William felt his life had been taken away from him; all he did was to sit there, beside the dead body. Brenda yelled his name, but he couldn't hear a single word. She tugged her phone out and called for some help.
Ten minutes later, two policemen with a lady walked into the room. Their noses were covered with face masks. They ran toward him and carried him out of the apartment. William wasn't responding; it was more like a heart panic or something of the sort.
They arrived at the entrance of the tall, old building and dropped him on the ground as medical teams rushed over to him. They glanced at his pale eyes and sprinkled a little drop of water on his face, but he wouldn't wake up. They kept on trying their best, his hands stiffening.
After an hour of trying, William woke up with a heavy cough, as sweat filling his whole body. He glanced at the medical teams; he was deep in thought about why they circled around him.
"What happened?" His voice was below a whisper. A lady among the medical team moved forward, her head bowed with a smile. "You will be fine, don't worry." William knew that fake smile wasn't real. It was more of an illusion. He tried recalling what had happened earlier, the dead body, and the paper note, and suddenly, he felt sharp pain pierce down his head. He held it and screamed.
The lady held his head while calling his name. Other teams rushed over to him, placing him down to rest. The more he tried to slide his eyes and glanced at the view before him, those weak and pale eyes failed him.
William lay there, avoiding any pain as he shut his eyes firmly, without any thoughts or actions. An hour had passed; he woke up with a strange air slashing his throat. He scanned the area. Most of the police and people around had left, only a few were rounding up.
"Are you okay?" the medical lady asked. William glanced at her as she sat beside him silently while observing.
"Yes, I am. Where is everyone?" he asked, eyes still scanning the whole scene. She curled out a smile, held his hands, and their eyes locked. "They all left. If you don't mind, can I take you to the hospital?" she asked. William nodded a no.
"I'm good, thank you," he responded, pulling himself up from the ground. The lady's husk grew stronger; as he moved toward his car, he could hear her voice pleading for him to rest a little bit.
"I have some business to deal with," he whispered as he hopped inside the car. The thought of the killer stalking him sent chills down his body. He kept on staring and lingering his eyes at every moment he heard and every person he could glance at.
Hands trembling and face sweating, he pulled out a handkerchief from the driver's cupboard and wiped it roughly. After he was done, he started the car, buttoned his seat belt, and gripped his gun very firmly.
His hands were on the steering wheel as he began the journey. It was peaceful at first, but somehow it became a fear zone.
"Watch out!" someone yelled on the road as William pulled his car brake and stopped. The average man hissed and rolled his damn eyes at him before crossing the road with a heavy bag on his head. William hissed; hands clutched on the steering as he waited for the man to cross fully.
Immediately, the one left the road, and Mr. William drove faster and sped up, balancing his steering to avoid any more mistakes. An hour gone, he walked out of the car, eyes locked on Vincent Restaurant, his best friend's place.
He took a deep breath before walking inside. The crowd's voice echoed as he watched the workers running in and out, as they did their best to attend to the customers. William stood there, eyes lingering on Vincent.
"Hey, man." William sighted Vincent as he rushed over to him and spoke.
"Oh, it's been ages; you refused to come by." Vincent said as they hugged. William could inhale the fresh tomato paste on his friend's skin, normal for him. Vincent had been running this business successfully for three years while William had been all around the town solving crimes and mysteries.
"How have you been? I hope by now, you might be prompted, right?" Vincent asked as he sat on a seat beside the counter where customers made payment. "Promotion? Not at all. My boss always yelled at me for being noisy." William chuckled as they both laughed.
"I have missed you; I have told you. Why don't you come and join me here? Money is speaking strongly here." Vincent advised his friend, as he tapped a pen on the table, pulling the tension of William more.
Nah, I'm good, thank… you." William stammered; his eyes focused on a stranger outside the building. The man strode toward the restaurant, scanned inside, and then made some calls. Everyone could hear William's heartbeats, his eyes parting as he tried to control his fears by pinching his fingers.
"Are you okay?" Vincent waved at William, but William had gone far in his thoughts. Vincent kept on waving at him; until, the pen slipped out and stumbled onto the floor, bringing William back to his senses.
"Who made that sound?" William asked, his eyes fixed on the table and then on the bed. "Oh, thank goodness." He held his chest, gasping for more air.
His friend stared at him with an aghast face, wondering what had gone wrong with him, hands folded and eyes locked onto William's body.
"I need some rest." William suddenly said as he stood up from the empty seat and inhaled deeply before walking upstairs. There was an entrance blocking at the edge of the restaurant, a little step; that's where Vincent lived.
"Same password?" William asked.
Yes, mehhh, man?" Vincent clicked his tongue. Just before he could say another word, William had dashed out of his view and straight upstairs.
William walked gently in the hallway, which had two bathrooms, and a visitor toilet at the front end. He took a deep breath before dragging his legs over to Vincent's room.
It was decorated with blue designs, whales, and other sea creatures on it. William pressed the password "4543214". Just then, the door slid open. He walked inside the room; it was well organized. A medium mirror was pinned to the wall across the reading table. The bed is blue in color, and the walls are painted in blue too. The marble floor it had, the ceilings shiny with green color, and some handwritten designs filled the wall.
Vincent loved painting but never cared to move on with it. He felt like he was doing what he loved best, just like the restaurant usually gave him happiness.
Just then, William was about to bury his face on the pillow when he heard noises coming from outside the building. He crawled over to the open window, and spied, ears itching to hear what they were asking, two men in black questioning Vincent.
"Have you seen this man?" one of them asked, waving a picture at him.
"No, not at all." Vincent responded.
"Alright, are you sure?" The man asked, immediately as he glanced at the window where William was at.