Loaded Secrets (ONC 2023)

Chapter Six: A Connection

"What else is there to talk about?" Ayden looked at her, his face uneasy. He started to shift in his chair and lean in to rub his large hands together. He glanced around the room, as though looking for a possible escape route but then stopped abruptly when he saw Aria staring at him. Aria let the silence hang between them as she considered how she could approach the subject of his murder without traumatizing the fellow further. He was clearly focused on his breakup, and finding out that he would never be able to reconcile with his beloved would not go over well.

"Well, do you know why we are here?" Aria tried to sound gentle and reassuring. She walked slowly towards Ayden, taking cautious steps as though trying not to scare a feral animal.

"I think so," he sounded uncertain but recognition dawned on him when she was mere steps away from him.

"This isn't the real world, it is a virtual reality," Aria hoped he would finish her sentence.

Ayden responded with a pained expression and then uttered, "yes, I remember now, I'm dead." He looked forlorn for a moment but then he surprised Aria by adding, "it isn't ideal, because I won't be able to tell Miranda how much I love her."

Aria could barely hold herself together. Was this man for real?

"I have already spoken to an Inspector," he continued, but this time he fixed her with a stare as though trying to read something. Aria resisted the urge to pull back under Ayden's scrutiny.

"He wasn't like you, you are fully human without any additions," he all but spat out the last word. "Maybe, you will actually be able to solve this crime," he smiled tentatively at her.

Aria was taken aback by this statement. She wanted him to elaborate but he didn't seem to want to go on any further. Since she was afraid she didn't have much time with him, she focused on the case at hand.

"So," Aria said, with unfamiliar trepidation. Although she interviewed victims of various crimes numerous times, she never, for obvious reasons, interviewed the victim of a murder. "What can you remember about today, when you got... When..."

"When I was killed?" He crinkled his eyes as if suppressing a smile.

"Yes," Aria mentally chided herself for not being able to properly present questions more clearly.

"Honestly, I don't even know what to tell ya. This random guy and two girls showed up and –"

"Okay, sorry, let's just start from the beginning," Aria interrupted, hoping to keep him on track with his answers. "What were you doing in the motel to begin with? I understand you don't live around here, so when did you come and how long were you planning to stay, and what for?" If illicit substances were involved, as Epson suspected, Aria needed to know if this was Ayden's purpose for being there.

"Well," Ayden looked pensive for a moment. "I came here a couple of days ago. A buddy of mine, Caleb, got a tip that there is some human work needed here, and signed us both up. We were gonna start the day after tomorrow. So, like, not gonna lie to you, Aria," Aria flinched slightly at the sound of her name, so casually spoken, "there was a little partying, you know...Caleb and I, as well as some of his friends, we drank a little, smoked substances... I wasn't, like, totally under or anything, but we were having a good time."

"And do you know Caleb's last name?"

"Honestly, I don't. Something with a D I think... He is from around here."

Aria was disappointed to learn that locating a potential witness was unlikely. She suspected Epson would refuse to put in the effort to look for Caleb, but this information may not be crucial. After all, today's investigative methods probably would not have elicited this lead to begin with, let alone try to follow it. So, she carried on, "and you said the party was yesterday?"

"Yeah, and the day before. By the time the guys who killed me came though, I did sober up." Ayden reassured, "didn't want to party too hard before starting work. First impressions and all..."

"Alright," Aria tried to encourage him to go on, "so, you and your friends were partying. How many people were here?"

"Ugh, don't know, to be honest, people just kind of came and went. Looks like my friend knew a lot of people in the area. Like maybe at any given time there were two or three guys other than us..." His gaze suddenly focused on something far away and his eyes were no longer meeting hers.

Sensing there was something Ayden wasn't telling her, Aria wondered if it had to do with his last interactions.

"And the people who killed you - I believe you described them as random, but did you recognize any of them from the party?"

Ayden looked confused for a moment, as if he was suddenly distracted. "Nah, I don't think I ever saw any of these people before..."

"And Caleb," Aria tried to phrase her inquiry delicately, "was he ever involved in selling illicit substances?"

"Not to my knowledge, he didn't. But he always knew where to get some, if you know what I mean," Ayden's broad smile was almost conspiratorial.

"What about you?" Aria really did not know how to broach the subject and decided to just say it.

"Selling illicit substances?" Ayden seemed amused, "nah, I don't do that. Not worth the risk of being locked up. Anything you see on the scene is strictly for personal use."

"Alright," Aria paused in relief. The cheerful young man whose mind she was delving into was not a drug dealer. Her gut instinct was right. But then, why the bloody ruthless murder? Aria shuddered recalling the lifeless brutalized body of the man she was conversing with.

"So, today," Aria continued, "today you woke up, sober. And what did you do? Did you see anyone or go anywhere?"

"No, I just gamed here for a bit. There is this new game that just came out – " Ayden's eyes shined with enthusiasm, and Aria was almost tempted to let him go on, but he cut his monologue short. "Anyhow, I didn't do anything, just stayed in the room. Then around 1 o'clock maybe, there's a knock on the door. And I'm thinking this must be Caleb coming over. And maybe for a second there it struck me as kind of weird that he'd drop in unannounced, because we agreed on no more partying until the start of work and he said he had some stuff to wrap up before anyway, but I figured maybe his plans just fell through so he wanted to chill."

Aria tensed. Ayden was getting to the part where he would describe his death. Her hands became clammy, and her back grew moist with perspiration. She tried to calm herself. She didn't want to elevate her heart rate and go back to reality before finishing this interview.

"So I open the door," Ayden suddenly looked agitated, his fists clenched in his lap, his jaw muscles tightening, "and, like I told you before, this random guy and two girls stand there. And I'm like, hi, can I help you with something? And they go, you're Ayden, right? And I'm like, yeah, who's asking? Trying to joke with them, maybe they, like, heard from Caleb or his buddies about the partying here or something."

Ayden took a deep breath. He looked even more uneasy than before. He threw a helpless glance around the room, as if hoping to find the words in that space.

Aria wished she could hold his hand. Instead she merely said, in what she hoped would be a calm and reassuring voice, "don't worry, take your time. I know this isn't easy for you."

"That's not it," Ayden replied, almost apologetically, "it's that, from this point on, I'm really struggling with remembering..."

As Ayden searches for words, Aria realizes that something began to tug at her. It was as though she was waking up from a dream. She gasped for air, feeling the rush of blood in her ears. She was leaving and she couldn't control it. Before she could say anything else, she saw the white walls disappear and Ayden's face fade from her vision.

"Aria, I know I'm dead, but I'm still here. And I want to help you catch whoever did this to me," he shouted from somewhere far away now.

"Thank you, Ayden," she managed to force out before she found a pair of pale blue eyes staring at her. She was back in Epson's office.