It was after my grocery run. Walking down the street, the lamps were flickering here and there. My feet shuffled on the stray rocks on the sidewalk. As I was about to reach the corner of the block, my feet stopped. A weird clicking sound echoed through the shadows. Suddenly, a snap sounded behind me, then everything changed.
Clink clink! A small can fell on the hard floor.
I blinked in dumbfounded. Old, broken walls surrounded me. Moonlight fluttered down onto the cold, stone concrete. Lying there was a body. Its face was mashed in as if it had been beaten for an hour with a metal bat. Blood was still oozing out from the cracked skull, filling the empty sockets where the eyes once were. The neck twisted in the wrong direction, and the body was slumped awkwardly across the ground. A shiver wracked through my spine. Everything grew blurry; another corpse lay across a dilapidated box, a large gash on the head, and cuts along the arms were visible. A wave of nausea hit me. Turning away, I almost threw up as my legs began to move. They didn't stop. Running through the unfamiliar building. Rooms and blood flashed by. My lungs throbbed and my heart palpitated.
I finally found an exit. I slammed the door and was surprised to see a relatively familiar view. I was on the outskirts of the city I lived in, but had no recollection of how I got there. My head had begun to hurt, and everything felt like a dream. The only thought that held importance was to get home. I currently didn't have anything of importance on me, and my clothes were also different from what I had been wearing. Everything was confusing, and I felt so disoriented.
I opened a taxi door and slumped into the seat. My head was spinning. It felt like I was dyslexic; any phrase or image I focused on phased into different ones. Sometimes, it smeared across my vision like paint. The lights became brighter, and the thumping of my heart muddled all the details. I was barely able to mutter my address to the taxi driver as he began heading in the direction of my home. I was on the verge of passing out. A ringing wouldn't stop in my ears. Nothing seemed to make sense; all knowledge was blended into an incomprehensible mess. Then an image of the body splayed and contorted flashed into my mind. I gagged, unable to control the nausea that took over.
Before I knew it, there was a bag in my hands, and stomach bile had begun to spill out. I violently coughed as the sour taste and wretched smell filled my senses. The taxi had begun to slow down, and the driver took pity on me after noticing I had nothing on me. He probably assumed I was mugged… Honestly, that is a good possibility. With one last glance at the taxi driver's bright eyes and bleached hair, I escaped the enclosed vehicle. I staggered, and my feet dragged on the pavement. Reaching my room, I pressed the keypad and heard the familiar click as the door swung open. Quickly, the door shut after me. Then I collapsed.
All the energy had been drained from my body, and my blood seemed to run cold. I had just left a crime scene. It all felt like a blur, but I should have done something. Should I call the cops? Would they believe or accuse me? I felt the overwhelming fear of what could happen. Who knows how long I stayed at the crime scene… Did I leave any DNA? The only thing that gave me some comfort was the latex gloves nestled into the corner of my sweatshirt pocket. Wait. My sweatshirt pocket? It had once again occurred to me that I was in fact not in the clothes I'd been wearing in the alleyway. Was I drugged? I did hear some strange noises before everything… everything… What the hell is happening?! I felt a burning sensation in my eyes. I was about to cry.
I stood up, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to stop the tears. This was all so overwhelming and, at the same time, anticlimactic. I walked past the closet into the dining room, then to my little corner desk. To my disbelief, my clothes from the alleyway laid perfectly folded. My wallet was also sitting on the desk. I ran over to the kitchen. My feet slightly squeaked on the floor as I rushed over and flung open the refrigerator door. My groceries were laid inside along with some relatively brown bananas. The bananas were getting mushy. It meant I was absent for at least a day. Although, why were they in the fridge? How could I have made that mistake? It seemed unclear how everything was in place. Almost alarmingly so. I would have called the police for a burglary, but nothing was damaged or stolen. All that was off was some slightly soft bananas.
My blood pressure had slowly begun to mellow out. I was finally able to think straight. I went to one of my cabinets and pulled out a prescription for Mirtazapine. It would help calm me down enough so I could potentially get some sleep. Thinking of sleep, I glanced at the time and realized it was almost 3 am. Before retiring, I switched on the TV to the news. A bright light assaulted my eyes. I had yet to turn on any lights, and my head was still ringing with a dull ache. After closing my eyes for a bit, I finally adjusted, and I increased the volume. [Tonight we were reporting on a missing person(s) case regarding two police officers who went missing last night. So far, the police have found no leads. Recently, police have been investigating recent criminal activity led by an infamous crime syndicate dubbed Switch. As many know, they actively show off their 'accomplishments,' and we have yet to gather and further infor- Bzzt]
The remote dropped onto the couch as I stared at the blackened TV screen. It made sense. It hurt to recall, but there were two brutally murdered bodies when I…I… I'm still lost on what happened. Some similar occurrences of this happened when I was a child. Suddenly, parts of my day were lost to the void. Almost as if they were blipped out of existence. At first, my doctor believed it was a mix of narcolepsy and Somnambulism (Sleepwalking). After further consideration, he opted for spells of amnesia since, during those times, I was fully responsive and not unconscious. Regarding my past, he said it was the most probable condition. Though it began to fade as I grew older, and eventually it was no longer a cause for concern, I had other problems to focus on. Wait! I'm getting sidetracked again… The BODIES!
Unfortunately, a feeling of dread began to creep into my heart. I broke into a cold sweat. Even though the broadcast didn't necessarily connect the missing cops to that crime syndicate. I have a feeling they are related. I'm also… Ugh. Bile began to rise in my esophagus again. Hah… I'm willing to bet those are the missing cops.
…
In the outskirts of town, cops bustled here and there outside of a large warehouse that had been out of commission for a few years. Its surroundings were marked with colorful traces of graffiti. Inside, a bloody mess was revealed. Two cops in particular were at the front of the investigation team. A large portion of the police force had been called up after a caller left an anonymous tip. Although after this investigation, it wouldn't stay anonymous for long.
One of the investigation officers reached the main crime scene. For a moment, everything went silent as she walked up to the bodies. It was deathly silent. She observed the body with a bashed-in skull, and while the face was unrecognizable, there was a single golden ring on his left hand. As she reached out to inspect more closely, she then heard yelling and screaming down the hall. Suddenly, the pounding of footsteps on concrete filled everyone's ears. Suddenly a BANG! rang in everyone's ears. Silence once again swallowed up their surroundings. Only a muffled cry lingered as one of the officers collapsed. The officer had been alert, but as soon as the gun went off, she went back to observing the corpses and was finally able to recognize her husband.
An overwhelming amount of emotion flooded through her. She knew she had to stay strong, but to see his body in such a harrowing state was truly horrifying. The inspector noticed and signaled the assistant to lead her over for a last look before leading her back outside. It was a depressing sight for the squad. The other body was presumed to be the partner of Roseline's husband.
I brought her along since she would be the only one to recognize her husband well enough, even if his body was mutilated. We had expected to find them in a broken state. After all, they were following a lead on Switch. After beginning the cleanup, it was determined that they had been involved. While the display was tamer than their usual, it still heavily held their brutality. Hmm. I guess I'll have to make another detailed report. I begrudgingly stood up. While it was good to find them, it still stung to see how badly the bodies were torn up. If I hadn't been warned, I would have embarrassed myself in front of my team.
For a moment, I just stared at the white outline, and eventually, my assistant came back with a report.
"We've successfully found things on the bodies to identify them. They are, in fact, Henry and Sebastian. I've gained intel regarding that gunshot. It seems it was a stray member that failed to flee. We attempted to take him into custody, but he shot himself before we could even approach."
"I see… Thank you for the report. I'll begin to write up an official report once we get back to the office." I began to walk along with my assistant. Shortly after, I felt a chill run down my spine. My intuition was screaming that I was forgetting something. In my confusion, I blankly looked at the ground. Then it hit me. Along with my footsteps were bloody tracks. Someone had been here, and from the looks of it… They weren't supposed to. The marks ended near the hallway that led to the exit. Even so, it seemed as though the individual was unaware of the building's interior design. How come? They had to get in somehow. It's not as if people are so incompetent to get so lost in a building that, in an escape, they unknowingly run around in circles... Right? Along with this new information, my mind began to wander. The next piece to this puzzle would be the identity of the anonymous caller.