The Heroes of Little Springs

The banshee screamed and pulled frantically upon feeling a claw in her back. Quiver used this time to ready another arrow and send it flying. Now that the banshee was in a more stable position, she managed to cut a large chunk of its flesh off the bottom of its forearm.

Before Quiver could fire another arrow, the banshee forcefully tugged at the Crusader which would send him flying if he didn't do something. It was only a few short seconds but it was enough time for the banshee to break free of her bonds and take to the sky. The speed and close proximity of her flight forced Quiver to move back. Purposely, Quiver stepped towards where the Crusader was.

"Thanks," she said. "So, find anything good?"

Quiver took aim towards the banshee. But she held onto her arrow as it was difficult to see the banshee's exact outline when she flew in the moonlight: her silvery color tended to blend with the moon not to mention her arms were still a bit shaky. She then fired but the banshee dodged it.

Slowly, the banshee was starting to disappear.

Able to ensure a clean hit and Quiver's safety with his action, Crusader quickly unlatched the rope from his armor compartment, as the entity began to take action and retreat. Merely leaping and stepping forward several times, he was able to keep his balance from the Banshee's sudden move.

Once he was free and both were out of the Banshee's grip, he was certain it wouldn't attack again, and would simply retreat when discretion was on its side once again. It was a rather irritating pattern, that he took note of, with all the encounters they've had.

He didn't pay any mind to Quiver's actions to further provoke or fight the Banshee, as he knew it would be futile. "I didn't learn much." He remarked, "Except that one of the first victims had relatives by the name of O'Neil."

He slowly pulled out two pictures of the crime and murder scenes. "And these pictures." He stated, showing them off. He figured it would be better to show them in person then to describe. "Caroline Keen's case looks like the sloppy work of an amateur, while the others were more clean."

Seeing that the Crusader chose to no longer pursue the banshee, at least for the time being, Quiver put her arrows back. She then looked at what the Crusader had found.

Her eyes squinted as she tried to read the Crusader's notes in the poor lighting as well as look over the pictures.

"You're right; the only thing connecting the two is the blunt force trauma to the head. The police probably assumed that this serial killer learned a thing or two before striking again." Quiver tried to suppress a smirk but there were still hints present upon her face. "But they don't know that there's a banshee involved."

"It's nothing to be happy about." Crusader replied, slightly annoyed. Not at her, but at the situation at hand. "We already knew there was a banshee involved. We hardly learned a thing and now have more clues piling up every second." He added, twisting the pictures to his side, before pointing to Keen's murder picture.

"This work is sloppy, why?" He asked, pinpointing some features on the picture with his finger. "The ground is muddied, their are footprints all over, not belonging to the girl, and it looks like they were trying to hide the crime." He finished, pulling away from the picture. "Why would a banshee be worried about hiding their crime? It doesn't match up with Spacey's murder at all."

"That's the point," Quiver said, now frowning due to the Crusader's irritated state. She then pointed to what he was talking about on the picture. "This murder was done by a human. Even if the banshee wanted to leave a trail, I doubt she'd leave the trail of a man behind." She pointed towards the muddied footprint which, as the Crusader had known earlier, was obviously a man's shoe. "If anything, it'd be a woman or hag."

She then took the picture regarding Spacey's murder.

"But this one's the banshee. There's no trace of anything living. And he's got bloody ears. Considering the banshee likes to scream a lot, I'd say she did this one."

Quiver then handed back the picture to the Crusader.

"I understand that," Crusader remarked, due to Quiver's frown and lengthy and condescending lecture. "But we still have no leads. Keen was killed by a human, as I was implying, and then the banshee begins to show up. Not to mention they steal the first victim's identity." He explained. "What I am getting at, is who was the first murderer? Maybe there is some connection."

"But what if the banshee didn't steal Keen's identity?" Quiver asked. There was a hint of hesitance present in her voice as she wasn't sure how the Crusader would react to her idea. "There's your connection then."

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions." Crusader remarked, his tone not denying or accepting her theory. "Maybe we should focus on who the first murderer was."

"Okay then, got any ideas?" Quiver asked as she waited patiently for a possible answer.

"Unfortunately I don't have any complete solid evidence." Crusader started off, before continuing. "I also went to Keen's apartment and talked to her Uncle who she frequented a lot. He wasn't too cooperative, but at this time of the hour, that's expected."

Removing a crumpled note in his pocket, he smoothed it out fully. "Keen kept a planner of her daily chores, and apparently lived alone, but there was a date set aside belonging to someone else. That wasn't enough to go on, but her Uncle O'Neil led me to believe it's her boyfriend Bobby." He explained, handing over the planner's detailed schedule, which he jotted down on paper.

Quiver looked over the times and listened to the Crusader intently.

"Looks to me like she thought he was cheating on her. I mean, unless he had something important to do every Wednesday night."

"He worked for her uncle, often at odd late hours. At least that's what the police report stated." Crusader explained, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to pay him a visit. He might even be working 'late' at this company, right now." He finished, using the word late very loosely.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Quiver said and without another word, she started walking towards the exit.

The building in which both Bobby and Caroline's uncle was a very tall one. In fact, it was probably one of the tallest buildings in the city. A skyscraper, one with thick glass windows running up and down the building's exterior. It was clearly a new, modern building.

Although it was late, there were still security guards waiting by the front door for anyone who might be trying to enter the building.

Slowly Crusader crept through the waning midnight hours, until they came across their building of interest. It was rather large and set in one of the more prosperous sections of Little Springs. While skyscrapers were not a rarity within the town, as it harbored all statuses of living, it was still a sight to behold.

The security wasn't too tight, because of the time of the hour, but there were still the watchful eyes of guards. Normally these midnight guards were often a joke, slackers who wanted an easy job where they could screw around. Hopefully these were those kinds of people, otherwise this would prove more difficult.

"I remember this place." Crusader remarked quietly, hidden behind a bush within the offices parking lot. "We did renovations here, so I know the layout."

The guards were, as the Crusader predicted, on the lazy side. They merely stared blankly at the dozens of security camera screens. However, the two were dozing off and clearly not focusing very much.

"Lead the way then," Quiver said as she too hid behind the bush, not making a sound.

Hidden within the bushes, Crusader now began his operation of infiltration. Silently and within the shadows, he slipped through the parking lot, without an ounce of difficulty, and managed to squeeze against the building's walls.

He stood far away from any source of light and what appeared to be mechanical sentries, before inspecting and analyzing the situation at hand and best solution around these obstacles. Ejecting one of his circular and sharp discs slowly, he angled it in his hand, so that the moonlight glared onto it. With the angle and position found, he then screened it onto the nearby security camera, which became rather blurry from the light. At least long enough for the two to slip through the main entrance undetected.

However from there, he was uncertain where to go. Of course he had worked on this building a number of times because of his construction contract, but such a job never detailed where Bobby, Keen's boyfriend would be.

It wouldn't do any good to stand around idly, perhaps the receptionists desks would have some sort of clue.

After seeing the Crusader's clever trick, Quiver followed with the little time they had to get into the building undetected.

While the two were unaware of where Bobby was, if he was in the building at all, finding him would not be as difficult as they had thought. For, the security guards stared at multiple screens throughout the building. And, in one of those screens, it was clear the lights were on and someone was working late.

From where the two were, there was a corner for the two to peek over and see the multiple screens in addition to the two guards.

Observing the guards and monitors in front of them, within their concealed location, Crusader attempted to find where this Bobby might be. However in such a dark room, with tiny monitors, it was quite hard to make out the details of each screen. Still the screens that were too hard to make out were discarded, as it meant the lights weren't on.

If Bobby was working late as he always does, he would need to work in a room where the lights were still on. At least that's what the normal person would do, unless he was up to something. Shaking that thought, he spotted a few different monitors, where the lights were on. There seemed to be a figure in one of the monitors, where the light was on, which was moving about. From such a distance and a tiny screen it was hard to fully see, but it was still noticeable as a human, possibly working late. Hopefully this was their next suspect, Bobby.

With that in mind, now proved the challenge of locating this room. "Judging by the monitors position, I'd suggest they're on the upper-levels." Crusader remarked in the lowest whisper he could muster.

Quiver merely nodded, acknowledging that she had heard the Crusader and would follow him to the upper level. She didn't want to say anything if not necessary for fear of potentially gaining the guards attention.

In order to get to the upper level, one could either take the stairs or elevator. However, the elevators were more likely to possess some sort of camera as opposed to the stairs.

Once they had assumed their next course of action, the two broke from their hiding spot, and came towards a set of stairs and an elevator. While the elevator might get them to where they need to be going more quickly, it was also monitored.

While the stairs were the least monitored, their were probably still night guards making their rounds. To make matters worst, there wasn't much ground to use for cover if a guard happened to come in their sight. Taking this into account, Crusader pressed the elevators button.

It opened immediately, lights pouring from inside. He however didn't enter and only brought his arm in, to push several of the higher floor levels buttons. Once he was sure he had hit enough, he removed his hand and awaited the doors to automatically to shut, which they did.

Once it was fully closed, the elevator rose upwards, whirling as it did so. Without a pause, he then shoved his hands onto the metallic doors, pulling them apart, and revealing the elevators skeletal structure.

Determining the floor the light was on, by the position of the monitor, Crusader pinpointed the door of interest. Immediately he aimed and launched his grapple hook, pulling tightly to ensure that it was safely situated.

Once he was sure it was sturdy, he looked to Quiver. "There's always another option." He remarked, before he began his ascent.

Quiver followed the Crusader into the elevator. At first, she was going to protest, not knowing exactly what his plan was. However, she knew that if she dared to protest now, she would risk them both getting caught as the security guards were nearby.

So instead she watched the Crusader as he opened the elevator and exposed the exterior of the shaft.

"Works for me," Quiver replied and she quickly followed him up the rope.

The climb would be a long one as the upper level was a ways. But Quiver did not seem to mind. In fact, in an odd way, she seemed to be enjoying it. Though, of course, she didn't say anything on her feelings regarding it. She merely climbed.

Once Crusader reached the top, where his hook was latched onto a nearby railing, he attempted his best to maintain footing on what little ground was provided. He didn't undo his rope or grapple just yet, as Quiver was still climbing up it, and instead focused on the door and elevator hanging above them.

If he recalled correctly, he pressed two more buttons, which meant it had two more levels to reach, before its descent below. If they couldn't pry open these doors in time, they would likely succumb to a horrible death.

Prying the doors open, in the same fashion from before, they opened grindingly. With little time to spare, Crusader aided Quiver to ground level, before undoing his grapple hook just in time, they had made it to their intended level safely and undetected.

Now that they were out of the dangerous elevator shaft, Quiver relaxed a little. Trying to get out of an elevator shaft while avoiding certain death was not as fun as the movies made it out to be.

"Where to next?" Quiver asked as she started looking around the hall they were now in for potential security cameras. She spotted one down the hall though it was currently facing the opposite direction. She kept an eye on it in case it moved.

"I said I renovated parts here," Crusader remarked, "Not that I was Bobby's personal assistant." He added, observing the hall they were in. While their were cameras about, they were all too far away to catch a glimpse of them. That would all change whenever they started to move again.

In the meantime, with the safety of the darkness, he observed his surroundings, hoping to find a room which was lit. There didn't seem to be any within this long stretch of the hall, but there were still several more rooms around each corner.

Rushing to the other side of the hall, he squeezed to its borders, slowly slipping underneath the camera, which Quiver had spotted. Upon reaching the other corner, he slowly peered his head out first, in order to give the dim hall a quick sweeping.

This section also held a darkened hall, countless blackened rooms, however there was a vague glimmer beyond, which was easily identifiable as a light source, which was currently on. Beckoning Quiver forward, they made haste, but as concealed as possible towards this room.

The light was emitting from the door's window, but because it wasn't of clear glass, and of some kind of creamy sheet, most of everything inside, but the light, was impossible to see. However a light was on and there sounded to be someone inside, so Crusader slowly gripped his hand on the handle, before staring at Quiver for some sort of reply or acknowledgment.

"You didn't look at the label above the camera?" Quiver asked though she spoke lowly to the point where the Crusader may or may not of heard her.

She followed him past the security camera and towards where the light was seeping from underneath the door. Upon the Crusader's gripping the handle, Quiver nodded as she held onto her bow in one hand and had an arrow ready to go just in case.

Upon opening the door, Bobby sat at the computer, typing away. However, his eyes were swollen from either tiredness, grieving, or both. He rubbed his eyes as the night drew on.