Masks of Mischief: Aliester and Alonso's Cold Case Caper

The air was cold and damp, the forest around him almost silent. Aliester sat up, wiping the dirt from his face. His ribs were hurting, but he didn't know if it was because of the fall or if they had been broken. He looked down to check his condition and saw that his shirt had been ripped apart, and a long slit ran down along his chest, right under his left shoulder. Blood was still flowing down his arm, but it didn't look too bad.

He stood up slowly, looking around. His gun was lying on the ground a few meters away from him. He walked towards it and picked it up, then checked to see if it still worked. It did. He looked around again, listening for any sounds of movement in the bushes ahead of him. Suddenly he heard something and spun around to see a large figure standing behind him, its body bent forward so that only its head could be seen above a bush.

“You're awake? Good” said the figure as it turned around and went back into the bush. The figure was wearing a white robe with a hood over its head and face, so Aliester couldn't see who it was, but he knew immediately: the hooded man.

“So you're the one causing all this trouble around here?” asked Aliester as he followed the figure into the thicket. “I thought you'd be bigger than that... And I thought you would have some kind of weapon instead of just your hands”

The figure stopped walking and turned around to face Aliester again. “I do have a weapon - I'm using my mind to kill people!” answered the figure sarcastically. “And as for being big... Well, look at yourself! You have no idea how many obese police officers I've seen in my time!”

Aliester laughed quietly as he followed the figure deeper into the forest. “So what are we doing out here? Trying to catch a serial killer? Isn't that detective stuff for Alonso? I'm more of an action hero kind of guy myself”

The figure chuckled quietly before answering: “Well, Alonso is in no position to catch me at the moment”

Aliester stopped dead in his tracks and felt ice run through his veins when he heard those words: Alonso was hurt badly earlier by some kind of monster in their office building - he'd been shot in the stomach before they could even react to whatever had happened on their floor. They were sure he had died right there on the spot, leaving them both alone in this forest with one suspect and one dying friend... Now it seemed like that wasn't true at all... And Aliester felt guilty for having felt relieved just now... But maybe they still had a chance at getting out alive if they could get rid of this monster first... Even though Aliester knew deep inside himself that they probably wouldn't make it out alive today...

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