Puppetry

One: A Trail For Me To Follow (Sherbet)

Local demon hunter, Emerald Moonshine, has been tragically kidnapped throughout the local woods.

No she wasn't.

Police and Private Investigators are baffled by the situation.

It's funny how they haven't figured it out yet.

Though most blame it on her dangerous career, another reason to avoid demons at any cost.

Laughable. She was at home, outside the woods, away from demons. At least she followed their advice.

No evidence was found near the apparent scene of the kidnapping.

At least they got something right; I took all the evidence. It's just as well, they wouldn't even know what it meant. Again, laughable.

Emerald reportedly had no family, but her 'close friend' gave her opinion...

Finally, I get a mention.

...Whose name will remain anonymous....

Crap

"I'm going to find her, and bring the perpetrator to justice"

That actually sounds pretty cheesy now. At least I got my point across.... unanimously.

But for now, this will remain an unclear catastrophe for local police.

I put down the newspaper on the coffee table, and look at the other items laying atop of it. The first, a drill, is possibly an obvious murder weapon. However, I don't dwell on that thought. Hope is my main asset now, and I'm not wasting any of it.

My eyes drifted across to the second piece: Two thin wires. I recognised them as puppet strings, partly because of my fondness for them as a really young kid. About five years old when I received my first marionette. I named him Oscar.

A drill and some wires wasn't helping the situation. It was hard checking for prints on the wires, but on the drill, there was certainly nothing. The last piece of evidence, a small box of paint, was the same: Unscathed and untouched.

At first, when I saw the red paint in the handcrafted silver box, I thought it was a blood sample with it's watery but thick consistency. But after tasting it, it wasn't like an iron flavour. But a box of paint? Why would that be purposely left right in front of us?

Sighing with a sense of longing, I leaned back on the couch and shut my eyes tight. I knew time was of the essence, but so is sleep. My last thought was of reuniting with my friend.

I am Sherbet Smith, and I will find her.