You all listen up" she caught the man's attention since she wasn't one to speak up even the Chief was surprised.

" The files in front of you now are the Magic murderers victims in every one of those files the woman was married we know that this man has a motive he rapes them then slices their throat sometimes he dresses them in more formal clothing they have other times he strips them naked and leaves them we have been seeing this pattern from the last 5 victims" the officers all picked up the files and began flipping through them. Malyia took in the looks of their faces some were filled with disgust others angers and lastly some with curiosity.

" Open up that blue folder you'll see Samantha Greenhouse, our most recent victim she was pregnant our only pregnant victim now the Killer could have known and he might be changing up his motive but for now we are focused on married woman and any strange men lurking around houses at night, We will be sending out reports so we can keep these woman from becoming one of his victims, its been a while since a murder has happened lets do our best to find this asshole before he decides he wants to kill again so we going back to the beginning reviewing all we can" She said.

"We have a murderer to catch everyone's on this case now Austin your with me, we have a press conference" Chief said and the officers in the room begin to disperse. "Good Job Kid, how about you head with Officer Lincoln to finish searching Mrs. Greenhouse place see if you could find anything else" he said and that day did not progress, Lincoln and I went and did another run through the place we even talked with Mr.Greenhouse and to no avail we found nothing. Why would anyone kill someone so sweet she had done nothing at least to our knowledge.

By the time she got home it was pretty late and she knew Tristian would be over soon. Over the 6 weeks she had talked to him here and there even with the ongoing case they seemed to bond a little and now she didn't know whether or not this was a date. Looking through her closet she pulled out a old burgundy red satin dress she hadn't been on a date in a very long time and this dress was bought a few years after Brian died she was surprised how easily it fit her. The dress hugged her body tightly and dipped into her curves and hugged the slope of her ass. she looked nice her chocolate brown hair was curled loosely and she wore a light shade of red lipstick whether it was a date or not it was nice to dress up to feel like she was still pretty.

When Brian was alive he loved her southern cooking and since his death she rarely go to cook for anyone besides Austin and now here she was in the kitchen stirring a pot of alfredo the smell of the seafood and cheese filling the house and hugging it with a warm aroma.

Knock,Knock,Knock

soft knocks interrupted her lounging as she walked over to the door opening it. There he stood leaning on the door frame with a smile that could make and fat lady scream he looked at her body up and down his eyes widening. "You look ravishing Malyia" he said his accent thick and his words made her laugh as she began ushering him inside the house towards the dining room. Tristan's eyes locked with hers as he walked into the dining room. "You cook?" he asked and Malyia laughed at his surprised tone "Yeah, one of my many talents" she said before taking a seat at the table. "My mom was adamant on me knowing how to cook and when she passed I made sure I kept it up" she said.

"Ah yes I heard, I'm sorry for your loss I understand how it feels" he said with a sincere look in those bright emerald green eyes. "Yeah, Where did you live before you were transferred?" she asked he picked up his glass of win sipping it. "I- London I lived in London and I was taking a vacation here when I heard abut what was going on and Transferred into your precent "he said and she grinned. "I've always wanted to travel to New York Mostly I just haven't gotten the push I need to really go" she said with a soft shrug and he looked at her with that charming smile his teeth almost too perfect. "The push finds you, you dont find it I know that to well" he said. "Yeah" she said and a smile slowly crossed her face as she stared into his eyes as drawn into the colors that swirled within.

The Night progressed with talking and laughing and she had never laughed this much and soon she was walking him to the front door. Tristan's hand enclosed around Malyia's waist pulling her into his broad chest his emerald green eyes sparkled as he stared at her his head dipping as his lips hovered a few inches over hers.

"Thank you for tonight Malyia" he whispered.

she barely managed a word before his lips crashed onto hers the kiss was slow sensual and passionate it didn't feel like Austin's she tried to push that thought away and reciprocated the soft kiss as his tongue plunge into her mouth as if to taste her and explore her mouth and she welcomed it and when he broke the kiss she was left out of breathing and staring off as he descended off into the night.

"How was the date?" Emily her friend who had just moved from charlotte said over the phone. "It wasn't a date really but it was nice we kissed" she said as she begin cleaning up the dining room. "And what about Austin ?" she asked and Malyia seemed to freeze for a moment. "What about him we are over that I enjoyed Tristian tonight and that's that" she said before she felt that nauseous feeling run through her. "God this stomach bug is kicking my ass" she said as she walked to the kitchen to get some water. "You still throwing up? Are your breast sore?" Emily asked and she nodded. "Yeah but its also just my whole body I don't know I'll go to the doctors soon" she said and she heard Emily scream. "Whats wrong Em?!" she asked panic filling her. "Your doctors told you that you couldn't get pregnant right?" Emily asked and she slowly nodded. She remember that day she and Brian had been trying for kids and after no luck she decide to go the doctors and they told her if she were to have children it would be a miracle and she remembered the look on Brian's face. He tried to look unbothered but she knew that he was sad every man wanted children every men wanted to have someone to raise to teach and he had settled for a rotten apple.

"Its okay Malyia we can adopt or you know just not have children its okay" Brian whispered as he pressed a kiss to her head hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry- You can leave me I can't even do the thing most woman can" she said a sobbed racking through her body. "Mal I'm not going to leave you, I married you I made a vow I'm not breaking that I love you and I don't need kids to be happy with you Okay" he said as he pulled back his hazel eyes boring into her own. "Okay" she said her voice coarse from the crying. "

"Yeah I can't have any" she said confused as to why this conversation was happening. "Take a pregnancy test, for the hell of it. Just trust me" she said and she knew it would be negative she knew she would be disappointed when she saw the lines just as she had saw them with Brian. "Okay" she said as she walked to her bathroom looking through the cabinet before she pulled out an old pregnancy test box. she followed the steps of the test and before she knew it she was counting down the horrible wait of 10 minutes.

"What does it say?" Emily as and Malyia picked up the test slowly. "What does it say Mal/ Are you pregnant?!" Emily asked her voice filling with excitement.

"Yeah I am" she said her voice falling flat and she heard Emily screaming but it became background noise as she stared down at the test two light pink lines were on the screen.