Suddenly, Wednesday's eyes snapped open, pupils sharp and unblinking. The room around her faded, replaced by flickering visions.She saw a girl—black hair with pink-red highlights, skin pale as moonlight, drenched in blood. It was Emily Santos.The scene shifted. Emily was ambushed, struggling in the killer's grasp. The attacker's face was swallowed by shadow, featureless, a wraith more than a man.The vision blurred again, landing in the coffee shop's parking lot—the spot the witness had mentioned. Wednesday's keen eyes noticed immediately what was off.Emily's movements were stiff, unnatural, as if controlled by invisible strings.
Wednesday's eyes snapped open. She was pale, but her composure remained—arms crossing tight, chin lifting slightly as Aleksander and the others moved in.
Aleksander spoke quietly. "Did you see it?"
Wednesday didn't glance over. Her voice was flat, true to herself. "Couldn't get a look at the face," she said. "But Emily Santos—her movements weren't normal. She moved like a puppet: stiff, vacant. Like she was strung up."
Jane's eyes narrowed, the gears turning. He caught Aleksander's look. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Aleksander nodded. "Yup."
Lisbon frowned, voice sharp. "Alright, what's running through your heads?"
Aleksander replied, steady. "Shape-shifter's off the table."
Jane tapped his fingers on his leg, considering. "The killer here used the victim's corpse as a puppet. He wanted the police chasing shape-shifters. It was a setup—misdirection."
Grace's brows knitted. "Wait, they moved her body around? How—"
Lisbon's jaw clenched, disgust breaking through. "They let everyone jump to the obvious suspect. That's why the case went in circles for years."
Jane nodded, then mused. "There's a slim chance this killer's a Da Vinci."
Grace and Lisbon exchanged a look. "Da Vinci?" Lisbon asked.
Aleksander explained, calm and direct. "Da Vincis have telekinesis. They move things with their minds, don't even lift a finger. They're eccentric, inventive—a little obsessive, to be honest. Makes them brilliant, but also reckless with boundaries."
Lisbon digested this, her tension growing more focused. Jane watched, already a step ahead.
Wednesday, gaze icy, asked, "So you think the killer used telekinesis to control the victim's body?"
Aleksander nodded, thinking aloud. "Possible. But we need more than a glimpse. Wednesday only got a brief look—a few seconds isn't enough. We need to go deeper."
He extended his hands. "Everyone, take my hand—I can link us. With my magic, we'll see Wednesday's vision. But this time we control it; we can pause, rewind, pick apart every clue."
Jane grasped Aleksander's hand without hesitation. Wednesday joined, cool and reserved. Lisbon and Grace exchanged a hesitant glance, then reached out.Aleksander's eyes flashed with a vivid green glow; time and space shifted. Suddenly, the group stood in the vision's world—the night Emily's body was marched through the parking lot, lifeless and stiff, a marionette of horror.
Lisbon stiffened, unsettled but determined to watch. Grace clung to Aleksander's arm, eyes wide with shock. Jane analyzed everything, catching every unnatural twitch and movement. "Definitely not normal. That's someone pulling the strings—from a distance," he murmured.
Wednesday stared, head tilted, face calm. "It's a grotesque performance. Whoever did this wanted attention, not just concealment."
Aleksander, with the vision paused, walked calmly over to Emily Santos's lifeless puppet form. He leaned, inspecting her face closely. After a moment, he called out quietly, "You might need to strike Da Vinci off the list."
That immediately prompted Jane, Lisbon, Grace, and Wednesday to step closer, curiosity piqued.
Jane beside Aleksander, eyes narrowed. "Show us."
Aleksander gestured to Emily's eyes. "Look here."
Lisbon peered in, sharp but uneasy.
Grace leaned in, a little hesitant, while Wednesday stood back, arms folded but focused, her gaze intense.As they examined Emily's eyes, an eerie, unnatural phenomenon became clear—faint flickers of light, almost a subtle glow, danced across the surface.
Aleksander explained, voice steady, "This isn't telekinesis. Repeated electrical currents—maybe an ability targeting the nerves or retina—can cause this. You can get sporadic flickers or a glow. It's called a phosphene effect. The pulses force her eyes to show light, even in total darkness."
Jane sat back, thinking aloud. "So, it's not someone physically moving her body or just with their mind. It's electrical—maybe someone who can manipulate currents or energy directly."
Grace frowned, thoughtful. "So the killer isn't just moving her. They're stimulating her nerves, maybe even controlling her like a machine."
Lisbon's expression darkened. "That changes everything."
Wednesday watched, eyes sharp, voice quiet and dry. "A marionette isn't impressive. A marionette circuit board—now that's distinctive."
As the vision faded and reality returned, Aleksander turned to Grace. "Can you pull up the autopsy reports for the first two cases?"Grace nodded, opening her laptop and scrolling swiftly. Within moments, she slid the files toward him.Aleksander scanned the reports, his eyes moving quickly across the screen. After a quiet moment, he spoke up. "This confirms it. We're looking for a Spark—an electrokinesis user. Whoever it is, they pushed their abilities to the max."
Lisbon leaned in, wary. "What makes you so certain?"
Aleksander pointed to sections in the digital files. "Look here—autopsy notes for the first two victims describe patchy rigor mortis: stiffness advanced in some muscles but delayed in others. That's a red flag. It means someone was selectively stimulating the muscles—likely with targeted electrical currents—forcing movement, not just faking life. Not the normal postmortem progression you'd expect."
Grace clicked to a summary, reading aloud, "Medical examiner said time of death couldn't be established through muscle stiffness, so they had to rely on blood pooling instead. They attributed it too environmental factors, so they overlooked it."
Jane's interest sharpened, a hint of a smile playing at his lips. "So all those extra checks for shape-shifters, witches, and telepaths—just smoke and mirrors."
Aleksander nodded. "There were other signs, too. Micro-abrasions on the victims' scalps—first two cases only. He used electric powers were used to animate the corpses. After those first two victims, the killer hide these marks beneath larger wounds. But later there where no marks in the later cases. Thus you can tell he was perfecting his control."
Lisbon's jaw clenched as she absorbed the implications. Grace's eyes widened, the horror settling in.
Jane, ever the analyst, ran a hand over his chin, impressed. "Using electricity to directly influencing the flow of ions and electrical impulses within a human beings's nervous system. Dangerous, ambitious… and arrogant."
Wednesday's tone was cool and clinical. "Practice makes perfect, even for murderers."The group stood silent, the scale and cunning of their suspect now unsettlingly clear.
[A/N:Has anyone read any Alice in Borderland fanfics. I mean the show is technically in the realms of supernatural, so having MC with supernatural powers to go against it is interesting.]