Chapter 6
“Our people went over and found the front gate smashed in. There was blood everywhere inside. The property manager said…”
“Keep talking!” Joseph’s fists clenched, his eyes reddening.
“They said the paramedics carried out a girl… her whole body was… nailed through. And Mrs. Barnes was right behind her.”
The words hit like a thunderclap, draining all color from his face.
Suddenly, he remembered the calls Samantha had made to him the day before.
He forced himself to stay steady and asked, “Are you sure? Joyce sent me a message yesterday saying she was going to school.”
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Reuben didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pulled a phone from his bag and handed it over.
“We found this in the bloodstains in the garage… it belongs to Ms. Barnes.”
One glance told Joseph it was the phone he had given Joyce for her birthday last year.
His hands trembled as he took it, opening the screen. The last message in the chat was indeed the one saying she was on her way to school.
He didn’t ask anything else-just clutched his chest and staggered out the door.
Reuben didn’t dare stop him and quickly followed, getting into the car as Joseph sped toward the hospi- tal.
The moment they arrived, Joseph began asking everyone he saw, “Which room is Joyce in?”
He went from the first floor to the second, but no one had any idea what he was talking about. People looked at him like he was unhinged-one even pointed across the street and said kindly, “Psychiatry is over there.”
He didn’t argue. He just kept asking, his voice mechanical, his expression fixed.
When he finally reached the fifth-floor operating room, a young nurse hesitated before asking, “Do you mean the girl who had 500 nails hammered into her body?”
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Joseph froze, his face twisting into something uglier than tears. “Do you know where she is?”
The nurse sighed and shook her head in pity.
“She was in terrible shape. Being nailed to death was bad enough… but even after she died, she didn’t get to keep her body. Her father’s mistress dissolved it with acid-only her lower half was left. If the di- rector hadn’t called the police and ordered the scene preserved, the operating room would’ve been cleared already.”
Whatever else the nurse said was lost to him. All he could hear echoing in his head was “dissolved the body.”
The nurse stopped at the doorway and motioned for them to go in on their own.
Joseph walked forward, each step making his heart pound harder. The closer he got, the colder he felt- like someone had their hand around his heart, squeezing so tight he could barely breathe.
The room was drenched in red. Nails lay scattered across the floor. Half a body floated in a pool of blood.
Reuben took one look and staggered back, retching into his hand.
Joseph’s voice shook as he whispered, “Joyce? Joyce!”
In the past, the moment he called out after coming home, she would come running, bouncing with joy, and cling to his leg, begging for attention.
As she grew older, though, she started looking at him with tear-reddened eyes, accusing, “Dad, did you get a stepmom? Are you going to leave me and Mom?”
He could never meet that gaze or explain the mess between adults, so he began avoiding her altogether. His visits home became fewer and fewer.
He might have stayed away physically, but he still kept an eye on her grades. She had always done well -never once giving him trouble-which made him quietly proud.
Joseph’s mother, Adele Cox, had always complained about wanting a grandson to inherit the family business. But when Samantha gave birth to Joyce, it was a difficult labor that damaged her health so badly she couldn’t have another child.
So, he decided to find a mistress to give him one.
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