Isella opened her eyes in the dark. She panicked. She wasn’t in her bed. She felt a hard floor beneath her. Where was she? Did she fall out of bed?
No, her room had a wooden floor. This was stone. Isella hurriedly sat up. Her head was spinning.
“H-Huh…?”
It was dark. Isella rubbed her eyes. But she couldn’t see anything clearly.
Why? Her room had large windows. It couldn’t be this dark. She groped around hastily. She touched sothing.
“AHHH!”
It was a human hand. Isella scread in terror. But the hand covered her mouth. Terrified, Isella scratched at the hand with her nails. The person behind her groaned in pain.
“…Ugh, Isella… stay still.”
It was a familiar voice. But Isella couldn’t calm down and struggled.
“Isella, calm down.”
The other person calmly pressed down with strength, and gradually, Isella’s strength waned, and she ca to her senses. Even in the pitch darkness, the voice was clear. Soft yet firm. Before her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she knew who it was.
“It’s okay. It will be okay if you calm down. Alright? I’ll let go if you calm down.”
Isella nodded. The hand covering her mouth slowly withdrew.
“Carynne? Where are we? Is this the Grand Cathedral? Why is it so dark?”
Please, let it be. Isella voiced her hope. But Carynne imdiately denied it.
“No, it’s not there. This is… a place we shouldn’t be in. I’ve been here before.”
“Where is this?”
Carynne moved away from Isella. The sound of footsteps could be heard. Isella asked Carynne again, who was moving away.
“Where are we?!”
“Isella, I think it’s better to turn on the light, but promise you won’t scream. And don’t ask about where we are. It’s better that way.”
“Tell where we are!”
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
Isella scread in a fit, but Carynne didn’t answer.
“Where the hell are we? Why are we here? I was definitely…”
Where is this place? It’s completely unfamiliar. The floor is cold and clammy. There’s not a single window, but it’s not a small place. Isella groped the floor, trying to recall.
Where was the last place I was at? Where am I now? Her head spun. Isella held her head. Sothing was trickling down from her head, bothering her in the darkness.
“…Hiiiek.”
Her head was wet and sticky. At first, it seed like sweat. She hoped it was water, but it didn’t seem so. As she realized this, her scalp began to sting. Her arms and legs hurt. Pain was rising from all over her body.
Why?
Isella began to search her mory.
* * *
“Shh, Isella.”
Carynne raised a finger to her lips and locked eyes with Isella. Isella started to speak but stopped. Carynne seed to be looking at sothing behind her. Her whole body was tense.
Isella tried to talk to Carynne but stopped. The breeze was still gentle and the sound of water was quiet, but suddenly the atmosphere had beco grave. Why was that, even though she hadn’t said anything yet? Isella was confused by Carynne’s sudden change in deanor.
“Why…”
“Just turn around quietly. Slowly. It’s okay, just move slowly…”
Her face was stiff. Isella didn’t understand. But Carynne’s firm attitude silenced her. Isella glanced around.
It was already getting dark. There was a faint sll of blood and a foul odor in the air. Isella grimaced. She couldn’t recognize this place. They had walked too far along the cloth path. Isella was about to move when she saw sothing.
Isella held her breath.
“…Eek—”
There were people. They were all large, young, and middle-aged n.
Their clothes were shabby and their beards were unkempt, n of a status that Isella would hardly ever et. They were cursing.
“Ugh.”
“Hurry.”
Carynne must have seen them and decided to turn back. Isella hurriedly tried to turn back.
Splash—
They grabbed sothing and threw it into the stream. There was a splashing sound as they threw it. They were dumping sothing. The foul sll seed to co from there.
Isella saw one of them playfully lifting and moving an arm. An arm? A human arm. Already severed from the body.
‘Those n are disposing of a corpse.’
They had co too far down. And there was no one around but them.
When Isella couldn’t move, Carynne gently pushed her and whispered.
“Slowly… we need to get out. Quietly.”
Carynne moved slowly behind Isella.
Isella couldn’t even scream and turned around. She had to get out of here, just as Carynne said. Imdiately.
Isella slowly took a step. She had to move.
But then, maybe the grass rustled, or a footstep was heard. Rough shouts from the n reached them.
“Hey, over there! Damn it!”
“Catch them!”
“There are two won! Catch them now!”
“Don’t let them get away!”
Damn, Carynne clicked her tongue. Carynne pushed Isella’s back.
“Run!”
Isella ran frantically. The sound of their shoes echoed loudly. Isella ran with all her might for the first ti in her life. But her clothes were too heavy, and her heels were too high. And there were too many n.
‘No, no… We’re going to get caught.’
“Damn, this is such a hassle.”
“At least it’s convenient. Thanks to this, we have less work. Should we use these won?”
“That would be best.”
Isella hadn’t taken many steps before her hair was yanked violently.
And that was the end.
* * *
They were taking a walk together. Isella, worried about Carynne’s condition, had gone for a check-up at the hospital and had been restless ever since.
Seeing this, Carynne thought that perhaps the hospital had declared her insane or conducted so other tests.
Dullan had been giving her dication since childhood, so maybe the results of those drugs were showing up now. Whatever the result, it made sense. Whether it was her mind or body, sothing could be abnormal.
Carynne was ready to accept any bad result, so she was at ease. Because of this, she found Isella’s restlessness sowhat endearing.
“C-Carynne… I have sothing to tell you during our walk.”
When Isella asked Carynne to go out with her, Carynne willingly accompanied her. They walked slowly along the riverside, waiting for Isella to speak.
Could we possibly say that we’ve beco sothing like friends?
Carynne thought this and applauded her own efforts. It felt as satisfying as murder. When she successfully killed Nancy, she felt this proud, too. Indeed, attempting sothing that seed impossible and succeeding was very rewarding.
The mont she was ready to listen to Isella’s words with a light heart, they ruined it.
“Damn it…”
When they left, the sun was still out, and the riverside park was filled with people taking walks. It seed far from any danger. But as they wandered aimlessly, they had unintentionally walked too far.
At the mont when Isella was about to speak, Carynne saw n disposing of a corpse in the river. Witnessing this scene, Carynne didn’t think about the danger first but rather about how she had just managed to get this close to Isella.
Carynne was caught first, her mouth covered by the n, and she thought about the end of this life. Having seen them disposing of a corpse, they wouldn’t leave her alive. In the past, Carynne would have been confident that she wouldn’t die no matter what happened during this ti of year, always managing to last a full year before dying. But now, it was different. She could die at any mont.
Regrettably, it seed this life was going to end like this.
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