*OLD*Phantom Detectives*OLD*

Ch.39 His Death

Connor R.

I woke up the next morning in a daze. I panicked for a moment... then I looked to James. I couldn't help but smile. Why is it that people look younger when they sleep?

For a moment, I let my mind dance around that. But then... my eyes drifted to a clock on the wall. It was already 9:36 A.M. Where was Adrien? The whole feel of this situation was leery. That's when I decided to wake James. I shook him gently by the shoulders, saying his name.

"James, James. James come on, please wake up!" I beg.

"C-Connor? What's wrong?" James asks, groggy eyed with a yawn.

"It's already far past seven in the morning. Adrien always wakes me up at seven, but it doesn't even look like he's been in here."

"Isn't it possible that he didn't want to disturb us?"

I smile in spite of myself and answer, "Adrien is the type of person to take advantage of something like this and make it as awkward as hell. There was no way he'd pass it up but... he's nowhere to be found."

James scans the area. I should tell him, I thought, I should tell him just to make sure he-

There was a knock on the door before someone called, "My lord, I am coming in." When the door opened... it was Karen who stood there. What in the world? Why is Karen coming to wake me up? And why almost three hours late?

"Karen what's going on? Where's Adrien?" I ask.

"I'm afraid we have no clue my lord." Karen answers, shaking her head. "None of us have seen him since last night."

James and I look at one another... the both of us thinking the same thing... Adrien must be hiding something. I nod to Karen who unlocks our chains. I quickly dress in all black, while James dresses in whites and dark blues. That's when I see him load his gun.

"What are you loading your gun for?" I ask him.

"It's just in case I need it." James answers.

I just simply nod my head as we both start to run, Karen on our heels. My last order to Adrien was to make sure all the windows in the manor were locked. The first place he would start is the main hall, then work his way around... that would possibly mean-

"We need to hurry and get to the drawing room!" I pant.

*

"Dear lord..."

"What the hell is going on in this house..."

"Well this is a twist I never would have expected..."

"Son of a-"

"How are we going to tell the master?"

"Tell me wha-" I gasp... aghast...  realizing why they said, how.

In the middle of the floor... is Adrien's corpse. The blood was everywhere... on the windows... splattered on the wall... and all around him. I feel sick to my stomach, and the world starts to spin. I take a step forward.

"Connor, no." James says, snapping me back to reality as he tugs on my arm.

"James please... just let me go." I realize my own voice sounds soulless...

He lets me go hesitantly. I slowly walk over to his body, my feet as heavy as lead. I realize he was killed with one of the pokers from the fireplace. His eyes were still open, wide with shock. I fall to my knees beside him, forcing myself to swallow my scream. With a shaky hand, I close his eyes... I bit my lip... but some tears still flow.

How... how could this have happened? This was my fault... if I hadn't given him the order, he could have-

"Master," Karen's voice breaks me from my spell.

I try to turn away but I can't... I can't move... I can't think... I could hardly breath. I try to stand but find myself tumbling backward. I couldn't believe what was right in front of me... I didn't want to believe what was right in front of me... I didn't want it to be true...

Adrien was gone.