Chapter Text
Damnit..I was so close..there is no way they are gonna forgive me for losing our culprit again..Pierce thought to himself. He took the walkie talkie from his belt, held it up to his face, and pressed the button. "Pierce to the station. I lost them..again." he said, and pulling it away from his face, expecting his captain to yell at him again, but she didn't. Instead, his phone rang. He took it from his pocket, and looked at the screen. Captain? Oh no..he though as he tapped on the green circle. "Hey, Captain! Look, I'm sorry for l-" she cut him off. "Pierce, listen to me. Look, I know you want to find them, and I do to, but it's been a week. Every time we send you out to go after them, you lose them. I'm sorry to say this, but I think it's time for you to go. If we keep losing them, the whole team will never hear the end of it. Again, I'm sorry Pierce." she said. "Captain, please! Give me one more chance! I promise I wont slip up this time!" he says quickly. "Turn in your badge tomorrow. Your things will be waiting outside the station. Get them from James and go home. We will call you when we think you can come back, alright?" she says. She sounds a little sad. "Alright, Florane. I'll miss working with you and the team, but I guess it is for the better." Pierce says. Florane hangs up, and he shoves his phone back in his pocket. He turns to walk out of the alleyway, and heads back to his apartment.
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Next Day
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Pierce dreaded today. He had to face everyone at the station. He sighed and got out of the bed, got dressed, and put on a hoodie. He picked up his badge, and shoved it in his back pocket. He put the rest of the equipment in a bag and got out the door, and headed to the police station. On his way, he heard a lady scream, and then say someone running towards him. He grabbed their arm, making them fall. "What do you think you doing, buddy? Ya know, robbing people isn't nice." Pierce said. His face and voice was calm. "Who are you?! Who do you think you are?!" the guy says, angry he got caught. Pierce pulled his badge out of his pocket, and held it up. "Officer Pierce with the state police. You're under arrest for robbing an innocent woman." he said. He put his badge away, got the handcuffs out of the bag, and put them on the guy. He pulled the guy up by the arm, and picked the bag back up. "You're coming with me to the sheriffs office. You will be in county jail for 3 months, and forced to do community service. If you refuse, you will be sent to jail for 2 years for resisting the law, if I remember correctly. Oh, and by the way, if you even try to escape, I will hunt you down, so don't try anything. And, harming a police officer will get you sued and put in jail for assault on someone of the law. Now, shall we go?" Pierce said, staying seemingly calm the whole time. The thief on the other hand, seemed a little scared. Pierce starting dragging the guy all the way to the sheriffs office.
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After getting the robbery under control, Pierce started to make his way to the station again. Once he got there, he was greeted by James, who was standing beside a box. Pierce waved sadly and went inside, and headed to Floranes office. He knocked on the door, and went inside. "Hey, Florane.." Pierce said. Florane pointed to a spot on her desk, still looking at the computer. Pierce sighed, placed his badge in the spot she was point to, and placed the bag in a chair. He walked back out without saying a word, and tried to avoid making any eye contact while making his way back outside. He exited the building, and James handed him the box. "It was nice working with you, Pierce. I hope you'll be able to come back soon." he said. Pierce smiled slightly, taking the box. He starting walking, and made his way to the nearest bus stop, in which he got on, and sat somewhere in the front. It wasn't but a few minutes later that it sounded like someone was struggling, then some yelling. "Let me go! I never wanted to be with you! Leave me alone!" said a girl. "I know you love me! You are just playing hard to get!" said a guy. Pierce shot up out of his seat, in which he saw a girl trying to get away from someone. He quickly made his way to them. "HEY! What the hell is going on?!" Pierce said. "He-" the girl started. "Shut it, you bitch! I didn't give you permission to speak!" the guy said, his grip on her wrist getting tighter. Pierce noticed fast how uncomfortable the girl was, and put his hand around the guys wrist, Pierces grip tighter than the other boys' grip on the girls wrist. "Let. Go. Of her." Pierce said. "No! She will love me!" the guy said. Pierce noticed the guy reaching for something on his waist. Pierce grabbed hold of the girl, pulling her away from the guy. The other passengers seemed to not care about what was going on, like it was normal. "He's got a gun! Everybody get down!" Pierce yelled. Everyone seemed to panic, but follow his orders. He threw the girl down as he gets shot in the arm. The girl, who wanted to try and help, managed to get the gun away from the man, and pointed it at him. "D-Don't move..or I'll..I'll shoot!" she said, her hands shaking. "Everyone! Get off the bus! Call the police!" the girl said. Still pointing the gun at the man, she escorted herself, and Pierce off the bus after everyone else, including the driver, got off. Everyone was too shocked, so Pierce made the call himself. He called Florane.
She picked up. "Florane! Send Gabby and Vin! Also, notify my sister at the hospital to send an ambulance. I got shot, and I need to make sure nobody else gets hurt" he says. Florane said something and hung up, though Pierce didn't quite catch what she said. After a couple minutes, Gabby and Vin showed up. So did his friend Jax with an ambulance. Pierce pointed to cops in the direction on of back of the bus, and told them what was going on. Jax jumped out of the back of the ambulance, and ran over to Pierce. Pierce explained what was going on, and said to check on the other passengers before assessing the bullet in his arm. Good thing was that everyone was okay, and the police arrested the man, and started talking to the girl. At the back of the ambulance sat Pierce, Jax trying to get the bullet out of his friends arm. "You're stupid, ya know that? You could have died." Jax said. "Yeah, I know. But I didn't, so don't even worry about it" Pierce said. Jax glared at him for a moment, then proceeded to pull the bullet out. "There. Now, don't do anything stupid like that again." Jax said. Pierce nodded, and watched as the girl came up to him. "I just wanted to thank you for saving me from that guy. Sorry you got shot, though. I hope you're doing alright after that." she said. "Oh don't worry about it. I used to get shot at all the time. Ex-police officer. Also, you're welcome. I'm no empath or anything, but you looked really upset and uncomfortable. I just had to do something." Pierce said. "My name is Diana. I run a bakery with my twin brother Dexter. Fox Bakery. Maybe swing by one day to say hi? It's in town, right next to the coffee shop." she said. Pierce smiled and nodded, and she walked away to call someone to pick her up. "Coffee shop? Isn't that close to your apartment?" Jax asked. Pierce nodded. "Well, guess I actually have plans for tomorrow." he said. Jax finished wrapping the bandage around Pierces arm, and Pierce stood up. "Oh yeah, uh..by the way, can you tell my sister to meet me at the coffee shop tomorrow? That is, if she doesn't have to work." he asked. "Yeah, sure thing." Jax said. He got back in the ambulance, and drove off with the two police officers. Diana was already gone. Everyone, even the driver got a ride home. Pierce was left alone with an empty bus, and the box. He grabbed the box, and started to walk the rest of the way home. Once he got back to his apartment, he placed the box down on the little table, and opened it. Inside was everything on his desk, except the nameplate. Florane must have kept that. He noticed a white envelope shoved between pages in the book that was there. He pulled it out and opened it. He pulled out what looked to be a folded piece of orange construction paper. He set down the envelope, and unfolded the paper. Inside was a short message, and signatures of everyone in the station. Even Florane put hers somewhere. Pierce smiled as he read the signatures. He folded the paper back up, and put it back in the envelope, setting in back in the box. He pulled out his phone, and flopped down onto his bed. 1 missed call from his sister. He never heard his phone ring, though. A message pops up on the screen. "Pls call me back Pierce. I wanna talk with youu" it read. He called his sister.
Ring..
Ring..
Ring..
"Hello?"
"Ah, you actually listened for once. How nice." came a voice followed by a giggle. "Hello to you too, Ayana. Anywho, how is work? I hope it's not giving you too much trouble." Pierce said. "Eh. Work is work. How about you?" Ayana asked. "Well, I was let go of today, but Florane said that she will call me or have someone call me when they think I'm able to come back. Long story short, I lost the culprit again." Pierce said with a sigh. "I mean, you could always come work with me. I'm sure Boris wouldn't mind." Ayana said. "Thanks, but no thanks sis. You have a PhD, I have a degree in law. I'v told you this." Pierce said. Ayana sighed. "Well, it was nice to hear your voice again, Pierce. I'v got to go. My break is almost over. Love ya." she said. "Love you too, sis" Pierce said, and hung up. He put his dying phone on the charger, and went to sleep.
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Next Day
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Pierce woke up, and then remembered what he was planning to do today. He jumped out of the bed, hopped in the shower, hopped out, and got dressed in the only fully clean outfit he had. Black ripped jeans, and a sleeveless shirt. He threw on a red plaid shirt on top, leaving it unbuttoned. He shoved on his boots, combed his hair, grabbed his phone, earbuds and wallet, and went out the door. As he turned the corner, he bumped into someone. He took out his earbuds, shoving his phone in his pocket. "Shit, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. My bad." Pierce said. "Eh don't worry about it. I wasn't really looking where I was going either" the stranger said. "Pierce.". "Yuuta". Pierce gave a small smile, and walked away. Yuuta looked at his phone screen, then at Pierce as he walked into the coffee shop, then back at his phone. He smiled, and continued to walk back to his home.
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With Pierce
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As Pierce walked inside, he was greeted by name from the lady at the counter. He walked up to her. "Morning, Pierce! What will it be today?" she asked. "Just the usual. Oh, make it three. I have a couple friends I'm going to go say hi to next door." he said. The lady nodded and got to work. "You off today? You don't seem to be in uniform." she asked. "I was let go for losing the culprit again, but Florane said that she or someone else will call me when they think I'm able to come back." he said. "Oh, alright. Well, why don't you have a seat? I'll call you when these are done, okay?" the lady said. Pierce nodded, and then heard a familiar voice. "Pierce! Over here!". It was James. Pierce walked over and sat down across from him. "Hey, James. What's up? You off today?" Pierce asked. "Got put on the night shift. But I'll be fine." James said. His phone lit up. "Shit, gotta go. It's was nice seeing you, Pierce." James said as he got up. He started walking and left. "Pierce! They're ready!" the lady said. Pierce stood up and walked over. He handed her the cash, waved, and left. He stood for a moment, then walked over and into the bakery. He was greeted by the staff that were up front, except one. "Sorry Sir, but you cannot bring external drinks into the bakery" they said. "Sorry, I didn't know, but is Diana here? Thought I'd swing by and say hello to her and her brother." Pierce said. The staff member looked at him, then at the other staff, and then back at Pierce. "She's in her office. Third door on the left." they said. Pierce nodded, and started walking to the back with permission of the other staff up front. He walked to the door, and knocked. "Come in..". He walked in, and closed the door behind him. The girl in there looked up at him and smiled. "Ah, Pierce. Hello. I didn't think you would actually stop by. Oh?" Pierce placed one of the cups on her desk, sat down in one of the chairs, and placed the cardboard carrier in the other. "I hope you don't mind. It's what I usually get, and I don't really know what you like so I just got three of the same. Is your brother here? I got one for him." Pierce said. "Hm? Oh, yeah he's here. He should be back any second now. He had to go make sure nobody was trying to set the kitchen on fire." she said. At that moment, the door opened. "Hey, sis. I'm ba- WHO IS HE? WHY IS HE BACK HERE?" he says. "Hey calm down. Dexter, this is Pierce. They guy I was telling you about?" she says. "Oh. Sorry. So you're the one that basically took a bullet for my sister? Okay." he said with a smile. Diana gestured to the cup of coffee in the carrier. Dexter walked up, picked it up, moved the carrier, and sat down. Pierces phone buzzed in his pocket, and he took it out, looking at the screen. "Are you kidding me? I'm getting evicted soon? All because I got cut from my job? That's bs" he said. "I'm gonna have to have a word with the apartment building owner.." Pierce said. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Good luck with work, and you're welcome for the coffee." he said. He stood up, and walked out the room. He made his way out of the building. He tossed the cup into one of the trash cans, put his earbuds back in, and started walking.
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Later
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Pierce arrived at the home of the person who owns the apartment buildings, and knocked on the door. As the door opened, Pierce busted inside. The man was pissed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just barge into someones home like that!" the man said. "So you think you can just evict me, all because I don't have a job? Is that why you live here? Because you use mine and other peoples money, THAT THEY WORKED FOR, to pay off you're expenses? So if I don't have a job, you don't get the money? And you can't pay off anything? Is that right?" Pierce said. The man just stood there. Pierce took of his plaid over-shirt, and wrapped it around his hand. He walked off to the kitchen, and came back with a knife. "Do you have ANY idea of who I am? Do you have ANY idea of what I am capable of? Do you know how bad of an idea it is to piss me off?" Pierce said, slowly stepped towards the man. The man was too scared to speak. Without a word, Pierce stabbed in man in the heart, and let go of the knife. The man fell dead to the floor. Pierce took the plaid shirt off his hand and tied it around his waist. He noticed some blood got splattered onto his clothes. He thought of the perfect plan. He put some of the blood on his hands, and pulled out his phone. He called Florane in a scared voice, and then hung up. He acted scared when the police showed up. When the police asked questions, Pierce lied, and they believed him. After Pierce got dropped off at the apartment building he lived in, and got into his apartment, and busted out laughing. Luckily, he was the only one in the building at that time, so nobody heard him. "He's dead! I did it! I killed him! The police suspected nothing! Oh how stupid can people be? They weren't even wondering why I was at his house in the first place." he said. Pierce quickly took a shower, and threw on a t-shirt and sweatpants. He put his dirty clothes in a basket, and drug it to the apartment laundry room.
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After getting everything washed and back in his room, Pierce flopped onto his bed and took out his phone. He got a call from Jax. He answered.
"Hello?"
"Tell me the truth."
"What?"
"Did you do it? Did you kill him?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Just answer the question. Did you kill him or not?"
Pierce felt something was off.
"No? What makes you think I would kill someone? I'm not THAT stupid. Why are you asking? Do you think my sister isn't going to be safe when around me? Do you think nobody is safe as long as I'm not in jail? Do you not trust me anymore? Well, whatever it is, I didn't kill him. I don't even know who you are talking about, Jax."
He lied again, and this time to one of his best friends.
"If you did something, and you're not telling me, I will find out, and I will not hesitate to get you arrested. I'm not joking around."
"And neither am I. This conversation is over."
Pierce hung up the phone. There was something wrong going on. He went into the bathroom to try and pull himself together, when he noticed something. His ears were pointed. "What..?" he said, confused. Luckily, his hair was long enough to cover them. Still, it was weird. One second he looks normal, then he looks like some kind of elf the next. Then, it hits him. He killed someone. Even though he swore he would never kill anyone, he did it. Pierce was going through the entire event, then realized something. He didn't know what he meant by "Do you have any idea of who I am". He walked out of the bathroom, and went over to sit on the bed. As soon as he got on the bed, he saw what seemed to be a flash of a memory. His sister was there, and some weird wolf, and..Yuuta? Weird. As soon as he came back to reality, he sat back up. He must have fallen back. Good thing he wasn't standing up, or that would be one hell of a headache. Pierce looked around. Everything seemed normal. He looked at the clock. It's 2 A.M.? But it wasn't even past 1 p.m. when I last checked..Pierce thought to himself. He phone lit up. He picked it up and looked at all of the missed call and text notifications. Most from Ayana, a couple texts from Jax, and a large message from an unknown number. He decided to check who the unknown number was. He looked at the timestamp. 2 minutes ago..He sent a text back. "Who is this? How did you find my number?". Pierce waited, not bothering to answer Jax or Ayana, since they probably weren't even awake at this time. It wasn't but a couple moments, and the number texted back. "It's Yuuta. Don't ask how I got your number. I don't like explaining my ways". Pierce took a moment to put Yuuta in his phone, then texted back. "Oh, okay then. I wont pry.". After Pierce sent the message, Yuuta never texted back. Pierce shrugged it off as Yuuta fell asleep. Pierce flopped onto his side, pulled the blanket over him, and fell asleep.
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Next day
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Pierce awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. He got up, walked to the door, and opened it. Nobody was there. Pierce mumbled something, closed the door, and threw on some jeans and a hoodie. He put on his boots, grabbed his phone, and walked out of the door, and out of the building. Once he stepped outside, he looked around for a second before walking. Pierce had this weird feeling about today, but he just shook it off. He was suddenly pulled into an alleyway. "Hey! What's your deal?! Huh? Diana? Dexter? What are you two doing here?" he asked. "Something is wrong, Pierce. People have been blacking out and staying in a sleeping state for hours. As far as everyone is aware, this all started around 2 p.m. yesterday. Do you know what could be happening?" Diana said. Diana and Dexter seem to be trying to hide something. "What are you two trying to hide." Pierce says. They both walk out of the shadows. They had red eyes, similar to a fox or wolf. They show Pierce their fangs, and the strange marking on the back of their left hands. "Pierce, what is happening to us?" Dexter said. Pierce stared at them for a moment before uncovering his ears. "I'm..not sure. I also blacked out, but I saw something. It wasn't a dream, but possibly memories of some sort. I'm not quite sure.." he said. Dexter pointed out that Pierce also had fangs. Pierce became confused. Was he an elf or not? Did elves have fangs? Were there different breeds of elf? "C'mon. Let's go into my apartment. Nobody will bother us there as long as we don't annoy anyone." Pierce sad. Diana and Dexter nodded, and followed Pierce into his apartment.
The three sat around the little table. Pierces phone buzzed as he sat down. It was a message from Ayana. "PIERCE. I'M COMING OVER. SOMETHING IS WRONG, AND I CAN'T FIGURE OUT IF IT'S A DISEASE OR NOT. ALL THE RESULTS ARE COMING BACK AS ERRORS" it read. Diana gives Pierce a confused look. "Something wrong? Who was that?". Pierce sighed. "It was my sister. Apparently, we aren't the only ones who are experiencing these..changes." he said. It wasn't too long before someone came busting through the door. The three looked over. It was Ayana. "Pierce, you have GOT to see this..look through the window" she said. Pierce stood up, and walked over to the window confused. He looked outside, and something in the sky caught his attention. "What the hell..what is that in the sky?" he said. "I don't know. I saw it on my here. Do you think we could be in danger?" Ayana asks. Pierce stays silent. He takes a longer look at what is in the sky, and looks at his sister. "Do you remember that one bedtime story that mom and dad used to tell us?". "Yeah, why?". "Follow me. I know this might seem strange, but I don't think it was a story that they made up. I think it might be real, and we might have been living in it without knowing. They mentioned an island in the sky, and that thing up there looks like an island. " Pierce says, and runs out of the room. Ayana, Diana and Dexter follow.
As they make it outside, they look up. "Pierce..I think you might be right about this.." Ayana says. The group looks around them. Suddenly, someone runs by, but trips and falls. There seems to be a group of people who are still human that look like they want to kill her. "Please! Spare me! I don't know what is going on! I swear!" she says, and someone fires a gun, just missing her arm. Pierce runs over and steps between the humans and the girl on the ground. "What the hell is going on here?!" he says. "This 'girl' is trying to kill us! She tried to burn us alive!" someone says. Pierce takes a quick look at the scared girl, then looks back at the group of humans. "Leave her alone. She is clearly unaware of what is going on" he says, pissed. Before someone could even speak, they catch fire out of nowhere. The rest of the group of humans start to get scared. Even Pierce was surprised. The girl stood up behind Pierce. Suddenly the group of humans started backing up. Pierce couldn't understand why everyone was backing up, since even the girl seemed to be backing up from him. "What's going on?" he says. He looks at his wrist. Something was peeking out from under his sleeve. He took off his hoodie, and looked at his arm. He was shocked. There was some type of tattoo going up from hi wrist to his jawline. It looked like a bunch of white roses with a black outline on a black thorned vine. He noticed the rose marking on the back of his other hand. It looked like a scar, like it was carved into his hand. The group of humans ran away, and Pierce turned to face the girl. She was a good 2-3 feet away from him, frozen in place. "You're the...the white rose killer.." she said. Pierce seemed confused for a second, then it hit him. He saw these marking in his 'dream'. He looked over at the other three. Diana and Dexter were trying, and failing to hide that they were scared, while Ayana seemed to be looking at her arm. "Pierce..I don't think there were two killers in the story. I think we might be changing the story somehow" she said, pointing to the markings. They seemed to be like a reflection of where Pierces marking were, like a mirror. Pierce tied his hoodie around his waist, completely regarding the fact that he doesn't have a shirt on. He looked back at the girl. She seemed to be an elf too. "Are you an elf?". She nodded. Pierce showed his ears. The girl seemed to calm down, knowing that she wasn't the only elf. She followed Pierce off of the road. "Kris." she said. "Pierce. This is Ayana, my sister. These are my friends Diana and Dexter.". Ayana tapped on Pierces shoulder. "We need to get out of here. I have a feeling that being here isn't safe. Let's go to the hospital. We might be safe there." she said. Pierce nodded and started to follow her. The others started following too.