Chapter 15

Eli covered his mouth and held his breath, he was very scared. Eli didn't want the man to catch him, let alone kill him. Eli didn't dare look at him, he just closed his eyes and hoped that the person would leave soon. A few minutes later Eli heard the sound of a car engine starting. Eli was a little relieved because the person had finally left and didn't catch him.

Eli was hesitant, he really wanted to see the contents of the package that the mysterious man had thrown away. But Eli wasn't brave enough to see the corpse alone, Eli looked doubtful, his curiosity overpowered his fear. He went down to the river bank, with an excited breath Eli opened the large black package in front of him.

“Wh…what is this…? what human?” Eli thought, his fingers slowly untied the straps that tied the package.

As the ropes began to come undone one by one, Eli could begin to smell a strong odor. It wasn't a bad smell, but like the smell of medicine which felt foreign to his nose. Eli didn't understand what the smell was, but his hunch was very precise that this package contained a corpse.

The corpse lay stiff and had been preserved, the corpse of a man about four or fifty years old. A corpse without eyeballs, lips neatly cut and teeth still intact. There is no blood or only bloodstains, this corpse looks like a terrible mannequin.

"Hueekk..." Eli vomited, he couldn't hold back the nausea. It felt like the whole side of his stomach was going to come out, it was really disgusting. Who would commit such a terrible act?”

Eli dragged his body back slightly away from the corpse. Even though he was nauseous, Eli could still notice an oddity that seemed familiar to him, there was a strange carving on the corpse's forehead. The engraving had numbers on it that he couldn't read, but Eli remembered that he had seen the numbers before, exactly the same as on the forehead of the corpse lying in front of his house last night "94.04.24.39.45.23"

The numbers kept going round and round in his head, Eli felt cold all over his body. He didn't know, but his nausea was getting worse.

“Hueekkk….” Eli vomited again, only water came out. There was no longer any leftover food that could be removed, his throat felt very sore.

“Wh…why? why did I…I…” Eli closed his eyes, the numbers continuing to circle in his mind. They seemed to be attacking Eli, violently attacking his mind and mind. Eli couldn't bear this kind of burden.

"Help...help..." Eli got up from that place and ran for help, even though his body was no longer strong.

"Brrukk..." Eli bumped into someone.

“Hey? Are you okay ?" 

“Please…help…help me…” Eli cried with his head lowered, his soul completely shaken.

"What is it ?" asked the young man.

"Hueekk..." Eli vomited again, he sat down holding his chest.

“You… are you okay? what happened ?" asked the young man, feeling worried, even though he was a stranger, he still cared about the people nearby.

“Please…help…”

"Help ? what should I do for you?"

“By… near the river…”

“What is there near the river? Come on, say it quickly!" asked the young man, getting impatient.

“Near the river there is… a… there is a corpse.” Eli answered, when he said this his body suddenly felt cold. 

"What ? corpse? Seriously…"

"I...I'm not lying... I'm not lying..." shouted Eli while crying hysterically.

"Okay, you wait here. I'm going to call the police, don't go anywhere, do you understand?" said the young man.

“Wa…wait!”

"What else ?"

"I...I don't want to be alone, I'm scared..."

"Yes, you come with me!"

Finally, Eli went with the young foreigner to the nearest police station to report it because they were afraid to see the body. When he arrived at the police station, the young man immediately went in and asked the police to immediately go to the location where the body was found, while Eli just waited outside.

The numbers kept going round and round in his head, Eli didn't understand why there was strange writing on the forehead of the corpse he saw earlier and also the corpse yesterday. Eli didn't understand what it all meant, nor could Eli read the numbers correctly. In his eyes the numbers looked like worms writhing irregularly, it made him feel nauseous and want to vomit.

"Hu...hueekk..." every time he thought about those numbers Eli always vomited, and this time a little blood came out of his mouth. Eli pressed his throat so hard that his throat hurt and bled.

"Please...please...help me...I'm scared..." Eli sobbed, he was so scared. I don't know since when he experienced all this.

"Hey, what's wrong? You are okay ?" asked the young man who had gone with him.

Eli looked at the young man with watery eyes, his face was haggard and very pitiful. The young man had never seen Eli in this city before, and to him Eli looked abnormal.

"You're vomiting again, aren't you? Wait here a moment, I'll buy you a warm drink." Said the young man as he walked away.

Eli was still crying as he sat in front of the police station. He didn't know how long he would be in this place even though soon he had to go home before his family realized that Eli was not there.

Eli got up from his place and walked quickly away from the police station and the young man who had helped him earlier. Eli didn't know the young man's name. He remembered that the young man had glasses and was also very kind.

***