Chapter 54: Strange Fish
The next morning, Detective Harper came to the police break room to find Marcus.
A woman walking her dog had called the police that morning, reporting a brutally dismembered body. After reporting, she turned around and found the body had vanished.
This matched the description of Tomie.
Marcus and Harper rode in a police car to the crime scene.
It was a creek near Riverside Park. A large pool of blood flowed on the path under the bridge; the amount of blood loss was enough to drain an adult's entire body.
"Miller, what's the situation at the scene?"
Marcus asked a young rookie officer.
Miller was closest to the scene and was the first to arrive.
"Detective Moretti, Detective Harper, when I arrived, there was only a pool of blood, no body parts at all. It's really strange!"
"It feels like someone deliberately spilled blood on the ground."
Miller even suspected it was a prank, a way to scare people.
They saw an officer had already collected samples, intending to take them back for testing. Marcus walked to the bloodstain, pretending to examine it, and touched it with his hand.
In reality, he used his absorption ability; according to the feedback, 60% of the blood was just ordinary human blood.
However, 30% resembled the blood of chickens, ducks, and fish, and the final 10% was of even higher quality than ordinary blood.
If one had to compare it, it was roughly the difference between tap water and an energy drink, except there was very little on the ground. Marcus could even sense that if he had a large amount of this enhanced blood, his physical abilities would be further boosted.
The blood, already on the verge of drying out, became even darker after he touched it.
But this kind of blood drying out and changing color in the soil wouldn't attract anyone's attention.
Marcus had just stood up when he suddenly noticed something.
His ears twitched; his keen hearing allowed him to detect something moving in the reeds 90 feet ahead.
He waved to the people behind him, drew his gun, and gave chase.
Harper and the other officers understood Marcus's meaning and quickly drew their guns as well.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Marcus felt slightly relieved.
If there was danger, he would definitely be the first to retreat; he was certain these people couldn't outrun him.
The group chased to the riverbank and saw a strange fish with spiky limbs, like spider legs, clutching the head of a beautiful woman with a beauty mark, leaping into the river and disappearing.
"What?! I didn't see that wrong, did I?!"
Miller exclaimed, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. He now doubted whether he had just hallucinated.
"I think I just saw a fish with four limbs, and its two spikes were holding a girl's head?"
Miller said doubtfully, looking around to confirm if it was a hallucination.
The other officers were also stunned, only confirming their own eyesight after hearing Miller's description.
"I think I saw it too!"
"I thought I was hallucinating too!"
"You didn't see wrong, Miller, it's real. It must have been this strange fish that killed the girl and took the body!"
Detective Harper patted Miller's shoulder, trying to reassure the newcomer.
Miller, however, shuddered at Detective Harper's pat.
He hurriedly turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was Harper, still in shock and completely unprepared.
Marcus, however, felt that the shape of the fish seemed somewhat familiar.
He recalled that the creator of Tomie seemed to have written a story called "Gyo."
It was about cities being invaded by strange fish infected with a mysterious pathogen.
After being infected, the fish in the sea would grow mechanical legs and be able to run on land. People bitten by the fish would swell up and turn pale all over, eventually mutating to resemble the strange fish.
As for how fish without lungs could survive on land, the story didn't explain.
However, based on Marcus's observation, this strange fish should still be breathing through gills and shouldn't be able to survive on land for long.
But now that the strange fish has appeared, it can't be ignored; is it another large-scale disaster?
Especially the fish's eyes just now—they were too strange—and it even took Tomie's head.
Will Tomie be infected by this strange fish? Or will it be devoured by these strange fish and split into countless new individuals?
In the 'Waterfall Creek' case, after Tomie was cut into pieces and scattered into the river, it took root and grew at the bottom of the river, indicating that Tomie wouldn't drown and could survive and split in the water.
One can imagine that this world will definitely become extremely chaotic later on.
After a splash, the river returned to calm. Looking at the rushing river, Marcus had no intention of chasing after it. The other police officers also gave up disappointedly, and the case became a cold case again.
After all, the case file couldn't just state that a strange fish killed someone and then jumped into the river to escape.
In the Westside District,
Emma came to visit Dr. Patterson again.
Her condition worsened last night; she had a terrible nightmare in which she was dismembered by a group of men.
"Emma, when you're ready, you can slowly open your eyes. You'll feel full of energy and comfort," Dr. Patterson said gently.
Lying on the couch, Emma slowly woke up, feeling a wave of relaxation wash over her.
"Emma, how are things going with your boyfriend lately?"
Dr. Patterson believed Emma's stress clearly stemmed from mental issues, likely caused by someone close to her.
"Kevin and I are doing fine, it's just that he's been too busy lately, always working overtime to earn money to support us."
Emma felt a little hurt, but her expression quickly turned sweet; she understood Kevin's hard work, all for their future.
"And Dr. Patterson, what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"
Emma asked with a slightly gossipy curiosity.
Upon hearing this, Patterson's eyes darkened, her expression turning somewhat bitter. She seemed reluctant to answer, but remembering the name Emma had called out during her hypnosis, she changed the subject, asking,
"By the way, Emma, do you know a girl named Tomie Kawakami?"
Emma was puzzled.
She thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head. She didn't recall the girl's name; she didn't know her.
At this moment, Patterson remembered what Detective Harper had told her.
She didn't want to get involved in anything related to the case, so she didn't press the matter.
Patterson changed the subject again, asking,
"Emma, you're on summer break, aren't you going home?"
As soon as she said this, tears streamed down Emma's face; she finally told the truth.
"Dr. Patterson, actually, I've been under a lot of pressure, mainly from three things. One is that after the accident, I've been suffering from amnesia. I often have a vague feeling that I had a close friend, and I often dream about her, but every time I wake up, it's very blurry; I only remember that she had a beauty mark under her eye."
"Then I have an ex-boyfriend named Derek Thompson, who abandoned me after the accident. Also, after moving, I've been struggling financially, and my mother is the only one supporting us. I can't help her at all. It's all because of that accident that I lost my memory; I have to regain it!"
"Waaah,"
Emma sobbed, wiping away her tears.
Dr. Patterson, seeing Emma's condition, handed her a tissue and hugged her:
"Emma, why not choose to let go of the past and cherish everything you have now!"
Dr. Patterson then thought of Detective Harper's words again, offering Emma meaningful advice.
Emma nodded, but her eyes clearly showed no sign of giving up. After saying goodbye to Dr. Patterson, she headed home.
(End of Chapter)