The Winter Clock

CHAPTER 10 - STRUGGLE

It was seven in the morning when Vander arrived at the hospital. After parking his car, he was greeted by different people – guards, staff, nurses, co-doctors, and patients. He walked through the lift but stopped when he bumped into someone.

“I’m so sorry.” Vander apologized and held the woman’s hand, then pulled her up, but the woman stopped upon seeing him.

“Vander?” She asked in disbelief. Vander studied the woman’s face, but every feature was unrecognizable for him. “Can you still remember me?” The woman asked after seeing Vander’s frowning face. But the woman’s body slumped when Vander slowly shook his head.

“I’m sorry, miss, but can you tell me your name? Perhaps I can recognize you by that.” He asked carefully and aimed to take his hand from the woman, but she tightened her grip on Vander’s hands.

“I’m Sophie, Sophia’s twin sister. We were classmates in high school.” Sophie explained, and Vander tried to track down his memories from his high school days. Suddenly, he remembered them. His eyes widened.

“Sophie Patten?” He clarified, and Sophie giggled.

“Yes!” She squicks with a matching jump. “How are you? I heard your another friend of yours was victimized by that psycho?” Sophie asked and checked her wristwatch. “Oh! I’m running late. It’s nice to see you, Vander. Hope we will see each other again.” She chirped and patted Vander’s shoulder.

“Yeah, see you,” Vander answered plainly and watched Sophie walk away. He then held his head as flashes of faces flooded his mind again. Though he forces himself, he cannot seem to imagine Sophie ad Sophia’s faces. “Crap this mind!” He bumped his head on the elevator’s wall in distress as soon as the metal door closed. He looked at his reflection on the wall and pulled his hair angrily. He cannot even recognize his own face. This is the struggle Vander faces every single day. Struggles that only his three best friends know. But now, one of his best friends died.

“Natalie, I swear we will find that bastard, and he will pay for the crimes he did,” Vander promised in the air as soon as he closed the door of his office. He then fished for his phone in his pocket and searched for Sophia Patten, then his eyes widened upon seeing a page dedicated to her. Sophia went missing five years ago with her finger and blooded clothes left in her own room. It was winter, two days before Christmas Eve.

“So that’s why Sophie said another friend of mine was victimized by that psycho.” He whispered and entered another website. Then searched “Winter Finger-Cutting Psycho,” revealing hundreds of articles regarding him.

The article stated that the psycho killer was killing only during winter and only blonde women. Vander opened another report stating that killer was not staying in the same country. After he kills people, he will transfer to a different country, wait for the winter, and kill again. And the process repeated over and over again for the past ten years. Vander bit his nail as he opened the latest article and was greeted by Natalie’s picture. He observed it intently.

“Argh!” Vander shouted angrily. He then turned his phone off, threw it on his sofa, and washed his face with his two palms. “For earth’s sake, how can I focus on my job with this?!”

***

“I already sent it to you, Sir.” The man on the other line said.

“Thank you.” Mr. A answered and hung the phone. He then looked at his laptop. The files were there, making him grin. “You scumbag.” He whispered angrily with his sharp eyes focused on the file name. “Carter Thane Lawson’s Background”

“Hey, little brat. I sent you what you asked for.” Mr. A said as soon as Reina answered the call. He then chummed his big hamburger.

“Thanks Gramps!” Reina shouted full of excitement and hung the call.

“That brat, seriously.” Mr. A murmured while shaking his head and putting his phone down.

As soon as Reina hung the call, she quickly checked her emails and smiled. It’s true!

“What are you smiling about?” Ryther bumped in and took Reina’s phone from her hand.

“Hey!”

Ryther did not waste any second and quickly checked Reina’s phone, but then he frowned. “Won’t you give up investigating hard cases?” He retorted and threw Reina’s phone back to her.

“What do you mean to give up?” Reina retorted and put her phone on the table outside the ring. “Do you think I forgot? How dare you call me weak.” She added with a hint of disappointment present in her voice. Ryther only shrugged his shoulder and kicked Reina, whose eyes widened in shock.

“Unfair!” She seethed, but Ryther shook his head.

“You know that the number one rule is not to be distracted.” Ryther quickly charged Reina and attacked her, but Reina quickly jumped back and stood on her two hands. She then kicked Ryther’s chin, making him stagger back. “Awie, you improved.” Ryther grinned, and Reina charged towards him, but Ryther quickly dodged Reina’s punches and held her hand firmly. “Big mistake, stupid.” His grin widened.

Reina’s eyes widened when she felt her body lifted from the ring. Then she felt her back hit the hard ground. She winced in pain not because of her back that hit the ground but because of her injured shoulder. She touched it and looked at her fingers; then, as expected, a red stain was present on her fingers. She groaned in pain. Seeing what happened, Ryther felt guilty and offered his hand to pull Reina up, but Reina used it as an opportunity to grab Ryther down. She then twisted Ryther’s hand on his back and locked her knees behind Ryther’s back.

“Rule number two, don’t be deceived,” Reina stated proudly, but then she flinched when Ryther released himself from his grip, and in the flick of the second, Reina was under him.

“And rule number three, don’t be overconfident, stupid.” Ryther grinned amiably, and Reina sulked. “I won,” Ryther announced proudly and pulled Reina up. “It’s okay, don’t make that face. You’ll win someday.” He chuckled but winced when Reina punched his stomach.

~ Don’t be distracted, don’t be deceived, don’t be overconfident. ~