Satsuriku no Tenshi:Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Floor B6

With a muffled clang, the elevator comes to a stop.

(It stopped…)

What was that announcement just now…? I couldn’t understand it very well…

With a listless expression, as if still caught in a dream, Ray gets off the elevator. And doing so is like stepping into a nightmare. She’s assaulted by a terribly offensive odour.

(It stinks…)

Is this really the inside of a building?

The space that extends out in front of her is completely unlike the hospital she had been in a few moments before. This should be in the inside of a building…but the asphalt road stretching out ahead makes it look like she’s outside. Randomly interspersed on the road are mounds of trash. She has no idea what they were before becoming garbage…but she suspects they’ve been left as they are for quite a long time. The air is full of the stench of rotting food scraps. Within the piles of trash, she can see a massive number of flies, bugs she’s never seen before, and countless swarms of glistening, black cockroaches. It’s a spectacle so filthy that it makes her want to vomit.

I feel sick…I really don’t remember ever coming to this place…

(…Anyway, I need to find the exit.)

Turning her gaze away from the legions of bugs swarming the road, Ray holds her breath as she crosses through the trash.

After just a short while of walking, she comes to a naked concrete wall, upon which numerous copied and magnified newspaper clippings have been affixed.

An unknown murderer?

On (date redacted), a man’s body was found on the road.

The corpse has numerous stab wounds, and so the occurrence is being treated as a murder.

It seems the serial murders that occurred here last month are still ongoing.

Since there cannot be any similarities found between any of the victims, it is asked that residents living in the area maintain caution.

Despite her vacant expression, Ray is overcome with surprise as she finishes reading the strange article.

Clang…

Suddenly, a disturbing sound rushes through her ears from the other side of the wall. It sounds like an empty can falling to the ground.

(Is someone here…?)

Holding her breath, she looks around. But she can’t see anyone around her. And yet, she can still keenly sense a strange presence in the air.

(I should go…)

As if spurred by that unsettling noise, Ray begins to wander about the floor, searching for the exit.

She doesn’t know for how long she wanders that mazelike labyrinth of roads and passages. All she seems to be able to find are bugs – the exit is nowhere in sight. Ray abruptly comes to a halt, like a robot whose battery has run out. Tired, she stares into space, and notices a spiderweb stretching down from the ceiling.

(…That’s – )

For a moment, Ray opens her eyes wide. Behind the wisps of webs, she can see a flashing emergency exit sign. Beside it is a sign denoting the way to the elevator.

(An elevator…? So that’s the exit?)

As if a moth drawn to a flame, Ray rushes to the exit door. However, it doesn’t seem like it will open for her, no matter how hard she tries to pull on it.

(I wonder how I can open it…)

Tilting her head to the side, she suddenly feels as if something else is near her. She quickly turns her head to look. What she sets her gaze upon is what looks like a pitch-black alleyway. Peeking inside, she notes that a different scent seems to come from that direction.

“…”

She feels vaguely frightened about going that way.

“…Come on, Ray, sit with us.”

However, as if descending from the heavens, a soft voice calls to Ray from within her mind.

(That’s right…I have to quickly get back to mom and dad…)

Ray takes in a soft breath, as if about to descend beneath a pool of water, and she unsteadily steps into that alleyway, overflowing with bugs.

▲▽

As she walks down the alley, there’s the unpleasant sound of her boots squelching on the bugs’ crushed bodies.

At the end of the passageway is a small, empty space. It’s as gloomy as if it were nighttime. As her eyes gradually grow accustomed to the darkness, Ray realises she can see splotches of dark red marks scattered all over the alley. They’re threatening traces of some tragedy that must have occurred here before.

(This is blood…)

But why would there be blood in this building…?

Thinking this wonderingly to herself, Ray looks around the alleyway. On the wall illuminated by a yellow lightbulb from above, she can see words written in white chalk, with the same hand as the text she had seen on B7.

“On this floor is someone befitting of it.

“This individual is not permitted to leave their own floor.

“If you do not wish to be killed by this person, you must progress to the next floor.”

(Some kind of graffiti…?)

As she reads them, she idly stores those words in her memory. It was not that she had intended to do that. She merely unconsciously memorised those words. Ray has always been like this. Ever since she had been born, she had always been very intelligent. No matter how trivial the subject matter, she has never once forgotten the contents of the books she has read, even those she has only read once.

Next to the graffiti is another newspaper clipping. On both the wall and the paper are ominous splashes and traces of spilt blood.

The Back-Alley Murderer

Once again, on (date redacted), a corpse has been discovered in (state redacted).

The body of a teenage boy was found in a back alley. His identity is unknown.

His body is covered in enormous slash wounds. The investigation on the local serial murders continues.

Ray reads this article with no emotion.

(A teenaged boy…)

Perhaps it’s nothing more than because they are of similar ages, but for some reason, her interest is piqued. But now isn’t the time to stand still in this creepy place.

(I have to go home…)

Sighing a little, Ray begins to walk once more. But at that moment, there’s a somehow lovely peeping sound that comes down from the ceiling. Looking up, the girl looks for the source of the sound. There’s a small hole near the ceiling, where she can see a small white bird. It calls to her as if trying to get her attention.

(Why is a bird somewhere in a place like this…?)

Ray tilts her head a little. If the inscription that this is B6 is correct, then this should be a place that’s very deep underground.

(…The bird is cute.)

Before she can even begin to think about it, the desire to touch the bird wells up within her. That such a lovely creature could exist in such a filthy place with no other sign of life – Ray’s trembling heart is unable to conceal the relief and happiness she feels.

“Come over here,” she calls out to the bird softly, beckoning to it with a small hand. But the bird simply tilts its head as Ray did before, and doesn’t leave its hole. Though she can’t see into the darkness, it seems like the bird is very weak.

(Maybe it’s hungry…)

“Wait just a bit…I’ll get you something to eat.” With a soft smile, the girl hurriedly leaves the back-alley behind her.

▲▽

Looking around for anything that could be edible, Ray once again proceeds through the floor. As she walks to the end of another alley, she can some garage shutters, only halfway shut, out of the corner of her vision. Beyond the shutters, she can see a smashed locker – as if someone had kicked it.

(I wonder if there’s something to eat in there…)

Ray’s stature makes her perfect to squeeze beneath the shutters.

The place reminds her of a factory. Right next to the entrance is a washstand stained with dark red liquid. But now matter how much she twists the facet, water won’t come out.

(I’m thirsty…)

Though she can’t quite remember, she feels like it’s been a long time since she’s eaten or drank anything.

The floor is asphalt, and rough to the touch. Had she not known better, she would have never assumed she was inside a building. Scattered on the ground are filthy work clothes and carelessly stowed away wooden boxes of numerous sizes. Amongst the boxes are those of a size that Ray could fit in with room to spare.

(I wonder if this was some sort of factory…)

Faintly thinking this, Ray opens each and every one of the boxes, looking for something to eat. Unfortunately, they are all empty.

“Ah…”

In the final, smallest box she opens, she finds a half-eaten bag of popcorn.

(Thank goodness…it’s a bit damp, but it seems edible…can birds eat popcorn…?)

Pressing the bag to her chest so that nothing spills out, she carefully opens up the black purse hanging from her shoulder and places the popcorn inside. Standing up and beginning to make her way back to the bird, she pauses when her boots make a crunching sound, different from when she had been stepping on the insects earlier. Turning over her foot, she picks out something from the bottom of her shoe. It’s a rumpled news article that someone must have crumpled up and thrown away.

Serial killer.

On (date redacted), the body of John Smith, age 26, was found in a factory.

From the wounds on his body, it’s assumed that he is the victim of the same serial killer that has been troubling this city.

John Smith was an employee of this factory. He is described as a fine young man by his colleagues, and was diligent and serious.

His body was found the day after he excitedly told his coworkers that he would be getting a new car. He seemed very happy.

This heartless killer has plunged the city into fear.

A murderer…

(For a while now, I’ve just been seeing these kinds of articles everywhere…do they have something to do with this building?)

As she reads that terrifying news clipping, she suddenly has a terrible premonition rattling within her head.

But at that moment, she hears a distant peeping, as if the bird is calling her back.

That’s right…I have to get back to that bird, quickly…

Having lost interest in the news article in a single instant, Ray tosses the crumpled news article to the ground and jogs back to the bird.

▲▽

The bird continues peeping in the back-alley, as if trying to tell Ray where it is.

(Was it waiting for me…?)

It hasn’t moved from where she’s seen it last. Sighing in relief, Ray takes out the bag of candy from her purse and shakes out two or three pieces of popcorn into the palms of her hands. Then she stretches her hand out toward the little bird’s direction. As if tempted by the scent of food, the bird timidly leaves the hole in the wall. It gently and happily pecks at the popcorn.

“You can eat them all.”

(…How cute.)

The bird is doing its utmost effort to eat the kernels of popcorn in her hand. It looks so lovely that the girl cannot help but smile at it. She had always liked cute things. For some reason, just by being around them, she feels her heart become enveloped by a mysterious calm.

(That puppy…was cute, too…)

As she gazes at the bird, she is abruptly reminded of a puppy she had.

(Oh, that’s right…come to think of it, I did have a pet puppy…)

My memories might be coming back, little by little… Nevertheless, she still can’t recall why she came here, nor what sort of person she was. All she can remember is her name, age, that she came for counselling…and that she’s witnessed the murder of some unknown person.

As if trying to shake off those unpleasant memories, she reaches out a hand toward the bird.

“Oh no, are you hurt…?”

The moment she goes to pet it, she realises that the wing on its opposite side is stained in blood, and looks as if it’s been cut with something sharp.

(It looks like it hurts…and you can’t fly like that, either.)

…I have to fix you up.

Gently, with both hands, Ray bundles the bird onto her lap.

“It’s all right, stay still.”

From a first aid kit in her purse, she takes out a roll of bandages, and gently wraps them around the bird’s body, as if wrapping a precious present.

“…You’ll be okay now.”

As she finishes neatly tying the bandages, once again that ominous clang sound rings out – except this time, it’s far closer. The small bird, as if it has an understanding of what that sound means, begins to tremble.

“…It’s all right, don’t be afraid. Let’s get out of here together…okay?”

However, Ray pays no mind to the sound drawing closer. Instead, she pets the soft and warm body in her hands, and smiles gently at the little bird. The bird is unnaturally afraid of whatever has made that noise, and slips out of Ray’s grasp.

“No, don’t run away – ”

Though the bird can’t fly very well, it struggles in the direction of that noise, and Ray chases after it.

“Come on, come over here.”

And the moment she smiles, reaching for that bird –

That pure white bird splits into two, and its body soars through the air.

Red liquid gushes outward, splashing on Ray’s cheek. For a single instance, the air is filled with silence. Hot blood rolls down her cheek and drips to the ground. And then, a loud, violent laughter resounds against her eardrums.

“Hyahahahah!”

Completely dumbfounded, Ray can only look on at the tall, thin man laughing madly where he stands in front of her. He wears light, stained pants, and a dark sweatshirt with a black arrow motif. His head is covered by a hood. And in his left hand, he holds a large, grim reaper-like scythe – a scythe that he could probably easily kill a person with.

But she can’t see his face very well. For some reason, his face and skin are completely wrapped in thick, white bandages, as if to hide something.

…Who is this?

Unthinkingly, Ray takes a step back from this strange man.

“Just now, you were makin’ a pretty satisfied face.” Seeing her flinch backwards, the man sneers and laughs fearlessly.

And looks down at her, quite a bit shorter than himself, whilst saying –

“But now it’s full of despair…!”

With a voice so loud Ray feels as if her eardrums might break, the man approaches her a single step at a time. Rising to the surface of that man’s mind is Ray’s face, as she appeared when smiling toward the bird, and for some reason he appears to be having so much fun he just can’t help himself. It was at that precise moment, having seen that so-called satisfied face, that he clearly realised that Ray had been decreed the sacrifice.

…What?

At the word despair, the memory of a murder rises up within Ray’s heart, and her body stiffens. Yes, that spectacle…was surely nothing short of despairing.

But would I feel despair at the death of someone I don’t know…?

(I don’t know…I can’t remember.)

When she tries to remember something, a strange fear she can’t begin to comprehend seizes her, welling up from somewhere completely unknown.

“Right now, I’m gonna give ya three seconds! So try’n’run away! And cry, scream, beg for yer life! Show me more of that despair-filled face!”

The man laughs loudly as he stares intently into her clear blue eyes and her utterly bewildered expression.

She doesn’t quite understand what has happened or what ‘’is’’ happening. The image of the bird, sliced cleanly in half, has been seared right into her eyelids.

“Three…”

But she has not the leisure to think about what is about to happen.

(I have to run…!)

With a gasp, as if coming back to herself, Ray turns her back on the man, and runs.

And in a single instant, she recalls the only place she might be able to hide, and makes a mad dash for that place.

▲▽

“…Hah? Where did that brat go…?”

Loud banging resounds throughout the floor as the man irritably kicks at the wooden boxes.

(That’s definitely the murderer those articles talked about…)

Ray had run to that factory-like room, where she now lays curled up like a cat in one of the large boxes, eyes squeezed shut tightly.

(…Well, I know she’s hidin’ somewhere…)

“Should I just destroy all of ‘em?”

(…!)

As he mutters to himself, Ray’s eyes unintentionally snap open.

(…God – )

All she can do right now is pray that she isn’t found by that man.

But it seems her prayers are in vain, for, just as he’d said, the man begins break every box in sight. The almost excited sounds reverberate throughout the room. And of course, she’s frighteningly aware that that will mean the box she’s hiding in, as well.

(…)

The man comes nearer, and Ray presses her hands against her mouth in order to not let out a single sound, reflexively flinching against the side of the box. However, perhaps because it’s located in his blind spot – the man doesn’t even attempt to slice through the box she is hiding in.

“Damnit, she’s not here! …I’m not gonna go easy on her when I find her!”

Outside the box that holds the trembling Ray, the man snarls this under his breath and, after mercilessly slashing a few more boxes, he turns and leaves.

As the loud sounds of his footsteps fade away, Ray opens the top of the box and carefully peers out to look at her surroundings, despite her fear.

(Did it leave…?)

She can’t see that man anymore.

(I have to leave before it finds me…)

‘’If it catches me…it’ll probably kill me.’’

Ray sees dark blood radiating in all directions within her mind. And in that moment, she hears a soft peeping noise…that bird, that shouldn’t be able to cry out anymore – an auditory hallucination.

(Right, that little bird…)

I’ll go back to where it is…

▲▽

“…”

Gingerly, so as not to be found by that man, Ray creeps back to where she had left the bird. There, she finds the body lying in a pool of blood, split into two. It’s not breathing anymore – it’s almost as if it were a lie that it had been alive only a short time ago.

(How awful…)

“…Come here. I’ll take you with me.”

Ray gently picks the bird up into her hands. Though it’s become a bit stiff, it’s still soft and faintly warm. It reminds her a bit of cooling bread.

(I should at least bury you…)

Looking around, Ray notices a shovel leaning against the wall, as if it had been prepared especially for her. She immediately puts the bird down and picks up the heavy shovel, enthusiastically getting to work.

However, as she picks up the bird once more to place it into the hole she has unearthed, her mind suddenly wells up with a strange, uncomfortable sensation, almost like white noise.

No…

And, as Ray gazes at the bird, her blue eyes become so clear as if she sees the very edges of the world.

(…No…this bird is different…)

It wasn’t like this. It didn’t look like this. It wasn’t this pitiful.

As those words resound in her head, she stares at the bird with wide, clear eyes. This dreadful vision is not the same bird she had thought was adorable.

(…I have to fix you up to be like that bird.)

Her small hands quiver as she removes a sewing set from her purse. It’s the same sewing set she uses to make dolls.

“It’s okay, you won’t feel pain anymore…”

Smiling with just the corners of her lips, Ray matches up the halves of the bird together and strokes the feathers over and over, as if comforting the creature.

(…If you go to heaven like this, you won’t be able to fly.)

And anyway, that bird was cuter.

So,

“I’ll fix you up to be my bird – ”

She smiles yet again, just with the corner of her mouth, as she murmurs this. Then, with thread as white as the bird’s wings, she carefully begins to sew the bird back together. Though she had never been properly taught how to, she had always been good at sewing, ever since she was little. She is so fully concentrated on her work that it is as if she has left her body, as if she has entirely forgotten the dangerous circumstances she has found herself in. All Ray can focus on is diligently, attentively putting the bird back together. In a few minutes, it has returned to its original form, despite the seams.

“…See, you’re all better now.”

The bird is a bit colder than before. Gently stroking its head, Ray places it into the hole. She notices something glinting on the ground near it. Wondering what it is, Ray picks it up, and sees that it is a card about the same size as a small ticket.

(Did someone drop it…?)

If that man had misplaced it – maybe it’s the elevator card key…

The precise moment she thinks this, there’s an ominous clanging sound of someone kicking an empty can.

(…! I have to find the exit, quickly…!)

She already understands what that sound indicates. Shoving the card into her jacket pocket, the girl quickly stands up. But in that instant, she hears loud, excited laughter. When she looks up, she sees that man standing upon the drainage pipes snaking around the walls. Jumping down, he stands as if to block her from the exit.

“I finally found ya…”

Beneath the thick bandages that cover his face, the man sneers a laugh in the same manner he had when he had first seen Ray. It seems her frightened appearance amuses him. The eyes she can see through the gaps in the bandages flare up brightly. And as he brandishes his scythe toward her and fills the air with his loud, devilish laughter, he yells out –

“This time, I’m not even gonna give ya one second…!”

“If you do not wish to be killed by this person, you must progress to the next floor.”

The final sentence of the graffiti she had seen earlier resurfaces in Ray’s mind.

(…I have to run. I have to get out of here…I have to get home…!)

After all, mom and dad are waiting for me…!

Though she thinks this, her legs are frozen in fear. For one moment, she sees her parents sitting on the sofa, holding one another’s hands tightly. Then the vision disappears.

“Now, show me your despair-filled face!!”

The girl who had stared at the bird so peculiarly as she stitched it up is no more. She stands there paralysed with fear as the man relentlessly raises his scythe.

(What do I do…?!)

It seems all is lost – and that is when she notices something that looks like a breaker on the wall behind her.

(Oh, maybe…)

Making a split-second decision, Ray rushes up to the breaker and presses every single button without an ounce of hesitation. And, just as she predicted, the lights go out, and the entire floor is enveloped in darkness.

“Hah?! What the hell, I can’t see anything…!”

The man sounds unbelievably irritated having had the thrill of the kill torn from him.

(I have to get out of here while I can…!)

Finally regaining control over herself, Ray sprints toward the dim green light above the emergency exit. She can faintly see the letters EV – that must be where the elevator is.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?!”

The man’s angry voice echoes through the darkness.

(He’s going to catch me…)

Panting, Ray runs with all the strength she possesses in her body.

She feels like she’s going to suffocate – everything goes white. Unintentionally, she thinks back on her parents. But as she flails her limbs wildly, those memories become fuzzy and indistinct, like clouds rolling over the moon.

Just barely reaching the EV door, she sees a slot precisely the right size for the card she had picked up earlier.

(It’s just as I thought – )

Ray quickly takes the card from her pocket and pushes it into the slot.

As the doors open, she can see elevator doors inside the passageway.

She throws herself into the elevator, assailed by a terrible dizziness, and unthinkingly presses on the button marked B5.

“Hah…haah…”

The doors close, shutting that man out behind them.

Gasping for breath harshly, the girl squeezes her eyes shut.

(What…was that…?)

Serial killer – the words she’d read in those newspaper articles rise to the surface of her mind and blur.

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