The blood pooling on the linoleum reached for Eddie, as the sprawling form of this woman’s body reached for and even embraced the oblivion that now engulfed it—the same dark shadow it seemed that was now seeping out from the corners and clouding up his periphery.

  Even as time stood still, there was a sense of motion, a sense of something stirring in the distance and that the stasis that engulfed him was only a field engulfing this room. Surely outside this room—if not outside this moment—there would be men in uniforms rushing toward this place. Toward Eddie.

  But as the adrenaline subsided, as time and the senses fell back into order, Eddie knew that there was no such field, and that the rooms of the surrounding apartment were not filled with shadow but ordinary light. No one was rushing in. No sounds of sirens in the distance.

  Released from the spell of shock, he took his compact camera out from his coat pocket and began taking pictures of the scene. He wouldn’t have another chance to investigate and he couldn’t lose the one advantage he had now of being in this place before the authorities. Of course, the evidence he was gathering could just as well be evidence against him—but without knowing what had happened here, none of that mattered.

  Going to the front door he opened it carefully again, this time with his sleeve, then used the sleeve to wipe off the knob on the outside—the only thing he had touched since arriving. He paused, wondering if it was better to go out the way he’d come in, or if it was advisable to look for a back way out—some patio or fire escape out a window—but glancing about no such avenue presented itself and the way he came looked as quiet as could be hoped for. He closed the door softly, leaving things exactly as he’d found them, and headed for his car.

  As he pulled out of the parking lot, the Nokia in his pocket began ringing. Fumbling, he got a look at the screen. A cold green glow. Emily S. The woman lying in the apartment.

Written by a human without AI. Cover image made with Midjourney.

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