Chapter Twenty-Six
Angel Vessel
I scrambled to my feet and pushed my hair our of my face. He could've over powered me if he wanted but he let me hit him. He let me hurt him and some part of me just felt sick. "I'm sorry. I love you." I said quietly. It was more for myself than for him. With one last look at his fallen form I rushed out of the apartment.
I went back to the office first. "Doctor." I went into the forensics lab. "Detective? I was just about to leave. Why are you here so late?" He asked. "Can I see the note you found?" I asked. He blinked, but nodded and went to the evidence desk and pulled out a thin plastic bag. I took it from him and looked at it. A chill went through me. It was Myungsoo's handwriting. Anger soon followed the chill. The bastard was going to get away scot-free by incriminating Myungsoo.
"Detective? Are you okay? You just got really pale and then really red." I took a breath and realized that I had stop breathing. This went beyond the nightmare of being stuck by myself in that cooler.
"I'm okay." I said handing the paper back to him. The reaper had never left us any evidence until now. Now I had 3 women's deaths on my hands. "I'll nail this guy." I said. "I know you will." He smiled comfortingly.
Suddenly, my phone beeped and I read the text message from Myungsoo's number. It read "Meet me at the docks. Warehouse 13."
"Is something wrong detective?" The doctor asked. "I just got a lead on the case. I'm heading out. Thank you for all your work." I mustered up a smile and left the forensic examiner's office. I went to request another magazine for my gun. This needed to end today one way or the other. I would go insane thinking about Woohyun, Myungsoo and the Reaper and his sick killings.
I got into my car and drove to the docks. My phone had been ringing nonstop after I left the station. Woohyun's caller ID flashed across the screen for the dozenth time. I hit the end button to hang up on him. I then proceeded to dictate a text message to someone else. I read it over on the side of the road for a good fifteen minutes. I hope I had made the right choice and pressed the send button.
It was 4 in the morning and in my mind, I wondered if I would live to see daybreak. Parking my car, I walked towards the docks and old warehouses. It seemed like salt water, seaweed and rust. A uneasiness fell over me when I got outside the warehouse entrance.
Taking a deep breath, I walked inside. It was dark so I pulled out my flashlight and trained it on my straight path.
"I'm here." I shouted when I got to the middle of the warehouse. This particular warehouse was mostly empty. There were empty metal crates in stacks here and there. They had been here so long that the writing on them had already faded. The roof even had a hole in it and there was a steady sound of dripping water. If we didn't want to be disturbed by outsiders this was definitely the perfect place. This section of the warehouse had very dim lighting from a few old hanging lamps from the ceiling. My eyes darted around to track any movements.
"I know." The Reaper stepped out of the shadows as my eyes found him. He had changed Myungsoo to the outfit he was wearing on the day I went to Inspirit to pretend to be Kim Hana.
So the Reaper was already watching me then.
"You find this outfit attractive, no?" He asked with a small smirk on his face like he read my mind. "Yes." I said. "But not on you. Only on Myungsoo." I smiled without humor.
He walked towards me like a predator stalking his prey. I supposed that was exactly the game he was playing. He was always the predator. He enjoyed this game so much that he believed he would always come out the winner.
He looked neat and cleaned up. But my blue blouse was wrinkled from my tussle with Woohyun and my jeans were dirty. He brought Myungsoo's body within touching distance. He ran his finger along my cheek and I bit my bottom lip to keep from pulling away as a knee-jerk reaction.
"Would you rather I stay as Myungsoo. Would that make you happier?"
"No. Get out of his body you bastard." He smirked. "I thought his face being the last you saw before I took your life would be the most comforting to you."
I scoffed. "Being killed by my best friend is not comforting in the least. I want to know my real killer. Not someone who just hides in someone else's body." I cocked my head as a show of challenge.
He smiled. "I've been playing this game a much longer time than you Minji."
"What game? This is reality. The people you murder are reality. The monster you are is a reality." I said icily.
He gave me a shrugged then, I saw Myungsoo's face fall expressionless as the Reaper pulled out of his body and grabbed Myungsoo's arm to keep my unconscious best friend standing. Suddenly he pulled out a gun. My eyes widened and I tried to grab it but it was like I could only move in slow motion, and the Reaper dug the gun into Myungsoo's side and pulled the trigger, twice.
My screamed echoed in the warehouse and I tried to grab Myungsoo but the Reaper enclosed his hand around my throat and dropped me to the ground so hard my head throbbed.
I struggled but he already straddled me. He gave me just enough room for wheezy gasps of air as I tried to claw at his hand. "You wanted to make a trade Minji." He said as the tears that gathered in my eyes fell. "You never specified that he had to be alive." He laughed and it was a sickening sound.
I tried to look at Myungsoo. He had come to and grabbed his side in agony. He was looking at me too. I looked back at the Reaper. "I'm going to kill you." I choked out. He smiled as his free hand pulled up my blouse. I felt the cool air hit my bare skin and goosebumps broke out. I tried to reach for my gun but he tightened his hand around my throat. "I wouldn't do that. Unless you want Myungsoo so die faster. I want him to watch us, but I can change my mind. I tried to shake my head.
"I usually brand the girls on the shoulders. But for you. I think this is much more intimate. This is the longest game I've played." He chuckled and I felt his fingers run up and down my side. Then I saw a red glow and I screamed. It felt like someone drove a hot iron into my side and felt like it would punch right through my skin. I convulsed but he held me down. Right above the waistband on my jeans was where the pain was concentrated the most.
"You're mine. You need to remember that little girl." And then his fingers were gone but my side was on fire. I was breathing heavy with tears in the corners of my eyes. "I love your screams. I would…." He didn't get to finish his sentence because someone grabbed him from behind and threw him across the room like a rag doll. I heard a loud crash, but I couldn't move through the pain, I could barely breathe. Property. Was that what I had become?
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