The Wheel Of Fortune

“Higher and middle-level tuhus can use magic to teleport. In fact, Extanders can too but it drains our energy too much so they could only be used in case of emergency. As a result, it takes around 24-28 hours, depending on the Extander’s ability to recover enough to do even simple magic.”

“Oh. If that’s the case, what should we do? How will we trace them? They could have easily gone anywhere and we have already established that the kidnapping was no coincidence. The tuhu was at the middle level or higher.”

“Yes, they could have gone anywhere...but first we have to check the place they disappeared at before coming to that conclusion,” Ryou responds.

“And what about time? You said you will come to that later.”

“About that...” He closes the current video and opens another one, “Till this point they were going traveling by normal speed,” I look at the time at the corner of the screen. It is only 10:30 at this point.

“But by the time they reached the next intersection, it was already 12 pm.”

“How much time would it have taken if they went by the normal speed?” I inquire as I look at the empty road on the screen. There is no traffic as well. “30-45 minutes at most with traffic. And before you ask, there is no stop in between, I have already checked.”

“They why was there such a long gap? The road is empty and.... it’s near the fields....wait, fields?” I turn towards Ryou with questioning eyes.

“I am also thinking the same, I think we should search the fields before searching the area where they disappeared. Maybe we could find something.”

“Okay...well then when are you going to search the fields?” I question while leaning against the table by his side.

He looks away from the map and gives me a look through his reading glasses.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

He takes a step closer and crosses his arms, ” ‘You’? I think you meant ‘we’. What makes you think I am the only one going?”

I didn’t think he would catch on.

“I meant ‘you’.” I shoot back, “First, I have classes today and as far as I know you are free today. Second, I am also tired, and third, I am not in the mood as well.”

“Oh, I see,” He gives me a nod before raising his head and continuing, “But you know,” He meets my eyes, "First, you have enough attendance and even if you don’t attend the rest of the semester, it will be fine. And I can easily solve that problem. Second, I don’t care, and third, I don’t care. I know you have enough stamina to easily look around with me but you are just too lazy to do so."

As I open my mouth to refute him but no sound comes out of my lips. I bite my lower lip and give him a hesitant nod after some thought. “Okay, I will come with you.” He will not let me off till I agree with him anyway.

In addition to that, he is not wrong in his judgment so all I can do is to listen to him. I clear my throat and decide to get back to the subject, “Did you manage to find out who the taxi belonged to?”

Ryou takes a step back and walks around the table to grab a black folder. He opens the file and passes it on to me, “Read.” I take a quick glance at him and look at the papers in my hands.

By the time I read all the papers, my eyes are wide open in shock, “The taxi driver was Peter’s neighbor and he had been reported missing on the same day Peter and Dannis went missing. Then he must know what happened that day, right?”

“Most possibly.”

“But...don’t you think it is strange? According to the video, "I tap at the screen, “there are three people in the car. If one was Peter, one was Dannis and the last one was the driver, where did the kidnapper go? According to the blood report, the blood belonged to tuhu so we can be sure of one thing; the tuhu was actually present at the scene. But the problem is where did he/she go? Why is he not in the video?"

There are still so many mysteries that are still unsolved that we can’t make any assumptions. The dots are not connecting and there is no motive for a tuhu to kidnap them as well. Who kidnapped them? Why are there only three people in the car? Where did the car disappear to? And what is this case of suddenly involving the neighbor?

After a short breakfast, we immediately depart for the investigation. When we reach the road where the taxi was delayed, Ryou slows the car and stops. I search the grasses on one side while Ryou searches the other side of the road. Since it is time-taking, we search sometimes on foot and the rest during the ride. The road is surrounded by greenish-yellow colors, high and dense grasses from both sides. Grasses that are dense enough to hide a car without anyone noticing.

Till we crossed the midway mark, everything is normal but just after a traveling distance of a few more minutes, I hurriedly pull Ryou's sleeve. “Stop, stop. Ryou, stop the car.”

Ryou pulls over and I open the door without waiting. Small stones on the road crackle as my heels scrap against them while I walk back to the scene. The next second I hear a dull thud from behind me as Ryou shuts the door. I stop in front of thing I saw and keep my eyes on the patch of dark red color on the side of the road. The small patch is not that noticeable the first time, it can be only seen if someone is paying close attention. Is that blood?

Crouching, I rub my finger on the corner of the patch and take a sniff.

“It’s dried blood,” I state when Ryou stops beside me. Why is there so much blood on side of the road? The patch is not very big but it is not small as well. On the second observation, there are also some droplets on the grass but it has dried as well. The blood leads from the side of the road to the dense grasses before disappearing among them. Ryou notices the same thing so he pushes aside the high grasses to check the place.

As soon as the grasses are pushed aside, I notice a thin trail of blood that leads deeper into the grasses. Just how much blood is there?

Soon, I stand up and follow after Ryou with a rustling sound as our only companion in this silence, which is also getting louder by every second. As we dive deeper into the grasses, a strange feeling settles in me. I come to a standstill. What is this....smell?

I cover my nose with my hand which covered my face that scrunched up in disgust. Its smells like rotting flesh. Just what is this smell? The smell gets stronger as we walk in deeper and it is almost unbearable. Ryou covers his nose with one hand and uses his other hand to push aside the grasses. The walk takes up only about 8-10 minutes but by the time I see an opening, I feel like I have been walking for the past one hour.

The grasses open up to a small open field with short wild grasses and wildflowers. I would have no problem in observing more but as soon as I step out of the grasses, a foul stench strong enough to make me vomit fills my nose in plethora. If this was not enough, the sight before me breaks the last string.

A rotten body with dug-out flesh lays flat on the ground. His arms are spread out and one of the legs twisted. His face is almost unrecognizable and files are hovering above the decomposing body. I cover my mouth and gag, my eyes fill with tears because of the disgust as I turn around to make a run for the road.

Once I am out, I crouch and vomit on the side of the road.

After throwing up, I take deep breaths and close my eye. And it is then that I come to sense and notice a familiar hand patting my back while holding my hair up. I take another deep breath and glance at Ryou through my blurry vision. When did he come back? How come I didn’t see him coming?

Ryou pats my back till my breathing has stabilized before going to the car to grab a water bottle and tissues. He tries to help me but I stop him and clean myself up.

I sit on the backseat of the car sideways with the door open and my legs hanging out. “I am not going back...go by yourself.”

I am going to vomit if I see that body once again. There is silence for a few seconds after my statement.

Suddenly, he reaches down and grabs my hand. I look up at him in confusion. What is he doing now?

“Come with me...You have to get accustomed to it...and that is not even one of the worst I have seen.” I blink while being speechless. Is he serious? That is not even worst? Then what are the worts? I shudder after imagining the possibilities.

Still not getting up, I ask him from the seat, “Are you going to call the police?”

“No, The forensic department of EXH.” Oh, that makes sense. Since the tuhu is involved it will be naturally handled by the EXH. The next moment, Ryou tightens his hold on my hand and pulls me up. He tries to take me back to the field but I remain planted at my place. He stops and looks back at my face before letting out a sigh.

“Nadya-”

“You can go alone, right?”

He pauses for a second and answers, “You are right, I can...but I will not.”

As soon as he starts dragging me again, I shout, “Okay, okay. I will go, just let me prepare myself.” I snatch my hand out of his grip.

After mustering my courage so that I will not vomit again, I slowly make my way back to the body with Ryou on the toe. As I walk closer, the same rotten smell surrounds me and I cover my mouth with the mask which I had taken from the car’s glove compartment. I close my eyes tightly and come to a stop as soon as I am out in the open field.

No, I cannot do it. I cannot, It’s too dreadful.

“Till when are you going to keep standing there?” Ryou muffled voice from behind his mask reaches my ears as he walks past me, towards the body.

“I don’t have the courage to look...can I leave, please?” I ask while clenching and unclenching both my hand’s fingers.

“No.”

Not even a minute later, I hear Ryou voice at some distance, from the angle and distance, I can easily figure out he is crouching near the body, “I mean this is our work, I can’t let you get away. It is your first time-” I correct him while remembering the first time I saw Luella’s body.

“Second time.”

“-second time, so you are still not used to it, but you will get used to it soon.”

“I am not sure about that. Since I am sure I can never get used to such a scene.” I say to myself in a whisper low enough for Ryou to not hear.

I take a deep breath and slowly force open my eyes. The vision is blurry at first because of how tightly I closed my eyes but once my vision clears, I notice Ryou inspecting the body with his gloved hands. With some difficulty, I manage to take a few steps forward but on taking a closer look at the horror, I can’t stop myself from coming to a stop.

“Just who can do such a horrible thing? I can’t even recognize his face.” I ask more to myself than to Ryou.

“A tuhu. His facial bones are destroyed, his leg was twisted and his intestine was pulled out with claws.” Ryou explains with some sympathy while inspecting his body, “Can you click the photos?” He asks while handing in his phone. I take it without a word.

“His intestine was pulled right when he was screaming in pain because of the twisted leg. ” I point out while looking at the man with pity. What type of horrible pain he must have experienced right before he died?

Once I am done taking photos, I don’t make a move to approach the body and keep my distance. Ryou moves on to pat the body’s clothes once he is over with the inspection. While he is patting the body, his hand stops at his right trouser pocket. He pats it a few more times before taking out whatever was inside. An old brown wallet ends up in his hand as a result of this.

He flips open the wallet and checks the inside. As he looks at whatever is inside, I notice his mouth pressing in a thin line.

“He is the driver.” Ryou takes out the ID card and turns it over to show me. I walk closer and look at the card before looking at the body.

“So...he died, I mean killed.” I let out a sigh, “It just complicates everything. The car stopped here because of him, didn’t it?”

“The kidnapper must have wanted to get rid of him,” Ryou comments while scanning the rest of the wallet, “A credit card, some money, an ID card, and his driving license...That’s all he has with him.”

“And his phone? Where did his phone go?” I ask Ryou.

“Phone? I didn’t find his phone, let me check again,” Says Ryou. He pats the rest of his pockets and scans the surrounding grounds before shaking his head, “He doesn’t have his phone. Can you check around as well?”

Without a word, I turn to take a look around the rest of the area. While near the edge of the open field, I notice something shining from between the grasses. I push aside the grass and reach for the shiny thing. As soon as I feel a rectangular smooth and hard surface, I know I have a driver’s phone in my hands. Pulling back my hands, I look at the phone and try the turn-on button.

It is not starting. The screen has a big crack and the corners of the phone have been destroyed. It looks like someone threw it with a great force. I walk back to Ryou with the destroyed phone in my hand.

“I found his phone but it has been destroyed,” I tell him while showing him the cracked screen.

“It’s alright. I don’t think it will be of use to us anyway. I just wanted to collect all his belonging so we can give them to his family.”

“Oh.”

“Since we have done what we could do, I am calling the forensic team now. They will do the post-mortem and check his DNA.” Ryou stands up and removes his gloves before pulling out his phone to call the forensic team.

In half an hour, the area is full of noises. The area is surrounded by no-entry tape while the road is full of cars with one ambulance. I stand on one side with my hands on the hips as I watch the forensic teamwork, collecting samples and evidence. After watching for some minutes, I turn to make my way out to the road.

I find Ryou standing on the other side of the road, talking to few officials. I give a quick glance to the crowd of reporters who are standing outside the no-entry tape while trying to push in. Luckily, the guards were placed all around the area to block them. I can make out a few shouting at me among all the noises.