The stillness in the office was unsettling. Dryzza, Sai, and Esmeralda sat in their usual places, surrounded by the hum of electronics and the soft, indifferent ticking of the wall clock. Yet, despite the familiarity of the environment, everything felt different.
Hours had passed since they had returned from the Takahashi manor, but the enormity of what they had encountered weighed down the room, lingering in the corners of their minds like an unspoken truth.
It was already 8 in the morning, and the sunlight now filtered through the blinds, casting sharp shadows across their desks. But the brightness outside stood in stark contrast to the dark, unyielding silence that filled the room.
None of them had spoken since their return. The quiet between them wasn’t simply a pause; it was a protective buffer, a space that allowed each to process the profound implications of the night’s events.
Dryzza, usually quick to process and act, found herself staring blankly at her desk, the significance of the grimoire and Tomoya’s words playing on a loop in her mind. Every detail, every cryptic sentence, demanded her attention.
She had handed the grimoire over to someone who, while familiar, lingered on the fringes of her trust. The image of Tomoya pulling the grimoire from her grip kept surfacing, a reminder of the doubt that gnawed at her even now.
And the weight of his warning—about humans meddling in forces they couldn’t understand—repeated itself like an echo she couldn’t silence. Dryzza couldn’t shake the feeling that, despite everything, they were only at the beginning of something much larger and far more dangerous.
Across from her, Sai sat rigid, uncharacteristically quiet. Normally, he’d have filled the room with sarcastic quips or exaggerated complaints about the night’s events, but now, he seemed locked in thought, his eyes flickering between his phone and the papers on his desk without really seeing either.
Tomoya’s cryptic remarks about the supernatural origins of their case, combined with his confession that the very fabric of human existence had been disrupted by devilish forces, had unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
Sai had always dealt in facts, evidence, and human behavior. Now, he was grappling with a reality that defied all logic, a world where grimoires, curses, and unknown forces dictated the outcomes of their cases. For someone who prided himself on understanding human nature, this new truth left him adrift.
Esmeralda, always the most composed of the group, leaned back in her chair, her face betraying little emotion. But even she couldn’t hide the tension in her posture.
She had guided them into the manor, determined to uncover the truth behind the grimoire, and though they had succeeded in retrieving it, the reality of what they were now dealing with far exceeded her expectations.
The legal and ethical implications alone made her uneasy. They had crossed into a world outside their jurisdiction, a realm where their skills as detectives were rendered almost meaningless.
But it wasn’t just the challenge of the supernatural that weighed on her; it was the understanding that they were now part of something dangerous, something bigger than any one of them could manage alone.
Zach’s absence was both a relief and a concern. Normally, he would have been in the office by now, asking questions and expecting answers. But none of them were ready to explain what had happened—not fully.
How could they begin to describe the events at the Takahashi manor? How could they explain that the grimoire, an object they had almost dismissed as myth, was actually real?
Worse yet, how could they justify handing it over to someone like Tomoya, a man whose motives they couldn’t fully trust—at least for her and Sai? Dryzza hasn't given them any explanations yet and they're not actually in the mood to listen either.
The implications of their night’s work were vast, and Zach, with his sharp eye for detail, would demand a full account. But they weren’t ready, not yet. They needed time to process, to plan, to figure out how to navigate this new world they had stumbled into.
“Now what?” Sai's voice cut through the silence like a blade, though it held no edge. It was more of an exhausted surrender to the confusion that had been building within the room.
Dryzza didn’t immediately respond. Her gaze remained fixed on her computer screen, where images of Samantha stared back at her from a series of documents.
It was impossible to ignore the unsettling resemblance between Samantha and the Mistress. After all, they're relatives.
It was a maddening connection, one that only deepened the mystery rather than clarified it. The more she looked, the more she could see how deeply this family’s dysfunction ran.
Frustration started choking her as she scrolled through the files, piecing together fragments of a truth she wasn’t sure she wanted to fully comprehend or just listen to Tomoya's warning. But this right here is a damn case they should be solving. This can never be dismissed just because some guy, not even connected with Samantha by blood, said it.
“Now what?” Dryzza finally echoed, her voice quieter, as if the question had no real answer.
She turned her chair to face Sai, who stood a few desks away, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable.
“I don’t know. How are we supposed to act? We don’t know anything about supernatural shit, for heaven’s sake.” The frustration was creeping into her voice now, evident in the way her words tumbled out, a reflection of the helplessness they were all feeling.
This wasn’t a world of evidence and reason anymore. This was something beyond them, something they couldn’t control.
Sai let out a sharp exhale, his hand cutting through the air in frustration. “We never should have let him leave,” he muttered, almost to himself, pacing back and forth as though motion could somehow alleviate the tension that had settled over them.
His thoughts seemed to race in a thousand directions, all coming back to Tomoya’s unsettling presence at the manor.
The man had known far more than he should, had been steps ahead of them the entire time, and now, he possessed the grimoire—the key to powers they couldn’t even begin to understand.
Dryzza’s eyes narrowed. “You may have forgotten the fact that we trespassed. He could’ve pressed charges against us right there and then. The three of us could be relieved of duty, maybe the entire thing blown out of proportion.” Her voice was steady, but the undertone of exasperation was impossible to miss.
She didn’t want to be the voice of reason, not now, but she had to face the truth of their situation. They had broken laws to retrieve something they didn’t even fully comprehend. If Tomoya had wanted to ruin them, he could have done so easily. Instead, he had let them walk away, grimoire in hand, as though he was waiting for them to understand their own ignorance or perhaps, plainly use them—Dryzza, to be specific.
Sai grimaced, Dryzza’s words sinking in. She was right, of course. For all their bravado, they were powerless in this situation. They had no jurisdiction in a world of supernatural forces, and their attempts to meddle in it had been little more than a reckless gamble.
“Alright,” Sai exhaled, the sigh carrying more exhaustion than resignation. “So, what are we supposed to tell Zach then?”
They all knew that Zach wasn’t the type to let things slide, especially something as colossal as what they had just experienced. Sai shifted his weight, visibly grappling with the inevitable confrontation that awaited them once their superior walked through the door.
“He knows what we’re dealing with. He’ll understand where we’re coming from. I'll talk to him,” Esmeralda finally spoke, her voice steady and measured. She moved with purpose, adjusting her chair and then positioning herself between the two of them, a mediator of sorts, even though there wasn’t any real conflict yet.
Her tone suggested certainty, though the underlying tension in her shoulders told a different story. Zach would understand, sure, but that didn’t mean he’d let them off easily. Especially when they themselves barely understood the implications of their own actions. Her comment, while reassuring, wasn’t enough to dissolve the apprehension that had settled over them.
For a moment, silence wrapped around them again, each person lost in their own thoughts. It was a silence that devoured at the edges of their composure, the kind that demanded something be said but left them without the right words to fill the space. Sai, ever impatient, was the first to crack. He pivoted back to Dryzza, his expression somewhere between curiosity and bewilderment.
“There’s just one thing that’s really bothering me, though,” he began, his tone lighter, but the seriousness behind it was unmistakable. His eyes locked on Dryzza, searching for some clarity, some explanation that would make sense of everything that had transpired.
“What’s your role exactly? You know, with all this—uhm—demonic drama?” He gestured vaguely, as if encompassing not just the events of the past few hours but the entire bizarre series of encounters they had experienced since stepping into the supernatural realm.
Dryzza blinked, taken aback for a second. Her role? The question wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it still felt strange hearing it said aloud. What was her role in all of this? She hadn’t quite figured that out herself.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, almost a shout, as though speaking it aloud would make her uncertainty more real. "Not exactly! But I've been dragged into it, we all are, just because we accepted cases rejected by other station detectives, damn!" She hammered her desk with her hand in frustration.
Sai watched her closely, his eyes narrowing in thought. “But you’re connected to all this, right? The grimoire, the Mistress you mentioned earlier, Tomoya and even Takumi. There’s something about you that makes all this revolve around you, whether you like it or not. We," he gestured to himself and to Esmeralda, "we are simply side characters in this phenomenon."
He wasn’t accusing her, but there was an edge of frustration in his voice. Frustration born from the sheer madness of their situation, from knowing they were entangled in something far beyond their reach, and yet feeling powerless to stop it.
Esmeralda nodded in agreement, her expression contemplative. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together. But you need to be honest with us, Dryzza. If you have any sense of what’s going on, no matter how unclear, we need to know. We’re in this with you.”
Dryzza met their eyes, taking a deep breath. She didn’t have all the answers. But she knew one thing—this wasn’t something they could walk away from anymore. Not after Tomoya’s warning.
“And today’s the third day, just so you could remember,” Sai reminded, his voice cutting through the lingering fog of unease that still hovered in the room.
“We know,” Dryzza and Esmeralda echoed in unison, but their tone lacked any real conviction. It was less a response of acknowledgment and more an automatic reaction to a truth they had no control over.
The third day, an invisible countdown they couldn’t escape from. Time was slipping away.
Slowly, the office began to stir to life as their colleagues filed in, one by one. The usual morning routine resumed—idle chatter, the clatter of keyboards, the mundane sounds of another day at work. But for the three of them, everything felt different.
The hum of the office seemed quieter, more distant, as though they were existing on a different plane, disconnected from the ordinary world that the others still inhabited. As the day unfolded around them, Dryzza’s mind remained locked on the puzzle pieces that still refused to fit together.
While the rest of the team went about their business, oblivious to the dark undercurrents, she dove back into the case files stacked on her desk.
The murdered children—Samantha's patients. Their innocent faces stared back at her from the cold, sterile photographs—lifeless, stripped of any future they might have had. The case had haunted her from the moment it landed on her desk, but now it carried a new, more sinister weight.
They know all of these bizarre cases are connected, but in what way?
Sai’s reminder echoed in her mind like a drumbeat that her mind had slipped away again from the Children's case.
The third day. It was a grim milestone, one that felt more ominous now that they had witnessed the things they had seen. But what, exactly, would happen today? She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was brewing, something bigger than any of them were prepared for.
Despite their relentless pursuit, they had never gotten any closer to tracking down the phantom caller. Every lead, every breadcrumb, had led to a dead end.
Whoever he is, he had orchestrated his movements with precision, his identity buried behind layers of deception. The caller had used burner phones to communicate, one disposable device hidden behind another, making it impossible to trace the origin. It was a ghost chase, and every time they thought they had made progress, they were met with the same frustrating conclusion—nothing.
It was maddening. The methods employed by the caller suggested not just intelligence, but an almost pathological dedication to staying hidden. Even Valentine, with all his experience and resources, had hit a wall. No one on the team had managed to find a single, tangible lead that could point them in the direction of the caller
They badly needed him more than anyone else for now as today's the day he had warned them of.
The phenomenon felt like an elaborate game of cat and mouse, except the mouse always seemed to be three steps ahead, taunting them from the shadows. And now, with the third day looming over them, the pressure was mounting. They had to be missing something—some small detail, some overlooked clue that could turn the tide in their favor. But where? How?
Dryzza’s fingers tapped idly against the side of her desk, her thoughts swirling in a tangled web of frustration when she remembered she also has another important case to handle as of the moment.
She had gone over the details of the case a thousand times in her head, scrutinizing every file, every report, every tiny piece of evidence. And yet, they were no closer to understanding the killer’s motive why he or she had to kill these poor children.
"So, why can't I contact any of you?" Zach’s voice boomed across the office, startling both Sai and Dryzza from their focus.
The heavy footsteps that accompanied his entrance left little room for the others, guessing that something had gone wrong. He stopped abruptly between Sai and Dryzza's desks, his eyes sharp and expectant.
The two exchanged nervous glances, looking towards Esmeralda as if she could offer them an escape route. Zach’s face bore the unmistakable look of frustration, one that meant explanations were due, and soon. Sensing the tension, Esmeralda sighed, stepping up as the group's leader, her experience evident in how she handled such situations. She raised a hand, gesturing subtly for the others to remain calm and let her take the lead.
"On your desk?" Esmeralda suggested, her voice steady, offering a more private setting for what was bound to be an uncomfortable conversation. Zach’s eyes narrowed but he relented, exhaling deeply and nodding his agreement. He turned sharply on his heel and led them towards his desk, the atmosphere thick with expectation.
Once seated, Zach leaned back in his chair, peeling off his coat and hanging it on the coat pole with deliberate movements. It was his way of giving himself a moment to regain composure, though his impatience was still clear. Esmeralda took the seat opposite him, folding her hands on the desk between them with an air of professionalism. Sai and Dryzza lingered nearby, feeling the weight of the impending discussion.
"You want detailed or the summary?" Esmeralda asked, her tone neutral but with a hint of readiness. She knew Zach well enough to understand that the delivery of bad news needed to be measured.
"Summary first. Then detailed," Zach responded curtly, holding up a finger to emphasize his point. He wasn’t in the mood for riddles or dragging explanations. Once the coat was hung, he turned his full attention back to Esmeralda, the intensity in his gaze unrelenting.
Esmeralda offered a nod, prepared to lay out the truth in the most concise terms possible. “Okay,” she began, “so, we found the book—”
"Yes!" Zach gasped, his face lighting up with excitement, clearly expecting the situation to have been resolved in their favor. It was the breakthrough he had been hoping for, the one he had spent time anticipating.
“But then we lost it.”
Zach’s entire expression fell as swiftly as it had risen, his shoulders slumping in disbelief. "No!" he exclaimed, the disappointment hitting him hard.
He looked as though he had been punched in the gut, his excitement vanishing in an instant. His brows furrowed, his eyes narrowing with incredulity as he stared at Esmeralda, waiting for some form of explanation to undo the disappointment.
Esmeralda, remaining unflustered despite his reaction, continued, though now her tone softened, understanding the blow this news had delivered. "It wasn’t exactly our choice. Tomoya showed up at the last moment—unexpectedly."
Zach raised an eyebrow. "Tomoya? How does he always seem to show up at the worst possible time?"
"That’s what we’ve been asking ourselves," Dryzza chimed in, folding her arms defensively. "He knew everything. He was waiting for us, and he knew we couldn’t leave with the grimoire."
Sai added, "He practically pulled the thing from our hands. And frankly, we were in no position to fight him for it. Legally, we were already on thin ice for trespassing."
Zach rubbed his temples, trying to absorb the barrage of new information. "So, what now? He has the book? What’s his plan?"
Esmeralda leaned forward, her eyes meeting Zach’s as she carefully chose her words. “Tomoya made it clear that dealing with the supernatural isn’t within our jurisdiction. That’s why he took the book. He claimed that he and his people are more equipped to handle matters like this. Dryzza agreed since she had consulted someone—someone rather significant."
Zach, his brow furrowed with skepticism, leaned back in his chair. "And who exactly is this person?"
Dryzza shifted uncomfortably but responded with measured certainty. "I knew her as Mistress Karamazov—Lada Preobrazhensky’s twin sister. The owner of the grimoire."
At this, Zach’s eyes widened in surprise. "Karamazov? But she was reported dead in the crumbles of the Takahashi manor."
Before Zach could press further, the door burst open, interrupting their tense conversation. Valentine stormed in, flanked by two men, carrying his laptop. The urgency in his movements immediately shifted the mood in the room, pulling everyone’s attention toward him.
“Zach! We’ve got something!” Valentine announced breathlessly, placing his laptop on Zach’s desk with a sense of exhilaration.
Esmeralda, Sai, and Dryzza instinctively stepped aside to give him space, recognizing the importance of whatever Valentine had uncovered.
Zach, still grappling with the revelation about Karamazov, momentarily shifted his focus as Valentine began to explain.
“We’ve got a lead,” Valentine continued, his voice tinged with excitement.
“On who exactly?” Esmeralda asked, acting as the voice for the group as Zach was still processing everything that had been said.
Valentine quickly navigated through his laptop, opening various technical interfaces—GPS tracking systems, encrypted communication networks, and data decryption programs.
The room buzzed with a tense anticipation as the software whirred, finally narrowing down a precise location. His fingers moved rapidly, typing commands into the system, cross-referencing data, and running sophisticated programs to uncover the information they needed.
“The phantom caller,” Valentine’s colleague, Lee, confirmed in a low voice from behind him, adding weight to the discovery.
Zach leaned forward, his eyes locked on the screen as the final coordinates loaded. The flicker of surprise and disbelief crossed his face as the location became clear. He shot a glance at Esmeralda, Sai, and Dryzza, as though to confirm that they were all seeing the same thing.
“Samantha Andersen’s house,” Zach said slowly, his voice laced with disbelief. “The phantom caller is in her house.”