Sentry of the Arcane

Chapter 4: Fitz

It doesn't take too long to find the conference room. In fact, multiple signs seemed to point towards the main conference hall.

    "Coincidence," Sophie mumbles as we near the front doors of the meeting room.

    I frown at her choice of dialogue. For some reason, in this case, coincidences seem like a myth. I narrow my eyes at the extravagant gold doors and push them open without a second thought.

    Even before we entered the room, I had a feeling we wouldn't be alone. The only thing is, I didn't expect the officer standing behind two girls and two boys.

    There are two pairings with a boy and a girl. The boy and girl with auburn hair smile and wave at us. The pair with the black hair nod and salute at us nonchalantly. Sophie and I nod at the four teenagers in response as we place the two folders on the tables.

    The officer claps his hands to grab our attention, earning glares from the nonchalant pairing, Sophie, and me. For a second, the officer seems intimidated by that, but clears his throat and exclaims, "There are three groups here: The Percipients-" He points at Sophie and me. "The Sovereigns-" Then he gestures to the boy and girl with black hair. "And finally the Altruistics-" He holds an arm out to the auburn haired teenagers.

    The male Sovereign glares at the officer. "We don't know each other! How will we know who's who?" He then folds his arms together, as if silently threatening to beat him up.

    The male Altruistic sighs. "We could just say our names, you know. Instead of yelling." He shoots an exasperated glance at the male Sovereign.

    The black haired man growls. "You want to say that again?!" He curls his hands into fists.

    But before he can tackle the Altruistic, I hold my hand up irritatedly. "Enough," I command, somehow stopping him in his tracks. He sits down angrily as I say, "We should say our names so we'll know who's who-" I glare at the male Autristic as he grins with pride at the Sovereign, "But that doesn't mean we are allowed to instigate each other."

    Sophie nods at this. "Apologize, both of you." When they do, she claps her hands together and says, "Alright, then. We'll start off with introductions." She points to the Altruistics. "You two go first. Please state your age and name."

    The female smiles joyously, "Well then! Hello-" She waves at everybody. "I'm Laurel Davis, and I'm currently 16. Nice to meet you!"

    Everybody nods in approval as the male says, "Well... I'm Benen Roberts and I'm also 16." He then smiles at Laurel, causing her to giggle. I smirk, reminding myself to tease him about that later.

    I then point at the gagging Sovereigns. "You two go next since you so-kindly offered to go," I say, smiling at their appalled expressions.

    The man glares at me, but knows that he shouldn't try to attack me. "Fine- I'm Donovan Pitts and-"

    Donovan's cut off by a laughing female Sovereign. "Pitts?!" she get out through fits of laughter. "Oh- your parents must've hated you!"

    His face livid, Donovan basically growls, "And I'm 18..." He then smiles a phony grin. "Your turn, girlie." When she glares at him, he laughs until Sophie and I glower at him. He scoffs, but quiets down.

    The female Sovereign sighs. "I'm Audrey Peterson. I'm almost 17... and that's it." She crosses her arms at us. "Now it's you guys' turns." At this, everyone turns to look at us.

    I sigh, rolling my eyes. "I'm Fitz Vacker, and I'm 19." I can't help but smirking when I see the shocked expressions of the others. I then turn to Sophie, waiting for her introduction.

    Instead, Sophie smiles at the new group. "Good morning, everybody. I'm Sophie Foster and I'm 17 and a half." She flashes a final smile at the group before her.

I glower at the officer, my eyes turning cold. "Now- tell us exactly what we're doing here-" I then face Donovan. "Or I'll sic him on you if it comes to that." I glare at him silently, signalling how serious I was with my threat.

    So can the officer. Instead, he clears his throat and says, "We'll be discussing the recent murders that occurred at the Smithsonian Institution." He pauses to stare at Sophie and me. "Sophie and Fitz will lead the discussion since from now on, they'll be your leaders."

    "Why?!" Donovan and Audrey practically shout at the man.

    He frowns at them. "Because they're the Percipients. They're the smartest ones out of all of your guys-" At this, everyone can't help but nod, even the Sovereigns. "And because they already were looking into this case before I brought it up."

    Even though it lasted for a second, the officer smiled at the two of us. But it was only for a moment.

    Sophie shakes her head and begins the discussion. "The victim was a middle aged woman named Michelle Barrera," she says as she open the file, quickly skimming the contents. "A 34 year old."

    That's when it dawns on me that she didn't even touch the file before now. But honestly, I wouldn't blame her, given the current situation.

    Sophie glances at everybody in the room as they nod in agreement. "She has dirty blond hair with brown eyes-" She suddenly turns to the officer. "Could you project the picture?" she asks him.

    Almost immediately after, a picture of what I can assume to be Michelle appears on the screen before the six of us, her face solemn and tense. "She was labeled dead at 3:31 AM on March 23rd," Sophie explains, gesturing to the projected photograph. "She had no living family members; her parents died of old age and she was an only child."

    Before Sophie can say more, I study the photo again. I then interject, "Do you see the dark circles under her eyes? The set jaw? The tense facial muscles?" I glance over at the officer. "What was this picture taken for? And when?"

    "Two days before she was murdered. And the reason is currently unknown."

    I nod, brushing off Sophie's slightly shocked face. "So something must've kept her on edge. Something... life-threatening."

    Laurel shrinks in her chair as she asks, "What if she knew that she was going to die? Wouldn't that explain how she looked?"

    The Sovereigns' eyes widen as Sophie nods her head. "That's right, Laurel." She points to the picture again. "That seems the closest one possible. But then again, there's that second question..."

    "What was Michelle hiding?" I ask before anyone else can say something. "What was so important that someone had to kill her?" I take note of how the Altruistics cringe at the word "kill". I nod my head. "That's most likely where the second corpse comes into play."

    Wide eyed, the other five teenagers scream, "Second?!"

    I nonchalantly nod. "Yes, second. Apparently, after Michelle was dead, there was a second person found dead- David Grahams. 38 years old." The projector then shows the face of a middle aged man with golden-brown hair, hazel eyes, and a faint stubble on his chin. I notice how similar the two "before" photos look and ask the officer, "Two days before death?"

    He nods.

        "Then they both must've known something that they shouldn't have known."

    Audrey scoffs at the picture, a grim smirk on her face. "Even if he were alive, he most likely would've been killed by the death penalty." She then shakes her head at the supposed irony.

    This time, Benen raises his eyebrows at her. "What do you mean? Why would he get the death penalty?" A frown begins to tug on his lips.

    Donovan, understanding his partner, nods his head. "I see what she means. Did you ever wonder if he killed her?"