|| Chapter I - Unknown (Temp Title: Those Who Wish to Shed Light)

|| Author - Kamui Kun

~Ugghhh. my head hurts,~ Terrence complained to himself, rubbing

both of his temples in hopes of relieving the stingy migraine that

had been bothering him for the past hour. He let his body rest back

on his comfortable desk chair as he took a quick break from his

investigation that had taken over the general portion of his daily

routine. For over six hours he had remained locked up in this

solitary office chamber, scanning the documents atop his table - all

of which contained photos and reports of the strange and mysterious

murder incidents from the past months. Even though he put up a big

effort to shed light on the past events, he still found not a damn

clue on what or who might have caused such gruesome acts of sadism.

~Nothing. absolutely nothing. What am I missing? Maybe I'm looking

at this from the wrong point of view. Maybe I."

The loud, irritating, high-pitched ringing sound of his desk phone

shook him out of his contemplation and sent him back into reality.

As if drained and void of all energy, he blearily reached for the

receiver and picked it up, bringing the red, elongated object near

his tired and weary face. "Hello? Yes, this is Lexis Terrence," A

long pause ensued as Terrence listened to the caller's story. The

tiredness on his face suddenly disappeared, leaving a more serious

expression as he felt the sense of urgency from the voice on the

other end. "Another incident? Can you give me the address? Okay,

I'll be right there."

Quickly but gently, the investigator dropped the line and swiftly

rose from his desk. Scampering towards the far-end corner of his

room, the man in his mid-twenties quickly grabbed his long, dark

blue overcoat and snatched his patented brown hat from the worn down

coat stand. He could not leave with out these two as both were

essential components in any investigator's wardrobe.

"Hey! Vivi! Let's go! We've got another one!" Terrence screamed to

the front adjacent room, finally grabbing a small notebook and a

black pen lying on top of his wooden desk before setting off for the

job at hand.

"Coming! Coming!" called a woman wearing thick glasses as she burst

right through the office door, somewhat startling even the

investigator who was casually waiting for her inside. Albeit smaller

than her male employer, the female secretary was a character that

could liven up any situation through her sheer perky nature and easy

going demeanor - not bad for an overseas Filipina worker. "Hey! So

who's it this time? Huh? Huh? A guy? Huh? Huh? Is he cute? Huh? Huh?

Does he have a girlfriend? Huh? Huh?"

"Get a hold of yourself, Vivian!" reprimanded the very much

irritated Terrence, eyeing down the girl with those deep black eyes

like he always does to stop her with her childish antics. "We're

working tonight, not playing hookup, okay?"

The woman frowned back, obviously disappointed by her employer's

last words. "Awww. you're no fun, Lexis! I'm not paid enough for

this job."

"It can't be helped, Vivi. That's all the money that I have to offer

you. Besides, I never hired you. You volunteered for this job,

remember?"

"Kainis naman ito oh!" Vivi murmured her difficulties to herself,

careful not to let her boss hear her complaints. "Walang kwentang

lalaki! Sabi ko na ba dapat nag-nursing na lang ako sa Pinas tapos

nag-abroad. Mas malaki pa sana ang kita ko ngayon!

But he caught the last few words, even if he knew now what they

meant. "What did you say?"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! It's nothing, sir!" Vivi gave one of her innocent,

heartwarming smiles, leading the way out of the room for the

inspector who looked at her with those suspicious eyes. "Let's get

going, Boss Lexis! The world awaits us!"

BTW, not all Filipinos are like Vivi. She's purely fictional. =)

Filipino Part Translation (the best I could do): This is so

irritating! He's so useless! I should've studied nursing back in the

Philippines and then went abroad. If I did, I would have gotten a

bigger pay.)

For future additions: Vivi mostly speaks English and only speaks

Filipino when she really needs to or if she really means it. You

don't have to make her speak it if you don't want to. All you need

to know is that she's perky and innocent and easily irritated.