“Reports from the site show no signs of any murderer. But the way she died is unnatural and more investigation should reveal the truth,” an officer said.
“The body of Jessie Scott was found right outside an alleyway in the middle of the city. The police predict that the incident happened around 00:00 hours but it was not until 5:00 until it was reported,” A news anchor continued, “After an autopsy, the cause of death was found out to be blood loss, but there was not a trace of any blood on the scene. Truly a puzzling case for the authorities.”
The case of a girl named Jessie’s death spread like wildfire over the internet and media. Not a single channel or newspaper was not talking about it. The cause of death? Blood loss, or so they thought.
“
______”
I sat in my solitary cubicle in the white office space. I lift my head towards the Television on the wall, pondering the news before resting it on my hands. It would not normally concern me this much; cases of the like had become commonplace.
But…this was a special one. It occurred because of me.
“…Ray?” My eyes jolted upwards to look at the head peeking through the door.
It was my childhood friend, ‘Hiro.’
“Good morning…” I talked in a high tone to hide my despair.
“…. The Director has called you. To the meeting of high-ranking members.”
Oh boy its so over.
“Nice! Thanks for letting me know, Hiro.” I lit my face with a smile. It was ironic since I had taken someone’s own ability to smile…forever.
But in the end, I was still only able to think about myself. Would the (supposedly)crooked director let me of the hook, or would I have to pull strings to keep this job?
I leave my room and pat Hiro on the shoulder saying: “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
As I walked through the space, many faces looked at me. Some with pity, and/or sympathy while others were having the time of their life.
They might not know the reason, but everyone knew what a summon to the board of directors meant.
I was the perfect team leader Ray. My termination would leave behind a hole in the company.
Towards the door of the meeting room, I took a deep breath, fixed my tie, and entered.
Inside the room, I saw three grown men sitting on either side of a lengthy table. And straight in front of my eyes, in the middle of both sides, was a dishevelled old man with an enormous beard running down to his toes.
That man was this company’s, Conti Dynamics’, CEO.
“You’re Team B Leader, Ray, Correct?” The man spoke in an unbecomingly deep voice.
“Y-yes…”
His presence gave of an ominous vibe. His pressure so strong, one might even hallucinate visible dark aura emanating from him.
“Ho-Ho, please take a seat my precious employee,” he pointed to the only empty seat in the room that lay on the opposite side of the table from him, “We shall get down to business immediately.”
He continued talking the moment I settled, “So, like…about you most recent mission,” Hah, of course he knew the truth, he did call me to talk regarding that, “I am deeply saddened by the tragedy that unfolded, but…I believe that you had nothing to do with it.”
I guess he still didn’t know about…
“But…” “…The police have already found indisputable evidence against you. The investigation isn’t public, but as the perpetrator, of course you’d know.”
He wasn’t playing around; his face went paler than before as he said the word ‘perpetrator’. Every syllable added to the room’s agonizing atmosphere. I was getting hard to speak.
“…It’s all wrong.”
Huh-?
“I don’t like the authorities harassing our employee like this, such a despicable way to avoid losing face for their own actions.”
“But that isn’t-!”
“Do we have to spell it out for you?” One of the people towards the CEO’s side, who had not spoken until now, suddenly spoke up.
“He can’t say it out loud but…” Another spoke.
“We’ll cover you, our little precious prin-” The one to speak next had a unsettling expression on his face. Cutting his sentence was the CEO who opened his mouth again.
“You still want to live your life…don’t you?”
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“Huh-?”
“We’ll make sure nothing happens to you-No nothing will happen,” a wide grin spread upon his face next, the rooms pressure completely dissipated, “You can live as an ordinary citizen.”
Seriously? When I thought about it, this offer was once in a lifetime. These people could absolutely do what they just said, the CEO of this company was the 2nd richest person in the peninsula. At the same time, why would he do this for a measly team leader?
“And in return…?”
“…And in return, you continue being this company’s employee. At the same time, you are promoted to senior director.” His answer arrived with instantaneous speed.
What in the world?
“Why…? though”
“Do you accept?” The cold dark aura filled the room once more.
“I…I….” I hesitated, before voicing my answer.
----------------------------------------
“Ah man, it’s always such a heatstroke in July…” Hiro spoke next to me
“Truly”
We were going back home after that day of work. But while the travelers changed not, the mode of transport did.
Hiro’s eyes widened as a luxury escort car arrived at our location. “…. Yooo! Is that the GMW X5??”
He trotted with large steps towards the vehicle, starlight was shining in his eyes. “Damn, it’s the real deal, …. I wonder who it’s for.”
“For us.”
“Bro…What?! Was that what the meeting was for? You got promoted to director!”
“Senior Director.” I corrected him.
“…. Wow. Heh…I really thought you would be in trouble when they called you. And when you didn’t say anything after…” Hiro lowered his gaze.
“It’s alright, come on now that frown doesn’t suit you,” I tapped his shoulder, “You thought something like that would happen to me? The great team leader who beat six man-eaters by himself?”
Hmph. It would. It would’ve if the CEO wasn’t so graceful to me. The great Ray wasn’t so great after all was he?
“Alright, Ray. I will go now.”
“Where are you going? We’re going by the same car; we live in the same house anyways.”
“No, but that’s your escor-”
I pushed him in before he could complete his sentence, sat down myself and ordered the driver to start.
“This is alright…?”
“Alright it is.”
You could tell this car nerd was excited to be here. His shy-ass just won’t say it.
As Hiro started to fiddle with the buttons on his side, I look out the crystal -bulletproof-window.
Outside, many flickering figures could be seen. The car’s speed made it hard to focus on them but then I saw something that would be impossible not to focus on.
Red Police Tape the kept bystanders at bay. I saw many buff men wearing reflective vests while crouching down to cross the tape. It went across the walls of two buildings to block off the alleyway between them. This event was something I was innately familiar with.
“…. A man-eater attack”
Man Eaters
Strange beings the appeared on the planet about 2 years ago. No one knew where they came from. But what everyone was familiar with, was the fact that no normal person survives an encounter with them.
At the moment, only three species had been discovered. One of them was a giant floating eyeball with wings, while the other looked like a goblin. The third one not many people had seen, but it had the form of a human.
The moment I got a glimpse at the scene, I realised the attack was from a low star goblin. As I did, a sigh of relief swept over me.
Probably better than 90% of people living in this country, I knew about these attacks. Defending against them was my daily job after all. Leading a team to Protect citizens from the attacks of vicious man-eating monsters was my duty as the leader of Team B of Conti Dynamics, a military weapon company which had been contracted to protect the country against this danger.
But…after what happened, could I really call myself a ‘protector’?
⸤You! You’re worse than the monsters! How…. could you kill your own kind? ⸣
⸤ Kill yourself! How-⸣
I shut my eyes close before the flashbacks went out of control, that moment was the time I most wanted to forget in this life.
My eyes opened again when the car hit a speed breaker. I had managed to calm myself down, and looked to my side where Hiro was sitting. He had pulled out his laptop and was vigorously typing something.
“Whatcha doing?” I asked
I could see some flashing green text on his screen, but since he set his brightness low, that was all I could tell.
“Ah Its nothing… I am just trying to fin-”
Just then, a message arrived in my mobile phone. I pulled it out from my bag and opened the message.
“Oh wow, this is just great.”
It read: [
Sender: Your Benefactor Phone Number: 0#23-24-52-63
Hello Mr employee! As you must’ve already read in the contract we signed, we shall be
Keeping in touch through this number. So, make sure to save it! Alright, so let’s commence
with your first assignment! Your task is to: Get home safely and securely! You can do that
right? Look forward to it!
]
“So, this is what they meant by ‘timely assistance’, huh?”
In the next moment, I could see our house approaching in the distance. We had arrived.
“Hah, just what kind of life will I be leading from now on…”
“Huh? Ray anything wrong?” Hiro heard my words and became startled.
“Nah… It’s nothing,” I smiled at him, “You should pack up now.”