The Lost Asgardian (Loki)

Artemis

A/N
How are we enjoying the rewrite so far? 


"Monster" by Meg and Dia
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AVA

I didn't need my stepbrother to inform me cops were here to know the two men seated inside the living room were officers of the law. Strangely, I just knew these two men were cops without really needing confirmation on the matter. It was all in their appearance. Both men wore well-pressed dress pants. Clean light blue or white button-down shirts were worn on both forty-something men as well as two different types of trench coats. Their hair was neatly styled as well. What gave away the impression they were cops was their individual looks they held in common with one another. The older gentlemen lacked laugh lines and anything else that could possibly give off the impression they were friendly. I tucked a stray strand of my blonde hair behind my ear, unsure of what was going on. Thankfully, my mother started speaking immediately to fill in the gaps. "Ava, these two men are detectives. They want to know if you saw anything strange before your shift ended last night."

I would've cackled with laughter if it would not have been looked at as very inappropriate. Last night, I couldn't really recall when my shift ended or how I even got myself home. Loki and his children had arrived, and that was that. I fainted. I knew I had to have woken up and taken either the train or bus home, but I wasn't too sure considering I had no memory of the night before. The next morning, I simply woke up in my own bed after many vivid dreams regarding Loki and the infant triplets. Realizing it looked odd I still hadn't spoken; I straightened my hunched posture. "Last night...? I finished my shift and came right home." At least, I think I did.
A detective scribbled this information down. "And what time would you say this was...?"
"Er, a little after nine-thirty I believe...Why?"
"Did you notice anything strange last night?" A gruff-looking detective asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Strange, how?"
"Did you notice anyone who should not be hovering around the shop that time of night?"
"No, sir." I made sure not to say I witnessed the hallucination or a Norse mythology figure lurking around. Why yes; the mythical fairytale character I dream nightly of and his imaginary children paid me a visit. Would either of you like some coffee...?
The other detective nodded while his bald comrade scribbled into his notebook yet again. "What was the condition of the bookstore before you left, who was still there?"
"Er, it was near closing. There was only one more customer before we were getting ready to close."

More scribbling continued while I noticed my mother shot me a quick look. It was odd, but strangely, I got the impression my mother wanted me to keep very, very silent. About what, I had no idea. "What would you say your relationship with Miss Chloe Booker was like...?"
Chloe Booker is my coworker. The young woman is a graduate student from a nearby university. She worked at the shop as a second job to help pay off student loans. Only that much of Chloe was known to me. I knew her from work, and Chloe was friendly enough, but she didn't really enjoy conversing too much. That was all fine by me, I didn't really like conversing with new people either. Not talking meant less opportunity for people to deem me strange. But it was the phrasing of 'was' that had me rattled. I quickly recovered. "Chloe and I work together, we talk every time we see each other..." I trailed off, feeling alarmed. "Why did you just say was, as in, past tense...?"

The detectives shared a knowing look before one stood. "We regret to inform you that Miss Booker was murdered last night," the bald detective said, frowning. "She and a Mr. Rodger Salisbury were both killed inside the bookshop last night."

Monty winced and grabbed Penelope's hand, but she only had eyes for me. Meanwhile, all I could do was gape wildly at the detectives and their reveal. "WHAT!? No, no, that's...no..." I whispered, covering my mouth.
"I'm so sorry you had to be informed this way," the detective with patchy brown hair said, sparing me an apologetic expression as my eyes glittered with tears. "Right now, we're doing all we can to pinpoint a timeline of when the murders occurred. It seems like it probably happened around ten. You've been very helpful, Miss James."

Helpful? Yeah, right. I shook my head, not feeling helpful at all. Murdered? Chloe? HOW? After a few more questions, it was determined that the man I saw lingering for a purchase was the same man who had been murdered along with Chloe. Considering there were no cameras set up inside the old-fashioned shop that didn't have such security, no one really knew what happened or who did it. The best the police had as a hunch was Chloe's ex-boyfriend who she had a restraining order against. They continued asking me questions regarding whether I had seen Chloe's ex -Brad Turnbald – lurking around the shop or if he had ever verbally threatened Chloe in front of me.


After thanking me profusely for my help, they handed me a card and told me to give them a call if I could remember anything else regarding the night before. They said they would return if they had further questions. Then, that was that. My mother led the police to the door, while Monty spared me a halfhearted saddened expression. Given the man was not decent with facial expressions, I supposed this was the best the middle-aged man was going to provide me given my current heartbroken expression. He quickly shuffled from the room, not saying anything else.

I was left feeling very confused regarding the night before. I did not remember leaving the bookstore let alone coming home. My last conversation with Chloe consisted of telling her I was headed to the bathroom before clocking out. What had happened after that...?"