Marianus squinted into the distance. At the end of the road was a sign that he couldn’t quite read. He drove his car to the side and slowed to a stop. The engine purred, quietly. Marianus pulled out a thoroughly marked map and confirmed his position.

  “This is the place.” He stepped out of the car and noticed something. “Ahhhhh…” There was a menacing looking scratch on the exterior of his driver side door. “My baby…” He moaned.

  A woman stuck her head out of the passenger side window. She smiled a Kafka-esque smile. “See, I told you. You drive too recklessly. I suppose this is your fate.” She resembled the devil.

  “This is the case of a lifetime. No, make that two! A few scratches are nothing. It’s irrelevant, I tell you. Completely irrelevant.”

  “Then, Marianus, why are you crying?” The woman looked away while playing with her hair in delight.

  “I’m not crying, Sascha!” Marianus said, while wiping the sweat from his eyes.

  Marianus walked leisurely up to the sign. It read “DANGER! CONSTRUCTION ZONE” in that obnoxiously red lettering common of places that didn’t want Marianus to enter. What should’ve been a smooth continuity in the road was instead a dark, cement pit. It seemed part of the road collapsed.

  Marianus wasn’t surprised, nor bothered. He was an expert when it came to delays, being the author of many personal and professional ones. He had prepared extensively for this case, and this was yet another trial separating him from the investigation of his dreams.

  As a journalist, he wasn’t as high profile as the bigshot keystone investigators. It wasn’t that he had low ambitions, nor that he didn’t have the ability. He chose journalism for personal reasons.

  “Marianus, why don’t you become a professional investigator?” Sascha asked him one time.

  Marianus was not troubled by that question. He answered readily having already considered that question at length himself.

  “Why do some people decide to perform self-experiments and publish books in the name of health as opposed to getting in industry and becoming, you know, researchers or doctors?” Marianus posed a counter-question.

  Sascha was not amused. Marianus tended to speak in parables, and frankly she was sick of it. It was one his tendencies that she found annoying, among many others. She answered anyway.

  “Because there are more liberties outside the industry than inside it?”

  “Correct! As expected of the chief of investigation’s daughter. You really are smart.”

  “You compromised, though.”

  “Well, yes. I’m not a complete outsider. I still have my foot in the door. As for another reason...”

  Marianus thought to himself for a moment.

  “I don’t think uniforms suit me.” He flashed a goofy smile.

  Marianus was both a good investigator and a good journalist. However, more than those two, he was a great oddball. He’d go to extreme lengths that no average investigator would imagine to go when covering their cases. His personal reports alone occupied two five inch binders, at the very least. He was that dedicated and extensive with his cases, and this one was no different. It was in fact even more so.

  Marianus scanned the surroundings, peeking his head around various places. He paced. “We have two options here,” Marianus declared. “The only way forward is to proceed by foot. Otherwise, we’ll have to turn around.”

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  “Even if we search elsewhere, there are no other routes. This road’s the only one.”

  “Yes. So, regardless, we’re going to have to go on foot.”

  “The second option is to go back? That’s not going to happen.”

  “Exactly, that’s why…”

  Marianus stepped back into the car. He made himself comfortable. He fixed his mirrors and unbuttoned his collar. He looked deeply into Sascha’s eyes.

  “Sascha… I have something to tell you.”

  “Eh? What… What are you doing?”

  Marianus leaned forward. He put his hands around Sascha’s seat, closing in on her. He looked longingly at her eyes. His gaze trapped her, his smile inviting her oh-so-irresistibly.

  Sascha froze. She was torn between pushing him away and letting things be. For a moment, she thought that maybe this was okay, that maybe she didn’t mind where this was going. She berated herself in her mind for having such submissive thoughts.

  “Sascha, I’m sorry for being so sudden…”

  “Marianus…” Sascha closed her eyes.

  Click.

  Sascha opened her eyes in surprise. She tugged and pulled. Her hand was trapped. Around her wrist was something metal, hard, and cold. It hugged her wrist, preventing escape.

  Marianus smiled. He pulled himself back, patted his hands, and blushed.

  “That’ll do it!”

  “Marianus..!” Sascha roared in a low voice. She looked at Marianus with spite. “How dare you! You betrayed me!”

  “I wouldn’t go as far as calling it betrayal…”

  “Then what do you call this!”

  “I call it ‘handcuffing my partner to the steering wheel so that she can stay safe inside the car while I go investigate the mysterious cult on foot’”. Something like that.”

  “Let me go...” Her voice was terribly scary. This is what happens when you step on her pride, Marianus thought. She is a monster. He was glad he wasn’t chained to the car with her.

  “Oi! Watch yourself!” Marianus leapt out of the car as Sascha lunged at him, or at least tried to. Maybe it was his imagination, but it looked like steam poured out of her nose, like a locomotive. Her forehead wrinkled intensely, like folded paper. She kept pulling on the chains but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Let me go!!! I’m coming with you! Don’t tell me, don’t tell me! You had planned this from the start!”

  “Of course not. Things just happened to work out this way.” Marianus smiled. If anyone else were here, they would be completely dumbfounded. Only Marianus could do something like this to Sascha and get away with it.

  This is not the first time Sascha was awkwardly handcuffed to something immobile. The first time was at a party with one too many drinks. The second time was at a local police station. Both were accidents. Both involved Marianus.

  “Aghhh… I should’ve expected this,” Sascha said exasperated. “If only you didn’t…”

  “Hmm?”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Sascha clicked her tongue. “Wait ‘till I call the chief of police on your ass.”

  “My father? Oh yes. About that, if I’m not back in two hours, give his guys a call. You know what to do.” Marianus looked at his map once more and investigated the pit in front of him. It was rather deep indeed, as expected of a pit. He made his way around it.

  “Hey.” Sascha called out, slightly concerned. It was only slightly, of course. “You’re seriously going to go alone? Without me? It’s way too danger-”

  “Relax.” Marianus turned around and smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be fine. As far as safety is concerned, I have more than enough measures in place. You know how extensively I prepare for these. Trust in me.” He flashed a goofy thumbs up.

  Sascha could not help but sigh. She looked an awful lot like her father at the moment, especially when he dealt with her troublesome daughter. She frowned.

  Marianus kept forward. With every step away, she felt like she was losing him, losing grasp of her dear friend. She didn’t like it.

  Marianus was far from her now. She could only make out an outline. It was still high noon at that time, but the shadows of the trees obscured the sun. It seemed much darker then.

  “Don’t leave me…” Sascha muttered to herself.

  After some time, she climbed (with great effort) into the driver’s seat, picked up the key Marianus left behind, and started the car. The car purred a soft purr. It seemed sadder, much unlike how Sascha wished she felt at that moment.

  The two separated.