Nightmare

In the State University car parking, Ryan and Allen were waiting in the car for Professor Bruno Bell to come out. As soon as they saw their target walking towards his car, they got out and approached him.

"Hello, professor Bell," Ryan greeted with a smile.

Bruno Bell looked at them with a puzzled look.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

Ryan moved his jacket a little to reveal the badge on his belt. Bruno Bell visibly shivered after seeing that and this response did not escape the two detectives' eyes.

"Please follow us," Allen led him to their car.

"I don't know why would the officers find me. I've always abided by the law and have never done anything illegal," the professor still put up a front despite his voice being shaky.

Ryan caught him off guard and snatched his hand. The needle marks were still there where he found them.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I... It's..." The professor tried to think of a reason, covered with cold sweat.

"Don't try to refuse. We already know that you're using the new drug. There is also evidence that you went into a drug cartel's territory of City X. Why would an honorable professor like you go to such a place?"

Although Ryan was not 100 percent certain that they were the needle marks from using the new drug, he decided to bluff. Even so, he did make a lucky guess.

"It was... it was only my third time going there. I didn't even know that it was an illegal drug when I first used it," Bruno stuttered.

"If you can give us more information about that drug, your sentence will become lighter," Allen suggested.

"Okay... I'll tell you everything," Bruno conceded.

He was stressed out for the past few months because his research had been stagnant for the last five years. His sponsors were going to stop providing funds for him if he did not have any progress by the end of this month. He was suffering from headache and insomnia because of those pressures and one of his students gave him the new drug. He only thought it was a sleeping pill at first but later found out that his thinking became clearer and he could focused more on his thesis after taking the pill.

He asked for more pills from his student and he became dependent on their effects unknowingly. However, every time he almost had a breakthrough, the drug's effect would wear out. Even taking many pills at the same time did not help him. When he asked for more pills from his student for the second time, he discovered that there was an injection form which was more potent.

Unfortunately, he also found out that his student was someone who was from City X and the drug he had been using is not a legal one at all. Even after knowing that the drug had many side effects as it was still in production stage and that he would have to meet the leader by himself to get the injectable form, he could not back down. He had already enjoyed the good effects of the drug which were too great to let go.

"You mean you've met the leader of the cartel?"

Ryan asked after Bruno finished his speech. He was not surprised that a citizen of City X was attending at this university as such things were still possible although rare. Vivienne Byrne would be the best example.

"I think so, officer. Every other member listened to him."

"He was the only one who did the exchange with you?" Allen asked.

"Yes, officer."

"How many times have you done the exchange?"

"I've only done it three times."

"Can you describe how he looks?" Ryan asked.

Ryan wrote down everything Bruno said. He also asked more about the effects of both forms of drugs and Burno's answers were more or less what they had already known.

"So, the injectable form has stronger effects?" Allen asked.

"Yes, officer," Bruno answered.

He had the breakthrough he had been waiting for five years after using the injection for third time.

"Do you know how dangerous that drug is? People have died from bleeding because of that drug," Allen said.

The professor helplessly smiled. Of course, he knew. He noticed that he was easily bruised during the time he had been taking the pills but the effects became more severe after he changed to injection form. He had been having nosebleeds and gum bleeding.

However, what choice did he have. He could not be said to be a genius like some of his fellow researchers yet he could not give up half-way either. If he lost the funds now, all his hard work for those five years would go down the drain. Even now, he did not regret using the drug. For some people, their ambitions would always be more important than their lives.

After asking a few more questions, the officers brought Bruno Bell to the State Police Department. Although they knew it would alarm the cartel and they would have to face more hindrance and dangers. They did not have a choice as they could not just stand and watch the drug being more widely distributed. They also told the State Police Department about the student from City X and to check the teachers and students around him to make sure that there were no more users.

However, Ryan requested to investigate the case as quietly as possible and not leak it to the media. He also did not tell much about the drug other than it being a new drug under the production stage. He did not want to make a big mess while they still could not make head or tail of the entire situation.

On their way back to City X, Allen asked Ryan.

"You don't think the one Professor Bell met was the main leader of the cartel, right?"

"What kind of big boss would show his face to such a small client?" Ryan said.

Allen nodded in agreement.

"But with this, we now know that the injection form is not as easily accessible as the pills."

Then, they discussed more about the case until the car stopped in front of Allen's house. Ryan was the one driving today as he did not want to put a strain on the injured Allen.

Before Allen got out of the car, he looked at Ryan with solemn eyes.

"How are you coping up?"

Ryan knew he was asking about his parents.

"Alright," he responded with a faint smile.

"You are strong," Allen remarked and left the car to enter his house.

Ryan shook his head. It was because Allen did not know about the 'help' he was receiving from Vivienne. Thinking about that, he remembered the woman and wondered what she would be doing at this time.

When he reached his apartment, he searched for her in the shadows but to no avail. Although he knew that she had not obligation to check up on him every night, he was already used to her presence. She had entered his life too naturally that he did not even notice.

Ryan softly sighed and entered his room. After taking a shower, he took a pill from the bottle Vivienne left and went to sleep. However, even with the help of the pill, he was bound to be sleepless that night as he was continuously disturbed by nightmares.

He saw a thirteen year old girl in the fire, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. Then, the scene changed to Julian shouting at him, "YOU'RE A SON OF CRIMINALS!". After that, he was back to his fourteen year old self when his mother was still alive. He and his mother were making dinner in the kitchen.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot and the kitchen window crashed. His mother was holding her chest from which the blood gushed out endlessly. Before he could respond, there was another gunshot.

"Bang!"

And this time, the bullet went through his shoulder and he looked towards the shadow standing in their yard. Before he could see the features of the shadow in the dark, he woke up in cold sweat.

The dream felt so real as he felt an aching pain in his left shoulder. He sat up immediately while still breathing heavily. His heart was pounding so hard that he could even hear his own heartbeat. He took off his t-shirt soaked with sweat and walked towards the bathroom. After washing his face with cold water, he calmed down a bit. Then, he saw his reflection in the mirror and the scar on his left shoulder caught his eye.

At that time, the police did find the murderer but he just said that he shot into the wrong house. Ryan believed that all his life as he thought there would be no one who would hate his family enough to kill them. But after finding out about his parents' real jobs, he had been thinking differently. May be it was for revenge? May be the murderer was a family member of a researcher or a test subject?

With such thoughts, he decided to investigate about the murderer. He walked back towards his bedroom and checked the clock on his phone.

4:00am

Although it was still early, he was not in the mood to sleep again. May be he should take his morning jog earlier. When he thought about jogging, a petite figure in the mist flashed through his mind. She should be still asleep. However, he decided to have a try.

"Asleep?" he texted.

To his surprise, it was replied within a few seconds.

"No. Just finished a surgery."

His lips curved up as he imagined her in her scrub suit. 'She's really a night owl,' he thought.

"Can I call?" he asked.

"Sure," she readily agreed.