The black dog

Chapter 9

They found exactly what Souta was looking for. It was the room with the red light and the hooks hanging there. Mizore couldn't believe what she was seeing. Souta recognized the place from his dream. Hanging from one of the hooks was the skeleton from a little boy and over the skeleton was a striped sweater. They didn’t utter a word. It was now clear to Mizore and Souta what their dreams had in common. For a while they just stood in the doorway, staring at the small skeleton. Only when they had recovered from the shock did they walk in and begin to examine the room. Nothing made it clear where they actually were and what the room was actually for.

'What is this place.' Nanami uttered the question everyone was thinking.

'If only we knew that.' Souta said.

'This looks like some kind of t*****e chamber. You should see this.' Eijiro's reply gave the clarity they needed. There were knives and hooks on a tray. These had been used on the little boy.

'I think our whole investigation is just beginning now.’ Mizore had seen this little boy in her dream.'

'I wonder what kind of people would do this.' Nanami said as she took the inside of the room in.

'It seems like they were having fun with it.' Eijiro responded in a distant tone. Everyone was busy with each other except Mizore. She was silent and looking around. She wasn't quite out of her shock yet. Everything that passed her by, she touched for a moment. The vials, the chains and so on. As she got a little closer to the little skeleton, she stepped into a pool of old blood and made a little jump backwards. Behind her hung a locker. She opened the cabinet and searched through it, until a white point of light appeared in front of her. It moved and shifted. She was drawn to it and without thinking she began to follow it. As if under hypnosis, she kept following the white dot. She walked out of the room and down the hallway. Everyone was so busy discussing that no one noticed Mizore leaving the room. The surroundings she had forgotten, everything passed her by. She walked through the hallways of the building, not even knowing or realizing she was out of the room. Mizore walked on until she came to room with an operating table. The entire room was covered in blood. No spot had been left out. Except for the knives that lay on a small table. They were as good as new. Anyone would have noticed that immediately who would see it, but not Mizore, her focus was fully on the white dot in front of her. During the discussion, it struck, at one point, that Mizore was no longer there.

'Um guys? Where is Mizore?' Souta asked, who was the first to notice that Mizore was no longer in the room. They all looked around. Mizore was no longer there.

'Maybe she went out on her own for a while.' Eijiro said.

'No. We had made the agreement to stay together and even though I don't know Mizore too well, she's not the type to not keep agreements.' Souta said confidently. Calling her out would cause the whole building to collapse. There was nothing left to do but discuss what to do, with the hope that nothing had happened to Mizore.

Meanwhile, Mizore still hadn't taken her gaze off the small dot, the glint of the blades not noticing her. The dot began to move again she went after it and lay down on the operating table. No, I don't want this, this is not good, she thought, but didn't move. She continued to lie quietly. The incipient panic existed only in her mind. The dot began to multiply and all Mizore did and could do was look at it.

The others had not yet dared to move an inch. Partly because fear had taken hold of them as well.

'I think it is better to stay here and wait for Mizore to come back. That's the safest thing for all of us.' Eijiro said.  Souta was about to jump in on this when he heard a voice. It was soft, but also seductive and hypnotic.

'Mizore.... Mizore...come.' Souta heard. Mizore was in danger. He had no proof, but he was sure of it. Mizore was in danger and he had to find her quickly. He ran out of the room with great surprise from the other two. He ran through the hallways looking for any sign of Mizore, but she was nowhere to be seen.

The now three white dots formed into white shadows. Mizore wanted nothing more than to leave, but she couldn't, she couldn't move. She was stuck. The white phantoms became doctors in white coats and with white caps over their mouths. Two hung above her a third stood by the blades that shone because they were so clean. Mizore now saw the blades she had missed because of her hypnosis. The doctor turned around and held up one of the blades. No, this can't be, this just can't be, she thought as the doctor moved closer and hovered over her. The blade glinted and Mizore became very frightened. She wanted to scream and run, but she was stuck and she couldn't utter a word.

Souta searched everything he came across hoping to find Mizore. The others were also searching. After all, six eyes see more than two. Every room they passed they looked to see if Mizore was in there. In vain, Mizore was nowhere to be seen. Souta began to look more and more frantically for her and knew that he was beginning to overlook things as a result.

'Souta, calm down. Searching frantically doesn't help. We'll never find her that way.' Nanami said and layed a hand on his shoulder.

Souta had to agree with her on that and stood his ground.

'It will be all right. We'll find her, no matter what.'

Eijiro, in the meantime that Nanami was trying to reassure Souta, had gone to investigate a little more and made an important discovery.

'Souta, Nanami, I have found something, I think. Something that is definitely worth trying.' They both walked towards Eijiro, who was standing by a narrow corridor.

In the b****y operating room, Mizore lay terrified on the table, which was in the middle, with three doctors surrounding her. Two were holding her extra tightly this time and the doctor who was already hovering over her was moving toward her shoulder with the knife. The only thing going through her mind was the word "no" she really didn't want this, but no matter what she tried, it happened. The doctor’s eyes filled up with a bright green light, he began to grin, showing his teeth. His teeth were fangs, dog fangs and he made a cut from her shoulder to the middle of her chest. As if he was planning to do an autopsy on her. Even though she had her coat on, the blade cut right on her skin. Only at that moment did the words come out of her mouth again.

'No!' she screamed.

The shadows disappeared, the blade fell to the floor and she was no longer paralized. Mizore went off the table and wanted to run, but the cut hurt too much. Stumbling, she walked to the door. The tightness of the entire room where she was and the question of whether the doctors were really gone lingered in her mind. With her heart in her throat, she almost reached the door.

Nanami, Souta and Eijiro walked down the narrow corridor. This time with Eijiro leading the way. None of them showed it. The fear that was deep inside. They kept looking around even though they wouldn't see anything. Mizore was the only one who could. In the distance they heard a voice. 'Do you guys hear that too or am I the only one?' Eijiro asked in an anxious tone.

'Yes, I hear it too.' Souta answered.

Nanami didn't answer and just gave a nod. She was too afraid to say anything at the moment.

Eijiro stopped walking. The fear he had managed to suppress for so long had now seized him.

'I'm not taking another step, too risky for me.' He gave as an explanation for his sudden halt.

They held each other tightly. All three had given in to their fear. The voice came closer and closer. It was almost wailing. Not another step came from their feet. Stiffly they continued to wait and see what awaited them.

There were some shadows in the distance and Mizore did her best to get there as quickly as possible and indicate to them that she was in pain. The shadows stayed in place and didn't move. She leaned a little against the wall despite the cracks in it. Walk straight up wasn’t working. Her chest hurt too much. She didn’t understand what she had been through. That doctor with those green eyes and fangs kept appearing before her eyes. It almost brought tears to her eyes. The shadows were getting closer and closer, and she sincerely hoped to run into someone she knew. Nanami, Eijiro, or Souta, especially Souta. She longed to see him again. She didn't know why, but she longed for it.

It was quiet in the empty hallway, the voice was gone. It was scary quiet. Such a moment when anything could happen. They would have preferred to run away, but they just couldn't bring themselves to leave Mizore in this eerie place. They looked at each other, waiting to see what would come, closer and closer. It was touch and go, so close. Huddled together, they had prepared themselves. 

After a long walk, finally a tuft of hair in a color so familiar to her. The almost snow-white hair of Souta. How happy she was to finally see something that was familiar to her. She didn't know what to do. Whether she should cry or laugh. She had the urge to hold out her arm. Her arm came up for a small part, but she didn't have strength to go further up with her arm. She became very dizzy. 'Help me.' came out of her mouth softly.

Without hesitation, Souta knew for sure. It was Mizore. He went past Eijiro and almost ran into her. Souta was in front of her, but Mizore didn’t keep her consciousness. She fell into his arms and was gone from the world.

'Guys, help.' Souta said. The three of them went outside and Souta carried Mizore, who was still unconscious, in his arms. The way back was difficult to find, but after a long search they had reached the exit. Outside it was already dark, the stars were in the sky and the moon was shining on the old building the group was standing in front of.

'We can't go through the fence now.' Eijro said and went to a spot where there were lots of wood planks and threw them aside. 'Just put her here.' He took off his jacket, rolled it up and layed it down on the ground so it served as a pillow for Mizore. Souta carefully layed her head down on the jacket, and he also laid the rest of her body down steadily. Souta took off his own jacket to use it as a blanket. Before he layed the jacket over her, he noticed the big stain on her shirt. Souta touched the spot, held what had come onto his hand into the light and his eyes widened.

‘s**t!’ He didn’t say much more than that, but he quickly took off his shirt too, ripping it to make some bandages out of it, wrapping it around Mizore’s wound.

Eijiro was confused about what Souta was doing.

‘Souta what are you.’ He stopped his line there; it was clear now that Souta was caring for Mizore’s wound.  

'What happened to her. You don't just get a wound of that size like that.' Nanami said and was concerned for Mizore’s safety.

'That’s something to worry about later. I have to take her back home and treat her properly.' Souta said calmly, but inside he was almost in a panic about if she was alright and what had happened to her.

'I'll take her to my house and continue to take care of her, probably see you guys tomorrow.' He didn't even wait for a reply or he was already walking away, picking up Mizore and walking towards his house.

'See you tomorrow then?' Nanami said with a puzzled look. Souta didn't answer. He left Nanami and Eijiro alone and he didn't care. He was more worried about Mizore. She had been unconscious for over half an hour.

'If she doesn't come to after an hour, I'm going to call the hospital.' He said to himselfs.

When he got home, he put her in his bed. For once, he allowed it. When she was in bed, he sat down next to her and treated her wound properly, since he did know some emergency help. After that he tried to wake her up to see if she was coming to.

'Mizore. Mizore wake up.' His voice was shakey and full of worry. He hoped so much that she would wake up and his hope was fulfilled. Mizore slowly opened her eyes.

'Souta? Is that you?' she asked wearily.

'Yes, it's me. Go back to sleep quickly. I'll explain everything to you tomorrow.' 

He didn't have to say that a second time. Per instant Mizore had left again in a deep sleep this time. Souta went back to the living room with a smile on his face, he was so happy. He layed down on the couch and just like Mizore, he was gone in an instant.

Eijiro and Nanami were still at the instituut, seeing if they could do more to figure out what was going on in that building.

'I hope she wakes up soon. I don't like staying here for so long.' Eijiro said

'Perhaps it would be more convenient if you went and got your technical things ready in there. I'll go with you, leave them to it.' Nanami gave Eijiro as an answer.

Eijrio walked to a dark blue car, a Honda it was and a nice one at that. It was obvious that he did have money.

'Do you have a driver's license?'

'No, but my cousin does.' Eijro carried an extra key to open the trunk. When Eijro opened the trunk, Nanami's mouth fell open.

'How do you pay for all this stuff.'

'This is basic stuff, but indeed quite pricey. And I simply work a lot.'

They took the stuff out of the car. There were a bunch of weird devices, but Nanami didn't want to ask questions about them. She didn't really care either. She trusted her gut rather than a bunch of devices. She went back and walked in through the door to get everything ready for examination.

'Don't you have to stay here overnight to keep an eye on everything?'

'No, everything will be recorded and I can watch and listen to it tomorrow. Would you perhaps like to go into that t*****e chamber and get that stuff you have in your hands ready as far as possible?'

'Um, yes, of course?' Nanami didn't understand what he actually wanted from her. Still, she did what he asked of her and walked to the room with the red light. She found it strange that she managed to find her way in one go. That was not her normal course of action.

As requested, she set up what she could get ready and walked out of the room again. Just as she walked out of the room, Eijiro approached. He walked into the room and checked that everything was on.

'You didn't turn anything on?

'No, I don't know how these devices of yours work, now do I?' Nanami replied indignant at him asking her such a thing. When everything was on, they went outside, again they both found their way back quickly.