Another Day, Another Death

by Sandor Kovacs

Another day, another death, Mary thought when she saw the corpse hanging from the thick branch. The trees loomed above her, their leaves rustling in the autumn breeze, and the morning mist hovered at her feet. She hated being a first responder right now, especially that her colleague called in sick. She didn’t imagine the end of her night shift like this.

The man wore an unstained painter uniform, which meant that he had finished himself before going to work in this godforsaken place and that the clothes had been new. The chair he used lay sideways underneath him.

Poor, desperate devil. He made sure that no one would find him, she reflected. But then, who reported his death?

She pulled on her rubber gloves and searched for the suicide note. There was a crumpled paper stuffed into the right pocket of his trousers.

The two words written on the yellow Post-it made her look around, while the hair on her back reached towards the sky. “Hail Mary,” the note stated.

Iron-y taste of blood flooded her mouth, as she accidentally bit her tongue. Her system released adrenaline as a response to the eerie silence. Mary felt like she was being watched from behind the curtains of the mist.

This is a trap, she thought and pulled out her pistol. She shuffled away from the location, using all her peripheral vision to find something suspicious, determined to shoot at the slightest movement.

Then, she heard a twig breaking in half, and before she could have reacted, a wet tablecloth covered her mouth, and a hand seized her arms. She pulled the trigger, but the bang only scared a few birds away, not her attacker. The robust man didn’t give her a chance to get away from his capturing arms, and the chloroform made her drowsy. As the world faded away, he dragged her towards the trees.

Another day, another death, Mary thought.

Sandor Kovacs is a Hungarian writer, creating stories in the genres of general fiction, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. His work was published on The Writer's Notebook blog and in the May issue of Devolution Z.

Sandor lives in London and enjoys reading, writing, listening, watching, and being.