"Evey," the blonde woman gazes past you, her lavender-gray eyes shining as she smiles. "There you are!"
"Hey, Vi," a clear voice responds, noticeably less-enthused than Viola's. You know this voice. Unfortunately.
Your muscles tense up. This was the confrontation you were trying to avoid by coming directly to Detective Jarndyce.
"I hadn't seen you yet today." Viola crosses one long leg over the other, leaning back in her chair with a smug expression. "You had me starting to worry."
"Yeah." Eve sounds tired, already exasperated and it's only 8:15. "Well, there's a missing corpse I had to deal with." You manage not to react to that statement. "And I can't just sit at a desk all day," she continues, pointedly.
Viola smiles briefly. "I'm actually in the middle of taking a statement as you should have noticed." She clears her throat, gesturing to you with an open palm. "This is—"
"Oh," Eve cuts her partner off. "There's no need for that." You hear something like a manila folder snapping shut before being dropped onto a desk. "I remember them."
Your heartbeat falters—if you do indeed have a heart. You spin around in the cheap, rolling desk chair. Eve is now towering over you less than half a meter away, her arms tightly crossed.
Your mind returns to Redcliff Forest three nights ago. The hellhound was leading the dogs and their handlers away from you—charging deeper and deeper into the park, getting as far from Fell Hollow as it could.
You were catching your breath in a bush, quickly realizing you'd picked the wrong shrub to hide in. Spiny thorns dug into your side, ripped the fabric across your back and shoulders, tore into the tender flesh at the base of your neck. You were about to move when loud radio static erupted from the ravine, no more than ten meters behind you. "55-A. Suspect in custody. All units report back to your commanding officers."
"10-4", Eve responded.
"Let's get out of here." Viola sighed. "This place gives me—"
A flashlight beam flicked on. It was aimed at the bush. At you.
"Eve? What is it?" Viola whispered aggressively. Her partner didn't respond. "Did you see something?"
Eve paused for a long moment. She was closing in, approaching slowly but surely. Leaves crunched beneath her feet. A twig snapped.
"Maybe," Eve murmured.
Silence.
You clenched your fists. What the hell? How had an ordinary human noticed you?
"We have to go," Viola pleaded. "There's nothing there. It's just a bush. Are you going to arrest a fucking plant?" She walked closer to Eve, whispering, "Come on. Let's get out of here." There was a playfulness to her voice that you didn't fully understand.
Shit. You didn't want to kill these two tonight, but if it came down to it—
"Fine." The spotlight drifted away. "After you."
Back in the precinct, you shift in your seat. "Right. About that—" you start to speak at the same time as Eve says, "You were the one we brought in for questioning last week. The one those kids saw at Sunnyside."
Relief washes over you. You do your best not to let it show. "Yes. Lovely to meet you again, Detective Park."
"Same to you." A dangerous smile touches her full lips. She tucks her hair behind her ear and pulls over her own desk chair. "I've been hearing a lot about you..."
Please enjoy this sketch of Eve courtesy of the lovely and incredible Vin (@fooltofancy). I cannot recommend working with her enough. Definitely go check out their other work (like this one of Adam or this one of Dev).
















