Murderous Love #1

My try at writing something out of the crime. It was supposed to be short, but became something much longer in my head. I will try and work on this more, so you might expect more pieces featuring Daniel and Miss Cadren (again, I need character sheets for the two).

If you have suggestions how the story should develop, let me know! I am eager to have some fun with this one and experiment, so changing it to how people want the story to go could be interesting.

***

Things like this do not happen in real life. She read stories,watched documentaries of similar happenings.. it seemed to happen to people all around, as well, but at the same time it felt so surreal. For her all the victims seemed so... stupid. How could you fall for something like this? Ridiculous. That's why it happens in books, mostly. It's fiction. Story directed by people to hype the public and get more views. After all, nobody would watch things they can encounter in everyday life, right? They want something surreal, something crazy like this.

And then, it turns out it's not fiction, and if the victims were stupid, then she was too.

***

Daniel looked at the blond locks of the woman. She looked like 40 years old right now, but she was only 32. Her hair was dirty and tangled, her face didn't look better. No make up showed a few wrinkles here and there. From their last meeting, her shape became even slimmer... A sign they don't feed her well here. No surprise to him, they never do. As Daniel looked at her, he thought how pretty she was just after a shower and proper meal, but he also knew she had little chances for that.

- I am telling you, it wasn't me. You need to get Cyrus... you need to catch him! - she spoke, making Daniel rub his temples.

- Miss Cadren. - he began. - I am no policeman. They are looking for him. But he disappeared, and evidence points at you. Let's just calm down, shall we? Best that we could do right now was to...

- No way!  - she stood up, angered. Not the first time during their little talks. -Find him, just, somehow! Of course he disappeared. He planned it, for God's sake! - Her voice echoed in the room and guard was already holding her by the shoulders, escorting back to her cell. That would not help her, or him. Daniel sighed and slowly stood up. He left the room by the door on the other side.

As he drove through the city, he wasn't focused on road, but on Caroline Cadren and her story. A story straight from some drama. But, he trusted her. It didn't happen often in his field... He always did murder cases. Daniel knew how murderers talk or look. One thing reassured him about Caroline innocence: she never mixed details of her story. And she gave him plenty of details, for God's sake! How Cyrus would speak, what he would do or wear, what was his favorite meal. No matter how many times she told it, everything was always the same. Nobody can lie this perfectly. Finally, you will forget something, it's bound to happen, and Daniel always found people who would lie. But not Caroline. Caroline never mixed anything, making him reassured she speaks of what happened to her.

And if she was lying, then she deserved to be thought of as innocent, because such genius is rare.

But this wouldn't be enough to get her out of this shitty situation. Finally he arrived, and quickly got into his office. He was in his 40s already, and he surely looked like it. Daniel's work made him over stressed everyday, but still he loved it. For his whole career, he believed that he was doing his best to help people who regretted their deeds, or killed out of anger, jealousy or other emotions. It was still a terrible deed, but its different than what serial killers do. People who enjoy killing... For those he made it look as if he tried his best but in reality he made sure they get punished.

Yes, Daniel was playing God. But he believed there are special people in the world who can do that, and was confident he was one of those people. Fixing his suit, he realized he probably should visit gym more often... Daniel was a handsome man, dark hair, tall, just a bit of facial hair. His attitude scared ladies away, though. Daniel never had anybody close enough to call girlfriend or wife. His relationships lasted a few months... or weeks, depending how much the woman could take.

But he was married to his work, and it made him happy. And now, Miss Cadren will screw his history of perfect cases. Every case went like he wanted it to go. At least, since the moment he realized his mission. But, getting Miss Cadren out of this situation was simply impossible. Real murderer was gone, and he made evidence look like it was her. If they would catch him... get anything out of him, Daniel would have something to work with. But right now? Caroline was doomed.

...but nobody ever said it's going to be easy. So, Daniel sat by his desk and began working on getting Caroline Cadren out of jail. Cyrus was the real murderer and that means he is going to make a mistake, and let's hope he will make it soon.

Azuriel

A little bit short but have some good ideas for this one. Possibly will post character sheet for Azuriel in future. Hopefully.

***

"That is just not humanly possible. I mean, we are witches, but there are limits to everything Azuriel." Blue-haired woman tilted her head to the side. She was lost in her book until her friend spoke. They both were doing research on very specific topic: mermen. There are legends of life under water, and in Azuriel mind if there are legends of something, it was real at some point in time.

"They said the same about unicorns, and many other creatures, places... How come there are so many legends about them and that we know so many details of their lives? It's not a coincidence, Tao." Azuriel answered, making her ginger friend roll her eyes.

"Even if you're right, what you want to do? Turn yourself in a mermaid or what?" Tao said putting books down on the table with a loud thump.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. Just imagine... the reward we will be given when we prove it! This is a research of a lifetime, Tao!  We can become famous... rich... and -"

"Wait, wait. We? When did I sign up?  Sure, I can help you with looking it up, but I am not going into the field, or vouch for you with this craziness. Nobody will believe you until you get proof. And getting real proof, not some theories, will be hard without any funding, Azuriel. I can't help you with that."

Blue-haired witch crossed her arms. "You could, if you wanted to, Tao."

"Yeah, and screw up my own life. You ask for a lot, Azuriel..." Tao sighed. "Look, I need to look out for myself, too..."

Azuriel rised an eyebrow before standing up. "To get anywhere, you need to take risks sometimes, Tao. Want boring, easy life? Go ahead. I want more than that." She took her notes and books and left ginger witch alone. Tao looked into the desk, wondering if she really has made a good choice. Hearing Azuriel's tone, Tao just lost a friend, a very dear friend to her.

***
Azuriel wasn't just any witch. Her ideas and plans were very specific, possibly strange to some, but that's also because of her powers. Generally, witches had one main power they mastered and were more or less skilled with other abilities, depending on their schooling. But that wasn't a case with Azuriel.

Azuriel had three perfectly mastered abilities, and she was good at pretty much anything she tried. She was a genius, and nobody knew where the genius came from, as she was an orphan Her favorite talent was alchemy, but she also knew of telekinesis and was a famous spellcaster.

Now, Spellcasters could choose the kind of spells they wanted to focus on, or simply the kind of energy needed for spells, but again, Azuriel knew more than one. Her favorite was water, but she could perform simple spells from every energy given and more advanced ones from most of them. She could even mix up energies for a very specific and strong spells, which was a rare talent.

Basically, she was bored with all of that that. She was just eighteen and she already couldn't learn much more. Her life became boring before she graduated Academy of Magic. Oh, but she could have done that before, however Azuriel always had one goal - to graduate like a genius she is. She wont do just anything; she will prove everyone mermen are real. She was sure they are, they were just smart enough to make everyone believe they aren't.

Witches in the past showed others the true about unicorns, dragons and many more. It was her time to rise and shine. Tao was right... Alone this will be a tough job, but Azuriel was determined. And she was gonna make it.