I dreamt that I was an investigator, a young and naive investigator. The type who is out to prove something and believes they can truly make a difference. An investigator who hasn’t been jaded or humbled by the true atrocities of what people can do to each other. I still believed I was invincible and that the old generation and way of thinking was absolute and needed a fresh new look.
I was partnered with an older investigator. One who was wise and grounded from all that they had seen. A veteran who knew the atrocities that we as humans could inflict on each other, who had seen it first hand time and time again. A person who knew the cruel mistress of defeat, and had watched the guilty party get away time and time again because of some bureaucratic red tape debacle. A resilient figure who had picked himself up countless times and set one foot in front of the other to continue on towards justice. Never one to give in to shortcuts or selling one’s soul for a bust, but an artifact that stayed true. Who’s integrity was more than worth its weight in gold.
I was on a case with this archaic partner, a remnant from a harsher time, and we had followed a lead to an abandoned house. We set up shop there, staying close by. One night I stayed around to take a more in depth look into one of the rooms we were examining in this house. This room was covered with mirrors at varying angles to disorient and confound the mind. I was sure there was a clue in this room when all of a sudden a smoky figure and voice presented itself to me.
It knew what I was doing in this house and who I was looking for. He told me that he had the answer and would be willing to share and assist me in this. In exchange all he wanted from me was to make a pact that would bind us together. I would be the best detective this world had ever seen and in exchange he would simply be released from the confines of these mirrors. I told him that I would have to think it over.
I spoke with my partner the next day, noticing a twitch along the crease of his eye when I mentioned this smoky figure. He told me sternly not to mess with the like. He knew them and nothing good would come from it. We didn’t need his help in finding this murderer and he had come across some evidence that might be the break we need.
I shrugged off the thought of the smoky figure initially, but when my partner’s lead became garbage and things were looking dim, I forced my hand. I entered that room and made a pact. The lights grew dim and the room went dark. I exited and had my answer, I was on the path to becoming the greatest detective this world had ever known.
I went to my partner with my findings. He knew. He explained that this was not what I thought it was going to be. I had unleashed a dark and terrible being. I could go down this path but I would turn into the man I was currently hunting. I had an option, become the villain I so desperately wanted to capture, or let it all go. Letting go of this notion of being the greatest detective of all time as well as the idea that we were going to capture this man. If I let this go would I end up like my partner? Wasn’t this the something new and different I was setting out for anyways?
In the end I decided to let it all go. I walked back up to that mirrored room and told the smoky figure that the pact was off. I renounced him. The smoke came first, filling the whole room. Shortly followed the screams, thousands of them, howling and piercing through my hands covering my ears. As they grew to a crescendo the mirrors in the room burst forth and shattered into a million pieces. My partner came in and saved me in the nick of time as we made our desperate escape.
I found myself covered in dust and with blood dripping out of my ears traveling down a worn out road with my Partner by my side. I might not be the greatest detective now but whatever I do become I will be a true detective. My focus now is the task at hand. What tomorrow brings I do not know, but it is no matter to me, for today is enough to worry about.