The Worth of a Coin (BxB)

Chapter 14

-Quan Leung-

The shadow which walked in front of me was ominous. It had its head lowered and shuffled across the room like a zombie. It wasn't what I had expected to find when I started to use my magic. I had expected to find more of an answer, more than just a shadow. But why would a shadow act so sluggish if it wasn't meant to be in Simon's room? Surely, they would be scared of getting caught. Then came the other figure.

The other figure wasn't a shadow, but rather a figure of light. I hadn't witnessed anything like it within my two decades of schooling my psychic abilities. If I had to take a wild guess, I would say that it was a ghost, but it looked unlike any ghost I had seen. It flickered and zoomed around the room, floating inches off the floor. It was short and slim, inhumanly slim.

"What do you mean, more than one person?" Ruarc asked from behind me.

"Well, what does it sound like?" I asked, my tone bridging onto sarcastic. I didn't have time to be explaining things that should be obvious. I took a deep breath to try and ground my mind. He was in mourning, and I was snapping at him. It was my usual, but it wasn't necessary right now. "There was more than one person here."

"Who killed Simon?" Mrs. Addams asked through a choked sob.

I nodded my head and lifted a hand to my chin, tapping it as I thought. "You said that nobody would want to harm Simon, but does that mean that nobody would want him out of the picture?" My words were harsh and to the point. I didn't want to beat around the bush or avoid the answers that I needed. If there was someone who had a reason to hate Simon so much that they would kill him, that would be extremely helpful. Yet, I had the feeling that I would've been told about any possible suspects already.

"No, he did harm to no-one," Ruarc denied. "Anyone in the street could tell you that."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you sure of that?" I didn't want to have to interact with the group who were just outside. They were intimidating and I wasn't one to get along with strangers, or people in general.

Ruarc seemed to hesitate. "Yes, yes, I'm sure that Simon wouldn't have had any enemies. He was too good for that."

I ignored the pained noise which came from Mrs. Addams' throat. I didn't want to completely ignore her emotions and opinions, but they could be troublesome when it came to investigations.

"Being good doesn't mean that you don't have enemies," I pointed out. "After all, the stereotypical conflict is good versus evil."

Ruarc sighed. "I know." He paused for a moment. "But then that just means that he was a target, because he was good. That would make it impossible to find out who it is."

I shook my head. "Difficult, but not impossible."

"That's just talking in riddles," Ruarc said with an exasperated sigh. "I feel like I'm just going to have to go along with whatever you're thinking and pull you out of the danger that you will inevitably get in."

I shrugged my shoulders. "If we're looking for someone who targets good people, I don't think I'd be good bait."

The noise of a soft slap echoed through the room. "Great, you already have a plan which includes bait."

I shook my head with a small chuckle. I knew that my chuckle could be mizzen as disrespectful and ill-placed, Yet, after being in this occupation for so long. Things such as jokes and other methods of lightening the mood, became things to rely on. We knew the gravity of our jobs, and some of us reacted to the fact in several ways.

"I think we got all that we need," I said and straightened my back. I walked over to Ruarc and held my arm out to him, which he immediately looped his arm around. "Should we share what we've found?"