Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Fort Kearny Mystery Stories Case #1 ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

THE FORT KEARNY MYSTERY STORIESCASE #1: The Rising Star Mystery

PROLOGUE: Murder at Age Seven

 

Kearny Beach - 8 Years Ago

It was just another typical fun-in-the-sun picnic for the Horie Family, their friends, and their colleagues. Every other summer they would spend two weeks at the most private spot of the local Kearny Beach in order to relax, enjoy the summer, and to make memories. Normally only children age five and over do get to join in the fun at the seas or simply just spending their time with their family and friends.

 

For seven-year-old twins, Eljin and Airi Horie, this particular summer was their first time spending two weeks at the beach with their family, their parents' friends, their nine-year-old child star older brother Ainsley Hawke's friends (real name - Alaric Francis Horie), and of course, their own closest friends, Dustin John Davies (DJ) and Aisling Harris. Though this may be just their first childhood memory at that age, this particular summer at the beach is one single memory that the Horie Twins will never, ever forget.

 

Just four days before the end of their two-week beach retreat, a particular memory just had to happen right in front of the twins' eyes. The twins, along with DJ and Aisling, just happened to be at the correct spot of the beach at that time, only except it was at the wrong time. Unsupervised by any adult or teen at that time, the four kids separated themselves from the rest of the crowd just so they can have their time alone without the meddling adults or annoying teenagers. All they wanted to do was build a sand castle--- the biggest sand castle ever to be made.

 

Little did they know that the spot they particularly picked was towered by a nearby cliff that also provides shade to be safe from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Luckily, their parents had sprayed them with sunscreen before they headed out to the beach. But either way, they took advantage of the cliff's cover to protect their selves from getting sunburn.

 

All that the children did was head to the shore close to the waters to gather some more water to use as paste for their halfway finished sand castle to keep the structure intact. But once they gathered enough water, all their hard work was gone to waste. What they spotted was that someone suddenly crashed on to their castle, wrecking the entire structure. It was unruly, rude, and incredibly mean, they thought. The kids then got a closer look at the culprit who destroyed their castle, wondering why this cruel individual decided to dismantle their sand castle simply just by crashing on to it.

 

“HEY!” Young Eljin yelled out towards the individual. The heartless fun wrecker, for some reason, still has not gotten up from the sand just yet. “YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIX THIS! WE WORKED HARD WITH THAT!”

 

Despite Eljin's efforts to get the individual's attention, there was no answer coming from the culprit. In fact, the culprit did not even move a single inch, not even a little twitch.

 

“Maybe… maybe she's deaf…” Airi curiously wondered as the kids get closer.

 

“Didn't you hear what I said to you? Are you really that stupid? Speak up! For someone older than us you sure got the nerve!” Eljin continued to berate the culprit lying on to their now ruined sand castle. “HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!!”

 

Once the kids finally reached the culprit they gave a short stare. Although neither DJ nor Aisling noticed, Airi immediately thought something was wrong. She slowly walked towards the wrecker and spoke softly. “Hello…? Are you… are you… alright?”

 

Airi waited for her to answer right when she noticed that there was no sign of breathing all through the body. In fact, she also noticed that this person on the ground did not have any clothing at all. Quickly Aisling covered both Eljin's and DJ's eyes right when Airi identified this person being female.

 

“Hey… are you…” Airi reached for the mysterious young lady's shoulder, which was slightly exposed through the long, silky black hair flowing down all the way over her rear end. Right with just a fingertip she immediately lifted her tip away. The body was solid frozen cold.

 

“Oh no…” Airi gasped as she stood up and started to back away from the body.

 

“Airi, what's wrong?” Eljin, DJ, and Aisling exclaimed with worry.

 

“She's… OH NO! SHE'S… SHE'S DEAD!!”

 

“What?”

 

Quickly the children ran back as fast as they can, fearing from their imaginations that this mysterious female body may come back to life and start to haunt them in their later lifetime. Once they reached the family summer home the kids were relieved to see the twins' mother, Vina Rose Horie.

 

Mrs. Vina Horie is known to the entire town of Fort Kearny as Detective Vina Horie. She is a homicide police detective of their town's police department, Fort Kearny Police Department, and is considered one of the force's best detectives around. The detective recently came back on duty after a year or so on maternity leave with their youngest son, Tristan Clint Horie. In the family, both the detective and the former teen idol-turned-CEO of a celebrity talent agency bore four sons and a daughter, with Alaric being the oldest, followed by the twins Eljin and Airi as the only female among the children. The third-born is named Julian Balthazar Horie with the youngest being Tristan Clint. Currently both Julian and Tristan were sent to United Kingdom with some relatives of Rayner “Ray” Horie, the patriarch of the family and to attend special boarding schools there. Though the motherly detective disagreed to send her two youngest sons overseas, her husband Ray encouraged her to go back to servicing the community as the town cannot afford to have one detective on such a long leave.

 

When the four witnesses met the detective the twins explained what they had discovered at their spot. Without question Vina already alerted the rest of the family and guests, as well as contacting her colleagues from the police station to investigate the situation.

 

Almost an hour passed and the Fort Kearny Police are now on the job with Detective Vina Horie currently in charge of the investigation for now. There were witnesses and locals who live near the beach were all gathered. As for the twins and their friends, they could not give any other reaction but shock and of course, fear.

 

“I… I can't believe… we just spotted… a dead body…” Eljin murmured to himself with his teeth chattering.

 

“We… we didn't kill the dead body… honest we didn't!” Airi also jogged some thoughts within her, but due to their secret twin telepathy she can also feel the same fear as her brother.

 

Detective Vina Horie walked right towards the children and bent down to them. “From out of nowhere that body just crashed through your sand castle, just like that?” The four children nodded slowly. Right then she took note of her children's look of fear and nervousness. She then patted the twins on their shoulders gently with a smile on her face.

 

“We have to head back home, kids,” the kind detective informed the children. “The entire beach is now off-limits to beachgoers for the time being. They need to know what really happened and how that girl died…”

 

“Wait…” Aisling spoke from out of the blue. “Mrs. Horie… you mean… that dead body…”

 

Detective Horie nodded with a slight confident look on her face. “Yes… the body was identified immediately…”

 

“Really? Is it the neighbors?” DJ asked curiously as his contribution.

 

“No… not the neighbors. In fact… it was Alaric and his friends who identified the body…”

 

The twins gasped in such a huge shock. “Are you saying Alaric… knows that dead body?”

 

“Yes… in fact… that girl is one of your father's…”

 

“A SILVER HAWK IDOL?!” Both DJ and Aisling exclaimed in pure shock.

 

“What's a `Silver Hawk Idol'…?” Eljin asked curiously, looking rather naïve.

 

“It's Father's business, stupid…” Airi rolled her eyes towards Eljin. “That dead body was one of the girl idols that we see on TV and in the movies… well, and in real life too!”

 

“The poor girl…” Detective Horie sighed deeply. “How unfortunate… such a short life… and yet her future is so bright too…”

 

 

About a week later, an autopsy report was released to the police and also right in to Detective Horie's hands. The result was just simply astonishing and at the same time, spine-chilling.

 

FORT KEARNY CORONER AUTOPSY REPORT

Name: Yukina Hutton

Age: 16

Occupation:

High school student (homeschooled), actress, model, would- be singing sensation.

Time of Death: 8:00 a.m.

Cause of Death:

Numerous rope and string marks found on the victim's neck, most likely by strangulation.

 

The news regarding the mysterious death of Yukina Hutton was all over the news from the print to the internet. Many of the young girl's teenage fans all over Fort Kearny and around the world who were familiar with her had buzzed through the phones and the internet chats from the Yukina Hatton Fan Club sites and phone contacts regarding their favorite idol and what the “hidden” stories about her that led her to her death. There were fingerprints found on the body other than Airi's own fingertip that would bring the investigation a possible DNA identification and find the suspect.

 

During the investigation, the twins were excused to stay home from their local elementary school in case their mother or anyone from the police may want to interview and question them about what they have seen and anything else bizarre. Though the questioning was not as heavy as the twins thought it would be, this entire situation somehow caught the interest of Eljin and Airi, though they did not want to mention this curiosity to their mother yet.

 

One day in the afternoon DJ and Aisling visited the twins at their palatial home, which is located inside the thousand-acre Silver Hawk Estate, just to see how they were doing. These particular two kids had special permission to enter the estate without question from the guards just outside the gates as they are the closest friends of the twins. DJ and Aisling wanted to know if there were any developments during the investigation. Once they got there they met with the twins at Eljin's spacious bedroom.

 

“Anything new… about that dead girl…?” DJ asked curiously, scratching his head at the same time.

 

“Not really,” Eljin sighed, looking rather bored. For his age he was always the curious one among the family, looking through massive articles, entries, and any reading material deemed complex and “mature” for children twelve and under. He had been reading local newspaper articles about the murder, cutting out the articles and collecting them in his shoebox of clippings regarding the murder. “Same old stuff. No leads; nothing.”

 

Aisling chuckled softly and sat next to Airi, who was busy writing her own simple poems on her notebook. “I see that you and Eljin are playing detective too, huh?”

 

Airi closed her notebook and gazed towards her best friend. “It was Eljin's idea. I mean lately on TV he started watching those police drama shows and dropped the robot cartoons and comic books. Although I'm curious too about who killed that girl.”

 

“Is there anything that DJ and I can help you with, Eljin?” Aisling asked curiously. “I mean after all… we're the only ones who saw the body… right?”

 

“Don't forget that Alaric and his hotshot child star friends saw the body too,” Eljin frowned and crossed his arms. “They did ID that girl after all.”

 

“… Is that supposed to be a bad thing, Eljin?” DJ asked curiously. “How come lately you and Alaric can't see each other eye to eye anymore? You two used to be as close as bread and butter…”

 

“He's not `Alaric Horie' anymore,” Airi began her remark. “He's `Ainsley Hawke' now… most popular child star of today now. He hangs out now with the `cooler' people now… you know… other child stars? I mean if you ask me, guys, it's not Alaric that Eljin isn't having eye to eye with… it's Father.”

 

He split Alaric and me up… Eljin's voice spoke in his mind as the boy sighed and lowered his head. Yeah… you're right, Airi. We used to be close… but now because he's on the movies and on TV now he's hardly here anymore and I'm not `cool' enough to be on his side…

 

Aisling patted Eljin on the shoulder. “Hey, don't worry about it, Eljin. I mean, you still got us. You still got Airi. Probably your other brothers too in England?”

 

Eljin just shook his head. “It ain't the same, Aisling. I'm stuck with the opposite version of myself here. I ain't gonna have some ditzy babysitter looking over Airi and me just `cuz Alaric's hardly here anymore.”

 

“You'll get over it,” DJ patted the other shoulder. “You still got us. Then again, you could ask your dad if you want to be a star too---“

 

“Yeah right! I'm way too cool for all that `star' stuff. I don't want to be talked about by some random people I've never met just `cuz my picture's all over the place. It's one thing why Alaric and I got along really well long time ago--- it was because he was different. He wants to make people happy with his smile and good looks and all of his entertaining talents; I want to help people, especially the unfortunate ones, make their lives good again.”

 

“Um, can we stop talking about this?” Airi interrupted with a concerned tone in her statement. “Mom said we weren't supposed to talk about the case outside the police station or something.”

 

“We're at home, Airi,” Eljin responded right away. “Who here at home is gonna care about what we talk about here besides mom? Dad doesn't know anything, Alaric's too busy trying to make himself and his `groupie' of his look good in front of people, and everybody else who comes in and goes out in this house don't even care about all this as long as they always look good in public!”

 

Just as the other three were about to respond to his remark, they were beaten first with another voice not included in Eljin's room.

 

“ELJIN! I HEARD THAT!”

 

Eljin stood up from the floor and turned to the door. Just like that he already knew whose voice that was. “YOU HEARD THAT, ALARIC? GOOD! MAKE SURE YOU DON'T FORGET THAT!”

 

DJ and Aisling, who were both “outsiders” from the Silver Hawk Estate, stood up immediately and slightly backed away. Airi turned her head to see her older brother Alaric and his group of his fellow child star friends. “Oh… hiya Alaric…”

 

Alaric entered, leaving his friends outside Eljin's door and confronted his younger brother. “What on earth is wrong with you, Eljin? You of all people should know I'm not that kind of person! I mean, if you're really that lonely why don't you just talk to me about it? I'll tell my manager to work my schedule so I can spend time with you---“

 

“HA! YOU THINK I'M LONELY? I AIN'T NO CHARITY CASE! SINCE WHEN DID YOU ACTUALLY START THINKING ABOUT AIRI AND ME, HUH? WAS IT BECAUSE WE FOUND THAT DEAD GIRL AT THE BEACH BACK THEN?” Eljin shouted his answer right at his older brother, still cool-looking as ever from the eyes of DJ and Aisling.

 

Before the two brothers were about to argue Airi immediately stood in between. “Okay, okay, cool it! We're in front of our friends here and it's really embarrassing to see the two of you fight in front of everyone. Jeez, seriously you two have been fighting like cats and dogs lately. You're not making things easy for everybody in this house.”

 

Both brothers sighed deeply, trying to calm themselves. “Look, I'm sorry about all this, Eljin. It's just that… things are different now… but it doesn't mean that I'm ignoring you guys. After all, you can't ignore your family no matter what.”

 

“Alright,” Eljin answered, “I'm cool now. What do you want anyway, Alaric?”

 

“A friend of mine and I want to talk to you and Airi… in private.”

 

The twins kept a stern face and turned to DJ and Aisling, giving them the expression that this may be an important matter. Aisling gave a nod. “We'll be here waiting. We got some books to read.”

 

“Okay. Thanks!” Airi gave a wave to them as they follow Alaric from behind.

 

 

At the home's ballroom hall area, the twins sat on one of the elegant European-style sofa seats while Alaric and his group of friends faced them. Eljin crossed his arms, glaring at his older brother's stature in front of him, while Airi remained calm and patient waiting to what Alaric has to say to them.

 

“Eljin,” Alaric began to speak, “there's something that I didn't tell Mom about this murder.”

 

Eljin raised an eyebrow, still with his arms crossed. “You're hiding something from Mom? I can't believe you'd do something stupid like that, Alaric.”

 

“No, hear me out, Eljin… it's just that… it's a promise I made to Cai Aneirin when he recognized the dead body.”

 

Right when the name of Cai Aneirin was mentioned in Alaric's statement, Airi's face somewhat lightened up. Eljin's eyes widened in surprise and stood himself up on his seat.

 

“Are you telling me… Cai Aneirin was with you guys? I mean… he was with our vacation crew that time?” Eljin asked curiously. “Why on earth was he hiding around with you guys? He didn't even say hi to Airi here?”

“Eljin, please stop,” Airi responded right away and lowered her head. “Cai Aneirin… I can't believe he was there all along… this is why I hate going to vacations when there's too many people.”

 

Alaric sat right next to Airi and gazed at his only sister. “He and his family came back here from England for some business meeting or something and he was actually looking forward to seeing you guys but… well… I don't really know how to say this…”

 

“Look, just get to the point will you?” Eljin asked impatiently.

 

“Alright, alright,” Alaric faced Eljin right away. “It wasn't me who identified the body… it was Cai.”

 

Eljin and Airi fell silent, thinking of what to say. Few seconds later Eljin thought of one. “So you lied to Mom that it was you who identified her?!”

 

“Eljin, let me finish,” Alaric interrupted immediately. “I also recognized Yukina Hutton myself but I wasn't sure until Cai made it clear. There are… a lot of things that a lot of people don't know about Yukina except for the `inner circle' of stars under the Silver Hawk management. Dad and I wanted to tell Mom but it was a promise that we made…”

 

“Alright already, Alaric, you're wasting your time building the suspense on us. Just spill it!”

 

“Yukina… really likes Cai… like… a lot… Airi…”

 

Airi gazed at Alaric with a completely confused look. “I like Cai too… everybody likes Cai…” As a seven-year-old girl who was still inexperienced with things “mature” she would not know the hidden meaning behind Alaric's rather “mature” response.

 

“What I mean to say is, Airi… she… doesn't want Cai to have any more friends who are girls except her… it's kind of sick if you ask me…”

 

“Well that's not cool,” Airi frowned with her arms crossed. “It must be sad to be her… stealing other people's friends for their own…”

 

Eljin shook his head, also not understanding what Alaric was trying to explain to Airi, shrugged his arms. “You don't need to worry about it, Airi. The crazy `friend-stealing' girl is dead anyway… But then again, I can't help wondering who killed her…”

 

“Just promise me you won't tell Mom about Cai. I don't want Mom to suspect that Cai is involved with the murder. The poor kid has suffered enough.”

 

Eljin gave a slight frown towards Alaric's promise proposal. “I didn't just hear you say that, Alaric. It's not cool to hide something from Mom or from the police. Cai's a cool kid… I mean he and Airi get along very well since we were all in diapers, but then again… how on earth would an eight-year-old kid involved with a murder of some crazy star teen girl?”

 

“I don't know, Eljin… that's all he told me before he and his family had to head back to England,” Alaric responded. “But please… I'm asking you two a favor… I mean to say… now isn't the right time… I mean I like Cai myself… he's got a great future, a great potential and I don't want this murder to ruin his life.” He turned his gaze towards his sister, still with that same concerned look. “Airi… you and Cai are close… well I still think you two still are even if you haven't seen each other for a long time… you wouldn't let something serious such as this ruin him, would you?”

 

Airi shook her head, not only obeying her older brother but the thought of Cai suddenly appeared in her mind. It had been two years since eight-year-old child star-to-be Cai Aneirin and his family were transferred to England due to his father's highly successful business. His family and the Horie Family had been close friends ever since the parents were children, and of course, their children also ended up being good friends as well. The Aneirin Family had three sons, with Cai being the middle son. Although a year older than the twins Cai and Airi somehow discovered a special bond that nothing or no one can break, that is, that was what Airi thought of at first, even if she did not understand what it meant. Despite that they are now out of the country Cai did all he can to keep in touch with Airi, sending her letters and a few gifts, which Airi responded to them with some letters and a few gifts. Time came that Cai became busy with his real life that he stopped writing letters up until now.

 

“Oh yeah,” Alaric changed his tone as one of his friends handed him a small box, beautifully-wrapped in slight foil blue and a blue ribbon tied around it. “Cai felt really bad that he didn't get to see you, so he got you this.”

 

“For me…?” Airi wondered and accepted the small box. Slowly she unwrapped the box from the ribbon to the wrapper until it revealed a blue velvet-felt box. She opened the box and out revealed a small white gold necklace with three charms: a guitar, a book, and a cherry blossom flower on it. “Wow… I need to send him a gift in return, but… what am I going to give him? I can't beat this necklace…”

 

Eljin shook his head, but had a slight grin. “Don't think too hard on the gift exchange, Airi. We still got this murder case to solve!”

 

Though Airi showed content and happiness, deep inside she began to worry about Cai. It was bad enough that she was not able to meet him, but this particular murder was not just another random murder case that her mother had to work on. With Cai's name attached to the murdered girl Yukina Hutton, she could not help but worry.

 

 

Years came and the twins have kept the promise their older brother requested of them. Eventually, the murder of sixteen-year-old star to be Yukina Hutton had faded in to memory. As for Detective Vina Horie and the entire Fort Kearny Police Homicide Department, there were no other leads other than the ones they were able to retrieve for the case. The twins have avoided mentioning Yukina's personal problem or even the mention of their old friend Cai Aneirin and his connection to the mysterious victim. The case itself remained a cold case--- a first in Fort Kearny Police Department's homicide department history.

 

By the time the eighth year arrived, no one, not even the twins themselves, would have ever predicted that the murder of Yukina Hutton would resurface again.

 

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

This is my first attempt at an original fiction using some elements and ideas that I have gathered from previous works. There will be some possible changes and edits within the story later when possible. Any elements (such as pop culture, usage of familiar song lyrics, etc.) used in this story that are derived from other works are copyrighted by those respective writers. No copyright infringement intended.

 

Feedback, comments and suggestions always welcome.