They walked in step, boots echoing against the cobblestones. Lantern light spilled from narrow alleyways, mingling with the distant hum of voices, the occasional bark of a dog, the faint metallic tang of coal smoke that clung to the air.
Darwin's eyes traced every detail greedily. This wasn't just a setting anymore, it was a living, breathing world. And he was trapped inside it.
The Bureau loomed ahead, a squat stone building with iron-barred windows and the faint outline of a crest etched above the door. Its presence was weighty as it was commanding.
Darwin's gut twisted. Inside those walls, answers might wait for him. That or more questions.
As they reached the steps, Edwin leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Best put on your game face, mate. The chief's been tearing through paperwork like a beast. And between you and me, he's got half a mind to reassign your cases if you keep disappearing."
Darwin managed a thin smile, though his insides coiled tighter with every word. A chief with a temper. A family he didn't know. A detective's life that's already in progress.
He was walking into someone else's story, and one wrong step might unravel it all.
Still, he squared his shoulders and pushed the door open.
If he was Darwin Briar now… then he'd have to play the part.
For as long as he could.
"Brace yourself.." Edwin warned as they stepped into the bureau.
Less than a second, Darwin boots touched the wooden floor, a ceramic cup was hurled at him. He dodged it, the cup hitting the wall and shattering to a million pieces.
"Woah.." Darwin stared at the man, he thought the chief would be a grumpy old man instead it was a grumpy man in his mid or late thirties? He didn't care, he had lost his respect the moment he hurled that cup at him.
"Mister Briar. Just because you're the best detective here doesn't mean you have the right to skip work for two days.."
-_-
Darwin's eyes lowered, he thought he had been gone for a week or something. But this man looked as though the world was going to end, just because he had missed work for two days?
What a bitch!
"Mister Collins, it was quite bold of you to hurl that cup at me. I hope you threw all your anger along with that cup, because now I won't entertain anymore of your whining. So I missed work for two days. Suck.It.Up"
-_-
"Y—you, who do you think you're speaking to like that? You think you can't be replaced! Thanatos, come here." Mister Collins smiled, like if anyone could take Darwin down, it was Thanatos.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the bureau's wooden floorboards, each one deliberate, unhurried, like a tolling bell. Darwin turned his head, and his gaze locked onto the figure emerging from the shadows.
The man's presence was imposing, his tall frame draped in a dark overcoat that seemed to swallow the light around him. Raven-black hair cascaded down his back, catching the faint glow of the lamp like polished obsidian.
But it was his face that left Darwin breathless, sharp, aristocratic features that seemed chiseled from marble, with a beauty that was both captivating and unnerving. His eyes, a storm-dark gray, held a depth that made Darwin's heart skip a beat. Ancient, cold, and calculating, they seemed to bore into his very soul.
"Thanatos," Collins snapped, his voice shattering the silence. "Put Mister Briar in his place. He seems to think he's untouchable."
Thanatos didn't respond immediately. Instead, he pinned Darwin with that unyielding gaze, stripping away his masks and pretenses. Darwin's throat went dry as he felt the weight of those piercing eyes.
Exactly my type…
Edwin was the first to break the silence. "His name is Thanatos? That name….it's an evil name.."
Edwin's words seemed to snap Darwin out of whatever trance he was in. He looked at Edwin and then at Thanatos curious at what his name could mean.
"The name Thanatos, means god of death.."
Darwin traced the name back, good thing he had read his history books and greek mythologies for fun.
Thanatos smiled, he had a smile on his face but the room felt unexpectedly cold.
"I was born of ill-fate, so my mother thought the name suited me. If it bothers you so much, you can give me a different one, it's in human nature to discard things they can't understand or dislike.."
Darwin's knees weakened as Thanatos's voice rolled through the room, low and resonant, like a gentle thunder that vibrated through his bones. He could almost taste the sound, deep, commanding, and smooth enough to leave him breathless.
The more he looked at Thanatos, the more everything inside him screamed "mine".
Tall, lanky, handsome, and pretty all at once, he was Darwin's type to perfection.
God of death? Evil name? Darwin wouldn't care if Thanatos dragged him to the underworld, he'd follow willingly.
The air thickened, heavy with tension, until Collins cleared his throat loudly, shattering the silence. "Enough standing around.." Collins barked, snapping the tension like a whip. "Briar, since you think you can waltz in after skipping work, here—"
Collins slammed a stack of folders onto Darwin's desk, sending papers spilling like an avalanche. "You've got a mountain to climb. Clear this mess before the week's end."
Darwin forced his eyes off Thanatos, his gaze falling onto the paperwork. Of course. Always the paperwork. As he dragged the stack closer, he muttered under his breath, "You should worry less about slacking and more about your aim..."
Edwin snorted, quickly disguising it as a cough when Collins glared.
With the bureau's noise rising back to normal, Darwin sat and flipped open the first file, a robbery. The second, a missing person. The third...
His fingers stilled as he read the header, stamped in red ink: Unclassified Phenomenon. Victims found lifeless, faces frozen in terror, without a single wound or struggle. Witness accounts whispered of shadows and chilling laughter.
Darwin's heart thudded violently. This wasn't just another case. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to find Thanatos still watching him, his eyes like storm clouds brewing.
"Well, well…" Darwin muttered under his breath, "looks like work just got interesting."