Erased (Chaelisa Au)

Chapter 11: Lingering Darkness

Warning: the details of how the three characters we know died will be revealed

PS: Behold, the obvious reason why Dr. Manoban  died (that honestly, Lisa  should have thought to be a possibility since the very beginning)…

I don't own this story .

Jihyo had been trying to reach Tzuyu for the past hour since she just upped and left their little office space. She was only about to finally give up when their door bursts open and in comes Tzuyu shoving a rather disturbed, frightened, possibly traumatized, and in disguise Lisa  Manoban .

Lisa  was wearing a rather over-sized hoodie, baseball cap, and those glasses with fake lenses. As soon as she was inside, she took a few good steps away from Tzuyu – they definitely had to talk to Tzuyu about stealthy street abductions whether it's for the good of people she took, she did that to both herself and Mina before – and looked around to figure out where she was.

"I'm not being arrested?" Lisa  squeaked, still giving Tzuyu a warry look.

"Ah, so she at least showed you her badge." Jihyo then replied dryly as she watched Mina be quick on her feet and look after Lisa.

"Come on, seat down, you're safe with us Lisa." she heard Mina say. "I'm Mina, that's Jihyo, and the one who took you is Tzuyu. Me and Ji hyo, we're daughters of two of your father's old friends. We're sort of in contact with him of late too."

Lisa  turned to face Mina then, the mention of her father was all it took to gain all of her attention.

They sat her down the lone armchair next to the loveseat in their office. Mina and Jihyo took the loveseat, while Tzuyu preferred to stay near the windows, keeping an eye of people outside. Their space was small, a whole lot cluttered with cork boards, white boards, filling cabinets, and two working desks. There was a small fridge at a corner with a microwave on top, a coffee maker, teabags, and small electronic stove on the side of their little sink at the corner with a kettle. There was an ungodly amount of ramen noodles too but, hey, who could blame them? That was the easiest thing to prepare.

Jihyo quickly went over the introductions. She and Mina were childhood friends, and as it turned out, their fathers knew Dr. Manoban  for the longest of time. When Mina's father was murdered, her father was framed, well, their mothers were totally at each other's throats.

But the two knew better.

They were their fathers' secret keepers.

Most of the case files they had then, their accumulated research, all of it, were destroyed or stolen – so yeah, probably all were destroyed – so they had to rebuild their investigations from the start.

"And her?" Lisa  asked Jihyo, pointing at Tzuyu, still a bit shaken from their encounter. "Also, what does the whole case thing have to do with me?"

"Oh, we met her in college and became friends. Tzuyu wanted to help us after she found out what we were doing." Mina then said. "We want justice, Lisa, I assume you want that too. See, the case our fathers were working on, it's the same case that took the lives of your friends. Of your dad. Just look around Lisa, all the pictures of the girls you see on the board, the pins on the map, they're the victims. And if you look closely, you'll see your friends there too."

"I don't think I need to." Lisa  replied, casting her eyes on the floor. From what Jihyo could tell, she was still very much affected by their deaths.

"Bottom line is we believe you. We know you've been framed." Jihyo said, jumping in, and Mina took that as her cue to grab some files form the cabinets.

"The killer, the one responsible for all the kidnappings, is very smart." Jihyo went on. "From the files, it's easy to understand that he studied his victims. He knew their patterns and knew it well, their habits and all. He also studied the patsies. They fall guys. The people he set-up. He probably tried gaining their trust too, both victims and framed scapegoats."

Mina rejoined them as she handed Lisa  a few thick folders, each labeled with the year of the incidents that happened.

"Before the incidents in your town, he killed a girl in her own house when her parents went away. He used coals found by the grill to set the place on fire. He blamed the boyfriend, the officials thought it was lover's spat." Mina then said as Lisa  flipped through the right folder. "That's the case that Jihyo's dad first found before he kept digging."

"And then he found more incidents similar to that case, a girl who's typically a loner or who only had a handful of friends, someone who usually has a lot of alone time, is the victim. He pits the crime on the guy easiest to put the blame on based on interactions, personalities, and all. He spins his own carefully crafted story as he takes himself out of the narrative." Jihyo added. "And in each case the one who gets arrested proclaims innocence. Like the janitor at the school for the case in '2016 where a girl was drowned in the school's swimming pool."

"And I think you know the details about what happened in your town." Mina said in a gentle tone as she and Jihyo both watched Lisa  gingerly take the folder. She looked paler than she was a minute earlier as she opened the folder with shaking hands and Jihyo could only guess just how much it must have hurt to reopen the old buried wounds.

Lisa  fixed her eyes for on the contents of the folder for a while, flipping through the pages and starting from the last set of information filed there before working her way backwards. Jihyo had to admit, she was rather curious as to why she was doing it.

"Hmmm, I never knew that before." Lisa  mumbled with a mix of emotions flashing on her eyes as she tried her best to school her face to not give much of anything away.

"What didn't you know?" Mina asked.

"That the heating system the people who used the old storage space left behind was tinkered with at our old hang out place or that Sana suffocated Because  of it. She didn't deserve that. I only knew that she was found there."

"Right. The exits and entrances were all sealed too. The fact that Byun Baekhyun was seen hanging out by the lighthouse near the old storage space didn't help him much. Although, why on earth would people put a heating system there in the first place? It's an abandoned storage building."

"Oh, not the original people. A bunch of high school seniors I knew when I was in middle school is what I meant." Lisa  replied, trying to make light conversation. "And, what's this about Jisoo? I thought her body was never found but you have a note about a lake?"

"Oh, right. That's just a recent breakthrough. It's how we got in contact with Dr. Manoban  in the first place when we were trying to rebuild our case files. I think it was about a month ago when they found three bodies in the lake. They think she's one of them."

Lisa  nodded before flipping back to the page before it, as soon as her eyes saw the contents, she tossed the folder away. Her hands were shaking as she hid her face behind it.

"You must have been really close to the first victim, I'm sorry you'd have to see what was written in that file." Jihyo found herself saying.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, you didn't do any of this." Lisa  replied through gritted teeth, her voice quivering.

"There's more. We're not sure if the man who started killing a few years before the incident in your town is the original. He might be a copycat, considering we found a similar case of two people dying the same way a good twelve years before. Tzuyu thinks it's the same person through and through though." Mina then said.

"That's not the worst, if I'm being honest. I mean, I know losing the people you care about was the worst for you, but that's not the end of it. After what happened in your town, there were a few scattered killings nearby too, spaced out by a year or two. And then there was the incident in YG University where a lot of the people we knew got killed. They called the grad student who got framed as a psychopathic mass murderer." Jihyo went on.

"That's why we need your help, Lisa." Mina then added. "In the span of ten years, the person responsible for all these deaths is still out there. He never stopped. Every other year or so he'd pop back and kill a few girls, just like what he's starting to again now. We want to stop him, and you might be the only person who can help us."

Lisa  looked torn for a moment or two before she finally looked up. "You got any suspects?"

"Well, no." Jihyo then said. "No real list. My dad did have one, but that went missing along with the old case files. He mostly based it on the people in your town then who's got possible connections to the victims. See, here's the thing, the killing sprees, we know it was committed by one person. We think this person's alone too, I don't think anyone can work with one or two more person and go on killing like this without ever being noticed by the officials. So far, our murderer has evaded capture Because  of stealth and cunning, Because  of masterful planning. And Because  he used different ways to kill girls each time."

"But we do think we can narrow the suspects a bit." Mina then said. "And that's where your help is crucial Lisa."

"I didn't see him." Lisa  replied. "I mean I did, maybe. I think I ran into him in my apartment building before he snuck off, well-dressed in a suit, but he had a hat on, covering his face. I didn't get a good look."

"No, not that." Mina replied. "The day Dr. Manoban  was murdered, at some point during that afternoon before he was killed, he called us. Lisa, he said he recognized him. He never said the name, he said it would be better if we talked about it in person, but he was clear that he knew who it was."

Lisa  looked at Mina with a shocked expression upon hearing that information.

Which told Jihyo all she needed to know.

Lisa  didn't know what her father knew, and here she thought they might have a breakthrough.

But then Lisa  had to go stand up, run towards the table and proceeded to scribble something frantically on the first piece of paper she could find, which just so happened to be the receipt of their last take out meal.

"Here." Lisa  then said, walking back to hand the paper to Jihyo. "He might have an answer. He's one of the people I can think of who Chaeyoung would trust. She was found in the Byun's cold storage too, right? There's one thing wrong in that report though, or at least I think." she went on, a kind of anger building in her as she spoke.

Jihyo could see the fury behind Lisa's eyes as she accepted the paper from her. Tzuyu turned her attention away from the street for a minute to pay close attention to what Lisa  was going to say too just as Mina dared to ask. "What?"

"She was sprayed with close to freezing water so she would freeze to death faster. She wasn't beaten to death." Lisa  answered in a venom-laced tone. "It makes sense now. The footprints to the shed… that vile woman… the bruises weren't left behind by the guy who killed her…" she went rambling on as she balled her hands into fists.

"But why would the police department make that mistake?" Mina was about to ask but Tzuyu seemed to have read her mind.

"Rigor mortis." Tzuyu said in a whisper.

And Jihyo understood.

Rigor mortis was affected by temperature. Typically colder temperatures slows it down and when they saw the bruises, they must have assumed that it was the cause of death without digging any deeper. She had been missing for a few days, after all.

And that the reason the killer wanted to speed up the freezing process was to hide the time of death.

Instead of being the actual cause.

She could have been knocked out with ether or something and left there to die, that way no other DNA evidence was left behind, just the clues that he decided to use to throw the authorities off his scent. Including the footprints that matched the specific boots the food service company had.

"There are only one name." Jihyo then said as she saw what was on the paper.

"He's the only one I can think of who would know where to find Chaeyoung and take her." Lisa  replied. "And in case I'm actually wrong, he's the only other person who could help and tell you who else knew Chaeyoung was in the shed. I… I just can't accept it if it were him… I don't understand why he would… But I know for sure he can illuminate a few things we're still in the dark about. But if it were, I promise I'd pummel his face to the ground." she went on. Lisa  took a minute to keep herself calm after that before made a move towards the door.

Tzuyu stopped her, grabbing her hand, but it was Mina who articulated their concern. "Lisa, wait. Don't do anything stupid. You still need to be careful. This person knows who you are. He had a face to come along with the name, so I'm sure he had an easy time to track you down Because  of it. He knows how you move, he knew your schedule enough to know you wouldn't be home when he came in to kill your dad."

"Someone I knew… someone I knew and possibly trusted with the wrong information… he killed them… hurt them… her…" Lisa  replied, doing her best to keep herself calm.

"Spider." Tzuyu then whispered.

And Jihyo couldn't help but agree. "Lisa, this man is cunning, patient, and calculated. He's like a hunter like Tzuyu said. He's like a spider who lets their prey get tangled in the web he spins and he waits. He waits until they're stuck helpless, when their guard is down, before he strikes. You need to be careful of your next step."

Lisa  huffed before slowly taking in a deep breath to calm herself down. "I won't. But I'm worried that someone else I know might be put in danger just Because  she helped me. If this person knew my schedule, it means he knows the place where I work, right? It means he knows the people I work with. Besides, if I can talk to her and figure out if she's seen any of those three listed on that piece of paper, then it's worth a shot talking to her about it right?"

"So I reckon you'll help us?" Mina then asked, sounding hopeful.

Lisa  had given a perplexing reply that Jihyo assumed was a 'yes' or at least the closest thing to one. "I want justice too, truth be told I just want to know who it was so I can figure out a way to stop it." she replied before she asked Tzuyu to let her go.

"Here, call us if you find anything. We're here to help you too Lisa." Jihyo then replied, hurriedly jotting down her number on the bottom of the slip with the suspects Lisa  gave her and tearing it off.

"Right, our fathers were friends, so maybe we can be too?" Mina then asked.

Lisa  simply nodded and kept the paper with her before heading out.

We're close, dad. We're so close. We'll finally get him. Jihyo thought as she watched Lisa  carefully leave and head out of the building from the window.

Jeongyeon was fuming as she entered her apartment. She just got off her own ride when she noticed the motorcycle following her. Immediately, she marched towards her stalker, who turned out to be Nayeon, and grabbed the phone in his hands. One more number and she was sure that he would have been successful in calling the cops.

So Jeongyeon smashed the phone, tossing it to the ground. "Hey!" Nayeon exclaimed.

"Why did you follow me?" she asked.

"Look, Jeongyeon, I think we both know and understand that you're fond of Manoban . You bought pizza from our place, for crying out loud."

"So what, I like pizza!"

"Yeah, but you got Lisa's favorite toppings for a full half-side of it. You're not exactly a fan of the same toppings she likes. I know your orders, I am your boss."

"And you're just gonna go and turn your back on Lisa  like that?! She needs us!"

"But Jeongyeon, she…"

"I thought you're smarter than this, Nayeon. Trust me, I have a feeling that if she would pick a victim, it would be you, she kills not her own papa."

Nayeon looked away, ashamed by what she had almost done before looking back at Jeongyeon apologetically. "Sorry, I just wanted to do the right thing. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"I can take care of myself." Jeongyeon proudly replied before leaving the bunny she considered an idiot behind.

Jeongyeon set the box of pizza on her table before immediately heading to her bedroom after that to check on Lisa  but she still wasn't back. She tried calling her at the burner phone she had given her friend earlier but she didn't answer.

She tried a few more times after changing into something more comfortable. Lisa  still wasn't answering the calls but her phone did buzz with a message from her.

Meet you at your place. Don't leave and stay put. Found a breakthrough.

-L

At first Jeongyeon breathed a sigh of relief.

But then she saw who the message was from.

The name in the contacts… it was from Dr. Manoban 's phone.

And Lisa  most definitely did not have that in her possession before, so how?

Jeongyeon didn't have that much long of a time to figure it out though. As soon as she stepped outside of her bedroom, she felt something hit her in the back of her head.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up with a massive headache.

And all she could see was a literal blaze of red, orange, and yellow as the roaring flames started creeping around her apartment, consuming everything in sight.

Lisa  woke up that morning from a nightmare. Everything had been so perfect, she was with Chaeyoung, the blonde chipmunks  smiling and laughing again.

She was free.

But then a creeping shadow started to fill her vision, wrapping Chaeyoung up in its clutches as it dragged her away from Lisa.

Somehow that was still what it felt like.

She changed minor things and that was it. End result, she still lost.

And Lisa  wanted to go back again. She did. If she had one more shot at this, she would take it. She would make it worth it.

Especially now that she knew she let her guard down.

That she wasn't able to protect Chaeyoung from the worst of them all.

If only her useless ability she didn't really know how to control would just cooperate with her right then.

Because  this time, she knew what she had to do.

Come on, universe! Lisa  wanted to scream out loud.

Because  what good did having the power to turn back time have if you can't use it to protect the people you care about?

Or was it Because , she just couldn't leave yet… that she couldn't leave this time.

To be honest, to Lisa, it sometimes felt like some greater power was simply just moving her around different scenes in the stream of time.

It felt like a movie in her head.

Which was ironic considering how much she hated movies.

Lisa  was careful on her way back, her thoughts still on the fact that the person responsible for all of this was indeed someone she knew.

That's how she found herself standing on the side of the road, blending with the crowd as she watched in horror to the now burning apartment building.

Lisa  didn't spare any second thought, she's already lost so many people

She wasn't going to let anything happen to Jeongyeon too.

And with that, she rushed headlong into fiery arms that await her hoping against all hope she wasn't too late.


A/N: For those waiting for Jisoo's debut, you only need to wait three chapters more. ;) A shorter period of waiting time is needed for Chaeyoung