*Trigger Warnings*
"This chapter contains murder, torture, gore, blood and execution. This may be triggering to some readers."
~ Chapter: Bloodstained Streets ~
[A]fter what felt like hours of tailing them, they ended up at a standstill in a corner that looked way too desolate to be inhabited by any form of life.
The site seemed to be under some kind of renovation, and at night, there was only the sound of silence, hollow with an abnormal sense of dread hovering around — making it the ideal location for a crime scene.
Lee Ju-hee's back was sloped against a wall not far from their spot, feeling oddly on edge as she peered at the scene taking place before her eyes from a clear angle.
"Bring him! Bring that fucker right now! The boss wants to see him!" One man said and the quietness was abruptly shattered by a loud disturbance.
The gang members that had passed by her earlier had caught hold of the male prostitute. Some of them had even started punching him brutally in the face, causing him to bleed. They then forcefully dragged him towards the calm and composed guy who stood there, casually smoking a cigarette.
He was the same guy that had patted her head earlier, she recognized and he seemed to be the boss.
The intimidating man removed the cigarette from his lips and extinguished it on the bloodied face of his victim, followed by wails of atrocious agony from the act of being burned.
It was dark out there, making it quite tricky for her to have a good look at the state the man was in. But from the metallic smell and dirty mess on his crumpled suit, she concurred that he might've been greatly injured.
Dimming the brightness of her phone, she shared her location with Min-ho, accompanied by a brief message:
['Send help!']
The gang's boss spoke wearily, his voice piercing through the stillness of the night. Startled, she swiftly turned her head towards them, almost straining her own neck in the process.
He asked coldly, resting his foot on the kneeling man's shoulder. "Did you mess around with Yeon-soo?"
Yeon-soo? Somehow, the name sounded familiar. Where had she heard it before? She couldn't quite remember!
"Haven't we been indulgent of your shitty ass behaviors! Who told ya to keep on fucking around with his wife, huh?"
The beaten man cried out in a jumbled manner, insisting, "It wasn't me! I swear!"
In a fit of rage, one of the gang members struck him forcefully on the head, causing his head to reel to the side. But he was then forced back onto his knees, whimpering and sobbing like a wounded animal in the empty space.
The boss confronted him harshly, asking, "You're that number one hoe for that shitty-ass club, ain't ya?!" He followed it up with a kick to the man's stomach, demanding, "Answer me, you whore!"
Lee Ju-hee heard the injured man gasp in pain, struggling to breathe.
Through tearful sobs, he pleaded, "Yes! But I only... became the top performer this week! I'm not the person you're after!"
The boss leaned in, gripping the man's battered and bloody face with one hand. After examining him closely, he angrily demanded, "ain't cha' the little whore that goes by the alias name ScarletPetal!"
"No...!" the victim cried in weak denial. "I go by StarShine! I swear all my clients know me as StarShine!"
"Hah! Fucking shit!" The boss expressed his frustration with a string of curse words, realizing they had targeted the wrong person.
Fueled by frustration, he delivered a powerful punch to the man's jaw, sending him crashing onto the pavement. "We got the wrong guy! I thought I asked you fuckers not to waste my time!"
"B-but boss… we—" One of the men attempted to speak up but was swiftly silenced by a menacing glare from the boss.
Strangely, a chilling atmosphere of blood seemed to surround the goon who had dared to speak, causing his legs to weaken and collapse in fear.
Lee Ju-hee, who was observing from a distance, felt a shiver down her spine at the strange and unsettling sight of the thick, red fog.
'What in the actual fuck?' Lee Ju-hee thought to herself, frowning severely at what was taking place.
"Don't make me say it again!" The branded-guy declared deadly calm. "Don't fucking waste my time, unless you all wanna die!"
"Y-yes boss! Yes…" In fear of becoming the next target, they all responded in unison, promptly lowering their heads to demonstrate their submission.
The mysterious smoke dissipated, as if it had never been there in the first place. It was strange, considering the boss hadn't physically harmed them.
Lee Ju-hee was certain of what she had witnessed and sensed. There was something significant and dangerous about the gang leader, a dark and deadly secret.
He bellowed, "Dissect that garbage into pieces and send one of his arms to Wine-Mystic as a warning! That worthless scum just sullied my shoes, fuck!"
His words were followed by a brutal kick to the host's already battered abdomen, causing him to let out a pained wheeze.
It was evident that the 'male prostitute' had endured numerous injuries, leaving him devoid of the strength needed to defend himself. Furthermore, he was significantly outnumbered, making it practically impossible for him to mount any meaningful resistance against the gang.
What ensued next, following the order was a gruesome scene.
Four members forcefully restrained each of the victim's limbs as he struggled to put up a weak resistance against their grasp. Another individual, wielding an axe, mercilessly made the initial cut, brutally dismembering one of his legs.
Thump! Crraaack!
A piercing scream of agony reverberated throughout the surroundings, causing Lee Ju-hee's eyes to widen in sheer stupor. She bore witness to an unspeakably violent act that would likely haunt her for the rest of her life.
It was clear that they were not just following orders or acting out of necessity. There was something disturbingly pleasurable for them in what they were doing.
They took delight in torturing and slowly killing their victim, finding twisted joy in their actions. Their sinister expressions revealed their pleasure as they grinned maniacally while dismembering the poor lad's body.
Somewhere, in a hidden corner of her mind, a feeble voice urged her to turn away, to shield herself from the gruesome sight. Yet, her body remained frozen, incapable of tearing her gaze away from the chilling scene.
What was she witnessing? It felt as if her body was acting independently, refusing to obey her commands.
Although she had been a witness to and even complicit in various horrific acts in the past, this particular atrocity reached an entirely new level. It was an act she could never fathom committing herself.
As the butchery continued, more individuals joined in, ruthlessly severing the victim's body parts as if they were simply chopping blocks of wood — limb after limb.
Each chop and thump reverberated with an eerie resonance, intensifying the racing of her heart and amplifying the deafening sizzle of her own blood rushing in her ears.
They showed no mercy or remorse. Even after the guy had fallen silent, presumably succumbing to his injuries, they continued to dismember him without relenting.
Thump! Thump! Crack!
The sounds of axes hitting flesh and severing bones, accompanied by the sickening smell of blood made her stomach churn, and Lee Ju-hee had to cover her face to suppress the urge to vomit.
Straining her eyes to see through the darkness, she noticed the ground was soaked with dark, thick liquid, leaving a trail of red stains that sent shivers down her spine.
It was blood, no doubt about it.
It covered everything like a horrifying tapestry of violence. Scattered around were body parts and organs, severed and strewed without care, creating a disturbing sight of chaos. The air carried a strong metallic smell of iron.
But what disturbed her the most was the victim's face. It was contorted, twisted in unbearable pain. The expression etched on his features spoke volumes of the torment he had endured. His eyes, once filled with life, now held a vacant stare, forever frozen in the grip of suffering.
It was horrifying, and disgusting. And as she was getting ready to escape from the bloody scene, she heard the boss bark, voice laced with a hint of irritation, "I smell a rat in here! Find it and bring that fucker to me!"