its a tourist trap

[slayers_desire]

It was late at night in Rome, when April PINpointed from the Nexus to a side alley by the Fontana di Trevi. Things looked quiet and peaceful now. But April knew that looks were deceiving.

She reached out for Clark's hand, listening to the sounds around them to ensure it was safe before exiting the alleyway and towards the fountain.

"No one wants to visit here anymore."

Comments

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark takes her hand, alert for any other people as well, opening his supersenses to monitor the surrounding area. The last thing he wants is to get jumped in an unfamiliar place. Again.

Ignoring thoughts of Aldar, he looks at her. "I can understand why."

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

It has been days, but it doesn't remove the smell of blood. April points to the faded writing on the fountain that looks it has been scrubbed again and again. "The message was left two days after the bodies were found."

"The couple were Americans."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark moves to get a closer look, focusing on the writing with his telescopic vision, as good as any forensic microscope. "Yeah, that's blood all right."

He blinks, and turns to look at her. "Tell me more."

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"Rain hacked into the police files, a little was all he could get. But they are investigating other missing couples. Most of them tourists."

"All of them young too."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"What about nationality? Were there other missing Americans?" A political grudge isn't unheard of, though a bit weird in Rome of all places.

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"Different countries, so we can't narrow it down that way." She approaches the fountain. And shivers.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He turns his attention to her, slightly concerned. "Are you all right?" He doesn't know if she saw the bodies herself, or if there's some kind of psychic echo left behind.

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"They don't understand that they are dead. They are still here." April whispers. The voices she is hearing now is much different than before.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark feels sorry for the dead couple, for their confused souls who don't know what happened, and sorry for April for having to hear it. "You can talk to them?"

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"I would have to tune more to the darker side of my powers to do so. But it is possible."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He shakes his head. "Let's keep that as a last resort, then. See if we can find some other clues first." He turns back to the fountain, looking closely for any signs besides the bloody text. "The bodies were found here?"

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"Both of them. The police were unable to find any signs of dragging." The scene to the fountain is almost clean of visible traces. Luckily Clark has supersight and will see traces lead away from (or to) the fountain.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He kneels down, and reaches out as if tracing those near-invisible lines, but not actually touching them with his hands. "Unless they were looking with really good magnifying glasses, they wouldn't. They were put here on purpose."

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"On purpose?" April can't smell the blood that Clark is refering to. It has been days since this blood was spilled.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"Yeah." He's looking deep with microvision, tracing back the trails. "It's well-hidden, but there are drag marks. Someone went to a lot of effort to make it look like they died here." He turns, trying to follow where the traces originated. He hasn't had to focus his vision like this in a long time, and he's not as practiced at it as he will be one day, learning to tune out the distractions that aren't relevant to the information he wants.

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

April follows along as they head north from the fountain into another alleyway. It is quieter here, free from distractions, but April still focuses her gifts on Clark to help him tune out other distractions.

"Leaving the bodies at the famous fountain of love takes a pretty cocky bad guy."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He almost loses the trail a few times, but manages to shut out the other debris that's invisible to the naked eye, focusing on that brown stain, so faded and dry, that leads them away from the fountain.

"He - or she, I guess - really wanted to get attention. Maybe they were tired of no one noticing, or putting the pieces together."

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"That would explain the note. About there being others." The blood trail continues through alleyway and alleyway, until Clark and April arrive at the Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, a little church almost hidden from sight.

April stops, "Clark wait."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He stops immediately, trusting her senses. "What is it?"

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"There is two more here. I can barely hear them. But something is wrong."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

If that wasn't confirmation that they're going the right way, he doesn't know what is. "What're you sensing?"

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"The female is sobbing. I can clearly hear her saying stop. But it is not in reaction to what happened to her. It is to us."

"She wants us to stop. Entering that church through the front door is dangerous in some way."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

His concerned frown deepens. "To us? Or to them?"

[slayers-desire.livejournal.com]

"I am not sure. Can you scan the church for dangers?"

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He nods, and shifts his vision into x-ray vision, sweeping his gaze over the structure in search of anything that looks out of the ordinary. And at the same time, he listens for any sounds of movement, any indication that they aren't alone.