Chapter 154: A Very Bad Morning
The next morning, before heading to the office, William told Dennis not to go to the park near their house because it was closed. A triple homicide had occurred there yesterday with three hunters as the victims; although a suspect had already been arrested, the investigation was still ongoing. Dennis was pretty shocked when he heard the news.
"Is this area actually becoming dangerous now, Dad? It always felt safe before," Dennis said, confused.
"I’m not sure. We’ve never had an incident like this before, but if the perpetrator could kill three hunters—and we know their skills are no joke—then the killer is quite dangerous and must have at least the same level of ability as a hunter. I need you to be careful at home. If someone comes by, check the cameras first; don’t just open the door," William said.
"Yeah Dad, I get it," Dennis replied.
"Alright then... your mom and I are heading to the office. Watch the house... and don’t let Destiny stay outside too long," William added.
"Yeah, yeah... don’t worry, I know," Dennis replied.
"Bye now, Mom’s leaving. I’ll buy some baby food for Destiny on the way home," Elenor said.
"Okay, okay... she can’t eat much yet, so don’t buy too much," Dennis replied.
"Mom knows, don’t you worry," Elenor replied.
"We’re off then, son," William said.
"Drive safe," Dennis replied.
After William and Elenor left, Dennis closed the door and walked back into the living room. Today, Dennis was home alone because Daisy, Diana, Dahlia, Donna, Deborah, Dulcia, and Daphne had gone to Martha’s apartment. Martha had taken the day off specifically to host them. The seven of them took Destiny along, and since they wanted to spend quality time with their mother, Dennis didn’t go with them—though they asked him to pick them up later that afternoon. After sitting down on the sofa, Dennis leaned back to relax.
"A murder in the park. There’s always something," Dennis thought to himself.
He turned on the television, and a news report was just starting about a fitness influencer and personal trainer who had been arrested for the blatant murder of three hunters in an open area. Dennis’s eyes widened when he saw the mugshot displayed on the screen. That face was unmistakably Chad’s.
"Huh... the killer is Chad? No way," Dennis wondered to himself.
Then it clicked; several dots immediately connected. Yesterday, three hunters had come to the house with Chad, and William had just said the murder location was near the park. Dennis stood up abruptly.
"No way—the ones who were killed must be the hunters who came to my house yesterday... man, this is a mess," Dennis said in his head.
Suddenly, the proximity alarm signaled someone was in front of the house, followed by the "ding dong" of the doorbell. Dennis immediately looked toward the door, then pressed the remote to pull up the front camera feed on the TV. His eyes widened when he saw three police officers standing there—a middle-aged man, likely in his 40s, who looked like a detective, accompanied by two uniformed officers.
"Here we go... trouble has arrived," Dennis muttered in his head.
He walked straight to the door and opened it, standing in the doorway as he looked at the three men on the other side.
"Can I help you, officers?" Dennis asked.
"Good morning, sorry to bother you. My name is Lucas Rivera, detective with the RCPD. There are a few things I’d like to ask you. Do you recognize this man?" Lucas asked, holding up Chad’s mugshot.
Dennis’s jaw tightened even though he had already anticipated this. He pretended to carefully study the detective’s smartphone.
"Yes... I know him," Dennis said as he stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him.
"All right. Was he here yesterday? And—this might sound ridiculous—did you put a curse on him?" Lucas asked.
"A curse? What kind of curse?" Dennis asked, confused, clearly swallowing hard to keep from laughing.
"Some kind of shadow that emerged from his body and then finished off those three hunters?" Lucas asked.
Hearing Lucas’s words, Dennis couldn’t hold it back anymore; he burst out laughing at the sheer absurdity of it. But Lucas didn’t laugh, and he didn’t even smile. Seeing this, Dennis immediately killed his laughter so as not to seem disrespectful.
"I’m sorry, but what you said is actually hilarious. He did come here with three hunters, and they were talking about a flat tire. If you’re willing to wait, I can grab a recording from inside to show you. May I get my phone?" Dennis asked.
"Fine, go ahead," Lucas replied, his face remaining flat.
Dennis stepped inside for a moment to grab his smartphone from the coffee table. As he did, he spoke in his head.
"Sami, can you pull up the footage from when Chad came by yesterday?" Dennis asked.
[Of course, Master. I will upload it to your smartphone.]
Dennis picked up his phone and opened the gallery. He saw a new video and played it before heading back out. The footage showed him speaking with the hunters while Daphne stood beside him holding Destiny. The angle was taken from the porch security camera, making it look very authentic; it showed the three hunters leaving with Chad and walking past the house along the curb. Once he was sure the recording was legit, he walked back to the front once more and opened the door. He showed the footage to Lucas, who then shared it with the two officers behind him. After watching the clip, Lucas handed the phone back to Dennis.
"All right, I see. But it seems you don’t have a very good relationship with the suspect, do you?" Lucas asked.
"That’s right. The day before yesterday, he drove past the house and stopped to harass my wives. You can see that footage too," Dennis said.
Dennis showed the previous recording of Chad stopping to flirt with Diana and Dulcia before his tire blew out. Lucas’s expression shifted as he watched, and he unconsciously shook his head. He handed the phone back to Dennis one last time.
"All right, thank you for the statement. We’ll be on our way. Good morning," Lucas said politely.
"You’re welcome, Detective Rivera," Dennis replied.
When the three police officers left, Dennis went back inside, but his face had turned pale and the hand holding his smartphone was shaking. He rushed to the living room, plugged the cable from his phone into the television, and watched the footage he had just shown on the big screen.
His eyes went wide. As Chad was being led past the house by the three hunters, a shadow could be seen entering Chad’s body. Then, in the earlier footage where the tire went flat, he immediately saw the cause: a tiny projectile of light had shot past him, his seven wives, and Chad, straight into the tire. When he traced the source, he realized both the shadow and the light projectile came from a single point: Destiny.
Dennis immediately covered his mouth. He squinted and replayed the two clips one more time to be absolutely sure, blinking repeatedly to convince himself his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.
"Good God... both of them were Destiny’s doing?" Dennis asked in his head.
[....]
"Did you know about this?" Dennis asked in his head.
[....]
"Oi, Sami, answer me," Dennis snapped in his head.
[Forgive me, Master, but Lady Daphne asked me to keep it a secret; she wanted to counsel Destiny first before informing you.]
Then Dennis remembered when he had questioned Daphne yesterday and she had refused to answer, even dodging Daisy’s questions. Dennis’s head began to spin; what Destiny had done had actually cost lives, but he was powerless because it had already happened and time couldn’t be turned back. He could only take a deep breath and exhale, trying to stay calm and avoid panicking.
[Perhaps you should just leave it to Lady Daphne and trust her, Master. I am certain she can counsel Destiny, even though Destiny is still a baby.]
"Yeah... I know. It’s just that because of what she did, there’s a real mess and people are dead. Good grief... how did it come to this," Dennis muttered in his head.
[The only ones who know about this matter are you, myself, and Lady Daphne. No one else knows—even Destiny doesn’t realize that what she did was wrong. So please stay calm, and please do not tell the others, especially Lady Daisy.]
Dennis fell silent for a moment. He remembered how Daphne had taken the fall yesterday for what Destiny had done because she was trying to cover it up. He knew exactly how Daisy would react—if she found out Destiny was the culprit and Daphne had hidden it, she would be furious and might even erase Daphne from existence. He definitely didn’t want that to happen. A sense of being trapped in a no-win situation haunted him, but he knew what he had to do. He had to keep quiet and perhaps help Daphne with this.
"Alright, I get it. We keep this a secret... and please edit this footage. Because if I can see it, the others definitely will too," Dennis said in his head.
[Understood. Thank you for your understanding, Master. I will get to work on it now.]
"After this, I need to have a private, one-on-one talk with Daphne," Dennis muttered in his heart.