Hey guys! So, here's chapter one of The Gentleman! I've been working on this story for months, and I've finally finished and am ready to post it! And I'm incredibly excited! So I hope you like it! :D

Get reading now, and enjoy!

Ernie pulled up to the large garage-turned-science lab, turning off his car and getting out, twirling the keys in his fingers. He could see lights on in the lab, which meant his wife, a dedicated researcher, was most likely hard at work. She'd recently had a breakthrough in her work finding a cure for cancer, landing her in the local paper and gaining herself a grant of a few thousand dollars.

He was very proud of his wife; there was no doubt about it. Though lately, she had been very distant. When she wasn't working in the lab she shared with other researchers at the University in town, she was working in her makeshift lab in the garage. In the last week, since her picture had appeared in the paper, she'd worked late into the night, often not making it into their house until the early morning hours.

He stopped and looked back into his car, noticing the white rose sitting on the dashboard. A delivery buy had brought it by his office building earlier that day, with a small, handwritten card bearing the message 'My Condolences'. He hadn't the faintest idea who it was from or what it was supposed to mean. Nothing had happened to warrant that message, not since his father died two years previously. Well, unless you counted the sudden loss of his wife to her work. Maybe whoever sent it was someone with a rather sarcastic sense of humour.

He ambled over to the garage door, knocking a few times before opening it and stepping through. After a second, he spotted his wife on the far side of the room, her long dark hair pulled back and dressed in her long lab coat. She was peering at a slide through her microscope, fiddling with the knobs on the side.

"Allie?" he said, trying to gain her attention for just a few moments.

"Hello, dear," she responded, her eyes not moving from the end of the microscope.

"How was your day?" he asked kindly.

"Fine," she answered, picking up her pen and scribbling something down rapidly on a notepad. He sighed as she walked over to her desk, rifling through a tall stack of papers.

He was about to tell her he'd see her later and turn back to head into the house, recognizing that she was too busy to talk at the moment, when he spotted a red rose sitting on one of the tables next to the door. There was a card lying next to it, looking identical to the one he had lying in his car at the moment.

He stepped over and picked it up, flicking it open. It read 'My Apologies'. He stared at it curiously for a moment, before turning back towards his wife.

"Hey, Allie?"

"Hm?"

"Did you get this flower delivered today?"

She irritably turned away from her desk, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Yes. A delivery boy showed up this afternoon," she said, immediately turning back to the paper she was poring over.

"That's strange. I got a flower too, a red one. But my card said 'My Condolences'," Ernie replied.

"Interesting."

"Do you know who sent them?"

"No. Honey, I'm sorry, but would you please go? I need to focus."

"Oh, alright. Of course. Sorry for bothering you," he said, quickly stepping back outside and shutting the door. He sighed and stared at the red flower still in his hands. It was good that she was putting so much time into her work. It was important work, after all. But he was starting to miss her.

He stopped at his car, picking up the white flower he'd set down on the hood, deciding he'd take them both in and stick them on the kitchen table.

He was halfway up the front porch when there was a loud, strange crackling noise from behind him. It made him stop and turn back towards the lab. There were often odd noises coming from the building, but he'd never heard anything like that.

After a few seconds, he shrugged and continued up to the front door, fishing for his keys in his pocket. Though, the next sound he heard made him freeze, sending his blood running cold. A high pitched scream piercing the calm silence of the quiet neighborhood. And it was unmistakably coming from the garage lab.

The roses slipped from his fingers as he jumped off the porch and began sprinting towards the building, and they landed on the pavement, forgotten. He was nearly up to the door when a sudden fiery explosion threw him backwards; slamming him into the ground and making him feel a sharp pain in the back of his head. He grappled with his sudden dizziness as he stood up, stars floating across his vision as he started to make his way towards the door again.

He fumbled for the doorknob for a few seconds, before he flung it open. The intense heat from inside hit him like a wall, making him stumble backward again, and he felt his hair and eyebrows being singed.

"Allie?" he called out desperately, trying to make his way past the fire that was blocking his way inside. "Allie!"

He strained his ears, and over the roar of the fire, he heard her call back weakly. She wasn't visible though, and whether she'd been hurt or was stuck somewhere out of his line of vision he wasn't sure.

He tried desperately to make his way into the building, but his sleeve abruptly caught fire and he recoiled, trying to beat it out. He ripped off his jacket and threw it on the ground, stamping it out and attempting to get in again, when suddenly someone was grabbing him, dragging him away from the fire. From his wife.

He fought against them, screaming his wife's name, his only thought about getting to her.

"Ernie! Ernie, stop! Let the firefighters go in! I called them, they're coming!" a voice said in his ear. He distantly recognized that it was one of his neighbors.

"No! Allie! I have to get Allie" he said, his arms suddenly growing tired, his neck suddenly feeling wet.

"Ernie, calm down! You're bleeding! You need to stop fighting, the firefighters will get there!"

It was true, they were coming. He could hear them over top of a strange buzzing that suddenly filled his head. But the building was still burning quickly, and she was still in there.

"No. Allie!" he tried to yell, but his voice came out weak. He was confused for a second. Why were his arms suddenly so tired? He was still attempting to fight off his neighbor and get back towards the burning building, when suddenly the world around him went black and he felt his knees slam into the pavement.

Detective Skinner pulled his cruiser over to the side of the road and jumped out, moving quickly towards the rest of the flashing lights. He ducked under the police tape, striding up to another Detective observing the CSI units as they picked through the wreckage.

"Detective Jacobs? How is it?"

She turned around as he called out to her. "Nathan," she said solemnly. He registered that she'd used his first name, noting that it had to be bad.

"So?" he asked nervously.

She sighed. "Alicia was trapped inside when the blast went off. The fire blocked her exit. She couldn't get out, Ernie couldn't get in. Even though he tried. And she had a large wound in her stomach. As far as we can tell, there must have been some piece of lab equipment that was thrown at her in the blast."

He shook his head slowly. Alicia had been a very friendly person. They'd met several times, and he'd liked her well enough. He couldn't imagine all of this happening to her.

"And how is Ernie doing?"

She nodded over towards the ambulance that was parked on the front lawn. They could just see that Ernie was sitting in the back, a paramedic looking at the back of his head. Tears were streaming down his face. Detective Skinner shook his head again.

That was when something laying on the pavement near the house caught his eye. "Oh, no," he muttered. He walked over and picked up the two flowers with their respective notes. The ones that were completely identical to the ones found at the last two murder scenes he'd visited.

Officer Jacobs walked up next to him, and they both stared grimly at the flowers, which were slightly crushed and looking like they'd been trodden on.

"Do we bring in help?" she asked slowly.

He nodded curtly. "We need the experts."

What'd you think? Reviews are majorly appreciated!

Also, there will be fifteen chapters and I'll try to update about every three days, just for reference.

Thanks guys!