The X Files | Levi Ackerman

File 6: Complexities

Levi stared at the girl who sat next to him, shaking violently from the cold that seeped into her soaked clothes.  She had just told him the kill site, ultimately giving away a potential site where Lucifer would strike next.

"You're certain," Levi said sternly, not even bothering to present it as a question.  Of course she was certain; she was the one that persisted to explain it to him, and so far, she was leading the damn investigation.

"I am positive," Aria replied, nodding her head.  She let out a chilled breath.  "We can go there when it gets dark and investigate the circumstances; Lucifer, like many other serial killers, prefer the darkness when initiating their kills."

"Right." Levi nodded curtly once.  "In the mean time, we can go interview some family members to get some more information; it will be sudden, but I'm sure they'll appreciate us trying to figure out who killed their loved ones."

"That..." Aria paused.  "Th-that sounds like a good idea, sir," Aria agreed; she proceeded to shuffle through the three papers with shaky fingers.

Noticing this, Levi raised his eyebrows, but said nothing to the working light-brunette.

"There isn't much on these sheets; the investigation with Mr. Zacharius only went on for a few days.  He gave up after losing the trail in that wash, so we'll treat this as a new case, I suppose."

"Are there lists of names anywhere?" Levi asked her.

Aria skimmed through all the pages, shaking her head in what seemed to be a vague disappointment.

"Mr. Zacharius must have gotten really frustrated with the scent trail," she sighed.  "That's the downfall of relying on a special skill too much, I guess."

Levi scoffed.

"Tch, leaving a case just because you got stumped once?" He scowled.  "What a bastard."

The girl chewed on her lip, sniffing as she poked up her glasses.

"Do you really think there's some addresses or something in these?"

"Doubt it," the detective huffed.  "If Zacharius went straight for the scent trail and tossed away this case, he wouldn't have anything but a simple summary of the entire thing."

"That's basically what we have to go on," Aria muttered, puffing in exasperation.  "Where do you suppose we begin?"

Levi fell silent, ruminating in that thought for a bit.  He rubbed his mouth with his thumb and index finger, furrowing his eyebrows just slightly in concentration.  His steel-blue eyes stared at the ground, the rain still pouring down from the dark, gloomy skies.

Aria was shivering immensely by this time, chattering her teeth unconsciously as she hugged herself, the papers resting in her lap.

"M-Mr. Ackerman, sir," she interrupted, her blue-tinted lips quivering.

"Hm?  What is it, Stefani?"

"W-well sir," Aria began, "aren't you the least bit cold?"

"No, not at all," Levi replied bluntly, his voice bleak and icy as the air surrounding them.  "Why?"

"W-well sir," Aria said again, "it's twenty-three degrees outside, and we're soaking wet.  Aren't you afraid of getting hypothermia? 

Upon realizing this, Levi blinked his eyes to focus them back into the real world rather than his mind, looking down at his hands to reveal extremely pale palms.  He turned to Aria, who shook like a leaf in a frigid hurricane in her seat.  Her dark caramel hair had darkened even more, her former copper-toned skin now matching the shade of an ivory sand-dollar.  Her lips were lined with a tint of blue, her face even paler than the cream blazer that clung to her wet body.