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greyspirehollow · 9 months ago

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MURDER AT THE HOSPITAL

Chapter 5

Warnings: character having a sort of panic attack ; character waking up from a nightmare ; swearing ; discussion of investigation ; deep talk into potentially disturbing themes ; morbid curiosity ; steamy/suggestive scene at the end of the chapter (marked by an X before the paragraph in question).

I would rate this chapter 18+ and the overall fic 16 +

The distant sounds of the battlefield still rung in Julian’s ears as his groggy mind was woken up from its slumber. The doctor blinked a few times, as his phone on the nightstand kept vibrating. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes to try and cast away the dream in which he amputated yet another soldier’s leg. The buzzing of the phone didn’t stop. He reached for it, confused, and noticed someone was trying to call him. At this hour, really…? Julian grumbled as he picked up.

“Yes...?” He asked, his voice raspy with sleep. His ears struggled to pick up on the rapid and anxious flow of words that ensued.

“Ah, Julian Jules Dr. Devorak, I hope I am not – what am I saying, I probably am – uhm I was wondering if you, I don’t know, were up to chat?”

Julian stayed silent, only a confused ‘uuh’ escaping him as he tried to process the words he’d just heard.

“I’m sorry… Who is this?” He asked, rubbing his eye with his free hand.

“It’s Liam” The man on the other end of the line answered. The doctor’s heart did a little loop.

“Oh- Oh, Liam! What’s new? I mean you-… Uhm…” Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose as he tried to gather his wits to make a complete sentence, his wits coming back slowly but surely. “What’s up?” He could hear some shuffling from the other end of the line before the scientist’s quick speech started again:

“Uhm- well, I’m- I mean I would say I’m- everything is ok, but to be honest that wouldn’t be completely true.”

Julian’s heart ached slightly.

“Oh… Want to talk about it? You sound on edge…”

Liam chuckled dryly.

“On edge is one hell of an understatement- b-but yes, if that’s… I mean I would like to talk, not necessarily about what- I mean I just want to talk. About… Anything, really.” A pause. “...Please…?”

Julian’s heart squeezed with sympathy as he picked up on the hint of despair in Liam’s plea. He nodded to himself and laid back down on his bed with a slight huff.

“Alright, ok… We can talk. What do you want to talk about?”

Liam paused, seemingly considering the question. When the silence stretched, he quickly apologized.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so stressed it’s hard to think of anything-”

Julian hummed in thought, the slightly raspy sound making Liam’s heart flutter on the other end.

“You’re overwhelmed.” The doctor remarked. Another pause followed before Liam spoke up.

“…Yeah. Yeah, you can say that…”

Yet another beat of silence stretched between the two before the scientist spoke up again.

“… I think my work is getting to me.”

The comment made Julian’s eyebrows crease in concern.

“What do you mean…?” He asked. He nervously awaited the answer, and his heart dropped to his stomach when he did:

“They talk to me sometimes…” Liam replied, his voice quieter, filled with worry and confusion.

“… Who- Who talks to you?” Julian asked, his mind very much awake and alert now.

The silence that followed that statement felt the heaviest yet. Julian continued, trying to encourage Liam to speak: “Do you have… Uhm, any kind of medication you need to take for that?”

The question seemed to trigger a response in the other man, much to the doctor’s relief:

“Ah- yes, yes I do. I did take them today, I just… I guess I’m worried they won’t work… Listen, I’m sorry for suddenly calling you like that, I shouldn’t have, it’s the middle of the night and I-”

Julian promptly cut him off.

“No no no, it’s fine, it’s ok. I’d rather… You talk to me than think too much all by yourself.”

“… Thank you.” Liam replied. “I… I would talk more, but I uh… I don’t think we’re close enough for me to dump too much information just yet.” he went on with a slight chuckle. Julian smiled slightly. He was about to bid the other man good night when he suddenly remembered something:

“Oh wait- uhm… Yesterday Valdemar said that… Maybe we could go uh- that we could talk around a coffee tomorrow in the morning uhm… Would… Do you want to come, or…?”

“Huh? Oh yeah uh- of course, why not?” Liam sounded surprised by the sudden invitation but nonetheless happy to have been invited. Julian felt slightly relieved.

“Cool. That’s nice.” The doctor paused, slightly biting down on his lip. “Uhm… Will you be alright? Until tomorrow morning?”

Yet again, a brief silence settled between the two of them before Liam spoke up, more timidly this time:

“I… Am not sure. Would it be alright if I asked you to… To stay on the line with me…? We don’t have to talk, we can even fall back asleep, I just…”

Julian’s heart sank again at Liam’s request, feeling sorry for the scientist. He must be feeling quite lonely if he was asking for something like that…

“Sure, I can do that.” He answered, his voice sounding surprisingly soft even to himself.

They both chatted a little bit more while Julian sent a text to Valdemar about tomorrow morning, shocked – and at the same time not so much – to find them awake and replying within less than a minute. Then, he and Liam fell silent for the rest of the night, as they both very slowly but surely drifted back to sleep.

The following day, Julian picked up Liam so they could go to the cafe Valdemar had chosen. A chic and simple place, with a good reputation… The doctor was surprised. He was half expecting them to trap them all in their house or something. Liam didn’t speak much during the drive, if at all, his mind seemingly elsewhere. Julian was dying to pry, but he knew he shouldn’t, and so he didn’t. He parked the car in a street nearby, and walked over with the scientist to the cafe. Liam sighed. “Man, if I had known it was this kind of place, I would’ve dressed nicer…” Julian chuckled and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as they entered the place. The place was decorated in warm and soft tones, although with a hint of golden and shine here and there. It both felt homey and somehow somewhere Liam felt he didn’t belong. He pushed the unpleasant thoughts aside as he and Julian walked up to the table where Valdemar – and Vulgora, much to their surprise – were sitting. The two men sat as well, feeling the slight sense of awkwardness hanging in the air, even though Valdemar looked unbothered. They smiled as they watched both Liam and Julian sit down.

“Ah, there you are. I hope you don’t mind Vulgora’s presence; it was an impulsive last minute invitation.” The police officer rolled their eyes, while Julian shook his head slightly and Liam only shrugged. The silence stretched a little bit until a waitress approached, taking their orders. That lightened the mood slightly; Julian slightly teased Liam for picking the hot chocolate instead of a coffee, all in good faith of course. Valdemar stirred the sugar cube in their cup until it dissolved, quietly listening to the soft jazz tune playing in the background before looking back between Julian and Liam.

“… So. It’s nice to properly meet. Liam, am I right?”

The scientist nodded. “That would be me. Was there a… Particular reason for…” he vaguely gestured to the place “The meeting?”

Valdemar tilted their head. “I’m confused. We can’t exactly call that a meeting – What’s wrong with it anyway?”

“Nothing, I just…” Liam started, then paused. His lips pursed in thought, and then he shook his head. “Sorry. I forget sometimes there’s no particular reason other than wanting to be with people.”

Valdemar drank a bit of their coffee, before nodding. “Yes, I just wanted to chat. Besides the place is nice, and I hadn’t come here in a while. I thought it would just be a good occasion to do something a tiny bit different today.”

Liam smiled, but Julian and Vulgora eyed the neurosurgeon suspiciously. They both knew that it was highly unlikely the only explanation for this encounter. It could very well be made up, too. That only seemed to be confirmed by the way their smile held a hint of mischief.

“Very well. Why not start then? Is there anything anyone wants to share?”

They inquired. The three others stayed silent for a while. Julian felt… Awkward. He’d love to say something, but for once, his mind was running out of ideas. Vulgora though, spoke up:

“Well in all the years I’ve known you this might just be the first time you invite me for a drink.” they commented, the emotions they felt… A little hard to guess. Liam wondered if they were pissed off at all or if it were a simple observation. He had to ask something, though…

“Years?”

“Yeah, years.” Vulgora confirmed, taking a gulp of their espresso. “I’ve been to school with that bastard.” The nicknamed seemed to amuse Valdemar a little, as they simply sipped their coffee. “From middle school to high school graduation…” Vulgora went on. they shook their head “Oh they were a handful. Take the quiet kid archetype and make it ten times worse! Damn, I still remember the first time that uuuh… Shit, what was his name? The sports guy! Whatever, blond stereotypical jock if you will – I remember the first interaction they had together – it was… I don’t even know how to describe it! It was so… Strange…”

Valdemar chuckled “Oh, him? Yes, I remember. It was first year of high school, maybe middle of the year… I had managed to convince the teachers to give me 12 back.”

Vulgora groaned and pinched the bridge of their nose, while Liam and Julian looked a little confused – the latter was worried, too –.

“That frog, you’d named it 12… That damn frog…!”

Valdemar chuckled again, seemingly genuinely amused and almost fond of that memory. “Yeah. I had thrown her onto him – the jock – when he said… I don’t even remember what he said- something stupid maybe. And I simply… Opened the tuperware she was in and threw her on him.” They hid their chuckle with another sip of coffee. Liam couldn’t help but ask, seemingly much less on edge than Julian was: “12? What was so special about her that you felt the need to remember her number?”

Valdemar seemed very pleased by the question, putting their cup of coffee down. “Ah, you see, 12 was my first flawless biology assignment.”

Vulgora’s hands shot up as they chimed in.

“Assignment- You reanimated that frog!! She had stitches and shit!! No one had asked you to do that! On the spot too!!”

At that, Valdemar only laughed quietly while Liam’s and Julian’s eyes went wide. “I did, didn’t I? So yes, 12 was a successful experiment and I asked to keep her. I think I still have her somewhere…”

“Oh I don’t want to know- I don’t want to know what’s in your office even less your house!” Vulgora groaned, shaking their head.

“Uhm- now that that’s said” Valdemar continued, clearing their throat and trying to shift the topic. “It’s not that I don’t want about our school years Vulgora, I just wish to hear a little more about our guest.” Their gaze landed on Liam. The man chuckled.

“You want to know if I have my own 12 somewhere? No…” he paused “… yes, but-” Julian and Vulgora looked at him with a hint of worry “I-it’s not the same!” Liam quickly continued. “No, I… Well I may be called a scientist but I am actually a forensic anthropologist. And well, uhm… When I was younger, back home, I would find and keep bones of… Road kills, and such…” He smiled awkwardly as Vulgora rolled their eyes, mumbling a little ‘of course’; Julian seemed to try and come to terms with the piece of information he just gathered from the guy he thought he had a crush on. Valdemar, on the other hand, looked delighted. Liam went on: “A-and yes, before you ask, I would find actual bones, not half decomposed animals no- I just kept the bones, if they were naturally there. The… Cadavers used to scare me, actually.” he confessed, making Julian relax a tiny bit.

“Why’s that?” Valdemar asked, very much interested – you knew they were since their eyes wouldn’t leave Liam –; the man seemed to hesitate, his head tilting a little.

“… It’s hard to explain. I’m not sure I could put it into words even today… It was… First of all it didn’t do that with every dead animal – at least not in the same way for some – it… Was like a weight in my chest, whenever I got too close. I know it sounds stupid but it felt as if the… Animal didn’t want me any nearer. Was trying to actively push me away. For some it was actually the complete opposite, they’d try to get me to come closer. But it was done with such… Desperation and… emotion; That’s why it scared me, in either cases; it was such an… Intense feeling, like something pulling or tightening right there-” he gestured to the center of his chest “And well, when that wouldn’t happen, I just… Didn’t want to be near the dead animals. It was making me uneasy.”

Valdemar had a hard time suppressing the wide grin that threatened to spread across their face. Their finger idly traced along the rim of their cup of coffee as they spoke up again: “Fascinating… Does this happen with the corpses you come across in your work as well?” They asked, undeniably interested.

Liam’s expression darkened a little – making the neurosurgeon want to smile even wider –, and Julian felt his heart sink into his stomach, a dreadful connection forming into his mind. He could only pray that his suspicions were false…

Liam opened his mouth to speak but then- his facial muscles relaxed and he closed it, looking right into Valdemar’s eyes. His own gaze held a hint of challenge in it. He wasn’t obligated to tell them in any way… The neurosurgeon’s finger stopped on the rim of their cup, as they stared right back at him, without flinching. Oh this was good… Valdemar couldn’t help their smile from widening anymore.

“Very well…” They said, leaning back in their chair after a while and putting an end to this sudden staring contest. Julian and Vulgora stayed silent, even though they were itching to say something, anything. Thankfully, Valdemar spoke up once more: “What about the investigation? Do you happen to have any new theories you’d like to share?”

Vulgora glared between Valdemar and Liam, as if warning the latter to shut up at all costs. But oh did Liam ache to spill every idea in his mind… Julian had to admit he was slightly curious himself. The red-haired police officer kept glaring at Liam as they saw him bite his lower lip, obviously considering talking about it.

But that’s against protocol… He thought to himself, clearly torn on what to do. But eventually…

“… We went on site yesterday.”

Vulgora threw him a disapproving glare, but there was no stopping him now.

“We found where the body was buried before it got brought to the morgue. It was in Eltowen forest.” Liam said.

The police officer buried their face in their hands with a groan of frustration. However Julian was a little more invested now.

“Quite the remote area.” Valdemar commented. “But… Neat as well, isn’t it? Far away from the city, in the forest… Very humid, since it rains a lot…”

“The soil is soft and easy to dig…” Liam replied. Both continued to chat, seemingly in their own little world:

“The leaves mostly cover the whole of the ground around winter…”

“Hiding footsteps or other activities…”

“The dirt gets remolded a lot…”

��Therefore hiding further incriminating clues…”

“Humid and dark, perfect for…”

“… Insects and fungi, making the decomposition process…”

“… A lot faster and cleaner.”

Liam looked at Valdemar, his mouth slightly agape and brows furrowed in thought. Vulgora seemed very annoyed and desperate to make either of them shut up – but well the public setting didn’t help – and Julian… Had mixed feelings. It was scary they both seemed to have the same thought process and even scarier that they were right. Valdemar seemed to enjoy themselves immensely though. They continued:

“What do you think that says about the killer?”

“As I’ve told you, I believe they’ve killed before. Or at least have been interested in killing for at least a little while – sure, when you have a dead body on your hands the first reflex might be to bury it in a forest; but Eltowen forest seemed to really be the ideal spot for the corpse’s decomposition – there could be two explanations for this: first, it was unintentional, and the culprit simply buried Rick’s body in a forest either not too far or as far as possible from where they live. Second, they have experience with dead bodies and their decomposition, hence the choice of Eltowen forest. I’d tend to go with the latter hypothesis because of the shape the ‘grave’ was in – it was perfectly rectangular, the closest to six feet deep that the human eye can make: this simply cannot be their first time.”

As Liam rambled on, Vulgora grew more and more desperate. They mouthed a little ‘this is a nightmare’ in Julian’s direction, who nodded in agreement; however he kept listening, an undeniable spark of interest in his mind. Not the same kind of interest both Liam and Valdemar had though, obviously.

“So you think our culprit is at least a bit of a connoisseur in the domain of death and its aftermath? Physically, I mean.” Valdemar asked, their cup of coffee completely forgotten by now.

“Yes.” Liam confirmed.

“A bit like you are?”

The question seemed to knock him silent. He didn’t like what they were insinuating, but all theories were good theories in these kinds of cases.

“… Perhaps…” he reluctantly agreed. “Do you think he could work in a field similar to mine?” He asked them.

“They very well could. But they could also just be an amateur; an enjoyer, if you will. Didn’t you say you collected bones when you were younger? It could be a more advanced – a more twisted – version of that. Did the lab result give away anything about what happened to the body post mortem?”

Liam shook his head. He understood where they were going, but it didn’t seem to be anything of the sort here.

“No. Nothing of the sort.”

“No?” their head tilted, intrigued. “Strange. So it may not be linked to a fetish or fantasy.”

“It’s still a little early to tell. We’d need a second victim to be sure – or even suspect – of that.”

“Indeed. But do you think the victim you currently have right now could correspond to a sort of profile already?”

Liam’s mouth opened to reply but the words of his hallucination from yesterday rung back in his ears.

Special not I was

“… No, I-”

Dead he wants

“I don’t think so.”

Valdemar looked at him. They could sense he wasn’t going to justify his answer – they wondered why – but didn’t pry. They still had to be patient. The information would come in time… But they still tried:

“What makes you say that?” they swirled their coffee with their spoon as they waited for Liam to reply.

“… I couldn’t tell you.” Liam answered.

And it was true, in a sense. He couldn’t consider what one of his hallucinations told him as proof, or as of any tangible help. Instinct wasn’t a reasonable explanation either, despite being more believable than the other one. So he just stayed silent. Valdemar picked up on that omission of information on his part, their head tilting slightly.

“Some things don’t have an explanation…” They said. The both of them fell silent once again, and it is then that Vulgora chimed in:

“Stop- Stop, that’s enoguh!!” they said, holding their hands up almost in a pleading manner “If you want to continue speculating like the two freaks you are you’re going to have to sign an NDA” they said, looking at Julian as well.

Liam’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment – of course he had had to go on and ramble when he wasn’t allowed to. He hid his face behind his hands, earning a chuckle from the neurosurgeon.

“Oh, I get it I do. But what is the harm in talking about work around a good cup of coffee?”

Vulgora felt like pulling on their hair, but instead took a deep breath. “This is exactly the situation I wanted to avoid. Now I’m going to have to pretend we didn’t divulge information about a very serious case to randoms and went against the law!”

Julian felt a pang of worry in his chest – did that mean they could all get into trouble…? Before he could even speak his mind, Liam seemed to get an idea.

“Wait Vulgora… What if we make them part of the investigation?”

“NO-” Was the swift response; but that didn’t stop the anthropologist

“Come on- it’s not like they’d be a liability ! I-I mean did you hear the conversation we just had? They could be a great asset!”

“NO!! I am not dealing with BOTH of you on a MURDER CASE!!”

“Vulgora, come on- this is just ridiculous! Why wouldn’t you want their help??”

“Because mmmmh- Because you don’t know them! You don’t know what they’re like, what they are capable of!! But I do!! And I am NOT letting them near my damn CRIME SCENE!!”

As Liam and Vulgora continued to argue, the police officer’s patience wearing thinner with every second, Valdemar and Julian exchanged a glance. The doctor was obviously uneasy – and even fearful – at the idea of the neurosurgeon joining in on the investigation. But then he also realized something scarier: if Valdemar became a part of this whole thing, that meant they’d be around Liam more often… The simple thought made a shiver of dread run down his spine. And before he could stop himself, he chimed in the argument:

“I-I want to participate too!!”

Vulogra and Liam turned to look at him, the red-haired officer groaning angrily: “Let’s invite the Queen of Prakra while we’re at it what the hell??!!” they complained aloud. “Just- let me think about it!! Fine with that? Good!-” they stood up, not giving the rest time to answer. “I have to go- need to clear my head with all of your bullshit.” They grumbled, standing up from their seat and heading out of the cafe, only responding with a few groans as Liam said goodbye.

The three remaining people sat there awkwardly for a moment. Well except for Valdemar. They didn’t seem to feel awkward in any situation. They were just sipping their coffee. After a while they spoke up: “I think it wasn’t that bad of an answer. Corresponds to a ‘maybe’, with a bit of chance.” Liam looked at them, a little unconvinced. But in the end he just shrugged. “I guess. I mean you probably know them better than I do.”

“I would understand if you two wanted to be on your ways too.” they added. Liam seemed confused at first, trying to figure out if it was a subtle queue for he and Julian to leave or a secret demand for them to stay. His eyes squinted. Julian very much wanted to leave, though. He glanced at Liam sideways, hoping he’d get the hint. He seemed to, and sighed.

“I’m sorry our conversation had to be cut so short- you have my number, yeah?”

Valdemar nodded in response “I assure you it is alright. And yes, I do have your number.”

Liam nodded and warmly thanked them for the slightly improvised meeting – because yes, despite everything he had a good time – and then downed the last of his hot chocolate before going to pay for it. Julian and him then went to leave the cafe as well.

Valdemar smiled slightly as they watched the pair go. They peacefully finished their cup of coffee, basking in the quiet ambiance of the almost empty cafe, their mind focusing on the soft jazz playing in the background again. To be honest, they had a great time as well. They had gotten information they were looking for… But they wondered if it was simply becaused they discussed the investigation that they felt… Content. They let the thought hang around in their mind for a moment before humming slightly as they drank the last drops of their coffee.

As Julian stopped his car near the building in which Liam lived, he decided to step out of the car as well. He just stood by it, but he felt as if it was polite enough. He watched as the other man went to the metal staircase leading upstairs, but just before he took a step further, he turned around, seemingly wanting to say something. Liam spoke loud enough for Julian to hear, a hint of nervousness – and hope – in his tone: “Uhm… If work allows it do you wanna like… Go to the mall with me this weekend and do… Whatever?”

Julian’s heart did a little loop at the invitation. He struggled to articulate his thoughts for half a second, but eventually…

“Uh- uhm sure! Yeah, I would love to.”

Liam smiled, making Julian smile as well.

“Awesome! Can you pick me up at like 2 PM on Saturday?”

Julian nodded “Of course, yeah sure no problem.”

“O-ok, see you then!” Liam gave him one last smile and waved before walking back into his building, the door to the metallic staircase closing shut with a resonating thud.

Julian drove back home, smiling, his cheeks a little bit rosy.

Vulgora took the time to catch their breath as the aftershocks of their climax still rippled through their skin and muscles. He always managed to scratch just the right spots. The Arcana be damned, they’d needed that… They leaned their head back on the pillow, the sweat on their neck sparkling in the low light of the bedroom. They only opened their eyes halfway through as they looked up at Vultur, momentarily getting lost in his pale blue eyes and the pleasure written all over his face, and the way loose strands of his dark hair stuck to his cheeks. That is until a slight pang of guilt squeezed their heart. They needed to do something. To say something. To make it up to him for not being a thoughtful enough partner so far. They tried to think, despite the bliss fogging their mind still.

They steeled themselves, their voice still slightly veiled by pleasure as they asked:

“Uhm would you like to… go out for dinner? At the end of the week?”

They swallowed thickly, anticipation making their heart thump strong and wild.

“I-I’ll pay.” They hurriedly added. They could see the surprise on his pale face, and the lingering sparkle of ecstasy in his gaze. But the question seemed to break him out of his daze. They’d expected him to somewhat lash out, or act like they should’ve proposed that sooner, but… He smiled, softly.

“I’d love to…” He replied, his voice husky yet tender.

They nodded vigorously, relief washing over them. “Ok. Nice. Great. Uhm. We’ll- go to your favorite place.” they replied, after which they mentally noted to scroll back up their text messages together, to remember just which restaurant was his favorite.

Vultur chuckled as he laid down beside them on the bed, giving them a few soft kisses and wrapping his arms securely around them. They couldn’t help a sigh of relief at having him close to them again, and they held him tight that night, feeling the slight hardness of the stitches on his chest press against their skin.

Author's note: apologies for the slower release! It may be like that from now on, I mean I had never been planning on being regular about posting fanfiction anyway, as to not put pressure on myself or make you disappointed.

But yes!! I think this is quite the long chapter, do let me know if it was idk too boring, but again I'm not going to jump too fast into the less fun bits (I will, but just not now [smiles ominously])

Hope you guys enjoy the story just as much !! <3

#the arcana #the arcana game #the arcana a mystic romance #modern au #julian devorak #pontifex vulgora #quaestor valdemar #apprentice liam #murder at the hospital #original story #the arcana oc #the arcana courtiers #baron vultur

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