The Murderer's Scent

The air was thick with the scent of musty blood reached Eun Ji’s nose but what suffocated her wasn’t the spiteful garish red thing trail but the foreboding that kissed her soul in that starry night. The sleepy town was stricken down by uncanny quietness, in which was the sign she had just stepped the world b with horrible crimes and bloodshed. Stars became the witness with her that night on the heartless murderer in action.

No more dreadful scream was heard. Eun Ji pulled her guts and looked back at the spine-chilling scene. The woman was on the corner, appeared to be breathless—dead, fresh blood was streaming from her body. Her eyes were wide opened, held a glimpse of restless. Eun Ji’s heart pounded as she remembered that danger wasn’t end yet. Her eyes slowly turn to the hooded man in shadows—the murderer. He was searching for her.

She should have run. However, what Eun Ji did was hiding, sweating in fear. Her hands trembled—not from the coldness but from the fear that was choking her—the camera was there on her leap. Her memories took her to remember that she caught the man’s attention after taking a proof of his violence towards the woman. She needed to run, she had to, she must escape from this dreadful situation…

“Hello. I know you are there.” A low husky sound and the missed-pitching scurrying on his voice left an eerie and foreboding in Eun Ji’s ears.

The adrenaline flowed from her veins made her stood up, but her legs were paralyzed. Crap, she swore. The more she thought of running away, the more she couldn’t move a step. The hilarious thing was she dumbly stood up in this kind of situation.

“What an interesting person, you are…”

His voice is nearer, damn, I can’t move.

Eun Ji didn’t remembered when the last time she was being scared like that, not even when she watched the horror movie marathon with Yong Hwa back on childhood days. The horrific image covered her mind, she was seeing something that she couldn’t erase. Moreover she was only pedestrian, a passerby, she supposed to have ignored her curiosity instead of putting her life in danger.

Suddenly, his hand was on her shoulder, gripped them with his whole strength.

Her nerves were getting at the best point of hers, she pulled herself together. Give me the chance to escape, damn you. This is why she got the nickname “BB” which stands for ‘body moves faster than brain’—she spontaneously showed her teeth and bit his hand that had touched her. She could hear him growled in pain, but she succeeded releasing herself from his grasp. She took her chance and to give her more time to escape, she even punched his ribs with her strong fist till he squatted down and shrieked in misery.

The chill in December air put her more in frightening than shivering, in which shocking and lungs as she inhaled twice faster than before. Her heart was thumping fast, loud and hard.  He was running towards her, she knew that it was him, from the illuminate light from the neon lights, she saw his shadows approaching her. Someone please save me, she pleaded. She sprinted forward despite her trembling exhausted limbs.

Being chased was nothing like in movies or dramas. Now, Eun Ji understood Jang Hye Sung’s—a character from drama ‘I Can Hear Your Voice’—feeling when she was witnessing a murder in action and was chased because she snapped a picture of him murdering which later turned that she didn’t took any shots of it. When Eun Ji watched that, she was moved by the stars that looked so heroic and courageous. However, reality was far more than the tempting version on scripts. She was lucky to have her things carried with her—at least she had her cellphone.

Cellphone! This dumb-headed Jung Eun Ji! She stopped and hid behind the bushes, her hands swiftly entered ‘112’ on the screen. Sweats from her matted fringe dripping down to her face, “Please pick up, please pick up…” she murmured with a slight of trembling.

Dialing… dialing… “Yes, this is an emergency call.”

Somehow she felt relieved in this whole chaotic situation. “I wanted to report a murder in action in Sindang-dong near Elastic Hotel. Someone is dying here. Quickly, send an ambulance!”

“For ambulance emergency line, please call 119.”

“Ya! You ignorant service center, there is a murder out there and for God's sake, HE IS CHASING ME. I need an ambulance as well as police officers!”

“Please, be patience, can you please identify yourself? Our line is busy at the moment.”

“Busy? Damn you, my life is on the edge, the name is Jung Eun Ji. Can you please send help here?” Eun Ji couldn’t help to burst out more swear words on the phone-line, how could she not to, she was afraid, afraid of dying to be precise. “Hello? Is there anyone? Hello?” There was no answer.

Damn it. In this kind of situation, how the government could didn’t care its citizen’s safety. Eun Ji ran her eyes on the phone screen, it was still connected. “Hello? Hello? This is Jung Eun Ji, in Sindang-dong, needed ambulance and backup immediately!”

A panting breath was heard. She was too tired from running, she couldn’t recognize whether it was hers or not. “I found you, Jung Eun Ji-ssi.”

She goggled in astonishment. That husky voice, it was definitely wasn’t hers.

Someone please save me. Someone, whoever it is, please save me.

In a spilt second, her vision was black, coal black.

Eun Ji was gasping for air.

“You’re awake.”

The voice drew her attention. She didn’t get his appearance as he was backing the windows which gave a kind of brightness that sears into your retinas to the point you wanted to go blind. Besides, Eun Ji eyelids were so heavy like she had just woken up from a nightmare.

But he was such in a close radius that you could hear he was breathing.

She could feel that he was tightly grasping her arms. It hurt her to the point she was fully regained her conscious.

Where am I? Who is he? Am I dreaming? Am I dead?