Chapter 2

“Brandon, how much hatred do you think there is to dismember and mince up someone’s arm?!” As Nate Thurman, Brandon’s colleague, spoke, he was holding his arm against his nose to block the smell. He pointed at the disfigured arm to show Brandon.

Brandon indifferently put on his gloves and rummaged around the trash can to find the remainder of the arm. The trash can reeked of rotten flesh and blood. Flies were swarming around it.

Nate continued, “Brandon, I heard things are a bit weird around here recently. At the start of the month, people were saying that someone was screaming nearby.

“They wanted to lodge a police report, but the noise stopped the second day.”

Nate then glanced at the nearby neighborhood.

“Brandon, do you think… you want to inform Wren Burr?”

When Brandon heard that, he glanced at Nate and then looked over to the neighborhood that I was staying in. He said coldly, “I think she’s the safest person around here.

“She’ll survive. There’s nothing to be afraid of if she’s already daring enough to take drugs!”

Even though it was a sunny day, I felt extremely cold.

I looked at Nate’s awkward expression as he made a gesture of zipping his mouth. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes.

I wanted to tell Nate that he no longer had to bring me up. I was the person who was screaming at the start of the month.

The disembodied arm also belonged to me.

They no longer had to be scolded by Brandon because of me.

On the way home, Brandon gave Olivia a call.

“Some crimes are happening these few days. You should be careful. Don’t bring Jack out if possible.”

Even though he was scaring Olivia, it sounded like he was flirting with her. Olivia replied playfully, “Alright, alright. I know! Focus on your case, Officer Damon!”

Brandon’s frown disappeared after hearing Olivia’s sweet promises. The frown returned when he drove past where I stayed.

Brandon opened up our text conversation. The last text message came from me asking him what Jack’s recent favorite food was.

But Brandon did not reply.

He opened the phone record.

Our last call was at the beginning of the month.

He answered the call but hung up on me after three minutes.

If he had listened attentively, he would have heard my cries and screams. I was being pinned against the ground by the drug dealer as he injected drugs into me.

But Brandon did not care. He only cared if Olivia wanted to have some dessert.

Brandon stared at the messaging app and typed a few words before deleting them again. He kept tapping on the phone screen and suddenly tossed it aside in frustration.

He suddenly felt as if something was wrong.

“Nate, go and check if there are any missing person reports recently around this area,” Brandon said as he stared at the neighborhood through his car window.

Nate sat in the passenger seat and said carefully, “A few days ago, your parents came over and reported that she had gone missing.”

Brandon only sneered after hearing that.

Tension rose in the car.

I knew that he thought that it was one of my tricks to get his parents’ help so that he would meet me.

After they returned to the police station, Brandon immediately started to work on the case. He contacted a forensic doctor to run a DNA test and checked on the recent activities and areas where the drug dealers were active.

Eventually, his parents gave him a call.

“Brandon, have you visited Wren?

“She usually would visit us once every two weeks, but she didn’t show up the last time. She would also call if she’s caught up with something, but we’re unable to reach her at all.”

As they spoke, they slowly lowered their voices as they were afraid to anger Brandon.

“Wren said she would love to see you and Jack. Can you bring Jack to visit her and tell her that I miss her too? Is that alright?”

Even though it was just a simple request to look for a person, Brandon was immediately furious.

“Mom! How many times do I have to tell you that I’m a policeman! It’s not my duty to look for any random person without an official report!

“Besides, doesn’t she have legs? If she can’t walk, she should just chop them off!”

He suddenly realized he had sounded too harsh. He sighed and toned down his speech. “Mom, you know…”