Hunt Down Rose

Chapter 7: Daybreak (Part II)

I was teleported on a cliff where graves are placed under the tree. I immediately distinguished a child standing in front of the graves, stationary like a soldier in patrol. The rain started to fall with the echo of weeping passing through my ears. As I approached the child, he is just there crying his heart out while carrying a red ribbon from his left hand. If I am not mistaken it was the ribbon his mother used to wear to tie her hair.

He then began to look from side to side, checking if anyone is there. And to my surprise, he looked at me, though I am sure they can’t see me at this rate. He got closer and stared deeply at me with his tired eyes full of tears,while clenching the ribbon on his left fist.

And he asked me "Why didn’t you do anything to save them?"

From that moment, it suddenly hit me...

Who am I?

It is still a question unanswered for me even though years have passed before my trials and torture under their hands. Why can’t I seem to find the reason behind all of these? With only a few ideas on the possibilities of their death I can’t find myself deeply. I tend to solve cases but I can’t solve my own problems.

“So you finally have some memories.” A voice familiar to me could be heard echoing.

Suddenly I came to the same room where Grimnoir is. Seeing him in such a bad moment, he is standing in front of me with one of the doors open, enough for me to see the other side of it. The sight of the house that I saw in my dream is present.

“Your subconscious has created certain things for you to consider.”

“Consider? How can someone’s memories be of consideration? It’s the same as taking a person’s reason for living.”

“I didn’t take it just so you know.” He threw a key at the ground in front of me.

“Since you opened a door, you now have the key to your memory.”

To my surprise “I have to unlock all of these?”

“Indeed. And if you do, you can use that key to access your memory and replay every moment in your satisfaction. The same way we do during the experiment.”

“Don’t you even remind me of that crap,” I said to him as I grabbed the key and threw it far away.

He started laughing at me as if he’s mocking my reaction. “Even if you throw that key a mile worth of distance, the door has been unlocked. That key would still be a part of you.”

Staring at the door, I can still see that it’s still open. There are at least 9 doors standing in the sea of doors surrounding the entire vastness of the room including the big one on the middle. So by completing it, it would give me a complete grip and comprehension on what happened to me along with my fragmented ones.

“Precisely”

“Wait, are you reading my thoughts just now?” I asked him surprised that he was able to answer that without me asking it directly.

He started laughing at me “Reading? Your thoughts are the same as mine; your emotions are the same too. The only difference is how we do things according to our own ways.”

“How come I can’t read what’s inside that head of yours?”

He started pulling a teacup on his jacket with a kettle to follow. Pouring some tea on the cup he placed it on a table that showed itself out of the darkness of the ground.

“I am a mere sentinel of the place that you call abyss. I am the person in charge of the doors that you see and wish to seek. What is it that you would want to know about me?” He sat down a chair and started sipping on the cup.

“These tables, cups, and even chairs are also part of the design of your imagination. It’s the limit that we are bound to see, what you are also bound to see.” He added.

“Then why is it that you’ve shown me these doors just now when I wanted to know much about my past even before?” I asked him, puzzled about this happening.

It’s true, it is impossible for me to deny the fact that we share almost everything inside this body of mine. Invoking the idea that our ideals differ could be the difference that separates us from the existing plane that I live right now. Why did he show these things to me? Even during the past years, I’m very much aware of his existence due to the nightmares that I’ve encountered.

“Are you familiar with the relationship with an apple tree to its master?” I knew he would throw me another question.

“Yes. Why ask? As if that’s a part of what I want to hear from you.”

He suddenly held an apple in his hand and showed it to me. Then he started juggling the apple with his teacup, playing with it around the room.

“Is there a point in what you’re doing?”

He stopped and started talking. “Apples are usually harvested in time due to the fact that they also have a tendency to get bruises. But consider yourself as an ordinary boy picking apples in September, with a ladder near the tree to use.”

“And?” I asked him waiting for his continuation as he kept on playing.

“If you want the apple so bad even though the condition of the fruit is still not ripe, you’ll get yourself an unripe apple. You wasted your time to pick an apple unripe, plus you’ll have to wait for another one to emerge out of its branches.” Then he threw the apple at me. This time the apple seems to be smaller than what he pulled out and with a different color, it’s unripe based on its current state.

“However, if you fail to get the apple on its designated time of harvest it will fall off the tree and get some bruises along the way depending on the height of the tree itself. Worms would be crawling and consume it until it is no more. The ladder would be useless but you’ll still be able to get the rotten apple for your appetite.”

“Your point being?” I asked showing him the apple.

He just ignored my words and kept on talking waltzing around the room.

“You could also get the apple in the right place and the right time using a ladder to climb up and get the fruit for yourself. This time, it would be worthy of the time and pressure you’ve put up to acquire what you want.”

I threw the apple back to him forcing him to catch it.

“So you are telling me to guess which one happened in my situation?”

Suddenly the apple disappeared, and the room started to change. It became a gothic place with numerous lights surroundings the entire place with the ground covered in tiles engraved with dark roses. The surreal environment can be described similarly to those sci-fi films in space or in another dimension.

“These are the choices that you can choose from, pertaining to how you would approach these memories of yours.”

“What the?!” I said to myself in my own amazement that I have such a place subconsciously inside my head.

“To describe the situation further, I myself would be the ladder for you to reach your goal.”

“If it’s to pick the apple, I’m not sure that’s gonna work out for me,” I replied, trying to gauge if it was the right answer to his riddle.

He started laughing again.

“Oh, I didn’t say that you were the one who’s going to eat the apple.”

Pointing his finger at me “You are the apple yourself.”

(To Be Continued)