Edited by: Kuro and Lille
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Grey was only able to sleep for two hours before he was tapped on the shoulder to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes and furrowed his brow. His eyes were squinting so hard that it looked like he was closing them again. He just couldn't see anything! It was so blurry.
"What time is it?" He grumbled as he felt around the table for his glasses. He should've worn his contacts, but he hadn't even had the time to go home. He had been wearing the same clothes switching with another pair for almost a week now. Of course, he had washed them, but it was getting kind of disgusting at this point.
His deskmate and his new partner, Caleb, handed him the glasses that were on the desk. "It's 6 A.M, but you should eat before going to the morgue. Dr. Hendrick is expecting you bright and early. You know how he is."
A familiar, but different, tingle went up Grey's arm, making him look over at Caleb blurry-eyed. He took a deep breath before putting his glasses on.
Grey tried to search through his memory for a man named "Dr. Hendrick." He concluded it was an older man in his 60s. He also heard that Dr. Hendrick finally got a younger co-worker who would be helping him with all the bodies that were coming in. The old man refused to do so much work on his own. This man was undoubtedly hard to handle which was why he was always tasked to go over there. They became friends on the level where Myles could actually joke around with him. As for Grey, he just needed to act how Myles acted around Dr. Hendrick.
"Got it. Let me freshen myself up and grab some breakfast on the way."
'It seems Kyle is in this world too. He shows up in worlds like these more often than in worlds that people would consider a fantasy world.'
[He probably prefers worlds with similar technology and science to his original world. Though he is trying his best to follow you. His soul tries its best to ignore that preference.]
Made sense as he was also in the previous world.
'Even souls can have preferences for worlds?'
[Of course. It is in the soul's data. Though there are times when some are able to adapt or have no preference at all.]
Grey was interested in the soul's data but he knew there was no way for him to access it, so he just left it be. He was just happy that his best friend wanted to be by his side.
He went to the locker room and fixed himself up in the bathroom. He grabbed his change of clothes that he had gotten cleaned. He was a detective so he didn't wear the usual police outfit. He wore clothes that looked like business casual clothing. He even wore a tie and had a trench coat on. Inside the trenchcoat, he was able to hide his wallet and guns. It was cozy, so he didn't mind the outfit. It was winter so he wanted to put on some more layers though.
He looked in the mirror to see a man with tan and healthy skin. The only thing not so good about him was the horrid bags under his caramel-brown eyes. Myles exercised on a daily basis and practiced self-defense, so he was in good shape. He was tall, like 6 ft., and had form-fitting clothes that accentuated his muscles. He had short messy hair that was styled to the side to make it presentable. Usually, he kept the hair on the sides of his head shorter than the top, but it was starting to grow out a bit. Even so, he still looked nice if he styled his hair. However, Grey wanted a haircut because the hair was starting to get in his eyes.
It didn't take him long to clean himself up before dragging Caleb with him out the door. They went down the street to get some breakfast at a street stall. The stall had breakfast burritos and hot cocoa. It was weird but the stall was very famous for its hot cocoa when winter came. Their burritos were the best in the city though, so it was crowded when people started to head out to work. Luckily, the shop opened up early and there were very few people.
After getting their breakfast, they got into Myles' simple 4-door black car he got from the police station. Grey was driving while Caleb held the food. Caleb helped Grey eat and drink while he drove.
"What did Dr. Hendrick want to tell us? Did he find something new about the bodies?"
"Yes. He said he found something quite interesting about the three bodies. He said it might be able to help us."
Grey went through the memories of the original and deduced that it was probably because he had found a brand on the bodies.
The brand was a very basic snowflake, one that a person could make with a piece of paper. It was the only connection between the victims, but it was very tiny and put in very inconspicuous places, making it easy to overlook. There were times when the brand wasn't on the body but on the crime scene, which was why there were difficulties connecting the cases. There was another thing that connected the murders in the city to the ones around the country, it was like a morbid treasure hunt. But only Grey knew about that as it was in Myles' memories.
"Hopefully, it's good news." Good news was weird to say when it came to dead bodies, but it was a step closer to getting justice for those who couldn't speak for themselves.
Grey drove them to the morgue that partners with the police station in their city. They always helped when there were cases related to the police.
When they entered the underground facility, Caleb's face paled. He was a new detective and not used to seeing or smelling dead bodies. He wanted to vomit, but he knew he had to get used to it eventually. He had been there four times already but he just couldn't handle it.
Grey walked in unfazed and saw Dr. Hendrick at his desk inputting information. There was a fresh body on the table, covered by a white blanket. The other bodies were probably stored away.
"Dr. Hendrick," Grey called out to get the old man's attention.
Dr. Hendrick took off his reading glasses and rubbed at his temples. He had been staring at the screen for too long and it was giving him a headache.
"Myles. You look like a mess."
If there was one thing he liked to do to bring up his mood, it was messing with Myles. The old man definitely enjoyed making fun of people he was close to. It was out of love, so Myles and Grey were unaffected. Plus, they liked to joke around with one another but sometimes it went out of hand... Like they were children.
"I only slept for a couple of hours in the past couple of days. I'm surprised you still look presentable considering you also look like you haven't slept or showered."
"Shut up. I definitely showered. At least I have more than 1 pair of extra clothes in my office unlike you who I have seen wearing that same shirt for the past few days now."
"At least I washed them. You probably have a pile of clothes sitting somewhere and accumulating filth."
Insults were being hurled back and forth, the usual bantering. Caleb didn't know how to stop the two who were going at each other's throats.
Before he could say anything, a voice interrupted them. "Settle down you two. Stop acting like children."
Everyone motioned their heads to the sound of the voice. The man looked as though he had just got out of med school, young and handsome. He had darkish skin and probably had mixed parents, but his eyes were a beautiful light brown. He had short, curly hair with a well-maintained fade. All in all, the man was tall, fit, and looked great in a lab coat.
"Ah, Dr. Reynolds, you are just in time. I want to introduce you to my partner in crime-"
"Excuse you? You mean I am a good friend who happens to be an amazing Detective that you so admire," Grey jokingly said.
"Yeah. Okay, sure. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Anyway, this is Myles and his new partner, Caleb."
Dr. Reynolds held out his hand for a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Myles and Mr. Caleb. My name is Jordan Reynolds."
Grey shook his hand and gave a smile. "No need for formalities, Doctor, just Myles is fine." The moment they touched hands, that familiar tingle went up his arm.
It was his husband. He found his man so quickly...
Caleb also introduced himself and was curiously looking over at the new young doctor. But he quickly turned away and went back to Myles who he looked up to.
"Myles, I just remembered why I called you over here." Dr. Hendrick said as he gently connected his fist to the palm of his other hand like he had figured something out.
Grey rubbed his temples and wiped his glasses with his shirt. "It better be damn important if you are calling us so early in the morning."
It was 7:30 A.M.
"Do you really think I would be so cruel to call you here for no reason?"
"Get to the point, Doc." Dr. Reynolds groaned. He knew how Dr. Hendrick was if no one stopped him. Funny enough, Dr. Reynolds had become an expert on how to deal with this old doctor.
"Okay, okay. Dr. Grouchy. Ah, Mr. Oh-so-Amazing-Detective, Mr. Caleb, come and take a look at this young lady." He motioned Myles and Caleb over.
The young lady was in her early 20's like she had just graduated from university. She had black hair and tannish skin. She seemed like she was of Southeast Asian descent, as this world was like a carbon copy of "modern Earth." Though there actually wasn't a place called "Asia" in this world. She was of average height and average weight. Everything about her seemed average, but she had beautiful hands, as though she never had to pick up anything heavy in her entire life.
Dr. Hendrick pointed at a black dot on the woman's ankle. At first, it looked like a regular mole, but Grey knew that wasn't the case.
"I thought this was a mole so I almost overlooked it, but when I touched it by accident, it definitely wasn't a mole. Reynolds magnified it and it looks like a snowflake."
Caleb was confused. "A snowflake? Couldn't it just be a tattoo she wanted?"
"Tattoo? No way. They wouldn't make it this small. Also-"
"It was put on her after her death, am I right?" Grey inquired as he looked at her ankle.
Dr. Reynolds looked over at Myles with his interest piqued. "That is correct. One could tell it was done after death because the dead do not heal and it is protruding. The needle used was incredibly small, small enough that it needed to be magnified to see it. Also, the killer had drained their blood before doing this, as there's not even a hint of blood around it."
The serial killer was meticulous and very detail-oriented. This would make things more difficult. Even with the System's help, Grey couldn't have System 225 monitor someone he didn't even know or who they hadn't encountered. Even Myles had no idea who the killer was even though he was killed by him.
"All of the victims have this brand, am I correct? Are they in the same location?" Grey questioned as he stared deeply at the woman's ankle.
"They are not in the same location. In the first victim, it is at the back of his knee. In the second victim, it was in her armpit area."
Ankle, knee, armpit? Why in these locations?
"Have there been any other cases with these brands?" Grey thought that if the killer was putting them in different locations, maybe he did it on other victims too.
"Not in this city or county. Well, not that I know of, but I can pull up records to see." Dr. Hendrick rubbed his beard in a vexed manner. He hoped there weren't any other victims, but it would be hard to find any leads when this was the only thing connecting the victims together.
"Thanks for the help, Dr. Hendrick. If you can't find anything in this county, I may have to pull up something nationwide... Well anyway, we have to get going."
"It's no problem at all. Ah, before you go, grab Dr. Reynolds' number. Just in case I am busy, you can always contact him."
Dr. Hendrick unknowingly came in handy. Grey was a bit happy as he brought out his phone.
The two exchanged numbers then Grey left the building with Caleb. They had to head back to the police station to give their team members a rundown of what they were doing next. He made a few people check the national records for crimes similar to this or murders that were unsolved. Also, he wanted to see if anyone had any clues from the crime scene, so he asked for all the pictures to be put in the conference room.
Myles and Caleb still had a long way to go before they were even close to solving anything.