Free Shade City by Domino Finn

officers who approached her.
    Livia's death was ruled a suicide even though one of the officers had fired a single shot at her. He claimed he was protecting his life but didn't want to kill the crazy woman and hoped to subdue her. When Livia fell to the ground, instead of allowing herself to be taken into custody, she slit her own throat and collapsed. Her ravings had ended.
    Alexander's body was clearly visible to the officers in the hall as soon as they had arrived. They had known the woman was a danger and were cautious in their approach. The officer who ultimately fired the shot later controversially claimed he would have gladly killed the mother had he been immediately aware of the grisly scene in the linen closet.
    While the paramedics were attending to Livia and Alexander, the police found the broken body of Aster in her battered hiding spot with a Kenmore iron lodged in her head.
    Aster was pronounced dead at the scene. The authorities weren't able to remove the iron until later. Livia officially died during transport to the hospital. But what was most amazing, and definitely warranted further investigation, was that Aster's father, Alexander McAllister, had somehow survived the brutal attack.
    * * *
    It was a perfect beach day. The sun ducked behind the clouds before it became unbearable but reappeared before it got too cool. Of course, the beach was perfectly supplanted by the pool in my complex. It was large and had cute girls hanging around. Especially on Sundays. I sighed and put the thought out of my mind. There would be no pool today. I had things to take care of.

    I strolled across the street and appreciated the short walk to the Red Line. Most people don't realize Los Angeles has a working subway. Probably because it's serviceable for some trips but doesn't exhaustively cover the city. I had read that there used to be more tunnels under LA but tire and automotive companies bought out and dismantled all the tracks in the thirties. It was the kind of big conspiracy that was actually true. In the end, the corporations were fined but the city was left more dependent on cars anyway.
    As I walked, I thought about promises to little girls. I thought about Violet. I had left her home. She didn't mind being alone as long as I spent time with her once or twice a day. It was normal for me to head out and do my own thing. Besides, I was just fact-finding. She wasn't needed.
    The taken aren't as active during the day. I don't know why. Maybe the sunlight hurts their eyes, or maybe they're sleeping off the previous night's debauchery. There was a reason I worked the nightlife circuit. It was as simple as going to where my customers were. Or prey. Suffice it to say that the strange characters I passed in the California sun were good old regular Los Angeles crazies.
    As I descended into the station on the escalator, the stagnant air deflated my mood. I had told Violet I would find the man in the trench coat for her, but I had another promise to keep. One I made to myself. And the dark story of Alexander and Aster gave me shivers.
    Sunday train rides tended to be the least eventful. People traveled for pleasure so there was a lower number of suspect passengers. A single aging woman announced to the entire train car that she was collecting donations before we set off, but besides that, everybody kept to themselves.
    There were only a couple of stops in the Valley before the subway cut under the Hollywood Hills. A ten minute ride brought passengers to the beating heart of Tourist-town. Not bad, considering it would usually take that long just to find a parking spot. Downtown was twenty minutes further. That left me ample time to question my actions.
    Alone time wasn't the only reason I had left the pocket watch behind. For this specific trip, I didn't want Violet to see that I was snooping into her family. She kept her past preciously private, but I had to move forward regardless. Her father, Alexander McAllister, was still in