NO INCRIMINATING LINK

“But it was not enough, Grace! I made things even worse, can’t you see?” Gia whimpered; the weight of responsibility weighed heavily on her shoulders, a burden she couldn't shake off.

Grace took in a deep breath. “All I see is someone who risked her all to save everyone. Not everyone can do that, Gia.”

“But my efforts and sacrifices were worth nothing. Absolutely nothing, Grace! We are back to square one. With everything as it was in the beginning,. Everyone in the shadows of that monster. What was the point of me even trying?” Gia asked, her words rich with guilt.

“The most important thing is that you tried. It is not your fault that life decided to play some nasty tricks with you. Stop blaming yourself, Gia.” Grace pleaded, her heart heavy with the pain her sister was feeling at the moment.

Gia took a deep sigh, wiping her tears off. She looked around the quiet room, her eyes catching sight of Officer Martin as he matched them.

“Gia? How is he?” Martin asked.

Gia kept a straight face. “Critical. And we should brace ourselves and expect even more serious cases like this one if we don’t act fast. Or even worse, because we all know how bloody that monster can get! We all know that we cannot afford another disaster. This man needs to be stopped, officer!”

"Gia," Officer Martin began in a measured tone, "I understand your point. But we still have no leads for this man. We have no evidence to link him to any of this.” He said the weight of frustration was weighing him down.

“Lead? Evidence? That lying in there,” Gia pointed at Deep’s room, “is the evidence!”

“But Gia, until Deep is able to speak and point out Ejay as the one behind his kidnapping and torture, everything we say still remains just speculation.” Martin slapped Gia with the bitter truth. He was a police officer, trained to work with concrete and not just circumstantial evidence or mere hunches.

Gia shook her head, a bitter, faint grin on her lips. “Unbelievable!” She hissed, her facial idioms turning dark at once as he gawked at Martin. “Speculations? I saw that devil last night, and you were there with me. The mere fact that he is walking in the face of these same solid grounds that we are walking on makes him a suspect of every evil thing that happens because that is what he is good at.”

“I understand what you are saying, Gia, but the law does not work that way. We need something solid to point to him directly.” Martin tried explaining the reality of things—that the law does not support intuitions.

“Then you are all useless if all that you do is keep telling us that our intuitions will not help. Aren’t you supposed to help us find the proof that you are talking about? My sister already proved to you all that that monster is mysteriously alive! Isn’t it your job to find and arrest him?” Grace had lost her cool, her voice echoing against the quiet walls of the hospital.

“And we are doing our best! We just haven’t found anything!” Martin spoke with a forced calmness.

Grace scoffed, her eyes firm on the poor officer, who was bleeding just as she questioned their hard work and capabilities. “Yeah, right! At this rate, I am afraid we will all die at the hands of that monster. I don’t even see the importance of having you guys call yourselves the police.”

Marting felt offended, and Gia sensed the tension. She turned to Grace. “Calm down, Grace. Don’t talk to the officer like that. That is being so rude.” She was nicely scolded.

Grace rolled her eyes. “Sorry.” She said that, and no one could tell who the apology was meant for because she was looking at no one.

The officer composed himself, understanding the weight of the fright on Gia and her sister’s shoulders. “I know it is frustrating that we can't establish a solid connection between all that is happening and Ejay. But I want to assure you that my team is competent enough, and we are doing all that we can to ravel out this nightmare.”

Gia's frustration boiled over. "Frustrating? That's an understatement, officer! Deep is lying in that hospital bed fighting for his life, and you're telling us you can't find anything to link Ejay to this? If there is nothing, then take my word for it! I can bet on my life that he was the one who had Deep Captive."

The officer shook his head slightly, floating in the confusion of the events. “If he was the one, then why did he return him? And alive? That would compromise him, because if Deep talks, then we will know that he is the one! Why would anyone do something like this? I mean, risking being caught.” The officer asked,

A fleeting moment of silence passed. Yeah! Ejay was indeed a vicious, untouchable, crooked being who was capable of anything. But for him to torture Deep like that and still return him alive? That was such guts, especially at the time when the mystery revolving around his resurfacing was in the air. He must have so much confidence that he would get away with anything at all.

But what could it be that was giving him so much confidence that he was not even afraid of getting caught? It seemed like neither the authorities nor anyone scared him.

Gia looked at the officer, her face wearing an expression that the officer found hard to understand, leaving her with his eyes furrowed as he tried to study her face. "Unless there is something, or someone, giving him assured protection,. The same way he survived death, and the same way he can pull plans within his short time of return. And in the same way, he is able to screw us over and over again.” Her voice was low but audible, balanced between the lines of rage and forced cool.

Her confusing words hang like a dark cloud in the heads of Grace and the officer. Their faces were pregnant with questions, expressing their confusion and demanding elaboration. “What exactly is your point?” Officer Martin’s voice summoned Gia’s gaze to him.