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amb3rlance · 7 months ago

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The Art Of The Murdered: 痛いの痛いのGo Away (C: 6)

Albie stood in the dimly lit hallway of her apartment, the weight of the day pressing on her shoulders. She had just returned from a long shift.

The door clicked open, and she stepped inside, the familiar smell of his cologne hitting her immediately. It wasn’t a comforting scent anymore. It was suffocating.

She barely had time to put down her purse before he appeared from the living room, his eyes sharp, full of an emotion she couldn’t quite place. "Where have you been?" His voice was low but edged with something that made her stomach tighten.

Albie stopped in her tracks, trying to mask the exhaustion on her face. “I told you. I was working.”

She tried to move past him, but he stepped into her path, blocking her way with a sudden force that made her heart race.

“You were working?” His voice was laced with doubt, and he leaned in closer, his breath almost warm against her skin. “Or is there someone else you’ve been seeing when I’m not around?”

The words hit her like a slap. She froze, her heart sinking.

“I’m not seeing anyone else. You know that,” she said, her voice low, almost pleading. She wanted this to be over, wanted to crawl into bed and forget everything, but he wasn’t letting her.

“Really?” His voice was a dangerous mix of bitterness and hurt.

“Every time you go out, I wonder if you’re out there with someone else. I can’t help it. You’re always leaving me, Alberta. How do you think that makes me feel?”

She could feel her breath quickening, her frustration bubbling up, but she swallowed it back. She couldn’t fight him like this. Not again.

“I told you, I’m just working,” she said again, her voice trembling ever so slightly, but still, she tried to keep it steady.

“You think I don’t know that?” he shot back, his voice rising. “I know when you’re lying to me. I can tell. Every time you go out, you’re running away from me. You don’t care about me anymore.”

The accusation stung. It always did, but it never got easier. Albie's throat tightened, and for a moment, she was silent. He stood before her, towering with his anger, but also his vulnerability—like he had put his heart on the line and she was about to tear it apart.

“Please, Albie,” he whispered, suddenly softening, his voice nearly breaking. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. You’re all I have left.”

She felt a pang of guilt twist in her chest.“I’m sorry,” he continued, his voice low and almost desperate. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just… I’m just scared. I don’t want to lose you.”

Albie closed her eyes for a moment, her head spinning.

“I’m sorry too,” she whispered, feeling the weight of his guilt pressing down on her. She hated this. But there was something about his sorrowful gaze, the way his eyes looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in his world, that made it hard to resist.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she said softly, her voice cracking just a little.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

He stepped closer, his hand reaching for hers, gently pulling her into him.

She let him. She couldn’t pull away.

“You can't.”

His voice barely audible. “You can't hurt me. You’re all I need. Please, Albie… Don’t leave me. I can’t live without you.”

The guilt wrapped around her heart like a vice, squeezing tighter with every word he spoke. She should walk away.

She knew she should. She had told herself a thousand times that she would. But in that moment, with his arms around her, his whispered apologies, she felt her resolve weaken.

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. “Okay, I’ll stay. I’m sorry. I’ll do better. I won’t go anywhere.”

His face softened, his lips pressing gently against her forehead as he held her tighter. “I promise, Albie,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ll change. I’ll make things better. Just… don’t leave me.”

And in that moment, Albie did what she always did.

Albie woke with a start, the remnants of her dream still clinging to her. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart, her hands still slightly trembling.

She glanced over at the clock: 7:30 AM. She groaned softly—she’d overslept. Scrambling to get ready for work, Albie quickly gathered her things, throwing on her business suit as she rushed through the mansion.

She paused for a moment, checking the time again. Giorgio had already been up and out early, no doubt with his mind set on his business.

Giorgio was already on his phone, checking some important messages while preparing to leave.

He had a new case assigned to him, something he wasn’t willing to delay. Despite everything that had happened, the wheels of his empire—and now this new mystery—continued to turn.

Giorgio notices Albie being up as she walked in "Oh Albie―"

"Can't talk, need to make money"

He nodded "Alright then, I’m heading out too. Got assigned a new case."

She glanced over at him, wondering for a moment if he’d say more, but he didn’t. Instead, he quickly finished what he was doing, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.

"I'll be back later, don't get stabbed by an unwanted criminal"

Giorgio laughs as he replied "You too"

As the door closed behind him, the mansion felt quieter, almost eerie in its stillness.

Sousuke walked into the living room and spotted Winn sprawled on the couch alone. "Hey, have you seen Albie and Giorgio?"

"They left for work" she turned to him "Wait, I thought you went home last night?" she asked "Well, the thing is... I don't actually live in Australia. I'm supposed to be in the hotel for a week but somethings happened and I can't stay in that hotel too long"

"Ohhh, that makes sense"

"So, what do we do now?" she asked with a grin, clearly looking for some form of entertainment.

Sousuke, still only half-awake, stretched lazily. "I don’t know. Maybe just chill out? They’re both gone for a while. How bad can it get?" He didn’t think much of it at first.

He wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about babysitting, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. After all, Winn was a good kid—bright, energetic, and mostly harmless.

She wasn’t trouble… right?

For a few minutes, everything was calm. Winn was absorbed in her show that Sousuke helped put on, and Sousuke could already feel the familiar pull of boredom starting to take over. But just as he was about to head to the kitchen for a drink, he heard a crash.

Winn, in her usual spirited way, had decided to try to climb onto a piece of furniture—a tall, ornate chair by the window, which clearly wasn’t meant for such activities. The crash echoed through the mansion.

Sousuke rushed over just in time to see her on the floor, her hands gripping the chair legs as she looked up at him with wide, guilty eyes.

"Oh no…" she muttered, her face red.Sousuke stifled a groan. "What did I tell you about the chandelier?" he asked, crossing his arms.Winn’s face fell. "I wasn’t going for the chandelier! I was just trying to see if I could climb up to the window!"

Sousuke sighed, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Why do you always have to climb everything? You’re going to break something."

"I’m sorry," Winn said, her tone more sincere now, though she still looked a little embarrassed.

Sousuke shook his head, deciding that the damage wasn’t too bad. "Alright, no harm done. Just… no more climbing, alright?"

Winn nodded vigorously, looking like she’d learned her lesson.

But as soon as he turned his back, another loud crash came from the hallway, followed by a string of giggles.

Sousuke whipped around to find that Winn had now knocked over a vase on the hallway table, her face now a mix of panic and excitement.

Sousuke stood there for a long moment, blinking. "物を壊してどうするの？(What is it with you and breaking things?)" he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair.

Winn looked up at him, clearly enjoying his reaction. “I wasn’t trying to break it!” she protested.

Sousuke stepped over to the fallen vase, inspecting it for any serious damage. “Okay, okay, no more chaos. We’re done with the breaking stuff phase.”

Just as he tried to sort out the mess, Winn darted off toward the stairs, calling, "Race you to the top!"

Sousuke froze. "いや—！(No－!)" But it was too late. She was already halfway up the staircase, and with a resigned sigh, he followed her.

It wasn’t long before Sousuke realized that watching Winn was going to be more exhausting than he’d thought.

From racing through the halls to knocking over bookshelves, the day turned into a whirlwind of chaos.

As Sousuke struggled to manage the chaos Winn created at the mansion, Giorgio found himself deep in the heart of a chilling new case.His morning had started as usual, but the message from the police commissioner had been anything but routine: "A body’s been found. It’s tied to your old cases."

Giorgio had rushed to the address—a modest suburban house long abandoned after its owners had disappeared four years ago. The air was thick with tension as he stepped inside, the walls of the home blanketed in dust and peeling wallpaper.

His steps echoed through the eerily silent halls, the memories of Owen Christopher’s disappearance heavy on his mind.

Owen had been the first child to go missing in a series of abductions that spanned the last four years. Giorgio had been chasing leads since the beginning, but the trail always went cold. Now, the sight that greeted him in Owen’s childhood bedroom stopped him dead in his tracks.

The boy’s skeletal remains lay curled up on the bed, his tiny frame eerily preserved in the stillness of the room. Beside him was a sketch, crude but unmistakable—it was a portrait of Owen, smiling with a message above that said "Happy Birthday, O.C."

This was the same sketch that was mailed to Owen’s parents on his birthday right before he disappeared.

Giorgio stepped closer, his breath catching in his throat. The room was hauntingly untouched, as if frozen in time. A thin layer of dust coated everything, adding an oppressive weight to the scene.

"Owen Christopher," Giorgio whispered, his voice low and heavy with guilt. He clenched his fists, his mind replaying the countless nights he had spent trying to solve this case.

The bathroom door creaked open slightly as Giorgio turned to inspect the rest of the house.

He felt a chill crawl up his spine as he stepped into the small space. The air was damp, and the mirror was cracked, but what truly caught his attention was the message scrawled in red across the bathroom wall.

"Say hi to Sousuke and his brother for me, Giorgio Holmes."

The handwriting was jagged and chaotic, as if it had been written in a frenzy. Giorgio’s jaw tightened as he read the words, his eyes narrowing. The taunt was deliberate, mocking, and personal. The killer knew him and Sousuke.

He stepped back, surveying the scene with meticulous care. The killer had left the body here intentionally—it wasn’t just about Owen. It was a message to Giorgio, a twisted game designed to reel him in.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was a call from the commissioner.

"Have you found anything?" the commissioner asked, his tone sharp.

Giorgio’s voice was grim. "The body is Owen Christopher's. And there’s a message… addressed to me."

"Damn it." The commissioner’s voice was heavy with frustration. "They’re taunting us."

"They’re taunting me," Giorgio corrected, his voice cold. "This is personal. Whoever did this has been watching me for years."

"Do you think it’s the same person behind the other disappearances?”

“I’m certain of it,” Giorgio replied. “This isn’t random. They’ve been planning this for a long time.”

As he ended the call, Giorgio’s mind raced. He needed to figure out who was behind this—and fast.

By the time Albie returned later that afternoon, she found the mansion in an uproar.

Every room seemed to have been a target for Winn’s adventures.

Chairs were knocked over, a picture frame had been taken down and propped up upside-down, shattered glass everywhere, and a lot of other messes made by Winn.

Albie stood in the doorway, looking over the scene in disbelief. "What happened here?!"

Sousuke, clearly exhausted, flopped down on the couch with a sigh. "疲れたよ...。(I'm so tired...)"

Winn, proudly standing near the wreckage, looked at her with a big grin. “I was just having fun! It’s not my fault Sousuke wasn’t paying attention!"

Albie’s eyes widened as she glanced between Sousuke and the mess. “You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”

Sousuke groaned. “I tried. But…”

Albie gave him an incredulous look. "But what?"

“ウインは目茶苦茶！(Winn was so chaotic!)” he yelled out.Albie couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"Come on, let's clean all of this up before Giorgio comes home"

A long, skeptical look as she folded her arms "Try me," she said, her tone sharp.

"She was like a tornado!" Sousuke said "She goes from watching cartoons to knocking over expensive vases and spilling orange juice on the carpet!"

Winn giggled, clearly unbothered by the scolding atmosphere.Albie pinched the bridge of her nose, suppressing a smile despite herself. "Winn, you can't just turn this place into your personal playground. Giorgio will lose his mind if he sees this."

"He’s going to lose more than his mind—he’s going to lose half his net worth when he sees the damage!" Sousuke exclaimed.

Winn’s face fell slightly. "I didn’t mean to mess up... It was just... boring without everyone else around."

Albie softened at that, crouching down to meet Winn’s gaze. "I get it. But this isn’t our house, remember? We have to respect it."

Winn nodded solemnly. "Okay. No more climbing... or racing... or touching stuff."

Sousuke mumbled, "それを見たら信じるよ。(I’ll believe it when I see it.)"

"How about this," Albie offered. "Next time, we’ll plan something fun to do together. But for now, you’re helping us clean this up."

Winn groaned, dragging her feet but eventually picking up a broom.

Giorgio stepped into the mansion, his shoes clicking sharply against the hardwood floors. He froze at the sight of the devastation.

The shattered glass glittered on the floor like confetti, paintings were crooked or had crashed to the ground entirely, and in the middle of the living room, an unmistakable orange stain marred the pristine white carpet.

His eyes widened, and his jaw tightened as he slowly turned his gaze to Albie. "What. Happened. Here?"

Albie, holding a broom, froze mid-sweep. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Winn beat her to it.

"It wasn’t that bad earlier!" Winn chirped, holding a dustpan with the kind of innocence that only a mischievous child could muster.Giorgio turned to her, his face transforming into a mask of exasperated disbelief. "Not that bad? Not that bad?!" His voice was rising with each word, becoming more dramatic by the second as he gestured wildly at the chaos around him.

"There’s glass everywhere, my carpet is ruined, and what did you do to the paintings?! Do you have any idea how much those cost?!"

Winn bit her lip, nervously trying to conjure an excuse. "I didn’t mean to knock over everything... It just sorta happened!"

"Sorta happened?" Giorgio’s voice rose, nearly reaching a crescendo of incredulity. He flung his arms out as if presenting the scene to the universe itself. "Look at this place! My home! It’s ruined! Do you understand that? This is not a playground, Winn! This is my sanctuary! What’s next? Bring in a herd of elephants?"

Winn’s lower lip wobbled, and she dramatically sniffled, her eyes welling with tears. "I... I didn’t mean to upset you, Giorgio. I just wanted to have fun..." Her voice cracked, her gaze softening into one of wide-eyed innocence that would melt even the hardest hearts.

Albie shot her a pointed, knowing look, muttering under her breath, "Oh, here we go."

But Giorgio, ever the soft touch when it came to emotional displays, blinked rapidly as his stern facade began to crack. His anger wavered, and with a sharp exhale, he ran a hand through his hair. "I... I shouldn’t have yelled," he said, his voice now unrecognizable, softer, and laden with guilt. "I’m sorry for scaring you, alright?"

Winn sniffed again, her eyes sparkling with the threat of more tears, and nodded slowly, her lips trembling as if her entire world had just been righted. "Okay," she whispered.

Albie, still holding the broom, hid a smirk behind the handle, rolling her eyes at Giorgio’s dramatic shift.

"Alright," Giorgio said, taking a deep, theatrical breath. He clapped his hands together in an exaggerated motion, clearly trying to regain his composure. "Let’s finish cleaning up. And, Winn?"

"Yes?" she asked sweetly, her voice syrupy with the kind of charm that only a child who knew how to manipulate a situation could muster.

"No more climbing furniture, no more racing through the house, and no more spilling things, alright?" Giorgio's voice was firm, but there was a soft edge to it now, like a man defeated by the full force of his own emotions.

"Deal!" Winn chirped with an innocent grin as she skipped toward the broom Albie had abandoned.

As Giorgio knelt down to pick up a shard of glass, Albie leaned over and whispered, "You do know she was faking, right?"

Giorgio blinked in disbelief, his eyes flickering from Winn to Albie "What?"

Albie gave him a dry look. "She was playing you, Giorgio. Big time."

Giorgio’s jaw dropped. "How dare she!" His voice was a mixture of mock outrage and genuine shock, and he threw his hands up dramatically, causing Winn to scurry away from him.

"Oh, she’s good," he muttered, half-laughing to himself. "I’ll give her that. Very good."

Albie shrugged. "Welcome to my world."

As Giorgio watched Winn humming while sweeping—more interested in avoiding work than actually cleaning—he couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. "She is a little menace, isn’t she?"

Sousuke, lounging on the couch, groaned dramatically. "俺に言っているのか。(You’re telling me.)"

Giorgio, his earlier frustration fading, raised his glass in mock exasperation. "To surviving tornadoes, figuratively."

The warmth of the moment lingered, the chaos of the day transforming into a shared, albeit somewhat strange, memory.

#the art of murder #taom #modern au #the art of the murdered

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