The Raven Conspiracy

Chapter 14 - Gunshots and Corpses

Chapter 14 – Gunshots and Corpses

“Morning!” I said chirpily as I entered the office. “I got the copy you asked me – “

I was interrupted by a gunshot, filling the confined space with its bang.

I jumped and clutched my heart. Kairo was pointing a gun at the wall, firing at random.

“Thanks. Put it down somewhere,” he muttered. I rubbed my ears, trying to get rid of the painful ringing.

“No, no...Thank you for almost deafening me.”

“Oh, sorry.”

He spun his chair and shot again, this time straight at me. I felt my heart stop as the bullet sailed past my ear and buried itself in the door.

“Kairo!”

“Did you say something?”

I let out a sigh of pure exasperation, dumping the folder with the pictures on the desk.

“I got coffee,” I said, placing a take-away cup in front of him.

“Jared didn’t make this,” he lined the cup up against the wall and shot it too. Hot, black liquid splattered an interesting pattern against the paint.

“I didn’t have to time to go there. I overslept.”

 “You overslept? Don’t let it happen again,” he stretched his arms up, weaving his fingers together with the gun dangling from one of them. “I hope you’re wide awake now.”

“As if it’s possible to still be sleepy after that racket,” I grumbled. “Why are you shooting anyway?”

“Because I feel like it,” he emphasised it by putting another bullet hole in the wall.

“Let me guess, you just felt like shooting at me too?”

He paused in consideration,

“No, that just seemed like fun.”

He spun the gun around casually and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head and putting his feel up on the desk.

“You’re crazy.”

“Some might argue that point.”

“Aren’t you worried about wasting bullets?”

“Target practice is never a waste.”

He clicked the gun’s safety on and tucked it into his belt. His eyes travelled over me, analysing. There was a smirk on his face.

“You’re...studier than I first thought – mentally sturdier.”

“I’ve decided not to be fazed by anything thrown at me anymore,” I answered.

It was true; on the bus that morning, I came to a conclusion: the only way to retain my sanity was to accept things. So far, I was glad that the method was working.

“Hmm...Alright, then. I got a phone call earlier. A case. It’s fairly straight-forward, but I think it will be good for you to experience the field.”

I tried to hide the smile creeping onto my face, remembering my resolve to remain nonchalant.

“A case?”

“Yeah...Pretty simple. Someone found a corpse lying in a field. Because the ordinary police are so busy running around after jewel thieves, and they suspect what they call paranormal influences, they redirected it to me. Shall we go have a look at the crime scene?”