brings her to the Black Market."
"Intriguing. The Black Market is a million-dollar underground industry with multiple sellers and bidders. If I was that particular 'girl' you're referring to — which is pretty preposterous, because I’m a woman, to begin with — who would you be delivering me to? The Black Market square?"
I watched him gulp and I turned around, crossing my arms as I began to laugh. "Ah. Professor. You really think I'm stupid." I lost all emotion as I glared at him.
"No. I-I don't. I swear that's the truth." He put his hands up defensively, shaking them to support his claim. "I-I never said you were stupid."
"Of course not." I smiled. "Or you'd be dead by now."
He fell to his knees, his hands in a begging position as he bowed his head.
"Please, don't kill me. I'm only the messenger. I had no clue you were a Tracker. I'm listening to orders."
"Indeed you are." I sighed dramatically, pinching my nose. "Well, Professor, I have to be on my way. Though my dad is on vacation, I still have to follow my dreadful curfew."
"Curfew?"
"I know, right?! I'm eighteen and I have to follow curfew. Sucks really, but I can see why my dad does it." I gave him a happy smile while I tilted my head. "To make sure I don't have to deal with lying assholes like you."
"I wasn't lying!" he argued, attempting to get up. Instead, he fell to the ground, two black tendrils wrapping around his ankles.
He looked back in horror, his eyes growing wide to see Shadow Jade standing next to me in her pure black form. His jaw dropped, looking between the two of us.
"Kill. Kill. Kill?" Shadow Jade looked at me, her mouth turned up in a wide smile that showed her pure white, sharp teeth.
"Hmm. I'm not sure Shadow Jade. Maybe before that, we can prove to Professor Roland that he's a liar." I clapped my hands.
"I'm not...I swear on my mother's grave!"
"Bad move, my friend. Your mother would not be happy hearing that from you, but you'll be meeting her very shortly. She can tell you what she thinks about your behavior herself."
He tried to fight the tendrils, only adding to his misery as two more burst from the ground and wrapped around his wrists, forcing him down to the ground.
With a sigh, I looked at Shadow Jade. "Want to reveal what we know?"
Shadow Jade squealed, skipping up to Professor Roland, who lifted his head up to look at her in shock.
Clearing her throat, Shadow Jade stood up straight and put her hand on her chest like she was about to sing the national anthem.
"Professor A. Roland. Thirty-nine, male. Works for Leonardo Denzel, who is the leader of the mafia and currently on the Tracker Hive list of top criminals in this area. Purpose of Professor Roland's interference is to kidnap the targeted girl, bring her in for experimentation, and sell her to Leonardo in exchange for a clean slate for all his crimes in the last ten years. He also had the intention of conducting forced sexual intercourse."
Professor Roland was speechless, his gaze slowly moving from Shadow Jade to me. I stroked my chin in thought.
"Hmm. When you talk like that, you sound exactly like me," I muttered.
"Me!" Shadow Jade declared, her childlike responses back. "Kill now?"
"H-How?! What the fuck are you?!"
"Me or her?" I asked, pointing to Shadow Jade, who blinked her purple glowing eyes innocently.
"Me?"
"N-no! Dammit, how did you read my mind?"
"There are common spells for that, but it's child's play for the element of darkness. If you’d done your research, you would have known that."
He tried to speak but I answered his thought. "You think that's not possible? Well, those who can use the dark element well enough can send tiny little tendrils into the brain that deliver the host’s thoughts back to the Shadow. And before you started following me, we bumped into each other at the bar by accident. That contact was all I needed for my Shadow to connect and listen in on every one of your thoughts. Pretty cool if you ask me. I'd be a brilliant CIA agent. No, FBI? Ah, right. I'm a Tracker! I almost forgot." I laughed, shaking my head.
"Kill?" Shadow Jade asked again, pouting her lips impatiently.
I sighed. "Yes, my Shadow. You may kill him now. You can even sing the Kill song all the way home. Just don't make a mess." I gave her permission.
"You can't kill me! I'm