Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue! ;D

A/N: So sorry for having not updated this in ages! I've been incredibly busy and had way too much going on. I'll do my best to try and update regularly but it honestly all depends on my work schedule/workload.

Chapter 3: Brick By Boring Brick

Audrey entered the station and waked briskly to the office she shared with Nathan in the hopes that the Chief hadn't noticed her late arrival.

Audrey sat down at her desk and began shifting through some files.

Nathan came in with a large cup of coffee and set it on her desk. "Afternoon, Parker."

"Thanks." She replied, graciously sipping the coffee.

"Thought you could use some; been a rough couple days."

Audrey nodded. "So, where's the Chief?" Half-wondering if she should be worrying that she'd be reprimanded about coming in so late.

"If you're worried about him ripping you for just coming in, don't sweat it. He's been swamped with paperwork all morning and just went out for his lunch break."

Audrey let out a sigh of relief as she glanced at the paperwork that she knew awaited her. She had to file a report about the whole James Whittier case that began late last night.

"So he's letting us handle the pumpkin-carver case on our own?" Curious if Chief Wournos would want to know about what they'd responded to last night.

Nathan shrugged. "He thinks it's just some brawl that ended with one injury. Besides, I think he's working on something else entirely at the moment."

"A brawl that ends up with an all-too-convenient symbol and a man who can't remember anything that happened between three people following him and us showing up?" Audrey pointed out incredulously.

"You think that the Troubles have something to do with last night?" Nathan inquired.

"It seems like too much of a coincidence to ignore."

"I did some digging on our new friend, James, this morning."

"And?"

"Nothing. No records of him in the tri-state area."

"Did you try widening the search area?"

Nathan nodded. "Put in a word at several stations in Canada and states further south."

Audrey made a face. It was a bit of a shame that she quit the FBI because she couldn't put in a search on James and get an almost immediate answer.

"You think he might've been lying about his identity?"

"I think we need to pay him a visit at the hospital and see if he's gotten any of his memory back." Audrey answered as she finished her coffee.

Duke returned to his boat after dropping Audrey off at the station. He didn't linger in front of the building after Audrey got out of his truck.

He noticed Nathan giving him a look from one of the windows of the station as he drove away and silently hoped that Nathan hadn't noticed that the inspection stickers on his truck had expired months ago.

Then again, Duke smirked to himself as he moved some crates on his boat. The only thing standing between his freedom and Nathan throwing him in a cell was Nathan's apathy and of course, Audrey.

Audrey was mostly interested in the troubles and the mystery of Lucy Ripley. She'd only arrested him once since she'd been here and that was earlier on in their friendship.

Besides, they needed him to help with intel and he needed—protection.

He was still uneasy about Pumpkin Boy and his carving. He kept replaying the warning in his mind about the person who's supposed to kill him with that exact marking.

"Duke." A voice called, causing him to almost drop the crate he was carrying.

"Julia, what can I do for you?" He asked with a smirk, setting the crate back down.

"There's something I'd like to show you." She spoke sternly.

Audrey and Nathan pulled up to the hospital and headed inside to where James was being guarded by two Haven police officers.

Nathan and Audrey flashed their badges at the officers before entering the room.

James was lying in bed, tucked in white hospital sheets, with his injured leg resting above the sheets, bandaged up.

He turned his head to face them as they walked closer to his hospital bed.

"Have you—have you found them yet?" He asked, a whimper lining his voice.

"It would help if we knew who to look for." Nathan stated.

James gave a puzzled look.

"We can't look for someone to charge with assault and battery if we don't even know what they look like." Audrey clarified calmly.

"But I—I already told you. I told you about the three people following me." James stammered.

"That's all you told us." Nathan affirmed. "Three people were following you and between then and emergency response showing up, you don't remember a thing."

James was silent for several moments before Audrey broke the silence.

"What aren't you telling us?" Audrey questioned.

"I've told you everything I could remember." James spoke. "The four of them followed me from the party and the next thing I knew, I was laying on the side of the road."

"Four?" Audrey gave a puzzled look.

"You've been saying since last night there were only three." Nathan noted.

James shook his head violently. "No, there were four. Three thugs and an artist."

"An artist beat you up?" Nathan raised an eyebrow.

Audrey suppressed a laugh.

James's face scrunched in pain as he sat up and grabbed at his leg.

"Are you alright?" Audrey asked alarmed.

"It's burning."

"It was a deep gash."

"No, it's on fire!" James screeched as he tore at the bandages.

Audrey ran to the door of the hospital room.

"We need help in here now!" She shouted.

Several nurses came rushing in.

"He's convulsing." Nathan announced.

"James, James, listen to me. We need you to hang in there." Audrey spoke, trying to calm James down.

Three nurses steadied him while a fourth ripped the bandage off his disfigured leg.

"Oh my God!" She shrieked, backing away.

Audrey and Nathan moved in closer to view James leg while the three nurses still in the room gave James something to sleep.

"This just got weirder." Audrey concluded.

The symbol carved into James's leg black; as if someone had colored every inch of it in with permanent marker.

Black vines sprouted from the now inked-symbol, inching and inking their way through James's veins, wrapping around his leg and staining it as the symbol began to bleed profusely.

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