Killer Queen Beyond the Grave

Chapter 4

- Present Day -

"Jotaro Kujo? Your nephew who's older than you?" Gracyn looked at her husband, her face was painted in extreme shock. "Yes, Gracyn, but I didn't want to tell you as soon as I had heard, because I didn't want you to worry at all." Josuke put his hand on Gracyn's shoulder, as he knew she would soon freak out. 

"Josuke, why is he visiting? Is there a reason? Is it a bad reason? Josuke I need to know." Gracyn began looking at all the men across her table hoping for a response. Koichi broke the silence. "Well, Gracyn, we're not exactly sure yet. There weren't many details he was willing to tell us over the phone but had notified us he was boarding a ship to Morioh to talk in person." Gracyn just exhaled loudly, trying to process all she was hearing. 

'I have to meet my nephew for the first time, but there's a chance this meeting isn't going to be a good one.' She thought to herself. She knew her husband and her friends had good intentions, but she would've preferred to have known for a while, hoping she could process all the new information that was being fed to her. 'I just need to appear calm, because that is what they want.' She concluded internally. 

"So, where are we meeting Jotaro?" Gracyn presented herself as calm and collect, internally freaking out. "We've all decided to meet at Rohan's in 45 minutes," Josuke replied."Alright, let me get ready and charge my laptop, then I'll be ready to leave. Josuke, your breakfast is probably cold, so if you want to make more, or offer more to our guests, please do so." Gracyn turned around and walked upstairs, letting her blonde hair out of a ponytail, before disappearing upstairs.

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Gracyn had changed into a pair of black leggings and a t-shirt from college, putting on her tennis shoes at the front door. Josuke, Okuyasu, Koichi, and Gracyn had left the house, and walked towards Rohan's. It was a silent walk, as Gracyn assumed everyone was anxious for Jotaro's visit, wondering if there was something wrong. 

When they got to the front door they heard a laugh from Rohan indoors and a deep voice responding with "yare yare daze." Gracyn had never heard that voice before. Her heart dropped to her stomach as she assumed that was Jotaro Kujo. 

Rohan welcomed his guests into his home and motioned towards the living room. Inside a man in nearly all-white sat in a lounge chair, sipping on hot tea. "Jotaro!" Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi exclaimed in unison. Jotaro had stood up and went to shake their hands. "Long time, no see," Jotaro smiled. His eyes went from his friends to the new girl standing by the door frame. "Well, I haven't formally met you yet, ma'am." Jotaro extended his arm out to shake her hand, which she shook back. "Gracyn Higashikata. I've heard a lot about you and your time here in Morioh. It's a pleasure." 

The happy reunion seemed to calm her nerves about Jotaro's visit. They had all sat down, drinking tea, and catching up on all they've missed. Jotaro looked up to Gracyn once the room went silent. "I do apologize for not being able to attend Josuke's and your wedding. I was looking forward to it, but I had an important mission from the Speedwagon Foundation I had to tend to. I do hope my skillets were an acceptable apology." Gracyn laughed. "With the amount of food Josuke eats in a day, those skillets are probably the most used item in our house." 

The room had gone silent, as everyone was anticipating the reason behind Jotaro's trip. Koichi was the one to break the silence. "Jotaro, we are all very happy to see you, but we are all wondering why you came back to Morioh. The last time you were here, it wasn't exactly the most pleasant visit." Jotaro put his cup of tea down and addressed the group.

"You're right, this is not going to be a pleasant visit." Gracyn's heart dropped farther than it had ever done before. "Working with the Speedwagon Foundation, we have uncovered some very unsettling news." Rohan looked out the window. "The news is about something bad in Morioh?" He guessed. "In the past month, although police have kept it under wraps, the Foundation got ahold of this information, but there have been five different murder cases." All eyes were on Jotaro. "All of them were in fact women, and the only thing that can be traced to them was a singular hand." The silence was deafening. Josuke squeezed Gracyn's hand as if trying to calm her. Gracyn knew her husband better than anyone, and she knew he was just as scared as she was.

Josuke was still holding on to Gracyn's hand while talking to Jotaro. "Kira is dead, Jotaro. We all saw it happen. The news wasn't spread on the arms and missing the rest of the body. Families were just told that their loved ones' remains have not been found. No one knows about what Kira did to these women except the stand users in Morioh, and all of us here." Jotaro sighed. "I'm ware Kira is dead, but there is something wrong. No one knew about his signature, so how come someone is murdering women the same way Yoshikage Kira was?" Gracyn winced. Not only was she having to fear for her life as a woman, but she knew her husband would try and defeat that sick bastard, possibly getting himself hurt, or worse, killed. 

"As soon as I was relayed that information, I came here as fast as I could, as it is a peculiar case. We have had an incident like this ten years ago, but we're going to stop this faster than the first time. As of now, I wanted to tell you all this information first. I wasn't exactly planning on having Gracyn here, as she's not a stand user and this will be hard for someone without a stand to solve, but we need to now get the rest of the stand users together and discuss this plan." Gracyn felt humiliated. As Jotaro continued talking, she left the room and went into the bathroom, tears of anger prickling her eyes. 

'I'm not here to solve this case, I'm here because Josuke wanted me to meet you, so sorry that I just showed up to a "Stand Users Only" party, but I did not need to be addressed like that.' Gracyn paced the floor until she heard a knock at the door. 

"Babe? I know you're angry crying in there. You pace the floor when you angry cry. Please open the door for me. I want to help you." Josuke pleaded from behind the closed door. Gracyn sighed and allowed him in the bathroom, proceeding to lock it behind her. "Am I overreacting? Or was that kind of an asshole way of addressing me?" She looked at her husband, the tears now falling down her cheeks.

"No, you're right, but this isn't really like you to start crying over something this small. That may sound insensitive, but you're one of the strongest people I know. Gracyn, is everything okay?" Gracyn sniffles and throws herself into Josuke's chest, her head resting on his chest. "I'm not sure, I've just been a little on edge lately and more things have upset me recently. I'm not sure why but I'll be okay." Josuke wraps his arms around Gracyn's body, holding her tight. 

"Whenever you're ready, we're going to Tonio's to explain the situation to everyone else, alright?"

Gracyn wipes her tears, nods her head, and proceeds to open the bathroom door, her husband following behind her.