Twisted Justice

[Mazula]

Vera sighed, shifting her position on the park bench as she turned the pages of her book. She was currently engrossed in an intriguing theory regarding the Black Dahlia murder, taking notes of the writer's obsservatios and speculations. t made sense, the way this person put it; it seemed to be a plausible hypothesis of the killer's thought process.

She crossed her legs, unable to get comfortable but trying nonetheless; she missed her old home, where she'd had a wonderful little nook in which to study. Unortunately, after Father was locked up she'd had to fend for herself, renting a tiny apartment in a rather undesireable part of town, and in all honesty, the cold hard parkbench was much more comfortable than her own home.

She let her time be consumed for hours, pushing through a good fraction of the library book before she felt a raindrop hit her head. Assuming it was only a drizzle, she shrugged it off, until it soon began to pour, soaking her clothes.

Wishing she'd brought a coat, Vera put her book under her shirt, hugging it close to herself to keep it dry, and jogged through the park and down the sidewalk to her apartment complex which was about a mile away.

Upon arriving home, she wrung out her hair as she walked up five flights of stairs before unlocking her door and stepping inside the little studio apartment.

She sighed again, setting her book down on the little wooden table in the corner, which was one of the only pieces of furniture, along with a plain wooden chair and a small mattress on the floor. The table was her kitchen table and her desk all in one. She examined the nearly empty refrigerator, pulling out the package of turkey and a slice of that plastic cheese.

She threw together a quick turkey and cheese sandwich, sitting at her table and delicately opening her book. Hopefully if she had no more distractions, she could finish the book by the end of the day, and come one step closer to justice.

 

[Kuroshi]

Alistair leaned against his arm as he stifled a yawn from his teacher's lecture. It was already a basic lesson that he had knowledge of and he was not planning on listening to the entire thing. Not only that, he was disappointed that one of his friend who entertained him did not show up in class. Smirking to himself, he thought about giving his friend a good tease to make up for his absence.

As Alistair began to zone out in his thoughts, he was abruptly interrupted by the shrieks of females running into the school building to shelter themselves from the drizzling rain. Sticking a finger into his ear, his eye twitched and a few classmates who sat near him, muffled a laughter as a witness to his rare reaction. Eventually, the hectic shrieks died down as time droned on, and the rain got heavier as well as the atmosphere around the students who only wanted the day to be over. Before Alistair knew it, school had already ended and he grabbed his bag to leave without a single moment wasted.

Knowing how far his house was from the school, he didn't want the risk of getting soaked for a long period of time and decided to stop by a nearby cafe instead. He then found his way to an empty pc, isolated from the crowd of people that dried themselves with the cafe's towel and stood around waiting for the rain to let up.

Rather than wasting the time that had already been wasted at school to hear useless information, he ordered some coffee and turned on the pc. As he did this, a mischievous smile found it's way onto his face as the search engine on his computer screen read, 'Misleading cases of murder.' At that exact time, a waitress walked by to set his order on the table with her eyes widened from the title on his screen. Yet her smile never faltered as she regained her calm composure, not thinking anything of it when he smiled back innocently. When she finally left, Alistair took a drink from his steaming hot, caramelized coffee, and scrolled through the links that showed up. His eyes skimmed through the sources so quick, it looked as if he didn't even bother to read the contents and was just scrolling out of boredom.

Without any luck, Alistair was left with disappointment from being unable to find what he was looking for and left the page as he began to ponder about his plan tonight. He knew that he wouldn't fail, but he also couldn't afford to risk underestimating the people who were investigating his case. That was the worst thing he could possibly do and the exact reason why most dumb killers got caught in the first place. From a stupid mistake.

As the heavy downpour of the rain continued, Alistair turned off the pc, deleting the history and data that stuck around for certain hackers. Though he knew that it was less likely for him to be caught, he could never be too careful.

Finishing the last of his cooled down coffee, Alistair decided to leave. There was just no way for him to wait around like everyone else. The clouded sky was already darkening as the sun was nearly setting and he had to prepare for his game of chase, while also eliminating the lives of women who were not justified. Grabbing his bag, he headed out of the cafe and into the rain with a frown and whispered to himself, "disappointment at it's finest..."

 

[Mazula]

"You have got to be kidding me."
Vera groaned as she looked at the slightly brown water in the glass pot; of course, on a chilled day her coffee pot would break, and plain lukewarm water would drip through. She wasn't even going to try to salvage the "Coffee," and poured it down the sink.

Normally, one would just call it a day and not wory about it, but Vera was tired and freeaing, and the heater had broken down again. Besides, a walk could do her good.

She picked up her long brown coat and threw it on, grabbing an umbrella for the downpour and pocketing her wallet.

She pushed her way against the wind, clenching her teeth but barely noticing the weather around her. All she could see or hear were the thoughts of the Black Dahlia book that were bouncing around inside her head.

I inherited an old album and....a lovely young woman wih flowers in her hair....at six in the morning a woman was walking with their child and saw a horrific sight....they said the bissection of the body was performed with surgical precision...circa sixty years later, and the case is still cold....the killer sent taunting messages to the press, daring them to catch him.

All the scraps of information flooded her mind as she made connections and theroies, putting together all she'd learned from her studies. So many talented investigators had been baffled by this case, but for some reason she felt in her gut that she could put together the pieces, that she knew what had become of Elizabeth Short. No one would have believed her if she'd said it out loud; people were skeptical like that. She didn't really care; at least she'd have the satisfaction of knowing what had taken place that fateful night long before she was born. That would be her warm up; if she could solve that, she certainly would have no trouble bringing to justice those monsters who would only bring harm to the world.

She was rudely awoken outside the coffee shop when she felt herself run head on into another person and fell baclwards onto the wet pavement. She looked around; she hadn't realized she was even near the coffee shop, let alone right outside it. She looked up at the boy she'd just slammed into and laughed nervously. "Oh, ah, sorry about that."

 

[Kuroshi]

Alistair was wallowing in his disappointment, as he told himself mentally that things will get better. The world will be better. As long as he does what he does best and rid of all the women who use underhanded method to lure in men. Shaking his head from the disgusting thoughts that resurfaced his past memories, he shivered slightly from the cold and frowned as he pinched at the clothing stuck to his skin.

Without anymore delay, he was about to head into the direction of his home when he bumped into someone, making the other party fall onto the wet pavement and utter an apology. Alistair looked down, giving an apologetic look as he ran his hand through his soaked hair to get a clear vision of who he had bumped into. "S-sorry, are you alright?" Alistair spoke as he lent an outstretched hand towards the the girl who seemed only a few years older than him.

 

[Mazula]

"Oh yeah, just fine." She said, taking the offered hand and standing up quickly. "I just wasn't paying attention to where I was going, is all. I really need to work on that." She spoke rapidly, ashamed of the mishap and hoping to get out of their as soon as possible. At this point she might as well forget about coffee, since surely everyone in the cafe had seen her through the window. She picked up her umbrella, closing it and hugging her arms to herself.

"I'll, uh, I'll be more careful next time. Sorry."

She wondered if it would be horribly rude of her to just bolt rught then and there.

 

[Kuroshi]

Alistair retracted his hands from the girl and nodded silently as she spoke frantically. "I didn't really ask for a reason, but okay... I guess?" He said questioningly, unsure if his words might have been relayed the wrong way. "It happens," he said quickly as he looked guiltily at the girl that was now soaked and hugging her umbrella to herself. "My treat?" Alistair offered, as he walked away from her and held the door of the cafe open for her with a smile.

Based on bumping into her, he figured she was planning to enter the cafe and saw that she was thinking of backing out from embarrassment. He felt bad when he looked at her and decided to at least do something to make the situation better. Though as he held the door open, he gained glares from the customers in the cafe as they held their coats tighter to their body from the cold.

Alistair didn't pay it too much mind, and waited for the girl to refuse or accept his offer. Though he was hoping that she would make a decision quickly, since he couldn't stand holding the door for so long with people giving him death glares and putting himself in an awkward position. He only had himself to blame, since he decided to willingly out of feeling partially responsible for the accident.

 

[Mazula]

Vera paused, but only for a split second; usually she didn't like to accept offers such as these, and doing so made her feel rude, but at this point she didn't care. In all honesty, she could stand to save a few dollars.

"That's very nice of you, thanks," She said, walking quickly for the door before someone started griping. "I think I'll take you up on the offer."

It felt a little odd, allowig a stranger to pay for her coffee, especially one who was obviously younger than she, but she brushed it off best she could; she'd just get something cheap, nothing fancy. She really had only come because there was nowhere else nearby anyway. Perhaps she could think of a way to make it up later.

 

[Kuroshi]

Alistair shrugged as he watched her hesitate for a short moment before accepting and followed behind her when she walked in. It wasn't a rare occasion for him to repay someone or do something to make it up. Sometimes, he just does it. Even without a reason. It may be strange knowing that he was a wanted murder, but he didn't find anything wrong with it.

"So, uhh..." Alistair started off awkwardly, unsure of how to start a conversation with a stranger. "What do you want?" He asked as he stood beside her, while looking at the menu list sprawled on the wall.

For some reason, something in the back of his mind was telling him to take more precaution. Yet he was unsure of what the signs were really telling him, making him wonder what it was that made it so after bumping into the girl. With uncertainty, he shoved the thoughts away instead and decided to deal with it afterwards.

 

[Mazula]

"Oh, right."

What did she want? She scanned the menu, before reminding herself that she still wanted the same thing she'd wanted when she'd been in her apartment an hour ago.

"I'll just get a straight up cup of coffee, no room for cream or anything. Just black coffee."

It wasn't something people usually wanted from a coffee shop, but it was the taste that had been on her mind for a good amount of time. And of course, it was much cheaper than anything else there, which was a lovely added benefit.

 

[Kuroshi]

Alistair didn't question the girl's choice, but he did show a bit of a distasteful look from the sound of black coffee. He was never one to savor things with a bitter taste. Even though he heard a saying when he was young that, 'The older you get, the darker coffee you drink. Because it could never compare to how bitter life got.' He never understood. It wasn't logical. It was just a philosophy of life that someone made. In reality, people prefer different taste based on their own preference. For him, he always preferred things that were sweet, more so than what an average person normally got. Surprisingly, he was never close to getting diabetes. Yet.

Heading to the counter, Alistair went up to an employee and gave the girl's order while paying for it. When he had finished, he turned to give the girl a long, blank look and gave a small smile. "Enjoy your coffee," he spoke as he put up his hand to wave and turned to head towards the door to leave.

 

[Mazula]

"Oh, thank you!" She called after him, trying to make sure he didn't leave before she could thank him properly. For some reason, the words had come out sounding almost surprised, as if she hadn't actually realized he was buying her coffee until it was steaming in her hands; he'd offered, hadn't he? She supposed that perhaps she was a person that needed to look at things to realize what was happening. Though she'd never admit it out loud, she occasionally worried about her perception of reality. Occasionally she needed to think things through and remind herself what was real.

She readied her umbrella, walking for the door; at this point she just wanted to get home.

 

[Kuroshi]

Hearing a 'thank you' from behind, Alistair made a small nod and opened the door to leave. By the time he had neared his home, it had already gotten dark. Though the clouds covering the sky deceived the time of day, he managed to estimate the the approximate time.

When he reached the front door of his house, he unlocked it and walked in to the dark and void room. Closing the door behind him, he threw his bag on the ground and went to change into his attire to the identity 'Alis'. To his amusement and partial annoyance, the forensics have assumed he was a female and thus made him stick with such an alias. It made things easier for him, especially since it made them focus more on the female factors more than the possibility of being a male.

Chuckling to himself, he reluctantly threw on a skirt as usual and pulled over a hoodie with cat ears. He then, walked to one of his drawers in his kitchen and took out a knife with 'Alis,' carved onto the handles. Looking into the reflection of the blade, an eerie smile reflected back as he stuck it into his sleeves and headed out of the house, making sure that he had locked up and brought what he needed.

"Mikaela... Mikaela," Alistair mumbled to himself as he smirked. "You must have such a big heart to love so many people," he said with a chuckle as he headed towards what seemed to be her neighborhood.

It was dark and isolated. The rain that was heavily falling was now drizzling small droplets and the light coming from the homes were all out except for a few. Walking at a normal pace, he took a detour and glanced around the neighborhood to ensure that the coast was clear and decided to wait in the shadows until it was truly nightfall. Just like an animal ready to hunt it's prey, his eyes gleamed with hunger and hatred as he patiently waited for the time to come.

 

[Mazula]

Vera sat on her bed, opening her laptop. She opened up her web browser and selected a bookmarked page. She scrolled through the page, watching out for any new developments. There were none at the moment, but she had a gut feeling that that would soon change.

Practially since it had dawned, Vera had been secretly following a forensic case involving a serial killer referred to only as 'Alis.' Despite the fact that it was happening right under their noses, most of the locals and civilians only knew trace amounts of information. Of course, for Vera, that simply wouldn't do. So naturally, she'd hacked her way into a private website where various investigators discussed the case. She felt rather proud; most people didn't even know this site existed, but she had direct access to it.

She read over the information for what must have been the hundreth time, pulling out her notebook and comparing her notes to the source. Call it arrogant, but she just knew the police were missing something big; something that she would discover.

Every little thing she saw, she treated as a lead; even the potato skins found in the trash can of a victim's house, which had obviously been placed there by the victim, had warranted a few internet searches on Vera's part. Those detectives may have thought this case to be impossible, but of course they would think so as they sat behind their desks with their donuts and operating by protocol. There were certain limits to operating strictly by rules, and Vera didn't feel personally bound to such rules; the end did justify the means, after all.

After another glance of her notes, she returned to her internet searches, as well as her backdoor into the online newspaper archives. She would find this killer if it deestroyed her inside and out; it was her sole purpose. That was the difference between her and those detectives; they were driven by their paychecks, while Vera was driven by sheer passion. Some would have thought she was fighting a losing battle, but whoever thought that didn't know Vera.

She smirked. "Oh, Alis darling," She said quietly, "This is one rabbit hole you never should have dove into."

 

[Kuroshi]

As the minutes ticked on, Alistair only got more eager to infiltrate Mikeala's home. When he was sure the time was right, Alistair quietly knocked on the door of her home and waited for her to open the door.

He listened carefully as the footsteps where heard, getting closer, as he calculated when she would get to the door. Looking down, his hood fell over his eyes, making him look almost pitiful. Especially with the light rain that barely soaked his clothing. At that moment, the door was swung open as a women in her 20's stepped into view, along with a drunk man that had his arm over her shoulder. His eyes were glazed and his face was red from intoxication, as well as the stench of alcohol surrounding him.

"What are you doing here at such an hour?" Mikaela asked, her voice showing obvious annoyance from the disruption. Holding back with clenched teeth from anticipation, Alistair managed to let out,"help..." Which came out to sound like he was genuinely in need of dire help.

Out of sympathy, the woman gestured Alistair into her home and sent the drunk man on his way. Bingo. Alistair thought with a smirk as he was now alone in the house with the woman.

"No what's wrong? Did you run away from home?" Mikaela questioned, assuming that that was the case considering that Alistair looked like a teenage girl.

Alistair silently shook his head as the woman let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, i'm trying to help you. If you don't say anything, how else am I going to know what to do to help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," Mikaela said with frustration.

"You have a big heart after all," Alistair spoke with confirmation as he pulled down his hood.

"What the hell?! Is this some kind of a joke? A prank? I'm going to call security," she said outraged for her time being wasted.

"It's big.. but not big enough," Alistair continued with a blank look in his eyes. "Seeing is believing though. So let's see if your heart is as big as you claim it is." He finished as he pulled out his knife and swiftly pierced it through her skin. Blood oozed out as Mikaela didn't have time to react as to what was going on and her face contorted into a look of horror. Pulling out the knife, Alistair carved into her skin as she desperately tried to struggle under his grasp while her screams reverberated through her hollow house, hoping that someone might of heard her and would come to her rescue.

"Is it fun?" Alistair asked as Mikaela's body fell to the floor in her own pool of blood. She only managed a moan, for her deep wounds were excruciating and Alistair continued to carve around the area of her heart. "Do you enjoy playing around with men?" Alistair questioned, his eyes looking innocently into her fearful one's. Peeling the skin that he had carved , he quickly worked his way to cutting the veins and by the time he got to her heart, he gave a look of content. "How pitiful. I guess your heart wasn't big enough to give to so many men after all," Alistair stated as he got up from the straddling position on Mikaela's now limp body. Holding the continuous beating of her heart in his bare hands, Alistair threw it onto the floor and left the scene discretely with his hood pulled over his head yet again, while scrunching his nose slightly from the raw, putrid smell of fresh blood filling the room. As he analyzed his previous actions, he made sure that he had no fingerprints on anything in the home and nodded to himself. But before he decided to leave, Alistair went to the woman's kitchen and grabbed her kitchen knife with his sleeve and decided to use it to puncture her heart on the wall with it. When he was finished, he took a cloth from the woman, turning off the lights in the house and left calmly as he blended into the shadows and headed back home, anticipating to see what the news would bring the next day.

 

[Mazula]

When Vera woke up, she was till cross legged on her bed, the laptop in front of her; she vaguely recalled working late into the night, until she dozed off where she sat. She stretched and yawned as she looked at the clock, noting that it was about nine in the morning.

She reached out in front of her, waking up her laptop out of habit, and the sleepiness left her in an instant when she saw the screen. The same forensics page was before her, but now a new conversation had sparked. As her hunch had told her, a new attack had taken place last night; a woman named Mikaela, mid 20s, found in a pool of her own blood, her heart cut out and stabbed into the wall with one of her own kitchen knives.

As she had expected, the investigators found that the kitchen knife in the wall did not match what was known about the murder weapon and, as she had also anticipated, the weapon was most likely the same weapon used in the previous attacks. She chuckled; that would be the stumbling block, no doubt. Had each victim been killed with something from their homes, that would have made investigation more difficult. But if the same weapon was being used, that meant someone was storing said weapon somewhere, and if someone were to find it? Well, that'd be hard to cover for. Vera made a note of this in her book, underlining it twice.

She took note of the times of the messages on the site; it seemed the investigation Had started sometime in the middle of the night, after someone called saying they smelled something strange. This was good news for Vera, as it meant the scene would soon be clear.

She rose, walking across her apartment to the kitchen counter, dropping two slices of bread into the toaster as she boiled some water; she couldn't make coffee, but at least she could have some black tea. She could always brew it double strength.

As she waited for breakfast, she opened the large suitcase near her bed, digging through it for a t shirt and pair of jeans. She pulled them on quickly, just as her toast popped up. She grabbed it and began munching on it as she picked up her backpack in the corner, setting it on the table and opening it to make sure all was in place.

When her tea was ready, she sat with it and her book, sipping her tea and flipping through the pages and adding on to her notes. When she was fiished, she threw on a sweatshirt, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked down all those stairs to ground level.

It was eleven AM by the time she reached the bus stop, and nearly noon by te time she stepped off the bus in a small neighborhood. She walked quietly through the silent streets stopping outside a house bordered in police tape.

Checking that the coast was clear, she walked to the backyard, setting down her bag in the grass and opening it. She would have to be extremely careful; one false move and she could accidentally frame herself as the killer. She removed a hairnet from her bag, twisting up her hair and stuffing it inside. Next, she put a few layers of plastic wrap on the bottoms of her shoes, and gloves on her hands. Now she was ready.

The back door was unlocked, and she walked right in. Her footsteps echoed as she walked throgh the empty house, examining every inch. As the forensic team had said, there wasn't a fingerprint in the place. Alright, next step. She removed a piece of fabric from her pocket, wiping it on the blood on the floor and placing it in a zipper bag. She scoured the house once again, looking for evidence as to what had come to pass. There was no sign of forced entry, or a struggle. It was as if the victim had let the killer into her house.

Vera made a note of this; she had a theory that the killer was not a fearsome individual -- the type of person no one would expect to cut hearts out-- and this supported her theory. Whoever this Alis girl was, she was obviously good at putting on a show.

It wasn't until she gave the scene a final scan that she saw it. In the kitchen, toward the back of the counter. A long black hair. She threw oen her notebook. The last person seen with the victim was a young man who, after some handy searching of social media, she knew to have light brown hair. This proved someone else had been at the scene. She produced a pair of tweezers from her backpack, gently picking up the hair and placing it into its own plastic bag. After stowing away her equipment, Vera tiptoed back out the door, shutting it silently and putting her crime scene gear back in her bag. She jogged to the bus stop.

Vera stopped at the office store on her way back from the bus stop and bought some thumbtacks. In her apartement, Vera pinned up the bloody cloth and the hair on the wall, and between them she pinned a scrap of paper. On the paper was one capitalized, underlined word: ALIS

 

[Kuroshi]

The moment the sun rose, Alistair was already up and out of bed. He turned on his television and scrolled through the news online as he cooked his breakfast and threw on his school uniform. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he shoved a toasted bread in his mouth and listened intently to the news announcement while also reading the articles online.

As expected, news was spreading fast. Though he expected the forensics to have more of a thorough search, he heard nothing but brief evidence. Alistair wasn't a professional killer and he knew that he must have left some clues behind, but he was surprised that the investigators found no clues that led to 'Alis'. He didn't think that they were that bad. Although he is glad that he doesn't have to worry about them so much.

Turning off his television and pc, he grabbed his bag to head out of the house as he finished the last of his bread and boiled egg. Locking the house, he left to head to the school and sat down in his assigned seat in the classroom. As he put his head down on the desk, Alistair overheard some of his classmates murmur about the updated news on their phones and closed his eyes until someone smacked him upside the head, making him sit up and glare at his blonde headed friend who was absent yesterday.

"Hey!" Sirius greeted with a grin, while acting oblivious to the glare Alistair shot at him. "Did you hear?" Sirius asked without any further details, making Alistair shake his head with a shrug.

"Hear about what?"

"Aster," Sirius said with his voice hushed.

This perked up Alistair's interest and he leaned in closer to his friend who had a serious look. "Why so 'Sirius'?" Alistair questioned, looking innocently into his friend's hazel eyes, teasing him a bit with a laugh as Sirius pouted.

"Hey, I found some information that you would be interested to hear. So don't blame me if I don't feel like telling you anymore," Sirius said threateningly in a joking manner and let out a laugh. "No, but really. I found something online about a case that was almost as recent as 'Alis'. The thing is, the authorities never officially decided to publicly give out information about the male killer 'Aster' in certain countries. Probably because they have too much on their hands to worry about than some citizens complaining and making a riot about their safety," Sirius explained.

"Rius..." Alistair whispered. "Don't tell me that you skipped school for that?" He questioned making Sirius grin widely with a proud look on his face. Seeing this, Alistair could only smile back. Leave it up to Rius to make life more interesting, he thought to himself as he replayed the information he heard in his head again. 'Aster', That's the male killer that had only killed males just as I have been killing females. The method of our victims are similar and the fact that it was never publicly announced was because they were trying to figure out if it has some sort of a connection with me, Alistair thought as he tried to figure something out. As I thought, I can only find information on that person through Rius.

When the teacher came into the classroom, Rius quickly sat down in his seat, only to get back up when the teacher called him out knowing that he had skipped school. It was a regular thing for Sirius. Alistair had known him for a few years back before he entered high school and he was known to skip school pretty often for his own accord, but he always came back with something interesting to say. Between them, Alistair was the only one who knew that Sirius was a hacker and he knew that Sirius loved doing what he did best. As did Alistair. Which is why, Alistair respected his friend to an extent, but he couldn't risk trusting him enough to tell him what he was. It might have been a feeling of fear that he might lose his only trusted friend if he had spoken the truth that he never spoke a word. Yet he felt that eventually, the truth would come out.

Once it was lunch break, Alistair was dragged away by his friend with his bag and away from the school campus without a word. "Let's leave, I really want to show you what I found yesterday!" Sirius spoke excitedly as Alistair only nodded without having to think about his answer.

With just that, his geeky friend quickly dragged Alistair into an internet cafe and shoved him down onto a seat next to him while logging into a computer that was away from everyone else who were busy playing games or doing a research assignment.

 

[Mazula]

Vera sat on the floor of her apartment, staring up at her new investigation wall; okay, so she'd found some evidence, but what should she do with it? It was times like those that she found herself wishing dearly for some nice equipment, like a microscope or the items needed for blood testing. But alas, she had only the bare minimum; some everyday household items, and a laptop. Somehow, she would do it despite it all, and the world would see her for her true talents.

She opened her laptop, and brought up another of her handy bookmarked websites. Lately, she'd been going through police arrest records, more specifically the records of the nearest juvinile detention centers. Sticking to her theory that Alis was a teenager, she'd been looking through severl databases of arrested teenage girls, and now that she'd found a hair she could narrow it down a bit.

She narrowed her search, eliminating those who were currently incarcerated, as they would have been detained during the last murder. After looking through all the young, female, black haired, past criminals, she realzed there were still a lot of possibilities. And of course, there was the chance that Alis had never been caught doing anything, and therefore wasn't in these records at all. In fact, the chances of that were pretty good.

It was a seemingly futile search, and Vera didn't even know what she was looking for, but she scanned the screen nonetheless. It was a start, right?

 

[Kuroshi]

Alistair watched as Sirius logged into the computer with a screen name by Y5051r1u5. It never dawned to him how he never realized how much Sirius excelled in working with computers and codes. Even though he already knew Rius was a hacker, he never actually looked closely at what Sirius did. Now that he actually payed attention, it surprised him as to how much Rius could do. Alistair himself, actually wasn't too bad with the basic encoding in a computer and programming but Sirius was different story. It kinda made Alistair wonder what his friend's IQ was.

Focus, Alistair thought to himself as he brushed off the trivial thoughts and examined the numbers and symbols that quickly came and went on the screen. Then, everything stopped and the screen went blank.

"Wait for it..." Sirius said with anticipation as he stared at the screen until a box showed up with a question asking for a password to gain access. In his serious mode, Sirius' fingers ran through the whole keyboard as he swiftly typed the password and hit enter. All of a sudden, several boxes appeared like the previous one and Rius continued on as Alistair watched in awe. With that many security questions, it was no surprise that Sirius had skipped school to spend his time decryption these. What also weighed on Alistair's mind, was that the amount of security. What was it that they wanted to hide so much? 'Aster' was like any other killer like him. Yet, something didn't seem right. Why would they go so far as to hide such information from the public? What was their motive? Unless it was merely just to cover things up from the media, Alistair didn't know. There were too many possibilities and it was risky to assume things on the spot.

Then, Alistair stared at Sirius for a moment when Rius made a dramatic pause to press enter one final last time and the screen blacked out then came back on with articles and lists of information and crimes that were made in the past. "BINGO!" Sirius exclaimed as he specifically searched 'Aster' to narrow down the search. "So... What do ya think?" He stated proudly.

"Genius," Alistair responded with a smile.

"You flatter me," Rius said with an innocent expression as he scooted slightly away from the screen for Alistair to come closer and have a look.

Alistair partially took over and scanned the computer as his eyes stopped on a particular one and he pointed to the screen. "That one... That's the description of the killings that were done by Aster," Alistair said more to himself as he analyzed the information.

"Yeah, they assume that it's a male. Though in today's society, I really wonder if you can really tell. I mean, c'mon... Girls today have short hair and some guys long hair. How can they tell? Not only that, there's a possibility that the killer could have had plastic surgery or maybe even a gender change." Sirius rambled with a perplexed expression. "I just don't understand this line of work," he said exasperated as he furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. "This is why only hack."

"This is the information that you basically told me. It seems like they haven't found much yet..." Alistair spoke as he saw an article comparing Aster to Alis.

"Yeah... This killer is as gruesome as Alis if you ask me. Their methods of killing is way too similar in some ways. I read that he goes after males only just as Alis goes after females. I don't even want to imagine what Aster does though. Reading about the fact that he killed his victims by cutting up their genitals is just...." Sirius explained as he his sentence was cut off and shuddered as he jokingly covered his crotch.

"This is the only information at the moment though," Alistair spoke with disappointment because he wanted to read more.

"Neglected?" Sirius questioned with a pout when his friend disregarded his lame joke. "Yeah... well, I can check on the updates and inform you if I find anything more," he said as Alistair nodded.

"Thanks. I owe you," Alistair said with a thankful look and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"Bro... Of course you do. You owe me big time," Sirius stated with a smirk as he took back the computer to clear out any trace of what he had done on the computer. "But really. You seriously need to tell me why you're doing this someday," he suggested, making Alistair nod slightly with hesitation. "If you're doing this because you're interested in the job or just plain curious then I won't say anything, but if you're involved in anything dangerous.... I got your back bruh." Sirius explained as he pointed to himself with his thumb and smiled widely at Alistair.

Alistair couldn't help but smile back and patted his friend. "Yeah, I got your back too bruh," Alistair said as they both punched each other on the shoulder and laughed.