Investigating Love ✅

Chapter 3

An early morning alarm goes off in the living room and Scylla wakes up rolling over on the couch. "Damn, this shit ain't comfy at all." She groans and sits up with messy hair. A yawn comes out of her mouth.


"Time to wake up, Collar." The brunette walks into her bedroom and looks at the empty bed. "Raelle?" Scylla walks around the apartment looking for the girl.


She opens the door to the bathroom and the blonde's laying on the floor asleep next to the toilet. "Damn... you really have light head for alcohol. Hey, wake up. We need to go see Alban."


"No! Leave me alone! Y-you're not who you seem to be." Raelle snaps out of her nap and backs away from Scylla.


"What do you mean? Last night you blacked out after we walked inside my apartment. I thought something happened to you." Scylla quirks a brow at the girl and help her up.


"But- you... I?" Raelle looks confused at the brunette and then at herself in the mirror. "Shit, I look like a bruised potato. Can you give me a minute?"


"Sure, I'll prepare some breakfast and vitamins for your hangover. You had a nice ride last night." Scylla smiles softly but confused about her partner's behavior. She thinks of last night and the things that were happening.


The brunette walks to the kitchen and takes out some fresh vegetables, bread and butter. Raelle tries to get herself into one piece not to look too lame in front of Scylla. Although, she could have said a few weird things last night but she would ask Scylla about that later.


They need to pack up and get ready to leave before the date of their visit passes. The blonde gets nicely fresh and clean then walks out of the bathroom. She sits down at the table opposite her partner.


"So, you knew about me? How long?" Raelle asks earning a questionable look shot from Scylla towards her. She shifts slightly in her chair and clears throat.


"Um, depends what do you mean. Are you famous or something?" The brunette asks while putting lettuce on her bread and spreading the other half with chocolate cream. "Want some?" She licks off the sharp knife that shine with a small help of the light coming through the window.


Raelle gulps seeing how Scylla easily takes care of cutting and spreading. "I-I don't think so... did I say something weird last night?"


"Oh, well you were bragging about your muscle, your superpowers and having a crush on me. It sounded like a total bullshit so just forget about it unless you want to tell me something was true. I've heard that you're the most honest while drunk, wonder if that's really true."


The brunette shrugs and looks up at Raelle who's staring at the woman in front of herself without a single word. "You okay?" Scylla asks a little bit worried about her partner.


"Y-yeah, yes... I just- my head's pounding." Raelle decides not to carve the topic and tries to change it as fast as she can. It would be extremely uncomfortable to talk with Scylla about her crush or superpowers that don't exist, right?


Scylla's driving the car for over 2 hours now and she feels how her eyelids are starting to get heavier with every following minute. "Hey, Collar. We need to switch or I'm going to fall asleep behind the wheel."


The brunette pulls up on the closest parking lot and changes the seats with Scylla. "So, what exactly happened last night?" Raelle starts again and the girl on her right sighs.


"We were at the bar with your friends, Abigail and Tally went home, you were walking me back but on the way we changed minds because you were too tipsy to go home alone, we got to my apartment and you fainted in the hall after talking about mushrooms, guns and your crush on me. I thought that was cute."


The brunette smiles softly at her partner. "Really?" Collar asks with a slight hint of hope in her voice but Scylla cuts off.


"Nope, I'm just kidding. You got a little handsy though. If I was drunk too, we'd probably end up in one bed together. Not gonna lie you're not the worst." Scylla playfully punches Raelle's arm. "But romance at work is really difficult. Playing cat and mouse... not my story."


Ramshorn leans with her elbow against the window and stares outside when Raelle gulps again feeling how a wave of stress and heat overwhelms her. She feels like her dream wasn't real but also she believes her mind and the things it creates.


"Yeah, it isn't my thing too." Raelle sighs and adds more weight on gas to speed up. The blonde drives the car for another 2 hours until her stomach calls for food.


"Hey, um... Scylla? Can we stop at the Subway or something? I'm hungry." Scylla looks over at her partner and widens eyes.


"Well, you should've eaten the breakfast..." She looks down at her watch and sighs. "Okay, but we gotta be quick. 30 minutes and we need to go back on the road."


Raelle fist pumps in the air with a happy smile and Scylla shakes her head but smiles too. "You're really a teenager still. Who let you carry a gun?" The brunette laughs and they lock their eyes for a few seconds while having big smiles on their faces.


With a side of an eye Scylla spots a speeding car right at them. "RAELLE" she screams trying to grab the wheel to turn them away from crushing. The car hits theirs in the side with a loud thud.


They slide back a few feet and the blonde falls unconscious behind the wheel when the air bag opens hitting her face. Scylla looks up as her head pounds and she feels dizziness approach her.


The brunette looks over at her partner and shakes Raelle. "Collar, wake up. C'mon." Scylla looks out through the front window and sees how two men crawl out of the car that hit them. They slowly start to approach their vehicle.


Ramshorn looks at their chests and neck. "Damn it, Collar!" Although, Raelle's face is bruised all over Scylla's trying to wake up the girl with light pats. The blonde starts moving again and Scylla unbuckles her seat belt to help her partner.


"C'mon, we have to go, now!" She yells grabbing Raelle by her arms and pulling her out of the car. "Can you walk?" Scylla asks as Raelle slowly starts to come back to living.


"What?" The girl sees the light around her which causes her head to hurt. Everything around her doesn't feel like real. Sounds silent, body hurting and something pulling her shirt.


Raelle snaps out of her unconsciousness fully after a minute or two as her and Scylla are running through the woods. The blonde's leg gives her information that something is wrong with it, same comes with the pain around her face.


The brunette pulls her partner down behind a giant rock and puts a finger against her lips so that Raelle wouldn't say anything.


Rustling and quiet chatter comes from the side they ran away from. "Use the sound... they ran this way... you hit them too hard..." The two men start getting closer to the detectives.


Scylla looks around for a second and brings her hands together, puts them against her mouth. She starts using her seed sounds and calls a bird in the opposite direction to drag the Camarilla folks away.


"Come, this way..." Like a whisper her voice rings at the other side of the forest and the men immediately turns around. They run away looking for the two in every possible spot.


Raelle grunts quietly and rests down against the rock. "Shit, I think my leg's broken." The blonde groans lowly again and Scylla puts a hand on her partner's mouth. She shushes the girl as they wait behind the rock.


"Did you use a work on that bird? How- I didn't know you're a witch." Raelle starts questioning the brunette as they're safe and miles away from the accident. "You saved us today."


Scylla sits down on a small log by the fire. "No need to thank me. Alder assigned you to me, because it's gotten dangerous again. You're not safe only by yourself. Marshal's have got new work, better work... they are stronger and faster. We had luck today."


Ramshorn sighs and coughs a few times. She feels metallic taste in her mouth and spits with blood. "Damn, not good..."


As the adrenaline comes down from both of their bodies they start to feel pain in several spots from the crush. "There's no signal and I can't contact Alder nor Byron. Can you get to your sisters?"


Scylla asks and the blonde shakes her head. "We need to get to the road and find a phone. It shouldn't be far away from here since we walked a mile or two towards The Cession."


"How's your leg?" The brunette gets up and kneels down in front of Raelle. "You need to be able to walk once it gets dark." Scylla puts a caring hand on the blonde's thigh and checks the girl's leg.


Collar winces in pain a few times when her partner touches her leg in certain spots. "I might be broken but let's not assume the worst. If you can walk, we'll manage to a small town nearby. We can call from there and head to my friend's. She's going to heal your leg."


Raelle rests her head back against the tree she's sitting against. "You're a dodger..." the blonde assumes and laughs to herself. "How can I trust you?"


"I was a Marshal once. Worked here and there. It was shortly after military college. But I don't hunt for my kind. So, when The Camarilla came back I stopped working two jobs and stayed in Salem as a detective. Alban is some sort of a boss for NOD or Camarilla. The kidnapping case 10 years ago was personal for me, that boy was a witch too. Libba, she's our sister."


"Whoa, that's a lot but I have to ask again. How can I trust you? How do I know you're not trying to get me to The Camarilla?" Raelle feels slightly insecure now that she knows about her partner's past.


"I don't sell people that I like. It has to be enough for you, Collar. I'm not going to hurt you. You're too powerful to lose such an ally as you and the Mother." Scylla plops down next to the blonde and lets out a long exhale.


"Hopefully, Anacostia will be able to help us. Otherwise, we'll have to change our faces but it's not 100% working anymore."


Woooo! Woooo!


Whistling reverberates among trees. Birds in a circle of 5 miles stay silent. Heavy footsteps slowly approaching a group of dodgers running away from conscription.


Screams of terror coming from a town settled nearby the small camp of dodgers. "Welcome." Low tone of voice inside it greets the people in the camp.


Seed sounds coming from everywhere when a horde of crows shatters glasses in the buildings and cuts the tents in half. Their songs making people slaughter one another or themselves.


Blood streaming down the streets and fire exploding along the houses. The electrics cut and falling down killing the rest of survivors.


"Send a message to Silver. This town is clean from dodgers." Ramshorn turns towards her company then soaks up with victory.


Raelle shoot up from her sleep with heavy breathing. She looks over at Scylla who's sitting by the fire with legs curled up under her chin. The brunette looks so innocent and peaceful.


Are Raelle's dream real?


Does Mycelium want to tell her something?


Collar slowly dozes off into sleep again. It's like a movie. In front of her eyes scenes from Scylla's past flashing. The things she has done, the people she murdered. Or is it just a dream caused by fear built up inside Raelle.


She snaps out of sleep again, this time she can hear quiet chatter in front of herself. The brunette's gone from her place, cold breeze hits Raelle's body and she shivers.


Her leg hurting as hell and face being itchy from all of the scratches. "She's mine. No, we managed to escape. We're safe for now but I don't know how far away we are."


Raelle spots her partner standing a few feet away from the bonfire talking with somebody using a weird seed sound. "Scylla?" The blonde gets up from the ground.


Ramshorn looks at the girl and walks over to Raelle. "Good, you're awake. We have to-" Scylla starts but Collar turns on her heel and runs away.


"Really?" All of the sudden the blonde finds Scylla standing in front of her as if she teleported. Raelle starts running away in the opposite direction with her leg hurting even more.


Scylla appears in front of Raelle once again. She blows a blue powder at the girl and the blonde falls unconscious onto the ground again.


"It's easy to get under Marshal's target..." Scylla leans closer to her partner and whispers. "You were easier than I expected. They say you're the most powerful witch ever existing, they say you're the hands of Mother. And now, I'm pointing a gun against your stomach ready to pull the trigger whenever you make the wrong move."


"Oopsie..." Raelle laughs drugged with alcohol too much to see how dangerous the situation became.


"I don't know what is your game and who you are but you're not just a nice detective from neighborhood. What's your secret Collar? Even Alder started to behave weird ever since you arrived. Alban's activates right before your arrival, that can't be a coincidence. Are you working for him?!" Scylla looks at the drunk girl who's currently singing something under her nose.


"Damn it, what am I doing?" The blonde pulls away from Raelle and hangs her arms on her head. Scylla feels how another panic attack approaches her lungs giving her hard time breathing.


Collar slides down the wall and sits down on the ground. "We're going to catch him... don't you worry. He's just a jerk."


"Okay, let's get you to bed..." Scylla kneels down and picks up Raelle by her arms. "Come with me. I'll take care of you." The brunette drags her partner to her bedroom, undresses and puts down to sleep.


Scylla herself lays down on the couch under a blanket in her pajamas. She feels how something swirls in her stomach again. Soon, she ends up by the toilet throwing up.


Could Scylla be pregnant?


*


A month earlier


"Give me last one and I'll disappear from your sight." Scylla says drunkenly leaning against the bar counter. Her eyes decorated with bags under them that haven't came off of her face for months.


"You said that 5 shots ago." The barman warns the brunette again about drinking and pours her another shot of vodka.


"Bless you, young boy, bless you." Ramshorn downs the shot and sucks on a slice of lime. "Ahhh, what a night... many of these lately in my life. You know, I've been thinking, do people talk to you about their lives?"


The boy behind the bar nods head and sighs looking at the woman every evening and the way she's slowly destroying herself. "People like to talk to me, because I don't know them personally. And you know, they're usually after a couple of drinks or shots." The barman continues while wiping the counter and throwing the napkin over his shoulder.


"You're one of many. Junkies... alcoholics. It's just a matter of time until you end up somewhere in the bushes, in someone's bed or worse." The man sighs again and walks away from the customer.


Scylla sticks out tongue at the barman's back and sways away from the counter towards a guy by the other side of the room. "Heyyyy, you... what's your name?"


The boy sniffs in a whole line of white powder that he prepared for himself and turns to look at the blue eyed beauty. "Name's Porter... what about you, baby?"


"I'm Scylla. Come with me." The brunette grabs the boy's sleeves and pulls him towards the bathroom. Feeling how fresh alcohol courses through her body making the girl's head go even dizzier.


"Where are you taking me, Goddess?" Porter taps Scylla's butt on the way to the restroom before he gets pulled inside and kissed on the lips. Ramshorn pinning him to the closest wall on their way and getting into his pants.


"Oh, whoa..." the blonde boy lets out a small moan when Scylla's hand ends up inside his pants. Things quickly escalate between the two and they end up having unprotected sex in a bar's bathroom.


For Scylla's unfortunate her ovulation window was getting closer and things matched up in the right time as a new life started inside of the brunette. If only she knew what upcoming events she will have to face...


*


"Babe, I've seen this movie over 1000 times! How can you watch it this often? It's more boring than doing groceries with you..." Eliot groans seeing Byron putting on the screen his favorite movie.


"Okay, first "Call Me by Your Name" is the best film ever created, Timothée is my crush, and second doing groceries with me isn't boring. You just don't get the sense of healthy food. Not my fault your metabolic rate is great enough so you can eat whatever you want, although I'd like to say I can eat you many times and I'm not gaining weight." The brunette smirks at his fiancé and pecks his lips.


"You want me to watch a movie with your crush. Am I not supposed to be your favorite boy in the world?" Eliot asks with a delightful smile and walks a hand up Byron's leg. Fidgeting fingers across his thigh as if he was sneaking.


Byron grabs his boyfriend's hand and intertwines them. He brings it up close to his lips and kisses the top of it. "I love you and only you, baby. You're my forever and my only love interest. I just like to watch pretty boys on the screen."


Eliot chuckles and straddles his fiancé so they’re laying together on the bed. "Press the start, the beginning's my favorite part. I'll hop for snacks when the boring part comes in. Does that satisfy you, babe?"


"Can I get a kiss instead of snacks? Or maybe like a whole series of them?" Byron shows his puppy eyes and cuddles into Eliot's side then presses play on the remote before resting his head on his boyfriend's chest. "I'm the happiest person in the world."


"Second happiest." Eliot adds and kisses Byron's forehead.