Noise.

Even early in the morning, noise already tore the peace of the grey, sleepy air apart.

Already people rushed to get to work. To get to school. I watched them from the window of the car as we drove by, occasionally trying to guess what each person had to eagerly set out to accomplish.

I trace the black plastic that wrapped around the edges of the window, only half listening to the officer who sat next to me, droning on about the case I was being so hurriedly ushered to.

They had found a body on the beach this morning. "Colorless" was how the officer described him, "showing no signs that he had been in the ocean at all".

It was odd, but not what I wanted to deal with this morning. I did not want to hear about more people showing up dead, even if it was my job. Sometimes I wondered if that sort of thing had started to affect my view of the world. We lived in a dangerous city after all. Perhaps the person who served me coffee this morning would be the next murder victim to sit unceremoniously in a file on my desk, brief details written about his grotesque death.

I shook off the thought. This forensics thing was really starting to get to me after all.

Suddenly the car jerked to a stop, jarring me in my seat and out of my depressing, half awake thoughts.

I could not say much as they shuffled me off past several people before I was finally pointed in the direction of the dead body.

Over the covered mass was a sturdy man, jaw clenched, lips pursed, as if he were lost in some greater thought. His steely eyes stared off as he stroked his ebony beard that had started to grey with a few bulky fingers. Atop his bald head sat a bowler hat, slightly tilted though he did not seem to notice.

This man, Ethan Fredder, the detective who had been out for my blood since I had joined the force a few months back. He caught sight of me finally, his gaze going from thoughtful to completely alert and jeering in a moment.

"I see they still trust you to do your job, newbie" he said, his voice almost as cold as the morning sea air.

I chewed my lip for a moment, searching my brain for a response that Ethan did not wait for.

"I'm surprised they sent you out here after you failed last time," he said, a smirk playing on his lips as he watched me. I always wondered how he managed to look like such a predator with just the gaze he gave me. Cold. Stormy.

"I didn't fail," I corrected, not exactly talking to him as I tended to my own work. "The case was solved. That's what matters"

"No thanks to you" he spat back, though I was no longer listening. I uncovered the body, taking a moment to look at its features.

Despite being told already, nothing could prepare me for the rather chilling appearance of the corpse.

He was a young man, likely in his early twenties, his skin pale and drained, yet completely preserved. Like a porcelain doll, flawless. White.

His clothes were ragged and torn yet he remained completely frozen, hair drained of color and grey. There were no wounds on his body. In fact, he was completely unscratched. But the worst was his eyes. Still wide, as if frozen in the moment right before he had died. Like reality had hit him that this was the end of his life. I could still read the look of sheer terror in his gaze that stared strait ahead.

Even Ethan grew quiet at the sight of the body, as if he was just as disturbed by the sight as I was.

I had to look away for a moment to collect myself before going to work.

Overhead, thunder rumbled lowly, and dark clouds boiled.