Who knew Miami was so murderous?
"All psychos come here to go nuts because of the nice environment. Homicides are cooler among palm trees and expensive yachts"
I love how it's summer all year long but only scorching hot for a couple of weeks in June. And there's no real dress code at the lab, so getting ready for work is quite chill.
Flint was called to a scene by the beach and wanted me to go with him 'cause I'm the least irritating to him these days. He goes in cycles when he either hates you or tolerates you. Apparently it's my lucky turn, for however long it lasts. I'm collecting traces of blood on a tree's roots while he's leaning on another, glancing toward the horizon.
"I should retire"
"Oh but what would we do without you, buddy?"
"I'm not a dog, thank you. I'm old enough to fuck off into oblivion"
"Gosh. You've had it so bad?"
"You're still high on the new experience. You can't understand how deeply it corrodes you"
"Why aren't you leaving then?"
"Let's go, punky doll"
We were never alive and we won't be born again
Unwrap, dip, push, wait. Unwrap, dip, push, wait. Unwrap, dip, push...
"Fucking hell. The fuck just happened?"
I was lost in my trance processing a ton of blood samples when something blew up in my face. I'm now pervaded by a burning sensation and can't see anything, but judging by the glass shatters on the desk my automatism must've stuttered at some point. I slowly find the door and stumble in the corridor as my vision begins to return, though very blurry.
"V! V! Oh god! What's going on? Your face!"
I glance at the glass wall to my left to see a bloody mask topped with scarecrow hair and sharp bits sticking out of my forehead. Never looked more intimidating.
"Come on, babe. Let's get you to the E.R. It's not funny!"
My hysterical laughing fit would have never seen an end if it wasn't for the loud gun shots erupting near us.
"Grab your guns and be on the lookout!"
Cal dashed downstairs while Ry and I inspected the rest of the floor finding it oddly void of people. Pushing our doubts aside, we joined the noise splitting up; him towards the interrogations wing and me to the morgue. Nobody around even here, a heavy silence ringing louder as the shooting stopped. I quickly wash my hands before darting up the stairs leading to the main entrance, just as time slows down like it hasn't done in years. Someone grabs my arm while everyone around us runs erratically.
"Hey. It's me. Do you have enough ammo? It's bad. Prepare to shoot your heart out"
I can't speak so I simply nod at a distressed Ry while loading my gun. As we take our first step up, we're blown to the side of the staircase by a grand explosion. We were only missing that.
"Ry. Ry. You with me, boo?"
I shake him stroking his cheek, my hand squeezed in return. Durmont calls him for help, so I'm left alone trying to make sense of the surroundings. Penny's whining in pain face down a few inches from the now former DNA lab, unable to move.
"Pen. Sweetheart, can you hear me?"
She turns her head to me covered in blood and tears, clearly unable to hear a thing. This has to be the fifth blast she got involved in for the past three months, naturally impairing her hearing. Poor woman can't catch a break.
"Don't try to move okay? Keep breathing"
I cover her with a black plastic sack and make my way to the shards behind me. I peak around to see glass everywhere but can't exactly tell the main trigger that caused this mess. I'm about to leave when I spot a hand, panic striking me. I dizzily walk over, removing most of the girders, and recognize Martia. I don't pray but if I did, this would be the perfect occasion to.
"Please be pulsing. Please be pulsing"
I tap on every area for vital signs but nothing's moving. Her eyes are still and her pupils are widening. She dreamed of being a useful little scientist as a kid ,and when Hémile offered to work for him, she claimed she hit the jackpot.
"I'd be selling drugs with my brother or in jail with my sister if it wasn't for that man"
She lived and died for this job serving it with every fiber of her being. Literally.
I shut her lids, delicately kissing her forehead, letting a stray tear escape me.
The shots are getting louder again, suggesting it's not over yet. Therefore I reluctantly leave Mar, rushing out to a slim man with an horrid green shirt pointing a rifle at me and, without thinking, I pull the trigger hitting him square in the chest.
"And who the fuck are you, bitch?"
One of his peers snicks up behind me kicking my gun to the floor proceeding to choke hold me.
"Yeah Larry. Let me die with a show"
He wants a show; he shall receive.
I take a deep breath, slide my pocket knife from my panties and swiftly release myself enough to turn to my right and cut his throat with a nice horizontal slice. The moldy lime then barged at me unaware he'd be welcomed by a discreet pierce through his gut that'd send him straight to his friend.
Was it all too much or just not enough?
I'm kneeling on broken glass under a spraying crimson shower and blood curdling screams. Not even in my wildest dreams....
All around me are angsty humans charging at one another, shouting evils I doubt even they truly comprehend.
"Kill him, Buck! What are you waiting for? God dammit!"
"I can't believe it's you! Where is she, Jake?"
"Shoot!"
Oh no more of this noise! Fortunately I still have a few hits left. Somehow, in a group of ill-living men, there is always one who stands back commanding and another one or two acting out. Well, I loathe demanders. Click clack. Being almost invisible pays off at times.
"Oh shit, who's there?"
As predicted, the lone sheep is now unsure of what to do.
"Jake! No please don't go! Where's Ryleigh? Tell me, you bastard!"
Why be a man and fucking be honest...of course running his ass off into the distance is easier.
At least it seems like the party's finally over; most dancers kaput or almost.
I think I fell in love again or maybe I just took too much cough medicine
I join Ry and Cal hoping to recollect our minds laying scattered among the debris of the most catastrophic quarter of hour imaginable.
"What now?"
Angel's alluring eyes show signs of her once steely confidence beginning to crack and Ry..well, Ry's too busy staring at the floor counting the crumbs in front of him.
"We need to find Hém"
YOU ARE READING
A Bloody Smile In The Dark
General FictionA headache-inducing trip between real life and hallucinatory dreams on a quest to find peace. When professor Jim Farrelly's life reaches a detour, his trip down memory lane proves to be a tough one to swallow. Because each life is per se, isn't it?