A Grim Discovery
When they pulled up to Tari's house, everyone gasped. The street was packed with police cars and an ambulance. Tari immediately jumped out of the car and ran towards her house, but a police officer, who'd strung up yellow tape across the front door, stopped her. Amanda, Indra, Alex, Nara, Diaz, and Fani quickly got out, rushing to where Tari was arguing fiercely with the cop.
"Let me in, officer! This is my house!" Tari screamed.
"I'm sorry, miss, but this is an active crime scene. I know you're family, but the inside of the house is being investigated right now. Please wait here," the officer replied.
"How are my mom and dad? Please tell me, sir!" Tari cried out in a panic.
The officer remained silent, not answering Tari's frantic questions. When Tari tried to push past him, he firmly held her back as she struggled. Seeing the scene unfold, Amanda glanced at Shin, who immediately phased through the wall and into the house. Inside, Shin saw a middle-aged woman lying on the dining table, her stomach ripped open. The wound wasn't from a sharp object; it looked like she'd been torn apart by some kind of claws. Her condition was horrifying. Shin continued into the study, where many police officers were investigating.
He saw the entire room covered in writings on the walls in an unknown language. Then he saw a middle-aged man's body slumped in a chair, both hands hanging limply. Shin moved in front of the body and was shocked: it was split cleanly in half from head to toe, like a split cocoon after its caterpillar had emerged. The state of the room was utterly gruesome. Shin immediately went back outside to find Amanda. As soon as he was out, he pressed his forehead against Amanda's.
"Ughhhhh..." Amanda immediately threw up.
Indra helped her by rubbing her neck, then after she finished, he led Amanda back to the car. Alex, Nara, Diaz, and Fani, who had witnessed Amanda's reaction, also rushed back to the car. Once everyone was inside,
"What did you see, Manda?" Indra asked.
Amanda, still feeling weak, recounted everything Shin had transferred to her mind. A heavy silence fell over them all. They looked at Tari and finally understood why the police hadn't let her inside.
"Diaz, start the car. For now, let's get Tari out of here," Indra said.
"Agreed. You go get her, Dra..." Diaz replied.
"Let me get her. You guys wait here," Nara added.
"Okay, Nara, thanks," Indra replied.
Nara got out and went back into the house. She persuaded Tari to return to the car. Tari, who'd been blocked from entering, finally had no choice and went with Nara back to the car. As soon as Tari got in, Diaz immediately started the car and drove away from Tari's house. On the way,
"Why are you all taking me away?" Tari asked, confused.
The six of them stayed silent. Then Fani and Amanda, sitting next to Tari, immediately hugged her and told her what had happened. Tari's face instantly crumpled, and she screamed, "Waaaaah... Mom... Dad... waaaaaa..." Tari cried hysterically. Indra, sitting in the front, Diaz, driving the car, and Alex and Nara, sitting in the very back, bowed their heads, speechless. Finally, they pulled into a fast-food restaurant parking lot and waited until Tari calmed down. Indra and Diaz got out of the car, followed by Alex.
"Honestly, I'm curious. I'm going back tonight. You guys wanna come?" Indra asked.
"Yeah, I'm in," Alex replied.
"Me too, I'm coming too. I'm also curious," Diaz added.
"If that's the case, please check if my pendant is inside. I actually want to come, but I have to help Amanda and Fani," Nara said from behind the three of them.
"Jeez, when did you get behind us again? Fine, we'll check it out while we're there," Indra replied.
After that, they took Tari to eat at the fast-food restaurant and then brought her back to their boarding house.
******
Infiltration
That night, blugh! Three shadows landed in front of Tari's house. Indra was already in his skeleton form, Alex had transformed back into his tiger-man appearance upon landing, and Diaz floated down slowly in his half-bat form. The trio immediately slipped inside through the living room window, which hadn't been marked with police tape. They moved past the living room and saw a human outline drawn on the dining table by the police, along with lingering bloodstains.
They walked into the study, which was cordoned off. Indra pulled back the tape and entered with Alex and Diaz. Once inside, they saw strange writings that nearly covered every wall of the room, right up to the ceiling.
"Whoa... this room is creepy," Diaz mumbled.
"Can you read what it says?" Indra asked.
"Nah, what language is this? Definitely not ours or English," Alex replied.
"Hmm, not Japanese either, not Mandarin... I have no idea what language this is," Diaz added.
"Looks like some ancient language..." Indra murmured, studying the wall in front of him.
"Yeah, you're right. Like hieroglyphs, but not... weird," Diaz added.
"Alright, let's just look for other clues. The killer is that weird creature that came out of the stomach of the guy sitting in that chair, right...?" Alex pointed to a chair in front of a desk that had a figure drawn on it.
They began searching for clues around the room. Alex headed to the bookshelf, scanning through research papers someone had left on the shelves. Diaz checked a safe and opened it to see its contents, while Indra examined the desk where Amanda said the man's body was found. He opened drawer after drawer, looking inside. Suddenly,
"Guys, come here, look..." Diaz called out to Indra and Alex.
They both immediately went to Diaz. Inside the safe, which Diaz had opened using his enhanced hearing, they found a shoebox filled with tons of gemstones and crystals. And among them, there was a brass pendant with a hole in the front, which seemed to be where a gemstone had once been set.
"Isn't this Nara's necklace?" Indra asked.
"Looks like it. Let's just take it," Alex replied.
Alex immediately reached in to grab the pendant. He saw that the chain was broken and noticed dried bloodstains on the back. Suddenly, slishhh! a sound like something moving by dragging its body, like a snake, echoed. The three instantly turned around. It turned out a half-snake man with a terrifying face was standing at the room's doorway. His body seemed covered in blue scales, and his hands had large claws with blade-like fingers. His red eyes stared at them, and his snake body shifted and glided across the floor.
"What creature is that...? Is that the one Manda said came out of the guy's stomach?" Indra asked, getting ready to grip his sickle.
"Dunno. He's definitely ugly. But how did the police not notice him this afternoon? Where was he hiding?" Diaz replied, getting into his fighting stance.
"Doesn't seem friendly at all. Be careful, everyone," Alex added, drawing his two carambit knives and getting ready.
Skrieeeeeeek! The creature opened its mouth, revealing curved, snake-like fangs, and slithered forward quickly, attacking the trio with its claws. Alex immediately moved forward and blocked both claws with his carambits. The creature spun, intending to swipe at Alex's stomach with its snake tail, but Diaz leaped and stomped on its tail. "Skrieeek!" The creature screamed as its tail was stomped on by Diaz, and Indra, with a dazzling move, immediately crossed his sickles at the creature's neck. Clink! Indra's sickles were stopped by hard scales.
Alex kicked the creature's stomach, sending it stumbling backward. Diaz flew onto its shoulder, adding momentum to the creature's fall to the floor, landing on its tail. Thump! The creature lay flat on the floor. Indra took off his gloves and grabbed the creature's face with his black skeleton hand. Ssssss! A burnt mark immediately appeared on the creature's face. Its long, snake-like tongue protruded, its red eyes turned black, and it stopped moving. The three immediately observed the strange creature in front of them, glancing at each other.
"Anyone know what this creature is?" Alex asked.
"Looks like a hero from the other MOBA game," Indra replied.
"Seriously, Ndra...?" Alex shot back.
"No idea. First time I've seen it too," Diaz replied.
"So, what now? What do we do with this thing?" Indra asked.
"We'll take care of it," a man's voice said from behind them.
The trio immediately turned around. They saw a man wearing a trench coat over a shirt and slacks, carrying a flashlight. On his chest was a police badge necklace. His face seemed calm, even though he was meeting the three of them.
"My question is, who are you three?" the man asked.