02 ❃ ⋯ the serpent.

CW :: Brief description of a dead body

He’d forgotten to turn the television off again.

A soft groan leaves him as he stirs awake to an indistinct voice—a news anchor, he realizes when the flashing lights from the display in front of him greets his bleary vision. He throws the screen a glance, right on time for the shot to switch into a yellow police tape stretched across the frame, glaringly bright against the murky night sky. The same voice comes back half a beat later. This time he manages to pick up the slight cadence in their otherwise careful enunciation, coloring it with a sense of urgency. Nonetheless he considers tuning it out, or even turning it off altogether—until he catches the headline at the bottom of the screen:

His ears are no longer a stranger to the succeeding details: a body found laying in the woods in dead hours of the night, deformed to the point where it’s almost unrecognizable. He doesn’t remember when he started becoming so… desensitized to such gruesome news—but in a way, perhaps the same can be said for the entire city. Such is the true identity of Navona: a false promise of utopia built upon filth, and sinful hands reaching out to beckon unknowing, desperate souls into their trap.

And it’s always those kinds of people: the ones that could easily coat their hands with gold before anyone could catch a glimpse of the bloodstains on them. This one is no exception.

If anything, he feels disappointed. The road down to hell should not be an easy one after all.

He can only sit up and heave out a sigh once the segment is over. Then he reaches an arm towards the bedside table for his phone and dials the most recent number on his call history. A couple of rings pass before he hears a click on the other end—a signal for him to start talking.

“I did tell you to be more careful, didn’t I?”