There are two things you need to know before I tell you this story: Firstly, I own a portalling device. Whether it is magic or technology or divine spirit, I cannot tell you. My own knowledge of this device is quite limited. All I know is that you can shoot portals out of it like Spider-Man shoots webs, and it can only portal to places the owner (so that would be me) has been before. Secondly, I am currently faced with the trickiest case I have met in my entire case-cracking career. What is one meant to do with the cleanest murder ever committed? No trace, no suspects without a proven alibi, no links to other cases—I suppose I’ll have to solve this on logic alone. Let’s run through the situation: the murder was of a man in his late thirties. Graying hair, dull green eyes, average height—though I suppose none of that is of much importance. The man was found bound to the pole of an electric line, feet on the ground, standing upright, so that from afar, it may have seemed as though he was just leaning casually against the pole. Is that gruesome? I can’t even draw the line anymore, after experiencing so many gruesome cases. Anyways, back to the facts: this man, known as Eddie Verrison, had bruising along his wrist. This was originally blamed on a struggle during his murder, but after some inspection, it was pegged as the consequence of a tightly worn watch, and further investigation led to the knowledge that it was a band that was not only tightly worn, but cuffed and locked onto Eddie’s hand. Every record of the man included this band with an emerald green gem— “Matt!” My thoughts shatter as someone stomps into my house. The familiar voice has me quickly fixing my hair and glancing in a nearby window for my reflection before drifting into a pair of chocolate eyes. “I’ve been thinking—“ “You do too much of that, Carrie,” I break in with a smirk. The melting chocolate of her eyes starts bubbling. I watch her, entranced, as she opens her mouth to tell me off. She’s my only reminder that I am still human, my only proof that I still have emotion. “Listen to me! I had a thought, and maybe this is a long shot, but what if the green gem in Eddie’s band has magical properties?” She flushes then, her skin matching the cherry red of her dyed hair, as she seems to realise how ridiculous that sounds. “I mean, maybe it has something to do with your portalling gun. Like, similar technology or something.” The expectancy in her wide eyes makes me want to agree with her, if only to see her smug smile. But she is right, it’s a long shot. “Carrie, you know we can’t afford the time, as every wasted minute is another minute for the emerald gem to get farther away.” I take a step towards her. “There must be a logical explanation, and I’m sure we’ll find it. Together.” The melted chocolate cools, causing her eyes to harden. “It makes perfect sense, though, if you think about it—“ she steps closer to me. “You still don’t get how your gun works, so curiosity is understandable.” Her nose is nearly touching mine now. My heart is racing so loud I’m certain she can hear it, and whether it is because of her proximity or her implication, I can’t tell. Carrie pulls her hand back from behind me and takes a step back, revealing the device in her hand. “Where might one store a magical gem? You would need a good hiding spot. Perhaps one would store it in a place where he or she found another magical relic.” “Carrie, what are you—” my voice dwindles as she holds the gun out in front of her so it’s pointing at me. “Where did you say you found this?” Carrie repositions the gun so that it is aiming at the wall behind me. My voice is strained as I say, “What are you saying?” She pulls the trigger. I don’t dare to look at the wall behind me, but I watch the chocolate in her eyes snap as I glance at her. “Found the gem,” says Carrie, her voice shaking. Her laugh is broken and cold as she walks to the open portal, revealing a small underground room, a wristband with a glittering green gem sitting on a table right in the centre. She holds the gem with reverence. “You must be of great importance if Matthew murdered someone for you,” she murmurs to it. My heart breaks a little at the sound of my full name fall out of heaven’s lips, the pieces of it falling into a fiery hell. Carrie doesn’t even spare a glance at me as she walks towards my door.
Panic spurs me to grab her wrist. She turns back to look at me and I take her moment of hesitation as an opportunity to grab her other wrist and pin her against a wall. This could’ve been romantic if it weren’t for the fear sizzling at the edges of her irises. I pluck the gem out of her hands. “It fits perfectly in the magazine of the gun—but you knew that already—“ I clear my throat, trying to banish the memory of when we discovered that together. “I found out what it can do. It breaks all the rules of the device. With it, we can go anywhere, with no limits—we can even go places that don’t exist yet! Do you know what that means? We can create our own universe—“ I falter at the sight of terror in Carrie’s eyes. Why was she scared? “Matt, don’t do this. I-it’s not right, you can’t just—“ she takes a shaky breath. “Why did you kill him? You took someone’s life, just for a gem? That’s not—that’s not you, Matt. You’re not… you’re better than that.” My voice hardens. “You don’t know me. I’m not a good human. Sometimes I don’t feel human at all.” “You’re more human than you realise.” “What would you know?” My voice trembles. “What would you know? You’re perfect. You’re heaven incarnate. You see the good in everyone, even when there’s none to see. So, what would you know about how human I am—” She closed the distance between us in a kiss. Her soft lips press lightly against mine, before I push deeper into them. It’s nothing but us in this moment, an angel and a murderer, and that thought brings me back to my senses. I pull away suddenly and meet her eyes. “How’s that for human?” Carrie smiles slightly at me. That smile kills me worse than I killed Eddie. I shatter, sobbing in her arms as I bring both of us down to our knees. She holds me. I don’t know how long we’re like that, how long I receive love that I can never deserve, but it’s the most human I’ve ever felt.
