Beautiful Tragedy Full Moon

Episode 2

Alice saw Cole standing still with a trembling body from a distance. She pulled Ann's hand and immediately approached Cole, who looked unwell.

"Uncle Cole, what's wrong? What happened?" Alice asked, her face filled with worry. Cole and Ann were like parents to her, and she was deeply concerned.

Ann, who was getting worried too, grasped Cole's cheeks with both hands. "Honey, what's wrong? Why does your face look so pale?" she asked her husband.

Cole could only stand there, silent and shaking, his face pale. The incident of the past few minutes still seemed unbelievable to him. In his entire life, Cole had never seen a corpse, let alone one that had died in such a gruesome state.

One of the police officers stepped forward, approaching Alice and Ann, who were still trying to ask Cole about his condition. "Good morning," the policeman said, stopping in front of Alice and Ann.

With concern etched on her face, Ann quickly grasped the officer's arms. "Sir, what's going on? And what happened to my husband?"

“So you're Mrs. Ann, Mr. Cole's wife?"

Ann nodded quickly. "Yes, I'm his wife. Could you tell me what's going on?"

"We can't provide a detailed explanation yet. Mr. Cole, as a witness, is still visibly shocked and unable to give us a statement. However, we do have some information: Mr. Cole was startled when he found the body of a man named Darren, who was lying lifeless with multiple lacerations on his body."

Alice quickly ran towards the spot where Darren's body lay. Police tape had been set up around the area where the body was found. Alice tried to push through the crowd to see Darren's body, which was covered with several sheets of newspaper.

"Darren," Alice whispered softly.

Alice and Darren were very close, with just a three-year age gap – Alice was 22, while Darren was 19. They lived close by, and Alice had a good relationship with Darren's parents.

Darren is the breadwinner of the family. After graduating from school, he could not pursue his dream of entering a famous university, so he chose to work as a barista at a coffee shop in the city center.

From the salary he received, aside from helping to meet his daily needs and those of his family, Darren would always set aside some money to save up so he could enroll in the university that had been his dream since he started attending high school.

Despite being known as a brave and determined person, Darren greatly respected Alice and considered her like an older sister. He would often approach Alice just to talk about the problems he was facing.

Likewise, Alice would often prepare breakfast not just for Aunt Ann and Uncle Cole, but also for Darren's family.

And this morning, Alice couldn't believe that Darren was really gone. Just yesterday afternoon, they were still chatting happily until Darren said goodbye to go to work.

Darren's body began to be moved into a body bag, and several people helped to put it into the ambulance.

Alice's footsteps approached Darren's parents, who were still deeply shaken by the incident that had befallen their only child.

"Darren, my child, don't go! I love you so much. I didn't even get to enroll you in the university you've always dreamed of," Helen cried hysterically as she watched Darren's body being put into the ambulance.

“Darling, calm down. It's better if you pray for Darren," Bentley replied, trying to comfort his wife.

“Aunt Helen," Alice said softly.

Hearing that, Helen immediately hugged Alice tightly, "How can I live without Darren?" she said, her voice choked with tears.

"Alice, can you take care of Helen? I need to accompany Darren's body," Bentley said.

Alice nodded, "Yes, Uncle Ben. Don't worry, I'll take care of her."

Bentley got into the ambulance, followed by several police cars. Meanwhile, Alice began guiding Helen back to her house. At the same time, Ann was walking towards Cole, trying to bring him back home and calm him down.

Now, Alice, Helen, Ann, and Cole were gathered in the living room. Before heading back home, Helen had decided to visit Ann and Cole's house to get a clearer understanding of the incident, since Cole was the one who had found Darren's body.

Cole, who had initially been pale and trembling, was now looking somewhat better, although he still couldn't shake off the horrific image of Darren's body when he first found it.

"Mr. Cole, could you tell me what happened?" Helen asked in a soft voice.

"I don't know exactly. I was just about to head to the market when I saw someone lying on the side of the road. When I got closer, I noticed blood around him and... I was shocked to see it was Darren," Cole said with a vacant stare.

Cole spoke without looking at anyone, his lips barely moving as he recounted the horrific scene he had witnessed just hours before, his mind still reeling from the memory.

As Darren's neighbors for over a decade, Cole and Ann had gotten to know Darren's family well. Cole was particularly aware of Darren's struggles as the breadwinner of his family at such a young age.

Helen broke down in sobs again, never having imagined that fate would take her only child away from her.

"Was Darren really killed by a wild animal?" Helen asked, still sobbing.

"Helen, calm down first. I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I hope the police can soon find out who was behind Darren's death," Ann said soothingly.

Alice, who was sitting beside Helen, nodded in agreement, "Aunt Ann is right. You should go home now and let Uncle Cole rest so he can calm down too."

Alice stood up, and Helen followed. They said goodbye to Ann and Cole before heading out.

"Aunt Helen, forgive me for not being able to stay with you because I have to go to campus," Alice said as they reached the front of Helen's house.

Helen nodded gently, "It's okay. Let me know if you get any information about Darren's death."

Alice nodded, gently rubbing Helen's shoulder before Helen stepped inside the house.

On her way to campus, Alice couldn't escape the news about Darren's death. The gruesome case had spread far and wide, even reaching the media.

Alice tried to dig deeper into the news, but the article writers still didn't know for certain what the cause was. However, among the many news reports circulating, almost all of them assumed that Darren had been killed by a wild animal.

“That's terrifying. If it's true that a wild animal was involved, I can only imagine how frightened he must have been.”