A New Element

"Aylin," Ryusei paused, looking down at his boots, which were caked in mud. He shuddered, before looking back at his brother, putting his hands on his hips, and Aylin wondered if he was in a position where he would be able to quickly pull out the many knives he just knew was on Ryusei's person at all times. "I've humored you long enough, but it's been nearly an hour, it's getting dark, and you still haven't told me why we're headed out into the middle of nowhere with only your boyfriend helping us."

"Boyfriend?!" Lucca asked, taking a step back and then awkwardly laughing, rubbing the back of his neck, while Aylin just ignored Ryusei's comment with an eye roll.

"I don't want you getting all excited before we get there." He replied, looking around at the trees, and noticing that it was indeed getting dark, and they were only on their way to their destination. The thought about wandering around in the woods at night caused an uncomfortable churning in his stomach, remembering those horrendous cases he had solved. "I hope you'll be ready for what might happen."

Ryusei's entire face lit up as he started getting excited, "Are you giving me free rein to play?"

"No." Aylin replied instantly, "Killing is a last resort, but you are also the most competent in a fight out of the three of us, so you can... knock people out, I guess." 

"So if I can't kill," Ryusei shrugged, "At least, I can beat the ever-loving crap outta something! Because come on, self-defense clearly means this kind of person shouldn't be around." He then started jogging, and Aylin stayed behind with Lucca, watching the mission-oriented serial killer vanish into the fog.

Lucca chuckled a little, "Your brother's certainly... something. Is it too much to ask why he's like that?"

"We both took our parents' deaths in our own way. I became a detective and Ryusei..."

"Snapped?"

"I don't even know anymore. Sometimes Ryu's a heinous killer, but other times he's the sanest of us all. And even when he's at his worst..." he shook himself, not wanting to go into his feelings with someone, because that would mean needing to confront his past himself, which was something he didn't want to do—especially in the middle of the woods while working a case.

They walked in silence for a moment, and Aylin heard the sounds ahead of Ryusei climbing a tree. What was his brother doing?

Just as he thought that Ryusei swung down, "Boo!" 

Lucca yelped, hiding a little bit behind Aylin, who huffed, "Not funny, Ryu."

"Maybe not for you, but it sure was for me." He winked, "I'm kidding. But come on, I noticed a creepy cabin not far from here. So I can get in. Whatcha need in there?"

"We actually need to know what is in there, and you're better at getting into places undetected."

Ryusei gaped, "Hearing compliments from you are so rare, Lune!" He grinned, pulling a knife out of his pants and handing it to Aylin, "Don't want you and Lucca to be sitting ducks while I'm in there."

"No way, I'm going in there too!" Lucca said, "I'm the one who lives in this town, so I would have a better idea of what anything we find in there is."

"Lucca's right," Aylin put his hands in the pocket of his black trench coat, "And I don't trust you to go in there alone. What if there's someone in there, and this is actually unrelated to the case?" Ryusei scoffed,

"You think that just because I'm a serial killer means I'm out of control? I have an MO, you know, I actually make sure people are guilty before I kill them."

"Then explain why you keep formaldehyde on your person at all times." 

"Just in case it comes down to that. What if we get in there and someone's torturing a child or a puppy—obviously, I'd need to act." 

"Not to condone murder," Lucca piped up, "But I wouldn't be heartbroken if he killed someone like that." Aylin glared, but then softened at the embarrassed look on Lucca's face,

"We need to hand that kind of person over to the authorities."

"What authorities?!" Ryusei asked, absently playing with a pair of scissors, "Didn't you say so yourself that they are incompetent at best and malicious at worst?"

Aylin had no response to that, and Ryusei nodded, not saying anything but acknowledging the truth. 

The walk to the cabin was brought with Ryusei attempting to make small talk with Lucca, who still had mixed feelings about talking to a known and famous serial killer as the son of the police chief.

Thankfully, the place seemed to be open, and Ryusei pulled out a lockpicking tool, only to frown at the coded digital lock, which was unbefitting this tiny cabin. But then he got out some blush, blowing it onto the pad and seeing the fingerprints over the code. It took three attempts to put in the right combination of numbers, but it worked, and they were let in.

Lucca went to take a step in, but Ryusei stopped him, "Motion detector cameras. Alright, this is going to be interesting." He dropped his backpack and pulled out a tiny container of spray paint, darting at the cameras and spraying them, "There. If this is that annoying Ring crap, there will still be an alert, but we will have a decent enough amount of time to investigate and then leave." He groaned, "But this is so pathetic. Normally I take time to analyze where I'm breaking into, so I can get in with style and grace, not running and using spraypaint like an amateur!" 

Despite himself, Aylin giggled a little bit at Ryusei's wild arm moments of exasperation. Then he walked over to a desk, and there was a cabinet, and when he looked inside, he found a safe, "Ryu, can you open this?"

"I'm an assassin not-for-hire, not a burglar." Ryusei replied with a nonchalant hand gesture, "You're gonna need someone else for that. But anyway, I found diamonds!" That caught Aylin's attention, and he walked over, seeing multiple rocks in various forms of extraction for diamonds, hidden in a drawer which had been locked until Ryusei picked the lock.

"How are there diamonds here? I haven't seen any mines around here. Is there some sort of scheme going on? Lucca—" he saw Lucca, who had fallen to his knees, and ran over, "Lucca, what's wrong?" But he saw what was resting in Lucca's hand and understood.

Lucca was holding his father's cracked watch, which in itself would be innocent enough if they weren't in the cabin, which was without a doubt connected to a murder case. 

Tears spilled down Lucca's rosy cheeks, and Ryusei was able to read the room, choosing not to say anything as Aylin tried to comfort his friend, who slowly started sobbing.

"It—It—" Lucca hiccuped, holding the watch to his chest, "It can't be true! It can't be! Dad—he would never..." Aylin hugged him,

"We don't know anything for sure. We don't have enough evidence to explain anything. Our next step is to find out if this is part of the case, okay?" 

Lucca nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and trying to calm himself down, "Okay. I just... need a moment to process the fact my Dad could seriously be..."

Aylin pulled out his phone, taking pictures of everything in the cabin, "How about we head back and talk to Eyla about this? If anyone knows about diamonds nearby, it would probably be her. We'll all get some sleep, and regroup with Gavin and crew tomorrow."

"I don't want to go home." Lucca muttered, "Mother will kill me for being out so late." 

"Well, you can stay overnight with us!" Ryusei chirped, "You have that project, right? I barely even know you, and I can tell you're going to be around a lot."

"I don't want to be a bother," Lucca muttered, and Aylin helped him stand,

"You're never a bother, and if Ryusei trusts you, it means you've got a protector."

"No killing my family," Lucca instantly said to Ryusei, who looked a little put-out, but did nod to show his compliance as he gestured for the two to leave the cabin and put on a mask so he could wipe the paint off the cameras.

"Fine. Let's head home before it gets too eerily dark."