Detective Watson and Inspector Anon III

A fanfic where you, Anon, have just landed a job at Amelia Watson's detective agency. It's been a couple of nice days down at the office and things have been relatively uneventful, up until now.. Updated every week on Fridays. Previous Chapter: https://rentry.co/i9mmx As you can likely tell from my work down below, I'm a pretty amateur writer. I hope that through my posting and your criticisms that over time, I shape up to be much better and produce more enjoyable stories.


Running down a dark hallway filled with rubble.. you don't know what for, but an intense sense of urgency fills you as your shoes kick up loose debris. A piece of newspaper flutters past you, reading '-ATELY THE CASES OF MISSIN-'. That's not important. Memories are coming back in a weak trickle now as you pick up the pace. Why are you here? You turn your head, you try to but a sudden overwhelming wave of primal terror washes across your entire being, goosebumps appearing on every bit of skin you have. It's horrifically potent. The feeling of pure unadulterated dread forces your body to squeeze out even more adrenaline.

Something behind you is matching your pace, if not faster. You can hear something metallic being dragged against a hard surface and heavy purposeful stomping. Oh, the stomping. Even their pace and the force with which their foot comes down practically screams hostility.

Up ahead, your eyes finally tune in on a source of light.

A familiar figure, halfway out a window.
"ANON! DUCK!"

You register the word after a second or two, a cold sensation passing through your body as your throw yourself to the ground, gasping in pain as you scuff your arms against the small rocks on the concrete floor. Your breath comes in tiny spurts, the impact knocking most of the things out of you, leaving you feeling weightless and suddenly very numb.

Their face is.. horrified, and without another word, they immediately jump out, leaving you in the darkness with whatever monster.

Scrabbling at the ground and trying to push yourself to your feet, you attempt to follow before you realize your body's depleted its reserves of strength. You cough and it's a wet mess, the taste of blood and bile registering in your mouth. Looking down, something becomes horribly apparent as the chilly feeling in your body rapidly blossoms and leaves you feeling like a piece of hanging meat in a butcher's fridge.

You're just a torso.


'ZANKOKU NA TENSHI NO YOU NI. SHOUNEN Y-'
Eyes snapping open, you scrabble for your phone next to you and hit the snooze button, inhaling deeply. Holding it for a moment, it all comes out over the next few seconds as a: "MMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNGHFUUHHHHHHGGGG." You let out that sustained groan at the same time you hit one of the best morning stretches you've ever had in your entire life. You blink your eyes blearily, wiping them with your fingers and looking around your room.

"What was that dream all about.." You mumbled, giving your body some time to cope with the trauma of being awake.

Well, the only room in your apartment, really. It was a cheap place with enough room to have your setup in one corner, a mattress in another and a kitchenette across from your computer. A bathroom was in the fourth- hidden behind a sliding door. It was just like college again in that shitty backwater town of yours.

Sunlight peeked through your drab light grey curtains and as you closed your eyes for a moment, you could make out the sounds of the subway and traffic. Everyone was going to work, and you should too. A small smile crept onto your face as you threw your blanket off, hopping to your feet and grabbing your outfit for the day- the very same that you wore on the day you met her. While the two of you were talking, she mentioned there was a dress code and it was that you had to be matching so that 'we both look professional and presentable to the people we meet', as you remembered her saying.

After your first 'workday', you'd gone through the trouble of buying another pair of pants and another dress shirt for the job, just in case one pair got ruined. A slight spring in your step, you went and got ready. You bombed your first job, but who wanted that shitty job anyway? They probably didn't have a girl as cute as Amelia there.

Probably.

Locking your door behind you, you took the elevator down and made your way out onto the bustling city streets. Joining the rest of the commuters on their way to work, you thought about your dream a bit. There was a good few minutes before you got to work at the agency anyways, it was just a couple of blocks down from home. The details were already muddled but you remembered the stale smell of the air, like you were in an abandoned building of sorts. Your brows furrowed. What was the dream about though? Scary for sure, but it wasn't really a nightmare. You didn't jump awake from it, you woke up from your nightmare.

Eventually, you found your way to the door and let yourself in. "Watson?" You called out, hanging your jacket on a coat hook.
"Anon?"
"Watson?"
"Anon?"
"Watson."
"Inspectorsayswhat?"
"What?"

A blonde head popped out from the office room, grinning ear to ear. "Inspector Anon and Detective Watson! That's what we'll call ourselves when we show up on the scene, but I like the sound of Detective Watson and Inspector Anon more," she said, disappearing from view and fiddling with some cups, "want some coffee or tea?"

"I'm good, thanks." Walking in, you were greeted with the sight of a brand new oak desk. It wasn't nearly anywhere as nice looking as Amelia's, but it had four legs, looked sturdy and had some simple supplies on it. Already on there was a notebook, pencils and some pens. In addition, there was a corkboard behind your desk on a stand, equipped with a hook that held a spool of red yarn as well as a box of pins for marking. "Oh, hot damn, Watson, I-" You looked over at the girl, who had made her way over.

"Save your thanks for later, Inspector!" She said, puffing her chest out and folding her arms across her nest. An incredibly satisfied grin was on her face as she blew a lock of her out of her face. "I know I'm an excellent furniture assembler, no need to compliment my craftsmanship!"

It's only then that you realize a few things. She's got bags under her eyes. Her hair's mildly frazzled. Tucked behind the trash can, there's a folded IKEA box. There are a handful of screws on your desk. Under the kitchen sink, you can see a stowed bag of what may be tools. One of your desk legs is in fact, upside down. You can tell because the width of the legs tapers down slightly and the wider part is supposed to be near the top. Still, she looks so proud of herself, and you'd hate to rain on her parade (on your first real day here, nonetheless). You can just fix it after work when she's not around.

"I appreciate it a lot, Watson!" You said, walking around the side of the desk and finding.. a white lawn chair. Casting a quizzical look over at your partner and sitting down, she let out an exasperated sigh and pouted at you, walking over with a stack of notes.

"Don't give me that look, Anon! I know I'm great an' all, but I ain't no miracle worker! You could've had a nice desk or a nice chair, and I reckoned you woulda liked the desk more. We can go grab you one after work today or something." Putting down a few different piles on your desk, she gestured to the different colored dots on them. "So, lemme give you the rundown on what they mean."

Amelia circled around the desk, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and standing by your side while she read them out. "So these orange dots? That means they're related to a bit of this.. company called Kiara Fried Phoenix we're investigating for shenanigans."

"What kinda shenanigans?" You inquired, doing your best not to inhale any deeper because whatever she washed her hair with this morning? It was killer, in a good way. It hit all of those sweet notes and enveloped you in a sort of comforting haze. "Weird shenanigans or illegal shenanigans?"

"Mostly on the weird side, but there's probably some illegal stuff on the side. All chain companies have sketchy stuff happening." Nudging it aside, she put one marked with black in front of you. "This is trying to tie together some entity that lingers around morgues and cemeteries and stuff. There's a huge lack of solid evidence, and all we got going on here," she said, motioning to the bound papers, "is just eyewitness reports."

"No cameras?"

An excited look came across her face, and she added in a low whisper: "Nothing on cameras, and the figure apparently ended up behind locked doors sometimes."

"A ghost? Maybe it's looking for its body?" You were mildly surprised at how well you were falling into line with this, especially with how weird this sounded. "Like, a murder victim trying to find out where it got put, or where a family crypt is so that it can be put to rest with them?"

She snapped her fingers, nodding excitedly. "'Atta boy, Anon! I knew you were something special the moment I laid eyes on you!" Amelia exclaimed, bapping you on the shoulder and moving the ghost files aside to make room for a blue one. "Now down at the docks, there's some interesting happenings lately. Fish, going missing!"

As you opened your mouth to say something, she silenced you with a finger to your lips. "And not just that," she added, moving her hand away, "shark attacks, but inland! Last week, someone got bit by a shark in the middle of the park!" Watson was positively vibrating with enthusiasm, rubbing her hands together. "Some sort of small person got caught on camera breaking into a fishery, and they made off with like eighty pounds of fish!"

It was a lot of information to digest, and you'd be leaning further back in your chair if you weren't terrified that the back legs were going to give out on you. You were a good judge of lawn chair strength, and this one was very mediocre. ".. A small person ran away with eighty pounds of fish? And you're sure that the shark bite wasn't just a do-"

"ABABABABA! I knew you were gonna say that, so that's why I got THIS!" Watson reached under a note and slapped a picture in front of you, and sure enough, it was a shark bite. You didn't know your bites that well, but the placement of the teeth looked too round to be a dog's.

Blinking, you looked at her. "Inland, though... and there's no water nearby..?"
"Nope. Guess what the lady was eating."
"Fish."
"Now guess where she works."
".. The fishery?"

The smile let you knew all you needed to know, and she patted your head. "You're so smart, Anon! You're the best inspector a detective could ever ask for!" You grin, but then a frown replaces it after a few moments.

"Hey, don't talk to me like I'm Bubba." You scold, crossing your arms. "So, what about that purple one?" Nodding your head over at it, Amelia goes to speak but is interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing. Letting out a delighted squeal, she ran on over and glanced back at you.

"It's the police! Get your jacket on!"

Normally this would cause some concern, but you are part of a detective agency now. "Why the uh.. reaction? The sounds?" You asked, getting out of your chair and obeying her instructions.

"It means we got a crime scene, and they want us!" Clearing her throat, she picked it up and spoke firmly.
"Watson's Detective Agency. Watson speaking, how can I help you?"

Edit
Pub: 18 Sep 2021 05:13 UTC
Edit: 18 Sep 2021 05:31 UTC
Views: 714