Hope of the Dying World

CHAPTER 8 - THE RIVAL'S BODY

'... Someone... please! Wake me up.'

Ferran's heart almost dropped by the knock on the front door. He slowly opened it and saw a teenage girl wearing a boyish outfit.

"Hey, uncle! Good morning. Mom wants to have you this and---"

"Thank you." He quickly grabbed the container and closed the door.

"And mom is asking you to have dinner with us. See yah." The girl said before leaving. He sighed and looked at the container and saw fried rice and a fried egg.

While eating his breakfast at a messy table, his mind was full of questions.

'What happened?'

'Is this a nightmare?'

'Can someone tell me what's happening right now?'

Before he took a bath, he looked in the mirror again and nothing changed.

He is in Simeon Ferran's body and it was like a torture to him, to be in his rival's body.

He tried to slap himself once and it really hurt that turned his golden brown cheek to red.

He took a bath and wore something clean and comfortable. He sat on a messy couch and looked at the empty ceiling.

'Will someone explain my situation right now? Coz I really don't have any idea what's going on.'

'What happened to Cally? My lovely daughter. Did she really die because of that damn disease? What about Trestan? We got into an accident. Is he alive?'

"F*ck this!" He held his hair tightly and he looked crazy.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of someone's phone.

'Maybe... Ferran's?' He searched for it and answered without looking at the caller's name.

"Hey, where are you? It's almost seven in the morning and you're not still here? Anything wrong? Time to work, man."

"Wait... Who's this?" He looked at the screen and the name of the caller was just "P".

"Are you drunk? It's me, Sanchez. Better hurry, man. You might get scolded again because of your tardiness." The call ended.

'Sanchez? Who's Sanchez?'

He decided to get changed and went to work though he wasn't sure what he must do in this unfamiliar situation.

He went outside. The house was also near the sea. The glint of the sunrise flashed on his eyes and the cold wind from the calm sea touched his face.

He saw an old familiar black pick-up car parked in the bungalow house's garage.

On his way to the police station, he looked around. He was feeling something odd inside him. A lot of questions ran through his mind.

At the station, the on-duty police at the front desk greet him with a 'good morning'.

At first, he ignored it but when he recognized who it was, he stepped backward and stopped in front of the on-duty police.

"Police Officer II... Jennifer Jimenez? You're back! I thought you have left San Lorenzo but---"

"Wait! Are you talking to me? Is this for real?" The policewoman asked with amusement in her ocean blue eyes.

"Yeah... Why?" He confusedly asked.

"It is the very first time that you talk to me, SPO1 Ferran! You don't know how much I admire you but you always ignore me." She said dramatically.

He wondered why he is called SPO1 instead of SPO2. Suddenly he realized that he is not Timotheus in the eyes of the people around him. He is now Simeon Ferran.

The policewoman in front of him is the woman who has feelings for Ferran. He smiled wickedly before he talked again.

"Well yeah. I know. May I ask what date it is now?"

"March 16, 2020."

He was stunned by what he heard. He thought that his spirit just moved to another body but the truth is, he went back to the past and was in a different person.

"Holysh*t." He cursed out of nowhere before he proceeded to his office but PO1 Jimenez informed him that it was not his office because his department at that time was on the other side.

He wondered more and more about the purpose of what is going on right now, so he didn't notice the other man coming from his opposite direction and they bumped into each other.

The pile of folders containing crime reports scattered in the hallway.

"I'm sorry. I didn't---Holysh*t! Are you for real!?" He touched the guy's face using both of his hands. "You're alive!"

Unconsciously, he hugged the man in front of him. Hot tears formed on the sides of his eyes. It almost fell but it didn't happen because the guy pushed him away.

"What the heck!? Are you gay?" The guy was annoyed by his strange act.

"Hey, Beltran! We need to arrange the reports. Today's the deadline---what... What are you doing there?" The other man asked with a questioning look.

He didn't know what to do when he saw his former self. SPO2 Julsen Beltran immediately took the folders and stayed away from SPO1 Simeon Ferran. He glanced at him with a disgusted look before he whispered something to SPO2 Timotheus Alfarez who saw them in the hallway.

"He's weird." SPO2 Beltran whispered.

"Just don't mind him. Let's go. There is lots of work that needs to be done today." SPO2 Alfarez tapped his partner's shoulder, gave SPO1 Ferran a brief gaze before he proceeded to their cubicle.

Ferran was thankful because he remembered where his cubicle was located. There are lots of cases pending on his table, and he started opening some folders. Lots of drug cases, and rape cases that he needs to handle.

He remembered that year 2020, rape cases were rampant and at the same time, a growing number of drug dealers and users in San Lorenzo.

'Damn it! Why do I need to handle these cases? This is not mine to begin with and it feels so f*cking weird. Especially living in this body.'

Among the cases he looked at, there was one that caught his attention. The name of the rape victim... Georgia Ramos. He felt something strange. He seemed to have heard that name before but he can't remember.