Chasing in the dark

CHAPTER 15

I rush through the corridors of the hospital. My feet feel heavy, my heart is beating in slow motion. Receiving a phone call like that is terrifying enough. I am trying to keep my composure but it's worthless.

I've never wanted to be the one to receive a call like that. I am not strong enough ...

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"Is this Kim Dae-Seong?" The voice on the end of the line asks me. "Yeah, this is he. Who is calling?"

"I am calling from the Phoenix Hospital. We got your number from someone that was brought in a few hours ago. We need you to come to the hospital to make an identification."

My mind is racing. So many thoughts are playing out in my mind right now. I asked them if I could come tomorrow but they need me to make the identification tonight.

Okay, I am not stressed at all.

I tell my mom that I have to step out for a while and I leave the house. I hope it's nothing serious.

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I finally make it to the room they told me back at the reception. It's the morgue. Okay... okay. Calm down Dae-Seong, don't think anything off it. It might just be a mix up. Your mom and brother are at home... Dad? No, no he is at the drinking hole... I compose myself and reach for the door handle.

... Jae-A?

I open the door. And the stench of rotting corpses fill the air. The doctor comes over to me, accompanied by a police officer. Okay, what's going on right now.

"Mister Kim Dae-Seong?" I shake my head yes. The police officer walks towards me "We found your number at a crime scene. We didn't find any identification thus we had to contact you for one." The police officer nods to the doctor and they open the white sheet.

"If you please, can you tell us who this person is?"

I slowly step forward all the while keeping my eyes closed. I am too nervous to look. After a while I open my eyes and there she is... my breath caught in my throat. My mouth became dry... no! No, this... this cannot be...

What am I looking at right now? This... it's So-hee? My gaze is fixed on the lifeless body of my best friend. Her olive white skin is now a stark pale. The dark circles around her eyes are even darker. I slowly walk closer and reach out my hands...

How is this even possible right now? My eyes instantly shoot up with tears just threatening to make their way down my face.

"An So-hee... what are you doing here?" I whisper to myself. The police officer and doctor both look at me then at each other. The police officer shows the doctor that they can close up the body again. I am stunt, speechless. The police officer puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me outside.

He clears his throat "Do you know that person?" I shake my head yes. He writes down something in a notebook. "And who is that person to you?" I clear my throat a little to answer the officer "uhm... her name is An So-hee. She is my bestfriend...was my bestfriend" the police officer continues to write stuff down in his book.

"Were you with her last night?" I scratch my head a little "Last night? Uhm... a little bit. We went to a bar downtown. But I left early, I wasn't feeling well." He pages through his notebook again.

"So you weren't at the penthouse with them?" I try to think back to last night. I know for a fact I didn't go to a penthouse last night. I shake my head no "wait, them?"

"Miss An So-hee and a couple of her friends were partying at a hotel in the city. They apparently took a new version of the drug Crystal Meth. It's been making the rounds the last couple of weeks, with many young people being committed to hospital or worse. The other three people she was with are fine and in custody right now, however, An So-hee had a negative reaction to the drug and passed away on the scene."