The Bitter End

Staff Only

The sign on the back door of the medical center was perfectly clear, but it was not like I could have cared less right now. A sign wouldn’t stop me from breaking in and saving what was dear to me.

I opened the door without difficulty, as no lock prevented me from doing so. The atmosphere inside was heavy, and the scent of medical instruments and products made my mind dizzy. The smell was too intoxicating for me to wander among these things for long. I needed to search quickly and get out as fast as I had come in.

Search—but where? I had never been here, so I didn’t know where to start. During the walk here, I had downloaded the building’s floor plan onto my phone—the internet was full of useful documents if you knew where to look.

However, I had doubts about the specific room I was looking for. If my past experiences were anything to go by, rooms could appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, which would likely be the work of those people who had captured Hayate. But they wanted me. That's why they had lured me here. They wouldn't try to hide this room... impossible.

Still, who could have done that to Hayate? Who could be after me? And most importantly, why lock him here and invite me? Everything was so confusing, and I knew answers wouldn’t come until I found the people I was looking for.

Wandering the corridors and discreetly opening every unlocked room I could find, I saw nothing but storage rooms, empty rooms, or completely deserted spaces. The task was much harder than I had expected. This time, I didn’t have a GPS pointing me toward the right door.

This medical center was clearly a mess. The corridors were cluttered with things that should have been stored in the empty rooms I had seen.

Discretion was my only advantage, but I couldn’t avoid the fact that staff members passed through this area. I had to hide several times—behind a rolling bed or inside a bin of used surgical clothing.

My heart pounded every time someone passed. Being discovered would have meant the end of everything. I would have been thrown out, and they would have locked the back door. I had no choice but to succeed. If I failed, I would lose it all—and that, I would never forgive myself for.

“If I find him, finding Atsuko will be easier… I’ll finally be able to breathe a little. But… his prediction… or whatever it was… it was strange. I need to ask him,” I thought as the last staff member of a small group walked past and I slipped out of my hiding place—a bin full of clothes.

I arrived in front of another door, but this one wasn’t on the plan I had downloaded.

“A secret room? Or a ghost room…? This might be it… I hope so.”

I stepped through the doorway and was plunged into complete darkness, with no sign of any window. I used my phone’s flashlight to search for a switch. The beam barely reached more than a meter ahead—the darkness was too dense. Near the entrance, a switch caught the light. I rushed to it and flipped it on.

As expected, no happiness awaited me when the light chased away the darkness. A vision of horror flooded my mind and filled my eyes with an image that refused to leave. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the chair in the center of the room. The room was vast, yet I felt I could reach that chair in a second.

He was there. Hayate was on that chair. But not in good condition. He was tied to it, blood running down his face and staining his torn clothes. He was gagged and appeared unconscious, but he was still breathing—I could see his chest rising and falling steadily.

The light must have been too strong, because he began to stir. When he slowly opened his eyes, squinting as he tried to understand what was happening, he saw me. It took him only a second to recognize me and try to scream through the gag.

His tear-filled eyes triggered something in me. I leapt from the doorway to his side, dropping my phone in the process. Once beside him, I tried to free him. His arms were tightly bound, and I only managed to loosen the rope enough for him to free one arm.

“Welcome, Ryota. Do you find this place pleasant? I hope so, despite its emptiness.”

“You… how?” I turned abruptly, startled by that familiar voice.

“How? Don’t you know?”

“You’re supposed to be dead, Leo! I killed you!” I shouted, a mix of terror and anger rising in my voice.

I wasn’t crazy. He was standing there, calm, taunting me with a sly smile—a smile no dead person man should wear. His clothes were the same as when I had killed him, yet there was no trace of blood, no wound from the bullets.

“It’s a real pleasure to have you here after all this time. So? Did you revel in my death? Did it weigh on your conscience? Or do you think you dreamed it? Tell me, Ryota. I'm dying to know,” Leo laughed, his shrilled voice sending chills down my spine.

“I… I killed you! I saw you die! I threw you into that hole where no one could ever find you! You are the one who owes me an explanation. What I did once, I can do again until I erase you from this world!”

“There’s no point in telling you things beyond your understanding. Some things must remain hidden, don’t you think? I’m quite fond of painful secret. But what I enjoy most… is watching you suffer! You’re scared. You’ve lost so much. You’ve suffered—and you will suffer again. It won’t end so easily,” he said, grinning with unsettling calm.

I couldn’t move. My body refused to obey me. My voice failed me too—only muffled sounds escaped. Was I truly frozen in fear?

“It’s not the time for that, Ryota. Move! Hit! Run!”

Panic began to overwhelm me. What if I couldn't do it? What kind of shitty situation was this? Why?

“Though, as much as I would’ve loved to take revenge for what you did… I don’t have the right to do so…” Leo sighed.

This sentence triggered something in me. It sounded wrong—like there was more behind it.

The moment I tried to speak, a needle pierced my throat. In an instant, I collapsed onto my back. The first thing I saw was that what had been plunged in me was a syringe, and judging by the droplet still hanging from its tip, whatever it contained was already inside me, paralyzing me completely.

But what shocked me most was who held it.

“Ha… ya… te… why?” I whispered weakly as my vision began to fade.

With the arm I had freed, he had managed to release himself completely and stand. He crouched beside me, removing his gag and swallowing.

He looked at me strangely—eyes wide, bloodshot—calm on the surface, but with a quiet anger underneath.

“Ryota… Ryota… scared? You thought it would be easy? Come to the medical center, find me, untie me, and then we run off to save your dear Atsuko? You really though it would be that simple? I didn’t go through all this just to make your rescue mission easy! But look at you—barely able to move, yet fear has taken over your face. It’s incredible what fear can do… even stronger than the most powerful drugs.”

I couldn’t look away. I was powerless. I was afraid.

“Hayate… my… friend… I found you… finally. So… why?”

“Don’t call me your friend!”

Hayate punched me in the ribs. I didn’t react. He clicked his tongue in irritation, displeased by my lack of response.

“Hey, doll. Come here. We’ll do as planned,” he said without looking away.

“Doll…? I shattered it…”

“Don’t you want to lose consciousness faster? You’re annoying right now, Ryota,” Leo said, stepping close and crouching beside Hayate.

“Well, it took time, but my revenge will finally be complete. I'm just disappointed Leo was so incompetent.”

“You should have known that—coming from an idiot who only thinks with his dick,” Leo replied as his body began to change.

A burst of light erupted from him, blinding me. When I opened my eyes again, Leo was gone. In his place stood the doll I thought I had destroyed, now perched on Hayate’s shoulder.

“Did you like the trick, Ryota?” it asked.

“I knew… it wasn’t over… with you,” I murmured, my voice fading as the drug pulled me deeper.

“Maybe not. But don’t worry, it’ll soon be over for you,” Hayate added with a smirk.

“Humans are surprising,” the doll said. “Why walk into a trap you knew existed?”

“I knew… I did. But… it was the only chance I had… to save my wife… and you, Hayate… Who wouldn’t take it?”

I couldn’t hear their response. My eyes closed, and I sank into a heavy sleep—uncertain when, or if, I would wake again.