Annissa Rosario
Dinner? Was I stupid? Who would want to go out to dinner with someone who had formerly accused them of murder?
It was just a coincidence that Kairyn passed by that alleyway and saw the murder scene. It probably looked worse than it should have been in the first place too. Not only was I forced to drop everything just to check the scene out, but I also thought I was going to be able to have some free time after finishing my tasks. My expression must have looked like I wanted to kill the already dead victim, plus another helpless soul.
The only reason I was at the scene of the crime in the first place was to collect any supernatural evidence that might give our world away. I had to make the murder look like it was done by a human which wasn’t very hard considering the corpse had been sitting there for a few hours and it was raining, so most of the evidence had been washed away.
Just as I was examining the knife, I turned and saw her trip right in front of the alley. Making eye contact with me I knew this would draw attention if she started screaming, so I did the only thing my mind could think of at that very moment. I slid the knife right as she hit the ground. As she stood up, I threw the corpse. The only thing that I didn’t expect was there to be an explosive placed inside the actual corpse. I guess the killer really did think of a way to get rid of the evidence. That or they were experienced because I couldn’t smell anything or find any fingerprints.
Quickly making my way to the entrance, it looked as if I was just passing by and happened to see the scene. Even though Kairyn was cleared, I could tell she was still mad about the events that had occurred. I felt bad about it and wanted to make it up to her too. Dinner with a sly bitch? I don’t think so. Especially a bitch that had framed her for murder.
Kairyn. That was a nice name. It had a nice ring to it.
Her face when she saw me at the hospital though. It was priceless. The hospital was only what? Fifteen minutes away from the prison itself? Plus it was only one of two hospitals in that vicinity so if I had guessed wrong, I could have easily made my way to the other one.
Laying on the couch I flipped through Netflix. I groaned as I felt my phone vibrate while stretching my hand towards the coffee table to reach it.
Looking at the caller I.D I see that it’s my brother Vladimir.
“Hey,” I answer while shifting back to my original position.
“Hey, Anna.” He greets. “Are you at home right now?”
“Yea, why?”
There’s a silence on his end before Vlad replies with, “There’s been another murder.”
I sigh as I get myself off the couch. “Where? I’ll meet you at the location.”
“Behind the Bell Blue pet store.”
“I can be there in five minutes.” Pulling a sweatshirt on I grab my keys. “Don’t touch anything. The last corpse I examined had a little surprise.”
“Okay. See you then.” Not even a second later Vladimir hangs up.
Shaking my head I pull my shoes on and leave.
As I arrive at the store, I park my car where there are no cameras. Quickly making my way behind the store I see my brother leaning against the wall with his hands inside the pocket of his jeans. “Hey, Anna.”
“Hey, Vlad.” I greet as I get closer to him. “Where’s the body?”
Vladimir points to the dumpster. “It’s the bag on the left. They collect the trash tomorrow.”
“Couldn’t they have dumped the body elsewhere?” Making my way to the dumpster itself I examine the bag to see how easily we could remove it.
“That would defeat the purpose of hiding a scent if it's someone from our world. What was the surprise you mentioned earlier?” Vladimir asks as he examines the bag with me.
“Oh. That.” Turning to look at him I quickly give him a rundown of the events that took place the last two days.
A moment of silence follows before he replies with, “I don’t think they placed anything in this one though if it’s the same person. They know the trash will be collected tomorrow, so there’s no need to do anything. If anything I think they kept this corpse for a few hours or maybe even days before disposing of it here early in the morning. We’re also in a rainy season so the corpse might not be in a good condition, but since it’s in a bag we might get lucky.”
I let it sink in before going, “Probably.”
Shifting his hands for a bit, Vlad pulls out long rubber gloves and hands me a pair. Quickly tugging them on, we carefully lift the bag and open it.
What greets us is the most putrid rotting corpse smell for the ages. Turning away, I take a moment to collect myself before turning back. My brother didn’t look like he was taking it any better. “Even after years of doing this it never gets any better.” He states while continuing to rip the bag open even further.
The corpse that greeted us didn’t look good. The body was covered in dirt and maggots as if whoever had done this had buried the body and dug it up after a few days. Half rotted and covered in dirt, I could also make out stab wounds from the victim upon closer examination. Next to me, I heard Vladimir whistle as he took in the gruesome sight. “Where do we even begin?” I mutter.
Through the thick smell of death, I try to find a scent. A couple of seconds pass and I don’t pick up anything. Nothing. They knew exactly what they were doing. A supernatural maybe. “No scent,” I say quietly.
Vladimir turns to look at me and goes, “What?”
“No scent,” I repeat again, but slightly louder.
A moment of silence passes over us before Vlad responds with, “I’m not ruling out a supernatural, but it could also be an experienced human that knows they’re going to use dogs to try and pick up a scent. If it were an amateur, it would have been easy to tell. Even a well-read amateur. Someone’s had this hobby for a long time and is getting bolder with it because of the fact that nobody has caught them.”
I take a few seconds to let that sink in. “That or they could be working for someone.”
Removing his gloves, Vlad pulls out an IPad from the bag he was carrying and begins to take pictures. Every once in a while I Shift the body while Vlad continues to take more pictures. Examining the body even further I notice that the fingernails were ripped off. Probably to prevent the victim from scratching them and getting DNA stuck under them.
Opening the mouth reveals only half of a tongue and missing teeth. Similar to the fingernails, the killer didn’t want any piece of evidence that might give them away stuck to any part of the victim. Murder 101 I guess. Leave no trace. The eye sockets themselves were missing eyes. There’s probably a reason for that.
Running my fingers along the neck I feel two lumps. “Vlad.”
“Yea?”
“The eyes,” I respond as he walks closer to my side.
Examining the corpse once more a quiet, “Damn.” Slips from his breath. “Let’s port the body.” We’ll get more evidence from the Undertaker’s League of Death once they examine this better.”
“Okay.” Pulling my gloves off, I take out two stones and hand one to Vladimir. Saying the chant we open a portal leading to the Undertaker beneath the corpse. As the portal closes we silently walk back.
The drive back home fills my head with the current events. We’ve had murders before, but not this. Two murders aren’t enough to ring alarm bells, but two murders in two days of almost the same manner? Yes.
Taking a quick shower I make my way to the living room where my brother is. Sitting down next to him I wait before he finally goes, “That last murder. You never got anything from it did you?”
I sigh. “No. The human law enforcement got hold of the evidence before I could do anything.”
“We’ll have to talk to Nadia and Alex then and ask if they found anything.” Running his hand through his hair he continues. “The council won’t be happy to hear about this.”
“Not at all.” Picking up my laptop I search for the girl from before. Kairyn Cortez.
What pops up is her social media profile with her picture on it. Looking through it, it doesn’t take long to figure out what school she’s attending as it’s in her introductory bio. There are also a couple of pictures from school events posted.
“Annissa?” Vladimir starts while looking down on his IPad.
“Mmh?”
“That girl you mentioned earlier,” Glancing up from his IPad he makes eye contact. “Why would you ask her for dinner?”
I pause for a moment before answering. “She just caught my attention. I need to figure out if it’s a temporary infatuation though. Plus I wanted to apologize for framing her.”
“Annissa,” He pauses, “You got her framed for a murder. She didn’t agree to the dinner invitation did she?”
“No.” I scroll through a few more posts before closing my laptop.
“Exactly. What makes you think that she’ll accept the second time you ask her? What do you plan on doing next?” He asks with interest.
I shrug. “I don’t know to be honest.”
“Knowing you, you’ve figured something out haven’t you?” Vladimir goes back to looking down on his IPad while waiting for a response.
“Maybe.”
A few seconds pass before Vladimir goes, “You should wait a few days if you plan on stalking her.”
Throwing a pillow at him I get the remote.
A few days later I find myself in front of her school, but at the restaurant across from it. I don’t wait long before I see Kairyn exit the building. Luckily for me, she didn’t make any stops and went straight home.
Once I get home I pull off my disguise. Vladimir looks at me from the couch and goes, “Figure out where she lives yet?”
“Yup.”
The next day I go to the address that I had saved the day before. Once I enter the lobby area, a middle-aged brunette looks at me and smiles from her computer on a desk. Walking towards her I smile and tell her that I’m here to visit a resident.
“Do you know the apartment number?” She asks in an overly friendly way.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I could give you their name.”
Looking at her computer she clicks a few things then goes, “Go ahead.”
“The resident I’m here to visit is Kairyn Cortez,” I tell the receptionist as I wait for her to give me the apartment number.
“Oh, miss Cortez lives in apartment number 721.”
I thank her then make my way to the elevators. Once I get on the floor, I wait outside the hallway near her door.
Damn! At what point did this escalate from mere curiosity to full-on stalking? I didn’t have to wait for long before I heard the elevator doors open. Kairyn steps out of the elevator with her right arm full of grocery bags, while the broken left one held her keys.
As she makes her way towards the apartment door, her face changes to one of surprise and horror.
Standing there staring at each other I examine her appearance. Kairyn was shorter than me and had curly black shoulder-length hair that is probably longer if straightened, large deep brown eyes, and dark milk chocolate skin. Her eyes shone with creativity that never seemed to go out. She had on brown zippered hiking boots, dark skinny jeans, a blue Spirited Away Haku sweatshirt, and a black backpack hanging off of her right shoulder.
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