Under the dim light of the morgue stood a man as burly as a bear, but he was sobbing before a cold, wooden bed. “Elsa, please open your eyes.” Todd leaned beside the girl, holding her cheeks and pressing his forehead against hers.
He knew who she was the moment he laid eyes on her. She looked just like her mother, Kolleen. “I’m a coward, a sinner, an irresponsible man. More than ten years I left you to fend for yourselves. I’m a sorry excuse of a father, but please give me a chance to atone for my sins.” Todd whispered resolutely into the girl’s lifeless ear, “I shall avenge you, but I might need your help in finding the murderer.”
***
I wonder if she’s actually dead. Roy’s brows furrowed. After a rough checkup, he concluded that Elsa wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a heartbeat. Her pupils were dilated, and her temperature was horrifyingly low. She looked like a dead person if he was judging her on these criteria, but some parts of her weren’t as dead as a corpse should be. Her hair was lustrous, but a corpse’s hair should be dry and spindly. Her skin was fair and supple, not bloated. No internal bleeding. No scars either. Not even a fatal wound. There were calluses on her hands and feet, but that was par for her poor background.
There was a bell on her ankle, and her cause of death was not stated. The coroner couldn’t find out the reason for her death, or did he not make it in time?
“And she’s surrounded by chaos energy…” Perhaps that’s the reason her flesh is kept fresh and beautiful like she was in life. And now she lies there like Sleeping Beauty, who won’t and can’t resist anything. So the question is: who took her body here, when did they do it, and from where? If we find these answers, maybe we can get a clue that’ll lead us to the murderer Todd saw in that dream. And the coroner and his assistant died horribly too. Does this have anything to do with her? Or is this a coincidence?
“You saw her?” The hunchback came up behind Roy and looked at the dead. “A shame.” He sighed. “She’s a gorgeous lady, but she died before she could see what this world had to offer.”
Casimodo spared the girl a look of sympathy. “She doesn’t belong to this cold, dark place. I wonder what bastard did this to her.”
Roy swiveled around and stared sharply into Casimodo’s eyes. “Almost forgot about your actual work. You were a corpse collector, weren’t you?”
“Yes. I collect all corpses in Novigrad and take them here to this morgue. I took this girl here too.”
“When and where did you find her body?”
“Um…” Casimodo paused for a moment. Apparently, he was hesitant to answer. He thought this young guard was a little too curious. “Does this have anything to do with the coroner’s death?”
Roy kept staring at the hunchback. Then he lost focus for a moment. The young witcher quickly made a sign in the air, and Axii worked its magic. “Do you have something to do with the deaths of the coroner, his assistant, and Elsa?”
“No.”
That’s a bit disappointing. “Tell me everything you know about her.”
***
Casimodo stared at the ground and swayed his body. Dumbly, he answered, “In the evening, three days ago, news about the robbery and murder of a merchant in the northern area reached me, so I went to collect his corpse, but I saw her on my way back.” He pointed at Elsa. “She was lying in the bush beside the path. I thought she was out from drinking too much. Or maybe someone knocked her out. When she didn’t answer my calls, I checked up on her and realized she wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a heartbeat. She was dead. After the guards came and checked the place out, I took her back here. Once I handed her to the coroner to find out her cause of death, I left.”
Roy noticed something else. The crimson air was mostly enclosed within this room. There wasn’t a lot of blood found outside, not even at the doorstep. The murderer seemed to have teleported away within the room and didn’t leave any clues for his witcher senses to pick up. It was odd, but Roy couldn’t figure out why.
Casimodo shook his head. Axii’s effect had worn off, and he sobered up in time to hear Roy’s analysis. He answered without hesitation, “Yes, that’s what I deduced as well. The killer must have been a human, a madman.”
Only madmen would kill someone with their teeth and nails like animals and devour their flesh afterward. “What has the world come to?” Casimodo sighed. “There are nekkers, drowners, and ghouls outside the city, and monsters in human skin hide within the walls. Who do you think the killer is?”
“Not sure. For now.” Roy shook his head. Humans can be crueler than monsters sometimes.
The sun was setting, and dusk settled in. Casimodo stared at the skies and said a hesitant goodbye before leaving for home. The Eternal Fire guards still hadn’t returned, leaving Roy and Todd alone in the morgue.
“Odd guy.” Roy realized Casimodo had been acting strange every time he was giving them answers. It felt like he was putting on an act. But he’s not the killer, nor is he a higher vampire. What the hell is he?
Todd had a solemn look on his face. “Roy, you mentioned the tragedies following the prophecy. The sorcerer, the man in the dreams, is one of those who’d poison, capture, or chase out girls of the black sun like Elsa. He must have performed some kind of experiment on my daughter to turn her into… this.”
Todd brushed his hand across Elsa’s cheek. Her body was already frozen stiff, but she still looked like she was alive and asleep. That only confirmed his guess that Elsa had been modified from the inside. What the sorcerer did to her must have something to do with that blasted prophecy.
***
“I wish to check on her further. I need to find out the cause of her death.” Todd quietly picked the scalpel up from the tray. Before Roy could do anything, he had already cut Elsa’s wrist open.
Roy wanted to stop him. He thought Todd would at least leave the body untouched, but he didn’t seem to care anymore. He’s too far in. If I stop him, it’d only make things harder for him.
The skin was cut open, but weirdly enough, her blood didn’t even ooze out or stain the scalpel. Instead, it felt like it was stuck to the skin.
Roy kept staring at it.
“What did that bastard do to her? What kind of powers does he have? I need to find out!” Sorrow and fury filled Todd’s eyes. “And then I’ll inflict all that pain back tenfold on them.”
Todd kept cutting Elsa’s skin open, and another gust of wind blew into the room. The candlelights flickered, and the sobs of a girl rang out in the air.
***
***