Dead Boy Detectives |The Endless Case|

Part 13 |The Case of the Human Lightbulb|

Niko. Who was now standing, and walking out of the room. She looked like a robot, they way she moved, and the way her face was completely void of expression. We all watched as she swiftly left the room. "Uh, Niko?" Crystal called. No answer.

"uh... that's, that probably bad, isn't it?" I asked, beginning to panic. Crystal mad a face. "Shit." Both of us practically booked it out of the room and down to the butcher shop. We entered the shop from the back as per usual. In the middle of the shop stood Niko, all aglow, attracting the attention of everyone in the shop. I had to think fast. It probably wouldn't affect me, but Crystal was still human. So, I threw a hand over her eyes, and mine instinctively.

    "Oh, shit, uh..." Crystal stumbled, placing her own hand over her eyes, replacing mine. We both aimlessly felt around, making our way to Niko.

    "Niko, where are you?" I said, smacking the tile walls.

    "Niko?" Crystal called out as well. A couple more steps and my free hand lands on Crystal's shoulder. "I got her." She says.

    Slowly, the chatter of the butcher shop customers fills my ear. I open my eyes, and there's no more glow. Just a very distraught Niko, "what... what are we doing downstairs?" Niko's voice is shaky.

    neither me or Crystal know how to answer. Jenny looks confused and pissed at the same time. And all the bar patrons seem like they have no recollection of what they just experienced. Crystal quickly grabs Niko's hand and begins to lead her back to her room. 

    I linger behind slightly to apologize to Jenny, when I see Charles and Edwin watching on in the corner. I try not to react to their sudden appearance and nod at Jenny with a weary smile, before following the girls back upstairs.

    Back up in the room, the boy were already there, giving my heart a little jump. I still wasn't used to them practically teleporting around all the time.

    "So, what's the plan?" I asked.

    Edwin thought for a beat before answering, "Charles and I shall follow Niko's... childishly drawn map to the dandelion shrine. Hopefully we can find something useful there that can help us stop the colorful mess, hm."

    "You want me to babysit again?" Crystal whined.

    "Not just you. Y/N will stay here to help," Edwin responded, "Think of it like this; You're babysitting Niko, and Y/N is babysitting you." He explained with a very petty smile.

~~ Edwin POV, in the forest ~~

    "All this tosh of counting cats is an exercise in humiliation." I huffed, trudging through wet leaves.

    "Well, me and Crystal could help. I bet Y/N would be glad to help too." Charles offered, "We'll make it a group effort. You know I like having Crystal around."

    "Charles, that is very clear." I paused, "but my father would call her a bob tail."

    "That's not very nice." Charles voice became more serious as he spoke, "Your dad would have called me an unlicked cub. Or worse. So, let's not worry about dads, yeah?" I looked at Charles, concerned. I knew his dad wasn't the kindest man, but I wasn't used to hearing him really talk about his dad. It was clearly a touchy subject. "You know, when you use these old-timey insults on me, I always look them up. I have to, don't I?"

    "I shall try to be nicer," I breathed.

    "Oi, you can't say much either mate. I know you like havin' Y/N around." Charles smirked while I tried to hide the slight blush creeping up my face.