Chapter 99: Chapter 99. ‘X’ marks the spot

-*-

I pretended to rouse even though I never blacked out, to begin with, rolling over to my stomach with a fake groan. That had worked a little too well.

"Have a nice nap?" A sultry voice asked and I could smell cigarette smoke wafting through the musty room.

"Wha... What?" I chose to go with acting disoriented, trying to sit up.

Celeste ate up my act up, hook, line, and sinker. She walked closer to pat my hair, making me narrow my eyes. "You don't need to worry your handsome self, you're in good hands." She beamed, blowing a cloud of smoke on my face.

I fell back when she pushed me, staying down this time. I watched her without lifting my head as she walked up to a cupboard drilled into the wall.

"... was hoping he wouldn't wake up." Celeste muttered to herself, the sounds of a drink spilling into a glass coming from the cupboard.

"Come on, sit up." She urged me when she came back after a few moments, brandishing a cup.

A familiar scent wafted from the cup, it was just soda but there was something else in it.

"Drink this, it'll help you feel better." She offered, bringing the cup to my lips.

I glanced from her face to the cup that was being brought closer to my lips, I might currently be pretending to be shit-faced drunk but if I took even a sip of whatever in that cup, I would be gone for real.

Riding on the waves of being drunk, I batted the cup out of her hands, rolling away when the cup flew out of her hands so that the contents of the cup wouldn't get on me.

Celeste froze in shock when the spiked soda splashed all over her dress, her red lips parting open to show her surprise. She glanced down at me, her face twisting maliciously. "You little shit…"

I scrambled further away when she lifted a hand to hit me, unable to hide my shock at this change of attitude. I quickly looked for a way to subdue her but after a glance at her it seemed like I wouldn't have to.

Celeste froze again, this time not in shock but in horror, a single drop of the drink had gotten in her mouth. She glared at me in betrayal as she started to lose her balance, falling forward to land face-first on my legs.

I pushed her away with a disgusted kick, getting to my feet and dusting my clothes. The past ten minutes had been an absolute roller coaster. I had handed an unconscious Andrée to a waitress before pretending to be inebriated so that I could escape the after-party without questions.

The plan was to keep it up till I was out of the crowd's line of sight but then I had been intercepted by the very person I planned to trail, and the only option then was to keep up the act.

Then I had gotten dragged out of Blackmore Alley to this dingy one-roomed apartment and the pieces of the puzzles started to fall into place. I had heard of the serial killer 'X' of course, it was all over the media, both in the Wizarding World and the World of Muggles but to think that Celeste would be the one.

I paced across the length of the claustrophobic room, thinking of what to do with this rather interesting find. I would still get useful information from her, of course, but what to do with her afterward?

I could just turn her over to the Ministry, it would certainly solve a lot of their problems and make them owe me even more favors. I wasn't interested in working for the Ministry and in the same vein, I wasn't interested in making enemies out of them.

Celeste wouldn't be missed if she suddenly disappeared but if she was left unchecked, sooner or later, she would cause serious problems. Not to mention, she had actively tried to kill me.

-*-

… Auror Headquarters…

… Level Two, Ministry of Magic Headquarters…

Hazel was just packing up for the night when the sound of her name alerted her, making her glance up in surprise. There was only a handful of Aurors left including Giselle and they were all working overtime. She should have closed up for the day but had to finish filing a report.

"Mr. Potter?" She exclaimed in surprise, not expecting him to still be around. The rest of the team had already left hours ago but she didn't want to leave without completing the task at hand.

"I need you to accompany me to investigate a report that I just got." Harry relayed with an undertone of urgency in his voice.

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Hazel was caught off guard again, it was evident from Mr. Potter's mannerisms but she had to ask to be sure. "Right now?"

"Yes." He muttered, turning around to lead the way. "A call came in scant minutes ago saying they had caught 'X'."

Hazel had to catch herself so she wouldn't faceplant on the ground. "W-What?!" She could understand now why the investigation had to be carried out tonight.

There was a huge chance that it was merely a prank call or something more sinister but if on the slim chance that 'X' the Night Slasher had finally been caught, it would be worth making the night trip to investigate the call.

It would also be a dream come through. After months of sleepless nights and backbreaking work, Hazel was immensely curious as to just who would be able to achieve what a sturdy team of Aurors couldn't.

"Where did the person call from?" She asked curiously, increasing her pace after finding out the purpose of their late-night excursion.

"Downtown, Slough." Harry said curtly, distracted. "I'll relay the information to the rest of the team and ask them to meet up with us at the site of the report, this could also turn out to be a trap, we can't be too careful.

Hazel gulped when Mr. Potter said her fears out loud. It was too good an offer to pass up on which made it all the more dangerous. She wondered what they would find at the location given to them by the caller.

-*-

I paced impatiently, constantly checking the time. Behind me, a tied-up Celeste was constantly cursing and hissing at me. I had thought multiple times about gagging her but I had to keep a decent image in front of the Aurors.

Talking about the Aurors, how long was it going to take them to get here? I did their job for them, yet they were taking their time coming to clear everything up.

It had surprisingly been very easy to get useful information out of Celeste. After she regained consciousness and realized the situation she had gotten into, she was quick to tell the truth about Elaina when I asked.

I knew that her cooperation was rooted in hatred and disdain for Elaina and the hope that Elaina would somehow share her fate. I had no plans of using the information I got against Elaina though, unless she gave me a reason to of course.

Now, I just needed the Aurors to get the loud woman off my hands so that I could return back home but they were yet to arrive. What? Were they walking here?

A knock alerted me to their presence at the door, I turned to look at it. "About damn time." I muttered under my breath, waiting for them to figure out themselves that the door wasn't locked.

I slipped my hands into my pocket when the door swung open, waiting expectantly. The Auror in front… my brows dropped low on my head… Harry Potter lighted his wand as he stepped in.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?"

I started to speak only to halt again, my brows dropping lower when I caught sight of Potter's partner… I should have just dealt with Celeste myself.

"Unfortunately." I replied blankly. Now that the Ministry was involved, I would be required to leave a statement, I didn't want to spend any more time here.

I had also tweaked Celeste's memory a bit. The Witch was homicidal, she would try to take down the entire Blackmore Alley with her if she could. So I permanently altered her memory, placing a ticking time bomb on her as well for guarantee.

"Audric Albeline?!" Harry exclaimed at the same time that a loud gasp came from Hazel.

I stared blankly, it was obvious, was it not? But I humored them anyway and nodded, stepping to the side to reveal a tied-up Celeste. "Here's your serial killer…" I pointed out.

Both Aurors just blinked at me like they had forgotten the reason why they came here. Harry was the first to recover.

"Oh, yes, of course." He strode forward, putting a formal mask on. "I'll have to trouble you for an official statement, could you come over to the Ministry tomorr…"

I frowned. "My statement cannot be taken now?" I had no intentions of entering the Ministry building and I knew they wanted me there just so that they could recruit me into their force.

I looked up to find Hazel staring at me like she had seen a ghost. I looked her up and down then turned to give my attention to Harry and the Witch that had tried to kill me.

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