Rebirth Into My Second Chance

But now, what he's doing is beyond my comprehension. I can't see through him anymore.

This afternoon, Max didn't even let me catch a break. He called me up and ordered me to get down to the basement and ride with him to the police station's forensic department.

I obediently climbed into the passenger seat of his car. He was silent the whole ride, only handing me a set of tools and saying, "Make sure you protect yourself well. Don't get hurt."

I knew that participating in an autopsy, especially one for the police, required extra caution. Any mistake could be fatal.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

But hearing it from Max made it feel different.

"Thanks."

I noticed he had doubled the usual amount of latex gloves in the toolkit for me.

Soon, we reached the police station. As we entered the morgue, a chill crept up from my feet. The sight of bodies covered in white sheets made me look around, wondering if there were souls watching us, souls as defiant as mine. What could her story be?

"Don't space out."

Max's cold reminder snapped me out of it, and I continued to pass him tools.

He did most of the work himself, having me just take notes and hand him what he needed.

"Give these notes to Ronald."

After the work was done, he washed his hands repeatedly. It seemed he was even more of a clean freak than the average medical examiner.

When Ronald walked in, Max gave him a cold look. "Don't call me for this again. Your team has its own medical examiners."

Ronald slapped him on the back. "But we only call you because you're the best, man. Our guys couldn't find anything."

"Out."

Ronald took the notes from me, his eyes lighting up. "This murderer's methods match the ones from our previous cases. Female victims, usually assaulted before being killed and then burned to a crisp. It's a serial killer on our hands. If we could find any evidence inside her, that would be fantastic."

Max frowned slightly. "I managed to extract some samples. They should help."

"My God! Everyone said it was impossible, that there'd be no evidence left after the burning!"

As Ronald moved to hug Max, he was met with a stern look.

He then turned to hug me, but Max's cough stopped him in his tracks, his arms freezing mid-air.

Was Max... jealous? He didn't want Ronald hugging anyone else.

"Mr. Collins, everything's in the notes."

Ronald nodded. "I knew we could count on you."

Max: "Let's not have a next time. Let's go."

As he spoke, he glanced at me. I quickly followed, unable to resist looking back at the charred body one last time. That time, Max was also ordered to examine me wasn't he?

And Ronald mentioned a serial killer. The methods were too similar to those used on the people who tried to burn me.

Could the person behind Kate be connected to this?

A shiver ran down my spine, spreading fear throughout my body.

"Hurry up, it's getting dark." Max

didn't look back, but he must have

heard

my footsteps slow down. He

also slowed, reminding me to keep up.

Swnov

Holding the toolkit, I looked up at his silhouette. He seemed almost godlike, towering, and reassuring.

"This is a serial killer case. If Ronald still lets us in, you shouldn't come next time. And don't talk about today's visit to the police station

with anyone."

I tilted my head, wondering why, but he spoke first: "The killer targets unmarried women." Was he worried about me?

I nodded, not wanting any part in such matters. There's too much I want to do in this life.

He dropped me off at my apartment building and then headed to the hospital.

I had only walked a few steps when I saw Claude waiting for me downstairs.

Suddenly, it felt like this life's version of him was haunting me.