Chereads / 《CHANGE 》 / Chapter 39 - 8/6/2017

Chapter 39 - 8/6/2017

*MITSURU FUKUYAMA *

Due to unfortunate circumstances... I am awake. I got up due to the bright sunlight shinning through the balcony... Shit! The sun has exposed me! Who left the damn thing open?!.....Oh wait...

Me...

I sigh and looked to my right... Sayuri is sleeping silently... If I knew what death really looked like, I think this is the image of what it's like to die peacefully...

I never thought of that... For me... I would want to die... miserably...

"Louise..."

"Huh?..." Who's that?

She randomly said that in her sleep, she may be disturbed by some sort of dream. Louise? Isn't that... The guy she fell in love with?... I don't want to guess what she's dreaming about.

"Argh!"

"Oh... You're awake..."

She opened her eyes, and sat up. She suddenly looked at me with intensity in her eyes. I was surprised.

"You!" If you're thinking I did something to you, then you're wrong... Don't get any bad ideas...

"I hate you!" She jumped right on top of me! Holding me tight! What's up with her? Is she high on something?!

"Huh?! What ar-?!"

"If I woke up with you dead! I'll never forgive you!" She's sitting on my stomach, holding me down by my shoulders.

Why did she wake up like that?! She's crazy! Is she trying to kill me?!

"I don't want to see anymore people die!! That's enough!!" She yelled while lowering her head.

"What?..." She's seen more people die...? I looked concerned by what she said.

She lowered herself on my chest, hugging me tightly. I can hear her quietly sobbing. "Please.... Don't go..." She said through her tears.

My eyes widened... I didn't know what else to think besides....- Damn! She's so damn heavy!! GET off ME!

She looked up and freed my lungs! Finally!

"Sorry! I'm still shocked." More like panicking...

"Calm down... I'm not sorry for what I did... But for your sake, I'm alive..."

"What?..."

"I'm going to find out who tried to kill you..." I said firmly, determining myself to unravel this mystery.

"...But...wasn't it your fault...that I ended up in that situation...?" She said quietly.

"Lucky I did!"

Her expression shifted. She looked confused. I know it's hard on her but it's the truth, and I need her help. She needs to go on strong, like she always has...

"Because... now I know there's another person working under Sawashiro's orders, trying to kill my friends first... Then they'll kill me when I'm lost in despair..." I explained to her.

"What?... But... Why would he do that?... Right after Miss Hinami's death...? Wouldn't that be too risky...?"

"Good point... But how do you know that this 'second person' was even involved with Hinami's death?"

Sayuri looked down in thought, searching for a reasonable answer, but instead she concluded with a understatement. "But, how do you know that Sawashiro wanted to kill your friends? Wouldn't he have known that you would figure it out...? Then, why would he kill us randomly?"

Another good point, well I have proof for that. I showed her the first message I got from this unknown number.

"This is why..." I showed her my phone and she read it silently.

"... what?!... When did you get this?"

"When we all met together for the first time."

"But... who's the.. 'Ghost'?..."

"I don't know myself... But I think that's the name of a killer..." I look up on the Web on my phone and was surprised to see what the results were.

I showed it to Sayuri. It seemed that there were pictures of blood been written on walls quoting "Ghost!" Or "The ghost was here!" Frightening images showed of the killers weapons that were used. Apparently, the ghost seemed to have killed 8 people in the US and 3 people in the UK.

I read an article out loud while Sayuri hovered over my shoulder. "The ghost is a murderer who has committed homicidal suicides on people. The number of kills have been unknown. However, there have been links to the killers victims... Each body that has been killed by the Ghost, either male or female, has been having sexual contact with the killer, before killing them off.

They (the police department of San Francisco) hypothesised that the killer had ended most of these deaths, by throwing them off buildings and bridges... No other injuries have been reported by anyone other than the impact of the fall caused on the body.

The police suspected most of these 'deaths' as 'suicides' therefore closing the case. However, once the word 'Ghost' came out clearly, everyone suspected that these suicides, of people who had a fairly simple lifestyle, had been killed by the ghost."

It was long but worthy, we had so much information right at our very fingertips.

"What about in Japan?" Sayuri asked and I searched immediately.

"Turns out that the ghost has killed people in Japan, but no one find the killer. The killer keeps a clear track of every possible evidence... No signs of the killer online or on security cameras because it seems like someone tampered the system and even the security guards didn't suspect a thing. In Japan, the amount of victims is unknown, and the killer has no identity... Because no one has escaped the Ghosts wrath..."

"You guys awake?" Suddenly Mr Shintaru entered the room, startling the both of us.

I took a deep breath and looked at him. "Unfortunately..." I replied deadly.

"Hey!-" Smack!

"OW!" Sayuri suddenly hit me on the head because of what I said, but I didn't mean it! Come on!

"Sayuri... Are you ok?" Shintaru asked in worry.

"Ye-!"

"No! She's crazy!" I yelled out in between.

"Shut up!" "Argh!" She smacked me again!

'Well... Both of you can relax today... You can have breakfast now."

"Okay! Thank you, Shintaru!" Sayuri exclaimed.

"Mister Shintaru to you!"

"Oops! Sorry..."

I guess everything is alright... For now... This mystery is so twisted... it can't be solved that easily...

*SAYURI SCHREIBER *

It's so quiet without everyone here today. It seems like they went on a trip to some amusement park nearby.

Mitsuru jumped out excitedly, I guess he's happy.... We're eating breakfast, and Mitsuru asks out of nowhere, "Why didn't you let yourself free from being strangled?..."

"Huh?.." I don't understand what he meant, I was too petrified after everything that I can hardly remember.

"Your arms were down beside you, you could've saved yourself by un-tieing the cloth around your neck... Yet you didn't..Why?"

I was shaking... I didn't know why... I felt someone behind me... a presence... Just like I did last night... A presence... it came to me faster than I could react. I felt it touch me... whisper in my ear... before I could hear it, I felt this tightness around my neck, I thought it was me...

My fear and tears blocking my airway... However, I realised that there was something physically tightening my throat... it was too late...

"Hello." I dozed out for a bit. I keep thinking about what happened since this morning.

"Uh! Um... I was too scared... maybe I would die easily, without suffering, if I didn't struggle to survive..."

"What?!" What did I say...? I didn't mean it... I just really...Don't know...

"Have you..." He looked into me, right through my soul... he titled his head... His eyes full of curiosity and caution... "Been through pain..?"

Why?... is he asking me that?... I fell silent... I didn't want to answer him... I haven't been through pain... I don't want to tell him my story just so that he can think that I'm the victim...

But I'm not...

"Why?..."

"Just." He seems to be taking it so lightly. "Because... that's what a suicidal person would say..."

I was stunned... I didn't know.. what to say... Am I.., suicidal?....

I never thought about killing myself... However... I did think that he would come out to kill me...!

.

.

.

*MITSURU FUKUYAMA *

"Why are we doing this?..."

"Because I said so..."

"I can't do this..."

"Are you seriously afraid of a little water?..."

"Yes..."

"You can't swim right?..."

"Shut up!..."

"Well, I don't care."

And then Shintaru just pushed us into an empty swimming pool and said, "Good luck." He slammed the door behind us.

"I hate him. .." Stupid saved me when I tried to fly and now he doesn't care if I drown! F*ck you!

"Why am I here alone with you...?" Sayuri asked uncomfortably.

"I don't know...I'm not swimming..."

"Well, I am..." She removed her towel and dipped herself into the pool. I Didn't care, all I could think about was what happened last night.

Could I really be alright? Did Sawashiro send me messages telling me to kill myself?... he didn't seem like he cared about me but only his dignity...

I know for sure that Sawashiro isn't the 'Ghost', because this killer has been all over the world. However, what if Sawashiro hired the killer to kill Hinami..? But what would be his objective? And how would he kill us..?

If I was a psychopath, and tried to kill people as if it were a suicide... then what would I do to lure my prey towards me?... Maybe build my trust with them? But if that was the case, then Sawashiro would've been close with Mahiru... so that can't be it...

Then... what did he do?.. Is he just trying to make everyone around him suffer?... That's it! He wasn't luring his prey, he was luring the people close to his victims.

Like, Shintaru and now... Me. . By trying to kill off innocent people to make his victims suffer...before killing them next!

"Hey!"

"What?" She distracted my concentration.

She's still in the pool and I'm still standing, I want to sit down but there's nothing to sit on and I don't want to go anywhere near that thing!

"I'm bored..." She's so annoying, I'm just going to ignore her.

"Hey! Did you hear me?! Why won't you swim with me?.." She's so stupid... Like I care... "Hey! Mitsuru!"

I couldn't handle her anymore, I wish I could go through a day without having to shut anyone up! Coz that takes skills!

"I'm sorry... While you were talking, I was trying to figure out where the hell you got the idea I cared..."

"I'm forgive you.." She looked down on me.

"What?" Shit! She catches on pretty well...

"While you were standing there, thinking... I just swam ten laps!"

That was fast! But... of course... I'm gonna act like I don't care and be a bitch... "So..?"

"Wanna be that way... Fine!" She jumps out from the pool and steps closer towards me. Then she proceeds to place her hand on my chest, I'm startled by her bold move. Though she does look intimidating!

"Yesterday, you wanted to kill up yourself from attempted flight... Now, you can just drown yourself to death... Isn't that what you want?..."

What the hell?... She's acting as if she didn't even care.

"Aren't you scared that I might die?..." I looked back at her, smiling, playing along to her humorous threat.

"What makes you think I'm scared of death?..."

"That's right... Then what was that you said?.. Oh yeah...'I don't want to see anymore people die..'"

She flinched, I guess I won this round.

"That's right I've seen so many people die... Seeing you drown would be nothing..."

"Says the one who had a panic attack, after my small attempt of 'flying.'" I quote.

"Let me remind you, I've seen alot more people die than you can count. Miss Hinami's death... I didn't even flinch... Yet... Didn't you have a panic attack over that?.."

She got me... but still, this is getting too far... Is she being serious about this?...

"Then... Louise..." She froze, steadily, her eyes, piercing through me... "Did you see him die...?"

Sayuri lowered her gaze, after a couple of seconds... She lifted her head up, revealing a smirk.

"Louise... He's dead... I killed him..."

What?.. I felt a shiver up my spine... I don't understand...

"I'm not a human being at all..."

To be continued. . .