Watching the live footage on the map monitor, the seniors can't help but doubt the credibility of the surveillance camera.
Unexpectedly, Noi was the first one rushing towards the patient room.
"Fuck!!" Steven ran behind.
Prompted by sudden feelings of dread. Smoke also ran rushing back to the private room.
They just left for a few seconds, and not that far. Yet, the guards just standing by, doing their work just fine a few seconds ago, has left.
The lighting illuminating the corridor just outside the room was dimmed down, as if losing power. Their only saving grace was just, the sky outside still shines red from the sun setting down the west horizon.
Noi felt something inside the room was amiss. There were no statics generated by numerous medical equipment. No noise, nothing.
The air felt heavy. So, taking a deep breath as if preparing to dive. They opened the door wide, with Steve and Amanda having their guns ready.
There, it was as shown at the live footage by the surveillance cameras. Nothing moves, nothing even so much as flickered.
The lady in black, facing away from the door was still. The big man laying strapped on the bed was still, especially the runner laying down behind the bed.
The seniors had their breath held down, trying not to let any air out. Slowly, Noi that was a step closer, tried to look at the lady that's facing away from them.
It was also identical as what was shown on the cam. Her face, was gone. Leaving nothing but a blank yellowish canvas that was the skin of her face.
*Crack*!
The runner that was laying down by the wall, suddenly stood up, rigidly. His eyes, opened revealing a blank stare.
"The abyss, they fell." The runner said, looking at no one, nowhere. He just stood there, solid as the wall he laid against.
*THEY FELL!!*
Each one of the seniors heard a loud voice just next to their ears. Steven even jumped startled at the sound. Amanda, just sat there, her legs giving up.
"Noi, please, get away from here. Get some help!!" Steven realising that Yeri and the owner was gone, suddenly commanded his superior.
"We're surrounded." Breath said, turning the knobs of his filters.
Footsteps was heard crawling all around them, above, and below. In a voice that was akin of branches being broken down.
*Crack, crack, crack, crack.*
"Who are you? Where did you take those two?"
Steven yelled at a figure crouching in the corner of the room. It seemed like a lady, wearing red gown, and red veils adorning thick, disheveled white hair.
As it stood, responding to the shout. It grew, and grew yet again, until it's head stopped, touching the ceiling. And yet, it still has it's back hunched.
Slowly, it turned around. From the side, it seemed to have no cheek, no jawline.
And then it finally faced them. A face, that was a void. A face devoid of any facial features. Just, simply a hole that seemed endless.
Seeing such a grotesque figure, facing down on them. The three seniors simply stood there, frozen.
*BANG!*
Amanda fired her gun into the creature. It flinched, it's body twitched slightly.
*BANG!*
Again, she fired at the creature. But, it flinched no more. On the contrary, it simply stepped, no, leaned it's long slender torso closer to Amanda.
It's deep chasm of a face, came face to face against Amanda's face.
Drawn to the chasm in front of her, Amanda chose to lean closer.
*BANG!*
Trying to save his colleague, Steven fired a round at the creature's torso. It curled to the side, it's face turned to Steven.
The creature sled closer to Steven, with it's torso still curled sideways. It's arms snaked rigidly around it's torso, then slowly coming together towards Steven's direction.
Steven tried to move, but his legs refused to do so.
Then, the creature was suddenly wrapped in a black film. It's wrapped just like a deceased subject.
The wrap rapidly shrunk, with cracking sounds coming from the inside. As it was being shrunk compact, the black wrap burst open, spraying black blood all around the room.
With the world painted black, ironically, it grows brighter.
After the bright light blinding his eyes were gone, Steven realized that the room was now back to normal.
Breath, standing across the room was sweating bullets. His breathing, erratic.
Amanda, collapsed. She sat down next to breath. Her gaze, shows that her mind was not here.
"I'm sorry. His mind collapsed too long. His soul, fell to the abyss, dragging the runner down with him." Yeri, stood where she was. As she was originally shown on the footage. Her face was now normal. Eyes, nose, lips, all there.
"I told you to wait outside. Dealing with the abyss, things will get weird." Yeri said to them, her face stoic.
"What, what the hell was that creature? It's like a nightmare came to live. Amanda! Hey, snap out of it!" Steven, scared and confused, concerned for the life of his colleague.
"It's the bell chimer, it took souls, her bell guided them. As I was commanding it forcefully to hand their soul back. She came here, trying to take some with her."
"That's why, I, told you guys to wait outside. You're all far too weak." Yeri opened her eyes wide, glaring at them.
"Anyway, I'm done here. Breath, your rank was not just for show, you actually managed to kick her back inside. Well deserved, of my senior." Yeri said, as she stepped outside.
"I'm sorry, you had to see that. But I had to take responsibility, right? There, ask away. He's all yours."
The three senior just stood there. On the other side of the room, there he was, the owner laid awake. But they gave him no mind, as they were still recovering from what just happened.
---
A cheerful young lad was holding hands with her. It was someone dear. Looking at the horizon, he asked his mother gleefully.
"Mama do you think they'll drop the bomb?"
"Mama do you think it's dangerous here?"
"Hey, mom"
It was at the day, the corporate jets and drones came flying at a lone man flying in the sky.
It was at the day, the sky broke open as the man punched hard towards the heaven.
It was that day, that her son found his hero.
It was also that day, that she saw her son for the last time.
"Mother, I'm here, can you come pick me up? I'm scared, it's dark here." Her son was asking for her.
*Come with me, your child's HERE!!*
It was at that moment, she heard someone yelling at her.
"Amanda, snap out of it! It's gone! You're safe, your son's alright, he's alright. You're gonna find him, right? Please, wake up!" Steven was holding her tightly.
Amanda realized that she had gripped the hand of the man holding her tightly.
"You were, screaming, shaking violently, calling out to your son." Breath said, as he also held her hand.
"Noi, can you take her away? Please, I need to see this through." Steven, begged her to also get away from here.
The two women walked away from the room. Looking around, the runner that just collapsed was nowhere to be found.
Going to the bathroom, Steven washed his face. In the mirror, he saw that his eyes were all red.
"Now speak, it's not a walk in a park, getting you back to light." Steven said to the owner, breathing heavily.
"What form of information are you expecting me to give?" The owner said, looking at the two men standing on either of his side.
"I can only turn my head left and right, so please excuse me for looking at you, sideways." The owner talked politely.
"You seemed to be calm, for someone having a coma not too long ago." Breath asked.
"I, don't remember a thing. Last time I recalled, I was fighting the witch from your association, it seemed that her spell got me. Hence, where I am now."
"But, I do remember having a long dream, dark, dreary, cold, scary. But then, I felt someone offered a hand at me. I felt like I was saved. Hence again, why I feel calm right now." The owner continued.
The owner's expressions was strangely, serene. Just like someone founding his long lost faith in a religion.
"I know why you held me like this, I've taken quite a number of it. It makes me stronger, yes, my back pain? Gone. What's better than most was, I found my strength to fight again, to reclaim what I lost from those people." The owner said calmly.
"But alas, in my fight to reclaim what I want, what I dreamt of, I lost the ones that came with me. They were just young boys, wanting to return home."
"And you killed them." The owner calmly stared at Breath.
"It's, a little mishaps on our part. I'm sorry, but your actions itself was a threat to our safety and stability." Breath replied.
"I was enraged, I got that patch of land legally. But I can't built what I wanted? What's worse, they dare to reclaim my land for themselves!?" The owner tensed up.
"So I chose drastic measures. Why not, build the town anew? Have my boys harass the town, make business difficult, increase criminal activity, destroy properties. And when people leave one by one, then I built it anew. New neighbourhood, new street, better people."
"It matters not how many I lost, I'll do it myself if I had to. But no, now I'm done."
The owner proceeded to look up, seeing beyond the ceilings.
"When I got drowned there, falling from my own body, my world collapsed on me. I felt truly alone, I felt all my effort to be, meaningless." The owner said as he turned his head towards Steven.
"If you want to know how I got these stuffs, the abundant flakes of the sky. It's from the saviour." The owner said, smiling.
Just then, a crack appeared out of the air behind the owner. The crack forming caused a loud ringing voice, making a world without sound.
From there, what seemed like a right hand appeared. It was plated in gold.
"Give my regards to the witch. So long, heroes."
*Crack, Splurt!* "Bleerrghhhh, grrhhh."
The golden hand crushed the owner's head, just like a watermelon. The owner uttered his death throes. Thanks to the metal wrapping his body to the bed, his body only twitched slightly.