Approximately four full hours later, around eleven o'clock, the chief coroner called Harley down to look at the bodies. The detective had no desire to make this trip, especially as his mood was just improving, but there was no choice. The work needed to be done sooner rather than later, so reluctantly, he put on a simple face mask and gloves and entered the morgue, where it was rather cold and the lights did not improve the room's appearance.

Three autopsy tables were placed in the center, carefully laid out with the cases, presumably suicides. The bodies had not yet emitted a smell, but the skin on their necks had already turned bluish due to the death by hanging. As Harley walked closer to them and leaned in closer to the one on the right, he could still feel a slight warmth from the body. Currently, he did not absorb the warmth of his surroundings, but as he tried to lift the hand of the body, he encountered some difficulties as the body's muscles had begun to stiffen due to rigor mortis setting in.

The coroner just watched as Harley worked. He was fresh in his job since the previous coroner retired, so this was his first encounter with the icy-hearted detective. "Excuse me, Detective Lawson... If you have the time, we could go over the protocol because according to the regulations, only I can handle the bodies," the coroner spoke up. Harley slowly looked up and pierced the sharp gaze of his right eye into the other's, then leaned away from the body and sighed.

"Sometimes I forget that you're new here... What's your name?" he asked because he currently didn't feel like playing the guessing game.

"Oh... Yes... I'm Doctor Jude West. I've introduced myself to you once before, Detective Lawson," he mumbled in response. Harley could tell from this that the young man might have some mild social issues. Slowly, Jude walked past Harley and the body on the right until he reached the middle one. Then he glanced back at the young coroner and leaned closer to the body. Rising towards the head of the dead, he looked down at the body. Apparently, this one was just like the previous one. Bluish neck, slightly warm body, and... Then Harley grabbed the head of the body and tried to turn it, but rigor mortis, or the stiffness of the body, once again hindered him. The neck barely moved, so he tried to turn the head with a little more force. At this point, Jude nervously moved towards him. "Don't force it! You might cause damage!" he shouted as he got closer, and then the dead one's eyes opened and its limbs twitched. Surprised, Harley let go of the twitching body.

"What is this? What's happening?" he asked as he recoiled, and the pain pierced back into his injured eye. Then he gritted his teeth and looked at Jude, who was currently holding down the twitching body back onto the table. "I told you... I told you not to touch them! They're not ready yet..." the doctor's words came out as the black fluid gurgled in his throat as he spoke. "I wanted to protect you... But you didn't listen to me... Sad..." Jude stopped in front of the terrified and bewildered detective, then with inhuman speed and strength, he grabbed the other's throat with his black, clawed hands and began to squeeze. "You should have run when you could... Now you're mine. Only mine. The others can't harm you anymore... You're only mine~!" he chuckled as he continued to choke him.

Harley didn't have time to react to the attack, so he started hitting the creature's arms while trying to push them off, which was obviously futile. Eventually, as he was being choked more and more, he could only struggle. He kicked if he had to, but the creature was not deterred by anything. It just grinned and watched with its empty eye sockets as the other gradually lost consciousness. Harley looked around the room in panic, hoping to find a way out, but nothing, everything was getting blurrier and blurrier... And then suddenly his brain gave up. Everything went dark and he felt like he was floating...

~0~

"H... Harley... HARLEY! Wake up already!" he heard a voice calling. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The light was too bright for him, so he squinted as the picture sharpened before him, and he began to move his lips as well. "What... What happened?" he whispered softly as he looked up, realizing that currently Isaac was leaning towards him and Jude was peeking curiously and fearfully over the man's shoulder.

"I was about to ask you exactly that! So, what the hell happened to you that you just collapsed?" Isaac's voice rang with concern. Harley slowly sat up, but his head was spinning and his neck was slightly sore.

"The body... It moved, and Mr. West... But... But..." he only replied with this for now as he looked at the terrified coroner.

"It was Jude who ran for me when you suddenly collapsed, mate!" Isaac explained what really happened here.

"Wait... I collapsed? That can't be..." Harley said confusedly as he ran his hand through his own hair while sitting up on the floor, causing the other two to back away slightly.

"But that's what happened! "Jude finally spoke up, who had been silently observing the pair until now. "When you leaned closer to the second body, you simply lost consciousness and fell to the ground. I was really scared too. Even I'm not usually scared when the bodies twitch a bit," he explained while shrugging a little.

"Why did I collapse...?" Harley asked as he looked at the two figures and the room. Something didn't add up. He was sure that some strange creature was strangling him, so he slowly ran his hand over his neck where his hand lingered for a moment, then let go. He saw nothing unusual and felt no bump on his neck.

"It might be exhaustion, Harley. You've had a tough day today. It'd be better if you went home for today. I can take you if you want," Isaac offered as he watched the detective with his lilac irises. Then Harley remembered something.

"Weren't you supposed to take the witness? "he asked suspiciously. As a tiny smile appeared on the other's face, then he laughed. Then Harley's stomach clenched slightly. He didn't trust this situation. It was too fishy.

"I already took her ages ago... I've been gone for an hour, and you've been knocked out for three... I guess it's because you hit your head," he explained cheerfully as he reached under Harley's arm and helped him up. Harley felt a little dizzy, but he didn't want to show it. Somehow, he managed to stand on his feet, then pushed the overly helpful Isaac aside.

"I get it... You don't need to help anymore then."

"Oh, you're still so cold... And I even picked you up off the floor again."

"No one asked you to do that, Isaac! Leave me alone!" Harley snapped as he hurriedly and somewhat staggeringly rushed out of the room, leaving the other two bewildered figures behind him.