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He was dead.
His cold, lifeless hands hung from the stainless steel table inside the medical examiner's room. His eyes were missing, maybe gouged out by the killer himself or eaten by the rats from the dumpster behind the local tavern. His lips were pale, his face featureless. Why would anybody target such an unextraordinary individual?
"Liv?" came a voice from behind. A strong British accent permeated the room with a small hint of what appeared to be cockney.
I didn't turn around; my head was filled with this morbid image laying right in front me.
He was dead.
Truly dead.
"Olivia," the voice repeated, this time with a stronger tone.
I looked back, the medical examiner staring right back at me. Ravi. Dr. Chakrabarti. We were childhood friends. He was always interested in the medical field growing up. I, on the other hand, chose a career path better suited to my needs.
"I know it can be hard," Ravi began. "Seeing your first dead body can take quite a toll on someone."
I remained still, quiet, absorbing, processing everything that I was seeing.
"Liv," Ravi insisted. "Are you going to be alright?"
I finally decide to speak. "I need a drink."
"Ahh, there's the Liv we all know and love." Ravi walked over to a small mini-fridge he kept right near his desk and pulled out two beers, handing me one. "Here you go, cold and icy, just like that guy over there." He pointed towards the table.
Smartass.
I glared at him, but took the beer anyway.
"So, what do you think?" Ravi said as he took a sip from his beer.
"I don't know, could've been anything, really. A jealous husband. A debt collector. Or maybe he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Or maybe you're too afraid to see where this leads," Ravi chimed in.
I scoffed. "Is this the price I have to pay for the free booze?" I set the bottle down on the table next to me. "Because I can really do without those snarky comments."
"Alright, alright." Ravi backed off, raising his hands as a sign of conceeding. "I'll leave you two alone, then."
He turned around and began to take a few steps, when I stopped him.
"Wait-," I said. Ravi spun back towards me. "I'm sorry. It's just, you know, I don't want to be alone."
He took a couple of steps towards me, laying an understanding hand on my shoulder.
"No, I'm sorry. I should've kept my mouth shut, knowing how your parents-"
"Right," I immediately cut him off, not wanting to relive that experience.
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
I coughed. "Anyway, it seems this person was a victim of a ritualistic murder. If what you've told me is right, then this is the third reported body this month with their eyes missing and none of them can be identified."
"So you're saying it's a serial killer?" Ravi's eyes grew wide with excitement. "Is there anyway I can help?"
Knowing that this was a most likely a murder case, I didn't want to risk putting Ravi in danger.
"Yeah, actually, there is." I looked at the fingers of the dead body, confirming my suspicions that, as Ravi had told me, the fingerprints were burned off. "Would you mind running an autopsy on this body? I'm going to need every clue I can get if I want to solve this case."
"Well," Ravi said, "I was hoping for something with a little more action, but being an M.E. and all, I'm going to help you find that killer."
"Thanks." I was relieved. That's one less person that could've been in danger. "Before I leave, where'd you say that this body was found?"
"More like bodies, all three of them were found in the same place. Some sketchy bar about 3 blocks away from here down 6th street named 'LA Bar'." He scoffed at that last comment.
"Real creative, huh? That must've taken a long time to come up with." I smiled. "See ya."
I ran outside, pushing through the glass doors of the building.
It was raining, drops of water the size of marbles falling onto the oily, concrete ground that covered every square inch of Los Angeles. Clouds shrouded the sky, casting dark shadows over the LA skyline. Horns were blaring out on the streets, impatient drivers yelling obscenities towards each other as the infamous traffic jams continued for hours on end.
I was running late. Officer Babineaux was sure to lecture me on punctuality. I didn't have a choice, however, I needed to find who the killer was before he took another victim.
As I reached the crosswalk, the rain began to let up. Maybe things were going to look up after all. I threw down my hood and ran across the street as soon as the light turned green.
I looked at each and every single building as I passed by. Strip clubs, drug stores, pharmacies, hospitals that tended to the poor, and liquor stores dotted the main roads. Several blocks away, and one would run into the high rise buildings that LA is most famous for. Where the rich work and find ways to make the lives of those with decent jobs even harder. I shook the thought away.
I could hear loud music coming from the end of the street. A long line was forming under the neon roof of the joint, and in bold red letters, the words "LA Bar" were strung against the façade of the building.
I couldn't help but smile.
I reached the entrance and saw a tall, blond, and I'll admit, good-looking, guy guarding the entrance. Several of the partygoers were complaining because they couldn't get in.
"Hi there!" I said to him.
He looked at me and gave me the biggest smile I've ever seen. I didn't expect that.
"Hey there, little lady." He raised both of his eyebrows as his eyes surveyed me from top to bottom. "What's a fine woman like you doing all out here by yourself?"
I tried to keep my cool, but I couldn't help but smile.
That's one person crossed off of my list. This guy, though big and kind of scary, seemed too full of himself to be a killer, let alone, a cold-hearted serial killer.
"I don't know, I was waiting for a friend, but I guess he decided to ditch me." I lied.
"I'll tell you what. What if you go in with me? I don't know I'll buy you a drink and that way, we'll get to know each other better."
"But, aren't you guarding the entrance?" I signaled at all the people waiting to get in. "And what about them?"
"Don't worry about it." He spoke into his watch, an apple watch, and another guy, also blond, came out of the door and stood there. "Now, where were we?"
We entered through the glittering doors and into a cacophony of loud music, flashing strobe lights, and a bartender.
"I thought this was a bar," I said to him, "not freaking Tomorrowland." I had to raise my voice for fear of him not hearing me. I had to remember that I was hear to investigate, not flirt with some hot random guy.
He guided me to a seat where the bartender was serving colorful drinks, none of which I'd ever seen before.
"Technically it's a bar." He said. He signaled at the bartender. "Two usuals."
Maybe it was the loud music making my head hurt, or maybe knowing that I was late yet again after having received a warning at my job, but I noticed that the bartender's smile dropped, just a little bit. I stayed looking at him, when the guard handed me a glass of water.
"Here," he said, "it's water, in case you don't feel like drinking right now."
I grabbed the glass and drank it, seeing that he had one as well and drank it, too.
A few seconds later, my head began to spin. I dropped my glass on the floor, shattering it to pieces.
"By the way, name's Major."
I looked at him, thinking how could someone possibly be named Major.
And that was my last conscious thought before I blacked out.
...
I woke up, gasping for air. I looked around desperate to make out my surroundings. My head was buzzing, I could make out some faint music in the background.
The bar.
I was at the bar.
My hands and feet were tied to a metal table set standing against the wall. The rope seemed to be fragile, but at my current state, I had no chance of being able to break free.
The room was well-lit, lights illuminating every surface. There were no visible crevices aside from the door. There were no windows, and no vents. Everything was white, save for a few dark stains on the ground. Red stains.
My mind was racing. This was it.
My heart sank as I heard the door creak open, followed by footsteps creeping up slowly.
"Major?" I managed to croak out. I saw a pair of black dressing shoes, surely this was Major. I strained my neck to look up, and my heart sank to see that this wasn't Major at all.
"Hello, detective Olivia."
Tears began to roll down the sides of my face. No this couldn't be.
"I was wondering why you'd been late today."