The Texas heat was unbearable. Especially on days like this. Days when you had to deal with blood. Lots of blood. Detective Jeon Jungkook was never surprised by the crime scenes he encountered but he sure as hell wished killers wouldn’t be so messy about it. The forensic team was already bagging up evidence and other officers were taking pictures of the crime scene by the time he got there.

“Jungkook!” Jungkook turned to see the medical examiner, Kim Yura, flagging him down and on her way out.

“Hey Yura, what are we dealing with?” Jungkook already knew what they were dealing with but he wanted to hear it from her anyway.

As usual, she was straight to the point, “Female. Early twenties. Stabbed in the chest. Multiple contusions to her head. Our Demon King killed her about five days ago.”

Jungkook grimaced, “Don’t even say it Yura. Damn, I hate that name. It just glorifies him to thinking he’s something better than a killer.”

Yura shrugged and told him she would see him again at the station. Jungkook waved her off as he stepped inside. He was mentally prepared for what he would see but even after being on the force for almost twenty years, it still bothered him to deal with so much blood...even if it was dried up blood. It had a certain stench to it that was unforgettable.

“ to be the SOB that owns this house. Can you imagine coming home and finding this in your bed?” Jungkook was asked by Detective Jackson Wang, his partner. Jackson Wang was handsome, young, and possessed a laid back attitude that Jungkook didn't appreciate.

“Yeah. to be him,” Jungkook muttered. Really he was thinking, “It to be this poor girl.” She was the third victim in two months. Jungkook looked at the scene that lay before him. A young girl in a short yellow taffeta dress was on the bed with her hands at her stomach. She was encircled in a shroud of her own blood and as Jungkook slowly
forced his eyes to look towards her head, he saw what he didn’t want to see: the girl’s face had been skinned. She had been robbed of her features and was only left with her bloody skull. On her skull was a delicate crown of small white flowers. It was then that Jungkook noticed something that hadn’t been at the other crime scenes.

“Son of a ,” Jungkook muttered.

Above her on the wall, written in her own blood, were the words, “The
search for my queen continues.”

Across Town: Ludwig News Building

Kim Joojin had been listening to her police scanner when she heard there had been another murder outside the city limits. Her hands itched in anticipation because she already knew who the murderer was. It was the Demon King. Her Demon King. Joojin smiled. She hated murder but coming up with the moniker “Demon King” was pure genius on her part. She didn’t condone murder but when it helped her career along, she couldn’t honestly say that she hated it either. After finding out that he placed a crown of flowers on the heads of his victims, she thought it would be fitting to name him the king. And because his murders were so grisly and brutal, almost demonic, he became the Demon King. Like a mother naming her child, Joojin grew attached to the Demon King. She reminded herself that what he was doing was wrong and he needed to be caught but a small part
of her still considered him hers in a way. “Ugh I’m so twisted,” Joojin said disgustingly to herself.

"Joojin? Is your story almost done?"

Joojin turned around to see her editor Jaebum standing a few feet away from her. He was a stickler for deadlines. She stood up and winked at him, "It's about halfway written, Jaebum. I just got the lead I was looking for."

Jaebum shook his head in dismay, "I think you're starting to get obsessed with that Demon King."

Joojin laughed, "I'm not obsessed with the Demon King, Jaebum. I'm obsessed with having the best headline."

Jaebum laughed, "Yeah, well, I expect a good one for Sunday's paper."

Joojin gave a mock salute as she passed him to follow her lead, "Yes, sir."

Joojin drove to the address that was mentioned on the scanner. Police cars littered the property. A man was talking to a police officer and a woman was next to him. “Bingo!” Joojin thought.

The couple looked visibly upset. Joojin knew the head detective, Jungkook, would yell at her again if he caught her at the crime scene but she liked to press her luck. Joojin tried to walk towards the couple unnoticed. She approached them after the police officer that was interviewing them had walked away, “Hello, are you the owners of the house?”

The man was a portly fellow and clearly a hunter if Joojin was judging him by the camouflage pants he was wearing. He obviously seemed willing to tell his story again, “Yes ma’am. We had gone to my wife’s sister’s house for a few days. When we came back the house stunk to high Heaven. We called the cops as soon as we saw what happened. I almost upchucked my liver, I was so shocked.”

Joojin smiled empathetically and nodded. She asked, “Did anyone have access to your home? Did it look like someone broke in?”

The man looked abashed and shook his head, “We don’t always lock the doors since no one ever comes out here. If we had been home this would’ve never happened.”

Joojin asked one last question, “So you don’t have any idea who the victim was?”

They both shook their heads. The wife said, “I can’t believe it. It was the Demon King wasn’t it? And he said he’s gonna keep on killing.”

Like a dog with a bone, Joojin caught on to that, “What do you mean keep on killing?”

The wife shook her head again, “It’s so horrible. He wrote it on the wall in her blood. He’s gonna keep looking for his queen. He’s looking for a queen, whatever that means.”

Joojin was shocked to silence and that hardly ever happened. It wasn’t until she heard someone yelling at her that she got a grip on herself.

“What the hell is she doing here? Get her off this property right now!” Jeon Jungkook, the head detective on this case, was shouting at the other officers to remove Joojin, “Can’t I trust you to keep these damned bottom feeders out of the way?”

Joojin turned towards Jeon Jungkook. He was a big guy in his early forties. He had dark hair and eyes to match. He clearly didn’t like her as his eyes were currently giving her a look of death. “Calm down
detective. This damned bottom feeder is leaving.” She caught sight of Jackson Wang, her friend and Jungkook's partner. Jackson winked at her and she shook her head and laughed. He was a notorious womanizer but Joojin considered him a good friend. He was also useful in helping her get leads on her stories.

"I don't understand why I see you at every crime scene, Kim Joojin," Jungkook muttered.

Joojin laughed, "My father was a report. My mother was a reporter. I'm a reporter. What can I say? Curiosity runs in my blood Jungkook," Joojin answered him.

"Didn't anyone every tell you that curiosity killed the cat?" Jungkook sneered.

"Yes but-"

"Yeah, yeah but satisfaction brought it back," Jungkook interrupted.

"True, but I was going to say that curiosity killed the cat but, so can ignorance," Joojin grinned after delivering that line.

"That's it. Get out of here Joojin!" Jungkook yelled at her.

Joojin wasn’t stupid enough to keep hanging around the scene of the crime. She decided to hang out at the police station to see if any news came to her that way. After driving for fifteen minutes, she pulled into the Ludwig police station and parked next to a black BMW, “Fancy,” she thought to herself. As she strolled into the station, she couldn’t help but notice the most handsome man she had seen in a while arguing with a police officer.

“I’m telling you, she’s missing! We were supposed to meet and she never showed up,” Mr. Handsome was clearly frustrated. He had a white button-up shirt and grey slacks on. He shoved his hand through his hair in frustration.

The officer took a deep breath and said, “Sir, don’t you think it’s possible that she just stood you up?”

He rolled his eyes as if it were inconceivable that any woman would purposely miss a date with him and Joojin chuckled at his arrogance.

Mr. Handsome continued, “She hasn’t been picking up her phone. She never returned to her hotel room. She never checked out and her friends haven’t heard from her. She’s missing dammit.”

The officer tsked, “Sir, if she was really missing, wouldn’t her family be here reporting her missing?”

The man took a deep breath and said very slowly, “Like I said before, she has no family.”

The officer handed him a clipboard, “Okay sir, go ahead and fill out this missing person’s report. Take a seat against the wall and then I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

The man sat next to Joojin. Joojin had been momentarily distracted by the attractive man next to her but now she was listening to the police chatter. Finally she got what she was waiting for. Two officers coming in were talking quietly but Joojin still overheard, “She was out there for five days man. Ugh I bet that house smelled like death. She was wearing some fancy yellow dress too. You think he’s dressing them up now?”

“A yellow dress?” Joojin said aloud.

This seemed to get Mr. Handsome‘s attention. He asked, “Excuse me? Did you say something?”

Joojin didn’t bother to look in his direction. She was still trying to overhear what the officers were saying.

Mr. Handsome continued, “My friend, she was wearing a yellow dress the last time I saw her.” This got Joojin’s attention and she whipped her head around and found herself staring into the most eyes she had ever seen.

Mr. Handsome held his hand out for Joojin to shake, “Hi. My name is Jin.”