Memories ☆ Jung Taekwoon

IV♘WALTZ WITH DEATH

Wonshik

♞From the ashes,
he will rise♞

Sirens wail like crying infants, mourning for the scene that was painted with flashing red and blue lights. The leaves shiver as the cool wind brushes past them, for the sun hiding underneath the horizon offered no warmth. But a lone ray peaks from behind the clouds; Dawn is breaking.

Wonshik sighs, runs a hand through his hair, and closes his eyes. The stress was evident between his frowning lips that were often kissed by the caffeine which resulted in the heavy bags under his eyes. A knock on his car window pries his tired eyes open and they flash towards his fellow detective standing outside.

He quirks his lips up in a side smile and nods, murmuring, "Yeah, yeah, I'm going." He heaves another sigh before forcing himself to head out of his car.

The gravel crunches beneath his worn shoes and he relishes in the sound; This was better than the silence of death. He continues walking and soon, the rocks disappear into blood-stained soil where the roots of angry trees seemed to be twisting and writhing.

The female detective stops beside him and he follows suit. She starts explaining in a clipped voice, "A fisherman found the body by the river," and points to the man surrounded by other policemen who was shaking badly, "Doctor Frankenstein took it for examination."

A laugh escapes Wonshik's lips, "Jimin, you need to stop calling our forensic pathologist 'Doctor Frankenstein'."

Her eyes softens as worry creeps into them. She quietly says, "And you need to stop on the coffee. You need to get some sleep, Wonshik."

Wonshik was a busy man. He held numerous cases for which a few detectives have been deprived of, and these cases were often said to be miraculously solved for its complexity---the main reason for the dark circles under his eyes.

He simply waves her off dismissively and continous walking, passing through the barricade of ominous yellow tapes where she'd stopped. He calls out to her without turning back, "Take a break, I'll handle this."

Wonshik ignores the incomprehensible reply she yells as he examines the forest around him. A shiver crawls down his back and the hairs on his skin begin to stand. The wind wooshes past him and towards the trees, and they begin to whisper of the horrible things that took place that night.

He had the ability to visualize the events that happened based on the evidences that he'd seen and the location where the crime had taken place. This, along with his intelligence, was the reason why the case of 'Rose' had been given to him.

The world melts away around him, letting his mind take over reality and put him in a dream-like state. He sees the forest at night, hears the loud thunderclaps and the pitter-patter of rain. He whirls his head towards the footprints on the earth, and a vision of a man trudging through the muddy ground entraps his brain.

He follows it towards the edge of the river where the killer must've thrown the body into the waters. He stops for a moment, eyes scanning the rivers as a feeling he couldn't quite tell began to gnaw at his gut. Wonshik then proceeds towards the place where the body had been found which was only a few feet away from where it must've been dumped into.

He visualizes a body floating through the waters peacefully as if it was but a sleeping babe. Its slumber only to be interrupted by the branches of a nearby tree that were like outstretched hands, gripping with nails digging into the fabric of the boy's shirt---unwilling to let go.

Reality finally creeps back into his world and the visions begin to fade away. Wonshik stares at the empty space where the body had been found, a million thoughts racing through his head. He sighs and tiredly runs a hand through his hair, the feeling he had a while ago was finally making sense.

This isn't 'Rose', he thought. His eyes sweep over the scene one last time before deciding finally, This is too sloppy---too unlike that bastard.

Wonshik looks up at Jimin who had emerged from the veil of dark green leaves and twisted branches, her lips set on a straight line. He rolls his eyes at her presence and turns back around. He asks, "Have you found out anything about the victim? What was his name?"

She opens her mouth to speak but another voice cuts her off, huffing, "Sir Wonshik!"

He turns to look at the man dashing through the trees and waving his arms frantically. Wonshik watches with a bemused look on his face as the man stops in front of him, chest heaving and sweat trickling down his face.

"The boy found by the river," the man pauses as he struggles to catch his breath, his lungs aching from the run.

Wonshik impatiently arches an eyebrow, "Well? What about him?"

"He isn't dead," the man meets Wonshik's eyes as he finishes his sentence, "That boy... He's alive!"

♘as he wakes
among the dead.♘