Specials

Of Leaves and Casings

Leaves swirled to the ground, as the wind blew harshly against the trees. Deep breaths resounded in the forest coloured with shades of reds, yellows and greens, followed by heavy footsteps. Tripping, the runner fell bracing herself for the impact. She failed to get up, her body exhausted, not knowing the awaiting presence behind her. Another cold breeze blew, making the first reddening leaves float down to the ground that was now painted with the same vibrant red as them.

Katelyn POV

Sirens blared loudly flooding the scene with red and blue lights. People whispered amongst themselves as they tried to get a closer look at the scene before them. A person dressed in a black overcoat stepped out of the car and adjusted his coat as he he walked towards the black and yellow tape. He paused at the sight of the blood and took a deep breath, accidentally inhaling the metallic odour. He coughed violently, and grimaced once again at the sight of the foul substance.

"Still scared of blood? Even though you can control it as your special?" I questioned. My senior spun round to spot me, his junior, smiling at his obvious disgust.
"I'm your superior. You're meant to show me respect, psychic," he reprimanded me, "Detail me, then."
To which I retorted, " I'm meant to respect you with black and neon orange socks?" I scoffed, but we walked closer to the crime scene. He questioned me once more," What happened here?"
" The victim had severe head injuries before being shot in the chest with a 9mm slug. The victim is Sarah Jennings- died 4 to 5 hours ago; so her time of death would be around 5.20 am. She was found by an elderly woman walking by, called Mrs. Cartwright, and she alerted us."

Someone suddenly tapped my shoulders, immediately sending shivers down my spine. I groaned, and didn't bother to confirm the identity of the person behind me.
"This whole area is covered in leaves. Leaves rustle. How did you get behind me without making any noise? Couldn't you appear in a more normal way?"
"Of course not. That would ruin my mysterious charm," he replied. I could only hope that I wasn't this annoying to Senior Investigator Wright. With a fixed smirk in place he whispered into my ears, fully knowing that they were sensitive,
"Are you scared? Don't worry I'm right here." Karma is such a female dog. Stupid, sarcastic, egotistical non-special, who enjoys solving cases before me. Goes by the name of Jerk. Well, in my dictionary at least. Otherwise known as Jack Leyton. Despite being a non-special, he excelled in various aspects, which I would never admit to his face.

Senior Investigator Wright smiled sadly at me and Leyton's smirk was growing larger by the second.
"Moore you did it again. You projected your thoughts onto us. You ought to keep your special in check." Wright told me, patting my head.
"No, you can keep doing it. I wouldn't mind for sure. I excel in various aspects, do I? Why don't you elaborate that statement for me? " Leyton laughed at my discomfort. I sighed once more and continued to inspect the scene in an effort to find more clues.

"You missed some key points, Moore. It's too bad really. Those special powers of yours didn't increase your IQ or your deductive skills in general," Leyton called, still smirking. I glared at him, challenging him. Without thought, I blurted,
"You can't say much. You don't even have a special, Leyton." I knew I had not just crossed, but sprinted past the line, when his eyes glazed over.
Senior Investigator Wright stood between us and placed a hand on both of us in a controlled but dominating manner.
"It is disrespectful to argue in front of a murder victim. Apologise," he demanded in an eerily calm voice. We froze at the sound if his voice, and mumbled our apologies. " What did you observe, Leyton?" enquired Wright.

"She was most likely on a morning jog. Saw the attacker and didn't resist too much, because she probably recognised the attacker. The blows rendered her unconscious. The bullet killed her. But why would the murderer take a risk and bring two murder weapons, when the gun would do the job just fine? She has a gang tattoo- a cross of some sort on the back of her neck recently. It still looks red." I sighed heavily in guilt as I noticed his glazed eyes during his analysis.
"Victim of abuse. Possible reasons are her sexuality, race and the most likely," he slowed down, his voice softened and his eyes clouded to an almost unrecognisable state. "Her speciality. She is a non-special like me." The air thickened and I looked down at my feet, unable to bring myself to look back into his eyes, in fear of getting swallowed by the agony and solitude in them.

Wright interrupted, "Take the bullet and the body back for a more examination. Find the casings. Send the files to me while you're at it, too." The wind started rearranging the leaves yet again. Climbing into his car, he left Leyton and me in the dust, or to be more accurate, in the leaves. The awkward silence between us prolonged and neither of us made a move to disturb it. Shuffling my feet, I took a deep breath for my upcoming apology. But before I could get the words out, Leyton walked to his car and drove off, in the direction of the office. I was left alone.
Right, back to casing duty. Find the casings. Amongst the piles of leaves that move every few minutes. Oh for the love of food. This is going to be fun.