3
After getting the flashlight, (nevermind how I got it) we started searching the corridors on the floor we're on, but did not find anything or anyone.
I and Ariya decided to walk up a set of stairs to 3rd floor to find any door or hole that might get us to the outside world. I tried hard to make conversation, especially trying to get Ariya to answer prior questions.
"So, you and I know each other from before?"
"Hmm? Yes, Vakin and I did. We were medical students in the same university."
Ariya answered as he opened a door to a room, and raised the phone up to illuminate the interior.
"Medicine, huh? Were we close?"
Ariya laughed softly.
"Vakin and I were not close. Vakin was the type that does not give a damn about anything or anyone. On top of that, he was so straightforward every medical student would call him 'The Black Sheep of the Faculty of Medicine'."
Was I…that bad?
"So you didn't like me much, huh?"
To be honest, I felt depressed. I talked about living life purposefully, but it turned out I was the type that society didn't need.
"No. Actually, I do not dislike 'any human.' "
"I see. In the university, you're the type to hold a great position and have lots of responsibilities, huh?"
I took a guess. The more Ariya talked, the more I felt he was a good person. He was dependable and calm even in a situation like this.
"Yes. I was class president."
Boom. Knew it.
"The president and the black sheep… that's a lot of difference."
"No worries, I and Vakin have a lot of differences anyway."
Ariya talked nonchalantly. He didn't sound like he was bragging about his position.
"The way we think, the goals in our lives… the two of us were like people in different corners of the universe. Actually, the only thing that brought us together was…"
"Was?"
Bang!!
The noise cut our conversation short. Both of us looked up.
The noise was from above…
We looked at each other, and ran to the closest stairs. When we got to 4th floor, we came across a wide open door to the right.
The old door made creaking noises that made me shiver. Odor of blood wafted from the room. My legs were frozen, but my companion barged in without hesitation.
Is he walking into his cozy backyard garden or what?
I watched his back as he entered the room.
That room was stained red.
With blood from corpses sprawling across the ground.
To be accurate, I should use the term 'scraps'.
Stray arms and legs were scattered about. Lumps of meat were thrown in a pile with innards. An abdomen of some man was wide open like a gutted fish.
Even though those scraps of remains were so messy there was no telling which part was which, I could tell exactly how many people died.
"Three bodies…"
Ariya said, staring at three heads placed next to each other like trophies. He stood looking at them for so long I had to look back.
He didn't make any particular face, but when I stared deep into his eyes, I felt that something was off.
His eyes…were smiling!!!
Those eyes that admire the heads as if staring at some masterpiece in an art museum… that twisted expression… he changed into someone I did not know.
…As if there was a fathomless rabbit hole in his soul…
"Vakin…?"
Ariya'a voice made me jump. He looked at me, and I had to get myself together and hide my discomfort.
"The thing…that could do this…is human, isn't it?"
I asked…even though I wanted to ask if he was the one who did it.
"No. Look carefully at these cuts."
Ariya pointed to some scrap of meat that looked like human parts. All of them have bite marks.
"The cuts would be clean if it was done by a sharp object, like a knife. But the marks on these corpses appear to be done by claws or teeth of, say, a wild animal. Can you picture it?"
"You're saying there's a dog, a bear, or a tiger here?"
"I think it might be worse…"
There's something worse?
"These people… do you know them?"
I stole a glance at Ariya, who shook his head vigorously.
"No. How about you? Do you…recall anything?"
I shrugged. Ariya seemed like he wanted to say something, but froze. Not because he didn't want to talk, but because something stole all of his attention.
I followed his gaze.
"………..!!!!!!!"
My eyes opened wide.
A few steps from where we were, stood a woman.
She wore a translucent white dress. Her hair was pale in color, and her skin was white. She appeared fragile. Her body was lucid in the dark like a ghost lost in this abandoned place.
"Lilith…"
Ariya uttered softly, his voice packed with emotions as he stared at her intently.
The woman glanced around absent-mindedly without noticing us…until the moment her cold ice-like eyes met mine…
Throb…..!!!
My heart skipped a beat…and beat harder and harder to the point I was scared it was going to burst.
Badump…badump…badump…
The beating intensified. My head ached. Images ran through my mind.
…I…I was here…in a factory…the shadows of five men…and a woman…I…I…
Badump badump badump badump
That woman in white…I…I…
I've seen her before!!!
"Lilith! Wait!"
The moment I fell on my knees because of the headache, the woman called Lilith turned around and disappeared into the darkness. Ariya called out to her and set out to follow, but stopped as he saw me curled up into a ball on the floor.
"Are you alright…Vakin?"
I struggled to get up and held his collar with all I had.
"That woman…I know… 'We' know her…right?"
There was no way I was wrong. The moment I met her eyes, I felt a strong surge of familiarity. The lid on my brain was being lifted.
That woman…Lilith…she must be the key to my memories.
"You recalled something?"
I shook my head.
"Not really. Just a couple of images. Five men. But only faintly…I don't know who's who… and…"
I tried to scroll through the images that flashed past my mind.
"Lilith… I saw Lilith in my memories."
Ariya was taken back when I said her name. I was sure Ariya knew her. The Ariya that did not flinch at terrifying remains was shocked by a single tiny lady.
"You know her…you know Lilith."
I pressed. Ariya sighed.
"…Yes…I and Vakin know her very well."
Ariya talked, eyes gazing absent-mindedly at the door Lilith went through with longing, as if she was still there.
"Lilith…Vakin…and me…the three of us promised to be together forever."
Promised to be together forever…
I repeated his words in my head, and my heart felt a pang of sadness.
[Comment: Dang finally our heroine is here.]
4
"Lilith was a medical student in the same year as I and Wakin."
Ariya began to tell Lilith's story per my request. Both of us were away from that meatloaf room, and were searching the rooms on fourth floor.
"Lilith was vice president and worked in the committee with me. She had a strong sense of justice and loved to help others without caring about herself. Sometimes she got into trouble because of that, but she never stopped. People used to call her 'Saint Lilith'."
Ariya sounded like he was complaining, but I felt a hint of gentleness in his voice and eyes as he went on about the girl in his memories.
"She must be very important to you, huh?"
Ariya did not reply right away. He stared into space and mumbled.
"To me… she was my light."
A metaphorical answer. Still, I could feel the overflowing feelings the man has for her.
"What do you know about me and Lilith?"
"I do not know much. I only remembered Vakin and Lilith were in the same high school, but other than that, I would rather not say."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because Vakin would be upset with me."
I complained that he was avoiding the question, but the man still did not seem to answer my curiosity even if I pleaded him to.
"The person who has a problem with me answering is not me. I could tell you about it, but to someone with an ego such as Vakin… I do not think he wishes for his feelings to be known to the public."
I kind of agreed with what Ariya was saying. When my memories returned and I went back to my former self, if someone were to tell my love story to other people (even with my consent) I would feel embarrassed to death.
So in the end, we had feelings for the same woman.
But what is this unsettling feeling?
If the three of us were so close, then why…
Why didn't Lilith come close to us?
There must be something that went on between us. Something that gave me this amnesia. Something that went wrong before I woke up in that room.
All the conflicts in my head were directed at one person
Ariya!
His unusual calm and his eyes that admire carcass…
Something hidden beneath his polite smile…
I hid my distrust and asked him if we could search the rooms quickly for a survivor. Somebody that could answer the questions in my head.
But Ariya denied.
"That is pointless. There is no one left."
"How do you know?"
"I just know. Whoever is here other than us… they are all dead."
Ariya kept his cool. His words were not pessimistic He believed it was a fact.
…Or is it that…he killed everyone here?!?!
How else would he know everyone is dead, if he's not the fucking cause of this entire massacre!!!!??
"This factory has the smell of death."
"Smell of death?"
I didn't really understand. Smell of death would mean the scent of those remains, right? But what did it have to do with what we were discussing?
Ariya appeared to know what I was thinking.
"Have you heard about the 'sense of danger'? It is an animal's ability. It is said that all animals can sense danger that threatens it. Humans also have this ability, and we sometimes call it 'gut feeling'. But because of a convenient and safe society, our gut feeling weakened."
"So what of the smell of death?"
"If our sense could weaken, we could strengthen it with experience and practice, for example, a blind man who hears better than regular people because he uses that sense more than others. I also have that kind of sense, but not to danger or sound, but to 'death'."
A sense that is quick to detect death…
"Simply speaking, to me, death is like perfume. All deaths have their own particular smell."
"There're only corpses here. Your sense might get dull."
I didn't know where I got the courage to tell him that. His 'sense' was more to the abnormal side than admirable. The reason I hadn't fled was for one thing.
"Other than that, Lilith is alive, isn't she…?"
Yes, for Lilith. I will not let anyone hurt her.
If this man was truly a psychopath, then I should keep watch. If I was alone, running away from this guy would be easy, but I was not sure about Lilith's safety. A thin woman like her couldn't hold it against Ariya.
The best way to go was to keep an eye on this man and find Lilith. When time was right, I would take her and escape this place.
I had to survive to…
"We should stop talking and check the last room."
Ariya cut my train of thoughts. I looked at the man in the eye. He still wore that friendly smile on his face. Then I nodded with a fake calm like a politician.
If one looked closely, one would see how I was shaking.
Because the man I believed was a reliable companion…
Was a psychopath.
I stepped forward, hoping that I would not be his next victim.