Double Vision

28

028. periwinkle .

mar. 25, 2024.

6:57 a.m.

"It's almost been an hour." I grumbled, tapping my finger against my desk impatiently. "Where the hell is Rene?"

V turned her gaze to me, a lazy expression on her face as she rested her chin on her hand. "He's not exactly relevant, I feel we could go on without him."

"Yeah, but he didn't call in for a day off." I narrowed my eyes.

Lyra crossed her arms. "Maybe he was an Aneri casualty."

"Let's not let that be our first conclusion." Molly shot a glare at her.

"I'm just saying!" she threw her hands up defensively. "He's part of the police, isn't he a prime target?!"

"I don't think they'd go for the stupidest one." Ryan muttered, sipping his straw. V pressed her lips together, glaring at him.

"Regardless of his intelligence, he's still a member of our team," I said, my frustration growing. "We need to find out where he is and if he's okay."

Molly nodded. "I'll try calling him again."

As Molly dialed Rene's number, the rest of us exchanged glances. I frowned as I heard it go straight to voicemail.

"Of course the idiot didn't charge his phone," I massaged my temples. "Whatever. Carry on without him."

The tension in the room thickened as we tried to refocus on the task at hand, but Rene's absence lingered like a shadow over our meeting. Without his input, or his stupid comments, our plans felt incomplete, and the uncertainty of his whereabouts weighed heavily on our minds.

V leaned back in her chair, breaking the silence. "We can't let this derail us. Let's move forward with what we have."

Ryan nodded, speaking up rather quickly. "We need to stay focused. Whatever's going on with Rene, we'll deal with it later."

Lyra shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her gaze darting around the room. "But what if something happened to him? Shouldn't we at least try to find out?"

Molly sighed, his frustration evident. "I'll text him, but if he's not answering, there's not much else we can do."

V was glaring daggers through Lyra. "If you care that much you can file a missing person report."

Lyra bristled at V's sharp retort, but she bit her tongue, realizing arguing further wouldn't help the situation. She picked up her pen and started scribbling notes, probably trying to focus on the task at hand despite the unease in the room.

I cleared my throat, attempting to steer the conversation back on track. "Alright, let's review the information we've gathered. Kate, anything?"

V cleared her throat. "Aneri is definitely a college student in Nevada. There's no connection between the people dying, so I think Aneri is just killing people to kill them."

"Cruel." Molly muttered.

V nodded in response. "I took what Mr. Herzig said about someone named Helena into consideration, and I visited several different cemeteries after B—" her voice wavered, and she cleared her throat. "I visited several different cemeteries after Eui's funeral."

I nodded. "Did you find anything."

"Um, no." she stared at her lap.

"Great." I pinched the bridge of my nose, resting my elbow on my desk. "Do you think you could keep searching?"

"Yeah. But I won't have free time until Saturday, so—"

"Do you guys lack basic human empathy?!" Ryan shouted, shooting up from his seat. "She lost her sister less than a week ago, and you're asking her to surround herself with gravestones?!"

I blinked. "Oh. My apologies."

V shook her head. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it is." Ryan glared at her. "I'll check the damned graveyards."

The room fell into a heavy silence, the weight of Ryan's words hanging in the air. V looked taken aback, her usual composed demeanor faltering for a moment. She opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it, seemingly at a loss for words.

Molly cleared his throat, breaking the tension. "Let's... let's take a break for now. We can reconvene tomorrow and figure out our next steps."

As everyone stood up, there was a palpable sense of unease lingering among us. Rene's absence and the emotional toll of their recent losses cast a shadow over our usual day.

I made a mental note to check in on V later. Despite her outward appearance of strength, it was clear that she was struggling in her own way.

The next day, the atmosphere in the room was subdued as we reconvened to discuss our next steps. Rene still hadn't shown up, and there was no word from him. V seemed more composed today, but I could still see the traces of pain in her eyes.

Ryan was the first to speak up. "I checked the graveyards last night. Didn't find anything related to this Helena person."

"He might've been schizophrenic or something." Lyra shrugged. "I always thought he was weird."

Molly scrunched up his face. "Okay, that's a bit ableist."

"I'm just saying!" She shouted.

"You're always just saying."

Lyra crossed her arms, glaring at Molly. He shrugged, picking up his coffee mug.

V took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "I cross-referenced Aneri's known locations with recent disappearances or unusual deaths in the area. There are a few cases that stand out, but nothing concrete yet."

I leaned forward. "Let's focus on those cases. Maybe there's a pattern we're missing."

"It seems that Aneri targets individuals who are vulnerable or isolated. Most of the victims were either young adults struggling with mental health issues or middle aged adults with important jobs. Then there's also registered sex offenders, but I think that was deserved. Aneri also doesn't kill children."

"That's... somewhat reassuring, I guess," I muttered, trying to find a silver lining in the grim situation. "But it still doesn't give us much to work with. We need to find a way to anticipate Aneri's next move."

Ryan scratched his head. "What if we set up bait? Someone vulnerable, but with a team nearby to intervene if things go south."

Molly raised an eyebrow. "That sounds risky. We can't put someone in harm's way like that."

"It's the best shot we've got," Ryan argued. "We need to draw Aneri out somehow."

V interjected, her voice firm. "We need to be cautious. We can't afford to make mistakes, especially with Rene still missing."

"This would be a lot easier if we knew how Aneri kills." I muttered, frowning. "I wish we could've gotten more out of Mr. Herzig before he died."

V nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, we have to work with the information we have. And right now, that's not much."

I really wish Rene would come back and give us his stupid ideas that somehow end up being useful.