𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 | dead boy detectives

1.6| matter

winnie and edwin returns back to the butcher shop to meet up with crystal and charles, after gaining informations from the cat. winnie enters crystal room to found both her and crystal looking at a mirror "there you are! edwin and i just got new information. i could say that i make a pretty good detective" she smiled proudly as edwin enters the room after her.

"we found some information about the witch. let's go downstairs, quickly." he turned around to exit the room before turning around to face them again. "oh. and this information is only for detectives in good standing." winnie scrunch her nose at edwin. he is such a petty guy.

edwin turns around to the door again but stop when crystal clear her throat "uh okay. i'll tell you the truth." all three of us look at her expectantly waiting for her to explain.

"but it's basically a story about how i was stupid. so just-" crystal told us how she met david three months ago. at first she just fell for him like a normal girl would for a guy. but then she discovered that he was a demon. "by the time i realize what he was.. i guess it didn't matter."

edwin is in disbelief. "you knew he was a demon and you let him in?" winnie glances at edwin as he raises his voice. she guesses that this will turn into another argument much like in the alleyway. "i'm a psychic. i've seen a tons of weird things. i-i thought it was love. i was an idiot. look i never said that he possessed me against my will." she try to defend herself.

winnie didn't know what to feel about crystal's decision. trusting a demon is never a good thing. but, crystal was in love. winnie knows how love can change a rational person to make the most stupid decisions. words sweet as honey and the looks that make the knees weak, can make any girl swoon. and what's worst was the girls easily let themselves being controlled by their partner. she have seen it too many times to understand crystal.

"you knew we assumed it because 99% of the time, that's how it works." edwin became more furious. looks like her excuse of love didn't really please him. "edwin, calm down." i put a hand on his arm but he only shakes it off. "how about we take a calming breath, yeah?" charles try to help calming them but both edwin and crystal ignored him.

"look i knew he was a demon and i let him in, but he must have lied to me. it's like being trapped in a tiny box. i still don't know most of what he did. he- he wouldn't leave." she explains herself as she brush a piece of hair out of her face.

"that's brills. now you know how we feel. saved you one time on the tube, and you wouldn't leave either." he glared at her one last time before marching downstairs. winnie's eyes follow her as she sighs. she looks to the both of them.

the three of them went downstairs to the butcher shop to see edwin's pacing back and forth. he was wearing a green knitwear vest and his untied bow hanging around his shirt's collar. "it's a lark to you, playing detectives." he turns to them but stares at crystal in particular.

"do you know what happened when i die, crystal? nothing. my disappearance was labelled 'an act of god'." he says sarcastically. "and charles, the boarding school covered up what happened to him. our deaths didn't matter. no one ever solved them."

"now, you are sharp and fun, but this is not a game. we are solving cases that would never be solved. the police don't know what to do with a fucking witch!" he yelled in frustration before taking deep breaths. it was silent for a few seconds before edwin sighs sadly. "we didn't matter. he and i." he ran a hand through his hair making it looks disheveled. winnie could hear his voice crack slightly.

we didn't matter. she felt the same way too. when she was alive she never felt herself important to anyone. even to herself. she hated herself. she hated her life. maybe that's why she ended her life that day. because she doesn't matter.

"so these cases matter. they have to matter!" charles step forward. "you're right. but we haven't solved crystal's case either. doesn't have her memories back, does she?" charles give a pleading look to edwin before looking back to crystal. crystal walk slowly towards edwin "okay.. when i was in becky's mom's mind today, with all that grief and that pain, i thought, 'what if my parents are out there feeling the same about me'?"

winnie never thought of it. crystal is still a living girl. she still have a life, parents, a family. she must be scared being alone and can't even remember a thing about herself or her loved ones. winnie's mind wondered to her parents. they could hardly be called that. her parents never really pay attention to her. never really cared about her well being. she doesn't know why, but her mind try to remember her parents' face. but she failed to do so.

"i just wanna help. it does matter." crystal says softly, taking edwin's hand in hers. crystal looks into edwin's eyes pleading to atleast give her a chance. "this case matters."

winnie could see the hesitance in edwin's eyes as he looks down at her hand. his eyes flickered back up and land on winnie's face. she give him a small smile, encouraging him to accept her.

"so.. we set david aside for now?" he asks as he looks back to crystal. she nodded with a smile. "and focus on rescuing becky? yeah." edwin sighs before looking at charles. atleast now they agreed on something. "alright."

*⁠.⁠✧

a/n: so after rereading the few chapters before, i notice a few errors in terms of tenses and punctuations, so instead of going back to correct this mistakes like a responsible author should, i'm just going to leave it because i'm lazy as hell. im writing this for fun not some sort of assignment. so if you see said mistakes, kindly turn a blind eye on them.

thanks !