36. Idiots

O ctavius was not feeling his best as he sat there on the curb outside the police station, waiting for the others to pick them up. He glared back briefly when, once again, an officer peeked through the glass door to gawk—assholes.

“Finally,” he groaned, standing up as the van pulled into the lot.

Screeching to a stop only a few feet away from them, Octavius winced when the driver’s door slammed open. A very pale, and clearly angry, Scarlett jumped out, stomping her way towards him. He could both hear and see that she was feeling very off at the moment. In his ears, her heart raced away, and the redness under her eyes was hard to ignore. She was so close to changing, her skin was almost translucent.

Turney…was not the only one he owned an apology to.

“I’m so—” His apology cut off on a pain-filled grunt, when the zombie growled and socked him in the stomach. Octavius just barely stopped himself from doubling over.

“Scarlett!” Turney cried in shock.

He held his hand up. “No.” He coughed, and winced. “I deserved that, Turney. I put you in danger. You are more than just my boyfriend. You belong to her just as much as you do me, at this point. She would have been terrified when it happened, having no clue where either of us were, due to me…not wanting to tell them.”

Scarlett let out another hiss, her expression visibly pained, before the anger just whooshed out of her, and her skin returned to normal. She punched him again, lightly this time, as she blinked rapidly, no doubt to hold back tears. She stood there for a brief moment, just staring, before rushing to hug him.

Smiling, even as the pain remained, he wrapped his arms around her tightly. “I am so, so very sorry, Scarlett. The decisions I made tonight were unacceptable.”

“Do this again, and a burnt teddy bear collection will be the least of your worries,” she threatened, before huffing and adding, “Idiot.”

His smile widened. “If I was foolish enough to repeat this, I’d deserve whatever you’d do to me.”

“You would,” Scarlett grumbled, before letting go and rushing right to Turney. After practically yanking the man into her arms, she held on, not letting go.

Turney’s eyes went wide, clearly shocked by the extended affection, but…Octavius could tell it was more for her than him. Despite no longer being seconds from changing, his friend’s heart was still racing like crazy. Scarlett was trying to calm herself down.

Turney froze as Scarlett pulled him into a hug and didn’t let go. Not that she hadn’t hugged him before, but it wasn’t usually like this. Scarlett’s normal hugs were more awkward and quick. He slowly wrapped his arms around her.

That’s when he felt it—her emotions… Fear… No, terror… It was the first emotion he’d felt from her since before the fire… Had she held back…?

He supposed she had… Turney wasn’t sure how he’d have reacted if, while burning, he’d felt her panic on top of his. Likely, it would not have been good.

His arms tightened around her slim form. “I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”

“Just…” She swallowed. “Let…me stay…like this for a moment. Just…a moment.”

“Okay.”

He stood there just listening to her racing heartbeat slowing down…saying nothing as she clung to him.

Scarlett…was his family… He could feel it. Turney knew that already…but maybe he hadn’t fully believed it before now… He had already been having thoughts of wanting to know her better, but now he really felt like he needed to know more. Turney also couldn't help feeling ashamed that he hadn’t even considered what she would have felt while he’d been burning.

“Whatever nonsense you are thinking, stop,” Scarlett huffed. She slowly pulled back, seeming almost reluctant to let him go. “I don’t need more angst right now.”

He smiled hesitantly. “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes and grunted, “Get in the car, you two idiots.”

He chuckled, and offered his arm to Octavius. “Idiot number one.”

“Idiot number two.” Octavius smirked as he slipped his arm through his.

“Someone save me from…ugh,” Scarlett groaned. Stomping away, she got back into the car and slammed her door shut.

They quickly slid the nearest side door open. Octavius hurried across to the other seat while he got in behind him.

Once he had buckled up, Turney finally glanced up front. His eyes widened as he met Min-ji’s. The witch had turned around and was looking back at them.

“What happened to your eye?” he croaked.

Min-ji’s right eye was almost swollen shut, and the area around it was severely bruised. Slowly, her left brow rose, as if to say ‘really?’.

“Well,” Theo drawled slowly. “No one said stopping a freaked-out zombie from going on a rampage was all sunshine and daisies.”

Turney grimaced at the tone of Theo’s voice, and slowly glanced over at him. On spotting the man’s matching bruised, and also almost swollen shut, left eye, he blurted out, “I am so sorry…both of you.”

“How did she manage to get both of you in almost the exact same place?” Octavius asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“You don’t get to be entertained by this, Octavius!” Scarlett snarled.

“It was just a question!” Octavius huffed.

He didn’t see what him being entertained or not had to do with it. Not that he was entertained. Octavius felt unbelievably ashamed by the whole situation.

But…he doubted she had hit either of them on purpose. The fact that the damage wasn’t worse told him that. Likely…if she lost control, it hadn’t been for long, and even in that state, she had been trying to get away, not feed. If Scarlett had meant to hurt either of them, mentally aware or not, there would be broken bones involved, especially in Min-ji’s case…

Turney sighed. “Not to sound…uncaring…but did…anyone think to bring blood? Octavius’ hands are not healed or healing.”

“That’s not true. They are healing, but slowly. Humanly slow, due to the injury being repeated as I put your fires out.”

His zombie bun huffed. “I just don’t understand why you didn’t get a blood transfusion while we were at the hospital.”

“There was too much going on, too much that I needed to control.” Octavius grimaced, and then admitted, “To be honest, I was too focused on getting us out of there to really think on the matter.”

Turney huffed again, glaring now at him, while he started to pluck at the bandages on his own hands.

“Leave those on. If we happen to run into the police again, we don’t want to have to explain where your injuries went,” Scarlett ordered, having shifted in her seat to look back at them.

Octavius glanced over when he caught a flash of dark red out of the corner of his eye, and found Theo holding out a blood bag and straw. “Ah, thank you.” He beamed as he took both.

Stabbing the bag, Octavius started sucking it down as quickly as he could. He grimaced when the stabbing tingles instantly started up, as his body received what it needed to heal.

“You both survived, we all will heal, so let’s move on to the bigger issue.” Min-ji sighed. “Now that we know who is responsible, the question is… What are we going to do about it?”

“Confront the bastard?” Theo suggested.

“Yes, but in what way?” Turney asked. “Just go to his office and hope for the best? We told the police we had a meeting with him, and that he's the one who told us about the manager… But he denied it. The problem is, we can’t definitively prove him wrong, as there were no cameras past a certain point. We don't have any way to prove that we met with him. I’d say the guard could…but considering that last person was probably killed for knowing too much, I wouldn’t put stock in that human being willing or able to help us.”

Finishing his blood, Octavius released the straw with a happy sigh. The pain in his hands was gone, and he could tell they would be healed fully soon enough. “I have an idea. How about I convince the man to meet up with me, say…at the first murder scene? It hasn’t been reopened yet, right?”

“The poster near the door said next month, so no,” Theo murmured. “But that location should work. It’s a bit out of the way, with only a small kids’ park next to it, so not many people go near it past a certain time, unless they are planning to eat there, which they can’t because it’s closed.

“And it’s pretty easy to take a camera-less path to it. Not to mention, we probably wouldn’t have to worry about the cameras inside, due to the fact the man is trying to kill you, so he’d have no reason to leave them on.”

“Won’t Aurelius realize it’s a trap?” Turney pointed out.

Octavius pursed his lips. “He may…but based on his actions so far…he isn’t that smart.”

Scarlett snorted. “Smart or not, as you two idiots proved, dumb luck, or rather dumb choices, and someone’s inability to say no to their idiot partner, could be all one needs to succeed. We have to be smart and careful here.”

He couldn’t help but smile at how grumpily she insulted them. Though, in his case, the insult was well deserved. “Yes, I won’t deny that. But the fact is…his actions are overly rash. While we are still unsure how exactly he has accomplished all that he has done, I don’t think every attack was premeditated.

“A few of them, yes…but the arrow, and the damage to the tanks, they had to be on the spot. And take him lying about meeting us… Once the police have actually looked into it, the lie will fall apart. Because even without the camera footage showing us going into his office, the fact is…we wouldn’t be on the cameras going in the other directions either.

“Before the door that led into the hallway to his office, the only other directions we could have taken had cameras on them. There are only two conclusions that could be drawn from the footage. One, we either stood there in the hall, going nowhere, remaining out of camera shot for the ten or so minutes we claimed we spent talking to him, or two, we actually went to his office.”

Turney frowned. “You…have a point. Maybe if the police stopped focusing on us… No, wait… Why the hell was that reaper here, and why did he basically just tell us to get fucked?!”

Octavius grimaced as Theo gasped, “Reaper?”

“What reaper?” Scarlett asked stiffly.

He cleared his throat. “Well, it turns out that…the Police Captain is a reaper. I’m not sure why he waited until now to show himself, or what exactly he wanted, but it seems I am not the only one who has an issue with Alexander. I’m pretty sure the only reason he did show himself is because I have a connection to him.”

“So…we have police officers who keep ‘arresting’ us… An unknown paranormal trying to kill you, who almost burned my neophyte to death, and now, on top of all that, we have a reaper who popped out of nowhere, but still won't help because of some grudge he has against your sworn enemy, Alexander. Is that what you are telling me?” Scarlett asked in a fake sweet voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

Mm…he was in danger. “Well…Alexander is not my sworn enemy anymore…but yes.”

The female zombie growled.

Min-ji’s seat started to spin around, the woman finding the button that he hadn’t even gotten a chance to use yet. It stopped when she was partially facing them, while leaving Scarlett still in her view.

Octavius had to say…it would have been nice if he had gotten to use it before someone else had, particularly since she was using it to—based on her expression—lecture him.

Oh, maybe it was Turney she planned to lecture, he thought happily as the woman’s gaze flicked to the zombie instead of him.

The witch clucked her tongue. “Reapers are… Well, half of them are noble to a fault, while the other half are so stuck on maintaining the balance, they do not even entertain the thought of whether the cost is worth it. Turney, I’d suggest you get used to the idea that there are more reapers like the man you met today than like Alexander. Even if the numbers are nearly the same, there is often no way to tell if the reaper is there to keep you alive, or to sacrifice you in the name of balance. Until you know why they are there, putting your life in their hands would be foolish.”

“Yeah…I had no intention of trusting him in any sort of way,” Turney said with a snort.

Min-ji’s gaze slipped to Scarlett, before unfortunately, zeroing in on Octavius. “Octavius, Scarlett, I’ve come to the conclusion that your interactions and views on reapers have been limited, and shaped by Octavius’ connection to Alexander. Is this correct?”

It didn’t sound like a lecture, but he was confused. Frowning, his brow pinched as he asked, “Limited in what way?”

“Despite the harsh feelings you have towards him…is he not the one you two go to when you need some reaper related help?”

He sighed, and despite having the urge to deny it…he couldn’t. “I suppose that is the truth of the matter. Throughout the centuries…he either showed up when…‘needed’, or I found him.” Octavius wrinkled his nose, quickly adding, “Part of that was definitely him being a creepy stalker, just to be clear.”

Scarlett sighed. “Most of my interactions with reapers came through him.”

“That’s what I thought. Alexander has acted as a buffer between you and the others of his kind. Scarlett…your closest interaction with a reaper like the one they met today was likely the ones who were working with that witch all those years ago. Having thought about your situation, it may not be that they didn’t know, but that they thought the loss of your freedom was worth whatever Audrey was doing for them.”

“Audrey…?” Theo asked slowly.

“That…is not something that should be discussed out in the open, Min-ji,” Turney said stiffly, while all Octavius did was sit there as his friend’s eyes widened, his own heart clenching as he witnessed a flicker of her pain.

Surely…they wouldn’t have… “They…would have…” Octavius trailed off.

If they had known…how could they just leave her there?! Even at the height of his hatred for them, he would have never assumed they’d purposely…

Min-ji smiled sadly. “I only brought it up to explain the lengths they will go to, the suffering they are willing to look away from. But you are right, it is not something I should have brought up, and not something I can share with anyone who doesn’t already know,” she said, before her gaze flicked briefly behind him, towards Theo. “Sorry, Theo.”

The werewolf took a deep breath. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear.”

The witch licked her lips. “In my interactions with reapers… I have not had any sort of buffer to shield me from the harsh realities of them. Despite your feelings towards him, Alexander is one of the good ones. And he surrounds himself with like-minded and noble individuals who see no wrong with protecting whoever they can. You can trust him. The man you met in there…you can’t.

“He won’t break his rules, but if he thinks you are messing with all he holds dear…his precious balance…he will try to think up reasons, dig up skeletons, do whatever he can to put you in a position where you can be killed. Or in this case, let fate take whatever life that she will. The best thing you can hope for, when you come across a reaper like this, is that they do not care enough about you to try to change the outcome.”

Octavius had known that many reapers cared more about balance than life…yet…he’d based that opinion on Alexander… That there were others much worse out there…was something to think about…later… As, more importantly…someone was trying to kill him, and had almost burned his boyfriend alive.

“Well, that is not necessarily comforting to know…but thank you for telling me… While I don’t remember what I did to Aurelius, I know for certain that I have not forgotten whoever this reaper is. Reapers are not creatures…that I have ever forgotten, no matter how briefly I’ve come into contact with one.

“With no reason for him to actually care if I live or die, until we know otherwise, let’s forget about him and focus on our mystery paranormal. As he must be one, of some kind.”

Scarlett took a deep breath, her expression neutral now. “The question is what?”

“Well…there are several options, but none of them fit perfectly. Him not knowing what would kill me also brings up too many discrepancies about the paranormal thing.” It felt…like he was forgetting something. “I feel like I should know what he is, yet…it’s not coming to mind.”

“There is a whole list of things he could be.” Min-ji tsked.

“A-a whole list?” Turney stuttered. “How could there be that many paranormals that can float, turn invisible, not leave a trace behind, and oh, probably move through things, since he managed to break a damn slide many feet up in the air?!”

Theo chuckled. “Turney, any fae could.”

The zombie sagged, rubbing his face as he groaned. “Hell…that is a long list.”

“That it is. So, instead of trying to narrow it down, let’s get him to expose himself. Even if he thinks me wanting to meet up is a trap, considering he wants to kill me, he will likely go through with it anyway.”

The werewolf inhaled slowly, before letting it out and noting, “He probably has a way to watch the cameras from his phone.”

“That’s fine,” Octavius said happily. “Since he doesn’t appear to know we are paranormal creatures, all you have to do is be far enough away for him to let his guard down. As long as he doesn’t think any of you could get there in time, it doesn’t matter.”

“Min-ji can’t move as fast as we can though,” Turney pointed out.

“I can just carry her,” Scarlett stated.

“Fair enough.” The male zombie nodded. “How are we going to contact him?”

Octavius smirked. “How about…a note?”

A note…but first…an outfit change… Because scrubs were not something one wore when going to confront a murderous…moron.