Missing persons. They were not unusual in a city as large as Black City, they had their fair share of runaways and likely kidnapped individuals. The highest cases always involve Merfolk, Celestine Merfolk. When it wasn't them, it was usually hybrids. As much as the world advanced in ideas, many of them still stayed the same, taught from their families and evident in the royal family of their country. But it was really the money-grabbing folks who latched onto those people, looking for profit and profit they found.
Curious enough, that did not appear to be the case of the missing persons as of recent. Apparently, their bodies had been found within a day or two of being missing, and the police were more tightlipped about than usual. Suspicious. Albert could not prove anything, he wasn't even sure what he should have been looking for either. There was no clear picture that came to mind of what it could be, but whenever he thought hard about it, an unsettling feeling came over him. It was odd, and whatever it was he'd get to the bottom of it somehow. There was a story there, he could feel it.
The man quickly scribbled down a few more notes from his day, as unfruitful as it had been, he still figured there were more leads he could look into. It was a shame his only connection in the force was Lenore and she only ever gave out information that was legal to give out. very much unlike some of the more dirty cops that ran in the force.
He was unable to write anything more down before his phone started blaring his ringtone. The sound of the orchestra, string, and wind instruments filled the cab Albert sat in with the all too familiar tune of
Once Upon a Dream. The look the driver gave him through the rearview mirror was enough to make anyone feel embarrassed, except that Alby was not. Why on Earth would he be embarrassed by a classic piece such as that?
Smiling at him softly, he picked his phone up without looking and answered with a casual,
"hello?"
"Tell me, Bamberg? Why aren't you at Ms. Saki's charity event?"
Albert opened his mouth to answer but, as he predicted, was cut off before he even began to speak. His chief and editor tended to do that. Every. Single. Time. And yet Alby still tried.
"Do you know how many important figures will be there? You should be getting coverage. People love these fluff pieces. The Magi commissioners son will be there, Ava-Rose Sinclaire! And you're just, what are you doing?"
"I passed it on to someone else who was more informed about it than me. And anyway, my work hours for the day are over." Really, what he had to do was none of the man's business. A fact, but the same thing could be said to Albert on more occasions than one.
"But I do have another story I'm looking into."
"Do you?" He could practically envision the way the man's face lit up by the sound of his voice.
Albert bit back a smile of his own.
"Mhm," hummed the man, flipping through the pages of his notebook. There was not much he had gathered on it so far, but his boss did not need to know that.
"I'll tell you all about it later. I have to go, I'm arriving at my destination soon." Without waiting for a response, he hanged up and sighed.
As soon as left one conversation, he was greeted with another in the form of a text from his mother. Normally he might have waited before answering a text from the woman, but it would be rude to ignore a text from the one you were living with. So, Albert opened the text and blinked at the message.
Kellan is back in town! You should drop by his shop and say hello, and invite him over for dinner too.
First Isaiah and now Kellan. Was Halloween the it season in Black City or what? Albert answered back with an "okay". At the very least it means he could see if the man still had what was his even if he was unable to buy it back still.
For just a second, Albert was able to close his eyes and breathe again. The day started busy and would surely end just as busy, but he hoped it would end well. His second to last stop was what he hoped would be the deciding factor of that.
"We're here," the driver announced.
Albert reopened his eyes and looked out the window. The house was difficult to see from the car and during the rain, which had picked up since he last looked, no less. It was larger than any house that Albert had lived in before. He looked away to swipe the flyer and review it once more before looking back. This was the address.
"Thank you," Albert mumbled softly to the driver as he hopped out of the car, shoving his things into his bag. He dashed as quickly as he could to the front door, but it didn't help in the long shot. The rain never missed him, and only seemed to continue falling at a steady pace with no signs of letting up as he rang the doorbell.
He did his best to straighten the slightly crumpled flyer paper. It was getting as soaked as him during the weight and he wished he had brought an umbrella if only to avoid the possibility of catching a cold. The rain wasn't bad, it was the cold that accompanied what worried him most.
Just as he reached to ring the doorbell once more, the door swung open to reveal the owner with damp hair and nothing on but a towel. Albert cursed himself for eyes first being drawn to the towel instead of his face however brief the glance was. He was able to focus once more when Bonnie opened his mouth. And he called Albert rude.
For once in his life, he was able to hold back his tongue, but just barely. It was too inappropriate to say when he was trying to secure his spot as a roommate. Even if he did think his appearance and words to match made him think of the start of a sex film.
He was happy to get out of the rain and into the dry and warm setting of Bonnie's house. The inside was even better than the outside regarding appearances, and he was only standing in the foyer, glancing about and only pausing to hand his coat and bag.
"I wanted to catch you off guard so I could see the house as it without any preparations made beforehand," Albert said. The truth was only half that, he simply had not thought to call. He didn't want to be rejected immediately by Bonnie when he had annoyed him in his own store already.
He patted his face dry and then ruffled the towel over his wet curls.
"I didn't expect to interrupt your bath or shower, but you look more like a bath man." He smiled sheepishly and cleared his throat.
"Aren't you going to offer me tea or coffee or give me a house tour? Or you probably need to dress first, no? I'm sure you could do it all in that, but I imagine you'd be more comfortable in pants. I can wait, I won't touch anything." It wasn't a promise.