Assigned

Chapter 3

Percival pulled up into the crime scene of Rose Wells. The most recent victim of the mass killings. There was yellow crime scene tape that surrounded the whole property. A lilac-colored house stood with a swinging porch bench. The leaves blew off in the wind of the tree in the front yard. Percival parked his car, but he hesitantly got out. Jonas wasn't as hesitant as him. They both walked under the crime scene tape and into the house. They walked into the living room where Rose Wells's body was found laying on the floor.

Of course, they already took her body to the morgue, but all the blood was still there. Some tape had marked where her body one was. On the floor, the walls, trails around the room, and a few little dots on the ceiling had blood smeared. All in all, this was one of the more violent cases. Jonas could tell someone else did this, but the police weren't sure. "So, are you gonna find some clues we missed?" Percival asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'll try to find more clues on this murderer," Jonas said as he looked at the blood on the walls. Percival rolled his eyes. Jonas looked at the blood splatters around the room. He followed the blood trail upstairs. The blood trail went to the master bedroom, but the trail stopped at the window. The window wasn't broken through. Jonas tried to think about how the blood trail started at an unbroken window. Maybe Rose Wells had known the killer, or there was more than one person.

Jonas walked downstairs back to Percival. "Find anything?" Percival questioned clearly uninterested. "Did anyone see someone come into this house?" Jonas asked. He completely ignored Percival's question. "Yeah... Two women. The neighbors thought they were friends," Percival answered. "Who saw them?" Jonas asked. "The Marly's across the street." "Did they see the women's faces?" Jonas asked. "We didn't ask. We were busy trying to find where the killer entered." "Those two women probably did this," Jonas said in theory.

"But this scene is different. It's much more violent," Percival pointed out. "A gang could have different people eliminate the victims," Jonas suggested. Percival furrowed his brows. "We should talk with the neighbors who saw the women," Jonas suggested. Percival reluctantly nodded. The two made their way out of the house and across the street to the Marlys' house.

Percival knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened up to reveal a man in his late 40's. His blonde hair had some grays streaking back in it. "Can I help you?" the man asked politely. "I'm with the police. We're here to ask you about your neighbor's murder," Percival said to him. "Ah yes... Rose was always so nice. I don't know why anyone would want to kill her," the man said.

"Are you George Marly?" Percival asked the man. "Yes, but my daughter was the one who saw the women outside," George said. "You knew your daughter saw the two women?" Percival asked. "Yes. We didn't think much of it. Rose had a lot of people over. She had many friends who visited frequently," George answered. "May we speak to your daughter?" Percival asked George. "Yes, come in. I'll go get her," Mr. Marly said as he stepped out of the doorway.

Percival and Jonas walked into the living room of the Marly's house. Mr. Marly went upstairs to get his daughter from what could've been her room. Maybe a minute later, Mr. Marly came down with a girl who looked like she was 16 or 17 years old. Mr. Marly stood in front of Percival and Jonas with his presumed daughter. "This is my daughter, Summer," George said, introducing his daughter.

Summer was shorter than Jonas by just a couple of inches. Her hair was a cross between red and brown that reached her back, and she had dark brown eyes. Summer sat down on the couch. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "Nice to meet you as well," Percival said, "Now, can you tell us about the two women you saw at Rose Well's house?" "Um... The two women were the same height. I think they were looking at about 5'6", and in their mid to late twenties, I don't really know. One of them had a blonde-ish hair color, and the other had her hair dyed a dark blue. They were both wearing black pants and hoodies. Um... One of the girls had a black bag with her! I don't know what was inside. The strange thing is that I only saw the girl with blue hair come out, and she seemed to be in a hurry. I never saw the blonde one come out."

"This is good. We know the assumed height and hair color. Jonas," Percival said. "Yes?" "What do you think? Were there any people you knew who matched the descriptions?" Percival asked. "We would have to look at the agent files. The two girls might have run away in the AHDA Blackout," Jonas said. "What the hell is that?" Percival asked with an attitude.

"The AHDA Blackout was a group of newly recruited agents who got together and ran away. They got into the electrical systems and caused a blackout throughout the whole building. I was newly recruited when it happened, but I turned down the offer he gave me. I don't know what happened to some of them. Many were shot and killed, or recaptured even if they were just children," Jonas explained as if he was reading his memory from that night, but he wasn't reading his memory. Jonas didn't remember the Blackout. He only read the report from it in records.

Percival looked at him with a perplexed look on his face. "When was this?" Percival asked. "About 25 years ago," Jonas answered. Percival tried to remember that event, he was around 8 at the time. "Oh... that," Percy mumbled. Jonas simply nodded. "Maybe the runways are the ones killing these people," Jonas suggested. "Where's the motive?" Percival questioned. "They would want to get back at the AHDA. They did destroy the lives they had," Jonas said out of purely an idea. Percival thought for a moment. He sighed. "Thank you for your time," Percival said standing up. "You're welcome," Mr. Marly replied as Percival and Jonas headed to the door.

Jonas and Percival walked back to the car and got in. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. "Why didn't you escape?" Percival asked suddenly. "The Blackout?" Jonas asked. Percival was being vague with his question. "Why did you turn down this person's offer to escape the AHDA?" Percival asked more thoroughly.

"I just didn't. It happened right after my lab accident," Jonas answered with a sad hint to his usual monotone voice. "The hell?" Percival snapped. "I wasn't always like this, dumb-ass," Jonas groaned. "Who the fuck you callin' a dumb-ass?" Percival sneered and gripped the steering wheel. Jonas stayed silent.

"You're incompetent," Jonas said. Percival gripped the steering wheel causing his knuckles to turn white. "You obviously hate me even though you have no legitimate reason to," Jonas continued. Percival gritted his teeth. "You've had anger issues after your wife left with your son." Percival released the steering wheel from his grip in shock. "How the fuck do you know that?" Percival asked Jonas with rage. "The captain gave me your file. He said that you've had it rough the past couple of years," Jonas confessed.

Percival released a shaky breath. He could feel the emotions bubbling up in his chest, but he never let them out. Percival tried to calm himself down. He didn't want to have one of his frequent breakdowns in front of that jackass. Percival started the ignition to put on some noise. He never liked complete silence. He drove off with Jonas biting his tongue. He regretted what he said. Deep down he knew that he hit a soft spot. A sensitive one at that. All Jonas could hope for was that Percival's own personal troubles wouldn't interfere with the investigation and the assignment.