A Vow So Beautiful

Dane was so close to figuring things out. So close yet still far. The other day, Jake had come up with some surprising information. Based on the police reports, the reason why the chief was killed had been because of the top secret files he was going to leak out. Files about the entire board members and their political wrongdoings. The crimes were overlooked because the politicians had been paying the department to keep quiet about it.

But of course, the Golden Deer was one step ahead because all of those files had been compromised and wiped out in the computer system. There was no end to this cycle of frustration. They were too planned and calculating. But even the most planned and calculating plans had its holes. Somewhere, he didn't know where but Dane just had to keep searching with faith.

"This mystery is getting more complex," the devil mused yet again in his desk that Dane did not permit inside his office. "Who could our perpetator be? It must be someone from the council...But it couldn't be the senator because he had been held in for questioning unless he has an accomplice..."

He shook his head. "An accomplice? That's a good guess.Or maybe someone wants us to believe its the senator..."

His phone began ringing. He looked at the caller ID and found it was his lynx. Dane coughed while trying to hide how pleased he was, "...I need to excuse myself for a bit."

"Ah how nice, I wish my lover would call too...Oh right, I don't have a lover. Oh well."

The devil's jokes knew no end. His laughter echoed as Dane shook his head in annoyance.

Dane walked to the edge of the room and answered his lynx quietly, "What did I do to deserve a call from yours truly?"

"You remember what day it is today right?" came her nervous sounding voice, almost as if it were shaking.

"Our anniversary," he joked to which he heard her sigh but he quickly chuckled her worries away. "Of course I remember. It's your play at university. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Not surprisingly, Prisana had landed the role of Snow White. Of course she would. She was none other than his dear wife and lynx, the most beautiful and formidable woman for the role. If she hadn't been chosen, Dane was sure he would have taken a complaint to the dean himself. Prisana might have not allowed it but the beast had his ways.

"...You do remember! Ugh, I'm so nervous I think I'll puke."

"Lynx, let me tell you a magic trick."

"The beast has magic tricks?"

"It's something my father taught me..." Dane easily began to reminisce about his father as he told Prisana the magic trick.

When Dane was a young boy, he was often scared of the dark and had trouble sleeping without his parents. Of course there came a time when he was too old for sleeping with his parents. One fateful night when he turned twelve his father told him a magic trick when he refused to sleep alone.

'I don't believe in magic,' young Dane would say.

He could faintly still recall the feel of his father's fingertips brushing over his unruly dark layers. Although coy to admit, he genuinely loved his father's way of showing affection. He loved his late mother too but in more ways than one he was truly a father's boy through and through.

'Start believing. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and count down from ten. When you open your eyes, the magic will work and everything will be okay. Trust in your father, hmm?'

His old man was right. The magic worked for Dane everytime before bed as a young boy and now everytime after his panic attacks settled in. It was how he coped with most of his problems. In reality more than a magic trick, it was a keepsake and sign of his father watching and supporting him through tough times.

"...Do you believe in magic?" Dane asked her and waited for a few moments on a knowing breath.

"Of course not."

"Believe. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and count down from ten. And then when you open your eyes, the magic will work and imagine I'm there beside you to conquer all. Everything will be okay," he felt nostalgic while repeating his father's words.

"Even though I don't believe in magic...I believe in you. That's greater than any magic possible. Thank you Dane, I'll use this trick if I get a good fright on stage."

"Break both legs," he mused and to this, she laughed.

"You'd have to carry me for a lifetime."

"Gladly..." he looked back to the devil who pointed at his watch. "Now, I must deal with the pain that's sitting across from me..."

"Leo?" she asked knowingly since the devil was the only person capable of eliciting such a reaction.

"Dear, don't feel the need to address him by his name. Devil is fine..."

"You're teaching her to be rude like yours truly?" the devil mocked him from earlier as Dane shot him a warning look.

"...Lynx, have more faith in yourself. I've never met anyone so determined and hardworking as you are."

"You're right! I'm a fine woman and none other than the wife to the CEO of silver linings. What could I possibly be afraid of?"

"Ha, that's the spirit lynx."

Dane's bright and lovely mood immediately darkened when he turned around to glimpse at a displeased devil. The devil made a show of covering his ears, "Yuck, a man in love really messes with my heartstrings I didn't know existed. In all the years I've known you, I've never once thought that you would be reduced to such a low state! It's a shame really...I preferred it when you were just a beast blindly following after his goal."

"It's this simple thing called 'change'. Something you clearly aren't capable of."

"Oh believe me, I don't want to be capable of it. I'm terrifically fine just the way I am. I love myself entirely too much to change."

Dane just simply gave him a long look before uttering, "Narcissistic devil."

"Nothing wrong with a little self love, friend. "

"Foe, everything is wrong with you."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Womanizer. Terrible jokester. Gangster..."

"Okay enough...Gangster is a bit rude. I prefer the term debt collector or money lender...Anyway, where's that old friend of yours? He's running late, isn't he?"

Dane checked his watch. Indeed, Jake was supposed to be here about half an hour ago. The man was usually punctual and on time too, someting he claimed was a habit from his young detective days.

He simply sighed, "He's late, perhaps something came up...Ah."

Suddenly, Dane recieved another phone call. He checked the caller ID which read Jake's name. Speaking of the man...

Without thinking much of it, he answered almost jokingly, "Jake, I thought you described yourself a punctual man."

But on the other end wasn't Jake but a robotic and wretched voice unrecognizable, "You've been looking for me all along, haven't you?...I wouldn't give anything away if I were you. Act natural, hmm?"

He was momentarily caught off guard but immediately looked over to the devil with grave eyes so he would understand despite the words he was going to say. Dane wasn't sure if they wired the room but if the golden deer had someone watch them then it would be safe to assume their conversation was being monitored as well. Of course the devil was evil but he was smart and calculating for his own good too so Dane trusted him in this regard.

"Ah Jake that's fine. Another day then..." he rambled on as if it were Jake he were talking too. "What was that? I can't hear you. You should speak louder."

By this, he wanted the mysterious enemy to put Jake's true voice on the phone.

"...Mmph!...Dane! It's a trap...Don't mmph..."

That was Jake's voice. No doubt about it. He took a deep and long breath to regain his composure.

"If you want to save your friend, meet me at XXX and come alone. There's a car waiting for you downstairs. I have someone watching you from afar so I'll know if anything is amiss."

Within moments, Dane was met with silence on the other end. The mysterious person claiming to be the golden deer hung up, leaving him with a million questions. The devil returned his grave expression as if reading Dane's mind. Both of them nodded. He never uttered a word but turned on his heels and walked out of the door without fear or a second thought despite heading straight to the enemy's trap.

It wasn't even about finding out who the bloody hell golden deer was anymore.

Only now, the beast was more frightened for that old friend who still had a daughter. Who Dane had yet told he cared about him.