Blood rushed out of John’s chest and his mouth as the lady pulled out his heart slowly. With the break of every vein and muscle, John’s eyes widened with pain. The lady had anger on her face and shouted in a heavy voice, “It is because of you people that girls never get the justice they deserve. You are the one with the darkest heart. A rotten heart that pumps black blood in your mind and has made it corrupt.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1HRVuKkYh
The masked man looked at the lady and laughed, “You are an interesting character.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDenKNrmsTU
The lady didn’t respond and pulled the heart. John screamed and looked with disbelief at his heart in the hands of the lady. The heart pumped and the lady squeezed it. John’s vision blurred and then went dark. The lady threw the heart in the dustbin kept on the side.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fz6kEGEww
She turned to the masked man, her fingers trembling from the adrenaline. "It isn't over yet. There are more black hearts out there. And your heart too," she whispered. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLg6sh8U69
The masked man laughed and took a slow step toward her. "I agree but there’s one more heart already missing, isn’t there?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmdMJ7K1Vv
She frowned, confused. "What do you mean?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOemnmbCbvS
He reached forward and touched her chest lightly, right where her heart was beating wildly beneath the skin. "Yours." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsHwXYTdOs
She took a step back, "What are you saying?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CC1exvtIe
The masked man let out a small laugh, "You spent all this time searching for black hearts, for corrupted souls. But did you ever stop to wonder about your own?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCerbnp44B
The lady clenched her fists, shaking her head, "No, I only took the ones that deserved it. The ones who destroyed lives. The ones who…" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgs0mv0D3z
"Who were just like you?" the masked man interrupted, his voice dripping with amusement, "You think you’re different? That you’re above them? But tell me, what do you see when you look in the mirror?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXr2XjspLY
The lady’s breathing quickened. She looked around the room, at the blood, at John’s lifeless body.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1Y6fTCdgm
Her hands trembled as she whispered, "I did what had to be done." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXdeUgslUk
The masked man nodded, "Of course you did." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCbRCvAnYx
The masked man took out his knife from John’s chest, "The truth is that justice and vengeance are two sides of the same coin. And you? You became the very thing you sought to destroy. There is never a justice, there is only chaos." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdkbNgyZjn
Before she could react, the masked man thrust forward and the knife pierced her chest. Her eyes widened in shock as pain burned through her body. Blood spilt from her lips. She looked down at the knife buried deep in her heart, her breath coming in uneven gasps. The masked man held her, whispering in her ear, "You were never meant to cleanse the world." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtXBMENbEo
She fell to her knees, her strength fading. Her fingers weakly grasped at her wound. The masked man crouched beside her, watching as the light in her eyes began to dim. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mAEFeLZ8j
She gasped, her voice barely above a whisper. "My heart… is it black or white?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSEYPht9dz
The masked man tilted his head and with a weird smile, he whispered, "It doesn’t matter. You have no heart left to judge." 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dDUXse7md
Her body wobbled and she collapsed onto the cold, bloodstained floor. The masked man stood, gazing down at her lifeless form.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIboAZH2a9
He let out a deep sigh and turned toward the door. As he reached for the handle, he paused. He looked at the body of the lady, went toward it, grabbed it and took it out with him.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsZ6KCy2sX
“And that is her story,” The masked man stood up.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SWFpUC9IC
Harper said in a serious tone, “She’s dead? Why have you kept her with you? And where is the answer to why there was no case file about this lady?” 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8cT9ssJIy
“What were you told when you got transferred here?”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8esg85Xy5a
“Nothing, just that this area needed a strong head of the police,” Harper said in a confused tone.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpswfPPe5kW
The masked man smiled, “They didn’t tell you or anyone what happened to the previous head of the police. How could they tell? There was so much mismanagement under his regime. So many cases left unsolved, so many cases that were never filed and at last getting killed by a psycho or a revenge maniac.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAKtpZW1Yf
Harper clenched his fists, “That doesn’t make sense. If she’s been killing people for months, how come there’s no record of her? No reports, no missing person cases, nothing?”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiJIw5lA2o
The masked man continued smiling, “It is funny that I have to tell you all this. You corrupt people know more than me but act like you are innocent. There was a very silly reason. The mayor of this town got all the reports of mismanagement, but he never acted, but after the murder of John, he acted. This town is so corrupt, that the mayor needed the funds from the treasury of this country, not for the police but for himself. But, they need some proof of what is happening here, you know the progress made, but a corrupt and inefficient head of the police is murdered. So, a story was made. The head of the police’s heart was placed in the original place and he was kept in the car and the car was blasted. It was shown as if he was assassinated by one of the psychos and that’s the reason you were brought here to control all this mess. And the records of the lady and her case were destroyed so that all this could be hidden. Isn’t this interesting? Some people will call this story nonsense but this is what it is.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGcCX084eK
“You’re lying.” Harper muttered, his fists clenched, “The mayor wouldn’t cover up something this big.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhzt6ZaBSJ
The masked man chuckled, stepping closer, “Wouldn’t he? Or are you just afraid to admit the truth? That you’re nothing but a pawn in a much bigger game? Have you ever thought that even all this is real? If she was real? If I am real? If you are real?” 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tTaGwhMDw
Harper interrupted, “Shut up with your bullshit.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzGfYfC9gr
The masked man leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. “The question isn’t whether you believe me, Officer. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrhEQVVYpa
Harper swallowed hard. His instincts told him to arrest this man, to take him in and interrogate him until he got every last answer. But there was something in the masked man’s stance; calm and unbothered. Almost as if he knew exactly how this would play out. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWak1p5JAT
The masked man took a step back, placing a bloodstained hand on the door handle. He opened the door and stepped into the darkness.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEztKUyAihv
Somewhere else, Ace was lying on the bed and looking at the fan on the ceiling.71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgT0NZuAiLE
Clark came to him and said, “What are you thinking?”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKtO5chvG9
Ace looked at Clark and said, “Something doesn't feel right.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNOBKsTALU
Clark sat down beside Ace on the bed. "What do you mean?" 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8JaP97bW9
"I don't know. It's just a feeling."71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6Trfc8Kj2
Just then, the fan above them suddenly flickered and died, plunging the room into an eerie silence. Ace's heart skipped a beat as he felt a chill run down his spine and then he heard a faint whisper: "You're right, Ace. Something is very wrong indeed.”71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHChlIPpqw
