～♡～
Polly and her brother waited outside the imposing doors of the morgue. Norman had insisted his sister returned home and relaxed a bit, but she was adamant on coming along with him to hear what the law enforcer he hired had to say about Andrew.
He had shown up at the station, saying there was something important he needed Norman to see, and Polly refused to be left behind clueless this time around.
She had enough rights to know what was going on.
Together, the three of them stepped inside the morgue, and the sterile smell of disinfectant filled their nostrils, making Polly's stomach churn. She realized she hadn't eaten a thing all morning, aside from the iced tea she had last night.
But the smell within the morgue was starting to make her lose appetite.
Polly gravitated towards her brother, her keen eyes ensuring she wasn't being followed or watched again. Frankly speaking, her brother was her safe place, and most of the time, she was the one who always dragged the poor dude into her mess.
After a few minutes of walking, a somber-looking Coroner met them, and she led them down a dim-lit corridor lined with metal doors.
Finally, they reached the one containing Andrew's body, and Polly instinctively grabbed the hem of her brother's sleeve.
The Coroner pulled back the sheets, revealing Andrew's pale, lifeless form. Polly already prepared herself for the wounds she was about to see, but even then, a sudden dread skittered down her spine at the sight of Andrew's mutilated form.
Norman's eyes held pity, but not empathy.
The body of Andrew had been cleaned, revealing wounds that weren't visible before, and that's when the enforcer proceeded to explain why he made Norman come here urgently.
"See this?" The enforcer, whose name was Austin, pointed towards the bite mark on Andrew's neck. The mark was just below his jawline, and the sight of it made Polly's grip on her brother's sleeve tighten frantically.
It was a deep, jagged wound that looked like it had been inflicted by some savage beast. It was surrounded by torn flesh and faint colors of dried blood, giving it an eerie, otherworldly appearance.
Polly's eyebrows furrowed cryptically the longer she gazed at the mark, and that was when it hit her like a bolt to the head.
Ten years ago, when the devastating incident of her father's suicide occured, she and her brother had rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead by the doctors.
She remembered screaming at the nurses to get out of her way. She wanted to see her father, but due to the depressing state she was in, she wasn't allowed in until she calmed down. However, she stubbornly pushed through and was able to make it to his bed, and that was when she caught a glimpse of a nasty bite mark on him.
She and her brother, although little, were desperate to uncover the bite mark on their father's skin, but the case was dropped. The cops claimed that he must have been bitten by a wild animal after his fall, since no human was capable of inflicting such nightmarish injuries, but she was a reluctant child and did not buy it.
Norman equally did his best to try and bring up the case after he turned eighteen, but the results were futile, so they no longer bothered to delve into their father's mysterious death. Even Malcolm told them to give it a rest, and that they should pray that he finds peace above, so that's what they did.
Today, looking at the bite mark on Andrew's neck, made her relive those painful moments where their father had left them, but fortunately, they had Malcolm who took up the role of being not just a caretaker, but a father-like figure to them.
Polly's blood froze as the sight altered her theory, and that could only mean that no wild animal, or maybe an animal in fact was the cause, but this animal could be a creature, or a beast walking amongst them!
And it had its targets.
"This is not normal." Austin explained, "this is the third time we're encountering another strange bite mark, Norman. Whatever attacked him didn't have the intention of eating him, but it definitely made him suffer the most painful death I've ever seen."
Austin shook his head in pity, and his gaze scanned the stabs that had been stitched. Austin was their family's attorney, so he was aware of the bite mark on their father's skin, however, this is the second time they're witnessing someone else bear the bite mark, so why was he declaring that this was the third time?
Polly blinked at him confusedly and inquired, "a third?"
The puzzlement in her voice did not go unnoticed. Polly's gaze shifted to her brother who palmed his face before releasing a deep sigh. His uneasy posture and avoiding eye contact signaled to her that he was hiding something, and that made her frown quizzically.
"Norman?"
"Look, I only hid it cause I didn't want you to remember the event with Dad, okay? The man in the car, the one who chased after you, also had a similar bite mark." He explained, his voice brisk and low.
Polly blinked in bewilderment.
"Bite mark?"
"They all seem like bite marks from beasts that I cannot comprehend." Austin continued, "but they're distinct. If you look at the autopsy, the marks on each body are similar yet different, as if they were attacked by three different but similar species of these undocumented beasts."
He covered Andrew's body and glanced at Polly, "did you not see anything aside from the man who brought the body?"
Polly shook her head, her lips failing to conjure words. She didn't see any beast around, but then… that man standing in the shadows… Andrew's body was probably the present he was talking about, and she was super sure he had to be the killer, but then the bite mark, how is she going to explain the bite mark??
Why did he call her Luna? Was it some sort of nickname??
Shaking off the image from her head, Polly decided it was time to tell her brother about the stalker. She tugged gently at his sleeve, gaining his attention, but before she could say anything, her phone suddenly buzzed in her coat's pocket, interrupting her before she could even begin.
Taking her phone out, Polly gazed at the screen for a minute, her eyes narrowing as she read the news report. Instantly, her pupils constricted in shock at the headlines.
"What?" Norman inquired, concern etched on his face as he took in her countenance, and Polly looked at her brother, still wearing the same frozen expression.
"It's Andrew's family," she said, her voice tense, "their home… it's been burned to ashes."