2 01: Rigor Mortis

There's darkness. That, and something else. Something closer to heat. It's scorchingly uncomfortable and you can feel yourself beginning to fade. There's something blocking your lungs from doing their job and you struggle to move your arms, which sit on either side of your body, heavy with exhaustion and the weight of whatever is holding you down. A cry escapes your throat as you work to rip your arm free. With a few sharp tugs, you wrench your arm out from under whatever is holding you down. Only then, as you push forward with the minimal strength that you have left, do you realize that it's someone, not something, that's keeping you pinned to the hard stretch of asphalt of what you can only assume is a dimly lit street corner. Your attackers hands are grabbing harshly at your throat, their body weight holding you down easily.

"W-Who are you?" you squeak, your mouth twisting bitterly. That was a stupid question. You know who's above you, keeping you pinned down as your life slowly whittles away.

Your attacker sneers, hands squeezing your neck tighter, as if to punish you for asking such a stupid question, "You know don't you? You know who I am. You're just pretending that it's not me because you're scared."

"Me? Scared? Never." You growl as you push your one free hand against your attacker's hard chest. "You're imagining things. Now let me go."

"Let you go? But if I let go now, you'll live. I can't let that happen, can I? You know too much. Just close your eyes, Y/N. It's easier to die when you've already seen darkness."

[6 months prior]

[Y/N's P.O.V.]

"A call was placed to 119 at approximately 7 A.M. The person that called owns one of the stores in the alleyway where the body was found. The lady went out back to throw trash out and found the victim. According to the ID card found on the body, the victim is twenty-seven year old Lee Soo Jin. Prior to her death, Ms. Lee worked as an escort for some sort of underground nightclub. We've had problems with them in the past but have never been able to make a formal arrest."

You tug at the keys that sit in the ignition of your car and, finally pulling them free, slide them into the pocket of your wind-breaker. "Can you grab me the plastic bags from the back seat? I should've put them up here with me before I left but Chief was in a hurry to have me get here and I didn't want to disappoint."

Your partner, Sungjae grins, flinging the back, passenger's side door open, 'Are you kidding me? You're Chief's favorite. There's no way he'd ever be disappointed in you. You could accidentally catch a crime scene on fire and he'd still kiss the ground you walk on."

Shaking your head, you grab the bags from Sungjae's hand and slide them over your feet. "It's nothing like that. Let's go."

You groan as you dip your head under the yellow police tape that sits crossed over a strip of narrow alleyway. You can smell the stench of death from where you're standing, a good 40 feet away from the actual scene of the crime.

"I've been stuck with two newbies that the Chief forced on me last minute. One almost passed out from the smell and the other let loose into a garbage can next to the body. I had to shove him out of the way so he wouldn't hurl all over potential evidence." Sungjae, laments, arms folding over his chest.

"Really?" You scrunch your nose, "Why did he send them to this crime scene? I'm pretty sure I heard someone ring off something about a robbery on my way here. That'd be way easier for a couple of kids to stomach."

"Don't know. Chief just shoved 'em in my car and told me to get a move on. Apparently, if I worked any slower, I'd be working backwards. Even though I've been working at the station since midnight trying to close another case," Turning to face front, Sungjae eyes the various police officers and forensic analysts littering the scene, "At least you have the decency to wrap your feet up. I literally had to remind the new kids to stick their feet in garbage bags. If they can't even wrap up their feet right, how in the heck can I trust them to take good notes or report the right information to the Prosecutors when they come from the county office?"

You snort. "They'll learn someday. You'll just need to keep an eye on them until they can handle things on their own. You'd think after years of being an officer, I'd be able to get used to the could smell. Has the victim been dead for a while?"

Sungjae shrugs, sticking a hand into one of his coat pockets and pulling out a pair of plastic gloves, "Here, you must have left these in my coat pocket last time." He tosses them at you and you catch them mid air, easily sliding them onto your hands and adjusting the edges where they curl. "And, to answer your question, I'm not sure. Sora got here a minute or two before you did. She's still setting up."

The two of you carefully shuffle your way past the various members of the forensics team. One is carefully measuring various prints on the ground while another is leaned over a sheet of glass, a small canister of magnetic fingerprint powder clutched between their fingers. You spot Lee Sora, one of the lead forensic technicians and your best friend, crouched over the victim. Well, what's left of the victim. The victim, Lee Soo Jin, is lying on her back, arms sprawled out beside her. Her face is no doubt the cause of nausea amongst some of the more weak-stomached junior cops. There's blood and tissue everywhere. The body is beaten out of shape, completely unidentifiable. You'll most definitely need to scan fingerprints to double check the body's identity. It's definitely not a pretty sight.

"Yikes. No wonder the newbies hurled and passed out. This is a sight and a half." You edge closer, shoulders leaning to watch Sora as she works. You're not quite sure what she's doing, forensics isn't exactly your area of expertise. At most, you assume she's looking for something. Her hand is deep in her work bag, face crinkled in thought, "What's the time of death?"

"Give me a second, will you? I just got here." Sora huffs, eyes lighting up when she finally finds what she's been searching for - a pair of forceps. You watch as she gets to work, hands working carefully to roam over the body and collect what she needs to - whatever that may be.

A few minutes later, your friend stands, a few now filled baggies set beside her work set-up. "There's larvae on the body and, from the size, I'd say the victim has been dead at least 24-28 hours. If you look closely, there's signs of rigor mortis. The body is stiff but hasn't reached its final state, which is about 36 hours after death, so that lines up with the bugs. I won't be able to confirm this until we move this body back to the morgue, though. Until I can get my hands on some better lighting and tools, that's all I can tell you."

You nod. "I guess I'll have to come see you at the morgue, then. I have some suspicions about who might've done this but until you give me an actual report, I'll keep my mind open."

"You're still on that? I thought I told you to stop searching. It's dangerous." You want to follow her advice. You really, really want to stop searching, but you can't. There's a reason you can't give up. No matter how inconsequential your reasons may seem to others - the outside world - you're determined. You need closure, you need to know. "I know it doesn't matter. Trust me, Y/N, I know. But at least think of all the people that love you, that care for you. If you disappear, if you die, there'll be plenty of people who will miss you, who'll want revenge. Don't keep the cycle going, if not for my sake, then at least your sake. Please, just think."

Before you can reply, tell her why you have to keep searching, looking, finding, Sungjae pops up from behind a corner, a grin plastered across his face. "We've got footage! As in, big deal, blackbox footage."

Sora opens her mouth for a moment before sighing heavily. "Go, we'll talk when you come to the morgue later."

You wring your hands behind your back. You refuse to look at her - you'll get too emotional if you do. You've got a job to do. You're a cop - you're here to help the victim, who's cold and bloodied, who's been wrongfully killed, get vengeance. "Okay. Come on Sungjae, let's go see what's up with that blackbox."

Fifteen minutes later, you and Sungjae are leaning over a computer that's situated along a counter top at a convenience store. Some other cop - bless their soul - had managed to locate the owner of the car parked conveniently across from the scene of the crime. It's too coincidental in your opinion. There's no way some car just happened to be there, at the scene of the crime with fully intact footage. Your suspicions are proven correct. Sungjae is shaking in disbelief from his place seated beside you, a look of pure, unadulterated anger splashing harshly across the outlines of his face.

"For the love of all things, there's nothing here Sungjae. It's literally just 35 minutes of complete trash. At most, we saw a drug deal go down." Your frame is hunched over, analyzing the blackbox footage for what you can only assume is the twelfth time. You're beyond frustrated at this point. There's nothing. Why does he keep insisting you watch it?

"Don't you get it? There should be something here, but there isn't. It's like footage was skipped or deleted. Something must've happened. I'm positive there was something on here. I'm sure."

"Tampered with? We literally just got this footage fifteen minutes ago. It was taken out of a freaking blackbox not even fifteen minutes ago. Who'd have time to screw with it? Jae, you must've been hallucinating or something. Don't you have insomnia? Maybe you're so tired you can't think straight? You know, maybe you're getting delirious from lack of sleep."

The man beside you sends you a pointed look, hands running through his brown hair. He's obviously frustrated and you sigh. You've heard of rogue cops, ones that pretend to practice the law but secretly take in bribes and requests. You've never personally met one, but you've most definitely heard about them. If Sungjae's right and someone did screw with the tape - this is bigger than you thought. There's more to this than just a simple murder. This may be what you've been searching for, the reason you became a cop.

"Close this up and then get ready to go. You and I have some business at the morgue." You're up now, hands finding the coat that you've carelessly strewn across a chair somewhere to your right.

"What about the newbies? We can't just leave them here. Chief will kill me if they do something stupid while they're supposed to be under my surveillance. Heck, I've already probably left them alone for too long."

"Bring them too. Maybe once all the blood's been cleaned off they'll be okay."