The cases of Mr Lucas Devilliah

Ch 1 : introduction

In a city known for crime and mafia, someone needed to fight it. Lucas, a simple teen at the time with a good heart, decided to do just that for his home city of Eastacre.

Seven years on from that choice, he had became a well respected lawyer in Greyden, where he studied, but he moved back to Eastacre to try and help the place his father loved when he was alive. He had been practicing his career choice for a little over five years, and he was the most reliable lawyer in the city. Even the council fought to have him be their legalities and justice representative. Although he said no, he still worked with them often, checking over documents and laws and if someone should be arrested or fined or what not.

He sighed and went into his apartment after finishing some paperwork for his last client, to be greeted by his black Labrador, Cerberus. He used to love Greek myths, and named his dog after the guard dog of the underworld. He laughed and fought his way into the middle-class apartment, Cerberus jumping up at him.

Lucas lived in a place where everyone was some kind of creature. one day, you would meet a centaur, the next day you would meet an anthropomorphic cat or a walking cigarette. Lucas was a Diablo, meaning he had aspects of a goat, a cat and a human. He had dark brown fur and ears like a fantasy elf crossed with a cat, his longer-than-expected hair a lighter shade of brown. It made his eyes stand out, with their red irises and yellow sclaras. His tale swished back and forth, the symbol of a spear at the end. He had cat-like paws for feet, but human hands with retractable claws. He could also use fire-based magic and could shape-shift. Strange beings, were the Diablo pride. In some respects, he looked like a demon would, but he had the moral compass of an angel.

He calmed his companion down and sent him to go grab his toy, while Lucas changed from his annoying suit into a t-shirt and jeans. He still had a less formal blazer, since he planned to go out to dinner for the evening. He returned from his outing at a late hour, and by this time Cerberus started barking at the ringing telephone on the mantelpiece.

"Hello, this is Lucas Devilliah speaking, how may I help you?" Lucas answered, his voice sounding like a call center employee's does. He heard a sigh of relief from his caller, and he spoke in a hushed but panicking tone.

"Mr Devilliah, I'm so sorry about the time, but I need some help. My friend has been accused of murdering someone, and our flatmate said you had helped her with a case in the past."

The voice sounded scared, so Lucas reassured him that it was alright. "Okay, what is your flatmate's name?" He asked. He remembered every last case he worked on, since he was able to take the time to get to know his clients. "Her name is Crimson Blanc-Sec, you helped her when her apartment got robbed and when her sister was murdered, she's a--" the caller was interrupted by the Diablo. "She's a Bengal tiger with rosy eyes and a slight stutter, isn't she? I can remember her, how is she lately?" Lucas asked more casually. That girl had been so nice, and he helped her prove the identity of a gang leader.

"She's fine, she recently got engaged, so that's the news from her end. When would I be able to meet up with you, I'd prefer to talk about this in person, if-if that's okay with you, sir." the caller responded. He was starting to sound panicked, and Lucas felt sorry for him. "I have an hour open tomorrow, at 12:30. If you can make it then, I'd be happy to meet you and your friend. we can discuss case details then, Mr..?" Lucas swished his tail, alerting Cerberus by hitting him in the nose. The dog began to bark and make a lot of noise, and Lucas apologized to his caller. To his surprise, his caller began to laugh as the sound of this incredibly well-respected and no-nonsense man ran around trying to stop his dog from wrecking his, well, everything...

"I'm so sorry about that, my tail hit him in the face, and--" Lucas began, tired from running around for the best part of five minutes. "No, no, it's fine. as a cat owner living with dog owners, I know that noise all too well." his caller laughed and whispered to someone next to him. All that Lucas could make out was something like this : "Walter, this man's gonna to help you, so shush." "Look, I don't care" "you should care, its the man that helped Crimson" "..." "Oh, so that made you shut yer trap, did it?" "Can it, Decker, not in the mood for your sarcasm"

"Alright. 12:30 tomorrow. I'll need your name, if you please." Lucas asked, clicking a pen and opening his planner.

"Oh, right. My friend is called Walter Garroth Ashton, and my name is Dominic Caleb Decker. We know where your office, who doesn't, and I guess I'll see you then?" the caller responded. He hung up after short goodbyes, and Lucas fell onto his couch. He knew that name, Decker, but he couldn't remember where he had heard that name before.

He took to Facebook to find this man.

It turns out that this 'Dominic Decker' used to know him personally. The high school memories came flooding back. From is Facebook account, he hadn't changed a bit. A nice person with a good sense of humor and a better heart and the occasional political joke that kept the mood silly.

That feeling of a childhood crush still being as he remembered hit him like a tonne of bricks.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" he asked Dominic's picture on his account profile.

yup, still a very handsome young man...

No, he had to focus on this case. He fished the murder case related documents from his filing cabinet and looked over the restrictions on these cases.

He couldn't take someone saying it was them seriously, they needed to at least be a very convincing suspect, and he also could not argue the same way in the courthouse. He rolled his eyes at the last bit, deciding to take his usual, formal and proper approach to the final court assessment. He smoked a cigarette and decided to sleep on it.

After a long enough shower, Lucas dried his fur with a hairdryer made for thicker hair and went to bed in nothing but a pair of boxers.

He had to knock out soon, he didn't want the neighbors keeping him up with their wine-destroying guests. But he couldn't sleep. He read a chapter of his favorite book, 'Halfway Heaven : Diary of a Harvard Murder', and then he fell asleep to the sounds of chatting through the walls and of cars whizzing past his complex.

A peaceful night, for once in this city...