Chapter Text
"So, you want to talk about the purple man, do you?" Her eyes narrow as she looks at the man standing in front of her with suspicion "why..? You one of them ghost hunters, or better yet an asshole who thinks I should trade my badge for a straitjacket!"
The older man simply clears his throat and reassures her "Ma'am, I don't think you're crazy nor do I think this case should be disregarded as a ghost story...I just wanna get to the bottom of this, because if my suspicion is right, this man could be a danger to this whole community!" He means it too...if this is him, then appearing crazy will be the last thing this cop should be worrying about.
She pauses after his appeal, looking him up and down, sizing him up, in the end she sighs and motions for him to take a seat.
As he does she warns him "What I'm about to tell you with this level of detail, I haven't told anyone, it may sound crazy but it's the truth, if you don't believe me, keep it to yourself please...also it will be graphic"
He nods.
At the sight of her audience's nod she starts her tale.
...
Ok so, this whole thing started off when the cops were called about this body found in a residential area, at the edge of the woods. I was called to the scene, thats when I first saw him, before I even got out of my car I could smell it...that stench, no matter how I wash my clothes and shower and clean the car, I feel can still smell it...faintly haunting me like this whole damn case...
Anyways the smell was nothing compared to the sight that awaited me, I was the first to arrive, the good samaritan who called 911 greeted me nervously and led me to the place where she found the body...
A-and there he was...god it was a horrid sight...he was laying on his side disemboweled, but there was no blood it had dried, this wound was old. He was skeletal so damn thin, just skin and bones too...speaking of...his skin, it was rotting off him having turned a dark color like purple...then there was the face it was haunting his expression contorted into some sick smile as loose skin hanged off his face failing to cover a gigantic wound left as his face was literally torn in half...what could even do that? Finally, there were scratch marks...left on the wet mud, needless to say considering the smell, the traumatizing sight and these scratches, whoever did this just left...perhaps moments before this poor woman stumbled upon the body. They were still in these woods...that scared me...it really did.
But, I had a job to do, so I cordoned off the area and waited for the others to arrive. While I did, I swore I saw its chest move...just for a sec.
The next few minutes were a blur as other first responders arrived and upon assessing the situation called even more people, the one consistency was the look on their faces as they saw the body for the first time, the shock of seeing such a grisly sight, it cannot be overstated.
By the time they arrived to take the body we had scoured one fourth of the woods looking for answers. We came back empty handed. Still something about this whole thing stinked...other than the body, so while most dispersed, trying to forget about this whole thing, I held on to it, in a move I will probably regret for the rest of my life, I refused to let this go. So a few hours later, when lunch rolled around, I went to the morgue, to see my girlfriend who works there as an assistant.
She greeted me with a smile saying "Well well well-"
"If it isn't the Loch Ness monster" I finished her catchphrase for her.
She laughed her high pitched laugh as she let me in, her demeanor changed as she entered the autopsy room and looked at the man, god without clothes one could see the full state of the body, almost like a failed bisection, a giant cut, no, it wasn't straight and precise like a cut, it was worse, this was done through blunt force trauma, something ripped right through this man. I looked at El, she was looking at him too a look of worry etched on her face, now I don't like seeing the woman I love get lost in her own head imagining grisly possibilities and explanations...at least not while she's not on the clock like now, so I broke the silence, "You haven't identified him yet I'm guessing."
She shook her head "All we have to go on is DNA, the body is too mutilated for any other identification method." She turned to me with a sad gaze, no, not sad, scared, scared just like me and asked me "Who could even do this..? What could even do this..?"
I stayed silent, making sure to comfort her with my actions instead, I hugged her tightly.
I dragged her out of that room and to a cafe across the street, once I was talking to the owners, this cute elderly couple, and they told me they had bought this lot cheap because of the morgue across the street so they're always thankful to the staff there, can't say I understand but hey, good for them!
Anyhow, as we sat down to begin our lunch, El's boss, the coroner, burst in angrily "Where did you leave it, Eleanor?"
"Eh?" El looked at her boss with a confused expression.
"The body Eleanor, the one we got this morning, the purple one, where'd you leave it?"
"Where it was! We didn't even touch it" El finally responded
"Clearly you did!" The coroner was losing his patience.
I finally decided to butt in "Ok, what's all this about?" I asked with an empty stomach.
The coroner rubbed his eyes tiredly "It's the body...it's disappeared..."