55 Rainy Night 1 (2/2)
”Are you certain?” The White Eagle’s face was calm as the way he looked at Garen turned vicious. ”There is no way he could have left in such a short time.”
”I’m certain!” Garen answered with conviction.
The White Eagle stared at him without blinking. He tightened the grip on his pistol when he remembered something. He slowly backed away from facing Garen. He retreated to the door and squatted down. The White Eagle used his empty hand and gently touched the ground. Suddenly, his body began to loosen up.
”You are right. There are three people’s footprints! But one of the people disappeared as soon as he stepped into the room.”
Garen felt a terrified feeling edge into his mind. He took a few steps to check. There were three sets of footprints with one set vanishing as soon as it entered the room. Due to the humidity, the other two sets were still visible.
Bang!
A sudden furious wind gusted into the room and slammed the door close. It almost hit Garen’s nose.
”The wind is picking up its speed.” The White Eagle stood up. ”I am sorry I didn’t trust you.” He apologized as he pushed against the door, it didn’t open.
”Not a big deal. The door must have locked itself, use the key to open,” Garen suggested with a grave expression. He kept alert for any movement in the surroundings. ”We need to find Dale now. He may be in dire danger right now.”
”I got it!” The White Eagle nodded and his expression became grim. He took out a set of keys and examined the labels. He picked out one to insert into the lock.
Creak, creak.
The key turned a few times in the keyhole. The door didn’t move. The White Eagle pushed again but couldn’t move it in the slightest.
”Hmm?” The White Eagled paused. ”This is not right!”
”Kick it open!” Garen also saw the problem.
The White Eagled agreed. He took a step back and kicked the door with full force.
Bang!
The door didn’t even shake. Only a flurry of dust fell to the ground.
”There is something wrong with this room!” Garen stepped back to give his companion more space.
”Go grab the stuff. I’ll kick open the door. We’ll leave this place as soon as we find Dale!” The White Eagle yelled out, feeling the absurdity of this as well.
”Ok!”
Garen sprinted back to the room they’d stayed in before and packed everything together. Just as he was about to leave the door, another sound rocked the place.
Bang!
A gunshot was heard from the hallway. Then the sound of the door cracking followed.
Garen took their belongings and rushed out. The hallway was empty, and silence returned.
The room beside them was still locked without any signs of damage.
”Then how did I hear the noise?” His head felt numb as he was certain he’d heard gunshots and the sound of door breaking. But now even the White Eagle was gone.
”Could it be because of the emblem?” He caught a trace of the cause.
He stared at the closed door. He knew that if he didn’t do anything, Dale could die in there.
”Although I have repaid your favor already, but...” He took out his pistol and aimed at the lock.
Bang Bang Bang!
Three gunshots and lock was destroyed.
He tackled the door with full force and opened it.
There was no one in the room, but the bed was moved out of its position. There was a flight of stairs leading to the first floor hidden on the ground.
Garen took a deep breath as he walked to the hidden exit and peaked down. From this angle it directly faced the first-floor ground. Dale Quicksilver lay there, motionless on the ground.
”Dale!” Without any consideration, Garen jumped down. He used a couple of rails to break his fall and landed firmly beside Dale.
”Dale! Are you okay?” He helped the detective up and checked if he was still breathing. He was.
The detective gradually opened his eyes, mumbling in drowsiness,”Below me, below me.”
Garen noticed that there was a bronze cross emblem in the place where the detective had lain. It had a visible white scratch mark, most likely done by the detective himself.
Dale begun regaining his consciousness. He sat up straight and gasped for air.
”That was dangerous! Just before, you guys disappeared all of a sudden! I managed to find an enormous secret in that room!”
”Don’t worry about that now. The White Eagle is gone!” Garen said in a stern tone. ”I just heard him break into the room, but when I got there, the door was completely fine!”
”The White Eagle is gone?” Dale looked rather calm. ”Don’t worry, he is stronger than both of us. If we are okay, then he should be all right too.”
”What do we do now?” Garen helped Dale to get up. Both of them unanimously agreed not to pick up that emblem.
”No wonder The Antique of Tragedy is known by its name. I finally witnessed it today.” Dale Quicksilver had a perplexed look as he gazed at the emblem.
He took out a gun and aimed up.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three straight shots.
The gunshots sounded oddly unbearable. The noise even supressed the sound of rain outside.
Quickly, a white shadow sprinted from the second-floor stairs and landed in front of them.
”Are you okay?” The White Eagle asked.
”I am okay!” Dale nodded. ”I just saw the Golden Loops! They definitely have something to do with this!”
”Me too! I saw a figure jump from the window and pursued him,” The White Eagle said solemnly, ”but unfortunately I didn’t manage to catch him. Follow me.”
The White Eagle took both of them out through the gate. They walked to the left side of the castle and into a small hut.
A dead body covered in black lay lifeless inside the hut. Blood dripped from its chest and rolled onto the grass field before being diluted by the pouring rain.
”Golden Loop Number 114.”
The White Eagle threw the golden loop at Dale.
”Golden Loops’ hundred numbered member. Of course they’re the ones causing headaches!” He walked beside the body to examine it. He asked The White Eagle for some specific details before he starting to analyze based on logic and deduction.