Prologue: When the Raven Caws

What is Chief Princely thinking, heading out in the middle of the night? Doesn't he have his business to run? And what does Anise mean? Prologue.

Syndrome/Sindrome

Prologue; When the Raven Caws..

                Polished, black boots hit the concrete covered sidewalk in a steady, slow rhythm. Warm breath escaped chapped lips in the bitter, cold night.

The young man reached up, onto his head to fix his top hat that was just waiting to fall off, just as a freezing wind blew past. His black trench coat tails fluttered limply as he continued walking.

What was odd enough was a tiny panda, of all things, walking on two legs next to the half shivering man. It held a frown on it’s face, black sunglasses framing it’s eyes.

                “Almost there, P.H,” Smiling down at his animal companion, the fellow turned right on Johnson’s St., the sidewalk still empty. It was roughly 2 in the morning, anyways.

P.H, the panda only stayed neutral, following.

                There really was nothing weird at all that would go down in the quaint, seemingly ‘peaceful’ town of Whimshare. Nothing was weird, just unique.

Chief Princely knew this himself as he made yet another turn, left this time. Chief moved his shaggy, caramel colored bangs out of his face with a gloved hand. Heck, for a 24-year-old, he was still handsome.

                Mr. Princely blinked his light brown �" almost golden �" eyes, finally stopping at a run down shop in downtown Whimshare. It was nothing more than an art supply store �" nothing special.

 His right hand grasped the rusty, silver handle. Chief gave a tug �" locked.

P.H waddled up two of the four steps of the shop, his paws resting on the glass of the door. Even with his sunglasses on, he could easily see inside the shop.

                Bent paint cans lined up against one side of the store, while some broken paintbrushes and canvases rested on the floor, in the left corner. The counter was slightly dusty, a cobweb strung across a part of the cash register. To some eyes, it would seem the store wasn’t in use for quite some time.

                “She better be thankful for this,..” Chief let out a sigh, fogging up the glass a bit. He reached into his trench coat pocket, taking out a silver key and inserting it into the door’s handle.

It clicked with a satisfying noise when he turned it, dropping it back into his pocket. P.H had scampered in first, dust covering his petite paws as he looked around.

P.H raised his head, sniffing the air before dusting his paws off and heading towards the back of the store. Chief followed in shortly after and much to his surprise, he was engulfed in a sort of musty smell �" well, it wasn’t surprising if the store was covered in dust and cobwebs.

                The Princely man (not literally) followed his panda to the back door, pushed it open.

                P.H was settled on a pale woman’s lap, staring at her. The woman smiled down at the petite animal, but her attention soon turned to Chief.                

                “Well, finally. You took forever to show up,” she rolled her amethyst colored eyes, leaning back on the counter behind her. She was wearing black skinny jeans, black heels, a brown button-up shirt and a white apron, covered in paint splatters.

                “Lovely seeing you too, Anise,” Chief shut the door behind him, choosing to stand next to a dimly lit lamp by the door. He was staring at the canvas behind her, slightly covered. “Working on another art piece, I see,”

The woman, Anise, rolled up her sleeves, grinning. She seemed not a day older than 27, wiping her forehead. “A woman’s gotta make money for her brother of course,” Anise hopped onto the counter, P.H hopping on with her. She propped her chin up using her hand, looking bored.

                “So, information, right?” She raised an eyebrow, her dirty blond bangs sweeping in front of her face, causing her to blow them out of the way of her eyes.

Chief nodded, adjusting his scarf on his neck. “This .. new disease-“

                “Not a disease �" more like a born gift, maybe?” She took out a small pocketbook in the pocket of her apron, flipping through it. Neat, cursive handwriting was depicted from Chief’s view.

“Aha,” She found the page, handing the book to Mr. Princely.

He took it with ease, eyes scanning the page before dropping the book. His body was rigid and tense.

“F-fifteen? It hits them at fifteen? Why so young..?”

                Anise shrugged, tightening her ponytail and staring at Chief with a stern look. “No one knows for sure �" just, keep them good, Chief. Make sure they do nothing bad.. besides their job.”

 

Author's Note

Okay, so, it's just the prologue for now. I'm open for critiques! Hopefully this wasn't all too confusing.. the next chapter will provide more insight on this.

Reviews

[Juliet]

Love it! The first line got me right away, then the next lines just kept it going, this is great!
Smile On!

[halflives]

Great beginning. I was immediately drawn into this on contact. A big fan of crime stories myself, I think this one, even this far into the beginning, is exceptional. Well done.
More, sil vous plait?