Choose Your Own Adventure: Chapter 01 - 03

[Houshou]

Yes, Just like the Topic says. This Thread is going to be a Choose Your Own Adventure. Where, you, the readers will choose what direction the story goes. I don't even have more than this first post even thought out. I actually think this might be fun.

Decisions will be made with the Polls.

If you would like to drop hints and ideas to me, do it via a PM. I want to stress that I want to be the only person posting in this thread. If you feel theres an avenue to explore outside of the Poll Options, PM me.

Oh an added note about the polls. The "." (Period) option is for me to vote on the poll without compromising the poll itself.

And with that I lets get straight into the Story.

:::EDIT:::
Its been a week and I seem to only have a couple (literally) votes on the poll. I was kinda hoping more people would be interested in an idea like this...Well, we'll see if if more people come on in and enjoy a good story after a few more posts. So I have made a decision that if after a week I don't have a certain number of votes on the poll, I'm just going to do what ever option has the most, or a double long post to explore any tied avenues.

:::EDIT #2:::
Ok, now I don't know how many people are actually reading this story, not even sure how many people visit this sub-forum. So I have decided to upload this story to both DA & FA. comments from all 3 websites will be taken into consideration when choosing where to go next.  

[Houshou]

Chapter 01: The Beginning

Dr. F. Private Investigator was the name on the glass door. Since his master had died, Maxwell knew that he only had days to live, and he knew that was a very literal term. This person is supposed to be the best. Look at where he lives. The best sure as hell doesn't live in a run down part of town. And sure as hell shouldn't use his own home as a place to conduct business. Staring at his own reflection he could see himself. His graying fur was a blessing as it masked his own true age. The old squirrel took a small minute to readjust his tie and smooth out the wrinkles in his coat. picking up his briefcase he rapped sharply on the door.
"Come on in, the doors open!" A voice called out from behind the door. As Maxwell entered the apartment suite he could smell coffee brewing some where in the house, and could hear some one opening up cupboards and the distinct tinkle of dishes as they hit each other. As Maxwell rounded a corner in the hall way he came to a large room, with a big leather couch in the middle of the room. Two high backed leather chairs were turned at angles to where one sitting in either one could comfortably speak to some one sitting in either the other chair or on the couch. A heavy oak coffee table was placed between them and a fire place was lightly lit in between the chairs.
"Have a seat any where you would like," The voice called again "Coffee?" Maxwell set his briefcase on the ground next to one of the leather chairs. He looked up at his would-be Private Investigator, an Arctic Fox with solid red eyes. He wore a Hawaiian silk shirt, unbuttoned in the front with a pair of jean cut off shorts. His apparent double coat of fur keeping him more than warm in the cold winter air. "Coffee?" He asked again.
"Ah, yes." Maxwell said after he got his bearings right, he just couldn't help but stare at the kids eyes. Kinda funny to see nature play such a cruel thing on a person. A one hundred percent pure albino arctic fox. The Fox put a coaster down on the table and placed the coffee pot on it. He put a couple cups of steaming coffee in between them and he sat down on the couch. Maxwell took a sip of the coffee, the kid had sweetened it but it wasn't so overwhelming. In fact there was a honey taste to it and it relaxed Maxwell.
"So, how can I help you?"
"Awfully quick to the point aren't you, lad."
"There's no reason to beat about any bushes. I am a P.I. and you came to me. Therefore, it shouldn't be too hard you need me for something. Now what that something is, I don't know. The least you can do is tell me a story for the coffee. I love to listen to people talk about their problems. So much so, that my school teachers said I should be a therapist rather than a P.I." The Fox smiled at his own comment.
Maxwell wanted to smile and be merry, but his time was too short to do anything. Frowning he stared into the Fox's eyes. "My story is not on to be taken lightly. I give you the option to kick me out now and to not be bothered by me or any of the problems that will come with my story." He rose a paw as he spoke. "Or," He paused for dramatic effect and raised his other paw. "You can listen to my story and be dragged into something that is far bigger and more dangerous than you can imagine. So much so, that you may find that you will be begging what ever Gods you worship to rewind time and make it so that you never think twice about this and kick me out."

((This is the only one yall don't get to choose.))

Leaning forward on the couch the P.I. listened to the man very intently. "Sir, you have come to see me. What ever choice I had in the matter is out the window the moment you entered my home. What ever is on your heels will know that you were here and they will seek me out just because of that. For that alone, I want to hear your story."
Smart. He was able to even see that. He may yet prove to be this super detective that I hear he truly is. "Very well. Take this story as face value, and nothing more. What you do with the knowledge is your provocative."
Maxwell cleared his throat. "First off, I need you to understand that in three days time, I will be dead. I have lived a long life and am ready to see the next life. So, thats your time line. You must find for me some information and get it back to me within those three days. If you are successful your payment will be one hundred percent of all the stocks in a corporation of mine. Securing your financial future and seeing to it that you have all the resources you may ever wish to have at your disposal."
The young fox nodded. "To put it simply, I am but the butler of a very powerful person. My master has recently been assassinated, here in town. I am certain you have seen the news media coverage about the incident. But those block head Policemen don't seem to understand that as every day passes the trail grows colder."
"You wish for me to find this assassin and put him behind bars?" The fox chimed in.
Maxwell chuckled, "Not in the least. Even if you did catch him, I guarantee you that a normal prison wouldn't hold him. The biggest mystery about this assassination is that it was caught on a camera. My master was undoubtedly sliced in half. But there was no one else on the camera, but my master." Seeing the puzzling look on the young foxes face he nodded. "Exactly. The use a close range weapon was implemented, but no one is visible to the camera. Thats about as much of the whole assassination that I know of. The Police said they would keep me informed but their so puzzled about this that they can't figure it out.
The young fox sat back in the couch. "Ok...Tell me about your master. What kind of person was he?"
"That, I know much more about and is a lot easier to tell." Maxwell sipped from the coffee cup again. "My master was born," he counted his fingers silently to himself. "About one thousand five hundred years ago." The young fox swallowed hard and seemed to stare at the old squirrel as though to say, did you hit your head on something? "I assure, I am quite correct. He was, to say the least, immortal. In recent years he developed a skin condition that caused him to boil in under any UV Light. So he had to live a life of night. Always, he awoke at twilight and went to bed before sunrise. He was born in northern Sweden. From there he joined the Roman Catholic Church and became among the founding members of a secret order there within. Section Thirteen."
"It was within this powerful position that he started what is known today as the Vatican Vault. At first it was nothing but records of all the missions and their successes or failures. Kept tight and hidden from the public view. This was crucial, since Section Thirteen grew and became more and more powerful they were able to keep track of certain...creatures. Unfortunately there were some within the order who leaked descriptions of these creatures to the public. As well as some things that they could do, and as the Church feared, the peoples fear of these things grew alarmingly fast. It was knowledge not divulged to keep the public safe. Today Hollywood exploits these creatures as fictional stories. The Vatican likes this as it keeps curiosity up, but fear down."
"Over the millennia or so, he has continued to track these creatures and hunt down and kill them. I fear that one such creature may have attacked him. I want you to find out who killed my master and why. Anything beyond that will get you extra payment. You have seventy two hours to complete this if you accept."

The young fox rubbed his chin and yawned as he thought about this. He wants me to believe that the Living Dead, Spirits, Demons, and Devils exist? I'll play along, though I am very skeptic about this. A ******** fairy tale is what this is. "Ok, I accept." A look of relief washed over the old squirrel. "But now I will ask you some questions and I need you to answer them." The old squirrel nodded. "First up, I need locations. Where was your master killed, where did he live, and finally where did he work out of. Secondly, I need who's. I am going to want access to his phone records, his friends, family, and any enemies you may know about off hand. What were the most common creatures did he exterminate and how and why he did such things."
The old squirrel picked up his briefcase and laid it on the coffee table. Opening it up he withdrew a manila envelope and handed it over. "Inside that envelope you will find the access codes and addresses of all the places that my master frequently visited, as well as the names of the people who own those establishments. There are brief descriptions of the creatures he fought with within their as well. Unfortunately not all of them have pictures, just descriptions and the name of some one who has more knowledge on that particular creature. As for why, my master had his own reasons for doing what he did. I am but a mere servant."
With that Maxwell stood and extended his paw. The young fox stood and grasped it firmly. "Don't worry sir, I will not sleep until what you have asked of me is complete." Maxwell smiled weakly at the young fox, picked up his briefcase and headed to the door.
Turning around he looked back at the young fox one more time. "I never got your name." Maxwell pointed out, the young fox just stared at the old squirrel.
Turning around and going back to the living room he called over his shoulder, "Phos." Maxwell smirked and opened the door and left.

Back inside Phos opened the envelope and looked at his options. He could start with the old mans house, move over to some large major corporate headquarters where he worked, visit establishments the old man was known to visit, or talk to one of the many specialists on the different creatures. Reading through the quick paragraphs on each of the creatures he able to eliminate about half of them. However vampires, evil spirits, demons, and devils were the only ones that seemed capable of committing such a crime.
"Where do I begin?"

((Now, it is your choice! Where does our young albino arctic fox begin his investigation!))  

[Houshou]

((Vampire Specialist & The Police))

That old squirrel, and the way he talked about his 'Master' makes it sound like he was a Vampire. Talking to the specialist should give me a good insight into the way the Master lived. That will be a decent place to start. But what worries me even more is the fact that this information could be helpful to the actual police report. Maybe by combining our efforts and investigations we can solve this mystery that much faster. Sipping from his cup of coffee Phos stood up and walked into the back bedroom. He changed quickly into a light sweater and jean pants, grabbed his shoes and walked back out into the main living room. Putting everything back into the envelope, he was out the door.
Using his cell phone he called the number for the Vampire Specialist, Jason Rattengod. After a couple rings a gruff voice came over the line. "Jason speaking, may I inquire as to who is waking me?"
"Sorry to bother you sir, my name is Phos. I am a Private Investigator. I have been hired to look into a case by a client, and he recommended you as among the many specialists in a certain field. I was hoping I could make an appointment with you to come over and speak with you about it."
"A Private Eye, huh...Who recommended me?"
"Clients information is held classified for their protection, sir."
Chuckling could be heard over the phone. "Alright then, can I ask as to the subject we would be discussing?"
"Your specialty. I thought it would be obvious, but if you must know it is on the subject of Vampires."
More chuckling now. "Of course..." some rough noises could be heard over the phone, followed by the click of a lamp and some papers rustling. "You do realize that vampires sleep during the day, right?"
"All I know about the subject is from Hollywood."
"Then your in for a real roller coaster ride. Very well, meet me at my place." An address was given and Phos wrote it down on a pen pad. "And make it quick, I want to go back to sleep." With that the line went silent.
Phos climbed into and started his car and began to drive over to this Jason Rattengod's place. On the way over there he made use of the time to call the Police. "Twincities Police Station this is Jill, how can I direct your call?"
"Hey babe."
Jill giggled. "Hows my favorite foxy?"
"Better now that I am talking to you. Hey, you wanna do somethin' Friday?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Well...if I solve this latest case...what ever you want to do."
"Oh, so you got a case? What's it about?"
"Oh just something about an old geezer caught on camera being sliced in half by nothing visible on the tape." Silence on the phone. "Jill, are you there babe?"
"Sorry, my boss came in here and was talking to me. So, about that case your on, I presume you want to talk to Walter."
"Yeah, could you patch me through? And I'll see ya Friday." He made a kissing noise over the phone and heard some giggling over the phone just before he was transfered.
"This is Walter."
"Hey Walter, it's Phos."
"Hey! Hows it going? Haven't heard from you in a few weeks."
"Yeah, I had to take some time off. But I'm back, not even twenty four hours and I already have a client."
"Oh, give me the scoop."
"Well, I was hired to look into a mysterious death thats happened very recently."
"The one about the old geezer whose cut in half?"
"Yup thats the one."
"I got news for you kid. Stay away from this one."
"I can't. I have already made the commitment."
"Alright, when can you come down, I'll give ya everything we have. but off the record, this is another one of those cases thats been hushed up and real fast."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean its already been classified as an unsolved mystery."
"But thats impossible! It only happened like yesterday!"
"Thats what I mean. Some one way up high has already pulled the plug on this case." No wonder the old squirrel insisted that I take the case and was furious about the Police.
"Alright, I'm going over to talk to a couple people who might be able to enlighten me about some subjects. After that I can meet with you. How's about we meet for lunch over at the Bowling Alley."
"Sounds great, see ya then."
"Bye"
Right, now I'm really interested in this case. Less than twenty four hours and this case has already been deemed an unsolved mystery? Some ones trying to cover something up. A military secret gone wrong, perhaps? Hmm...I better think about getting with some of my friends in the military and ask them about that. Pulling up to the address that he was given he stopped at a gate. A gate guard approached him and he rolled down his window. "I'm Phos, a Private Investigator. I called and made an arrangement with Mr. Rattengod." He held up his ID for verification. The gate guard made a phone call, pushed a button and the gate rolled open. He motioned for him to move on in.
The driveway was made of gravel, the big lawns had been recently cut and the smell was fresh to his nose. He could see some gardeners trimming the hedges, and pulling weeds in the flower beds near the house. Elm trees dotted the lawn, and a couple were near the house. The house itself was a traditional eighteen hundred villa. A big porch up front with thick pillars supporting the two floors above it. Wide windows letting in a multitude of light on the ground floor. Strangely though, the upper floors had no windows at all. Phos parked in a bigger area right out the front door and gathered his things.
He approached the front door and before he could knock on it, it was opened by a young and lovely female calico cat. She wore a apron around her waist, and her tail twicthed slightly from side to side. Nodding his head to the maid he stepped inside and she closed the door behind her. She made a motion with her hand for him to follow him, as she turned to go up the stairs he could see that she wasn't wearing anything else, but the apron. Blushing he looked down at the floor in front of him and followed her up the stairs. She led him down a hallway on the second floor and paused outside a door. Knocking on the door a muffled voice could be heard behind it. "Come in." She opened the door, backed away and bowed. Blushing again, Phos thanked the maid and walked in.
"Please, come in. Sit." The voice was familiar from the phone call earlier. As Phos looked around the room, he saw that he was inside a library. He could only chuckle to himself. Of all places, the Library. So clichè. The room was lit by candle light, casting multiple shadows all over the place. He could barely see his host, a scrawny looking wolf. He apparently has made a living off of being highly intelligent, rather than for the obvious traits that most wolves are born with. He shook Jason's paw, and sat down in the chair being offered. "So, what can I do to help you out with this case of yours?"
"Well, your the expert on the subject, how about we start at the beginning?"
"The beginning, eh?" The wolf sat back in his chair and exhaled very loudly. "The beginning is a highly debated subject amongst the Vampire community..."
"So you're saying that they exist" Phos interrupted.
"Exist?! Yes, of course they exist. You may not believe me now, but by the end of your investigation, you will realize that the supernatural world that many people think only exists in their imagination and in Hollywood, in all actual reality does exist." Phos opened his mouth to speak but the Wolf looked him in the eye and spoke but one word. "Silence." The one word was filled with an authority that Phos had never dreamed of existing. "You asked to know everything from the beginning. It's going to take some time to explain everything. So you had better just stay quiet and listen. The sooner you know what you desire, the sooner you can leave and the sooner I can get back to sleep."
Phos tried to speak, but for some reason found that he could not. He couldn't even feel if his mouth was moving or not. "Better," the wolf said. "Now, as I was saying. The beginning of vampirism is a highly debated subject amongst its own community. First you must realize that there are multiple clans and covenants. Think of a Clan like a race, and Covenants like a religious cult. One Covenant believes that Adam's first wife, Lilith is the first. Another believes that Cain, son of Adam, is the first. Having been damned by God to walk in darkness forever. Yet still another proclaims that the infamous Dracula is the first. Each has their own perspective, but no matter who was the first, they do exist." He pulled out a cigerette and lit it. He exhaled and seemed to relax a bit in his chair.
"Now, As far as Hollywood is concerned. They want you to believe in certain things. Some of which are true, others...not so true. For instance, crosses and other symbols of christian belief. These have about as much effect on a vampire as they would you or I. Only a being who has been damned by God, will these things ever have a chance of doing anything and they have to be blessed by God in the same degree of the damnation too. For example, say I was damned by God, and it was a pretty heavy damnation, and you held up a cross that was merely blessed by your own faith in God. That would be more like you shining a flashlight in my eyes. Nothing I couldn't handle, but annoying none the less. Now say the roles were reversed. Say that my damnation was something small, and you brought before me an object that was touched by the very hand of God. I would turn into dust immediately. As the Holy presence in the room would be so powerful, it would be like dropping a nuclear bomb to destroy a building. So unless you have something like that, don't think about it. You'll merely just piss off the vampire your waving it at." He gave his cigerette another drag. "Now, you also need to realize that they are the undead. That means that what it would take to stop you or me, you would need to multiply that factor by at the least two or three to stop a vampire. Merely unloading your magazine of bullets into its chest, yeah, it might do it. But you also might just piss it off even more. If you really want to destroy a vampire, use fire. They will turn to ash very fast in the presence of fire. Sunlight as well. You will only find ash where a vampire stood if he is in the sunlight for less than a minute. The only other thing that can stop a vampire is a wooden stake." He held up a paw, "but do not be decieved, they are not dead. They are merely paralized. They will seem to bof e truly dead at this point but I assure you they are not. Now, as for what they can do..."
He stood up and walked around to one of the many shelves of books. Scanning them he found a book, and pulled it off. Flipped it open and scanned it. Putting it back he kept searching but continued his discussion. "There's a multitude of different powers that they can do. Transforming into a Bat, is but the tip of the ice burg, and frankly its not all that uncommon. Aw, here it is!" He rapped on the page of a book he'd been looking at. Turning he walked back to the desk, he dropped the book down on the desk in front of Phos. "You may borrow this book for a while. It will give you an insight into what a vampire is capable of. But you need to understand something, its not complete. It only covers the more popular super natural powers that a vampire can do. To describe some of these quickly so that you can understand why I say that when you find a vampire, and fear for your life you had better assume you are already dead. One ability they can use is called Celerity. To you the vampire may seem to become blurry, but in actual reality he is moving at such inhuman speeds that you're able to process the blurred images. They even may appear to be in multiple places at once and the more powerful they are in this the faster they move. Legends are spoken about some who moved so fast that time literally stopped at their passing."
Phos swallowed hard as he flipped through the book all the while listening to the wolf. Some of these abilities are extremely powerful. This one they call domination, that could be a big problem. "Other abilities you may wish to become familiar with are Domination, Vigor, Resilience, and Protean. They should all be described inside that book." He gestured at the book he gave to Phos. "Are there any other questions you have?" Phos found that he could feel his jaw move again.
"Ah, yes." He looked up from the book. "What about the concept that they don't have a reflection? Does this mean that they can't be captured on camera?"
"Yes, it is true. Vampires do not have a reflection, though as to the reason is not for certain as to why, since they are but merely a corpse. What makes it ever more curious is the very subject you brought up. Photography and Film. When you take a photo of a vampire they will come out as a blurry image. So blurry that when looking at it, you can't say for exact certainty that the person you are pursuing is the culprit. It could literally be any one of approximately the same weight and height, within at least a thirty pound difference on both sides of the scale, and six inches on a ruler. But they are visible. That's why its a very curious subject. No reflection, yet can be caught on film. Anything else?"
"Yes, one more. You spoke about creatures being damned by God. I was under the impression that Vampires were damned by God. Care to elaborate on that?"
"I did get a little off course didn't I. Well its really simple. Vampires are not but reanimated dead creatures. Their physical bodies have died, but for some strange reason their souls have yet to move on to the next life. Thus they aren't damned by God, but merely lost souls between this world and the next. Is that all?"
Phos nodded his head all the while still reading the book he had been given. "Good, take the book with you. Don't lose that book, or I will take it out of your a**." He finished this last sentence with such tenacity that Phos was half tempted to just jot down a few of the skills and descriptions and leave the book on the desk. "When you don't need the book any more, just call that same number you called earlier. One of my servants will answer the phone and come out to pick up the book. The maid will show you to the door."
He stood up and walked across the room to the door. Phos closed the book and followed behind him. He opened the door and gestured for Phos to step out. Phos stepped out into the hallway and the same calico cat was there to greet him. He blushed again remembering her from earlier. She beckoned for him to follow her. Phos turned to thank the wolf one last time, and found that though the door to the room he had been in was open. The candles were no longer lit and the wolf was not there. Well, from what he told me, it was not a vampire who killed the clients master. According to the old squirrel, nothing was visible on the camera when the old man was cut in half. He climbed into his car and checked the time. It read just a bit past noon. Oh good, I haven't missed my luncheon with Walter. He dialed Walter's cell phone while driving off the premises.
"Hello." The voice on the phone was barely audible
"Walter?" Phos asked
"Yeah, Phos..." Static screeched across the connection "I'm not..." the phone call became really hard to understand.
"Walter? Walter, are you there?" More static and a few audible words came over the phone.
"Walter, can you hear me?"
"Yes, oh shi..." the call went silent. Phos waited half a minute than stared at the cell phone. It had dropped the call. Figures. I'll just drop by the Bowling Alley, if he's not there I'll swing by the station. He put the phone down and continued driving. About half way to the Bowling Alley his phone rang. He quickly picked up the phone and spoke. "Walter?"
"No..." The voice was deep and quiet.
"May I ask as to who is calling then?"
"No..." The voice was really creepy.
"Look, if you aren't going to intro..."
"Listen to me..." Phos found that he couldn't hang up the phone. No matter how hard he wanted to, he could not physically do it. "I only want one word out of your mouth and it will be either yes or no. Do you understand?"
"Yes..." Phos found himself compelled to answer the question.
"Are you or are you not looking into the death of a certain...person...who was recently killed?"
"Yes..." This was starting to really freak Phos out.
"Did you just leave the house of a Mr. Jason Rattengod?"
"Yes..."
"Did he give you something?"
"Yes..." Click. The phone went dead. Phos closed the phone and threw it onto the passenger seat. Today has been one crazy day, and it feels like it's only the beginning. He pulled into the parking lot for the Bowling Alley. He found the place busy as usual at noon. It was among the more popular spots for the locals to dine at for lunch or dinner. He parked and went inside looking around the dining floor he didn't see his friend Walter. I'll stick around and see if he shows up in the next twenty minutes or so. He watched the tv as he waited, it was on one of the more popular news channels for the local area. He could see that a high speed chase was currently in pursuit worried about his friend he watched intently. Then he recognized the area the chase was taking place in. That's only a couple streets away, literally right down the road. He stepped outside and just like he figured, he could hear the sirens coming. He spotted the run away car as it crested the small hill and sped down the road. As though it had been waiting for something, the car gained more momentum and came hurdling down the road at insane speeds. At the last minute it adjusted its angle and barreled straight at Phos. Barely catching the obvious shift in its course Phos was able to dive out of the way as the speeding car smashed into the Bowling Alley. Rolling Phos jumped to his feet and turned around, half expecting to see the driver dead. But he found that the driver was no longer in the car. Then again, he couldn't remember if the car had a driver at all in it. The sound of another vehicle revving its engine alerted him and he spun around staring at the new source of the new sound.
To his utter amazement he found his own vehicle backing out of the parking lot. He felt his pockets for his keys, they were still there. Intensely staring at his car, he was going to get a good look at the culprit. The vehicle turned away from him and drove off. Phos took off down the road after his car. He got to the corner just as it turned. Glaring through the windshield he saw, nothing. The steering wheel turned on its accord and drove down the street. The Police by now were swarming the Bowling Alley and going over all the damage. Not paying attention to his car as it drove away, all by itself. "Hey!" He shouted at the invisible and some what imaginary thief driving away with his car. "Hey, stop!" He ran after his car. "Stop!" He yelled after it as it increased in speed and drove away. "DAMN IT!" He yelled out in frustration. At least he had the envelope and the book. He looked down at his paws. Seeing nothing there he tried to remember where he had put them. He remembered setting them down on the passenger seat, and taking them inside the Bowling Alley...Turning around he found the Bowling Alley on fire as the car that had crashed into it ignite in flames. "********!" He yelled as he ran back to the bowling alley. As he approached the scene a couple of the Police were keeping curious people away. A well built doberman stopped Phos from approaching.
"Get back. It's not safe." the Doberman said.
"Not safe?!" Phos raised his voice. "My car was just now stolen! Most likely by the culprit who caused this..."
"Not likely, they found a body inside the car as it burst into flames. The crack pot driving that wreck went up in flames."
Bullshit! Phos screamed in his mind. "Alright, but I'm a P.I. and I left evidence for a case I'm working on in there. Let me by so I can try to save whats left of it."
"No can do Mr. Private Eye. What ever you left in there is not but fueling the inferno. I hope you made copies of it all."
"I hadn't had the time! I was going to discuss it with Walter. I was supposed to meet him..."
"Walter? Whose this Walter?"
Phos cocked his head to one side. "Walter." The doberman still seemed lost. "You know, Walter. The departments detective!"
"Sorry, I don't know of any Walter. Maybe you have our Department confused with another towns department. No please, step back or I'm going to have to arrest you for your own safety."
"I'm a Private I. for ******** sakes!" He held up his badge. "Let me through!"
"I'm sorry, but if you insist in a tone and manner like that again, I'm going to have to take you ******** you!" and he turned around and walked away. He was so furious that he didn't even recognize where he was at when he came out of his anger. He took a step back and looked around at his surroundings. He was nearly almost all the way to the Police Station. Oh good, maybe some one there will be able to point me to where Walter is. He walked through the automatic door and stepped inside the lobby. Jill was sitting behind her desk as he came in. "Jill!" He called out with excitement. She turned to face him and her face brightened.
Jill was more than just another rabbit. She was perfect. She stood just over six feet tall, her long dark hair fell to just below her shoulder blades. Her blue eyes were pools of water that Phos spent so much time swimming in. Blessed was not even a word to begin to describe her physical body, it was more like she was the daughter of God himself. She stood as he came towards her. She rounded the desk and Phos caught her in big hug and kissed her gently on the lips. "God, at least something is still real in this world." He said at her. He looked up at her and she was silently crying. "What's wrong, honey."
"I thought you were missing." She sobbed.
"What for?" He asked her, squeezing her closer to his body. Can't you feel me? I am here, now, and that's all that matters.
"I knew that you were going to meet Walter at the Bowling Alley at noon. I was following that car chase very closely, and when I had heard that it crashed into the Bowling Alley, I tried calling your phone. But it kept going straight to your voice mail. I was worried that you in there. I heard reports that your car had been seen in the parking lot, and that you were inside the building when it went up in flames." Her eyes were pouring with tears now.
"Shshshshsh..." Phos tried to calm her. "It's alright. Yes, I was there when it happened. But my car was stolen in the confusion. Not to mention that the other car convientently caught fire and burned the Bowling Alley down. Some of my evidence for the case I am working on was inside the bowling alley. This doberman, I haven't seen in the department before prevented me from going inside and rescueing it."
Jill pushed away from Phos and looked down at him. "A doberman?" Phos nodded, "There's no dobey in our department. Most of the dobermans I know join the military."
"I thought something was weird when he said he had never heard of Walter."
"Walter..." her voice grew sad again and her eyes welled up with tears.
"Sweety, come on...talk to me. Whats happened?"
"He...he..." she took a moment to catch her breath. "He was on his way to the Bowling Alley to meet you, when that car chase started. Being in the area he had to do his duty and join the pursuit. The car ran a red light, but the traffic couldn't stop in time for his car. He T-boned a innocent by stander..." She began to cry some more.
"Jesus, I didn't know." Thinking back on his phone call he could visualize what had happened. "Is he..." He left it open, not wanting to say it himself.
"He's in the hospital, but they aren't certain as to whether or not he will survive. He was bringing you what we had on a case. he made copies of it all before he left and left me with one set of the copies, incase you dropped by and weren't able to meet up with him." She walked back to her desk and opened a drawer. She pulled out a thick envelope. "Huh, thats weird." She spoke softly.
"What's weird?" Phos inquired as he looked at the envelope.
"Oh, it just seems that its a bit bigger than I remembered it." She passed him the envelope. It was so packed, that it seemed to rip the very edges of the package. He set it down on her desk and opened it. Peering inside he found the book he had been given, as well as his own envelope.
"What the ********?!" He exclaimed as he pulled them out. "It's not possible..." Jill gave him an inquiring look, "These are the very things I wanted to get from inside the Bowling Alley. This is..." He opened the envelope that resembled his and found all the information that he had been given still there. "It's all here..." He put everything back into the bag. He leaned over and whispered into Jills ear. "Listen, this case is literally freaking me out. I'm as scared as a baby afraid of the bogeyman in his closet. And it's only going to get weirder. If anything freaky that you can't explain happens, find me. No matter what. I would highly suggest staying the night at a friends place. Don't ever go any where alone. If I had it my way, I would take you with me just so I know for certain that you are safe." He had seen the note sticking out of the book. Don't ever lose this again. This is your last warning! - J.R.
He turned and looked at the clock. Seventeen-thirty it displayed. He looked back at Jill, "Oh yeah. My car was stolen, can I fill out a report?" Jill wiped away her tears and fetched him the forms he needed to fill out. "And, do you think you and I can go down to the hospital and wait there for news about Walter?" Jill nodded and they left the station. They arrived at the hospital about twenty minutes later. They got escorted to right outside Walter's intensive care room. They found him with a bunch of tubes and wrapped up like a mummy. An extremely short flying squirrel wearing a black cloak was sitting in a chair in the room. His eyes were just as red and piercing as Phos's were. He clutched a black staff at his side. He said nothing but never took his eyes off of the couple. Phos nodded at the squirrel as they entered and turned his attention to Walter. They found the black bear breathing with help from a machine. His blood was being sent through a tube to a machine and back to his body. "Any word if he is going to survive?" Phos asked over his shoulder to the Squirrel. He waited for a minute before turning to look at where the squirrel was. To find that he was no longer there. Turning around and exiting the room and looking down the hall he scanned for any signs of the weird squirrel.
Jill came up behind him. "Who are you looking for?"
"That short flying squirrel that was just in here."
"What flying squirrel?"
Phos looked up at Jill, "The one that was just in here. The one wearing the black cloak. Didn't you see him, he was sitting right there." He pointed at the now empty chair. Jill guided him out to a set of chairs in the hallway. "I don't understand..." He began muttering.
"Your tired and the shock of the reality of all of this is getting to you. How about you take a nap right here. I'll wake you if something happens, ok?"
Phos sat down, but shook his head. "I can't sleep, I need to go over the information that Walter was bringing me, first." He pulled out the package and opened it. There was a tape in it and some documents in it other than his own items. Pulling the tape out he set it down. He withdrew the papers and examined them. It was almost the exact same stuff the old squirrel had brought him earlier that morning. Only on these, the Spirits Specialist, and the Demons & Devils Specialist are circled. On the bottom of the stack he found the form that classified the case as an unsolved mystery. He frowned at this, it's just too convienent for this to be so quickly hushed up. Then an idea struck him as he sat there.

He grabbed his phone and started to dial...

((But who is he going to dial? Take your pick from the choices!))  

[Houshou]

Private Investigations: Chapter 01, Part 3
Demons & Devils Specialist


Phos opens up the manila envelope and pulls out the Demons and Devils Specialists section. He's confident that this contact will be the one to finally explain some of the things going on around him. Phos stands up and faces out one of the many Hospital windows in the hallway. Jill walks up behind him, "Beautiful sunset, isn't it." She snuggled in close to him.
Phos craned his neck and kissed her ever so gently. "It's a shame Walter can't see this. It's like God has painted his favorite picture for him." They stood there together, watching the sun's last rays of light disappear beyond the horizon.
A ringing in Phos's ear brought him back to consciousness. He looked at the phone number and recognized it as the Demon's and Devil's Specialist. He answered the phone. "Hello."
"Yes, I received a call from this number..." the inquisitive voice was feminine in nature, but was backed with a tone that let Phos know that she was in control of the conversation.
"Ah! Yes." Phos fained ignorance, "Sorry, I lost service right as I called several minutes ago. My name is Phos, I'm a Private Investigator. I am looking into the death of a person and my client has asked me to rule out the possibilities of the murderer being of supernatural existence. I was hoping I could talk to you about Demons and Devils."
"There's really not much to explain. Only that Demons are Fallen Angels of God, and Devils are the beings who were banished along side Satan after the great spiritual war."
"Well, I was hoping you could meet me so we could get more into what they are capable of. Actually, I have some personal experiences that have happened within the last twelve hours or so. I might be inclined to give these experiences to you if you meet me at the Hospital."
"What kind of experiences?"
"Well, for one. My car was driven away by an unseen presence. I suspect by remote control, but ever since I started looking into this case, a number of very intriguing things have happened."
"I need more than just what you are giving..."
Jill had gone back into Walters room to check up on him when Phos got the phone call. She poked her head out the door and Phos waved her over to him. He mouthed, 'play along' at her. "Uh oh, the nurse is here. It looks like I gotta put the phone down."
Giggling Jill piped up so that she could be heard over the phone. "Time for your medicine."
"Wait!" the voice over the phone called.
"Can it wait?" Phos asked Jill "I'm in the middle of an important phone call."
"No, it most certainly can not." Jill started teasing him by dancing in the hallway showing off the natural curves of her athletic body.
"Your in the Hospital?" the voice over the phone yelled.
"Yes, one of my experiences put me here." Phos replied barely able to keep his mind on the phone call.
"I'm on my way." and with that the phone call was over. Phos turned his cell phone off and playfully chased Jill up and down the hallway.

Thirty minutes later Jill was asleep in the chair in Walter's room. They had found a unused room in the hospital and made the best of everything they could get their hands on. They would probably still be in the room if Phos wasn't expecting the specialist. He stepped out of the elevator and could hear the voice of his specialist. She was trying to find a patient named Phos, and of course the Hospital has no patient named thus. As he rounded the corner he could see that the voice belonged to a Collie. He walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and glared at him, angry and upset. Phos held his paw out and introduced himself. "Sorry, I'm late. I didn't mean to keep you waiting. I'm Phos."
Her eyes squinted at him, growling under her breath she glared at Phos, "You said you were in the hospital..."
"And I am." He dropped his paw.
"But you said that you had been injured by one of your experiences, and that was why you couldn't come out to my house and meet with me there."
"Actually, I said nothing of the sort. You merely assumed that. I only said that one of my experiences put me here, and that's the truth. One of my best friends got between whatever this thing is, and me. He's in a room upstairs." He gestured for her to move towards the elevators. "He's in real bad shape, I don't want to leave until the Hospital kicks me out."
Snorting she conceited to his logic, and followed him up to Walter's room. Along the way he explained the two instances where he was commanded to shut up, and listen. He also explained the mysterious car without a driver and hoped that she could shed some light onto the creepy happenings.
"Demon's only have power over what they possess. For example, if they possess a house, they can move things inside it. Cause people in the house to see things, horrific things. And if they possess a human, the person may experience symptoms similar to Multiple Personality Disorder. But eventually, the Demon will start to physically harm the person. So it's safe to assume that whatever it is, is not a Demon." They stepped out into the hallway and turned towards Walter's room.
"Devils are a bit different but not by much. See, Demons need a spiritual medium to move through, be it a item or an event, in order to possess what ever it is its reaching out to possess. Devils don't."
Phos stopped outside Walter's door. "They don't?"
"No, they don't. Although they are weaker than a Demon possession, a Devil has the advantage of being able to take hold of any body, any time. Every person has at least one or two devils. When we let our emotions cloud reasoning, they are able to implant thoughts and suggestions into your head. The more Devils you have the more pronounced these thoughts will be. Which in turn makes it harder for you to resist them. Devils have coerced humble people to commit suicide, murder, rape, and all sorts of evil doings. They aren't looking for just your physical and mental destruction like that of a devil. They are also looking to have your soul damned to hell for all eternity."
Phos held the door open for his guest to enter. He watched as she entered the room, she seemed to shiver as though a blast of cold air washed over her. "Cold?" She shot a hand up to silence him. She walked around the room and again, shivered more violently when she brushed up against Jill sleeping in the chair. Phos stepped inside the room and watched the collie.
She spoke over her shoulder as he neared her. "Death is, or has been, in this room." She turned to look at Walter, he was still sound asleep. "Some one in this room tonight, will die..."
Phos recalled the robed figure he'd seen in the chair before and decided to tell the specialist. Her eyes went wide with fear and she quickly stepped out of the room. Phos chased after her. "Stay away from me." She said as he approached.
"Tell me, what does it mean?"
Frantic she pushed the elevator button. "It means you have seen Death. He follows in your shadow. I knew there was something about you I couldn't put my finger on. Stay away from me!" She shoved him back out into the hallway as the door slid open. Phos caught the door before it closed shut all the way.
"Come on, your scared of something and your not telling me, why?"
"Death, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. Is a very powerful spirit. Why he's following you, I have no idea. But I will say this much, you will only come to know death with him in following your shadow. Your friend here is only the first." She reached out and kicked him between the legs, Phos doubled over in pain and backed away from the elevators. He watched as the doors close and the floor indicator above the door decend to the lobby. Sitting down in one of the chairs in the hallway he begins to mentally block out the pain.
A nurse gently shook Phos awake. "Sir," she was saying, "sir, I need you to wake up. It's past visiting hours. I'm sorry, but you need to go home." Jill was rubbing her eyes and standing just behind the nurse. Phos stood up and looked at his watch, he'd been asleep for about an hour. He didn't remember falling asleep, but the nap had felt good. He took Jill's arm and walked with her over to the elevator. He made one more call to the last specialist who can help rule out supernatural and fictitional creautres. It was a brief call, he agreed to meet the person at their house.
Phos held open the Hospital lobby door for Jill as she stepped outside. He felt something drip onto his hand and instinctively looked at it. A tiny red dot stared back up at him, puzzled he sniffed at it. Blood. Jill! He looked up just as a cascading waterfall of blood oozed all over the top of her head and down her back. "Don't look!" But it was too late. She had already touched it with her hand and brought it back to get a good look at it.Hemophilliac, was the only thing he could think of. It's the biggest reason why she was a secretary at the Police Station, and not on the streets. He jumped at her in hopes he could protect her from seeing it, but in the process got blood on himself. succeeded in preventing her from seeing the blood on herself, but not what was on him.
Jill's shrill scream shattered the glass doors of the Hospital. Phos tried to calm her down, but all she could see was his head covered in blood. Not being able to hear him and listen to reason she was under the belief that he'd been hit in the head. "Phos!" She grabbed a hold of him, and passed out. Phos held onto her as she went limp in his arms. Phos could see the pool of blood at the front door was growing, but it wasn't falling from the ceiling as heavily. He followed the line of blood up the front side of the building to a figure impaled on a flag pole jutting out of the building. He stared at it, trying to see who it was, but just couldn't make it out. Then, not sure if he was seeing things correctly, a figure detached itself from the mass and leaped from where it was to a building across the street. He looked back at the flag pole and could still see a body impaled.

((What to do now?!))
- Chase the mysterious being
- Investigate the dead figure on the flag pole
- Continue on to the Spirits Specialists house  

[Houshou]

exclaim On hold until I can get settled into my new place. may take a couple weeks. Will pick back up when I can get back on my feet.

Thanks for reading so far!