Chapter 4 - Why is this happening?

The floor was rumbling and breaking apart in certain areas. The boy had fallen down a hole that had appeared underneath him. Charlotte managed to get away from him and had run over to me. She was helping me up when we heard a screeching noise. Something hairy and big was emerging from the same hole the boy had vanished in. I could not believe my eyes. It looked like a giant, green caterpillar. Its entire body was covered in nodules and spikes. The legs were tiny in comparison to its body.

“Say hi to my pet, Obloro. Be careful of his hundreds of sharp teeth and his venomous bristles. You’ll be dead within minutes when you touch them. Blood will squirt out of all the holes in your body. It’s amazing to watch.”

The boy was sitting on its head. I grabbed Charlotte by her hand and dragged her behind me. Her body was trembling and the colour in her face was gone. I didn’t think that she could get even whiter than she already was. I stopped and pushed her in front of me.

“I’ll distract it while you run away and get help. Go down the stairs and on your left side there should be a gap between the fence where you can get out.”

She tried to speak but her voice cracked. I turned her around and placed both of my hands on her back to give her another push, but the boy was quicker. He appeared besides me and gave me another kick to the stomach. I was knocked to the ground. Charlotte tried to come after me, but he kicked her down as well, towards the giant caterpillar that was standing behind us. I tried to stand up but retched. A sour taste was spreading through my mouth. My head was spinning.

“Let them play together.”

As the boy finished his sentence, the giant caterpillar opened its long mouth that went all the way to its legs. It was an abyss of sharp teeth that was going towards Charlotte. I was holding my stomach with both of my hands. My forehead was touching the cold floor and I only managed to get on my knees.

“Run.”

My voice was too thin. It couldn’t reach Charlotte. She was trying to get up too. The boy walked over to her and pushed her back down with his foot. The giant caterpillar grabbed one of her arms and she screamed out in agony. It was slowly twisting it off.

“Stop moving or it will hurt more. Give me one of your arms and I let you live. I think that’s a pretty good deal.”

“Leave her alone!”

Her screams were piercing through the air and then they stopped. It felt like an eternity, but it was over within seconds. Her arm was twisted off before my eyes. She passed out and was lying in a pool of her own blood. My tears wouldn’t stop falling. I screamed from the bottom of my lungs and didn’t stop. It wasn’t sadness that I was feeling but despair and anger. My body was filled with rage. The feeling was taking control over me, and I remembered that I had felt like this before, a long time ago. The feeling of not being able to save someone right in front of my eyes. My body was moving on its own. All my exhaustion was gone. I wasn’t in pain anymore. The boy looked at me surprised and jumped on top of the giant caterpillar’s head again. I heard something behind me. Whatever it was, it went past me in the blink of an eye and within the next second, a part of the giant caterpillar’s body was missing. It let out a loud shriek. Its body fell over, but the boy seemed ecstatic. It looked like a bite mark from a wild animal. I felt a strange sensation and my body froze in place.

“Move.”

An unfamiliar voice echoed. The next thing I knew was that someone grabbed me by my head and pushed me to the ground. After that, I heard several gun shots and the giant caterpillar screeching in pain again. A tanned woman with silver hair was lying down next to me. She was holding a syringe in her hand and stabbed me in the neck with it. I tried to stay awake, but I figured that the cold liquid that was going through my veins was probably a sedative.

I could faintly hear a woman’s voice. My eyes refused to open, and my stomach was upset. The air felt hot, and my clothes were sticking to my body. I was having a hard time to breathe. Something cold was touching both of my wrists and my feet were off the ground. My vision was blurry, but I managed to open my eyelids a little. Two metal chains were holding me up in the air. I was in an empty room. The lights on the walls were bright. The ceiling was made from glass and the walls were concrete. A very sturdy looking door was on the opposite side of the room. It was like the ones you use for bank vaults. I could see a woman sitting on the floor from my peripheral view. I had never seen her before.

“Finally, you’re awake. Do you know how long I have been waiting?”

“Where is the other girl who was with me? Where’s Charlotte?”

She ignored me and snapped her fingers. I was released from the chains. My sluggish body fell to the ground. I sat down upright and stared at her.

“Don’t worry. I’m not the enemy. I’m here to help you.”

She was wearing a grey, cropped turtleneck with a loose black tie around her neck. In her hand was a set of keys that she kept swinging around. The many silver chains that were attached to her black cargo trousers clanged when she stood up. One hand was on her hip as she was tapping the floor with the tip of her black boot. Her long blonde hair was in a ponytail. Only one strand of her hair was dyed in blue.

“I don’t even know where to start. I have never done this before. Stupid Satoshi pushing the responsibility on me. Tsk.”

“Where is my friend?”

I was ignored again. The big, heavy door slowly opened up and another woman entered the room. She didn’t say anything and passed a shopping bag over to the blonde-haired woman. I crawled back until my back hit the wall and quickly searched my neck for any holes. The new woman saw me panic and started walking over to me.

“I’m so sorry. Did it hurt when I injected you with the syringe back there?”

I saw something shiny in her mouth. She had a tongue piercing. Her silver hair was straight and went down to her shoulders. One side was braided. She crouched down and extended her hand towards me. Her light brown eyes were looking into mine. I felt the palm of her hand touch my cheek. It was soft.

“Make sure to take care of her, Toshiko.”

“Yeah, yeah. Choko, you’re simply happy that you’re not stuck with this tedious job.”

After giving me a warm smile, she left the room and closed the door behind her. I had noticed that she was wearing similar clothes to the other woman. Both had a pin in the form of a brain attached to their clothes. It was golden. The same design was on their tie.

“To answer your question. Your friend was taken to a hospital and is taken care of. She’ll survive. But as you know, she did lose an arm. We can’t do anything about.”

The woman walked over to a wall and punched it. A hidden door opened up.

“Here take these clothes and go have a shower. Don’t want be rude but you smell.”

I did not move from my place.

“Where am I?”

“I promise that I’ll answer all of your questions but first get into the shower. Also, you can call me Toshiko.”

The room I entered was a bathroom. Every wall was made out of white tiles. I took off my clothes and walked under the shower head. The water was warm.

“The door will stay open.”

I turned the dial to increase the water pressure. It felt good but my mind was in a different place. The sky had turned grey, and raindrops were hitting against the glass ceiling. And my hand kept hitting the wall in front of me. My tears hid between the water running down my face. The shopping bag included a grey turtleneck, a pair of black cargo trousers, a black tie, a dark red bomber jacket, black socks and finally a pair of black boots. Every piece of clothing had the brain design sewed on them. It was even on the boots’ tongue. At the very bottom were some different sized underwear.

“You done?”

The woman was standing inside the door while I was still dressing myself. I was struggling with the tie part.

“Have you never worn a tie before?”

She walked over and grabbed it out of my hand. A sweet scent was coming off her.

“Watch carefully. I’m not going to show it to you again. It’s pretty simple.”

The tie went around my neck. Her hands were swiftly moving it around. After finishing, she looked me in the eyes. She was intimidating.

“When can I go home?”

“Huh? You can’t go home. This is your home for I don’t know how long. I guess until you can control it at least.”

“What do you mean? My mom is probably worried sick by now. And I want to see my friend, Charlotte as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry. Your friend is in good hands. And we already informed your mother of the situation that you’re in.”

“I’m not following. What situation?”

She ignored me once again and walked out of the bathroom. I followed. The door closed behind me and the wall was complete again. There was no sign of there being a hidden room.

“Well, we weren’t completely honest with your mother. We only told her that you were involved in an accident and that we are taking care of you for the time being.”

“Then what’s the complete story?”

“You’re in a life-or-death situation. If you don’t get my approval, you will get executed. Simple.”

I could see it in her light green eyes that she was not joking around.

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