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 Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:11 pm
It's a perfectly bright, sunshiney day. Blackfriars is weeks behind at this point, slowly beginning to fade away. There are missing students, there are the dead, but the air of confusion and mourning has finally dissipated. The school year is over. Even the teachers take their breaks now, and for some of them that means walks on the beach. Today is a prime day. It's sunny, gorgeous, sixty degrees and lovely with it... but it's also the summer opening of Six Flags, and so many of the families who otherwise would be down on the beach fishing and chatting and crowding out the more introverted of the townspeople are gone. The tide is coming in, and the gray-green water is as welcoming as it'll ever be.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:25 pm
Chris, as much as he loved teaching, also absolutely adored summer break. He was free from school, of all kind, and was able to catch up on sleep and just.. relaxing. Taking his time to think and slow down.
He felt lucky that today was the opening of Six Flags - he was feeling a little homesick and melancholy. Not enough to ruin his mood or his day, but enough that he wanted to go to the beach and just wander up and down it. Stare at the waves and imagine for a second he was back home, before remembering that Hyejin wasn't about to run up behind him and demand that he come back home for lunch.
He was doing that now, steps slow as he took his time to walk up and down the shoreline. His shoes were off and in his hand, socks tucked into the boots.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:39 pm
On one of these slow, winding laps, there is a gradual change in the tide. It doesn't turn to blood, or anything so showy; it's just water. There's a strange... lump in the foam, pulling in and out with the tide. Probably litter. It must be litter. Mustn't it?
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:48 pm
It was disconcerting, the lump in the foam once Chris noticed it.
It had to be litter, with the size and the way it was pulling. It didn't look like seaweed and it wasn't the time of day for shells or anything. If there was something Chris disliked, it was litter. Ocean born and bred, he had a respect for the sea and this was annoying.
Frowning, he skirted closer to the water and grabbed at whatever was in the foam. He'd throw it away when he found a trashcan.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:52 pm
Chris grabbed at the litter and his hand wrapped around something that felt oddly like… flesh. It tore away beneath his hand, leaving him with a sea-sodden handful of-- of-- skin. His attempted grab succeeded in pulling the object… thing… up out of the tide. There, decomposed but recognizable, lay the body of Michael Mitchell.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:59 pm
Oh god that wasn't litter it was flesh and Chris scrambled back, dropping the skin (and his shoes) as quickly as he could, a choked yell barely managing to tear his way out of his throat.
He wasn't quick enough though and he could only stare in abject horror as Michael Mitchell laid before him, dead and decomposed and missing a handful of skin.
Oh god.
He stared blankly at the sight before him, unable to process. His mind came back on one step at a time and he dug for his phone, staring at it.
He had to call someone right?
Oh god.
This was his fault.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:03 am
The waves wash up onto the shore. Michael's skin is a dark seaweed green from decay and water-bloat. He doesn't care if Chris calls now or later or even if he calls at all. But soon enough the salt-smell of the ocean will fade and then there'll be a stinking corpse. He wouldn't blame Chris for running away.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:09 am
He can only stare at his phone for so long before he thinks to unlock it. Methodically goes through his contacts, before he settles on the only one that he can really call at the moment.
He can't seem to move his eyes away from Michael as he lifts his phone to his ear, prays that he gets an answer. Any answer.
"Jeremiah, please," He whispers to the ringing.
Everything seems very carefully blank.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:52 pm
------- Jeremiah kept Chris on the line like he promised. "I'm here, so it'll just be a moment longer," he told him over the phone as he opened the car door and got out. PeanutButterpies short tag and moving time up a little
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 1:19 am
"Okay," Chris repeated for the what felt like the millionth time. It was one of the few things he felt like he could say without.. without anything else happening. It was safe. Calm.
It had been easy enough to keep people away, no one seemed to want to approach him, and he hadn't really moved from his spot. Hadn't really stopped staring either, his free hand clenched tightly against his side. His breathing was a little uneven, half trying to remember what Jeremiah had said but forgetting midway and starting to panic.
"I don't really.. remember where I am here," He said quietly, back to the void like voice he had started with. He had been wandering so often he didn't know which part he was at. It was just him and Michael.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:11 pm
"I think I've got an idea," he replied. Jeremiah had a bluetooth headset on, his phone in his pocket. There was no one on the beach, not with summer having started and the parks opening up and- Catching sight of blonde hair, the detective picked up the pace and started to jog towards Chris. "Chris, I'm here." The phone call was ended, the older man reaching out to touch him on the elbow. For the moment his gaze was on Chris, not on the body. Not yet.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:28 pm
Chris jumped slightly at the touch on his elbow, not expecting it. He managed to tear his eyes away from Michael, phone still held up to his ear. He stared blankly at Jeremiah for a minute before realizing the call had ended and he put his phone down, back in his pocket.
"I don't-" He started, stuttering, "I didn't mean - I just thought it was litter, in the foam in the tide." There was a hitch of panic back in his voice, his breathing fast.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:40 pm
"Slow breaths." Jeremiah's voice was even, calm and soothing even though he was on edge himself. He reached out again and pulled Chris closer. "It's fine, I'm here, there will be others here shortly." It was an offer for a hug if the young man needed it, the hand that was holding him.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:48 pm
Chris sucked in a shaky breath and then another, trying to pace himself. It half worked at least and he stepped forward into Jeremiah's pull easily, trembling slightly.
"Who else is coming?" He managed, sounding impossibly small. He leaned into the hug regardless. "What's going to happen?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:53 pm
"More police, forensics. I'm going to have to take a statement from you, Chris." Jeremiah put an arm around Chris and squeezed reassuringly. His own eyes went to Michael's body finally and it was like a knife was twisted in his stomach. He's been dead. He'll be dead. He was a baby, and he's dead because of you."We're going to cordon this area off, investigate it, see if anything can be found out ..." Which was not likely considering that this was caused by something in a place most could not get to. Jeremiah looked to Chris, pulling away to put both hands on his shoulders. "This is not your fault, Chris. Do you understand that?"
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