Black Rose

Chapter 12

Gulf felt drained, he had cried until he couldn't anymore, he had allowed his emotions to over take him that morning and this was the result. He sat at his desk looking at the papers in front of him and blinked rapidly everything was blurry. He wasn't feeling good but he had work to do. Just cause he was a complete mess, it didn't mean a killer would stop. He breathed in trying to focus. He didn't eat anything that morning or packed a lunch, because he had felt like death.

He hadn't had one of those big episodes for a long time, yes he suffered from nightmares, but reliving the whole moment again was rare ever since his therapy days. He pushed the thoughts aside and looked at his watch. 6:37pm. He looked back down at the reports again and continued.

He added the 4ths victim name to the list. Aoi, 21, university student 3rd year of marketing, lived alone, parents live 3 hours away, her parents said they had not spoken to her for 2 days which was usual during her exam time. No boyfriend they knew of, straight A student. He looked at the chart containing the information for all 4 victims , something was nagging at him, but what.

"Hello my dear friend!" Yelled Mild as he burst through the door. Gulf flinched. Mild stopped in his tracks " Gulf are you okay?! You look pale.." he had caught the flinch too , which he knew meant his emotions were not in check.

"I'm fine just a little headache that's all" he lied. He wasn't about to tell Mild he almost hyperventilated to death this morning. Maybe if he did he's friends would be free of the burden he is.

Mild touched his shoulder snapping him back from his dark thoughts "Kana are you really okay?" He said in a softer voice. Gulf knew he cared for him but that attitude just made him feel weak. He smiled at his friend "Are you here so you can take over my work? Are you ready? I have about 30 files to-" Mild squeezed his shoulder letting him know he knew better

"Fine Kanawut! I'm just here to tell you Saint wants to see you down stairs. Let's go!" He walked towards the door. Gulf got up and grabbed his notepad as he took a step forward he felt the room spin for a moment. He gripped the desk quickly. Mild turned and eyed him curiously. "What? Planning to bring the desk with you?" He teased.

He hadn't seen him loose his balance. Gulf sighed in relief. He would never hear the end of it if Mild knew how he was pushing himself today. But he was not made of glass he couldn't halt his life or everyone's work because he had a nightmare. "If you keep teasing I'll leave you all the work for the next 3 days" he warned playfully.

"Please forgive me master" Mild teased back. They walked to the elevators and Gulf kept his eyes on the ground trying to focus his blurry vision. He bumped into someone. " Shit" he mumbled that made him dizzier. He looked up and smiled slightly " I'm sorry I wasn't looking" he said to the guy.

The guy smiled widely back at him "It's okay! This box was in my way as well" he said while adjusting the weight of it. He nodded towards Mild reminding Gulf he was waiting for him. He bowed and made his way to the elevator leaving they guy behind.

" Okay you must be sick come here let me touch you" Mild said while reaching for Gulfs forehead. Gulf swatted his hand away before he could touch him "Stop it" he whined

"What do you want me to think! You just smiled at a complete stranger Gulf!" He said while pressing the button to the elevator . " I bumped him, I was just apologizing " mumbled Gulf in response. " Also he's no stranger he's the mailroom guy Mild, how is it I who never pays attention to anyone knows that and you don't" he teased trying to convince him he was okay.

"Exactly! Since when does the Robotic Psycho apologize" he said while getting in the elevator. "Mild one more word and it will be 5 days worth of work"

Mild widened his eyes and pretended to Zip his lips.

They made it to Saint's in silence and Gulfs vision had improved. He pushed the headache to the back of his mind again, he pushed the door open and regretted coming down instantly. Mew was standing next to Saint writing something down in a notebook. Both glanced at the entrance at the sound of the door opening. Gulf looked at Mild practically killing him with his eyes.

" I didn't know he was here" he whispered to Gulf. "Mew! We see each other quite often now don't we? Are you stalking me?" He teased. But Mews eyes were glued to Gulf, who looked incredibly pale and was ignoring him like air again.

"What do you have for me Saint" he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Not only cause Suppasit was practically digging a hole into him with his eyes but because the smell of bleach and antiseptic in the air was making him dizzy again.

Saint looked at Mild with concern once Gulf grabbed the chart and began to look over it. Gulf looked awful but he knew if he pointed it out, specially in front of an outsider it would make whatever was wrong with Gulf worse.

"You were right the amount of bleach used in this body was twice as much as the other ones, also ,the bruise on her face was caused prior to death but she died soon after that,which is why it's looks like that" Saint said while pointing to the girls face " besides the location of the dots being moved another thing is her mouth"

"What about it?" Said Mew interrupting cause it looked like Gulf was struggling to even speak. Was he okay? Saint caught the concerned look on Mew but ignored it.

"She had bleach in her mouth as well" he stated.

Gulf nodded , his head was really spinning now he had to get out of there but if he did they would know something was wrong, plus he didn't need someone like Suppasit knowing that as well. He looked at Saint and spoke " she must of woken up before he had finished setting her up" he stated, Saint nodded in agreement.

" She must of struggle to fight him off , my guess she bit him and by the way her nail beds have been cleaned down scratched him as well" Gulf suddenly saw flashes of himself clawing at his parents killer, he closed his eyes trying to compose himself

"Gulf are you okay" Saint asked but his voice sounded so far away to Gulf. "Gulf?" He questioned again. He opened his eyes in time to see Mew walking towards him he felt his knees buckle and everything went black