Tares City

6. Trouble Rising

ARROW BERLIN

"The McKinley's were supposed to infiltrate this house. They did, however, things didn't go according to plan," Arrow's father, Allister, informs her as she secures the silencer on her gun.

"They had their spray on them. But Andrew gave his to Celia, giving up himself to buy some time. The Lycans knew they were there – We don't know how."

"When last did we hear from them?" She asks her father as she douses herself in the spray.

"We lost all communications with them an hour ago. The tracking devices show they're still in the house."

"It's dark enough now," He says looking at the evening sky, the sun setting, dark reds and oranges bathing the sky. "Let's move out," he says, placing his earpiece in.

The group of them spread out stealthily, dividing into two teams. Arrow, her father, and another member, Malik position themselves at the front entrance – The other three at the back. Malik along with one person on the other team carried a black Enforcer ram to breach the doors.

"In 3,"
The men with the rams widen their stance, raising 16kg of hardened steel into position, ready to strike.

"2,"
The men each take a step from the door, building momentum for their strike.

"1 – EXECUTE!"
A loud explosion rings through the air, the sound reaching persons in nearby neighborhoods. A vibration follows the noise, shaking the ground, causing the window panes on houses to tremble.

Arrow finds herself being airborne, thrown backward by a great force – An intense heat radiating against her skin. She lands a few feet away, pain radiating across every inch of her body. Black spots cloud her vision, a high pitch ringing sounding in both her ears. She slides a quivering arm along the length of her stomach, her fingertips getting coated in blood. Through the ringing, she could hear sounds of combat and growls around her - A couple of screams sounding as well.
Through her fading vision, she sees a pair of black boots walk up to her, stopping at her face.

"Well, hello there Anaise. It is Anaise, right? Or is it Arrow? Arrow Berlin."

DEAN STRAKEN

Back at their desks, the detectives work on their case. They go through all their evidence, making calls and searching for new leads.

"So far, all we have is a dead couple and the possibility of them being involved in something." Calvin begins. "What I'm wondering, is, how Francis ended up in that alleyway. We found her husband; Corey in their home – attacked as well. Maybe we're looking at two or more people here. Let's say they go to the house, start their attack – Francis gets away so one chases after her while the other deals with the husband in the house."

"But then why all the evidence? Why leave a body in the alley and at their home." Dean comments. "I'm hoping we get more inside into Corey once we track down his mother. She's our last shot at piecing together this couple's extracurricular."

~

In the medical examiner's office, the two detectives stand before Francis' corpse, the examiner pulling out her files. "Cause of death was internal bleeding." The M.E., Susanna informs them.

"And on Corey?" Dean asks, to which she responds, "Stab wound to the heart."

"Besides the array of wounds, there isn't much to these two," Susanna begins. "They died from their injuries. Corey had blood and skin under his nails but turns out it was his. I assume while trying to undo some restraints, he dug into his skin. Nothing out of the ordinary showed up on the toxicology reports and there isn't any foreign DNA on either of them."