𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 | dead boy detectives

1.5| argument

crystal walks in a fast pace alone in a dark alleyway, muttering the words 'i'm fine' over and over. three ghosts suddenly appear in front of her and she yell in surprise. "god! i just need a second, okay? can you give me a second!" winnie frown as she looks at crystal in concern.

"is david here in port townsend?" david? that must be the name of the demon that possess crystal. though, she never heard of a demon with a name of an old man.

"yeah. i-i don't know where i was. t-there was floating giant eyeballs-" edwin faces charles completely ignoring crystal who is trying to explain. "charles, i told you this is a bad idea. her demon being here could jeapordize the becky aspen case." i frown in disbelief because of how insensitive he is.

"you didn't even want this case." she interject but edwin ignore her again. "we already have a witch to deal with. and you remember how powerful her demon was in our tube encounter." crystal was furious. he wasn't even listening to anything she said.

"just stop saying 'her demon'! he's not my demon! and that was scary. do you get that?" she raises her voice specifically at edwin. "oh but great job. case closed, right? crossed my name off the board so the demon must be gone, right? real bang-up work there, edwin, because he's not gone!" the boys are too stunned to speak as well as winnie. usually in a situation like this, she would just tell a stupid joke to lighten the mood but this time she decide to just shut her mouth. winnie could see tears welled up in crystal's eyes.

"he's not gone! so maybe he's our fucking demon now!" she scream in rage before walking past them, accidentally bumping charles' shoulder.

"has she gone quite mad? yelling at us!" edwin stare as crystal walk away with a mad face. "dude. you're being a prat. of course she yelled at you." winnie frown in dissapointment at edwin. for someone smart, he is really insensitive. edwin raise one of his eyebrow in confusion as he looks at winnie.

"she's not yelling at me, mate. she's saying she's scared." charles frown at edwin and cross his arms. "scared? alright charles. ever since she showed up, you've been acting differently." winnie looks between the two of them, sensing another argument. "that's-.. look, we have to remember what she's been through." edwin only scoff in disbelief. "what she's been through? i spent over 70 years in hell!"

that caught winnie off guard. wasn't expecting that. if he's been in hell, then why is he here? edwin march off to the opposite way crystal went. charles sighs in frustration before yelling "not saying it's a contest, mate!"

now its just winnie and charles in the middle of the alley. winnie bounce on her feet awkwardly. it's her coping mechanism when she's in awkward situations. "so uh... quite a spiritful team you got here." charles groan in frustration. "not you too."

winnie only chuckled. that was also a habit of hers, to make a bad joke in this kind of situation. "sorry, sorry. just trying to lighten the mood. are you okay?" she give him a smile feeling a bit pity for the boy. she knows he tried to keep the group together but the two just can't be near each other.

"yeah.. i'm okay. edwin, he's a mistrusting person. and a bit egoistic. crystal is still new to us despite her trying to help. he didn't really trust her" charles sighs as he run a hand through his hair. "he's not good with anyone, really." winnie give a smile before patting his shoulder to comfort him, to tell him its okay.

"i'm sure they'll get along if we gave them time." charles smile softly at her, glad that at least winnie is here to comfort him. "hey, i know this sounds ridiculous but could you please go after edwin?" winnie widened her eyes at him.

"what? that is ridiculou, you know edwin didn't like me too right?" winnie narrrows her eyes at him. charles only chuckled "yeah but he obviously don't want to see my face so i guess you could give it a go. please? just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." he even give her puppy eyes hoping that winnie will accept.

winnie lets out a sigh "fine. i couldn't say no to that face, can i?"

*⁠.⁠✧

the boy in the brown jacket suit walks fast with a frown etched on his face. his frown gets even deeper when she heard a girl's voice. "hey, wait up!" edwin turns around and glare at the shorter girl before him "how many times do i have to tell you to get lost! why can't you understand that we don't want you here. i don't want you here!" he raises his voice as he looks straight into the girl's blue eyes.

winnie took a couple breath as she had been running to catch up to edwin. "right. uh.. i'm known to be an obnoxiously annoying person that can't take a hint when told to leave so.. no. i'm kind of stuck with you guys. like a piece of gum that stuck to your shoe" she grin at him. edwin groan in frustration before turning around to continue walking.

"charles told me to go after you." winnie kick a pebble. edwin scoff "i'm not a child.. he's been different ever since the girl join us." winnie can't see edwin's expression since she walk a few steps back from him, but she guess that he must be scowling.

"from what i've seen from all the glances and smiles he gave her, i can pretty much say that maybe he likes her." if a person were to pay attention to charles, one could conclude that he could have a crush on crystal. but who could blame him? crystal is  pretty.

"what is there to like about her? she is a crazy girl who's involved with a demon, for goodness sake." winnie shakes her head. he still didn't get it, did he? "she's terrified, edwin. that demon must have done something terrible at her." edwin turns around again to face her about to say the same thing to charles, but she cut him off "and i don't know.. what happened to you or how you could get in a horrible place such as the hell.. i'm sure what you've been through is far worst than some demon.." she said softly looking down.

"but please don't be so hard on crystal.. she didn't want any of those things happening either." edwin purse his lip thinking of what to say. he didn't want to admit it, but what he said to crystal is uncalled for. he didn't like crystal that's for sure. he didnt like a living girl meddling with his business, solving cases with his bestfriend. but he shouldn't be so harsh.

"how do you ended up there?" the soft voice makes him focus again. "pardon?" "the hell?" winnie asks gently, afraid if this is a sensitive topic to edwin. she was prepared to be snapped by him but he only sighs tiredly. "it's.. it's a mistake. my friends have made me into a sacrifice into some sort of ritual. the demon that dragged me to hell even apologizes for the error. i'm lucky enough to have escaped that place" he chuckles darkly but winnie only stare at him in horror.

"why are you laughing? that's horrible! are they even your friends?" but edwin only shrugged. "not friends. just some stupid kids who can't leave me alone."

winnie was about to say something when they heard a cat meowing behind edwin. edwin smile before he gets an idea. "cat, are you the one from earlier?" winnie looks at him weirdly. "what? we all looks the same to you?" the brown tabby cat says sassily. "i was following you because i want to scratch this dimwit friend of yours." the cat growls at winnie, but she just smirks in amusement.

"aww come on! you can't be mad too long at an accident." she chuckled. "accident my ass. you hide the pool filled with sewer water, knowing that i will fall into it!" yeah that's not really an accident. the cat was seen stealing foods in some shop so winnie decided to play a little prank on him. "guilty." she give a mischievous smile.

edwin rolls his eyes before crouching down closer to the cat. "she's not my friend. i was looking for you." edwin pulled out a small fish in his gloved hand. "i bought this for you to say.. thank you." the cat's eyes light up when he saw the the fish and strut towards edwin.

when the cat's close enough, edwin take out a shiny rope that wraps magically around the cat's neck. winnie stare in curiosity. "binding spell. one of my tricks." edwin say proudly. the cat grunts as he struggles to move but failed. "i know i shouldn't trust you!" the cat scowl at edwin and winnie. winnie only snicker. "i'm not the one binding you, mate."

"now, i have a missing girl to find. tell me about this witch." the cat only sighs "ugh, fine. but using magic on a cat means trouble." edwin and winnie looked at each other, not believing him. what's a small cat could even do to them?

*⁠.⁠✧