Destined: The start (Unedited)

Prologue

"Yup, it's definitely Wednesday." I muttered as I sank into freezing water for the fifth time this very day. Just my luck...

Maybe it would be wise to start from the beginning.

My name is Lary Woodberry. I'm a thirty-year-old man with one of the most bizarre jobs in this part of the realm. To mortals, nonmagical beings, I'm an ordinary businessman, selling beauty products to men, woman and everything in between, but of course that's just a cover for my real job. What may that be you ask? Well... I'm a detective, a supernatural detective.

It's my job to make sure that nothing magical, mythical or supernatural harms, kills or kidnaps humans or anything from the magical world. It might sound like the best job, and it mostly is, but on the odd occasion that it isn't (Like Wednesdays) it's a real pain in the ass.

After ten years of getting shot, drowned, poisoned, trapped in all sorts of places and getting tortured in numerous ways you do tend to see your job in a new light.

On this particular Wednesday the weather was quite nice. It was a sunny cloudless day, just the way I like it.

I woke up to the smell of the coffee that stood on my nightstand. I took a sip and savored the taste of the dark, bitter coffee. Perfection. Like every normal person I finished my coffee before I got out of bed to get ready for the long day I have ahead of me.

My clothes lay neatly folded on a chair that stood at the opposite side of my room. A black button up shirt, a pair of jeans and gray socks. I got dressed (Decided on wearing black dress shoes and my usual brown trench coat) and within a minute I was on my way to work.

I took my usual route so I could stop at my favorite cafe for my second cup of coffee and something for breakfast. The cafe wasn't really far from where I worked so it was the most ideal place to stop and enjoy a small breakfast.

When I got the choc-o-berry muffin and steaming cup of coffee, I sat down and admired the glistening glass building that stood proudly amongst the bland everyday office buildings. This is where I worked.

On closer inspection one would notice that the building is made entirely of glass with the company logo embedded within the thick glass doors. The building was nineteen stories high and seven stories down.

It might not sound like the safest place in the world, but try as you might, and many have, you can never come in uninvited.

When I took the last sip of my coffee, the chocolate taste of the muffin still lingering in my mouth, I made my way to work. The second I entered the building I was greeted by the overwhelming sound of a busy day. There was some arguing between colleagues, small talk between friends and the occasional screech of the cleaning harpy. An ordinary day in the office.

As I made my way to the stairs, not being in the mood for the overly crowded elevator, a familiar, soothing voice yelled over the chaos, "Good morning mister Woodbury!" I replied with a simple wave and ascended the stairs. My office was on the seventh floor which means I had to climb three flights of stairs, take a break and venture on until I reached the seventh floor.

When I reached my office, out of breath and exhausted, my once sunny day turned into a stormy one. Why was this? Well, standing at my desk was my boss, Brice Ironside. He's a chubby man with almost no hair on his head; he did have a very large mustache though. Brice always insisted on wearing button up shirts, even if it doesn't do much to keep his stomach contained. He had this annoying habit of matching his trousers to his socks, today it was polka-dot.

To my surprise a boy stood next to Brice, nervously observing the room in which I spent twenty percent of my working hours. He could not have been older then fifteen judging by his posture and height but judging by his facial shape he was between the age of nineteen and twenty-five. He was the perfect age to start working as a detective or crime investigator.

"It's late." Brice's gruff, annoyed voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "Correction, mister Woodberry, you are late and it's about time you show up." He continues, nothing, but disrespect and loathing laced his voice. I just ignored The Asshole and sat down on my amazingly soft office chair, this naturally earned me an angry glare.

"Are you quite finished." The question, of course, was rhetorical, so Brice just continued. "This is Jame.

He'll be your new partner. Could you try and keep this one alive?" His mere existence enraged me more than words can describe, so the moment he stormed out I breathed out a sigh of relief, I even ignored the fact that he left my office door open.

"Thank goodness he left." I heard The kid, Jame mutter under his breath. This earned him some brownie points, but when he turned to me with a smile so bright that it blinded me, he lost it all.

I handed him a pile of mandatory paperwork and pointed to the only clean spot in amongst all my desks. "Get started on these. Lunch is at eleven and I do not care about your whole life story so do me a favor and don't talk to me unless it's absolutely necessary."

The kid seemed to understand simple instructions and didn't hesitate t0 start working. By the time I left for lunch he finished the paperwork and managed to sort out one eighth of my mess. He seemed like a pretty decent kid, but he wouldn't last long in the field. He was skinny and slow, which made him an easy target. He also seemed to have OCD, which could lead to him trying to clean or sort out evidence and compromising it in the process and getting him arrested and charged for tempering with a case.

I was about to take a bite of the best mac-n-cheese when to my annoyance Brice walked in, left the door open, placed a file on my desk and motioned for Jame to come over. "There have been some mysterious drownings at a very popular hiking trail, we think it might be connected to the death of this girl." Brice took a deep breath and opened the file for me and Jame to examine:

Case 35

Name of victim:

Ema lest

Age of victim:

15

Suspected death:

Drowning

Location found:

Location of death:

Name of assigned officer:

Nelson Frinch

Date found:

25 January 2021

Date of death:

Suspects in case:

1. Andrew Lest

2. Evella Lest

Date of case ending:

There was a photo of Ema attached to the file. She had long black hair that would have been beautiful if it wasn't for the amount of dirt and weeds that was tangled in the locks that hung from her sculp. Her skin was a pale blue indicating that she was indeed dead, but dark bruises ruined the image of perfection that she portrayed after her death. These bruises could have been from her body being dragged around by the current, or it could have been from her time in the living. She could be a victim of abuse.

"Witnesses recount seeing her this past week and has been claimed to show signs of violent behavior. If we can find out who killed her then we might be able to help her reach peace and move on." I knew that we meant me and Jame but decided not to protest.

When Brice left for the second time this day I glared daggers at the back of his egg-shaped head. I examined the contents of the file a few more times, taking notes as I grumbled for Jame to get my lunch in a takeaway.

"We need to find out more about our victim and her family. I need to know where they lived and why they haven't filed a missing person's case, but most importantly we need to find out who killed her and what their motive is." I told Jame as he walked in, ready to go.

My day was far from done...