홈 / Imagination 단편 작품 & 소설 / My Supernatural Gift / 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

My Supernatural Gift의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 10

10 챕터

Chapter 1

The dull pounding echoed through the crematorium's back lot, making the windowpanes tremble.I pulled off my mask and kicked open the steel door to the autopsy room."What are you banging on the door for? If you wake the dead, who's taking responsibility?"I charge by the case. If one of them wakes up, that's another five grand!"Two people stood outside, rainwater dripping from their coats.On the left was Summer Hill, captain of the Major Crimes Unit, her face dark.On the right was Emma Wilson, a loan shark from South City. An unlit cigarette hung from her mouth, and her eyes were bloodshot.Emma grabbed the doorframe. "Mark. Two hundred thousand. Help me read someone."Summer immediately elbowed her aside."I’m on police business. Since when do you get to cut in line?"Mark, change and come with me.""Captain Hill, that's not exactly fair, is it?" Emma shouted and stuck out her chin."He's not a cop, and I'm willing to pay! Why can't he take my job?""The body is impor

Chapter 2

"Are you sure? White lab coat, gold-rimmed glasses?"Summer grabbed my collar, nearly choking me."Let go! I read bodies. I don't identify people!"I slapped her hand away. "For five grand, there's no after-sales service.""The department's new chief medical examiner, Stella, dresses exactly like that!"Summer slammed a fist against the sink."Shit! She signed the victim’s death report!""What does that have to do with me?"I yawned. "Take the body and get out. I'm off the clock."The steel door clicked softly as it opened from the outside."Captain Hill, discussing a colleague behind her back in the middle of the night isn't exactly professional, is it?"The woman's voice was gentle, carrying a hint of amusement.I looked up.A woman in a spotless white lab coat had strolled into the room.Summer's entire body tensed. Her hand moved toward her holster. "Stella."Stella didn't even look at her.Instead, she walked straight toward me, her gaze sweeping over the pocket wh

Chapter 3

"Yeah, I've got my head buried in money."But being poor is scarier than ghosts."I flicked the water off my hands."Quit talking about justice. Can justice pay the rent? Can it buy the medicine that’s keeping my mentor alive?"Summer gritted her teeth. "Where am I supposed to get two million dollars?""Then investigate Stella."Her salary isn't even eight grand a month, yet she can casually throw out a million dollars in hush money. Where did the money come from?"I wiped down the autopsy table while bloody water flowed into the drain.Summer lowered her voice. "The department has always suspected she takes private jobs."There have been several wealthy people in the city who died under suspicious circumstances. The cases were wrapped up too cleanly, too."Some people say she's a professional cleaner. She helps powerful people deal with problems and turns them into accidents or suicides."But she's never left any evidence behind.""Then go investigate."Keep an eye on Emm

Chapter 4

"You touched her?"I stared at Stella, gripping the bloodied scalpel."Stella, you're asking for death!"Stella raised both hands, her tone playful."Mr. Thompson, how can you just accuse an innocent person out of nowhere? I was only offering a friendly reminder."When people get old, their organs start failing. Who knows when they might go to sleep and never wake up?"Life is fragile.""Stella, if you lay a finger on her— "I'll risk my life to skin you alive."I threw the briefcase onto the passenger seat and floored the gas pedal toward the city.The rain came down harder and harder.My mentor, Doris, was the only family I had.When I was six, I was abandoned outside a funeral home with a burning fever. Doris sold the only valuable thing she owned, a gold ring, to buy medicine for me.She dragged me back from death's door."Please don't let anything happen to you, Doris..."I bit my lip as tears mixed with the rain.The car screeched to a stop in the funeral home's b

Chapter 5

"One million for a Major Crimes captain's life? Mr. Thompson, you've got a bigger appetite than I do."Stella's laughter came through the phone."Too expensive? I'll kill her for free."But when Summer dies, there might be a few clues on her body that lead back to you."A dead police captain will bring a lot of rabid dogs sniffing around. You can decide for yourself whether that's worth it."I lit my cigarette, my hand shaking so badly that it took three tries."Are you threatening me?""I'm talking business!"I roared into the phone. "Summer killed my mentor. I won't sleep until she’s dead!"So, are you taking the job or not?!"It was silent on the other end for five seconds."Fine."Stella laughed again. There was a twisted delight in her voice. "Mark, you've finally shown your fangs."Tomorrow night at eight. Summer will be investigating a smuggling case at the East Docks."I'll set it up. You just show up to collect the body.“Enjoy the show."I hung up.Then I tur

Chapter 6

Stella looked at me holding the gun on Summer and applauded."Good aim. Impressive nerve."Dirty work like killing a cop should be left to my people."You just stand there and watch your enemy bleed."She signaled to her men.Summer was on her knees on the concrete, a gun pressed against her temple. She glared at me through gritted teeth."Mark! You worked with Stella to set me up?"She's a serial killer! If you stay with her, you're dead!""And you're one of the good guys?" I smashed the butt of the gun into her cheekbone, splitting the skin open."You stood there and watched my mentor die! What kind of cop does that make you?"Blood streamed down Summer's face, but she still argued."Your mentor was too soft!"She knew about you reading bodies for the mob. Sooner or later, she would've talked!"To Stella, she was a ticking time bomb too!"I was helping you cut off a future problem! I did it for your own good!""For my own good?"I laughed.I laughed until tears strea

Chapter 7

"Freeze! Drop your weapons! Hands on your heads!"The tactical team's amplified commands echoed across the docks, carrying unquestionable authority.Seeing the situation turn against them, Stella's men began dropping into crouches.Bang!A warning shot was fired into the air.Tactical officers surged in from all directions, quickly tightening the encirclement.However, Stella didn't run.Though the perimeter was completely closed around her, she remained where she was, looking at me.Then she suddenly laughed.The laughter grew louder and louder, sharp as an owl’s cry."Mark, you've truly surprised me. I underestimated your courage."Stella calmly removed her white rubber gloves and casually tossed them into a puddle."But do you really think a destroyed recording and a baseless tip-off… are enough to convict me?"She lifted her head and looked directly at the rows of gun barrels pointed at her. Her voice remained terrifyingly calm."These goods were entrusted to me tempo

Chapter 8

Stella stared at the scar exposed on her wrist."Mark, you..."Her breathing grew heavy. Behind her lenses, her eyes were bloodshot."Officers! We've got a murderer here with evidence hanging right off her wrist!"Amelia Fernandez's husband definitely scratched that scar while fighting for his life! Run a DNA test!" I shouted at the tactical team around us."Move!" At the tactical team leader’s command, two officers rushed forward, executing a takedown and slamming Stella face-first into the rain-soaked ground.Handcuffs snapped shut behind her back, and Stella's face pressed into muddy water.Her gold-rimmed glasses had flown off and landed nearby, one lens shattered.She stopped struggling.Instead, she forced her head up and locked those dark, crazed eyes onto me."Mark," she panted heavily. "You think you've won? You think you're one of the good guys?""I've never been a good guy."I pulled a receipt from my pocket and waved it in front of her."Amelia Fernandez's fi

Chapter 9

"Take her away." The state investigator's expression was stony as he gave the final order.Two tactical officers grabbed Stella by the arms and pulled her to her feet.As she passed me, she paused, leaned closer, and lowered her voice."Mark, you think you've figured everything out? I switched your mentor's medication."Blood drained from my body.I spun around and grabbed her collar. "What did you just say?!"Stella looked at how I lost control and smiled with pure malice."Summer really is a piece of trash who stood by and watched, but she's not stupid enough to murder an old woman with heart disease."It was me. That afternoon, I went into your mentor's room and switched out her heart medication."My breathing stopped."She had an attack, took the pills, and the poison kicked in."Summer, the idiot, standing there, only saw the symptoms. She actually thought she'd scared the old woman to death."Stella's eyes felt like knives carving into my soul."The whole thing was p

Chapter 10

Six months later, on an unremarkable old street in Stepford.Using the reward money I got from the police, I opened a new funeral service shop.The storefront wasn't large, but it was spotless.A red-painted wooden sign hung outside.[Body Restoration: $10,000. Reading the Dead: $100,000. No Haggling. Get Lost.]A lot had happened over the past six months.Stella had committed suicide in detention. She sharpened the handle of a toothbrush and drove it into her carotid artery.Blood covered the walls, and she died without a shred of dignity.Not a single medical examiner wanted to handle her body. In the end, she was cremated without a funeral.Summer received multiple convictions for life imprisonment and permanent loss of her law enforcement credentials and public office privileges.During the trial, she cried uncontrollably before the court, apologizing to the badge she had disgraced.I didn't attend.I sat in my shop, counting money over and over again. Somehow, no matte

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