Twilight had fallen upon the streets of London. Ladies and gentlemen were hustling and bustling, trying to get through the crowds and to their destinations. As the sun slowly descended, it illuminated the city skyline; the tallest building standing out being the office of Scotland Yard. A heavy sigh erupted from Kim Minseok, a highly ranked detective, as he stared out of the window in his and his partner’s, Kim Jongdae, office.

“What’s wrong old chap?” Jongdae questioned as he patted Minseok’s shoulder sympathetically.

“It’s nothing,” he replied somehow sorrowfully.

“Oh come on, you can tell me,” Jongdae urged.

“I just don’t feel as adventurous as I used to, Dae. We haven’t gotten to work on a case together since… heavens knows when!” Jongdae nodded in agreement. Minseok glanced at the clock that was hung up in one of the corners of their paper filled office. It was 8:20pm. Work would end at 8:30pm, giving them 10 more minutes.

Minseok got to work and shuffled through some of the simpleton cases that he was given by his boss to report on. The brown envelope contained information about a young murderer who supposedly murdered his own parents and was on the loose. Minseok barely batted an eye at cases like these. During 6 years of work experience for Scotland Yard, Minseok saw way, way worse.

Knuckles rapped on the office door and his boss’ secretary, Kyungsoo, entered holding a stack of brown envelopes.

“Mr. Kim Jongin would like to see the both of you in his office now,” the petite man spoke. Both said men rose from their chairs and followed Kyungsoo.

“Do you think we’ll finally get a case to work on?” Jongdae whispered. Minseok merely shrugged. Both men knocked on Kim Jongin’s door before opening it and sitting down in the mahogany chairs placed in front of the mahogany desk.

“Ah. How are you fellows keeping?” They both grunted at that and Jongin cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Anyways, both of you will be glad when I tell you that I have a case for you.” Minseok and Jongdae both looked at each other, glints of excitement in their eyes. Jongin handed them a brown envelope.

“I’m certain you both have heard of the horde of missing children, correct?” They nodded solemnly.

“Well, after looking deeper into the case, I have realised that all of the children missing have two very strange things in common. Firstly, they are all missing from the same town and lastly, every time a child disappears, a doll resembling them is placed where they were last seen.” Minseok furrowed his eyebrows.

“We currently don’t have many clues apart from those two pieces of information that I have just told you now. Inside of the envelope are the photographs of most of the missing children and some basic information. I suggest you travel to this town and try asking the locals around if anyone has any information on this. I wish you luck. You are dismissed.”

Minseok and Jongdae got up and left Jongin’s office quietly. As they were going back to their office to collect their briefcases and trench coats, they couldn’t help but discuss the new case they were assigned.

“Alright dear chap, missing children I have definitely heard of, but the whole doll thing? It’s extremely strange.”

“Yes, I agree. For all we know, this could be a prank.”

“I highly doubt it. If it were a prank, Scotland Yard would have already confirmed it, no?”

“Indeed.”

The detectives descended the stairs and hailed a cab on the side of the stone paved streets of London. They climbed in and soon enough, they arrived to the flat apartment they shared. Not only were Jongdae and Minseok partners, they were also roommates and best friends. They changed into some simple clothing and because it was near winter, Minseok used the fireplace for once. Jongdae seated himself on an armchair beside the grandfather clock and began smoking his pipe. Minseok placed himself on his leather couch and sipped gingerly at a cup of mint tea. Working for Scotland Yard sure has its perks, Minseok thought.

“Right then! So, regarding our case…” Jongdae began. Minseok reached out to grab the brown envelope from the glass table and tore it open. It contained of documents of the missing children; picture and information. There was a Mary Jane, an Elizabeth, a Thomas and whatnot.

“I think we should begin tomorrow,” suggested Minseok. Jongdae leaned back in his armchair and inhaled from his pipe.

“Where should we even begin?”

“We should get a lodging, some gold and we should start searching the town and asking parents,” Minseok replied. He took a sip of his tea, that was in pink rose china, to parch his throat.

“Mm, good thinking. It’s established then! We leave tomorrow at 6am.”

That night, both men went to bed thinking of what was ahead of them tomorrow.

The sun flooded the detectives’ bedrooms and they wasted absolutely no time. They packed their briefcases with what was necessary, the brown envelope, extra clothing, some weapons and of course some gold. They left their apartment with empty stomachs and they hailed another cab.

“Mornin’ govna’! Aren’t ye two fellows up early?” The cab driver greeted them.

“It’s for a special occasion,” Minseok replied. The cab driver nodded in understandment that the two gentlemen did not wish to be further questioned.

“To Joyville, please,” Jongdae commanded. The cab driver stared at Jongdae as if he had just sprouted two heads. A pregnant silence occurred for what Minseok could only describe as forever.

“Are ye sure sirs?”

“Positive.”

“Alrighty then…”  They hopped inside of the cab and it began moving at a steady pace. During the journey, Minseok did nothing but stare out of the window while Jongdae diligently tried to memorise every little thing about each missing child. Only when the cab suddenly jumped did Minseok noticed that they were traveling through a rocky path through a dark forest.

“Excuse me but are you sure this is the right way to Joyville?” Minseok yelled, hoping that the cab driver would hear him.

“Yes sir!”

Minseok sank back into the brown upholstery and began to stare out of the window again. After crossing through the forest, he noticed an incredible contrast to London and Joyville. The streets were dull and lifeless. There was not a soul in sight. The stone pavement had cracks in it. Grey, mourning clouds littered the sky. Posters and trash littered the iron, black lamps and pavement. It felt as if he had entered a parallel dimension. If he could describe Joyville with one word it would be dead. Minseok scoffed at the irony of the name. It almost scared him how dead and lifeless the town looked and now he understood why the cab driver looked hysterical when asked for the destination.

The cab slowly halted to a stop in what appeared to be the town’s square.

“Here ye are gentlemen,” the cab driver said, opening the door of the cab. The two detectives gracefully stepped out and thanked him, paying the amount of gold needed. After the cab drove off, a feeling of dread plastered itself onto Minseok’s chest. He could just taste that something was off.

“Well I’ll be damned. This town is more like a ghost town,” Jongdae whispered. Minseok nodded at his statement. Both of them felt that if they were to speak louder than a whisper, something terrible would occur. As they began to slowly walk away from the square in search for a lodging house, shivers kept creeping up Minseok’s spine. He noticed that everything looked dull and grey. He also noticed posters of most of the missing children with handsome rewards if found. The paper was stained and it gave them an idea that the clouds cried a lot in Joyville.

Raindrops fell from the sky, firstly just pelting the detectives but now it started falling at a furious pace, soaking the gentlemen. Yes, it really seemed like the clouds cried a lot in Joyville.