I was just a machine, but it wasn't really me... (Connor x OC) D: BH

༻ 46, Illusion in the moonlight ༺

ROSE'S POV

As I promised North, on the next afternoon Connor and I visited the new Jericho. North was right, many things have changed since the revolution. The renovated cathedral was so beautiful... The main hall looked like the ballroom of a baroque castle and magical crystal chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, while Markus' office and other rooms were all located on the upper floors. However, the most beautiful part of the cathedral was still the huge rosette window. It was illuminated by the moon and the stars almost every night... Of course, the next morning came quickly, but the hours spent at office were passing very slowly. I glanced at the corner of my terminal screen. 17:31...

"I want to go home..." I murmured as I was making my third origami dragon. I've already done with the paperwork and no new case came in, so I needed something to pass the time.

"Me too. But if we leave the station before our shift is over and Fowler finds out, then we'll spend Christmas in the office, not in New York. We can go home in half an hour..." Hank warned me, while he was reading the news on his tablet, then finally looked at me. "What the hell are you doing?"

"A Hungarian Horntail..." I replied with a tiny smile. "I already have a Welsh Green dragon and Chinese Fireball dragon..."

"And where the fuck did you get the colored paper?" I didn't answer the question, instead I shrugged and stood up from my chair.

"I'll be at the indoor shooting range if you need me..."

"I didn't know that there is a shooting range in the building." Connor said as he was rereading some unsolved homicide cases on his terminal.

"It's in the basement, just like the archive room." I informed him, then I slipped my hands into my pocket and left the office, leaving Connor and my uncle behind.

CONNOR'S POV

As soon as Rose left the office I glanced at the kinetic pendulum on my desk. 'Cosmos Perpetual Motion' written on it. I was staring at the moving pendulum for seemingly endless minutes as I excluded the outside world. I recalled some happy memories and deepened in my thoughts, but then suddenly a new case came in.

"I just got a report." I informed Hank, making him look at me. "Three dead bodies were found in an abandoned mansion near Detroit."

"Shit... Perfect timing." the lieutenant muttered with a fake smile as he stood up from his desk. "Go and get Rose. I'll waiting for you in the car." he added, then I did as he asked and finally we headed to the crime scene. Within an hour we arrived to the mansion that was just a few miles away from Detroit. Although, it was night already, the moonlight illuminated the whole manor. There were holes on the roof, some windows were broken and the stone walls were covered almost everywhere with green ivy.

"Umm... As I remember, you said we will investigate in rural mansion." Rose spoke up, while we were walking up on the huge stairs toward the three-storey building.

"Yeah... And?"

"This is not a mansion! This is a fuckin' haunted castle!" she yelled at her uncle, gesturing toward the building. Of course, her loud voice didn't cause trouble, since the nearest houses were at least a mile away. "And who reported this murder?"

"Does it matter?" the lieutenant muttered, then he pulled out his gun and opened the front door of the mansion.

"Hank! This is an abandoned manor, for fuck sake! Who the hell would come here? And for what?"