The Devil & The Draxon

16. Gone

 "Alec, can I ask you if your father ever showed any signs of madness like this before?" Chloe asks.

The boy shakes his head. "I don't think so... Well, Daddy liked scary jokes."

"Scary jokes?" Chloe repeats. "Like what?"

Alec looks away. "He once told one that was something like, 'where would you hide a body in your house with the cops on the way?'"

Chloe's eyes widen at the boy's words. "And... do you remember the answer?"

Alec grimaces and remains silent. Chloe looks to Nyx, who looks through the boy's mind quickly before writing it out so Alec doesn't hear.

"You don't. Try if you want, but the bastards will find it."

Chloe's eyes widen and she looks at Nyx, who nods grimly.

"Alright Alec, can you think of anything else that might be important?" Chloe asks.

"Not really," Alec replies. "Sorry, Detective."

"You don't need to be sorry," Chloe says gently. "You've been a great help."

Alec nods, sitting quietly for a few seconds before his face scrunches up and he starts crying, a whimper escaping his lips. "I miss M-mommy."

Glancing to Nyx, Chloe stands and moves to kneel next to Alec's chair. "Hey, it'll be OK, alright? I promise, we'll keep you safe and your aunt and uncle should be here any moment."

Alec sniffles, nodding and wiping his eyes. Through the glass wall, Nyx can see a man and woman being led towards the room. Searching their minds, he finds no ill intent, only worry and a determination to take care of Alec.

"Chloe," Nyx says, alerting the detective to the approaching pair.

"Alec," she says. She gestures to the couple, "Look who's here."

Alec's aunt and uncle enter the room, his tearful aunt dropping to her knees to embrace the boy while his uncle introduces himself.

"Owen Woods, brother to Jillian, Alec's mom," he says, shaking Chloe's hand, "And I'm telling you, Wesley was always a little odd, but I never thought he'd do something like this."

"'Odd?'" Chloe repeats.

"Yeah. He wasn't a drunk or an addict, but he could get violent."

As Owen goes on to explain, Nyx's eyes grow distant as Lucifer's voice echoes in his head.

They can't find the body of the poor woman, he says, And I know you have a monitor in the father's mind. Where did he hide her?

Reaching out to look through the killer's mind, Nyx replies, There's a crawlspace at the back of the bedroom closet. He dismembered her body in the kitchen, stuffed it in garbage bags, then hid it in that crawl space and is planning to burn it once police leave.

Well that's something I haven't seen, the devil muses. Alright, I'll go tell Daniel.

Good luck, Luci.

I doubt I'll need it, but thank you, love.

"Nyxeus," Chloe's voice pulls the draxon out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright? You just drifted off there."

"Oh, I'm alright." Nyx looks around, realizing Alec and his aunt have disappeared. "Where'd Alec go?"

"He felt well enough to go school and his aunt thought it would help get everything off his mind, so she's taking him there."

Nyx frowns. "He watched his mother get murdered and now he's going to school? Are we sure he's up for that?"