DNA Valkyrie - Vol. 5 - Chapter 17: Protea In The Valley

Chapter 17: Protea In The Valley

“So, what don’t you tell me why you were appointed as my guide in this town?” Cynthia wondered. “It didn’t even know you knew Richard or that you were on good terms with him,” she admitted. 

“Uh, he came to me after you caught me.”

“He came to you?” she asked, surprised to find out that this was the way it went down.

“Yeah. He said he could pull a few strings and have me go out on probation much sooner if  I did some work for you.”

“So, now you’re a guide, huh?”

“You could say that,” Protea didn’t tell her everything. 

“How do I know I can trust you after we went at it so many times you and I? How do I know you’re not planning something behind my back?” Cynthia raised one eyebrow, suspecting her, as she should. 

“Nothing like that. Not this time,” she said, wryly. 

She knew Protea could not be trusted. 

“So! Richard told me he could help me with this mysterious Amber Murderer, so, here I am.” 

“Yeah, about that, this is a lot more complicated than you would think…”

“What is that supposed to mean, exactly?”  

“No one knows this, but Richard sent you all the way here because this is where the Amber Murderer is.” 

…

“You mean she’s here right now in this town?” Cynthia nearly had a heart attack when she first heard of this.

“She is. That’s where she always comes back to…” Protea mentioned it to her.

“So, it’s confirmed that she’s a she, right?”

“I know for a fact that she’s a woman, right, but I have no idea who that person is.” 

“You would tell me if you knew?”

“Definitely.” 

I can never trust her… 

No matter how bad she tried, she still couldn’t trust her. 

“Alright, so what good are you to me then in the meantime?” Cynthia was quite stern with her, but the question was still good—what good was she to her if she couldn’t help her more than that?”

“Calm down, Blue Heart. There’s a reason why we met in this saloon.”

“And what is it?”  

“Well, you see, she comes here—every night. At least, that’s what the people say. The only problem—as I said before—I do not know who she is or what she looks like. I just know she comes here. That’s what I heard,” Protea explained to her.

“Um… So, this is becoming some kind of guessing game, huh?”

“Call this game whatever you want, but it’s up to you to figure out who she is. After all, you’re the detective, right? Not me. I’m the criminal, remember?” Protea pointed out to her since she was right in the accusation and fact that this was all Cynthia saw her, as well—a criminal. Hearing her say this to her made her realize that she was right… This was all she saw, as well, and she began realizing that this wasn’t right of her to do. After all, she was helping her. Richard had a hand in it, of course, but she was still helping her. Cynthia might have still been scared to be backstabbed by her, but she had to put those fears to the side she felt like. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Thanks for helping me.”

“Ugh. I’m being paid for being here with me, so whatever you think, it’s still a win-win situation for me,” she commented. 

“Well, I am happy for you, Protea. Very happy for you.” 

“OH! Look at this gale over there! The one who just came inside the saloon! Do you think that’s her?”         

“No, I have no clue. Do you think it could be her?” Protea told her. 

“Are you messing with me? You just want me to make a fool of myself and accuse anyone of being the amber killer, is that it?” Cynthia declared.

“Oh, Amber, you’re finally here!” the barkeep at the saloon greeted the woman who just entered the place and called her by that name… Amber…

Was this woman just called Amber?  

“No shit…” Cynthia whispered.

“What?” Even Protea seemed to be surprised.

“Did you know that woman was named Amber?” Cynthia whispered to her at their table, desperately trying to be as subtle as possible with this and not to make a big fuss about it. 

“I had no idea…” Protea seemed to be legitimate and honest about it, too. 

“No shit!” needless to say that it was pretty hard for The Blue Heart to have to keep whispering like this, but she had to. 

They couldn’t see that woman too well.

They barely saw a glimpse of her as she entered the saloon and now all they could see of her was her back and not much else.

“Do you think?”

“I have to go see her right now!” Cynthia didn’t want to whisper no more and she wanted to get up and to see her. If she could go talk to her and interrogate her even more, she thought she’d be able to know for sure if it was her. It began making sense that the Amber Murder was also named “Amber”. She had to be honest, it was a bit on the nose, but it was not impossible. Why not? She had to know for herself. Cynthia stood up and to her surprise, Protea reached out of her arm and pulled on it.

“Wait!”

“What are you doing, Protea?”

“What do you think you’re going? You can’t go to here right now. We need a plan first,” Protea told her.

“I don’t need no plan!” she didn’t care. The only thing Cynthia wanted was to catch this girl! 

“Calm down…”

“I won’t calm down—I just want to catch the Amber Killer!” This time, Cynthia did not whisper, at all. Everyone in the saloon heard her loud and clear and even the one woman in question…

There was a silence…

Nobody moved for a short while until… 

… The suspected killer finally made her move and she ran right out of the saloon using the backdoor in the kitchen. Cynthia went after her immediately! Protea tried to keep up with her, but the two of them were too fast for the plant woman. 

Cynthia followed the suspected killer outside in the back of the saloon. 

“STOP!” 

They arrived in a back alley not long after and this was when Cynthia was surprised with a cold wave blasting over her! Soon, all she could see was an amber colour…