Jayden's P.O.V

I woke up with a start and a feminine scream as Constance decided to pop a balloon in my face. This had happened enough times for me not to moan, if I did it would just spiral off into an unwinnable argument between us which would last until we reached our destination. Letting out a long yawn I moved around in my seat so that I was more comfortable. I let my eyes slip closed again as sleep begged to take me away, huge mistake. In my half asleep state of mind I didn't quite register the familiar shaking sound until it was too late.

A loud HONK went straight into my left ear. I jumped out of my skin, the seatbelt pressing hard into my skin. "What was that for?!" I demanded, immediately regretting it.

"I told you I would wake you up when we were close," she replied with a smirk on her face.

Sending a glare her way I argued back, "With an air horn?! Seriously?!"

"Yes, now stop complaining, we wouldn't have this problem if you learned to stay awake." I opened my mouth but closed it again, I needed to stop it now before it got out of hand like last time. 'I can't spend another night outside in the pouring rain' I thought remembering how the last argument ended.

"Let's change the subject," I suggested biting back another yawn, "why exactly are we going here?"

Watching her face carefully I saw the smirk slip off her face, her face now emotionless showing her frustration. It had taken a lot of lessons to learn how to read her face like I could now, and even now I couldn't tell what some things meant. Like when she twirls that one strand of hair with her index finger, or when she slides her finger underneath the string of her eye patch as well as so many other things. Little things which she does which have a secret meaning, it's like trying to learn a new language. Her eye narrowed into a glare as her hands clenched and unclenched around the steering wheel.

"I will try to explain this one more time, so listen up. An acquaintance of mine went missing a few weeks ago, I got… not worried, more curious so I did a little bit of investigating online and it turns out a lot of young girls have been going missing in that area lately, so we're going there to catch this person. There's a big price on his head and it just so happens that it's on the route we were already planning to take. Is that enough of an explanation?"

"… I guess" I mumbled staring out the window as the scenery was lit up in a warming orange. I loved the sunrise but I saw it a lot more than I would have liked.

"Ah!" I screamed like a girl as the air horn attacked my ear drums again. I felt the need to hit something, the closest thing being myself, how could I be stupid enough to fall asleep again. As I looked out the window I saw that we had stopped, we were now parked outside an old looking hotel. The car door slammed closed next to me. Before I could figure out what was happening the door on my side was opened and I fell out of the door awkwardly as the seatbelt tried to hold me but only ended up making the whole experience more embarrassing. A giggle sounded above me as I struggled to try and bend my body round to try and get out of the predicament I was in. "I warned you," she reminded me.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, yes, now could you help me out here?"

"Hmm, nope, I think I'll leave you like that."

"What? No, come on! Please Constance!" I practically begged. She sighed before leaning over and pressing the red button to release my seatbelt. As soon as the seatbelt was unclipped I fell the rest of the way out of the car, grazing my face in the process, "Thank you, you are so kind," I said sarcastically as I pulled myself up. I rubbed the fabric of my shirt trying to brush off any dirt left on it before I stood up straight and gave Constance a stern look. She replied to my look with a smirk.

"Get the bags out the back of the car and take them to my room, I have to get going straight away. You are to stay here and not cause any trouble, understand?" I nodded, pulling two of the multiple bags out of the back of the car.

"You sure you do not want me to come along?" I questioned as I struggled with the heavy bags.

I heard a grunt behind me, "I think I'll be alright, you'd just get in the way kid." The she was gone, I really needed to learn how to just disappear like she did, I think she's a part time ninja… maybe I am a kid? For the rest of the journey up and down the stairs carrying numerous bags to the room on the top floor I had a pout on my face. The gears in my head were turning, trying to figure out what to do once all these bags were in our room.

"Excuse me sir?" a sweet French voice interrupted as I carried up the last bag.

"Yes?"

"You- um- you dropped these…" she explained holding up a bright pink frilly bra, my face immediately turned into a cherry. I knew that Constance wasn't the type of girl to wear something like that; she must have planted them on purpose as payback for me falling asleep. She sure is persistent.

"Thank you" I said taking the bra and shoving it in a nearby bag, "They, uh, are not mine." I reassured her. The girl nodded and walked away, her black high heels clacking on the wooden floor boards.

As I started moving again she called back, "And sir, you could always use the elevator~" Oh no, there's no way that- oh look, there it was staring me in the face. A big golden box laughing at my stupidity, how I despised feeling stupid. I guess it's my own fault though, I shouldn't have assumed that there wasn't an elevator, just like last time where I shouldn't have assumed there was one. I let out a sigh and dragged the bags across the wooden floor to where the elevator stood, my head hung in shame. Trying to let out my anger I punched the bottom for the top floor. "I can't believe I did that," I mumbled as the annoying elevator music rang in my ears.

Once at my destination I lifted the bags into the room and flopped down on the bed like a fish out of water. The bed was soft and covered in a flower patterned blanket. Lifting my arm up above my head I read the watch on my wrist, great, broke again. Just another prank I was blaming Constance for. I rolled off the bed quickly and pulled back the covers, climbing into the silky smooth bed. I would just have to time it well enough; hopefully I could wake myself up in time so that I would be up when Constance got back, if I wasn't then… I don't want to think about it. Last time ice cubes, string and buckets were involved, never a good combination. As sleep took me away into the world of fantasy all worries I had disappeared, I could deal with my abusive partner and near death experiences when I awoke, for now I got to enter my own fantasy world.

I was woken up by the sound of a door slamming shut. My eyes remained closed as I tried to fall back to sleep, not wanting to leave the comforting embrace of my covers. "Get up sleepy head," a cold voice demanded. My eyes snapped open and I sat up straight. In front of me stood the woman from before a knife in one hand which was aimed at my throat and in the other a walkie talkie. "He's still here, I'll bring him down," she said into the walkie talkie, "Get up." I followed her instructions, trying to remain calm and figure out a way out of this predicament. No such luck, my mind was racing, everything I thought of I could tell would back fire in one way or another.

As soon as I was on my feet a black cloth was wrapped around my eyes preventing me from seeing. Great, just great, I was terrible without my eyes. I had went through hours of excruciating training to try and heighten my other senses, but nothing, zip, zero results. In all honesty I wasn't much better with my eyes, but at least with them I was able to see what threats I was facing. "You're shaking, how cute~" I am? Dammit, I am, I need to calm myself down, I can't go down like this, preferably I'd like to go with a fight in fact. Yeah! What a great idea, I'll beat them all up and make a run for-

My brilliant plan was cut off with a sharp blow to the back of the head. Everything was spinning as I was forced to trudge forward. My shoulder collided with the door frame but I hardly noticed, thanks to that blow on the head I had come up with a plan- oh, now my hands are handcuffed together, this might complicate things a bit. One thing that the training had done was let me learn when edges were close by, by listening to the echoes. It was a simple yet effective trick which I only just managed to figure out. Once close to the stairs I stopped quickly and fell to the floor. I cringed as a high-pitched scream filled the air and the ladies high heels made contact with my side. After a series of thumps and bumps I tried to wiggle myself into a standing position.

It was just my luck that someone else was now making their way towards me from the stairs. "What have you done?!" the person yelled, "You will pay!" I knew I would look pathetic but I was basically out of options. Squirming I caterpillared away from the venomous voice, I didn't go very far. In less than 15 seconds the woman was on me and my world went black.

My eyes opened again to be met by nothing but darkness. I let out a groan as I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. I blinked a few times before realising that there was a rough piece of fabric covering my eyes, "What the-" I started but was cut off with a hard slap to the side of the face. My mouth immediately closed as I felt the stinging turn into a throbbing pain. Whoever it was that had slapped me said something at me that I couldn't quite catch as my ears were ringing and my head spinning. A thought arose in my mind, 'have they drugged me?' My whole body felt numb it was only when I tried to stand up that I realised the predicament I was in. I was tied to a chair with rope so tight and rough that it was rubbing into the skin of my wrists and ankles.

I let out a groan and tried to shift my unmovable body. Some yelled in my ear, it screamed something along the lines of 'stop squirming', my world was spinning too fast for me to focus on it properly. Then everything stopped.

"You're an idiot Jayden," her voice called out and set everything straight, "How many times have a saved your arse this month?"

I smile of relief came to my face, if I could have found the words I would have yelled back a reply, but nothing came out as I opened and closed my mouth. Beside me I heard a feminine chuckle followed by my hair being pulled back with bruising force and something cold and sharp being pressed against my neck.

"Don't take another step!" the lady yelled pressing the knife harder against my neck.

Constance laughed in response, "wow, real original. I had more hope for you when I picked up this case, but I guess my expectations were too high," she taunted. I inwardly sighed, 'I was used at bait again wasn't I?'

"TOO HIGH?!" she shrieked in my ear, deafening me, "I am the best criminal in all of France! I've killed 10 people in the past month alone! And the stupid police don't have any idea who I am! You call that unoriginal?!"

"Yes I do." The room went silent as the woman's blood boiled. "You disgust me."

"ENOUGH!" She shouted as the sharp object slide across my throat.

Dead End.

"TOO HIGH?!" she shrieked in my ear, deafening me, "I am the best criminal in all of France! I've killed 10 people in the past month alone! And the stupid police don't have any idea who I am! You call that unoriginal?!"

"Yes I do." The room went silent as the woman's blood boiled. "You disgust me."

"ENOU-"

"Shut up." The blade was removed from my throat; she must have been in shock. I could practically hear her shaking. "People like you don't deserve to live. You kill for nothing but sick pleasure, at least with revenge murders there's something for me to hold against the victims. Not with you. You're nothing but an animal filled with hatred, it's my job to but you out of your misery."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" She cried, "How do you know what I've been through?! I've experienced more pain then you will ever know!"

"I don't give a shit," her words were sharp and fierce; I felt fear creeping up on me, worried that she might turn on me. "You killed an acquaintance of mine. She was 12 and had dreams of becoming a police officer despite the fact that she was at the bottom of the foot chain. You let her bleed to death in an alley way." Her boots echoed on the wooden boards until they reached me. There was the sound of bone against bone followed by a thud as she hit the floor. The woman yelped like a wounded dog. "You should die right here in suffering."

"Constance do not do it!" I begged finally getting some words out.

"I said 'should' calm down Jayden." She rose back to her feet and began to walk away.

As I tried to call out to her and tell her to untie me I felt the knife plunge into my stomach, "Jayden!" Constance yelled as the darkness consumed me.

Dead End.

"You should die right here in suffering, luckily for you I don't have that kind of authority," Constance said standing up, "however, lady luck does."

"What?"

"You like games don't you? I mean you've been playing with people's lives for long enough."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Constance giggled like a school girl, the innocence made me shiver, "one flip of the coin, one decision can make life or death. Choose a side your fate is in your own hands little girl."

"Heads" she whispered as she flipped the coin into the air and fell to the floor again with a metallic sound.

"Tails~" Constance sang as there was a splattering sound behind me. A shiver ran through me as I worked out what has happened. Despite the business she was in she could be as bad as the murderers sometimes. 'How does she get away with it?'

"Come on dumbass, we need to get moving before the police get here and ask us a load of questions." Her soft hands untied the tight ropes leaving me free to rub at the tender skin.

"Thank you" I mumbled, standing up and stretching.

I saw her roll her visible eye, "just stop getting tied up, I don't care if you're into that sort of thing or not you should have better taste than that hag."

I sent a glare her way, "You are such a pervert."

"You say that like it's a bad thing, you have to joke a lot in this kind of business."

She started to walk away, but I stayed where I was. I searched around the room. On the floor by my chair was the woman who had had a knife pressed against my neck, lifeless and almost peaceful looking. I knelt down and took the knife out of her chest, wiping it off on her skirt. As I stood back up I bumped into my partner, "What're you doing?"

"I just… finger prints?" I answered uncertainly.

She raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say another word, instead she walked with me to the exit, avoiding more bodies on the way. Some had been dead for days, weeks, or maybe even months, others had fresh blood pooling around them. "Luck wasn't in their favour," Constance said coldly.

I had been partners with her long enough to know not to mess with her when she was like this. She didn't go full rage mode like this on many cases, only ones that she was connected to on an emotional level. My theory was that she was angrier with herself for having emotional attachments to people. It had taken me months to break her to the point where I was allowed on a case with her, even then she had me under constant watch, I was never left alone. My eyes watched her as she climbed into the car, pulling the door closed with a little more force than necessary. She was such a lonely person, but so was I. I guess that's why I was one of the few people close to her. Since I had met her I had been able to break down my own walls and realise my hidden potential. It may not seem like it but I do have a talent. Talking to people. I manage to get information out of people so easily; it's a gift and a curse, but mainly a tool. Thanks to this little gift of mine I feel like I'm not a burden on her, but an addition.

The loud blare of the car horn woke me from my thoughts, "Hey Tinkerbelle, get in the car before I drive off without you."

As I climbed inside the metal beast I had a smile spread across my face. "Why're you so happy?"

"No reason." I replied quickly as the car roared to life and we sped off. The time we spend in each place goes by like a flash, I'm unable to take most of it in, but I enjoy it more this way. I couldn't imagine living how I used to.