Muscles and bones. The primary architecture of the human body. It allows us to stand and walk; sit and run; jump and spin. But what really keeps us alive? Blood. It carries the nutrients our body needs. It carries the defenders our body requires.

            So integral to our survival, blood can tell a story of its own. Looking at the direction of travel along with the width and length of the spatter, a single droplet is its own author, spinning a tale of its origin and its birth. A good spatter gives us more information than just a large overlapping pool.

            “Come again?” Mark says in disbelief.

            Youngjae shrugs. He is the unit’s spatter analyst. In one latex covered hand, he holds a cotton swab and the other is pinching his nose.

            “There are traces of blood everywhere,” he repeats.

            “Yet I don’t see a single stain of red anywhere,” Mark rubs his temples, “Are you telling me that the killer had enough time to wipe the whole room clean?”

            “I’m only telling you what science has told me,” Youngjae says. He carefully dances around another coworker to reach his open kit. It shuts with a loud snap and the younger turns back to look at his commanding officer. “Can I please get back to the lab? This smell is killing me.”

            Mark can only wave half-heartedly at him before turning his attention to the scene in front of him.

            It is eight in the morning. They had received an anonymous call about fifteen minutes ago describing a horrific murder. The station had forwarded the call to him and after hearing the detailed account, he left the station with his team.

            “ me. What in the world happened here?” a new voice enters the scene.

            It is too much even for him to handle this early in the morning. Mark utters a “you tell me”, then excuses himself from the room. He pushes past the crowding officers and curious residents until he reaches the front of the hotel. There, his stomach dislodges everything it can.

            Even as he wipes his mouth, the black spots do not cease dancing in front of his eyes. Deeper in his vision, the picture is all too clear.

            She hangs from the ceiling with her arms stretched wide. Her feet are wrapped together in rope and her body is . Attached behind are two massive wings. The feathers have been stitched carefully together to create an impressive wingspan and if they were not speared into her back, Mark may have thought they were beautiful. Yet there they were, dug into her shoulder blades, ripping into her muscle and tissue.

            That was not the centerpiece of it all. Missing from the body were all its abdominal organs. They had been ripped out, cut out… forensics would tell him how they were taken out, but they were gone. Replaced inside her was a large bouquet of red roses. They glistened in the sunlight and when the team had arrived, there were still dew drops on its velvety petals. The grotesque memory causes his body to expel its contents again.

            “Boss,” the voice from before returns, “You alright?”

            Mark turns to face his partner. Jackson stands in front of him, a worried expression which contorts his face. Jackson is one of his only friends at the work force, being the only one similar in age. The other agents were all much older than him so with common interests, the two were naturally drawn to each other. Mark liked Jackson well enough. He was smart and quick on his feet. More than once, Mark had reached out to Jackson for advice, whether it be for work or personal life.

            He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

            “Yeah, I wasn’t prepared to see that this early in the morning,” Mark says.

            Jackson nodded. He too has dark circles under his eyes and his lips were hardened into a thin, straight line. “Makes you imagine what a sick motherer could create this,” he comments.

            They stand in silence for a quick second until Jackson speaks again, “What do you think we should do?”

            Mark resumes his commanding role. “Take down the body. Have somebody sweep it thoroughly. Send a coup