His Shadow (Damien/Darkiplier x OC)

Chapter 7

*Sofia's POV*

"What are you talking about?"

I immediately regretted my choice of words when Damien's face paled even more. He wasn't looking his best since the morning and he seemed to only get worse since we had talked in our room. It had not been too long since we had talked and he had his little "scene" with William, who I now noticed had disappeared since last night. 

"It's just Y/N is now working with Abe to figure out what happened," I started, trying to find the best way to tell him what we had found. "They weren't having much luck and then I remembered the camera in the kitchen. There are many cameras in the house, but we can see all of it from the "little buddy" in the kitchen." I said, and he seemed to relax when he also recalled the camera from when we were kids. 

"And? Did you see Mark?" he asked, his eyes pleading that I tell him I had solved the whole mystery. 

"Yes, but he was acting normal, to some extent."

"Sofia, please speak clearly,"  Damien was looking stressed. 

"Okay," I sighed. "The cameras showed Mark talking to Abe around 1 am last night, but it wasn't a very nice conversation."

He raised his eyebrows, telling me to keep going. 

"Mark asked about the chef and the butler, and Abe seemed to have been keeping tabs on them and reporting back to Mark."

"And you think he was doing the same to us." Damien finished for me. 

Avoiding his eyes, I nodded. It was ridiculous to think that Mark, our best friend for years, had been using the detective to keep an eye on us. It was insane, absurd, it was-was, something Mark would do. 

"It's just...it would make sense why he invited us out of the blue," I said, playing with the end of my braid. "It had been years since we heard anything about him and to be honest, he was acting strange last night. Not like the old Mark."

I pushed my glasses up my nose. They weren't exactly necessary, my vision was alright but they helped. And I always fiddled with them if I was nervous. 

Damien took my hand away from my glasses and held them in his. His exhaled through his nose. "I know."

I looked up towards him, surprised. Had he also been noticing these things last night? 

"I didn't want to think that the invitation meant anything more than just him wanting to reconnect, but," he looked down at his cane. "I guess we were wrong."

"No," I said, making him jump, my hand cupping cheek. "Maybe we just understood wrong. Maybe he really did want to see us again, and he was murdered before he could say anything or do anything else."

My fiancé smiled a sad smile as he nuzzled his face to my hand. "I love you so much, Sofia. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here. I can't loose anyone else."

"Please, as if you could ever get rid of me," I smirked as I pointed to my left ring finger, the engagement ring shining. "You already put a ring on it, Mr. Mayor."

"I certainty did." 

Damien leaned down, his lips meeting mine. It was a romantic moment, but not at the best time. 

Someone cleared their throat as we parted. Y/N stood there with a smirk on their face. I looked away in embarrassment but Damien faced them. 

"Look, I'm sorry you saw that argument with the Colonel. I lost my temper, and it wasn't right and... He must be in shock. The Colonel's an eccentric; it's his best quality and his worst. But he's my friend, and... So was Mark." 

I was surprised, he hadn't told me that Y/N had overheard his conversation with the Colonel. Maybe that's why he had seemed so stressed earlier. Damien had always been very overprotective of Y/N since we had met them in university, they were the youngest after all. 

"I know I'm supposed to be a leader in this scenario, but I can't help but feel lost. I've known Mark for years, since we were kids... And he's just gone?" he continued as he turned to face me once again, his face serious again. I guess our small moment didn't last long. I couldn't blame him, we were in a very difficult situation.  "I don't have any answers right now. I just need to be alone... To process all of this. We'll all talk soon, but I need to think."

He gave me one last kiss on the cheek and nodded to Y/N as he walked away, his fingers playing with his engagement ring instead of his cane. A small smile appeared on my lips. I hoped I had at least put him at ease for some time. 

Y/N watched him leave with a worried look. They turned to look at me, their whole face asking if he was okay. 

I sighed, "He's very upset, like all of us." I started walking towards the house once again. "Did you talk to Abe?"

Y/N shook their head as they looked at the floor, as if deep in thought. I frowned. We needed to talk to the detective, but I had a feeling that wasn't what was bothering the district attorney.

Damien and I had been ecstatic when Y/N had been appointed to work alongside us at the office. They had so much potential and were so hardworking, they always seemed to be doing something to help our city. They had become almost like family, so when they seemed to be nervous or thoughtful about something, I had began to recognize some of their facial expressions. 

"Y/N," I said, making them look at me. "Is something wrong?"

They looked at me, and I knew they were about to deny it. "Do not lie to me." I deadpanned. 

They looked at me with an unamused expression. They took a breath and started to tell me how they had heard Damien and William argue a few minutes after Mark's body had been found. How they had heard Damien tell William to stop acting so immaturely, like a child. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. 

But when Y/N started to tell me how they had talked to the Colonel and he had been very, er...creative about what had happened last night when Mark had lost his life. 

"So," I said slowly. "You're telling me that William thinks that Mark got too drunk after poker and fell off his stairs? And no one heard him and that's how we found him this morning?"

Y/N shrugged, obviously as skeptical as I was. But it didn't make any sense. I remembered how Mark had been very careful not to drink last night, well as much as us. William had definitely been much worse, along with Y/N, than Mark. 

I swallowed, fearing the worst. "I think we need to talk to Abe about this. And maybe I should go talk to William."

But as we were about to go into the house, the detective was running towards us. "And speaking of the devil," I said under my breath as we got closer to Abe."

"Partner! Get over here, now! Hurry up! You're not gonna believe this, I can barely believe this. The body. It's gone. It's just fucking disappeared. Look."

My body froze, along with Y/N. But a second later they were running for the house, Abe and I right behind them. I felt my heart drop when we burst into the room. 

Mark was gone.