Fact Finder: The Show Must Go On

by Zombi

Dammit Instinct...

Fact Finder: The Show Must Go On

-Chapter 2: Dammit instinct...-

Fact Finder awoke in her apartment. At least, she felt like she had just woken up, but she knew for a fact that she had been conscious the entire time. The mare found herself leaning against the door; rainwater dripping from her trembling form, onto the soft, cream carpet. She raised her head to see that every lock had been drawn with great haste, as if she had wanted to stop something getting in... Then it all came back to her.

She could not remember exactly what she had seen; only brief flashes. The soaking unicorn could remember the dead grey coat... the leathery wings... the crimson eyes... and the teeth. Fact Finder's pounding heart skipped a beat as she recalled the razor sharp maw of teeth.
"Oh, Celestia... oh, Celestia..." She rested her head in her hooves, on the precipice of bursting into a flood of uncontrollable tears. She could not even remember running. But she must have done, otherwise she would not be here, in her warm, safe apartment. What was that? It was couldn't have been a pony... It was some kind of... monster. Could it have been a... vampony? Fact slapped herself in an attempt to beat some sense back into her overwhelmed mind. "Don't be stupid..." She hissed at herself firmly. "There's no such thing..." A zombie? "Shut up!" She yelled, her voice cracking slightly. Ace raised his head; startled by his distressed master's raised voice. The frightened mare tried to relax, but she could not purge the horrific image from her mind. What if it was the murderer? She froze for a second, Then groaned loudly. "Perfect... I just let him go..." She staggered to her hooves and shakily made her way to the bedroom, turning off the lights as she went. Once the scarlet-maned mare had crawled under the soft covers of her bed, she found herself deep in thought. "Then again, what if it wasn't the murderer?" She had no proof... And what was she going to tell the commissioner? Storming into his office with ramblings of grotesque vamponies falling into alleys would surely only buy her a one-way ticket to being suspended, or even worse, the madhouse. She turned onto her side, frowning broadly. But then again... This was too unusual to not tell him. And Commissioner Stars had been a close family friend since she was only a filly; he would listen to her. Surely he would take her seriously. "Yeah..." Fact closed her eyes. "I'll tell him in the morning... I just need sleep...." But Fact Finder could not sleep... as she was haunted by the nauseating after images of what she had witnessed.

-------------- The next morning------------

"Wow." The Commissioner raised an eyebrow, crossing his large, coal-coloured forelegs as he regarded Fact with surprise. "You hit the bars pretty hard last night, didn't you?" Fact Finder found it almost impossible to believe what she was hearing.
"Sir, I know what I saw!" She was quickly losing her patience. "It was there! This... This... thing! Right in front of me! It had wings and... and teeth and eyes like-" The heavy stallion on the other side of the wooden desk waved his hoof, silencing her. He pushed a mound of paperwork aside and leaned forward, resting his chin on his hooves; staring at Fact intently. There was a long, awkward silence. The only sounds came from outside the office, of muffled chatter and the clopping of hooves against the hard floor. It slowly dawned on Fact Finder how crazy she must have sounded that moment.
"Fact..." Stars sighed at last, breaking the agonizing silence. "There is a murderer on the loose.... This murderer has claimed 16 victims... We have no witnesses, no leads... You're supposed to be working on cracking this case wide open. But here you are, running to me with stories of strange creatures with bat-wings outside your apartment block?" Fact shuffled in the plastic chair. Stupid... She scalded herself. This was a stupid idea... Commissioner Stars pulled something out from a drawer in his desk, before showing it to her. It was a photograph of Fact when she was just a filly. Her scruffy, unkempt mane brought back memories. She had never been a girly girl; quite the opposite. "I remember when I used to pick you up from school. It seemed you were always a detective. I looked forward to hearing the stories of the little crimes you solved on your lunch break. Remember Prissy Prance and her stolen mane clip?" Fact nodded, struggling to prevent her smile from showing. "You tracked it down and returned it to her. But you didn't accept any reward... I will never forget what you said. You said-"
"It's my job..."
"Yep. It was then I realised you were always meant for the role." He jabbed a hoof toward her sternly. "But you gotta take the job seriously. Unless you can get me proof of this... creature's existence, I'm not interested. Got it?" The mare nodded again, solemnly. What else could she do?
"Yes, sir..."
"right..." He waved her away with a hoof. "dismissed." Fact Finder rose from the chair, trying oh-so hard to suppress the groan which was eager to escape, and left the room quietly. A slender pegasus breezed passed her on the way out.
"S'cuse me!" She exclaimed breathlessly. Fact merely grunted in reply. She needed a drink. As she made her way towards the exit, something caught her attention. Just before the office door closed behind the hurrying pony, she squeaked. "There's been another one..." It didn't take a detective to work out what that had meant. Fact stopped in her tracks; rage slowly building up within her. She needed to get her act together and catch this monster before he took another innocent life.
"And I will..." She growled. "Oh, I swear to Celestia, I will..."

After an inevitably fruitless trip to the scene of the crime, Fact returned home. But as she made her way up the winding stairs of the block and reached the door to her apartment, she was greeted with something rather unexpected. There was a note pinned to the door. Confused and curious, the unicorn removed it carefully with her magic, and read the writing upon scrap of paper carefully. Fact Finder could not quite believe what she was reading... This seemed to be a day for the unbelievable...

I am truly sorry for frightening you last night. I would very much like to speak with you and apologise. Please meet me at the train station tonight at 12. Or do not, if that would be inconvenient.

Fact blinked. The note wasn't signed, but really, it didn't need to be. Is this guy serious? she thought. Her brain was in a muddle as she attempted to make sense of this. It was most likely an attempt to eliminate her, probably because she had set eyes on him. But, why like this? It would have made far more sense if he had posed as an anonymous source; offering information on the case. Even then, she would have been cautious, but come on... It was as if he wasn't even trying. Yet for some unknown reason, he chose to be...Himself. "Weird..." She murmured quietly, opening the door and bracing herself for another warm welcome from Ace. The scarlet-maned detective's common sense was screaming at her, begging her not to go. But if this... grotesque creature was in fact the murderer, this may be her one chance to catch him, before he claims yet another unfortunate victim... Which hopefully won't be me...

-------------- Midnight------------

The station was astonishingly dark; illuminated only by the flickering lamps; their amber glow failing to repel the surrounding shadows. It was also incredibly empty; making it the perfect location for an ambush. Fact slowed her breathing, trying to remain calm and collected, with only her echoing hoofsteps for company. Scarcely a train rushed by... While she kept her outward emotions thoroughly in check, inside, the unicorn was in a state of emotional turmoil. Her heart was pounding and her stomach lurched violently. She felt as if her breakfast was about to make a surprise reappearance.The icy air sank its invisible teeth into her flesh as she examined her surroundings with utmost caution. Not that the mare could see much... She nearly jumped out of her skin as the wind picked up, rustling old scraps of paper and litter across the damp concrete... a newspaper brushed her leg, causing her to shiver. The quaking detective's horn and the paper were enveloped in a mystical green aura, as she picked it up and strained her emerald eyes to read the headline:

Hunt for Atom Discharge dropped

Fact Finder frowned and tossed the paper away with a heavy sigh, allowing the wind to catch it and sweep it into the night. Growing increasingly impatient, she called out. "Okay, I'm here! Just as you wanted!" She growled, fiercly. "Show yourself!" For a while there was no response, until a hushed shuffling noise caused her to whirl and stare at the source. The very creature who had appeared outside her apartment block. Her breath caught in her throat as the horrifying memory returned to her. The dull grey coat, the bone white muzzle, the leathery wings, the crimson stained lips, the dagger-like teeth... and the eyes... like blazing ruby rings in a sea of darkness... It stood before her, the nightmarish vision, mere metres away, regarding her with curiosity and what looked like... Fear? At last it spoke.
"Ah... w-well, yes... I..." It said in a quivering voice, wringing it's hooves anxiously. Despite his tone, he sounded like a rather sophisticated speaker, although there was a slight growl in his trembling voice. While this behaviour was certainly unexpected, Fact kept her guard up. She was certain that this... thing was the elusive murderer... intent on making her his next victim. "I... I suppose I should introduce myself... M-My name's Zombi..." He continued, extending a cold hoof toward her. Fact Finder gazed at the hoof in shock for a few short seconds, before extending her own...

... Which impacted upon the stallion's face, knocking him to the hard ground, unconscious.

Fact dared not move for a while as she tried to figure out what had just occurred. She groaned loudly and her hooves flew to her forehead when she realised at last.
"Dammit instinct..."

End of Chapter

Comments

[primalcorn1]

Intriguing...I'll be keeping track of this

[Zombi]

Thank you ^//^