Part 36: "Memories"

This LP sure is taking forever huh? Sorry again, I have been doing a lot of real life things that take me away from logging on. Let's continue...

Chapter 9 "Memories"


After walking for a bit the two of them started to notice that the murmuring
of water had began to interfere with their conversation.

"Ah"
Cheryl stopped walking.


Water was splashing up from the strong current in the old aqueduct
through the white fog.
Due to the bad weather, the water level had risen up to the fortified
concrete embankment. So rather than an aqueduct, it was more like
an overflowing river that was in a dangerous state.

The figure bobbing in the current

"What's that..."


A boy stood alone in the current.
He was fighting the current, and appeared to be holding on to a
fragile protrusion with all his might.


"Miss! Look!"

Cheryl screamed, broke away from Cybil's hand, and then began to run toward
the boy.

"Cheryl! That's dangerous!"

Cybil instantly chased after her.
A stone barrier runs parallel to the aqueduct. It is about shoulder-width and
about the height of a child.

Falling to the right from this barrier could result in injury, and falling to
the left would probably result in being swallowed up by the current.

Cheryl nimbly ran along the top of the narrow barrier.

"Wait! That is dangerous!"
Her words were ineffective.
Using her innate physical prowess, Cybil got on top of the barrier; however,
she could not run along it as nimbly as Cheryl.

By the time Cybil caught up to Cheryl she was lying prone on top of the barrier
and reaching out towards the embankment trying to grasp the boy's hair.

"That's dangerous! You will fall in!
It's too much for you!"

"We will save this boy.
Help me Miss!
Please!"

Cybil lightly jumps down onto the embankment side and is again surprised by
the strength of the current.
Cheryl is leaning out halfway and looks as if she could fall at any moment
and be swallowed by the dark waters.

"Cheryl, you stay right there and don't move.
I will be sure to save him."

Cheryl says nothing and just stares as Cybil.

Cybil's footing is quickly being eaten away by the strong current.
As long as snow continues to pour into the entire town the aqueduct will
certainly continue to overflow.

The water is up to Cybil's knees. As the water pulls at her legs Cybil reaches
her hand out toward the boy.
The boy's face is covered in the white splashes, so Cybil cannot see it very
well.

"Everything's all right, don't worry."
Cybil shouts out to give the boy hope.
But the boy just appears to be caught on the protrusion like a rag, and
perhaps that is the best way to describe him.


Cybil eventually grasps the boy's left arm and is relieved a little.

"Everything is fine.
Trust me."
Cybil says kindly.

However, the current of the water is faster than she had imagined.
Pulling the boy against the current will not be easy.
There is nowhere to grab on, so she cannot put any strength into it.
The freezing cold is robbing her body of its warmth and her fingertips
are going numb.

"Miss! It is impossible!
You too will be swept away by the current!"
Cheryl calls out to Cybil from behind.
Cybil has a maternal feeling that
she must save this boy, even if it means she will end up getting swept away.

"It will be ok...just a little more..."

Got it. Cybil gets a firm grasp on the boy's arm, and then successfully
pulls his small body up.

"Haa...Great... Are you ok?"

The boy does not answer right away, and just takes troubled breaths over and
over.

It is not surprising because he just nearly drown.

The boy remained crouched for a bit, but then finally began to speak.

"You...you were the one that pushed me in..."

From seeing the look of surprise on Cybil's face the boy changed his words.

"Not you. Her! It was that child!"

The boy rushes at Cheryl.
Before Cybil could even think to stop him the boy grabbed Cheryl's arm and
pulled her towards the current.


"What are you doing! Stop it now!" (Cybil)

"What do you know!
Why don't you tell her to stop!" (Andy)

Cheryl falls into the water and begins to be swept away by the strong current.

She would have to question the boy later.
Cybil stomps as she runs along the concrete to keep up with Cheryl.

"Cheryl!"

Ah...

Cybil's weak shouts were replaced by the sound of the water splashing.
She slips and ends up in the whirlpool of the strong current, and is
swallowed in the dark waters along with Cheryl.

.........

Everything is dark.
There is not even a single sound.
Cybil cannot tell whether her eyes are open or closed.
The hand gripping Cybil's hand suddenly moved.

(I, I may have used you Miss...)

Cybil made a face like "Wha?" and immediately asked:

(What are you saying?)

(That's why I was against it.
You are a good person, so I didn't want to get you wrapped up in this.
But in the end I have made you suffer.
I guess that is the same thing as getting you involved?)

Cybil smiles.

(I have said it many times, but it is my job to get you back into your
father's custody.
Getting me involved, or whatnot, it is not a problem.)

(...you're wrong...Miss)

Silence flows between the two of them.

(As for what Daddy will do and so on, those are issues that do not even
compare to what I am dealing with.
My own personal issue...
It's something that I should never ever tell anyone, something very important.

I have thought about it for so long.
I have been confused by it for so long.
However, maybe I can tell you about it Miss.
The reason why there is no one in town.
The reason why I don't want to see my Daddy.
And also, my true...)

Once again, there is silence.

(Your true? Your true what?)

(Do you know something?)
However, that question is not answered.


And then, the low sound of a motor runs through the floor and causes
a slight quiver in Cybil's stomach.
To her front she has only a glimpse of a single shaft of light.
The light thinly extends up and down, and eventually expands to the left and
right, revealing a small room.
It is an elevator.


The elevator doors have opened wide, and it sits ready, almost as if it has
come for Cybil.
Cybil and the girl are lit by its light...

And then...
Cybil felt the grip of the girl that she was holding on to become weak.

"No weight. An illusion?
No, the two of us are definitely holding hands."
Cybil looked toward the girl.

Her entire body was paralyzed with a chill.
Powerlessly, Cybil sank down in that very spot.
Her vision is hazy.
The color drains from her entire body.

The girl is not there in the light.
The thing that Cybil is holding on to...
It is...

The doll from that day


It was a slightly dirty, but familiar doll.

Countless blue fireworks went off in front of Cybil's eyes.

Memories of the past...

Unforgettable memories...

Memories that should have been tightly sealed away within her...

She was holding the doll tightly...
Cybil had hidden in the closet...
Through the crack, a familiar scene...

Her parents, shot in the head and...

The blood soaked carpet...

The low laugh of a man...

She held the doll over her mouth, to suppress the urges to scream that
assaulted her from time to time.
And so, she had somehow survived.

...she had survived.


"Why is the doll from that time here?

Why?

Why is it here?"


It was the reason she became a policewoman, that incident.

That incident had largely impacted her future.

Cheryl was gone, and all that was left was the unpleasant feeling of
memories she thought that she had forgotten.


"I'm losing my mind..."
She sobbed alone inside the elevator.
The town, along with the lives of several people, had been swallowed up
within the devil's dark garb.

Inside the small box she calmed her breathing while shaking her shoulders hard.
"First of all I should look for Harry.
And then work with him to escape from this wretched world."

Quite a bit of time passed since the "1" lamp had gone out on the floor
display.
From the vibrations she could tell that she was descending, but even still,
this had gone on for too long.

Staring at the display of "B1", she had pushed her back against the wall and
slumped.
Is there something in the basement of this building, deep in the ground?
And if Cybil was brought here, then what was the reason?

Eventually the elevator begins to gradually slow its descent, and at the same
time that it comes to a complete stop the B1 lamp lights up.
And then its doors open...
Cybil dully felt this series of movements.


With the doors open, the light that illuminates the passage that extends
in front of her pours into the elevator.

As Cybil begins to walk forward it almost looks like that light is supporting
her from behind.
It is cold.
Although she is just walking down a corridor that is like one in a jail,
Cybil's heart beats irregularly.


Eventually a single door appears.
The passage ends with this door.
Perhaps all the mysteries of B1 will lie in this room?

(I didn't want to get you wrapped up in this.)
The voice of the girl flitted about in the back of Cybil's mind.
"What was the girl's goal?
And where is Harry?
Perhaps Harry has come here in the same manner as well?
Or?"

She had a feeling that by opening this door the many questions whirling about
in her head would all be put to rest.
Cybil summoned forth her courage and placed her hand on the door.

"Ah...!"

It is hot, and Cybil immediately takes her hand off the knob.
Something is burning beyond this door.
It is impossible to open this door by hand.
Just from touching the door the palm of Cybil's hand stingingly hurts.

She kicks the door with all her might.
With a hopeful feeling, she continues to kick the door over and over with the
thick sole of her boot.
Finally the knob breaks, and the door forcefully opens inward. At the same
time hot wind singes Cybil's hair.

And then Cybil saw it.
The room is about as large as a movie theater. Fire has spread all throughout,
and it has began to collapse.

Beyond the debris and flames a man is holding something to his chest and
heading toward another exit in order to get out.
And just as he reached the exit the vigorously burning flames lit the side of
his face.

The profile of the man visible in the flames

It was...

A ) unmistakably Harry.

B ) an unfamiliar man.