“Are you being bullied, by Elliot?”
Quinn asks, with a stern face.
“Well, I uh. I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as saying bullied, but he does kind of give me a hard time.”
“Be honest with me.”
“I am, but maybe instead of hard time, harass might be more accurate, recently that is. He’s been really mad, since losing at state and I think he might be taking it out on me, a bit. But I wouldn’t have done this, because of it! Again, I might think about it a bit, but I wouldn’t actually go through with it!”
During the conversation, Quinn is trying to get cues from Lucifer, to no avail. “Come on give me something here. You must have suspected something? If you don’t give me help, I won’t be able to believe- Oh…”
“I understand what you’re saying.”
“Then?”
“I’ll believe you.”
“Really?!”
“Yeah, but I’m going to need some time to think and figure this out. In the meantime, don’t tell anyone else about this. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“If someone comes looking for me, tell them I went to the bathroom.”
“Okay.”
Quinn walks off. “There’s something I need to confirm.”
Entering into the bathroom, Quinn makes sure no one else is around, then he stares into the mirror.
“I have a question.”
“Oh, and that would be?”
“Could this have been caused, by an oddity?”
“…What makes you ask, such a question?”
“I have come across three oddities. I had thought that what was happening, was that people were coming across oddities, causing people to believe in them, but then the thought accrued to me. What if it’s the other way around?”
“Hm. You know what? This one will be real.”
Lucifer lets out two, brisk claps.
“Somehow, your genuine praise, is more patronizing then the fake one.”
“A talent, I know.”
“Then, that assertion is correct?”
Lucifer gives an impish stare.
“Yes.”
“So, someone wanting to accomplish one last thing before passing on, people thinking they see something in the darkness, imagining a scenario over and over again, even…”
“Even me. Of course, the king of oddities, would be the one to strike the most fear. The one whose image, has been burned into the most people, the deepest. The more people believe, the stronger they feel, the more power an oddity obtains.”
Quinn places his forehead against his palm, with his face looking slightly pained.
“These happenings are being caused, by the people suffering from them.”
“A rather romantic ouroboros. Feeding into itself, with such disgusting effect.”
“That I suppose, is one way to put it.”
“Though, when it comes to me, things work slightly differently.”
“How so?”
“It’s strange in my case. Even the most resolute none believers, the type that would still not waver in their none belief, even if I appeared before them. Deep down in their heart, they still harbor a fear for me.”
“…Hang on, does that mean other religions have become real, because of people’s beliefs? Even…”
Quinn motions up at the ceiling.
“Some religions deities have become real, that much is true. As to that one, the so-called antithesis to myself. Obviously, no matter how many people were to believe in it, that power is far beyond the scope of humanity. Besides, it’s not like anyone of you humans, actually are believing in the same concept.”
“I don’t know, if that’s a good thing or not.”
“Why give it a seconds thought? Clearly, it’s a good thing. At least for the sake of all of you, I should say.”
“Alright, I think I understand the situation now.”
“…Aren’t you going to ask, if he was lying?”
“He wasn’t, was he?”
“No.”
“I figured.”
“Interesting.”
“Now, I just need a way to trick Neri. She most likely, won’t take some improvised excuse.”
Lucifer’s face twitches slightly.
“You know, it’s still possible from your perspective. That this was a real crime and that the culprit is currently with that, friend of yours.”
“That seems hard to believe at this point. Also, you can like, sense that this is an oddity, right?”
“Perhaps.”
“Nothing to worry about then.”
“Putting that girl’s safety into my hands. Are you perhaps insane?”
“I was more so thinking, you have invested interest in keeping me safe. Besides, why do you even care, if she is potentially in danger.”
“…I don’t. I was simply thinking about ways to trick, the little detective. While doing so…”
Lucifer’s eyes go wide, as blood rolls out of them, flowing upwards.
“Ah, I had forgotten.”
“What the heck is going on?!”
“…”
“Silent treatment, really? While you’re bleeding and not while I’m in class?”
“I no longer wish to discuss, such a topic.”
“Why?”
He looks up with a hint of anger.
“…”
“Fine, do as you please.”
Quinn focus on how he will deal with Neri. “She had figured out exactly what was going on, with Alan. She painted it as intuition, but I wonder about that. It does make me curious, could she have perhaps been correct about the other two, as well? One thing is for certain, at least one of her deductions was correct. She figured out that the person that caused this, was in the room with her. On a very technical level, she was right. Not Alan of course, it was his plan, but not his actual will that carried it out. The one responsible for this situation, is me. I’m the one who brought this fluctuation of oddities, upon the people of this city.”
Quinn begins to head out of the restroom, waiting outside for him is Neri.
“What are-”
“You were taking a while. So, I thought you might need some help.”
“That type of help, I wouldn’t take, under any circumstances.”
“Hm, well if you’re going to get all prideful about it, I guess you can handle it yourself.”
The girl, seems like she has something else to say.
“What is it?”
“Since I didn’t hear it, I was wondering. Perhaps, did you forget to wash your hands?”
“What? Of course not!”
“Don’t worry, I forget to wash mine sometimes, as well.”
“That’s not information I needed to know.”
“But you know it now.”
“I swear on my life, I would never forget to wash my hands.”
Quinn hears a monotone voice behind him, say.
“Liar.”
“Mhh.”
He thinks to himself. “It was probably like, ninety-five-percent the truth.”
“Anyways, I’m fairly certain I figured out what happened.”
“Really? Great, so did I.”
“Then, you won’t mind if I take the lead.”
Neri’s face looks shocked.
“You’re trying to swindle my detective moment! I never would have thought, my Holmes would do such a thing.”
“Well Sherlock, if you could, just give me a couple moments to try my own theory out first?”
“Hmm, fine I guess, the supporting cast need development every now and again.”
“How gracious.”
Going back to the crime scene, the two arrive in the nick of time, for the victim to awaken.
“Ahh, what’s going on?”
“Young man, don’t move to much.”
As if giving a performance, Quinn steps into the room.
“Elliot, it seems you had a bit of an accident. Do you remember what happe
ned, right before you blacked out?”
Elliot gives a look of confusion, to the boy, then answers the question.
“Yeah, I uh…”
He looks sheepishly away from his girlfriend, waiting outside the room.
“I kind of slipped and fell.”
Neri looks as if a glass pain had just shattered, behind her eyes.
“As I thought. This was a dangerous place to enter, when you did. You know, with the door construction going on.”
“Huh?”
The paramedics are watching this unfold, with a large tinge of confusion.
“I’m sure you probably saw it on the way in, the door jammer that was supposed to keep people out of here. I wouldn’t be surprised, if the floor was still somewhat slippery.”
“…Now that you mention it, maybe I did walk past something to get in. Yeah, I must have slipped on the wet floor.”
Quinn has an incredibly satisfied look on his face. As the paramedics ask some questions of Elliot, Quinn leaves the room.
“Welp, there you have it.”
“…That wasn’t, anything- What made you think the door was being worked on?”
“Elementary, my dear Sherlock.”
“Go on.”
“That was it. I mean obviously, it wasn’t a crime scene. He wasn’t hit in the back of the head and no matter the type of supervillain behind it, there’s no way to guarantee someone would trip and fall there. Especially, under those circumstances.”
“Hhhmmmm.”
She crosses her arms and proceeds to bend her torso left and right. “Like a metronome.”
“Something, doesn’t add up. Why and how would the people working on the door, do their job that way?”
“They weren’t very good at it?”
“And even if the idea was true, there would have been no way to prove it.”
“Isn’t that how deduction works, in general?”
“Then what exactly was your thought process, behind it.”
“I’ve got to take you through it, step by step now? I’m sure you can see the process, about as well as I can, now that the whole thing has been explained.”
“That really doesn’t answer my question.”
She stares at him intently.
“It’s almost like, you’re hiding something.”
“I definitely am.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I can’t let all my deductions go for free. Especially, not the ones that I may or may not have, gotten lucky in figuring out.”
Neri’s eyes look as if they spell out, “doubt” and “watching”.
“You know, I do have to ask. Since it seems like you came to a different conclusion, then me. Hypothetically, if it was a crime scene, how would they have done it?”
“Oh, that? It’s really quite simple. They swapped the door around.”
“Elaborate?”
“The door opened towards us the whole time. After the criminal killed the victim.”
Quinn winces at the word choice.
“They detached the door handle and put it on the other side, covering the old handles spot with the metal push plate. They also, took off the automatic door closer and put it on the other side. Using the paint, they recoated the part of the door, that would had faded away underneath it. They then loosened each of the hinges, on both the door and wall. That way, when someone tried to break it down, to check on the victim, they would be pulled out of both. Finally, they positioned the portable door jammer, to be visible from the window and in such a place to look like it was jamming the door. After assaulting the victim and setting up the room, they simply walked out the door, shutting it behind them. Of course, they would have had to have been one of the three, that knew where Elliot was going to be, along with the knowing others would find him, soon after.”
“Theoretically, that sounds about right. Well, almost right.”
“Hm, what’s almost mean?”
Quinn just keeps walking, Neri runs out in front of him.
“Hey, come on, you can’t leave me hanging like that.”
“But I can.”
Neri stops in place, going over possibilities in her head quickly. As if sparks where popping off inside her head, her expression goes from pondering, to pouting.
“You really aren’t going to tell me?”
“Nope.”
“Fine, I guess I’ll figure it out myself.”
“Good luck with that, I’m going to head home and take a nap.”
“What, how? Aren’t you way to amped up?”
“No, in fact, I’m quite worn out.”
Chapter 5: Invisible
“I had made a habit of checking the news, as of recently. Although, I didn’t think this new habit would playout, in this type of situation.”
Across the way, on the other side of the park, is a young lady. She has blonde hair in a ponytail, resting over her shoulder. She is absentmindedly looking around, almost like she is looking for something. “The thing about this situation is, I swear that’s the same girl as the missing girl, I saw this morning. What do I do in this situation? It’d be really quite embarrassing if I was wrong.”
Quinn winces back, as if pain just shot through his body.
“She might be in serious danger; I shouldn’t even hesitate about it.”
He makes his way over to the girl. Even as he gets close, she pays no mind to him.
“Um, excuse me, do you need some help?”
She turns to Quinn and stares directly at him, with her big blue eyes. The moments continue to add up, then the girl’s face is consumed with amazement.
“You can see me!?”
She exclaims.
“Uh, yes. Is that really so surprising?”
The girl looks around, walking up to the nearest person, she waves her hand in front of them to get their attention, but they just keep walking. Seeming depressed, she looks down, before the realization strikes her and she turns back to Quinn.
“You can see me though.”
Quinn having seen this unfold, has many questions.
“Alright, I don’t fully understand the situation yet, but let us try and stay relatively calm.”
“I’m sorry but, you’re the first person who has been able to see me, since I turned invisible, that is.”
Everything that is happening inside Quinn’s head, can best be summed up by a short video of two tennis players hitting the ball back and forth. The confusion though, is broken in an instant.
“How long have you been invisible?”
“Fifteen days.”
Quinn tries his best to conceal his pained expression. “That is about the right time frame.”
“Wait so you believe me?”
“Yes.”
The girl choked up, bites her upper lip, before beginning to ball her eyes out. Quinn, to this bewildering situation, blanks out. “Ahhhh, what do I do now?”
“t-Thank g-ggoodnesss, someone can, hic see me.”
“Yeah, now why don’t we go sit down and take a second to breath.”
“Sniff Alright…”
Taking a couple minutes to calm down, Quinn proceeds to ask his questions.
“Alright, your name is Veilia right.”
She looks up surprised.
“Are you some type of psychic?”
“Uh no. I just saw a missing person’s report, about you.”
“A what?!”
“Let’s come back to that in a bit.”
Quinn makes a motion with his hands, as if picking up a box and moving it to the side.
“First, I would like to ask a couple of questions.”
“o-Okay.”
“You’ve been invisible for quite a while, right? Have you got by fine?”
She nervously tugs on her jeans.
“About that, I’ve gotten by fine. You can do a lot of things when your invisible, that normally you can’t.”
“Got it, I just needed to check if you were hurt, or in need of f
ood.”
“I am hungry, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.”
“I’ll get you something to eat, in a bit.”
“Really?!”
“y-Yes.”
She lets out a huge smile.
“Next question, which I want you to put some serious thought into.”
“Alright.”
“Have you really thought about and wanted to be invisible in the past?”
“…How did you know?”
Quinn thinks for a moment.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with something, like this.”
“You mean, you’re some type of professional?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
Quinn thinking about his last and next statement. “I should say something to give her some confidence, though.”
“I will say, I have successfully dealt with these types of situations, in past.”
“So, you might be able to help me?”
“Yes. I believe I just might be able to.”
“I’m so glad.”
Looking like she is about to cry again, Quinn acts fast.
“How about I get you that food, we talked about.”
“…Yes please.”
After buying a meal and heading back outside, of a nearby restaurant, they continue talking, as Veilia eats.
“You had wished to be invisible. Can you tell me more about that?”
She fretfully begins to talk.
“You see, I have really bad anxiety. One of my coping mechanisms, was to pretended to be invisible. I would often spend long stretches of time, thinking about being invisible, because of it. Often, wishing I was.”
“Is it alright is I consult with someone, really quick.”
“Uh, if it will help.”
Quinn gets up from his seat. Walking a couple feet away, he pulls out his phone and types Lucifer into his notes, then adds the word call. Quinn then puts the phone to his ear.
“Hello, hello, you’ve reached the king of the underworld. Sorry, but I’m not here to receive your call. Please leave your message after the beep…Beep.”
Quinn glances behind him, to see Lucifer sitting in his seat.
“Stop messing around. Also, you could had just made a beep noise, instead of saying beep.”
“Sorry, but do I make fun of your horrendous speaking capabilities? I do not sir, for that would be below me.”
Oddity Specialist: World Of The Occult Page 5
