The police sirens blared in the background as we reached the crime scene. Hannah arrived first, and her eyes told us everything. Yet, we moved forward, a tremble in our legs.
The body looked barely recognizable. The skin was absent from the sacrum, and blackish fluid seeped seamlessly onto the cold concrete floor. Fingers had been ripped apart, leaving thick, gory calluses. Whitish fluid from her brain flowed onto the broken skull bones. Dry, broken fragments of her hip bone were scattered along with what appeared like shredded tissue from her internal organs. One eye hung out of the socket, its contents pouring out like a darkly colored sesame sauce. The on-scene police officer nearly puked at the sight of the shredded skin spread all over the stone bottom. Even William, the toughest one among us, grew greener by the second at the sight of the jutting bone mangled with flesh and tissue.
The absolute worst was the stench filling the air—reeking of rotten flesh and bones, clinging to everything it touched. It was nothing like I'd ever smelled or seen in my life—and I'd seen some pretty messed-up things. It was a notorious blend of decaying tissue, open wounds, and something sour and putrid. Breathing and standing through it felt impossible.
And yet, it was a blessing in disguise. It drove off the curious passersby who had come to look. Even the younger police officers stayed off the site—standing near the perimeter, their eyes showing nothing but disgust.
And yet, it was a blessing in disguise. It drove off the curious passersby who had come to look. Even the younger police officers stayed off the site—standing near the perimeter, their eyes showing nothing but disgust.
"How the hell did this happen?" Leah whispered to me.
Dylan was talking to the police head, getting increasingly infuriated by whatever the discussion was—it wasn't going well.
"You can't keep her," Dylan yelled. "You know the rules. Our bodies have to be properly disposed of by us only. If there's a tracker..."
God forbid there's a tracker. There's nothing left of the body. The body needs to be ID'd and returned to the parents who probably don't yet know," said the officer, more loudly. "A 23-year-old will not boss me around, for God's sake."
Dylan retreated—he had realized the conversation was futile. He discussed a few more arrangements with the paramedics and then strutted over to us.
"What do you think happened?" I asked in a low voice.
And for the first time in five years, Dylan seemed to have no words. His head dropped as he tried to imagine, but nothing was good enough as an explanation.
"Can't be human," Hannah whispered, tears in her eyes.
"I really hope so," Dylan gave a weak smile. "I thought you guys were weak. I was really wrong."
"I can't imagine what I'd say to Rose," said Daniel. "She'll probably leave."
"We'll give her the exact information. Every detail... and we'll find every person who had a hand in this," Dylan said calmly.
Classic Dylan—always knew what to say in any situation.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Leah said softly.
"We should return," Daniel said firmly. "Me and Dylan can handle this, but you guys are basically kids. We'll carry out the investigation, and you all get some sleep."
"No way," I said. "You need me tonight. Who'll review the cameras?"
I knew they would have to let me stay. There were only two hackers on the team. One was now a mixture of decaying bones and flesh; the other was me.
"No," Dylan said, making me frown. "You all will have to go to school tomorrow, and you need a night's sleep. We'll call in Andrew from the day shift."
"Fuck you, Andrew," I said, making a face.
"Don't spread out this information," Daniel warned. "The rookies will get shit-scared. There was enough ruckus with that group's murders. They'll start to think we're cursed or something."
"We won't," Leah said. "And if you guys need anything, we're just a call away."
"Of course," said Dylan, but I knew he would never call us, no matter what happened.
Walking away seemed more difficult than coming here. Even finally being able to breathe normal air could not undo the knot in my chest. Amber had been a friend to me, and we undoubtedly had a good relationship despite not knowing much about her personal life. She was nearly the only one in the department who I could go to when I had my problems. I had definitely harbored a sense of attachment toward her.
Not to mention the investigation tomorrow. The thought alone made me uneasy. Daniel, Dylan, and a few ladies were the only good seniors in the department. The moment they'd find out Amber's last call had been to me and not her sister, all hell was gonna break loose.
Leah seemed quieter than usual too. She was never fond of Amber—often calling her "geeky" or "nerdy." Probably a little jealous too. But the death seemed to have impacted her more than it had me, if not as much.
Hannah was not close to either of us. She was a detective who worked with a completely different group of people. Whatever few interactions I had with her were purely professional, yet I could see the hurt in her eyes.
"I need to go back," Hannah said halfway. "I need to tell him, and we need to find this."
We tried to protest, but she insisted, and we could not do much.
"Don't you think that..." Leah began.
"Hannah's a little more invested than usual," I nodded.
We both knew Hannah had little to nothing to do with our department. She was known for being apathetic and emotionless—and yet, it seemed the complete opposite. Her insisting on coming with us made no sense. Surely, Amber's corpse was nothing like anything I'd ever seen, but deaths were common where we worked. We were an intensely underequipped and unpopular group who had slowly started coming to power—and hence, had a low staff count.
"Maybe they were working on a project together and got attached," Leah suggested positively.
"But this whole thing is not normal. I mean, why would she call me and not her sister?"
"Yeah, that didn't make sense," Leah said seriously. "Did you know where she had gone?"
"Alyssa might know," I said. Alyssa was our mentor and a very close, family-like person to both of us. "But so might Rose."
"Rose had no idea," said Leah, shaking her head. "A few days ago, she asked me if my sister was also sent along with Amber for the project. She didn't look like she was lying."
"Why would she lie?" I agreed.
"Are you gonna tell Mom?" she asked me.
"Are you?" I asked her.
And we both had a silent argument. Although we did not have anything against her, Mom was not exactly a secret keeper.
"Are you worried?"
"About them?" I responded in a hollow tone. "No."
"Just so you know, you're gonna be all right."
"I know."
We stopped talking. All the gloomy and serious thoughts vanished, replaced by an intense panic. The windowpanes were broken, and there was glass present on the floor with broken stone fragments. Our intruder was not exactly deceptive.
Leah took out her gun and made her way to the door. There was no hint of any movement. We nodded at each other. It was time to confront whoever was in there.