Officer Ryan stood by the Veyrith Sea, his face twisted with pain and anger as he surveyed the scene. Another murder had shaken the small town, and this time, the victim was a woman in her late sixties. Her lifeless body hung from a tree branch, swaying gently in the cold breeze. Blood dripped onto the dry, leafy ground.
Ryan stepped closer. He recognized the same horrifying pattern as the previous two victims—her chest was torn open, and her heart was missing. But this time, something was different.
The merciless killer had carved a message into both her wrists: "It's not going to end. Unless I kill you all."It was a declaration of war, a promise that the brutality would continue.
Ryan felt a chill run down his spine. He remembered Officer David's words: "We're dealing with an aquatic animal." At the time, Ryan had dismissed David's theory as absurd, thinking it was just a way to calm the townspeople of Riverfalls. But now, Ryan realized David had been telling the truth. The missing persons case wasn't as simple as it seemed.
A large investigative team had already gathered in the forest near the Veyrith Sea. Officers combed the area, though none of them truly knew what they were searching for.
Ryan scanned the scene. He was assisting Officer David Kim in leading the team, but his mind was a tangled mess. In the past month, three murders had occurred, and the police had no leads.
"Over here! I found something!" one of the officers suddenly shouted, panic evident in his voice.
Ryan turned sharply, his heart pounding. The officer held a small purse in his gloved hand. Ryan hurried over. "What is it?" he asked, his voice tense.
"It's a purse," the officer replied.
Ryan took the purse carefully, his fingers trembling slightly as he opened it. Inside, he found a few personal items—a wallet, a set of keys, and an identity card.
Ryan's jaw tightened as he examined the card. "She was a member of the Secret Organization," he said, his voice low.
The officer who had found the purse looked at him in surprise. "You don't know what the Secret Organization is?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Ryan met his gaze. The officer's expression was one of disbelief, as if Ryan had said something he shouldn't have. "I spent my childhood outside this country, so I don't know much about this place," Ryan replied quietly.
"The Secret Organization formed shortly after the war ended in 1971," the officer explained. "Its purpose was to capture sea creatures—beings that looked like humans but lived underwater—and perform experiments on them." He paused, then added, "Many people secretly worked for this organization. I've heard they receive funding from outside sources and still conduct experiments." The officer tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "What if that sea creature, the Aquanis, is the one killing all these humans?"
Ryan stared at him, his mind racing. The story sounded unbelievable, like something out of a myth or a nightmare. Yet, the clues were right in front of him—the missing hearts, the strange carvings, and now this purse linking the victim to a secret organization. His gut told him there was truth hidden in the officer's words, no matter how wild they seemed.
"You're telling me," Ryan said slowly, his voice tense, "that this organization experimented on sea creatures?" He shook his head, struggling to process it all. "And this… Aquanis? You're saying it's real?"
The officer nodded, his expression serious. "My mother saw one when she was young. She called it the Aquanis. It had ocean-blue eyes, almost glowing, and looked so beautiful, so otherworldly. But the organization captured it. They tortured it, experimented on it until it escaped. After that, no one ever saw the Aquanis again."
Ryan's chest tightened. He glanced back at the victim's body, then at the purse in his hands. The pieces were starting to fit together, but the picture they formed was unsettling.
Ryan clenched his jaw. "We need to find out more," he said firmly, his voice steady despite the unease churning inside him. "If this Aquanis is behind these murders, we need to stop it before more people die."
"It's not easy," the officer interrupted. "The Aquanis is a mythical creature. It must be furious after everything that happened to it. It's dangerous now."
Ryan sighed heavily. He needed time to process what he had just heard about the Aquanis and the Secret Organization, but he didn't have the luxury of wasting time. "Find out if the previous victims were also part of the Secret Organization," Ryan instructed. "But be careful, and keep this quiet."
The officer nodded, then returned to his task, though fear lingered on his face.
Ryan turned his attention to David, who sped his car toward the trunk of an ancient oak tree and stopped abruptly. David stepped out of the car and walked toward Ryan, his expression tense.
"Good evening, sir," Ryan greeted as he approached David.
"Where's the victim?" David asked.
Ryan led David to the edge of the Veyrith Sea, where the lifeless body hung from the tree branch.
David's eyes immediately locked onto the gruesome scene—the torn chest, the missing heart, and the chilling message carved into the victim's wrists.
Ryan watched closely as David's face changed. For the first time, Ryan saw something he had never seen before: terror in David's eyes. David was a tough, experienced officer who rarely showed fear, but this time, his expression was different. His jaw tightened, and his hands clenched into fists as he stared at the body.
"We have to stop this," David said, his voice trembling slightly.
Ryan continued to study David's face. "We found the victim's purse," he informed.
"Anything important?" David asked.
"The woman worked for a secret organization," Ryan revealed.
David raised his brows. "Secret Organization?" he asked, his voice uncertain. His eyes widened with terror, and his breathing grew heavier as he tried to calm himself. "We need to capture that bastard, whoever he is," he commanded.
"I know it's an Aquanis," Ryan said. "That day, when you mentioned the aquatic animal, I did some research and found a lot of information about the Aquanis—a human-like creature." He lied about discovering the information through an officer.
David let out a cold sigh. "Be careful and search this area thoroughly. That thing must be hiding somewhere in this forest," he said, making his way back to his car.
Ryan felt uneasy. David had never left an investigation to others. He was a man who had spent nights at the police station solving mysteries, refusing to go home until he captured the criminal. He was a man who claimed that even a ghost couldn't scare him. But now, David seemed shaken. He looked trembled and traumatized after witnessing the dead body and its gruesome details.