In the apartment corridor at night, the warm yellow light diffuses on the steps.
Allison
She stood in front of her door holding the strap of her bag tightly with her hands, her ears flushed. She raised her eyes and looked at Raphael in front of her. The fingertips of her hanging hand unconsciously twisted the hem of her coat. She was both looking forward to it but afraid of appearing too eager.
"I had a really good time tonight,
Russell." Her voice was soft and there was a smile in her eyes.
Russell took half a step forward, his eyes fell on her lips and then quickly moved away, with a little cautious probing. "Me too. Well... can I see you again on Sunday? I don't want to spend Valentine's Day... alone again."
Allison
Her heart felt warm and the tip of her nose felt a little sore. She lowered her head and smiled, "I understand what you mean." She paused and looked up at him with apology in her eyes, "I'm sorry, I just... I don't want you to think that I am that kind of casual girl--"
"No, it's me who should apologize--"
Russell
Before he finished speaking,
Allison
Already standing on tiptoes to kiss him.
At first, the kiss was still tender and green, but it soon changed its taste. As they kissed, it was like something was burning in their bodies, and desire overflowed their minds like a tide.
The two of them stumbled open the door and entered the room. Their coats were thrown on the floor, and their breathing became heavier and heavier.
Allison
bite on
Russell
The side of her neck, the moment she tasted the smell of blood, she suddenly came back to reality, took a half step back and covered her mouth, her eyes full of panic. "Oh my god! Your neck! I bit you!"
Russell touched the blood on the side of his neck. Not only was he not afraid, but his eyes were even more excited. He panted and shook his head, his voice hoarse. "It's okay... This is good."
"I haven't been this lonely in a long time,"
Allison
Her eyes were red and the hollow feeling in her body was about to swallow her up. She looked at
Russell
, every word seems to be squeezed out from the soul, "I want you,
Russell
... All of you, melt into my body."
"Okay."
Russell
He responded mutely and leaned forward to kiss her.
The smell of blood soon spread in the kitchen, the sound of gnawing mixed with a muffled groan, and the walls were splattered with dark red blood spots. They seemed to never be able to fill the holes in their stomachs, biting each other's flesh and blood, and letting their desires drag them into death. They did not stop chewing until the last breath dissipated.
Early the next morning, Allison's roommate came back from get off work. He opened the kitchen door and almost fainted from shock when he saw the scene in front of him - the floor was covered in blood, and the two of them fell beside the kitchen counter, with minced meat in their mouths and chests.
The roommate rolled around and called the police. When the police arrived, the two of them were already dead.
The local young police officer on duty stood at the door of the apartment, his police uniform buttoned up to his collar. His face was as white as a piece of paper, his lips were trembling, and the notebook in his hand was soaked with sweat.
He was the first person to walk in. At this moment, he didn't even have the courage to take another step inside. He just leaned on the wall and retched. When he heard the footsteps, he reluctantly raised his head. "It's... it's so miserable inside. I've never seen such a scene."
The warm yellow kitchen ceiling light was on all night long, and the light and shadow were filled with spattered blood spots. It sprayed from the edge of the kitchen counter to the off-white ceiling, and then trickled down along the gaps in the tiles, condensing into dark brown blood scabs.
Two young corpses knelt face to face at the kitchen table, their upper bodies pressed together tightly, as if they were trying to rub each other into their own bones. Half of the girl's neck was bitten through, and blood from the artery sprayed all over the boy's face, and his hair was condensed in the blood; the boy's shoulders were chewed until the white shoulder blades were exposed, the mandible cracked due to excessive force, and the teeth were deeply embedded in the other's muscles.
The two people's mouths, throats, and chests were filled with each other's flesh and blood, which made their esophagus bulge. The forensic doctor initially judged that they gnawed on each other in extreme excitement until their stomachs burst and died of excessive blood loss. They held each other's hands until they died.
Dean put on latex gloves and squeezed through the door sideways, followed closely by Sam and Bai Haorui.
"Good guys, did they bite each other to death?" Dean squatted down, opened the collar of the deceased with his fingertips, and looked at the ferocious bite marks with teeth marks on the side of the neck, his brows knitted into knots, "This looks like a wild dog that has been hungry for three days."
Sam flipped through the notebook in his hand, his fingertips stopped on the line "Chastity Ring", and turned to look at the two of them. "The woman's roommate said that this girl didn't even say bad words. She has been wearing a chastity ring for three years, and she just dated someone for the first time in the past few months. She has a very soft personality, and it is impossible to go crazy because of love."
Bai Haorui stood in the center of the kitchen, his eyes slightly closed, and Divine Sense slowly spread out like water ripples, sweeping every corner of the room. The purple-gold True Gang gently circulated in the meridians, and there was no trace of the Yin Qi, the smell of sulfur, the cursed black evil... There were no traces of ordinary supernatural existence. He opened his eyes, walked towards the wall, and touched a little half-dried blood with his fingertips.
There is an inexplicable agitation in the blood, like tiny sparks that burrow into the bones when they touch the skin, making people feel inexplicably panicked.
But he couldn't tell the source of this breath. It was neither evil nor witchcraft. It was as insubstantial as an illusion.
"It's not a ghost, it's not a demon, and it's not an ordinary witchcraft curse." His voice was calm, his fingertips loosened slightly, and blood drops slowly dripped to the ground. "There is no energy residue, it's more like some kind of field that affects the mind."
Dean snorted, stood up and patted the dust on his hands. "I bet it's the devil, and he might be up to some new tricks. Go back and check the abnormal records of the surrounding three months, and you can always find the tail."
Bai Haorui did not retort, and his eyes fell back on the tightly held hands of the deceased - it was not hatred, but an extreme and twisted desire, a desire to completely integrate the other person into his body.
He felt vaguely that something was wrong, but he couldn't grasp the clue.
When the three of them drove out of the apartment, it was already starting to get dark.
Impala ran through the streets of the small town. The Valentine's Day decorations on the roadside flashed by. No one spoke in the car, and the atmosphere was a bit dull.
Dean was driving the car, tapping the steering wheel unconsciously with his fingertips; Sam was sitting in the passenger seat, flipping through the autopsy report, and marking the key points on the paper with the tip of his pen; Bai Haorui was sitting in the back seat, closing his eyes and adjusting his breathing, trying to suppress the inexplicable irritability that suddenly ignited in his heart.
Back at the motel, the bitter and burnt smell of coffee quickly filled the room.
Sam spread the autopsy report on the creaking wooden table and reviewed the case from the beginning:
"The deceased, Russell, 26 years old, was an architectural designer; Allison, 24 years old, was a primary school teacher.
The two were matched on a dating app in a cafe yesterday afternoon. This was the first time they met offline. The time of death was probably between 1 and 2 in the morning. Forensic autopsy showed that their stomachs were stretched until they were torn and perforated, their esophagus was full of minced meat and human tissue, and their teeth were broken and they were still chewing each other.
Except for a small amount of dinner steak, the contents of the stomach are all the flesh and blood of the other party." He pointed his fingertips at the line "stomach burst", raised his eyes to look at the two of them, and said with a bit of discomfort in his tone, "To put it bluntly, it is no different from a zombie leaving the cage. There are no signs of struggle, and there is no evidence of external coercion, just like... they don't feel pain at all."
Dean leaned against the table, tapping his fingertips on the table carelessly, his eyes drifting to the lighted street outside the window, and said "hmm" without interest.
Sam raised his eyebrows and put on a narrow smile, "Dean, it's Valentine's Day today, did you forget? Didn't you call it 'Single Tramp Christmas' before? There are so many lonely girls in the bar downstairs, and you're not even interested?"
"Not in the mood." Dean twitched the corner of his mouth, picked up the Coke on the table and took a big sip, choking on the carbonated bubbles and frowning.
"Oh, you can't even get excited about hunting for women. This is a sign of something big happening." Sam joked, crossing his arms.
"Thank you for your condescending concern, I appreciate it." Dean glanced at him and brought the topic back, "Is it okay to work? If you don't talk nonsense, you can check the surrounding surveillance by yourself."
Bai Haorui was sitting on the chair by the window, lowering his head and drawing Clear Heart Talisman on the yellow talisman paper.
From the moment he entered the town, he felt restless. The True Gang in his dantian jumped from time to time, as if a hand was constantly fiddling with it, and thoughts flashed uncontrollably in his mind - it would be great if his cultivation could break through to Late Stage of Refining Qi into Gang faster, and if he could find a way home. Road, go back to the small courtyard with blue tiles and white walls, how wonderful it would be to return to the side of my grandfather and brothers. It would be great if we could quickly shred the script written by God, so that both Dean and Sam could escape their respective fates and live the rest of their lives in peace.
These thoughts grew like wild weeds, causing his meridians to feel slightly hot. Normally he could suppress them with just concentration, but today he was extra stubborn.
He just assumed that the seal of Michael had not been completely released, and running around for days had caused him to feel uneasy, so he calmed down and activated the gentle fire technique of "Three Altars Body-Refining True Fire Art", letting the purple-gold Pure Yang True Fire slowly flow through his meridians, warming and nourishing his heart veins, and he drew a few more talismans to suppress distracting thoughts.
Hearing the two brothers bickering, he didn't even raise his head. He held two drawn talismans between his fingertips and handed them over. "The atmosphere of the town is not right. Keep it close to you. The talisman is sealed with Clear Heart Art. You can calm down and don't be taken advantage of."
Dean took it and stuffed it into the inner pocket of his jacket. "Okay, okay, Haorui is careful not to make any big mistakes. I'll note it down."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sam's cell phone rang.
He picked up the phone and after listening to a few words, his face darkened.
After hanging up the phone, he grabbed his coat and walked to the door. "Another double death occurred in an office building in the city center. The deceased were lovers Brandon and Jennifer from the same company. The man worked overtime temporarily and missed the appointment. The woman rushed to the company and killed the department manager who blocked the way. In the end, the two shot each other in the forehead and committed suicide. It's outrageous."
The three of them looked at each other, immediately grabbed their equipment and walked out. The lights in the corridor were dim, and Bai Haorui's fingertips tightened slightly - he could clearly feel that the inexplicable restless atmosphere was getting thicker and thicker, like an invisible net, slowly wrapping the entire town in it.
There were still two lights on in the office building late at night. Brandon was sitting at his workstation looking at his phone. Brad next to him was typing on the keyboard impatiently with a look of disgust on his face.
"I said Jimbo, can you stop staring at your phone? Did your girlfriend put a leash on you?"
Brandon didn't even raise his head. "She just wants to know where I am, nothing else."
"Come on, you're just being pinched." Brad sneered, "I'm the person in charge of this project, and I don't want your work to be ruined because of a woman you've only known for a week."
Just as Brandon was about to retort, the office door was pushed open with a bang, and Jennifer rushed in with red eyes, tears hanging on his face, and his whole body shaking.
"Brandon! You actually chose your job over me?" Her voice was sharp, filled with the grievance and anger of being abandoned.
Brandon immediately stood up and walked over, reaching out to hug her. "I'm sorry, honey, I didn't mean to--"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Brad stood up and stood in the middle, "Brandon, it's not me who said this, our project--"
Before he finished speaking, Jennifer raised his hand and fired a bullet. The bullet hit Brad's forehead, and he fell down without even grunting.
Brandon didn't even lower his head to look at him, only Jennifer was in his eyes.
Jennifer looked at the corpse on the ground. Instead of being afraid, he walked over and held Brandon's hand. His voice was filled with despair and tenderness. "Look, no matter what we do, there is always something to separate us. Work, family, sleep, and now... maybe even jail time."
Brandon:"What should we do?"
"I have a way," Jennifer looked into her eyes, stroking the back of her hand with his fingertips, "That will allow us to be together forever."
Brandon looked into her eyes and nodded slowly.
Seconds later, two gunshots rang out one after another, leaving only the faint sound of blood flowing across the floor in the office.
When the three people arrived at the office building, the cordon had already been set up. The office on the top floor had the overhead lights on, and two bodies were lying side by side on the floor.
The man's name is Brandon, and the woman's name is Jennifer. Each of them has a bullet hole in their forehead, and a semi-automatic pistol is dropped next to them.
Their wrists were clasped together and their fingers intertwined.
There was another dead man lying in the corner of the office. It was their department manager who died at his desk.
Sam squatted down and unbuttoned the deceased man's shirt. As soon as his fingertips touched his heart, his movements suddenly stopped. He raised his head and waved to Dean: "Come over and take a look. There is a mark here."
Dean leaned over and saw a pale silver pattern printed on the skin at the heart of the deceased, like some kind of twisted ancient text, small but clear, with a very faint shimmer.
"This looks... like Enochian?" Dean frowned and subconsciously touched his ribs, "Is it similar to the marks on our bodies?"
Bai Haorui also squatted down, his fingertips hanging an inch above the mark, and silently said "Three Altars Body-Refining True Fire Art". A strand of Pure Yang True Gang, as thin as a hair, gently probed over. The mark came with a trace of very faint angelic energy, warm and weak, not like a burn left by an attack, but more like some kind of deliberate mark.
"It's angelic energy, but it's not offensive." He retracted his hand and frowned, "It's more like marking."
"Mark?" Sam stood up with a solemn expression, "Let's go to the morgue and check the first two corpses. If four people have this, it's definitely not a coincidence."
Bai Haorui nodded, and his eyes fell back on the deceased's clasped hands.
The mark of matching, coupled with extreme love to death...
The basement morgue of St. James Medical Center is very air-conditioned, and the stainless steel autopsy table glows with a cold light.
Forensic doctor Corman is a middle-aged man with gray hair. His face is composed and tired from twenty years of forensic medicine. There are deep lines at the corners of his eyes. There is a faint smell of disinfectant on his rubber gloves. There is always a notebook stuffed in the pocket of his white coat.
He pulled out the bodies of the four people and lined them up. Each body near the heart was printed with an identical silver pattern, exactly the same.
"All four corpses have this." Corman shrugged, picked up the tweezers and tapped the lines lightly.
Dean took out his cell phone and dialed a number, his tone a little impatient. "Cass, it's me. We are in room 31C in the basement of St. James Medical Center. There is something I want you to come and see."
As soon as he finished speaking, a white light flashed, and Castiel appeared in front of several people in an instant. He still held the mobile phone to his ear. He first looked at Dean, then lowered his head and looked at the mobile phone in confusion, and said seriously, "I'm already here."
Dean rolled his eyes. "I know."
"Then I'll hang up." Cass frowned and pressed down the phone, looked down at the corpse on the autopsy table, glanced at it and concluded, "You're right, Sam, these are indeed angel marks."
"Who left it?" Dean asked.
"You humans call it 'Cupid'."
"What?" Dean thought he heard wrongly.
"Cupid in human mythology is actually a low-level angel, officially classified as a third-level cherubim. There are many of them all over the world, and they are everywhere. They are responsible for maintaining the order of human blood inheritance and executing the matching instructions of Heaven." Cass's tone was serious, not like a joke at all.
"Is that the fat little angel in diapers? The one who shoots people with arrows?" Dean looked ridiculous and pointed at his chest, "You tell me, this thing was shot by an angel in diapers?"
"They are not incontinent." Cass corrected seriously.
Bai Haorui stood nearby and nodded slightly when he heard the words.
He had read the classics of the Western angel system when he had free time before. Cherubim were indeed low-level angels, responsible for ordering and trivial matters in the human world, but he did not expect that even human marriages were within their jurisdiction.
He glanced sideways at the four corpses, and unconsciously rubbed the talisman bag with his fingertips - if they were just low-level cherubim, how could they be so lethal?
"So, Cupid lost control? Shooting arrows randomly and shooting people crazy?" Dean frowned and tapped the dissecting table with his fingertips.
Cass nodded. "The possibility is very high. His mark will amplify human love. A normal dose will only induce feelings. If it is out of control and overloaded, it may indeed become like this."
"Okay." Dean rubbed his hands, "Find him and get rid of him. Where can I find this thing?"
Cass raised his eyes and looked out the window, looking through the wall toward the center of the town. "Singles bar. Tonight is Valentine's Day, where is the most active place for him."
After coming out of the morgue, the sky was completely dark. The four of them drove to the singles bar in the center of the town. On the way, Dean and Cass checked the cherubim's weaknesses. Sam checked the abnormal records of lovers in the town in the past six months. Bai Haorui closed his eyes and rested, silently running True Fire's warming and nourishing meridians.
The lights inside the bar were dim, the heavy bass shook the floor, the booths were filled with men and women celebrating the festival, and the air was mixed with the smell of alcohol, perfume and sweet ambiguity.
The four of them were sitting in the innermost booth, and there were burgers, French fries and a few glasses of beer on the table.
Cass's eyes have been glued to the burger in front of Dean since he sat down. His eyes were straight, like a homeless man who hadn't eaten in a long time, with undisguised desire.
"How do you know he will definitely come here?" Dean asked casually, biting the straw.
"This is the intersection of human desire for reproduction," Cass didn't take his eyes off Hamburg, his tone was as serious as if he was giving an academic report, "It is Cupid who will come to 'pollinate' Garden."
Dean had just picked up the burger and was about to bite it, when he suddenly frowned and pushed the plate back.
"Aren't you hungry?" Cass immediately looked up at him, with unnoticeable anticipation in his eyes, like a big dog waiting to be fed by its owner.