30. Simp

T urney squinted up at the slide. They hadn’t spotted many cameras at all as they’d wandered towards the big slide. Near the slide itself…there were even less.

“Still closed…not that I expected anything less,” Octavius mused. The vampire was eyeing the yellow caution tape that was all around the outside of the now fenced in slide. “It seems like the most restricted scene so far too, beyond the newest one.”

“I mean…how would we have even checked this one anyway? Sliding down it…when there is no water running seems like a bad idea.”

“We could easily crawl down and back up. It would have taken a while, but it’s…doable. However, I think it would be a waste of time when we have other crime scenes that are easier to access.” The vampire sighed. “Maybe I could use my police contact to pull the reports, but…”

“Your name being all over the file would raise some red flags.”

“Not just that… I’m pretty sure his connection to me could put him into hot water, if it’s found out. I’d rather not get him into trouble, even if he could probably manage to get out of it with a little…well, likely a lot of mind control.”

“Best to forget that idea. Him checking would be logged. If he’s in Connecticut, like we are, it wouldn’t take long for them to realize he is connected to you.”

Octavius heaved a sigh. “I never thought some simple emails could cause this much trouble. Frankly, it's confusing, as I’ve never had problems like this with my normal email account…”

Turney winced. “About that… Scarlett may have mentioned to me that she’d been monitoring your other email account, deleting and blocking spam for you.”

“She…has?” Octavius blinked, before huffing with clear exasperation. “Fine! I concede! No more emails for me. I didn’t like them that much anyway. Writing letters by hand is so much more fun.”

He patted the vampire’s back. “It’s for the best for now. We’ll attempt to get you ‘email user ready’ after this is all over.”

“Not sure if it’s worth it…but do as you will,” the vampire lamented.

Turney chuckled at the dramatics, as he ushered the man away from the slide.

Octavius suddenly stopped, as they started passing the medium sized one.

“What is it?” Turney frowned.

“Turney,” the vampire gushed, his tone instantly setting him on edge.

“What…?” he asked, while staring into the male’s overly sparkly, wide, ‘innocent’, ocean-blue eyes.

“Just once,” Octavius gasped, almost breathlessly.

His eyes narrowed, instantly knowing what the nut was talking about. “No.”

“Just once. No one has to knowww!”

“Octavius, you are NOT riding in my pocket down the slide as a bat.”

“Oh, come on! Just one time! Pleaseeee! PLEASEEEE!” The vampire grabbed his arm and began to whine and gently shake him. “Pleaseeeee, hmmm, please?”

He stared into the man’s face, and as Octavius’ bottom lip popped out, his resolve started to crack.

“Please, please, hmm, hmm? Just once! Promise, just once!”

His eyes traveled from the vampire’s sandy-blond curls to his wide, thickly lashed eyes, before finally landing on the poutiest lips ever… His heart clenched. Ahh…he was cute… Why was Octavius this cute? How was this legal?!

Would…it…really do much harm…if they did it one time? It was…just one time…

“Just once.” The words came out on their own, with no thought behind them at all, beyond ‘how could he say no?’.

“YAY!” Octavius cheered, before giggling and slipping his arm through his. “LET’S DO THIS!”

Ah hell…he was a simp.

Hidden in Turney’s left pocket, Octavius had his snout covered with his clawed hands. When the zombie got down into position at the start of the slide, he did all he could to stop himself from giggling like crazy as he tumbled onto his back.

On feeling them begin to go downward, Octavius popped his head out of the pocket, gripping the edges as he let out a happy, high pitched, “WHEE!” when their speed picked up.

“EPP!” Octavius yelped, gripping hard to the fabric when his body briefly flipped out as they slid through a loop. Giggling, he shouted, “WOOHOOO!!” once he dropped back fully inside again.

Popping his head back out, he let out another loud, “WHEEEEEE!”

The sound was cut off as his gaze was drawn to something on the upper side of the slide. Brackets…evenly spaced brackets. They looked to be very thin, and made of metal. Were…they responsible for the decapitation?

Realizing they were reaching the end, Octavius ducked back inside and hugged Turney’s leg hard, his claws digging into the fabric.

He continued to cling to him as they plunged underwater. The tumbling jostled him, but not enough for him to let go. He only released his hold when Turney had reached the point where he could walk in the shallow end of the pool.

Sitting there, sogging wet, Octavius impatiently waited until his zombie bun told him it was safe to get out. In his opinion, the male could try walking a bit faster.

He poked the man’s leg, and then let out a loud sigh.

“We are almost there, you impatient bat,” Turney grumbled softly.

After what felt like an eternity later, the zombie finally said, “You can get out.”

Octavius leaped out of the pocket and, with a flap of his wings, he landed onto the ground. He changed back, brushing his hand through his wet curls once he did. “I think I know what killed the man in the slide,” he said in a dramatic whisper.

Turney’s brow rose at that. “What?”

“There are metal brackets. They are pushed pretty seamlessly into the plastic of the slide, and appear to go all the way around…but I’m not sure. We reached the end before I could look closer. I want you to go back down the slide and tell me what you see.”

“You don't want to go back down again?”

Not unless he got to do it as a bat, and sadly, he doubted Turney would fall for his adorableness twice, for the same thing, so close together. “No…I feel after going down as a bat, it would be quite boring.”

Turney snorted. “Let’s head back to the slide.”

Turney broke the surface of the water he had just fallen into, and headed right for Octavius, who was waiting for him by the edge of the pool.

Sitting there lightly kicking his feet in the water, the vampire’s brow rose as he reached him. “So?”

“I think you're right. They appear to be similar to pipe brackets in how they go together, even if they are thin. But they are separate pieces, so if one somehow slipped out…and wedged itself down, hanging just right, it would get the job done.”

Octavius frowned. “But…how could something like that be set into motion on purpose? How would one set it up, and then set it off? It had to have happened mere seconds after I passed that section in the tube.”

Turney snorted. “Better yet, how did any of these things happen? The only one that makes any bit of sense is the arrow.”

The vampire’s frown deepened. “Let’s go check out the tanks… That had to be another attempt.”