An ambulance had arrived in a moment not too soon.

All I could see were lights. Bright lights.

They were all blurry.

There he was. Mr Conner, the investigator. A man who was close to my heart, for even he had tried to solve the impossible.

The impossibility of discovering the killer. His death was a tragedy as was the resurrection of the mystery killer. My mystery killer.

I called the unknown monster 'MY mystery killer'.

I was not dead physically, but I was dead on the inside.

Just when I thought I could look upwards and see a beautiful night sky, once again the moments after dusk became a nightmare.

My heart beat with speed and took several short pauses at the same time. I shook all over though I wore two coats. Wesley's and mine.

I let my eyes scan the scene around.

I laughed.

It seemed like a typical crime movie, but there was one difference. This was real.

I saw a big bag. A big long bag being moved into the ambulance. Mr Conner was dead.

Nothing could revive him. I was sure that the paramedics could do nothing. For his heart had come to a halt. I searched for Wesley and there he was, with the other cops.

For a moment I had forgotten he was a detective. He was not supposed to take care of my case since it was not safe. He was more than a kin to me so he should not have been involved, but somehow his Chief Officer, thought him intelligent and brilliant and so he had every right to the case.

I gazed at Wesley and for no reason, observed his every move. He spoke with passion. I could hear no words from where I sat, but I could tell he cared. After all, he was Wesley Stark and he was never going to let me go. He had made a promise. I was his promise.

As though he knew I thought of him. He also glanced back at me.

I expected a smile, but all I saw was pity.

It was too late for him to pity me. I had seen worse. And the worse I was sure had not happened. The worse would claim its glory when Wesley Stark was dead.

I had to protect him. I couldn't let that happen. Wesley Stark was all I had.

Still caught up in deep thoughts, Wes walked up to me and offered his hand.

"I think it's time to go. You've seen enough today and more of this will just give you nightmares." He said.

I took hold of his hand but for some reason I remained unsteady and I stumbled. Wes caught me.

This was not the first time, he caught me and I hoped it would not be the last.

"Are you okay? I could carry you if you want? Or you know what? Just get in the car and I'll take you to the hospital. Is that alright?"

"Wes I'm alright. I don't need to go anywhere." I replied.

"Ray, the hospital is not too far from here. It's just a few blocks away. Just a few turns here and there. I think you need a check-up. You might be hurt. It might be a shock or something. It happens to most witnesses to a crime or even cops in a murder scene...I...It's..." Wes insisted, giving me more than a million reasons why I had to go to the hospital.

I held his hands tight and squeezed them while I gazed upon his eyes.

His eyes of untold mysteries. It was one of the reasons I loved him, those eyes.

Yet, I was sure he had no idea of my emotions.

I was getting tired of being his victim.

I never asked to be a citizen in distress.

No. Not just a citizen in trouble.

I wanted to be the Rapunzel and him my Prince. I desired to be his Lois Lane and him my Superman.

I knew I was the victim, but an inner urge in me wanted him to take a chance. I was not just a female to weep only. I had needs also.

I was in a murder scene. I was not thinking straight. I cancelled all thoughts and gazed upon the comely man in front of me as my friend. Just a friend.

I stared at his eyes with no intention to let go, I held him tight "Wes!! I know you care for me and I'm grateful. Right now I don't need Officer Wesley Stark. All I need is my friend. Wes. I just need Wes. Please. And as my friend I want you to understand me when I say there's nothing wrong with me and the hospital is the last place I want to be right now. I just want to go home. Can you do that for me? Do it for a friend Wes. Please."

"I'm sorry Ray. I let the whole case get to me. I'm sorry. Come on I'll take you home." He apologized.

In a minute or two we got into his sports car and rode off in the dark. I finally got home.

I heard a squeaky voice scream my name, while I got out of Wesley's car.

It was Tina.

She looked cute as always.

She wore pink pyjamas and held a white teddy bear the size of a football.

Her freckles were seen clearly as the street lights shone on them. Her red hair obeyed the instructions of simple weaves to form pig tails. They swung to and fro as she ran towards me. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Ramona!! I'm so glad you're okay. Mama and I saw it all on the news. It was terrible. I saw you though, you looked real sad. Who was the Mr Conner to you?" the little one asked.

I was not in the mood to answer questions. I did not want an interview.

Her tiny voice often caused joy in my heart. Well not this time. This time I felt nothing but pain and a deadly headache. I wanted her to go home.

"He was a friend." I replied calmly through an intervention of the unknown.

"I know I just told you about how sad you looked, but I've gotta tell ya. You were dashing. You look so good on TV!!."

I got what she was trying to do, but she had to stop. The child was trying humour, but it couldn't work.

I needed peace. I needed quiet.

I wanted to lay my head on my pillow. My body was heavy with sorrow. I needed to let the comfort of my bed drain the pain away.

The little one kept talking.

"I just don't know how you do it...That Wesley guy must be checking you out...Whoever killed that man is such a...Mama said...I just think that...Maybe in a way..." She went on and on and on.

Then came my anger. The words of anger let loose. Words I could not regret nor do I remember all of them.

"Just get away from me you annoying little creature. I need space. For once in your simple life stop talking and asking stupid questions. You're making no sense!! I need you to shut up! It's a simple request Tina! Shut up and go home! Go anywhere you wish. Just leave me alone for the love of God!!"

The twelve year old ran away.

I did not look back. At that point I did not care.

I opened my apartment and without a visit to the shower, I fell flat on my bed. My tears had not finished their journey at the crime scene, for they gushed out and soaked my pillow in salt and water.

The next morning was like every other. A bit of cleaning, self-maintenance, and dress up and in a few minutes, I was off to work.

When I walked to the door, I saw Tina seated on the pavement as she waited for the yellow bus to take her to school. I walked towards the little angel and sat beside her.

"Hey, I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you yesterday." I told the child.

She looked back at me and smiled "No worries. I totally understand. You were hurt since your friend was killed. I'm sorry too. Mama says I don't know how to tell someone's mood. I'm really sorry. I deserved all that."

"I promise to never raise my voice at you again. Pinkie swear?!"

I held out my little finger while she locked it in hers.

We spoke a little more about other things. Things that could not help me, but gave her joy.

We were still hooked in our conversation till the yellow monster came to pick her up. I got used to the yellow monster. My hate for it was somehow minimized.

I began my walk to the Library.

On my way, I noticed I had a stalker.

I felt his presence at every step I took and it was annoying. I decided to ignore him since I had a lot in my heart already and for the sake of fear, I did not turn back.

For a moment he disappeared and I rushed into the library. He was there. I got pissed off and scared.

He was good looking. Blonde hair and blue eyes. Lips pink and thin, yet not so thin that it was sexy in a way. He was hot. Of all the troubles that morning a hot stalker.

Women my age would blush at the sight of such situation and call me 'Lucky', but I felt nothing.

Just hurt. I needed to be careful. For all I knew he could have been the killer. I walked into the library and so did he.

Blue eyes watched my every move and smiled in a creepy way. I observed him carefully. Too carefully.

I gave all of my attention to the hot stalker, completely ignoring every other thing or being around me.

Like a frog, I jumped when someone called me in a whisper.

"Wes!! You gave me a heart attack!" I screamed.

"I'm sorry. I just got a little concerned with your grave-like silence while stalking one of the readers. Quite weird. I mean, Mr Conner was killed yesterday and here you are checking out guys in the library." He said.

"It's not what you think Wes. That guy's been stalking me. He followed me to work and he's been watching my every move." I explained. Stark laughed.

"My theory is he saw an attractive woman and then, Bam!! Love at first sight. He must have her! Since you've shut yourself from the outside world for so long, some of these things might have gone missing in your female instinct."

We both laughed at Stark's theory.

"Female instinct indeed. Anyways, why are you here?" I asked.

"I just came to check up on you and tell you that we found something at the crime scene." He replied.

"What did you guys find?" I asked.

"A notebook. The one on his reading table, the night he died. It had some questionable info, which Conner had written by himself. Apparently he knew the killer was coming for him and tried to put down the info in ink. It seemed to be poetry, but I'm quite sure it's the answer to a puzzle or a clue on how to find the killer perhaps. Conner probably had a lead on our killer. If we can just construe the poem..."

"We find the killer!!" I interrupted Wesley. I shook all over and I felt a cold breeze flow down my spine for a while.

"I'm scared Wes. We're so close to the killer I can feel it. Who's next? We have to know! I don't want to see anyone get hurt. Not even you." I said.

Wesley held my arms "I've told you. I'm going nowhere and no one would get rid of me that easily. I'm worse than a parasite. So sticking to you like glue is my strong feat and even you can testify to that." Wes replied.

We laughed some more.

After a while, Wes left for work and I was stuck in the library with Blue eyes.

I wondered what Mr Conner had written. I thought of it all day.

I made my way back home and got dressed to the more comfy me.

A T-shirt, jean pants and sneakers did the trick. Wes had asked me to meet him at the police department. So in my simple outfit, I got ready to go out.

I locked the door to my apartment and found two cute girls on the stairs when I got out of the building.

One was Tina and the other I had not seen before.

The little red head could read my mind and gave a wide grin.

"Hi Ramona, this is my friend Jamie. She's a newbie in school. You'll like her cos she's just like me. I told her about you and I think she likes you." I turned to the unknown girl.

She was blonde and quite tall for a twelve year old. A few inches more and I would have greeted her looking at the skies. She had dark eyes. She was far skinnier than Tina.

While she took a few more steps for a handshake, it was like her bones were going to crash down. I did not want to see a perfectly healthy little girl turn crippled, so I moved towards her and grabbed her hands. Her palms were soft and she smelled like my favourite perfume; Lavender. When she smiled there was a gap between her incisors. It was cute.

"Hi I'm Jamie. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Jamie. I'm Ramona Becky Taylor. You can call just me Ramona."

I had a little chat with the girls for a while. Tina was right, I did like Jamie.

After a little more chit-chat with the girls, I left to the police department.

The police department was busy. Phones rang continuously, printers and faxing machines were at work and doors were slammed repeatedly.

I searched for Stark but he found me instead.

He introduced me to his partner Mr Demon Stone and the rest of his co-workers.

A lot of them already knew me and had given me a nick name 'Rose', referring to the flower's unfortunate but yet efficient use by the mystery killer. I did not think it was fair but I was used to it.

In a while, I was back in business with Wesley. He slammed the door to a little office.

It was paper here and there. High and Low.

From the boards I could see that he worked a lot to track down the killer. Even the killer had been given a name

"Crucifier". I laughed.

"Really, Crucifier?"

"Hey as long as we exist we all need a name right?" Wes asked.

Then he dropped a large book on the desk. The pages were brown.

Wes opened a page and there it was. The map to our killer. The handwritten words were bent at all sides.

Mr Conner must have written out of fear, for there was a slip at every attempt to make a dot or cross a 'T'. It read;

"My angel loves me as I love she,

My angel knows I love none than she.

The truth I have hidden for her I trust,

To a sky pink and a moon she has a lust.

She carries the sky so pink on her back,

Five times a week in it all she can pack.

The truth lies hidden under the moon as golden as her hair,

And within a line coal black lays the truth for none but you to share.

Retrieve the truth from the hands of danger thou skillful,

Save my little angel and to you I'll be forever grateful."

"Wow!! But what does a poem have to do with the killer?"

"So much, Ray. So much."

"Then there must be a deep meaning to this." I said.

"I know and we need to find the answer fast!!" said Wesley.

"Why the rush?" I asked.

"Well Mr Conner's scanner was used. We think the killer might have a copy. There's no fingerprint on the book, but it was obviously tampered with. Mr Conner wrote this when he was attacked. He also had some bruises on the back of his head. See the blood here?" Wes asked while his fingers pointed at a picture of the pale skinned Mr Conner.

" According to Forensics it's about thirty minutes older than the time Mr Conner was killed." He said.

I looked at Wes and made my own contribution "And the thirty minutes gave Mr Conner more than enough time to compose this poem. I say Mr Conner was threatened or tortured and got killed for wasting time..."

"Instead of giving the Crucifier the leads he had. Exactly Ray. Exactly."

After a few more moments in the police department, I went home and let the night take care of itself.

Days passed by so quickly like ashes in the wind, but I finally had the answer to the poem.

I ran out to give Wes the good news. Tina stopped me on my way.

"Ramona!! Wait up."

I brought my quick steps to a halt.

I waited for the little girl to catch her breath.

I was losing my patience but I had made a promise to the little one. I could not raise my voice at her.

"Someone was asking of you. He's been nothing but trouble to me. He's been going around trying to get information about you like some kinda freaking psychopath." The red head said.

"What does he look like?" I asked.

"He was tall, blonde; he had blue eyes. And boy! was he handsome!" she replied.

"Figures! It's Blue eyes."

"What's that now?"

"Nothing to worry yourself with dear. I'll tell you all about it when I get back." I ran in haste.

I got to the police department and almost pulled the doors down until I found Wesley.

"Wes! I have the answer! Mr Conner had a daughter... a cousin...a niece or something and the evidence is with her!"

"What?"

"Think about it Wes. She's a student. The pink sky has to be a bag pack, launch box.... or something like that. Also she carries the pink sky five times a week. Those are obviously school days. The pink bag or whatever it is, contains the info Conner wanted to share with the L.A.P.D! "

Wesley ran into a room and got back in his office with a file in his hands.

"You're right! Conner had a niece and she lived with him for a while until she moved in with her grandmother a week ago. We've got to find this girl." Wes explained.

"How are we supposed to do that?" I asked.

"Well her grandmother lives a few blocks away from the building you live in. We find the grandmother, we find the girl." Wes said.

We prepared to leave for the search when the phone rang.

Wes had a horrible look on his face after he answers the phone.

"What's wrong Wes?" I asked.

"We're too late". He replied.

Another crime scene had surfaced in L.A once again.

An old lady had reported a dead girl in her garden, a fence away from a school yard.

The crime had been carried out by the same killer, the Crucifier, but this time there was no mercy.

It was a little girl.

Her hair was in disarray. She had been stabbed like the other victims, a hole drilled through her chest. She had red liquid all over her yellow top. It came from a hole as told by Forensics. She held a red rose to her chest. She looked peaceful. Her bag pack was not so far from her. It was torn apart.

After a long glance it hit me.

"Jamie!!" I screamed.

"You know her?" Wes asked.

"I met her a few days ago. She's Tina's friend!" I replied.

"She's Mr Conner's niece." Wes said. My jaw fell apart. Fear rushed through my veins.

"The Crucifier is a savage with brains. He's slipped through our fingers again." One of the cops said.

I walked to the back pack. There it was. The pink sky and golden moon.

"Wes come see this. The bag pack is pink all over, pink clouds, here's the golden moon...line as dark as coal..." I searched.

"It's a zip! The dark line is a zip!!" I exclaimed.

I searched, I turned the bag over and there was nothing.

The killer had gotten away with the information that cost Mr Conner's life.

Just before Jamie's body was taken to the morgue, after a few days of keen observation by the Forensic department, the L.A.P.D informed the dead girl's grandmother of her granddaughter's lifelessness. The poor old woman was devastated.

When I told Tina about her new friend's death, she could not stop crying.

I felt like Jamie's death was my fault.

If I had not moved to Los Angeles with my father, maybe the skinny girl would not have died.

While I tried to drown myself in self-pity, a few words Tina had said to me caused me to worry.

Words that were strange, terrifying and highly suspicious.

Prior to the investigation, when Tina was asked about the last grown up she had seen with Jamie, she gave the exact description of 'Blue Eyes'.

I was sure that her answer was wrong.

Something was not right. Was the Crucifier closer than I thought?

I walked home in sorrow and pain with Tina's hand on mine.

She was questioned a lot at the police department and I felt for her.

Her good friend was taken from her for reasons she did not know.

I dropped her off at her mom's and reluctantly climbed the short stairs to my door step.

I kept seeing the blood.

I kept seeing Jamie, Mr Conner...All that faded in a moment at a terrible sight.

A bouquet of flowers lay at my doorstep.

I didn't stumble. I was angry. I had to catch the joker.

Just then I heard sounds across the hall way. I turned and saw him.

Blue eyes.

He was about to enter an apartment close to mine. So close his blue eyes shone bright. He smiled at me and went into his home.

"How can my stalker be my neighbour? Isn't that extreme? Could he be the Crucifier?" I thought for a while.

I held the large bouquet up my nostrils.

Blue eyes came out again and waved at me.

He bid me good night while he smiled.

He was handsome, the flowers smelled nice... But they were roses and they were red.