Dave was pacing around in the hall waiting, while Daniel was looking for a way to get out of the room.
He knew he was in the middle of something big; if he doesn't run now, he will never live a normal life again.
"Where? I need to get out of here, but from where?" He was checking every nook and cranny for even a gap.
He looked and looked but found nothing; he sat on the floor defeated, holding his head down.
"Think, think, how do I get myself out of this? There must be a way, anything!" Daniel was getting more agitated by every second.
The sweat was running down his cheek, and his lips had gone dry.
For him, he was nothing but another head ready to go down in the butcher's shop.
**---
Outside
Dave locked the door of the room and sat down in front of it. He couldn't believe his own eyes; he refused to believe what he saw.
"How does he have it? Is he connected to deaths? But if so, why did he show them to me? I can't make heads or tails out of this." Dave removed his hat and swiped the sweat off.
He was looking around in anticipation.
*Left*
*Right*
*Left*
*Right*
*Ting!*
The bell of the elevator rang, and Dave's gaze got stuck on the elevator door as it slowly opened.
"You're finally here—" Dave took a sigh of relief, but when he looked inside, it was just an old man with cleaning supplies.
"Oh, I am sorry. Did you call for anything?" The old man said respectfully,
"No, I am sorry, I mistook you for someone else—" Dave sighed,
"Who else are you waiting for, Officer Dave?" A stoic, deep voice of a woman came from behind him.
"HOLY FUCK!" Dave flinched like a scared cat; he turned around and greeted them.
"It's been a while, Officer Mariya and Officer Norman."
Officer Mariya, A tall lady of dusky complexion and dark pixie hair with an undercut, she removed her shades to unveil eyes darker than night; it was as if there was nothing there, not a single spark of light….
She wore a black shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black pants; on her belt there was a police badge and a gun holster.
Besides her, Officer Norman.
With age around 50, he maintained his physique like his brushy mustache; he always made sure to get the same haircut with a small hair length in the middle and half of its length on the sides.
He came in full uniform, looking sharp as ever.
"Officer Dave, I thought you were to maintain records and run errands for your dumb seniors. What are you doing now? digging graves of the forgotten? Weren't you the one who asked for office work because of the Gosenji Case in the first place? Now you're saying you have found a lead?"
Officer Norman was still huffing; he acted like the bunch of stairs didn't bother him, but age doesn't treat anyone differently.
"I am not digging for forgotten corpses, Officer Norman; the corpses found me here!" Dave looked at Norman, pissed, not because he called him an errand boy, but because he called him a coward one way or another.
"Yes, I was the one who asked for the office job; it was easier than wasting my time chasing ghosts in a haunted house."
"Enough!" Mariya shouted,
"I didn't come here to listen to you ex-partners acting like divorced couples. Officer Dave, you said you found a lead on the Gosenji case. Are you sure about it?" Mariya crossed her arms.
. "I'll let you decide that." Dave opened the room and walked inside with both following him. "Here! This boy has—"
.
He looked at the bed and didn't see Daniel there.
"Here it is! If you wanted to see me, you could've just asked me. No shame in that, brother.
But please don't use Gosenji as an excuse; you know Mariya doesn't fuck around if it's related to—"
"I swear he was just here!"
Norman sighed while shaking his and Dave argued back but got interrupted by Mariya.
"Wait, there is someone…" She walked up to the bed and noticed the slight rust mark on the floor by the bed's leg.
She crouched and looked under it, and there he was, hiding like a rat, covering his mouth with his hand.
"If you are done cleaning there, I have to ask you to come out, and remember, anything you do that doesn't sit right with me, things won't go well for you after that."
She stood up, crossed her arms, and stood aside.
Soon, Daniel crawled out of the bed and slowly sat on it.
"See, I told you, this boy, this boy is the lead in the case. I came here to take his statement about the recent accident that happened in Baker's Alley—"
"Baker's Alley? The one that killed 9 people? He was there? Ain't no way!" Norman walked to Daniel and started looking at him from all angles.
"Yes, yes! But it's not about that; maybe later something might be revealed, but I called you to—" Dave suddenly lowered his voice.
"I called you to take a look at his tongue…"
Dave looked at Mariya, and she leaned forward.
"You heard it, boy; I hope you make this easier for us."
Daniel was scared out of his wits; he was trembling and slowly opened his mouth but closed it instantly.
"Before that, I want to tell you it just mysteriously appeared on me. I didn't get it from—"
"Tongue out NOW!" Mariya yelled at him, and Daniel stuck his tongue out and showed its back.
Just one gaze on that tattoo was enough to make her blood boil; she tightened her grip on her arms.
"Oh my god! What the fuck! How the fuck!" Norman took a few steps back, rubbing his forehead.
"I told you!" Dave was happy he proved himself right, but he couldn't bring himself to smile with satisfaction.
"Who are you?" Mariya glared at Daniel with such contempt, it was like the devil was asked to praise God.
"I am Daniel Hori, 18 years old—"
"18? Were you born in 2000?" Mariya's grip lightened, and shock covered her face.
ce.
"Yeah, why?" Daniel thought, Now what did he say wrong?
Norman's eyes gaped in horror.
"The same year when Gosenji happened…"