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Eli pressed his cigarette into its holder, smothering the flames that were one smokingly bright. He was working yet another late night shift, gathering and reviewing evidence against an annoying thief.
The case of The Black Tulip, infamous for his history of robbing and stealing from various museums and rich aristocrats, was put into the hungry hands of Eli for investigation. He had worked on cases like these before, with phantom thieves that were deemed somewhat uncatchable, but a case as big as this was new to the detective.
He’d only caught small criminals before, people who robbed certain places and certain stores, but to him, a thief like the Black Tulip seemed to be all across the state, taking everything as theirs.
Frustrated over yet another dead end, clues that the thief had so carefully doctored to benefit only him, Eli could only pray that his intuition would be correct.
-
It was quiet in the antique shop, where Eli had set up camp. Although there was nothing really special about this one in particular, he had noticed a certain pattern with the places that Black Tulip had looted.
As he had already made extravagant heists on the bigger and bolder places, Eli guessed that he had already started going for the small stores, the ones that believed they were safe. The last store he robbed was a small and lesser known one, so he assumed that for this case it would also be the same.
The time was ticking, and Eli could feel his heartbeat make the various pots and plates tremble. He nervously set his gun down to pick up his lighter and feel the grooves on it, reminding himself where he was and what his mission was.
Smoking a cigarette during a steak-out would be foolish.
The times were getting later and later as he waited, and the grandfather clock he hid behind chimed twelve. It was only a miracle that he was able to hear the jingling bells of the attic hatch open, and see the thief that he was looking for to slide out.
Eli quicked turned in the direction that he heard the hatch open from, and drew the gun from his holder. Four bullets was what he gave himself to work with, in case the arrest doesn’t go as planned.
He decided to stay hidden from sight, letting the thief rummage through the shelves and admire the fancy jewelry and plates as he pleased, waiting for Tulip to get comfortable and let his guard down.
The thief neared the grandfather clock that Eli so carefully protected, and he could feel all of the hairs on his arms prickle with a strange feeling; one of both apprehension and excitement.
Eli quickly revealed himself from his hiding position, drawing his gun and pointing it straight at Black Tulip.
“Hands up, Campbell. I will shoot.”
To the detective’s surprise, the only thing that went up was a smirk appearing on the thief’s face.
“Oh, did your employer hire a hit on me?” Black Tulip laughed, refusing to put his hands in the air.
“Funny joke.” Eli snapped. “I’ll give you ten hits instead of one.”
The Black Tulip could only smile, a sinister grin crawling onto his face as he tilted his head upwards to show how unphased he was by the gun pointed to his forehead.
Eli fumbled with the trigger, thinking and contemplating whether he should shoot or not. Meanwhile, the criminal who lay underneath him seemed to be having a fun time teasing him.
“Recluse, do you happen to like this?” Black Tulip said in a harsh whisper, moving his hands up to grab the detective’s waist, before pulling Eli down on top of him, completely closing the gap between the two.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Eli snarled, shooting at Black Tulip’s hat, creating a hole that was millimeters away from hitting skin. “That was a warning shot- next time I will not miss.”
The criminal underneath him did not listen however, and reached for the sword at his side. Eli immediately shot after seeing such, lodging a bullet between the case and the rim of the handle, making it impossible for it to be pulled out again.
He was wasting both bullets and time. It was callous of him to only bring four bullets to fight a well known thief and at the same time assassin. If at any moment he were to lose his gun, Eli would be done for.
Black Tulip pulled down on Eli’s left shoulder, while pushing up his right. The detective could feel the criminal and his hands intertwine, before two bullets were fired upwards, in the direction of the roof.
“You didn’t bring any more than four,” Norton commented, his voice surprised. “Did you expect for me to succumb so easily, or are you trying to recreate that fateful day?”
Eli could only stiffen at the assumption.
-
Three years ago, Black Tulip and Recluse used to be partners in crime. Black Tulip would be the one to rob, whilst Recluse would be his eyes, watching for anybody that tried to sneak up and intercept him.
Back then, Recluse was more familiar with killing. He would be able to hear, to detect anything that was trying to sneak up behind him, to hear even the fans brushing heat out of a hidden camera turned on.
“Did you find anything good this time, Nort?” Eli asked, resting his head on the thief’s shoulder. They were sitting on the rooftop, a couple blocks away from a museum they had just robbed.
“Yeh.” Norton smiled, flashing Eli a toothy grin. He pulled out a satchel of various gems and trophies.
“See this one, the blue one? Reminds me of you.”
“Personally, I believe that this one is you.” Eli smiled, letting his guard down.
Though, looking back at it, he shouldn’t have.
The sound of four gunshots resounded throughout the rooftop, and Eli felt splintering pain tearing apart his gut. Behind him was the police, who seemed to have known where the two criminals were hiding.
The one behind the attack, a man smoking a cigar and holding a revolver, only stared down at Eli with a merciless expression as Norton could only flee.
He distantly remembers, through the painful bleeding and the dizziness of losing blood, that Norton had made a promise. He wouldn’t be able to remember the promise, whatever it was, but he only hoped that he would come back for him one day.
Though, he did not.
-
“I’m not.” Eli frowned, as he attempted to free himself from the criminal's grip.
The Black Tulip could only frown, before pulling Eli face first into his chest with his arms, as if they were hugging. The detective could barely even struggle and fight against the thief’s death grip, but could only embrace the warmth that he was given.
“I miss you, Eli.” he whispered. “I wish we could see each other on good terms again, like we did last time.”
The detective could only pretend that he couldn’t hear.
“When it was us, fighting against that Inference guy. Now he’s retired, and you’re the one in his place.”
It was only a battle against his brain and the very strings of Eli’s heart, twisting, turning and revolting to gasp for the love that he was lacking for the years where he had been alone and unloved.
“Your manipulation will not work on me, Campbell. I am a changed man.”
The smile on the thief’s face seemed to fade, and the arms around him loosened. With as much strength as he could muster, Eli shoved The Black Tulip away and scrambled onto his two legs.
Although he had just pushed the criminal away, the detective could only ache on the inside.
“Eli-” the taller man started, trying to approach him without being pushed away again.
“I didn’t come here for a sappy reunion. Either you follow me to the police station, or I’ll drag you there myself.”
He watched as the criminal’s shoulders fell, and the breathtaking silence filled the room as the two stood in a standstill. Eli did not want to let Black Tulip escape, and the criminal didn’t want to let Eli leave.
“I see.” The other frowned, before reaching towards his waist and drawing the sword from his sheath effortlessly, snapping the bullet that stuck the two together.
Meanwhile, Eli reached for the revolver that Inference had given him. The same revolver that Inference had shot him with.
The Black Tulip quickly rushed at him, sword in hand, as Eli shot where he thought the thief would strike next, the sickening song of bullet and blade clashing together filling the room. Eli shot near the thief’s fingers, leading to the man dropping the blade in order to avoid his fingers getting blown off.
Quickly picking up the sword, Eli pointed it towards the criminal without a word, telling the other to surrender.
However, that seemed to not be the case. The gun was stolen from the hand, and the two seemed to have switched weapons. Although he knew that even a toddler would be able to work a gun, Eli had no idea how to fight using an old fashioned sword.
He could only bare his fangs and snarl, even as he stood cornered.
“Sorry, detective.” The Black Tulips started, loosely holding the gun using only his pinky. “I really am.”
Bang, was the sound that resounded throughout, and the familiar burning sensation was felt from within.
“You..!” Eli yelped, toppling over to latch onto Norton’s arm, his other hand clutching at the hole in his chest. “-ass.. whole…”
-
The faint beeps of the heart rate monitor was the only noise to be heard in the hospital. Monotone noises. They were ultimately boring.
Heartbeats were like the footsteps of an uneasy soul, and Eli could only wish that waking up in this dreadful room was only but a dream.
Eli squinted out the hospital window, observing the dull sky, cloudless and empty. He was alive, but this felt more like a curse than blessing.
He applied more pressure to his left eye, which seemed to be getting worse day by day. A couple months ago, it was blue. Now, it was a bloody red, matching with the scars on his stomach.
The door opened on his right, and Eli could only helplessly turn to look at the man responsible for this damage.
In the year that he was in his coma, apparently the infamous Black Tulip had turned himself in.
In the year that he was in his coma, apparently the infamous Black Tulip was the only one who stood by his hospital bedside, waiting for the day he would wake up.
He was to go home on this date- wherever it was now. As he was out cold for such a long time, it would be no surprise when he found out his apartment had been rented out to some random person since he wasn’t there to pay.
Though there he went, with the man that he had sworn to stop, the man who he used to work with.
Norton opened the door to his new home, gesturing for Eli to go inside.
The older opened his mouth to speak, but Eli cut him off by throwing himself into distant arms.
“I love you.” Eli whispered. “I still do.”