The Whitechapel Case [abandoned]

Part 3: The Usual Suspects (Chapter 1)

The Whitechapel Case

Fox-Trot-9

PG-13

Horror/Suspense/Mystery (How-Catch-'Em)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or Death Note.

Part 3: The Usual Suspects
Chapter 1

Day 3—Noll awoke to the patter of rain outside his room. The morning of April 11th began with a time-honored English tradition that hasn't changed since the first Britons settled in England thousands of years ago: waking up to the sound of April rain drops hitting the roof.

He sat up and looked around, absorbing the surroundings of his room. The walls, ceiling and even the carpet were awash in dismal shades and shadows that seemed to mingle here and there throughout the space. To his right was the door leading out of the room, for some reason slightly ajar. In front of him, the low bookshelf filled with books on the paranormal, the camera sitting on top of it next to an old 1960's Fisher radio. On the wall above it were certificates recognizing his achievements in paranormal research. To the left of that was a credenza, most likely still filled with Gene's clothes. On top of that, a TV that neither of them had much time to watch; but when they did, they usually turned it on to shows like Most Haunted or Ghost Hunters, getting kicks out of how these so-called ghost hunters overreacted to harmless orbs of dust. To the left of that was the window with its blinds closed, casting hazy streaks of light onto the floor from the outside. And to the left of that was Mai, tucked up and beautiful in Gene's bed.

Then he looked at the clock on the night stand beside him. It was 6:30 a.m., still too early for Mai to wake up. So he got out of bed and opened the blinds, letting the dreary light into the room; it was still drizzling out there. Then he looked back at Mai and admired the sleeping beauty on this dreary morning.

Then he went to the bathroom and took a shower, doing all the things you do when starting off the day, until he looked at himself in the mirror. Spick and spam as he was, he still showed the wear of yesterday's events on his face. His eyes were no longer blood-shot, but the blue in each pupil was still faded, and the bruises on his neck had turned into pale patches of black that were less painful to the touch. After getting dressed, he went to his room to wake Mai up.

"Wake up, Mai; we have a long day ahead of us," he said, looking at his watch. "It's almost 7:00 in the morning." Her eyes twinkled beneath her eyelids as she shifted to her side, still oblivious to his words. Noll sighed; Mai wasn't a morning person, that's for sure. "Mai, if you don't wake up, I will cut your wage by half."

She roused again as if she heard him, shifting to her other side and mumbling in her sleep, "Why are you so mean?"

Well, he had to admit it; for someone who wasn't much of a morning person, Mai looked kind of...nice when she was like this. But he hid his admiration and turned away when she opened her eyes. "It's about time you woke up."

"Geez, Naru, can't you give a girl a break? I didn't get much sleep during the plane ride. Can't you be at least a little more considerate?"

"Only if you try harder to wake up," and he got up and walked away.

"Naru! Hey, get back here!" (But the kid kept walking.) "You bastard!" And she threw a pillow after him; then she plopped onto the bed. Why does he have to be so mean?

 

Down the stairs and into the kitchen, Noll heard his father talking to Jacob and Bert at the breakfast table, while Luella had prepared pan-fulls of yummy scrambled eggs with melting pepper jack and bacon bits in between the folds, the kind that mothers have a flair for as the smell wafted from the skillet through the kitchen and up the stairs.