Well it's been more than half a year! Sorry for the long wait. So here is my newest story: Greeds Thorned Vines, a detective mystery story! While you read(After all suspects and facts are revealed)see if you can figure out what happened and who is responsible before the main character! Please do not post on here. There is a feedback thread! Feedback Thread Have fun reading! And I hope you like it. Prologue - Vacation I walked outside of the airport and was greeted by buckets of rain falling from the sky rather than my cousin. I let a curse slip from my lips as I fumbled around my purse for a pocket umbrella. Me and my suitcase had already had enough bad experiences on this flight to England. I thought it couldn't get any worser. I never seemed to be right these days. Some strands of my light brown hair that had fallen from my bun behind my ear. I probably looked like I had been run over by a train. Suddenly the rain wasn't falling on my head anymore. Looking up an older man stood there, holding a black umbrella over his head and my own. He wore a black rain coat and crisp grey pants. "You can't find your umbrella?" The man asked kindly. "Oh!...um...no..." I said. He gave off an aura of authority, I wouldn't be surprised if he was a CEO or something along those lines. His dirty blond hair was streaked with grey and it stopped slightly at the middle of his forehead. His face had wrinkles but his eyes were steady and serious. I could also see a spark of humor inside. Are they blue?...green?...grey? It was hard to tell, maybe a mix of all three. A taxi pulled up on the curb. The man smiled at me. "I hailed you a taxi, that's how you were planning on getting to your hotel right?" He asked and pointed at a sign several hundred meters away that had a picture of a taxi on it. "Oh..y-yes. T-T-Thank you." I stuttered. "No problem." He smiled again. The taxi driver picked up my suitcase and put it in the trunk while I got inside. Before closing the door I said one last thank you. The man laughed and said your welcome. Then I was in the taxi getting farther away from the airport. People in this city sure are nice. I know this place used to be a small town then was suddenly developed greatly in a year into a bustling tourist area thanks to some rich tycoon guy but I guess some of that small town hospitality is still here. I couldn't help but wonder why that man was at the airport. I shook my quickly to clear my thoughts. I'm on vacation I reminded myself. "Where are you headed?" the taxi driver asked. "Thorton Place Hotel." I said. "Good place." The driver answered and drove onto the highway. I let out a soft sigh. My phone started the vibrate. It was a text message from my cousin. -Sorry I can't pick you up! Got a new case. Really last minute! I'll meet you at the Express Cafe later! Its not too far from the hotel. Just ask for directions! Beatrice- I shook my head in amazement. I could never understand why she had taken up on that PI job. It was so demanding. I didn't understand why anyone would want to involve themselves in the the law or murder cases. My whole family was shocked when I had declared that I would be a web designer and not follow their footsteps in the law enforcement or private investigation. Sighing again, I pulled out a wet newspaper that had been in my pocket. The front page screamed at me. Wednesday November 5th. The Fitchware Inquisitor Newest murder case! "Looks like all countries have their fair share of criminals..." I muttered. My eyes scanned the small blurb of writing beneath a picture of the murder scene. 'Second year Art Student murdered brutally yesterday night. Her body was found yesterday at 7AM in her apartment. Suspect list has not been released to the public yet. Police are working with private investigators... Turn to page 7 for the full story' I shivered. How horrible. Life was so short. It was like walking in a forest of throned vines, if you got too close you would get cut. If you got pushed you would die. I closed the newspaper. I didn't want to know anymore. I was here on vacation anyway! It was time to enjoy myself. A trip to the spa, eating out and lots of sightseeing is what I have to do!
Chapter 1 : Tired of murder The taxi drove into the semi circular drive that led to the entrance of the Thorton Place Hotel. A towering building made of sandy brick and gleaming glass, it was an 5 star hotel in the downtown core of the city, close to all the main tourist attractions. Bellhops stood around with gold metal carts ready to carry luggage. I had initially wanted to stay at an inn or motel but when I told my parents and brother they all stared at me as if I was crazy. They insisted that I could afford better and ranted about how dangerous it could be. In the end when I had refused to budge, they just went ahead and changed my reservations and paid for it. That way I couldn't do anything but accept it. I grabbed my luggage from the taxi's truck and paid the driver. All I had was a suitcase and duffle bag so I decided I didn't need any help. I pushed through the glass doors of the hotel and walked into something along the lines of a dream. My jaw dropped. Polished hard wood floors and dark brown carpeting, enormous glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling and flower shaped wall scones attached to the light blue colored walls. Plush gold rimmed chairs and couches sat around a large fireplace that went to the ceiling. Coffee tables held magazines and books. Two huge staircases led to the second floor and double doors on the other end leading to a garden. It was the most beautiful building I had ever stepped into. I felt like I was in a castle. The only flaw, at the moment anyway, was that AC flowed through the building which wasn't all the great as it was raining and I was wet. "Are you alright miss?" A voice mans asked from behind. Startled I turned around to find myself staring at a concerned face of a hotel staff member. "Ah...um yes." I answered, quickly getting myself together mentally. "The check in desk is over there." The man pointed to our left where a circular counter was against the wall. "Thank you." I said quickly and hurried off to the check in desk. Boy was I going to kill me parents. Just how much money did they spend?! And I was going to be here for like 1 month! The lady at the check in desk was nice but seemed to be slightly distracted. She made a few mistakes several times and thus I was forced to stand there for like 20 minutes just to check in. "I'm so sorry!" The lady said for about the 10th time. "Oh it's fine." I said though I didn't really mean it. I was freezing! All I wanted was a hot bath. Is that too much to ask for?!! That's what I wanted to yell. As the staff typed into her computer my eyes fell onto a stack of newspapers. It was another one different from the soggy one in my pocket but the headline story was the same. -Girl murdered, PI's move in- -Yesterday night a female student was murdered at her apartment. Police have yet to identify the victim...- "Okay. Here is your room key. Your room is room number 627. On the 6th floor....if you have any problems please let just ask the concierge. The concierge is to the left, as well as tge elevators. So just take the hallway over here." "Oh yes thanks." I flashed a brief smile taking the room key. But my eyes went back to the newspapers. The lady noticed and said "Oh yes...that poor girl...I heard she was a student only in her 2nd year of studies at our cities best art university, Caridge University for the Arts. It's really a shame since she was so young..." My eyes widened and i stared at her. "Oh! Of course this doesn't happen all the time. It's pretty rare really. Crime is really low here so you don't need to worry!" The lady quickly added. I blinked. "Oh yeah...that's great...um thanks. Bye!" I answered smiling a again, grabbed my suitcase and walked over to the elevators. The name of that school...why was it do familiar...? I knew it was famous...but something else...I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I shook my head as I waited for the elevator along with some other guests. "Who cares?....I'm on vacation!" I muttered to myself. *Ping* The elevator doors slid open, I started to walk forward when someone jostled me lightly forward from behind. The person quickly turned around, "Ah! I am very sorry! I vas not looking!" She said with a thick Russian accent. "No it's alright..." I answered. She looked kinda...suspicious... Tall and skinny with closely cropped blond hair. Along with large black sunglasses, a camera around the neck and a trench coat. It was kinda like out of a movie. "Sorry." The she turned around a ran off after a few awkward seconds of silence. "Sigh...whatever..." I quickly squeezed myself into the elevator. I slid the card into the slot and the door clicked open. I flicked on the lights of my hotel room and once again my jaw hit the floor. The interior was huge! I went in and shut the door. A shiny hardwood floor and the walls painted cream brown. Even the hanging lights were gorgeous. The room consisted of a small dining area, a small kitchen, a small living room with a fireplace beyond the kitchen, to the left was the bathroom and bedroom. Dazed I walked into the bedroom. The bedroom consistent of one king size bed, two night tables and lamps, afloat screen TV, a closet and a dresser. I had a window view of the streets below. The bathroom was, thankfully, simple. Shower/bath, toilet, sink, counter. Fluffy white towels hung from a wall rack. It was extremely neat and clean to boot. I clenched my hand into a fist. How much money had my parents spent on getting me a SUITE at a 5 STAR HOTEL for ONE MONTH?!?! *Beep Beep* "Huh?...oh my phone..." I grabbed my phone. A text from my dear cousin. -Hey, where are you? It's been so long! I'm going to go shopping for a bit ok? So get there in half an hour! Beatrice- "Sigh...she's still a shopaholic..." I mummered. "Well at least I've got an hour, hot bath here I come!" I said happily to myself.
Authors note: Ok I have been in a five star hotel before. In Disney world lol. So I can't really say that anything I describe about 5 star hotels is actually accurate. Enjoy! Chapter 2: Waiting I walked down an expensive looking brown carpeted hallway with my laptop in a water proof case in hand. Bright wall scones shaped like lilies illuminated the hall. I walked over to the elevator and hit the down button. "Sigh...this place is really too much..." I muttered. Upon entering the bathroom for closer inspection I realized all the soaps were shaped like conch shells, the shampoo bottles we're made of glass and seemed to come from an expensive looking brand. Scented candles were scatter pretty much everywhere in the room. I don't even want to think about what I found in the bedroom and living rooms! I've never really been the expensive type, I'm pretty frugal and I prefer simplicity and practicality. In fact, I wouldn't have minded pitching a tent on the side of the road leading to this city and lived there for a month with few complaints. My cousin Beatrice on the other hand was the complete opposite. *ping* I entered the elevator quickly. I went to hit the button for the lobby but it was already lit so I stepped backwards almost backing into a stern looking man and dropped my laptop. "Ah! sorry." I said quickly, moving to a vacant area. The man said nothing. That's when I realized how plain looking I was. There were 3 other people in the elevator. Two women and a man. The man and one of the woman we're dressed professionally, a suit, tie, blouse, black skirt. The other woman wore a navy blue pleated skirt, a fancy top and black heels. Probably from a brand. I, on the other hand wore nothing of the like. I stared at my running shoes which were Nike and were the only brand I was wearing. Hoodie, V neck t-shirt, rain jacket and worn jeans was what I was wearing. I certainly stuck out. I probably stuck out as much as that weird Russian accent lady from before! As soon as the elevator door opened I scurried out as fast as I could and hurried out of the hotel to find the Express cafe. No point in making myself feel worser. I'm always getting fashion advice from Beatrice and my mother. I hurried inside the Express Cafe shaking off the rain from my jacket and drawing my hood off. The weather in England was definitely something. One thing I know now. I can never live here. Rain has never been my favorite thing. I looked around the dim lit cafe for my cousin but she wasn't in sight. There was a counter and chairs set up along the front window of the cafe, small tables for two and larger tables for four were mostly filled with people talking or typing away of devices or laptops. "I bet she's still shopping..." I said checking my watch. It was already an hour. I went to the cashier and ordered a muffin and coffee. then carried it to a small table in the corner in the cafe on the left hand side. Once seated I looked around one more time but no cousin in sight. I checked my watch. Already been an hour and 10 minutes. "Sigh...can't do much about it..." I said to myself. I slipped my laptop out of its waterproof case and booted it up. I didn't have any work but I was working on a project for a friend who wanted a program to calculate tips and potential tax. I opened it up and started typing away.
Chapter 3: Cousin "Hey....Lauren...LAUREN SAREEN!" I jolted, my eyes snapping open. I blinked a few times and focused on a tall woman with straight dark brown hair and green eyes similar to my own. She peered down at me through her Gucci glasses with an amused smile forming. "Had a nice nap?" She asked. "Beatrice....don't....wake me up like THAT!" I half yelled at my cousin. My cousin Beatrice laughed lightly, a tinkling laugh. "Why not? Or would you prefer to continue sleeping on your keyboard?" "Oh!" I quickly removed my elbows from the keyboard. "Shoot...." I had opened a word document and now 5 pages were filled with the letters S,D,F,G,X,C,J,K and L. I quickly highlighted it all then deleted it. "You really work too much." My cousin said. She then lifted three shopping bags and put them in two empty chairs. I rolled my eyes. "Seems you haven't changed much." Beatrice laughed. "Guess so, but you haven't either!" I powered my computer off. It was a good thing I had finished my coffee and muffin before I fell asleep. "So...I'm guessing you've been working non stop since you got here?" Beatrice asked while sitting down opposite from me. I shook my head negative. "Jet lag probably." "True...it's around 2AM where you, aunt, uncle and George live right?" I checked my watch and quickly calculated the time difference. "Yeah." I answered. "Anyway, how are you doing?" I smiled a little and started talking about my brother George, his wife and their new baby. Afterwards the conversation flowed around everything that had happened both of us in the two years we hadn't seen each other. Me and Beatrice were pretty different but we had always gotten along...mostly. We still disagreed on many things to this day but for some reason it always worked out. Eventually the conversation turned to work. "So how is your PI job going?" I asked. Beatrice slowly looked out the window. "Beatrice?" "Pretty good...." "Pretty good as in?" Beatrice sighed. "Nothing too horrible...until recently." "Recently...don't tell me...you're working on that murder case of that female art student?" Beatrice nodded. "So any leads?" I asked conversationally. I really hated this stuff, which is why I was the only person in the family who had veered into the path of web design/computer programming. "Yeah." Beatrice lowered her voice. "We think it's her boyfriend, Richard Freeman. Apparently they got into a fight a few days before Rose died, he used to be in a gang and as far as we know, he doesn't have an solid alibi yet." "Richard...Freeman? And the girls' name is Rose?" I asked. Beatrice eyes opened up a bit. "Oh! Yeah but don't tell anyone ok? We still don't know for sure yet and we're trying to keep the girls' identity a secret for now. Until we have some more solid details." I nodded slowly. For some reason those names struck a chord in me. I felt like I had heard those names before. Then it hit me. A hunch. I quickly powered up my computer and opened up my email. I scrolled through hundreds of emails looking for a certain set under a certain name. There it was. Buried under a hundred or so work emails. Rose Smith. My old pen pal, email buddy and old friend whom I had lost touch with some 3 years ago. We had first met in grade school though a pen pal system that my school participated in while my family has lived in England. We quickly became friends and kept in touch through email for many years later after I had moved back to North America. After I had finished high school I realized how little time I had and eventually me and Rose had stopped emailing each other. I sense of dread ran through me. "Her name...the girls' name...was it Rose Smith?" Beatrice looked surprised. "Yeah, how did you know her last name?" I didn't answer. Only one thing ran through my head. Rose...was dead.