[ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴏʀ] (ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ ᴠ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄꜱ)

A Wilted Rose (Chapter 1)

Warnings: Descriptions of death, mentions of the army, police, wine/alcohol

Story type: Fluff, Angst

Pairings/Characters: Various truth and inference characters x Gender neutral reader

(Help i feel like i flopped with this chapter, Banner art from idv's official twitter)

Heels clicked against the wooden stairs of the theatres first floor as a envelope was toyed with in a figures hand. You fiddled around with the invitation you had gotten from D.M. in your right hand as you held onto the stairs banister with the other, you had forgotten how physically exhausting going up all the theatre stairs were. Even with how physically fit you have to be for your job, these stairs somehow knocked all the air out of your lungs. You made it too the second floor and pulled out the letter from the envelope, eyes scanning over the letter again for where D.M. mentioned his location. You still think he went overboard with renting out the whole 2nd floor viewing area for the show but there wasn't much you could do, this is just how D.M. acts. D.M. always had a massive appreciation for the arts even while in the army with you and even actually learned the violin along with a few other musical instruments. You walked through the second floor and over too the gallery sections, expecting to see a person there. However, nothing came into view. Other then two seats and a table with a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a letter ontop of it. You walked towards the small table and grabbed the letter, opening it by removing it's unique wax seal.

"Dear (Name),

I apologize for my absence even though it was me who invite you. I'm running quite late due to personal business and won't make it until after the show has started. Please enjoy the red wine I ordered to have brought up and enjoy the show my dear.

Yours truly, D.M."

You slightly smiled at the nickname. D.M., despite not being here was still the same as ever with the nicknames he gave to everyone and the proper letters he sent if he ever had to be late for something. You sat down and poured yourself some of the red wine he had left you, might as well slightly enjoy yourself. You reclined in the chair, sighing and stretching as your body finally started to adjust to sitting down. The sound of heels clicking against the theatres floor and chatter filled your ears as you remembered, right, this isn't a private viewing. Other people began to fill the 1st floors chairs and sit down, awaiting the shows beginning. Your eyes made contact with the clock on the wall, counting the minutes and seconds that passed. Time itself is a really interesting concept, when you're paying attention to the world around you it'll go fast, but when you pay attention to time it'll go as slow as possible. However sometimes i can go the other way, but at the same time, it always goes at the same pace. It's the human psyche that imagines it's going faster or slower. Your attention soon snapped back to the stage, the elegant red curtains rising as a beautiful stage full of unique props. Even while knowing the truth of what was doing on backstage and the true relationships between the actors, you couldn't help but be mesmerized by the stage. Seconds, Minutes, An hour passed and you were still absorbed in the stage and it's story.

Suddenly though, it felt like that magical aura broke as a woman in a familiar pink and white dress fell from the stages higher platforms. A air of silence filled the theatre as multiple of the actors rushed over to whoever fell. You sat in silence, there's only one leading actress who looks like that. Lady Bella just fell from the highest stage platform. Your heart caught up with your brain as you felt it drop into your stomach, panic, paranoia, and worry for your mentor filled your body as you struggled to breathe. Being consumed by the horrid emotions, you gripped the sides of your chair. Attempting to calm yourself. Whispered resonated in the theatre as the attendee's of the show talked among themselves, the main whisper you could hear were people asking the question, "Is she dead?"

You took a deep breathe as you forced yourself to stand up and started heading towards the stairs, your vision blurry with tears you didn't even notice you had. They slowly streamed down your face as your mind prepared for the worst of the worst, there's no way anyone could survive a fall such as that. She's dead, she has too be. Once you got to the first floor lobby, the sound of footsteps resonated in your ears as you noticed the audience that was once sitting in the auditorium were leaving. Jingle bells stood at the door escorting everyone out with his face down-casted. You took another breathe, wiping the tears from your eyes and approaching jingle bells as the rest of the guests left the theatre. "Victor.... what happened..?" You weakly voiced out, trying to hide the fear and worry in your voice. Victor took a breathe and faced you, tears forming in his eyes as he voiced out too you. "She's dead..." You knew it, but your heart couldn't take it. Tears poured out of your eyes once again as you tightly hugged the security guard, victor returned your embrace just as tight.

"Remember, if you are not heading home you are required to stay here for all of the investigation. If you are you're required to stay in your house for all of the time the investigation is on-going. We will visit you too collect evidence, please have a outsider bring you all the things you need to stay here for at least a week if you decide to stay in the theatre." The words the police said to every staff member ringed in your ears again, and again, and again. All you could do is sit mindlessly in your suite. Your mind both tired and desperately asking questions. Trying to piece together what the hell even happened. "No! I refuse to let you touch her! She would want to stay flawless even in death. I won't let anyone soil her, even if it's her corpse!" Is what D.M. shouted when the police attempted to examine Lady Bellas body. It puzzles you now, why he was so protective of her, why he was acting this way, how did he know that? What's his connection to her? What's this old friends true intentions? Your head ached as you locked your suite door and crawled into bed, attempting to sleep off this sorrowful incident, hoping this was all one really in-depth dream and that when you fall asleep in your dream, you would wake up. But this was no dream and your heart knew it, you would be stuck in this hell of a heart-trap and mind-trap for a good few days.