"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO PLEASE NO!"
Grace walked to where Psycho was sitting and sat next to him. He barely acknowledged her presence, for the video had all his attention. In his thick glasses, an image was reflected. The torturer in the ski mask took out a gun and pointed directly at the girl's head.
"GOD NO! DON'T! PLE..."
A gunshot resonated loudly. And there was no more screaming.
"Is she dead?" Grace asked numbly. "What the fu*k, Grace. He just blew her brains out. What do you think?" Psycho answered, still looking at the screen.
"What is he going to do now?" Grace asked him. "I think he's going to cut her up," Psycho whispered. As to confirm Psycho's suspicion, the killer took a wood saw and plugged it in.
Grace covered her face with her hands. "Please. switch it off," she whispers meekly. The saw was now blaring loudly. It resembled an engine being started. "I told you so, the bastard is a fu*king butcher," Psycho said in a mixture of horror and awe.
Thru her fingers, Grace opened her eyes. And she watched. she watched the walls in the screen dripping with blood and heavier things. She watched as the saw cut thru skin, flesh, muscle, and even bone. Flesh was hanging everywhere, until she couldn't distinguish between what used to be a human and what used to be cattle meat.
"I think her name was Ruby, Ruby Lin," Psycho said softly. "Why would someone do that to her?" Grace said, her voice slightly breaking either from fear or from shock. "It's a business, Grace, a fu*king business," Psycho answered softly.
"Business?" she asked. "This is what's called a snuff film. You see, there is a difference between this tape and 'Fresh Blood'. In Fresh Blood and films of its kinds, the fact that there is a camera recording the act is coincidental. In a snuff film, the whole purpose of the movie IS to record someone's death or rape. It's not coincidental, it's the one and only reason!" Psycho explained.
"Who would buy that?" Grace asked. "Extremely rich people� You know how much it costs to buy a true snuff film? Anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000, depending on how truly violent the murder is," Psycho answered. Grace was left speechless.
"That looks like a garage. What do you think?" Psycho suddenly asked. He paused the video to inspect it more closely. "Does it?" she asked absently. In the TV, she could see it was a big empty space. The walls were covered with tiles, the lower half blue, the upper half white.
"It's a garage� it's a fu*king garage," Psycho said. "Why the fu*k does it matter? She's dead! She was tortured and then shot!" Grace said frustrated as she got up from the bed and started pacing the room.
"You don't say," Psycho whispered cynically as he kept his gaze on the screen and pressed the Play button.
"How can you still watch that crap?" Grace said with anger. "May I remind you missy that YOU stole that crap!" Psycho said as he pointed to the screen. "I didn't know what it was," Grace said defensively.
"But you suspected, Grace. Don't try to make a fool of me by denying it. Deep down, I'm beginning to think you love this shit!" Psycho said as he turned to her. "What are you saying?" she asked him softly. "What you heard, Grace" he replied.
"Well, it's nonsense. Like everything else that comes out of your mouth," Grace said as she took his pillow and slammed it against his head. But it wasn't a playful action; he knew it was a 'you-are-lucky-it-ain't-a-bat' action. "You love my mouth, don't deny it," he said as he threw the pillow on the floor. He turned his attention back to the screen in time to see something that raised a flag on his brain.
"Fu*k, what is this�" he started saying when Grace, who had her back to the screen, said, "I refuse to look." "I'm talking about the video's texture. Something funny here," he said softly. He paused the image and walked to the TV. He traced the screen horizontally. "Look at these lines, Grace." he whispered.
She did look. And she immediately regretted it. "I only see intestines, Tse," she said softly. "Haven't you learn anything in four years, Grace? The texture is different. It's a digital zoom. The fu*king idiot used a digital zoom!" Psycho explained.
"So what?" Grace asked. "We can find out what camera he used!" Psycho said. "Really? How many cameras have digital zoom? 50? 100? 1000?" Grace said with anger.
"How many had digital zoom two years ago?" Psycho said softly. His simple statement blew the anger out of Grace. She now could see where he was going. "Few�" she whispered. "Very few," he said as he got up and walked to his closet. He searched around and finally pulled out a manila folder, spilling the contents on the floor.
Grace could now see what it was. They were magazine pages, advertisements for different cameras. Only a true buff like Tse would keep this. He sat on the floor and started rummaging thru the dozens of ads. She followed his lead and sat next to him, scanning the articles for something that might help them.
"Auto focus� light control� shake control� shit!" Psycho said as he started reading one of the advertisements that looked promising but realized it had no digital zoom. Grace had one on her hand and said, "Here's one, digital zoom!" Grace said. Psycho took the paper out of her hand and, after scanning the document, sighed. "This is the B-12. It came out this year," he explained as he crumpled the paper and threw it aside.
"Stroboscopic effects, light texturing� shit, I'm sure there was one! T� XT� XT-500! Sony!" he exclaimed suddenly. He took all of the remaining papers and scanned for that model. He finally pulled out a paper and dropped the rest.
"Auto focus� shake control� stereo mike� digital zoom! This functions allows you to perform enhancements of the original image. See? Now we know the camera he used. the XT-500. It's a HI-8 System. This ad is from almost three years ago. I think."
Now that they had found the camera, the little distraction was over. The frustration at what she had seen came back at Grace like a 1000-volt shock. "Fascinating. I'm going home for dinner," she said softly as she got up from the floor and searched for her backpack.
"Are you hungry?" he asked with a cynical smile. "No� I'm afraid," she said seriously. He immediately dropped his smile and looked at her. She felt uneasy with his stare, so she walked to the VCR and pressed the Eject button.
"Hey, what are you doing? I want to watch that again," Psycho said impatiently. "Fine. Do whatever you want. I don't give a fu*k," she said as she put the backpack over her shoulder and walked out of the room.
"Bye, sweetheart. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite," Psycho said absently as he went to the player and pressed the Play button.
***********************
One hour later
Yip Residence
"Miss Diana Jean Fulgencio's parents say they have no clue as to their daughter's whereabouts. The Police are still looking for a sign in this mysterious disappearance. This is Julia Oh for Channel 6 news," the reporter was saying as Grace opened the door to her home and stepped inside.
She found her family in front of the TV, watching the news. Coqui ran happily toward Grace and waited for the welcoming pat. "Good boy," she whispered as she scratched behind his ears. What she truly meant 'Thank God my family is safe.' After watching the video, she suddenly realized how vulnerable and frail life was.
"Hey baby. Studying late?" her dad asked as he kissed he daughter. "Yeah. I'm beat," Grace said tiredly, although what she wanted to tell him was "Dad, I saw a murder today. And now, I feel frightened enough to die." But she couldn't explain it to her parents or to Lillian. She couldn't share this with anyone but Tse.
"Your food is on the fridge honey. You have to eat. It's meat loaf with my special lamb sauce! Your favorite�" Anita said as he stroke her daughter's back.
Meatloaf with sauce� flesh with blood. Grace fought the urge to throw up once again as the memories of the tape washed over her. "No. it's okay. I already ate. I'm going to bed," Grace said as she ran up the stairs and went right into her room.
Not 10 seconds had passed when someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she said as she started undressing. As predicted, Lillian walked inside. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "Of course, baby. Why do you ask?" Grace said softly. "You know why. These last two days you have acted like a ghost. It's not like you," Lillian said softly.
Grace suddenly realized something. The pencils on her desk were out of order. Although it would have been something small to anyone else, it mattered to Grace. She scanned the room, completely ignoring Lillian's questioning. Another thing- one of her drawers was half-open. Grace was a control-freak and she knew exactly where everything and anything was in her room. And she knew someone had gone thru her stuff.
"Lil, did you go thru my stuff today?" Grace asked softly. "Of course, not! I know what a freak you are for those things. why? What's wrong?" Lillian asked with concern. "Nothing." Grace whispered. She was questioning whether it was paranoia from the tape or if it was real. She had gone out of her room today in a hurry� maybe she was the one that left things like that without realizing.
"So, how's the project going? The one with Vicki Zhao?" Grace asked Lillian in an obvious attempt to change the object of Lillian's questioning. Lillian sighed, but she knew her sister enough to know that she couldn't press the subject. "It's fine, I guess� although she's not as nice as I thought she was," Lillian said softly.
"What do you mean?" Grace asked absently. "Well, she's moody. A little paranoid� a bit neurotic� typical supermodel," Lillian said with a smile. "You are right! That's you!" Grace joked as she poked her sister's stomach. Unexpectedly, the phone rang.
"Grace! Phone call!" her father screamed. Grace ran out of her room and went to the phone. "Grace?" she heard Psycho's voice on the other end of the received. "What are you doing calling here?" she whispered.
"I have something to show you," he said seriously. "I'm not interested, Tse. Get that in your head!" she whispered, trying not to get Lillian's attention. "Tse� I think someone has been in my room," she confessed.
"What? Calm down! Don't get all panicked on me! No one knows about the tape or us! Don't be afraid!" Psycho said anxiously.
"Nothing to be afraid of, right." Grace whispered, cynicism dripping from her voice. "You better check your room too," she said softly.
In his apartment, Psycho checked around the room. His clothes were thrown around the floor, his shoes were scattered around like debris, the video camera ads were crumpled around, and the air smell stale and unhealthy. In other words, no one had been in his room. "No one's been here. Look you have to come here! I have something to show you!" he said seriously.
"I can't," Grace whispered.
"Yes, you can!" Psycho replied.
"I don't want to," Grace replied.
"Yes, you do," Psycho rebutted.
"I won't," Grace said between clenched teeth.
"Yes, you will."
*********************
One hour later
Tse Residence
"You owe me 2.50 for the subway ride," Grace said as Psycho opened the door. The sight of him took her back. He was naked except for a towel wrapped around his waist. He had his eyeglasses off and beads of water still clung to his hair and body. In this attire, he looked normal and downright cute. Not that Grace would admit it. Not in a million years.
"I'll take you out for coffee sometime to make it up," he said as he signal for her to come in. She didn't move. "What?" he asked her amused. "Tse� you are naked," Grace replied matter-of-factly. "You caught me getting out of the shower," he said with a small smile. "I won't go inside of your apartment with you naked," she said as she pointed to his towel.
"Is my nakedness getting you horny?" he said with an Austin Power's voice. She couldn't help but smile. "More like your paleness is making me blind. Tse, I have no time for small talk. Get dress!" she said more seriously. "If you are in such a hurry, then come inside," he replied, mocking her seriousness.
"Alright. But if that towel comes off, I'm going tie you to a chair and beat the crap out of you," Grace said as she followed him inside. "Tempting, but it will have to wait," he said with a sly smile. They entered his bedroom, where she saw the tape was paused.
"At first, I thought it wasn't important. Just a minor glitch in the image," he said as he sat at the edge of his bed. The image in his TV was of the so-called Ruby, sitting down, bound to the chair. He pressed the play button and the image continued.
"PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE! PLEASE DON'T!" Ruby screamed. "Don't hurt me. Please, don't," Psycho mocked in a girly voice. Grace slapped him on the back of the head. "Girl, that hurts." he whispered when the screen flashed what he wanted Grace to see. "LOOK!" he said excitedly as he pointed to screen and pressed the slow-motion button.
And Grace did look. And she realized what he wanted her to see. In the screen, the attacker was walking toward the girl with the intent of beating her face but for a second, the image jumped. It was small, imperceptible to the untrained eye, but undeniable.
"It's been cut! It's been edited," she whispered. "It's only a bit. But the thing is that it is not only here. The film is full of cuts. All small. see the change is minimal. Look, he's almost standing in the same position!" he said as he pointed to the screen and replayed the video in slow motion.
"Doesn't make any sense� why cut there?" she asked rhetorically. "In a film like this, the attraction is to see everything. That's why they are always uncut. The more you see, the better," Psycho replied.
"So why cut it?" Grace asked him. She knew he had a point, but she was getting impatient with his reluctance to get to it.
"So we don't see something� or hear something�" Psycho said as he looked at her. Once again, he pressed the Play button.
"PLEASE� DON'T WHY! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS�" they heard Ruby scream when the image was suddenly cut. Maybe for a fraction of a second, but something was missing from the original recording.
"Oh my god. She was about to say something� something he doesn't want us to hear," Grace whispered.
"What could it be?" Psycho asked rhetorically. Grace already knew the answer.
"His name," she whispered.
"His name! She knew who he was! She knew the motherfu*ker that did this to her," Psycho said as he pointed to the screen.
"What does that change?" Grace suddenly asked. As if she hadn't been afraid before, she was now terrified. "It changes everything Grace! We now know more about him! We know what camera he uses, we know he knew Ruby!" Psycho said. He couldn't understand why she wasn't more excited.
"Whoa! Listen! You are starting to sound like the police," Grace said impatiently as she started pacing his room. "Hey, girl. Slow it with the insults. We've got to know more about who were Ruby's friends," Psycho said with determination.
"Are you crazy?" she asked him as she turned to face him. Psycho ignored her so she continued, "This guy could be one of them!" Once again, he didn't reply.
She grew impatient and said, "Look. I've had enough of this. I don't want to hear anymore talk of this tape!"
"You're scared shitless!" he finally replied, his eyes glued to the screen. Was she? She knew her answer right then and there. Grace turned her wide eyes at him and said, "Yes, I AM! This is no fu*king game, Tse. These people, whoever the fu*k they are, kill for real!"
"Piss off, then. I'll find out on my own," he said as he paused the video and inspected the image. Grace walked until she was standing next to him. She took his chin roughly and made him look at her before saying, "You don't understand, Tse. I said it's over, for you as well."
"Hey, hey hey! You are not my girlfriend nor my mother, so don't tell me what to do," Psycho said angrily as he stood up, looking taller than Grace. However, she wasn't intimated. "I don't want any problems, Tse," she said seriously.
"What do you mean 'problems'? I won't get you in any trouble," Psycho said more calmly. "So what now? Go after everyone that has that camera? What if you find him? What if he finds you? What if he hurts you?" Grace said. She wanted to beat some sense into this guy.
"Then it's my problem. Or is it that you can't live without me, Gracie?" Psycho said cynically. He knew he had made a mistake when he saw her eyes fill with tears, not of sadness, but of anger.
"You said it yourself. It is your fu*king problem. I'm out of here. I've never been here. I don't know you. AND I've never seen that tape!" Grace said as she stormed out of the apartment.
"Wait. Grace! I'm sorry. I didn't mean.." Psycho managed to say as he tried to stop her before getting his door slammed on his face.
**************
School of Mass Communication
Classroom
12:00 AM
"What is Cinema? Don't fool yourselves. Cinema is an industry like any other. It's about making money. It's about giving the public what it wants," Professor Koo said to his enrapt class.
"That's why cinema fails, when there's no concept of industry, when there's no communication between the audience and the filmmakers. When we don't give them what they want to see. Never forget that."
The bell rang loudly. "He's brilliant," Camel whispered as the whole class, except for Tse, clapped loudly. In her four years as a student at NYU, Grace had never been in a more captivating class. Professor Koo was a very gifted teacher indeed.
"Come on! You are all too kind. Don't forget! I want your assignments by tomorrow," Koo said with a charming smile as he started gathering his papers. "Can we have a partner?" Scott asked as the students gathered their stuff. "Who do you have in mind?" Louis asked. "My girlfriend� Leakena!" Scott said as he pointed at the girl. "Sure, no problem. just make your girlfriend promise me that she won't pinch your ass anymore during my class," Louis said with a smile. Everyone but Tse, Grace and Leakena laughed; they all knew of Leakena's obsessive compulsion to pinch her boyfriend's cheeks.
A very serious Tse walked to Grace, who was still gathering her things. "Grace, listen to me. I'm sorry for.." he started saying. But she ignored him as if he weren't even there. Psycho took her arm and tried to make her look at him, but Grace yanked her arm away and looked at him directly in the eye before saying, "I said: I don't want to talk anymore!"
"Is there a problem?" Louis asked seriously. Grace looked around and realized that, aside from Tse, the professor and herself, they were alone. "No, sir. I actually wanted to show you something," Grace said sweetly to Louis as she gave the death-glare to Tse. Psycho looked angry enough to burst, but left the classroom in silence.
"Guy trouble?" Louis asked when Psycho left. "Something like it. I actually wanted to give you what I have so far of my thesis. I have to apologize, Sir. I haven't had much time to work on it," she said apologetically as he handed him a paper.
"Please don't be so formal. I'm barely older than you," he said with a charming smile. Gia was right; Louis had one of those smiles that made your knees get weak. "But don't worry. I just want to get an idea about your work. I'm sure the final product is going to be fascinating," Louis said as he scanned the document.
"Grace, can I ask you a favor?" Louis said seriously. "What professor?" she asked. "Louis, call me Louis." he said softly. "Alright. What can I do for you, Louis?" Grace asked.
"Tonight, it's Andy's wake. I was planning on going alone, since I don't have many friends, but well, I would prefer to be with someone else. I know most of these kids either hated Andy or couldn't care less about him, but I know you appreciated him. I was wondering if you would go with me to say our final regards," Louis said seriously.
For a second, Grace was under the impression that the new professor had asked her out on a date. But this was a funeral. Besides, she wanted to go anyway. Might as well go with company than alone.
"Sure, Louis. Let me give you my address," she said as she opened her backpack to look for a piece of paper. "Don't worry. I'll look it up in your file," Louis said with a smile. "Do you look in all your students' files?" Grace asked him, but the next second regretted it. This was her professor; she could get in trouble.
"Only the very charming ones, Grace, only the very charming ones," he said as he bowed slightly, took his briefcase and left the classroom.
***************
NYU Library
3:32 PM
Grace sat on her favorite desk, the one that is next to the library's entrance. She took her Walkman out and played the tape. With the background of the classical music, she opened the file that contained the information she had gathered in the newspaper's archives on the last three hours.
Article #1 - 'College student disappears.' A picture was shown. Grace had no doubt anymore; the girl in the video was truly Ruby Lin, Third-year publicity student at NYU. She had disappeared without a warning on a Sunday. She had left for her morning run and never returned. The police and her family were frantically searching for clues to her whereabouts.
Article #2 - 'Where's our daughter?" Another picture was shown, this time of Mr. Lin holding a picture of his daughter in one hand and a letter they had received, supposedly of Ruby, after her disappearance. In the letter, it said that she had fallen in love with a wonderful young man and, knowing her family wouldn't approve, had decided to run away with him. However, Mr. Lin was still suspicious. He said he knew his daughter very well, that she would never do something like that. So, he pleaded with the readers to submit to the police any clues they might have.
Article #3 - 'Court blocks new inquiry in Lin's case.' The small article, again with a picture of Ruby in all her beauty, talked about how the court blocked Mr. Lin's request to having his daughter's disappearance case re-opened. They stated that the letter he received was proof enough that his daughter had left in her own will.
Article #4 - 'Ruby Lin - the year after.' Ruby had become a poster child for runaway kids. In the article they talked about this phenomenon, making small comments about the Lin case and how her disappearance actually fit a pattern.
Grace closed her eyes. She tried to match the face of the beautiful girl smiling in the picture in the newspaper with the girl that had been screaming and begging for her life. They seemed like two different people; yet Grace knew they were one and the same. Her heart broke when she thought of Lin's parents, worrying all this time about their daughter's fate. The worst was that Ruby had suffered a fate 10 times worst than anything they could have imagined.
With her eyes closed, amongst the sounds of classical music coming from her headphones, she heard Ruby's screams. Over and over again. Begging for her life. Begging for him to stop. Begging for help.
Grace opened her eyes. She once again felt lost and alone. She was trembling slightly, and she remembered she hadn't had anything to eat. She was anemic; she needed to eat regularly. She was about to walk to the soda machine for a quick fix when she saw IT.
She couldn't believe her eyes, and for a moment, she couldn't even breathe. There it was, lying on a desk just next to the soda machine. A Sony video camera. From her desk, she could read the distinct marking on the camera's side: XT-500.
Grace kept looking. She could taste the fear in the back of her throat. She realized that someone was sitting next to the camera. It looked like a guy, but with his back to Grace she couldn't really see who it was. He took the camera and started filming someone in front of him.
Grace definitely recognized the girl in front of him. The girl was smiling flirty to the camera, blowing kisses and waving. It was none other than Vicki Zhao, supermodel extraordinaire.
That could only mean the guy was..
Grace got up from her desk and finally walked to the soda machine. She didn't want to see too obvious; but she couldn't help but look back to them. With fear, she realized that the camera wasn't pointed at Vicki anymore, it was pointed at her.
Without getting any more attention to herself, she quickly took the soda can from the dispenser and walked back to her desk. She sat down. Luckily, the cameraman seemed to ignore her.
She watched as he put the camera in the bag nearby and walked to Vicki. He gave her a passionate kiss, and finally turned around.
Every doubt Grace had about the man's identity dissipated as he looked directly at her before walking away.
It was none other than Edison Chen.