Prologue (2)

The sound of running water and the late-night radio echoed into the man's ears as he entered his penthouse.

His wife's beautiful voice drifted out from the kitchen as the chorus of the song came on. Gracing him with the opportunity to enjoy the feeling of coming home.

He slipped on his slippers and made his way towards the kitchen, intending to greet his wife with a nice hug and a few kisses.

*crash*

Hearing the sounds of shattering glass, the man quickened his pace, hoping that whatever that had broken had not harmed his wife.

"Dear? Are you all alright? I heard glass breaking." The man tore his wife away from the kitchen sink, making sure to check her face and hands for any damage.

"What do you mean? Nothing was broken. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I must be tired or something. I think I'll head to bed early tonight after I finish reading over some contracts,"

"Alright, but don't overwork your self,"

"Hmm,"

__________

"The last draft," he said, relieved.

It was late at night now, and his eyelids were getting unbearably heavy. He had no idea how he had managed to finish the document, much less make it to his bedroom.

Now comfortable in bed with his lover in between his arms, he let himself slowly slip away, only to be awoken by a certain smell.

"Is that iron? Why is Wannei's hair wet?" He reached over his wife and turned on the lamp to identify the weird smell.

If only he hadn't done that.

The sight he was met with was horrific.

His wife was covered in blood, her face almost unrecognizable.

Her body was covered in scars and carvings from head to toe.

Horrified, he dialled 110 (the emergency number in Singapore).

"Hello? Emergency services, how can I help you?"

"M-my wife s-she's dead. I-I need an ambulance, PLEASE!"

"Calm down, sir, the ambulance will be there in ten minutes. Now, can you tell me what happened?"

The man then proceeded to narrate the story from the moment he came home to the moment he found out what had happened to his wife.

He let out a few strained sobs in between the sentences.

"Okay, sir. We will need you to tell us what room and floor you are on."

"Penthouse," the man answered.

Two minutes later, a group of policemen, paramedics, and therapists arrived.

The policemen shut down the whole building, not allowing anyone in or out, the paramedics were led to the master bedroom by the condo building's manager, where they found the dead wife in the bed and the man in bed with his wife.

The two would have looked peacefully asleep if it weren't for the bleeding carvings etched onto their skin.

The policemen were able to find two other people, both were alive.

One was hidden in the master bathroom, passed out.

The other was in bed asleep. The therapists immediately got to work, calming the teenagers and breaking the news to them.

During the teens' unplanned therapy session, the therapists were able to find out that one teen was the nephew, and the other the daughter of a family friend.

Both were staying over for the summer and were to head back to China for school the following week.

Both teens were sent back to China the next morning.

Within the first week, the two bodies had managed to make national news. The second week it spread throughout all of Asia, the third week it became worldwide.

For those two bodies were not the only ones.

But do you want to know a secret?

The caller was dead before the call was ever made.