Hello there! I think it's time for another MPS mystery. This one will only be 3 chapters, but I hope you enjoy!
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“You have an apartment,” Logan asked, actually seeming to not have known this.
“What did you think, I was homeless?” He didn’t give me an answer.
“Wow. I was a police officer, you know that right?”
Logan smirked. “Not anymore.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, so I could play detective with you," I retorted.
Logan put up his hands. “Hey, it was your idea.” I smiled. He was right. I still was going to tackle him though before Marina walked in.
She put her mug on the table and Logan turned to her. “Marina, did you know David owned an apartment? With how much he stays here I thought he just wandered around the streets sometimes.”
I looked at Marina, thinking she’d stand up for me. She shook her head. “He’s not completely wrong, you know. You spend more time here than your actual apartment.” She put down a plate of cookies. She didn’t bake often, but when she did it was a good occasion. She handed me and Logan one and sat down. “You’re always welcome here though David. Never think otherwise.”
I knew that of course. Though to be honest, I did feel like an intruder sometimes. They didn’t need me here all the time. But a reassuring hand squeeze from Marina eased my thoughts.
Maybe they didn't need me here all the time, but they wanted me here. I spent my whole life thinking everyone only kept me around because they needed something from me. Logan and Marina proved that that wasn't true.
That’s when my phone rang.
I recognized the number, my landlord. I motioned to Marina and Logan that I had to take it and got up.
“Hey Eddie, something wrong,” I asked, putting the phone to my ear once I was in the kitchen. There were a few deep breaths before he answered. “David, how long until you can get here?”
I looked over at the clock. It was almost midnight, so the traffic wouldn’t be too bad. “About 20 minutes. What happened?”
Eddie sighed. “There was a fire. I’m calling everyone so I don’t have time for more questions. Just get here as soon as you can.”
I didn’t know how to respond. Fires weren’t an everyday occurrence, but they happened every few years. They never were that big usually, so I’d have to find out about them through Miss April, who I tended to avoid because she tended to flirt with any guy in the vicinity, and that included me. But Eddie contacting me meant something really was wrong.
“I’ll be there in 15,” I said. Then Eddie hung up. That’s how he was, no real goodbye, just an abrupt ending. I went back into the living room.
“I have to go,” I told them. Logan stood up. “Is something wrong? Who was that?” I looked at Marina, who seemed to understand I needed to go now.
“You can take my car. Just call if you need anything,” she said. I nodded in thanks. Logan still looked like he had a million questions, and so did I.
“Do you need backup, because I can-” Logan tried. I didn’t think I’d really need his help with this. Then again, If things were as bad as I feared, I didn’t want to go through it alone. God, I’d gone soft hadn’t I? But for the first time since I was a kid, I didn’t want to be alone, to do everything myself.
“Fine, you can come,” I said. Logan smiled and grabbed the keys. He threw them to me, since I always drove when we were together, and we left with one final goodbye to Marina.
Eddie deserved a medal: best at making things sound like nothing’s wrong when everything is.
The entire building was burnt by the time me and Logan got there, but the fire was at least out. Not that it mattered. The entire building was burnt to a crisp. Everything inside was most likely ashes now. Miss April was here already, talking with one of the firemen with Miss Eve.
Nobody knew much about Miss Eve. She lived with Miss April, but nobody knew what they were to each other, siblings, cousins, best friends. I even heard rumors they were together, but being that both tended to flirt with everyone, and that when not gossiping they were talking about guys, I doubted that was true.
I saw Jenna and Jayme getting out of their car. The two were twins, fraternal obviously since they looked nothing alike. Seeing me, they came over.
“David, thank God you weren’t in there,” Jayme said, smiling. I shrugged. “Right back at you. Jenna,” I said. The girl crossed her arms. She didn’t like me much. Not since what happened between me and Jayme, even though that was about 3 years ago and me and Jayme both had apologized about how things ended.
I looked at the building. “Was anybody in there,” I asked, worrying the answer would be yes. Jayme and Jenna looked at each other, and Jayme sighed. “Mr. Smith. Other than him, everyone's okay.”
Mr. Smith and I hadn't known each other too well. He never talked much. The only times we ever talked was when he was getting the newspaper, and he’d start a conversation about some stupid thing he’d seen. He was an older man, and he seemed a bit grumpy, but I liked him enough as a neighbor. To think he was just gone…
Jayme gave me a pat on the back. “Hey, we’ll have a funeral and everything. Right now, I’m gonna see if any of my stuff survived.” I nodded and the siblings left.
Logan got my attention. “Hey, let’s look around,” he suggested. I nodded.
Logan’s POV
I felt like I jinxed it by joking that David was homeless. This place was so burnt that it would take months, probably a year, to get back up and running. And that’s if they thought it was worth it.
It wasn’t just the apartment. The entire block was burnt. I noticed a building that was pretty much rubble a few houses down. There was a sign outside it, but it was hard to read since it was still dark out and the sign was covered in soot.
“DAMA Lab,” someone said. I turned to see a guy in his mid 30’s. He smiled at me and his hazel eyes brightened. “Stands for Defense, Assistance, and Medical Advancement.”
I looked back at the lab. “Well it surely got the worst of it.” The guy nodded. “Yeah, the fire started in here. No one knows how though.”
I turned to the guy. He was holding a few things, some books, a mysterious case, and a picture frame. “Oh, I’m sorry, rude,” he said, putting down the things and shaking my hand. “Rye Jacobson. I lived there,” he said, motioning to David’s apartment with his head.
I nodded and shook his hand. “Logan Wright. I’m just here for a friend of mine, David Locke. You know him?”
Rye’s eyes widened. “No kidding,” he said incredulously. “I live across the hall from him. Never seen you here before though.”
I shrugged. “David usually stays at my mom’s house with us. Not that I live with my mom, that'd be weird, right? I have an apartment, but my mom invites me all the time so...”
Rye laughed lightly. “Believe me, I get it. My mom's overprotective too. The fact she let me move out is shocking enough, but I always was a problem child." Rye looked at the apartment and then back at me. "So that’s why he’s never here anymore. Huh. I just assumed he was dating again. Gonna have to tell Miss April she got a chance,” Rye joked. I chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s really his type though.”
Rye smiled. “Oh I know. Believe me, I know his dating history. It’s…kind of sad. I mean, he hasn’t technically dated anyone since Jayme, but they broke up 3, almost 4 years ago. I've gotten him some dates, but no second ones ever came about. I'd stopped trying until suddenly he wasn't around anymore.”
I’ll be honest, I had wondered about David’s dating life. Not in a weird way, but I was curious. Back at the hotel a month ago, Adeline definitely was flirting with him until she revealed she was a psychopath. I had wondered if he was attracted to her too, but I doubted it.
The lab caught my attention again and I decided to change the subject. “So the fire started here,” I asked. Rye nodded.
“In my opinion, it probably started in lab 4. Those guys were the stupidest smart guys I've ever met.” I furrowed my eyebrows and faced him. “How do you know that?”
Rye confidence faded and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, I used to work there when I first moved. I left a year ago, new opportunity.”
“Is it better than the lab,” I asked, crossing my arms with a smile. Rye shrugged. “Not really, but I wouldn’t go back to that lab for anything.” His eyes glanced at the rubble. “Not that I could at this point.”
That's when I heard something. Like a muffled yell. Me and Rye looked at each other. Silent conversation passed between us. We both began looking instantly. Someone was here, in the rubble.
The yells got louder. I was getting closer. That’s when I saw him.
Or, well, half of him.
I didn’t know what he was, but I’d never seen anything like this. His clothes were visible, but the whole right side of his actual body wasn’t there. He was still breathing, but barely.
His eyes looked so glazed he almost looked dead, but they made contact with mine. Roughly he grabbed my sweater. I tried to get away, but his grip was deadly.
“Griffin…find Griffin,” he forced out, voice hoarse like he inhaled a hundred cigarettes, or in this case way too much smoke.
“What…who’s Griffin,” I tried, but the man seemed to only be able to muster those two words. Find Griffin.
David’s POV
“David!” Logan. And he sounded desperate.
I ran towards where the sound had come from. It didn’t take too long. He was on the ground with someone else.
“Logan what’s-oh God.” The man on the ground wasn’t there, not fully. He was holding Logan and muttering something, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“I don’t know, I just heard someone calling out,” Logan tried to explain, desperately trying to tear himself away from the invisible man on the ground. The man holding him loosened his hand until it fell next to him. He wasn’t breathing. Slowly, his body began to be visible. It almost made me think I had been seeing things, but knowing everything I did, a half visible man wasn’t too crazy.
I helped Logan up. “I’ll call Elliot.” Logan nodded.
When the police got there, they took the body. Elliot came over to me. “Why do you always happen to be involved in this stuff,” he asked.
I sighed. “Question of the year.”
Elliot looked around. “Sorry about your apartment by the way, when I heard I was gonna call you, but then things got busy and-”
I put my hand up. “Relax Elliot, it’s okay. And thanks,” I said. “Hey, do you know about anyone named Griffin?”
Elliot shrugged. “Probably more than I can count. Why?”
I motioned to the lab. “Logan told me the guy mentioned something about a man named Griffin before he died.”
Elliot looked over at the other police officers. “I mean, I’m pretty sure one of the scientists here was named Griffin but I don’t got details. I can look into it though.” I thanked him.
He had to talk with the other officers and excused himself. Seeing Logan, I went over to him. “Griffin was-” I started.
“A scientist at DAMA Lab,” Logan finished. “I know. Turns out he was doing some secret project for the government. Wanna know the weird part though?” I nodded.
“He’s missing. Hasn’t been seen since the fire.”
I groaned. “So this is a case for us then.” Logan nodded, not any more excited than me about it. “Guess so.”
“This sucks,” Logan said, pushing his chair away from the desk. “The guy has nothing on him. Like he doesn’t exist, except I was able to find his birth certificate, so at least we know he was born on January 13, 1978.”
I collapsed onto the couch. “Well, according to Elliot, Griffin is still missing.” Logan groaned and sunk into his chair.
I handed him one of Marina's cookies. “I know. Maybe look into the invisible thing? That’s the weird part.”
Logan turned around to face me in his chair. “That's not just weird as in our normal weird David. I’ve never heard of anything like this. Invisibility isn’t something any monsters I know have, and that guy seemed mainly human.”
“So something new? Great,” I said sarcastically. Logan sighed and stood up. “I’m getting food. Maybe it’ll get me a new lens.”
“What’re you getting,” I asked.
Logan looked at the fridge before a light bulb went off above his head. “Burgers. Want one?”
I shrugged. “Sure, no onions though.” Logan gave a thumbs up and then he was gone.
My phone went off and I picked it up. “Hey Elliot, what’s up?”
“New lead. Jeremy Pen. According to what we could find, he was working in the lab with Griffin. From medical records, it seems like he’s got a few mental issues, and he’s been missing too,” Elliot said. I could hear him moving around his desk, looking through papers.
Thanks Elliot. I’ll call you if we find anything.”
“Okay. See you around David,” he said brightly. He hung up.
Well that’s an improvement at least.
Logan’s POV
I just bought the burgers, one with no onions per David’s request, not even realizing how hungry I was. I liked human food, but it didn’t satisfy me as much, something I hated about being a ghoul. Being one meant that you needed human in your diet. Usually I just ate the dead, that’s what most of us did anyway, but I hadn’t gone looking recently. And now that I wasn’t CSI it became a little more difficult to do so without being found out.
I was walking back to my car, just thinking about all this, when I saw a floating burger.
Well it wasn’t actually floating, but I didn’t know that as I saw it going through the air.
I looked around. Was anyone seeing it? No, because no one was outside. Great.
I followed the floating burger. A bite went missing as we walked, me a good few feet behind it. Finally the person turned into an alleyway, and I realized now was my chance. So I did the only reasonable thing.
I tackled it.
The burger flew out of the person’s grasp. “Hey,” the voice said, trying to fight me.
A young voice.
I quickly got off the kid. I couldn’t see him, but he sounded like he was no more than 16. “What the hell are you?”
I heard the kid stand up. “I’m Matthew. I’m invisible.”
I nodded. “Um, yeah, I can see that. Or can’t-whatever. Are you from DAMA Labs?”
“Well no, I was born in Missouri. But before today I was in DAMA Labs…it’s a long story.”
I sighed. Guess we had a lead. “You can explain it to me and my friend. We work with things like this all the time."
The kid seemed suspicious. "And why should I trust you? You tackled me."
I put my hands up. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. But I'm not going to hurt you Matthew. If you come with me we can keep you safe."
The kid seemed hesitant. "Alright." I smiled. "Good. Now come on, before people start thinking I'm crazy..”
I began to walk, not originally knowing if he was following me. Then I heard the soft sound of footsteps, and knew he was.
What does this mean? What do you think these people are, or what do you think caused them to be invisible? Have a good day!