The Midnight Paradise Effect

The middle aged man gasped trying to catch his breath from running for so long. Thick sweat dripped from his forehead as he panicked seeing nothing but an alley that ended with a brick wall. “No! Fuck!” He cursed banging his fist on the wall.

The sound of chuckles echoed causing him to turn back in alarm. “Hmm…” The woman opened her bloodied mouth revealing fangs while limping towards him.

“No! Stay back!” He warned grabbing a piece of broken sharp wood nearby trying to hold it steady but it still wavered immensely. “No, I’m sorry! Please spare me!” He cried desperately.

“Ah!” Her hand slashed at the wood cutting through it with her fine claws making it hit the wall. “Hmm!” Her tongue stuck out while she forcefully grabbed the man by the arms digging her nails in deeply enough to penetrate his skin making him bleed.

He cried out in pain looking straight into her eyes that revealed nothing but empty darkness. “No, please!” He still begged.

Her fangs dug deep into his neck drawing out an immense amount of blood as she repeatedly began to gnaw at the wound sucking the blood roughly while he cried out his last breath.

The Silver Hill High School stood bright and proud as the sun began to gleam its rays at it. Two male high school students stood on the Silver Tower yawning and drinking coffee that early morning.

“What time is it?” One of them asked while he played with the large bell rope.

The other scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know let me check my phone.” He yawned stretching. “5:58.” He announced.

The one with the bell rope began to stand up and put some type of sound cancelling ear plugs while his buddy did the same. The phone rang that it was six o’clock.

The boys pulled on the rope with all their might and the large bell began to toll throughout the whole school.

Several students ran to the open gate entrance. “Hurry before we get locked out!” Some students urged each other.

A female student held onto the gate door since it was her duty to close it with one of her junior officers of the student board. She tapped her foot impatiently searching through the students hoping to see someone in particular. “Ugh, where is he?” She muttered frowning.

“What has you so worried Mi-ri sunbae?” The junior asked.

She nodded with a nervous smile. “Nothing in particular Jae.”

All students successfully made it past the front entrance, except for maybe one. “Okay lock it down Miss Park!” Mi-ri bowed to the teacher’s order and slowly began to push the gate with Jae.

“Damn it Jin!” She cursed under her breath. “Why are you always so late?”

“Wait!” A familiar voice called out and she stopped pushing the gate looking out to see Jin.

“Jin!” She called out with a wave.

The teacher groaned but quickly turned to Jae. “Shut it, shut it down now!” He snapped and Jae quickly begin to push it as hard as he could but Jin managed to slip though just in time.

“Jin!” Mi-ri clapped brightly while he tried to catch his breath. “You made it.” She playfully hit his arm. “What took you so long?” Everyone began to walk into the building ready to begin early class sessions.

Jin nervously scratched the back of his head. “Oh it's nothing just that I was looking into Chan-gyu hyung’s recent case file.” He admitted.

Mi-ri gave him a distasteful look. “Why would ever want to look at that? Dead bodies and blood everywhere, how gross!”

“Yeah-yeah,” He rolled his eyes at his lady friend, “but hear me out when I tell you that this case is pretty peculiar. Guess what happened?”

“Ugh, what?”

“This 49 year old victim got a large bite on his neck!”

Mi-ri looked alarmed. “Like vampire bite?”

Jin nodded. “No, way worse! The unsub ripped the flesh off and sucked out all the blood, leaving nothing but a dried up corpse.” He made many motions with his hands grabbing a small part of Mi-ri’s white neck making her flinch back.

“You’re lying!” She hit him with her book bag before reaching her locker and inserting her digital combination.

“No it’s true!” Some other male students got in the conversation.

“Yah are you guys talking about the killing last night?”

“I heard it was an animal that did it.”

“That’s stupid we’re in Seoul!”

All were talking at once making a huge gap between Jin and Mi-ri. To her disappointment Jin began to focus on all the other students overriding him with a million questions.
“Hmph!” She slammed her locker turning a direction far away from Jin and his crowd of popularity.

Jin paused mid-sentence catching a glimpse of Mi-ri storming off towards her home classroom. “Mi-ri!” He called out.

“So does anyone know who did it or is the killer still out on the loose?” A girl asked nudging his rib cage.

Another one went through the crowd. “Does Chan-gyu oppa have the unsub already? If anyone can catch the unsub it would be him!” She squealed along with other girls that were part of the Choi Chan-gyu fan club, which is a surprisingly real thing at the school.

Jin only chuckled nervously feeling the exhaustion of being surrounded by girls swooning over his big brother.

“Everyone make way!” A boy with faded aqua hair pushed students aside with a Girl’s Generation light stick in one hand and a Sistar light stick in the other. Many students stuck to the sides making room like he urged them. “Move!” He shoved a shoulder against Jin making him bump his back on the lockers behind him.

Jin furrowed his brows clearly mad. “Don’t worry oppa they aren’t as cute as you.” Some of the first year girls snuggled into him making him grunt in annoyance. This is not how I pictured High School.

Five boys with flower boy looks walked into the hall gaining a lot of attention from the female students. “We’ll still stick with you!” The freshmen girls hugged onto Jin tighter.

“You are all...crushing…” He gasped a few breaths of air.

The obvious leader, just for the heck of it, kicked a nearby trash can to gain more attention from students this time making everyone tense up. He kept walking until he finally halted near Jin and his pile of girls.

The boy smirked. “It seems like losers always get the freshmen. Sometimes status never changes.” He blew air on Jin’s bangs causing him to blink but he was certainly not intimidated.

“You are right Nam-joon.” He agreed. “Status here can never change. For example, your status as the high school douche that thinks he can dominate everyone here, but in reality is nothing but a low life every time he walks out of this school.” Suddenly the girls managed to run away as soon as Nam-joon’s hands caught a good hold of Jin’s collar. Both were in a dominant stare down.

“Yah, what is going on here?” A teacher from a nearby homeroom called out to the boys.

Nam-joon’s furrowed brows loosened and his lips made a forced smile. “Nothing!” He caught Jin’s head in his arm ruffling his mane. “Just having a little fun with my buddy.” He gave Jin a hard flick on his forehead.

The teacher just tapped a foot on the ground not buying a single word from the notorious Nam-joon. “Everyone needs to get to their home room immediately!” He announced in a booming voice, people began to scatter.

Nam-joon bumped into Jin purposefully making him slam back onto the lockers. “Watch that fat mouth next time Jinnie.” He warned continuing to walk the hall with his gang.

“Yah, homeroom Nam-joon!” The teacher warned while Nam-joon only stuck out his middle finger before disappearing behind a corner. The teacher clicked his tongue. “Aish, that little shit.”

Jin began to walk to his homeroom but caught a glimpse of Mi-ri eyeing him from her homeroom entrance. She frowned at him before disappearing into her classroom. “Aish!” He sighed a bit frustrated. High school can become a complicated mess sometimes.

Throughout the Seoul Police Department there was constant chatter, arguments, and phones ringing non-stop. “Aish, make it stop!” A chubby police officer groaned taking a few tablets of aspirin with water.

Chan-gyu chuckled sitting at his own small office desk near the officer. “You shouldn’t have gone drinking last night like I warned.”

“It was our superiors. It’s not like I had other plans.” He rubbed his temples.

Chan-gyu began to open the notes he made on his case file. “Make plans.” He pulled out a pair of glasses from his desk drawer putting them on before reviewing what he has understood so far from the horrific case, his first gruesome case. “I have never seen anything like it before.” He muttered tapping a long thin finger on his chin. “We may have to go back to the crime scene. For all we know we may have missed crucial evidence.”

The other officer groaned with his head on his desk but still raising a thumbs up to Chan-gyu. He just sighed at his crime partner who was about to pass out.

“Yah, get your fucking paws off me!” A hooker yelled out while a police officer forcefully escorted her to a nearby jail cell. Behind her were like two or three other hookers, except one looked peculiar with a solemn look on her face staring off into the distance.
They brought all the women into the jail cell. She sat down and only stared blankly sometimes blinking but that was about it. Chan-gyu furrowed his brows examining her intently. She did wear hooker style clothing, her brown hair untamed like it hasn’t been brushed in a long while.
She sensed a pair of eyes on her and she looked up to see her’s and Chan-gyu's eyes connect then he noticed her eyes to appear in aqua color. He blinked away. She quickly stood up and held onto the cell bars tightly looking at Chan-gyu pleadingly.

One of the officers that took the girls in noticed officer Choi eyed the peculiar one. “Yeah she has been off ever since we caught them hanging around the streets. She didn’t even run or use force against us. Weird right?” Chan-gyu nodded.

“Does she have mental issues perhaps?” He asked the officer who only shrugged.

“Hell if I know. She hasn’t said a single word since we found her. Just stares sadly all the time or as if she is in a different world, poor thing, must have been through a lot.” They both looked at her while she stared intently at Chan-gyu her eyes glistening in the light almost as if she wants to cry. “She acts a bit childish though, only sometimes, like when we had her in the cop car she couldn’t stop messing with the window. She would push the buttons up and down, hell we were surprised how big she smiled when we let her turn on the siren. She might be diagnosed with amnesia and got caught with these hookers. We should get her examined in the hospital that’s for sure.”

“Yeah.” Chan-gyu nodded turning back to focus on his case.

“Wow, that’s a dirty one.” The officer commented.

Chan-gyu nodded. “Yes it is. I believe we are all going to be assigned to this case as a unit if we fail to catch the unsub before it strikes again.”

“It seems like a wild animal killing to me. This must be some real sicko.” An alarm sounded through out the Police Department and the Commissioner came out of his office.

"There has been another murder this morning the exact same like last night." He announced before turning to Chan-gyu. "It looks like we are dealing with a serial killer this time."

Many students in the school huddled to the nearest television sets and cell phones within the school and tuned to the news, all hyped about the fresh new killing.

Mi-ri appeared into Jin’s homeroom scouting for him but failed to find him in his seat. “Where is he?” She ran through the halls.

Jin sighed with arms behind his head looking up at the beautiful sky with only warm fluffy clouds decorating it. “I wish I wasn’t here, but up there.” He raised a hand up to the sky feeling the warmness of the sun. “It’s so pretty!” The light wind blew between his fingers. “I’m gonna skip the rest of the day.” He thought. “I’m sure hyung wouldn’t mind.”

Mi-ri ran through the halls and turned a corner tripping over someone’s leg. “Oh!” She gasped falling on the floor. “Ow!” She looked up to see six boys tower over her. Uh-oh.

“I’m sorry.” A boy with dark hair warmly stuck out a hand for her to take. Mi-ri blushed taking a good look at the boy’s cute smile and dimpled cheeks.

Before she took it another hand slapped his away. “Get out of the way Ho-seok it’s your fault she tripped anyways.” A large hand grabbed tight on the back of her blazer and pulled her up to her feet. “I apologize for my friend’s clumsy retardedness.” The leader got closer to whisper. “It’s a sickness. You better not catch it.” He chuckled pressing his index finger on her nose making her blush and blink constantly.

“Stop Nam-joon you’re scaring the girl.” Ji-min chuckled trying to pull Nam-joon away from her path. “Please, continue on your way girly.” He waved.

Mi-ri slowly walked past Nam-joon and his friends but a hand caught onto her arm, she gasped turning back to see a boy with peculiar eyes on her. “Jung-kook what the hell!” Nam-joon snapped at him.

Jung-kook squinted his eyes at her. “You’re that girl he hangs out with.”

Mi-ri blinked at him confused. “What?”

“Jin, Choi Jin. You are always around him. Are you two dating?” Her face blushed beet red.

“No,” Mi-ri tried to tug away from his strong grasp, “let go!” She panicked.

Nam-joon grabbed Jung-kook in a surprise choke hold. “Aish, what the hell?!” Jung-kook managed to spat out letting go of her.

“Sorry carry on.” Nam-joon gave her a dorky smile urging her to carry on and Mi-ri did-very quickly. “Is that a way to treat your leader’s lady?!” He started rubbing his fist hard in Jung-kook’s hair while he yelled out painful protests.

“Ow, what? Your lady?” He muffled in Nam-joon's chest.

“Yes, you got that right minion. I’ve just found the love of my life thanks to Ho-seok!” Nam-joon freed Jung-kook and cupped Ho-seok by his cheeks and gave him a big smooch on the lips.

“Ugh!” Ho-seok managed to retort his distaste.

Nam-joon wrapped one arm around Ji-min and the other around Tae-hyung. “Come one guys let’s celebrate!” All three skipped together in the hall like a bunch of idiots while Jung-kook and Ho-seok struggled to keep up while holding onto Yoon-gi's hoody.

There was a large pounding sound coming from the High School’s roof entrance. Jin sat up alarmed. The door busted open with Mi-ri walking in and quickly closing it behind her gasping. “Aish, that was crazy. They are all crazy!”

“Mi-ri!” Jin called out to her and she yelped not expecting him to be there.

“You were here all along?” She walked up to him and sat next to him.

He nodded. “Yeah. Were you looking for me?” He raised his eyebrows in a mischievous way. Mi-ri could only roll her eyes at him. “I knew you couldn’t last all day without me.” Jin sighed lazily laying back down.

“Jin.” She began with a worried expression on her face revealing her phone from her pocket. Her eyes stared at it wide. “Oh shit! Damn it!”

“What?” He sat up to realize her screen cracked.

Mi-ri hit the phone on her forehead several times. “It must of happened when I tripped.”

Jin stared at her surprised. “But you never trip.” He laughed. “You have always been a cool and collected person who never made a fool out of herself.”

Mi-ri punched him on the arm roughly. “Why is it when it comes to you I do get clumsy?” She began to search through her phone while he laughed.

“You care about me too much.” Jin shrugged.

“There has been another murder like last night.” She handed him the phone.

Jin immediately turned serious seeing the female reporter on the screen. “We have come here today to the Hongdae club scene in the Mapo-gu District where tragedy has stricken. Hongik University student Jo Seung-woo was found brutally murdered this morning in a private room of club Red Destination. Seung-woo was found like the previous victim, missing a large portion of his neck and with no traces of blood within the body.”

Jin handed Mi-ri back her phone and began to run into the building. “Jin wait, where are you going?” She ran after him.

Both appeared out near the school’s back courtyard. “I have to go see my brother! This is definitely a serial killer!” He began to climb the school walls.

“What are you insane? We’re in school right now, we can’t leave.” Mi-ri tugged on his backpack.

“Then I’m going alone.” Jin managed to sit on top of the wall. “You are the student body principal Mi-ri. Don’t follow me anymore or they’ll just kick you out.”

“But,” She tugged on his shirt now with a very worried expression on her face, “Jin, you do realize this murder takes place this morning. It is escalating and so are the riots. Please, be very careful.” Jin grabbed her hand with a cheeky smile.

“Don’t worry I’ll be fine. I’m always fine. You worry too much. You’ll see me tomorrow morning, I promise.” He let go disappearing on the other side of the wall.

Mi-ri sighed with no traces of worry leaving her, not even for a second. “Jin, why do you always leave me so worried?” She slowly turned back and gasped at Nam-joon’s presence.

“So,” He began with an intrigued tone, “it appears that Jung-kook was right.” He popped his neck making Mi-ri wince. Oh god, what is he going to do to me? “Since you know Jinnie so well…” He grabbed Mi-ri roughly by the collar causing her to yelp, “where is he headed?”

Notes

Hello all who viewed my first chapter!=)
I hope it was okay and intriguing enough to make you want to comment on it. I accept all kinds of comments and constructive criticism as well and hope to make this story a journey worth precious time.

Until Next Time...!