track: banquet
You stumble blindly for the door, eager to flee the room. Your fingers close around the smooth handle – you turn, and pull. It does not budge. The door does not open. You rattle the handle in a panic, letting out a desperate yell.
It’s locked, isn’t it? Amanozaki shouts from the other side of the door.
You have to unlock it!
That’s… that’s right. You fumble around until you hear the
click of the bolt drawing back. Without hesitation, you open the door and rush forward before whatever it is that is in here gets you.
The moment you leave, you feel a sharp, stabbing pain in your ankle. You cannot help but tumble to the floor, screaming at the agony.
“
I alMOst tH
oughT
thAt yOu would
elude me through sheer luck.” The voice changes tone throughout the entire sentence, shifting disconcertingly from Amanozaki’s until it settles into a smooth, cultured and deep baritone. “But here you are.”
You look up, unable to form any words through the intense pain that is now creeping up your leg. Before you stands an old but tall man in a deep blue
yukata: there is only a slight hunch to his posture, and he carries himself with a dignified weight. Though his silvery hair is receding, it adds a certain gravitas to his looks. There is a bespectacled man by his side, hunched over and twitching nervously. His eyes are wide, darting from side to side with fear and insanity, and his entire face is covered with black tattoos. It takes you a while to realize what those truly are; not tattoos at all, for mere ink would not shift and unfurl in such… lifelike manners, under the skin, would they?
The old man taps the tip of his elegantly carved wooden cane on the floor, making a loud rap, looking down at you. For an instant, his form seems to blacken and shrink to a child-like size, before returning to normal. A veil that you had not even realized was there lifts from your eyes.
“Shinoseki, what are you doing outside the barrier? Are you nuts?” You hear Amanozaki call out from the room you just left – even from your prone position, you can see her clearly in the candlelight. Looking like she has just woken up, she peers blearily at the old man. “Wait, who is-“
A sharp report rings through the cafeteria.
“Eh?” With a look of disbelief, Amanozaki glances down at her chest, and then at the smoking gun that has just appeared in the old man’s surprisingly steady hand. A deep red stain is spreading across the front of her clothes. She collapses backwards without another word.
You stare at her shooter. Something about him makes you want to sock him in the face. A black wave of anger seems to rush forth from somewhere deep inside you, temporarily washing away the pain. Gritting your teeth, you attempt to get to your feet. His wrinkled face displaying the full measure of how unimpressed he is at your efforts, the old man raises his cane, shifting his grip. A second later, the heavy handle smashes into the side of your face. You can
feel the cracking of your cheekbone as it gives way under the force of his blow, causing you to roll over and scream in pain.
“Taketatsu, search him for the amulet,” orders the old man with the air of one used to having his every command obeyed. “We are running out of time.”
“Y-yes!” Taketatsu – the man that kidnapped Mitsuki – hurries over to you and begins his search. He seems loathe to even touch you, though he performs his task quickly while you are still incapacitated by the pain. “N-nothing,” he mutters after a while. “There’s… he’s not carrying what you want.”
The old man nods. “It is with the other girl, then.”
The deep tolling of a large bell resounds throughout the hospital.
Something about the environment changes, and the bruise on your ankle sends out a pulse of intense agony, causing you to curl up, biting on your lip. You can barely feel your lower limbs anymore.
The bell continues to ring out – pieces of the walls and floor begin to break off, flaking away to reveal a different structure underneath... an older hospital?
Is this the juxtaposition of Ikei and Kaimei?
But that, too, cracks and disintegrates, to show what lies beneath…
Suddenly, Taketatsu screams, clawing at his face. The black under his skin is writhing horribly. “Please help me!” he shrieks, crawling towards the old man. “D-Do what you did before! Save me!” His nails are digging and scrabbling into his cheeks, tearing open bloody wounds that stain his fingers red. “It’s… I can feel it inside! It! Them! I… Help! Please!” babbles Taketatsu insanely.
The old man knocks him aside with a swipe of his cane. “
She is drawing close, and the degeneration has begun. In these circumstances, nothing I can do will make a difference,” he says calmly. “Compose yourself and face death with the courage it demands.”
Taketatsu’s screeching reaches a crescendo and shortly after turns into watery, choking gurgles as the darkness floods out of his pores and coats his skin, slithering all over the man as if it were something alive.
Leaving the sobbing and screaming mess behind, the old man stands over you imperiously. “I would dearly love to find out just how deep your plot goes, but…” His thin lips peel back to reveal a grin with entirely too many teeth. “I know not to underestimate you now, boy. You shall not set eyes on the abyss a second time.”
No. It can’t end here.
But you no longer have the strength to resist.
He points the gun at your head – “W-wait,” you croak hoarsely – and pulls the trigger without hesitation.
---DEAD END---
