Paint the town red

Chapter XXXIII

When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was check if Yuki was okay in his room. I'm already starting to feel paranoid, but I'd rather double-check if my friend is okay a hundred times than regret it later.

It was still quite early, so I got out of bed and quietly opened the door to my neighbor's room. I looked inside and saw that Yuki was sleeping peacefully in his bed, hugging a pillow brought from Pierre's house, and his chest was heaving steadily. "Thank God he's fine. Not great, but fine," I thought and quietly closed the door behind me.

It was raining outside, so it was a bit cold not only outside, but also in the house. Although the sky began to lighten with the first rays of the sun, it was still gray and looked so heavy that it looked more like a huge stone than a cloud. The dim light of the lanterns, which haven't yet had time to go out, colorlessly penetrates through the clouds, shrouding the streets in a gray blanket. The rain is quietly drumming on the windows, and the fog hangs low, like a haze of mystery, giving the morning a spiritual sadness and as if it reminds me of the hopelessness that awaits me at work. An unsolved case that someone is stubbornly trying to ruin, and the scariest thing is that this someone is somewhere nearby every day and, I bet, laughs out of my desperation. Although I try to keep everything to myself, but the constant reminder of the death of my loved ones and the fact that for such a long time we haven't even had a suspect or found no progress, gradually pulls me into the abyss of despair.

I went back to my room and decided to take a shower - it's still early in the morning, so I can take my time and do all the water treatments for as long as I want. I stayed in the shower longer than usual again, just because I didn't want to leave the warm embrace of water and go out into this gray and cold world outside the house.

But, anyway, work isn't waiting, so after finishing with the water treatments, I made myself a quick breakfast and, after eating and drinking a mug of life-giving coffee, left the house and went to the station. Of course, after the shower, I texted Max as usual and we agreed to meet at the station. He was still worried about the message that someone sent me the day before, but I promised that I'd definitely show it to Logan, even though I was going to do it anyway.

I got to the station pretty quickly, and when I entered the office, Max was already at his workplace. While I was hanging my wet jacket on the hanger, he came up to me and kissed me on the cheek.

"The coffee is already on the table, so warm up a little."

"Thanks."

I nodded and looked at my partner with a grateful smile. I kissed him briefly on the corner of his lips, and then went to my desk to grab a cup of hot coffee, and then headed out of the office. Max raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.

"And where are you going?"

"To Logan. I told you about the message."

"Yes, that's right."

He rolled his eyes and said something in Dutch, and then smiled. He asked if he needed to come with me, to which I refused and asked him to better check the list of new cases at the station. Nodding, Max returned to his desk, and I left the office and went to our computer genius Logan.

The feeling that he lives in his office is getting stronger with each visit to him. I knocked on his door and went inside, and he was already sitting busy with work, and there wasn't the first can of energy drink next to him. Had he already drunk a few in the morning, or had he just decided not to throw them away until they started blocking his monitor?

"Do you even get up just to exercise a bit?"

"You won't believe it, I still get up to eat and go to the WC."