Chapter Two:

Jessica walked in, staring at the surprised members of the unit. With her expression untouched and not even a sight of emotion in her eyes she spoke, “Move. I don’t have time for these things.” The truth is, she didn’t like the show, not even a bit; but being used to that expression, she swallowed the view and continued to walk into the house. The members of N.S.S looked at her with wide eyes. They were really impressed by her way of handling the job, and we couldn’t blame them… it was a terrifying view.

From Jessica’s point of view the house was nothing. An empty space that served as a hideout for someone, probably to enjoy the torturing he did. Then, she started to walk into the hallway, and stepped closer to a mirror. After all, she was there to collect hints and maybe a piece of evidence or two. What she didn’t expect was to see not her reflection, but someone else’s. Maybe it was a door? “What in the world… Who are you?” She asked, not really for the other person, but for herself; because after all, how could a mirror answer her questions? It couldn’t hear...

Once again, Jung Jessica was proven wrong, when the girl’s reflection smiled and pointed to a door, probably a room’s door. The young detective looked at the door with curiosity, and slowly walked towards it, as if it was some kind of monster. Pushing the door open, Jessica sighed as she saw nothing, until she noticed the floor; stained with red. Bloody red, she thought. Following the small drops with her eyes, Jessica analyzed everything in the room. From the small kitchen furniture that looked wasted and old, to the water that sat at the table. Then, she saw something that for the first time in ages changed her expression: A body sat there. It was a white, lifeless body that looked like any other body that you may see in your life. But what scared  Jessica, the thing that made her face transform into a frightened expression, was that the body that sat there with a small smile, hair loose and not brushed, dirty clothes and many contusions; was no other but the reflection’s body.

And for a second, Jessica felt as if the body lying in that place; the one that was so hurt and broken, was hers, causing a small tear to fall from the eyes of the Ice Princess, leaving a small path of water in her soft skin.

“You… you’re dead?” She said to the girl that manifested herself in front of the detective, same girl who just nodded like it was the simplest thing. “And what is your name?” Jessica questioned her, looking deeply into her eyes. Somehow, in the smallest part of her cold heart, she could feel pain. The same pain Taeyeon felt when she wasn’t free. It was weird, the fact that Taeyeon's state of death didn't bugged her at all; but once again, Jessica always felt too close to death, too far from the real world.

“I-I am T-Taeyeon.” The soft voice of Taeyeon echoed in the almost empty room, and a light breeze Jessica’s face. “But why are you crying?”

The detective looked at herself at the mirror and saw the tears that slowly made their way to the floor, which she hadn’t noticed until the moment Taeyeon told her. “It’s nothing. My name is Jessica, and I’m trying to resolve The Beast’s case. Would you mind if I ask you some things?”

“T-The Beast? How do you know I used to call him that? And what’s with that case you're talking about? W-what are you saying?” Taeyeon was scared; being trapped for twelve years in that house turned her into someone who couldn’t see what was in front of her. She was blinded, hurt and lonely in a world that seemed to not fit her anymore. That was the moment Jessica realized she had to protect the innocent soul that floated carelessly in the air, thinking about things she may never understand.

“T-Taeyeon… you don’t know anything about what The Beast did, do you?” It was one of the moments when stuttering wasn’t a problem for the detective, who always had a powerful and scary presence. In that place, inhabited and full of death, she felt nothing but fear. She felt like she was four years old again and the monster in the wardrobe waited for her in the night; and it might sound like a dumb comparison, but it was exactly what she felt. It was the fear of something you don’t understand, and that was the biggest fear in Jessica’s life.

But the other girl remained quiet. She looked at the other eyes that expressed nothing but loneliness and fear. Maybe they weren’t as different. Maybe Jessica could understand the things Taeyeon thought. She remained quiet, not because she didn't wanted to know, but because she didn't know what to ask . The curiosity was killing her — even thought she was already dead. “N-no I don’t. What is it, Jessica? W-who else suffered?” Her eyes were glowing, but it wasn’t anger what made her like that. It was the fact that she never noticed, that she was so indifferent to what happened outside of her house, the little world she saw as a kitchen and a bedroom, the corridor that separated them, and the small mirror.

“Come with me. I can show you if you promise to help me, Taeyeon… this was not only you. You’re not alone and you will never be as long as you stay by my side.” And for the first time in those twelve years, Kim Taeyeon smiled widely at those words. Because she knew that what Jessica said was true. Because she may have lost everything she had but now the only thing she wished for has come to her side: a friend.

Jessica showed the wall to Taeyeon: that wall that showed how many women were taken away from their families, how many of them couldn't live their lifes... how many of them were already forgotten, and the latter touched it with trembling hands as a tear fell from her eyes. Have you ever seen a soul’s tear? The most pure way of sentiment that could be expressed by a human, a drop of life that could mean many things and at the same time mean nothing at all, transparent and delicate as Taeyeon, the tear fell to the floor, and a trilling sensation traveled towards Jessica’s body causing her to jerk up little bit, while everyone else stood there, stoic. Jessica caressed the girl’s hair in an act that they both understood as consolation, and told everyone to prepare for when The Beast came. “Do you know perhaps when he is coming, Taeyeon?”

“Of course I do. Every night after the sun set — after he killed all these women — he would come and give me a lesson. The lesson... I-it wasn't something human, Jessica. It was horrible, like a nightmare of which you can't wake up. It was the reason I called him Beast. It was the reason I died. It was the reason I smiled for the first time yesterday.” Taeyeon pronounced with a light voice, melting the police’s hearts, and destroying a layer of thick ice that Jessica protected with her cold attitude.

“How much time is left before he comes back?” Jessica asked with seriousness, taking her role as a detective again. She had to remind herself that she was a grown woman, that she had to be professional if she wanted that spot on the N.S.S and that she couldn't show any weakness, but no one noticed the weakness in her eyes, as they were too immersed in the world that Taeyeon’s words formed inside her heads. What was it, the things this girl suffered? What was the lesson, the one that turned into a nightmare? Why, they asked themselves, why did she had to deal with that burden?

“By now, there is less than an hour left.” Taeyeon regained her newly discovered smile as the members of the unit were shaken out of their wandering minds, automatically walking to their spots, now wanting more than anything to kill that dreadful creature that had the guts to hurt the innocent young woman.

It all happened too fast. Words couldn't describe at all the final act of the systematical play that represented this case, they seemed too short, too little compared to what happened next. It was such an abstract moment, never definitive when it came to meaning.

For the S.J. Unit members, seeing the bullets perforating the murderer's skin meant they killed a beast and saved lives. For Taeyeon, three bullets meant the end of a torture that she lived day after day, but there was also an emptiness that filled that part of her heart that used to believe in love, to believe in a Beast. But for Jessica, for that young  detective who only wished to finish the case and go home, three bullets suddenly meant nothing… it wasn’t a place in the most powerful organizations, it wasn’t another ended case. It was nothing if Taeyeon was already dead, if all those women, all those girls who were missing were dead. Because  Jessica Jung also was a woman, and used to be a girl, and she knew it wasn’t the end of the story, that her job would never be completed… not until she helped Taeyeon.

Twenty minutes passed, and Tiffany came running in her high heels, out of the patrol that had just parked in the back yard, but froze to the sight of a girl whose foot did not touch the floor, the same who stood besides The Beast dead body, now covered with a thick sheet. What was that, that she was seeing? It was maybe her mind playing tricks to her, it was maybe the atmosphere playing games with her eyes, but somehow she knew deep in her heart, that what was in front of her was real. That face that looked at her with innocent eyes, that hair that seemed to be unbrushed and yet managed to look good. That way of walking and moving, too carefree to be the one of a serious person, but too elegant to belong to a young teen, was something she could recognize in any place.

She had finally found her.

“Taeyeon? A-are you really T-Taeyeon?” Tiffany spoke softly and wiped the tears, ruining the perfect makeup she spent hours creating, just like her smile. But this time, as the soul faced the crying girl, looking surprised to hear a familiar voice; a real and saddened smile make its way into her face. We finally found you, Kim Taeyeon… guess we would not go back to home anymore.

«There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.» Washington Irving

«Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.» Billy Graham

«Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.» Henry Ward Beecher

Finally finished this chapter. Anyone else cried while reading? I did before posting it, while writing it and while thinking of it. I know, I am such a crybaby. If there are any fanboys out there (Leon hyung?) I just have to apologize, because this has too little  Yuri. (At least for me) Did you guys enjoyed the chapter? 

Fangirls of SNSD, you know what I meant when I said that "Jessica also was a woman". I felt as the character fitted so well in this chapter I cried. And fanboys, I hope you understood what I meant~

These quotes are from BrainyQuotes site, and this chapter's theme was tears.