Edited by: Kuro and Lille
Two weeks after the woman was reported missing, they found her body shipped in a box to the police station.
There was also a letter inside. In the same print as the letters they had seen doing the treasure hunt, it was addressed to Grey with only a sentence when opened:
You are mine.
So far, they found one body part a day. They had found 15 body parts so far: 4 feet, 4 hands, 4 legs, and 3 arms.
Grey had guessed that they needed to find 25 in total, but he wondered why it was like that. So far, the locations of each body part didn't make sense besides being places he had wanted to go to or had already been to. Each letter was getting more and more possessive as well, making Myles extremely uncomfortable.
The woman had died a gruesome death. The most notable thing was that her tongue was cut out of her mouth and she probably had to live a bit without the tongue since it was put into a preserving jar. This was a completely different treatment from the rest of her body.
For her body to fit in that box, they had cut her body into parts, but it was put in like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. Each part somehow fitted in the box without there being too much space or too little space. Although the body was well preserved, there was a faint rotting smell. Somehow there weren't any maggots or bugs considering she had been dead for several days. It was like she had been going through a process of mummification but it was never finished.
It was even sent and placed on Grey’s desk.
Grey looked at the officers who were moving the body and gathering evidence. He couldn't help but think it would be better if he just didn't have a desk. But if he didn't have this desk, maybe they would send it to his home...
A bit away, he could hear Agent Freddy's stern voice.
"No one saw who put this package here? How about the cameras? People at the front desks, did they see someone coming in with a box?"
Everyone shook their head.
"Sir, I have been looking through the footage from the past 24 hours, and no one came in with the box." A man in charge of looking at the surveillance monitors felt ashamed of himself, but he knew he had to speak up.
"How is that possible?!" Agent Freddy shouted, "Someone must have come in and put this box here!" The thing was so big too! How could no one see anyone coming in with a box this huge?!
"Freddy, calm down. Let's regroup and look over the footage and the evidence. Getting angry isn't going to help." Dr. Mia put her hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.
Agent Freddy took a deep breath and called for his team, Myles, and Caleb to go inside the conference room. As the days passed, the situation worsened, making everyone, especially Agent Freddy and Grey, anxious.
As everyone was brainstorming and looking at the evidence, Grey was talking to System 225.
'System, is it possible that the surveillance footage had been tampered with? Is this possible for people of this era?'
If hackers knew how to "tamper" with the footage like he was thinking, Agent Ark would probably know how to do the same, but it seems like he hadn't been able to see anything wrong with the videos. That was why he asked. If it was System 225, he would easily be able to erase Grey out of videos and such.
[To answer Grey, if you are asking if a System had changed the data on the videos, then the answer is no. They would've left traces that only Systems can see but I don't see any. It would be the same if it was contaminated by the Villain System. Though there is something that is noteworthy. I was watching the police station and I noticed someone coming in through the back. He was dressed as a janitor and he put the box on the table. The man is from a company called RO Tech. He is not the killer, just the delivery guy. Anyway, RO Tech is a large IT company that has many branches around the world. The CEO is a man and he’s a year older than you. His name is Kyle Reed.]
'Kyle? Well, people can have the same names but... Still puts a bad taste in my mouth.'
Kyle had a special place in Grey’s heart. He was Grey’s first and only best friend, aka Caleb in this world, who followed him from world to world. It made him uncomfortable that the man who was as bright as the sun shared a name with a potential psychopath.
Then he realized Kyle and Myles had very similar spellings. Was that a coincidence? Did that man wait for Myles to change his name before changing his own?
'Anyway, send me more information about this Mr. Reed.' He didn't want to call him Kyle.
[Understood, Grey.]
"Myles, what are you thinking about over there?"
A voice brought Grey out of his thoughts. When he looked up, everyone in the room was staring at him. Even Agent Ark on the screen was staring curiously at him.
"I apologize, I didn't listen to anything that was going on."
Dr. Mia waved her hand up and down to show it wasn't a big deal. "We were just brainstorming. What were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about the video cameras. It's possible they have been tampered with by someone who is highly skilled in hacking." He wanted to trick everyone before saying what he really wanted to say.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"That's not possible. I didn't see anything wrong with the footage." Agent Ark spoke up. His pride was on the line. He even went to triple-check now that someone had questioned his ability!
Grey understood why he said that, so he pretended to try to think of something else. "Then if it's not the cameras, then maybe they went into the police station a different way..."
Everyone stared at him to elaborate but that was when Grey face-palmed himself for being "stupid." "Shit! I fucking forgot."
Everyone was confused, but they still followed Grey out the door. They followed him until he stopped by the back door of the Police Station. The people who went through this way were only the janitors or the police officers.
There were two men sitting at the desk back there. They checked to make sure that civilians or reporters did not go through this way, but that rarely happened so the security there wasn't the best.
"Hey, you two, are there cameras around this door?" Grey slammed his hand on the desk to wake up the two idiots who were dozing off.
"Cameras? No. No one goes this way besides the janitors and us. Why do we need cameras here?" One of them replied.
Grey wanted to facepalm everyone in the area. He was acting at first, but this was just stupidity at its finest. "Fucking hell. No wonder we never found out who the hell was putting shit on my desk. They probably went through here and no one noticed!"
He took deep breaths before he smiled at the two. "Did you see anyone suspicious coming through here with a big box?"
"Nope. Didn't see anyone." Guard 1 replied.
"I wasn't here this morning. You should ask the guy that comes in before me." Guard 2 replied scratching his neck.
Agent Freddy saw the exchange and actually gave himself a facepalm. The sound echoed throughout the area, making everyone look over at him. They wondered if the man's forehead was okay...
"I'm going to go have a talk with the supervisors here. You all, go back to the conference room. We are going to check the next location written in the clue one more time before heading out." And then he went to the supervisor's office.
Grey was a little annoyed too. A stunned Caleb walked behind him. Caleb was looking at Myles like the man was his God. His mentor was so smart! How did he notice what others couldn't notice? Caleb was a blind fanboy for Myles, hands down.
When they got into the conference room, Dr. Reynolds was already there. He had a grim look on his face when he saw Grey. "I heard there was a body sent to your desk this morning. Are you feeling alright?"
Grey wanted to cling to his husband for comfort but he held back. "That's right. We have already sent it to Dr. Hendricks."
And Grey slightly blushed. "I'm doing a bit better now." Now that you are here.
It was like Dr. Reynolds could hear Grey’s unspoken words because he also had a slight blush on his face.
"Stop flirting!" Caleb and Dr. Mia shouted together as soon as they noticed the pink and flowery atmosphere around Myles and Dr. Reynolds.
The two looked at each other for a moment before looking away. The single dogs will unite! They already thought within their hearts.
Grey coughed before looking away from Dr. Reynolds. "Let's get back to business." He still had a soft blush on his face.
They briefed Dr. Reynolds about the situation and the next location as they waited for Agent Freddy to come back.
When he came back, Agent Freddy looked quite refreshed. "I gave him a stern talking. There will be increased security as well as cameras around the back of the building and at the back door from now on. All staff and janitors will be swiped in, their bags checked, and patted down every time we go in."
Agent Freddy was quite efficient.
Grey was happy that Agent Freddy was a man who got things done as quickly as possible. Made his life easier. "With one mystery somewhat solved, let's get to our next location."
"This time it's the beach, right?" Agent Donnie asked, a bit excited as he hadn't been to the beach in a really long time!
"Let's look at the clue one more time so that Dr. Reynolds understands." Agent Freddy signaled Agent Ark to put it up on the screen.
After a couple of taps on the keyboard, a photo of the clue popped up.
You have always dreamed of going to this place. You wanted to watch the sunset, have sand in between your toes, and feel the water from the gentle waves. You said you wanted to smell the sea water and feel the ocean breeze. One day, it will be just the two of us, watching the crashing waves upon the shore and enjoying the other's presence. There's never anyone there, but that's fine because I want to be with you, and only you.
"If he wasn't a serial killer, this would be quite romantic..." The only single dog in the group of government agents, Dr. Mia, said.
Everyone looked at her with disbelief. Was she fucking crazy???
She could only stare back with a glare. I'm single, unlike you married folks! All of you are married! MARRIED, I TELL YOU!
Grey felt really uncomfortable every time he read the letter. It made his spine shiver and his cold sweat stuck to his shirt.
Dr. Reynolds stared at the letter and felt a surge of emotions. Every time he saw them, he felt anger and also jealousy. He knew that Grey was his husband, and he knew that Grey knew too. He couldn’t help but feel anxious and angry that people were looking at Grey with perverted eyes! His emotions were so strong that he felt they would consume him whole.
After meeting Grey for the first time in this world, all of his memories had come back, but he knew of one thing, people called him God System. He didn’t understand what that meant, but it was a special identity, one that transcended even the Gods of each world.
He was extremely worried about Grey.
Especially the most recent dreams where he watched Grey die while protecting him, and in his arms. Or when they died battling the Gods. At least they were able to die together, but still. He wanted Grey to live a long life. It made his heart hurt so much that he woke up unable to breathe. If he didn't calm himself, he was sure he would pass out.
His emotions lately had been out of whack. He felt the need to hide Grey away and protect him from the outside world, but that wasn't good. These weren't good thoughts. He didn't know what he could do to stop those feelings. He trusted Myles to continue to love him just like in the other worlds.
That’s right. Grey promised him and kept his promise. He trusted him, but he knew he had to protect him from this psychopath…
He felt weak. He didn’t know how else to help Grey though.
"Dr. Reynolds, are you ready to head out?" Grey looked at him with concern because it was the first time he had seen the man so dazed.
Dr. Reynolds felt Grey’s warm hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. He nodded and thanked him. "I'm good to go."
That’s right. Myles was his Grey. He had to continue trusting in his love.
Everyone grabbed their things and headed for the beach. If only they could relax on the sand and enjoy the ocean breeze.
kuro_kama: I just love it when MLs know that their over-possessive tendency isn’t healthy for their relationship and their lover. You gotta be possessive of what’s yours but you also need to know not to pull the rope too tight.
Grandpa Marky: We love self-aware kings. Also, sorry I'm late. This week has been soooo damn stressful. First, I had to go to the eye doc, pay for my 280 USD glasses (why the hell do we have to pay to see? I will never understand), and I spent over 400 USD on my cat who wasn't eating for days. 400+ USD was with a family discount because my cousin is a manager there LOL. In the end, after some meds and rest, he's finally eating a little bit. Apparently, my cat has IBS seeing that his intestines were inflamed. Not only that, I probably won't be updating next week because Florida is getting another hurricane and this time, it seems to be coming straight for us. Though it won't be too bad in my area (hopefully, there's still time before things can change), I'm going to be on the air of caution and not update this week just in case my power goes out for a while. So yeah, a lot but that's life for you. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will be seeing yall a week after this one. Ta tah~!
