Interlude
In the bowels
In my dream, I see before me a forest of crucifixes which gradually turn into trees.
The prison was situated deep in the forest of Tokyo Prefecture. An unknown place, tucked between the tall twisted trees of the unnamed woodland. It reminded Akai a lot of Japan's famous suicide forest, Aokigara. A remote area only known to the PSB agents. It was a high-security, top-secret compound that housed Japan's most dangerous criminals. An appropriate setting for a man like Jin Kurosawa. Akai wasn't even sure if that was his real name.
A man steeped in mystery. He was a mercenary, a child soldier, a bodyguard— a murderer. His path was paved with the dead, leaving, in its wake, a trail of destruction. The man was the organization's loyal dog— the only good trait he possessed.
"We're reaching," Jodie whispered, clutching the steering wheel tightly. She wasn't hiding her trepidation well. Days of searching for Vodka had taken their toll on her, leaving her with bags under her eyes. The hunt was going nowhere, so this was the last resort. As the woman drove through the twisted green tunnel of Japanese cypress, she winced as they hit another rough bump. The road they were on was poorly maintained on purpose. After all, this place should not exist, and the Japanese Diet did not want the public to stumble across it—accident or not.
At first, there appears to be dew dripping from the branches, but as I approached, I realized it was blood.
A concrete prison emerged from the dense tangle of overgrown vegetation of twisted evergreen cypress trees. There was an ominous aura surrounding it, and as soon as they approached, they were stopped by guards.
"Purpose of visit," they ordered. Akai noted their icy nature and battle-hardened bodies. These were no ordinary guards. "Special forces," Jodie whispered, and Akai nodded, confirming her suspicions. Akai produced their FBI badges and showed them to the guard, who gave him a steely glare. The rifle at his side was cocked and ready for use if necessary.
"Appointment papers," the guard demanded. Having received the papers from the PSB agents, Jodie handed them to him. Keeping the heavy AK16 rifle by his side, the guard carefully examined the documents. Akai took the opportunity to inspect the place.
Barbed wire lined tall fences beyond the guard house, making crossing almost impossible. Between each fence were deep trenches. Land mines…The Japanese government, it would seem, was not fooling around.
"All good, stay on the path," the guard said, relaxing and saluting them. Jodie restarted the car as they continued on their journey. Steel and concrete form an impenetrable fortress looming ahead. Every corner was guarded, security tight, as they passed another set of checkpoints. There was no way in...nor way out. It was—a coffin.
Suddenly the whole forest seemed to writhe.
They passed the final checkpoint. Upon arrival, the guards directed them to park the red Honda civic in one of the parking lots. An elderly custodian greeted them, giving them their first smile since entering the place. He gestured to the building behind, and they entered. It was dark and damp, like a cave. Their shoes hit the metal decking, creating a sharp ringing noise racing through the air, forming eerie echoes. The torchlight the custodian was carrying formed a beam that sliced through the ambiguous darkness. They walked further in, eventually stopping before a pair of heavy steel-set doors. "The lift to the inner sanctum," the custodian elaborated. "Requires a two-prong clearance."
He lifted a copper key from his pockets and inserted it into the lock, turning it in a series of patterns. Following a slight rumble, there was a loud click. Having started, the lift edged upward, making a low, menacing groan as it gradually moved.
"Old school security, I see," Jodie commented, and the man nodded. "Easy, reliable, and not hackable," he explained.
"Good point," Jodie murmured.
The lift arrived fifteen minutes later, a telling sign of how deep the prison cells were. "Into the bowels of hell you go," the custodian remarked as they entered the lift, lit up by haunting red lamps, painting the walls a deep crimson. Jodie gave him a distasteful expression, and he chuckled. "Sorry, miss, but it helps to have a sense of humor while working here."
Akai understood his sentiments. Entering the lifts, he recalled a quote from Dante's Divine Comedy. "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." The phrase repeated like a menace through his psyche. Darkness lingered in the atmosphere, down the winding corridors filled with sinister-looking shadows creeping into the concrete walls. And although the place was sealed tight, it failed to keep the sinister aura from seeping out. They were descending—down the belly of a snake.
"Shuu, I'm afraid I'll have to sit this one out," Jodie whispered.
Akai examined the woman. It was unusual for her to be so unnerved. Coiled and tensed, she radiated an aura that Gin would have devoured. Jodie was right—the man would have basked in her fear.
"I'll take it from here," Akai reassured her, and she sighed, leaning against the grumbling lift's rusted walls.
"Thanks."
"Care to talk about it?"
"Shuu, I—"
"It helps, Jodie."
He reached out, resting a hand over the woman's shoulder, and she glanced at him before sighing deeply.
"I had a dream," she whispered, "A torrid dream."
She looked to the ceiling with glassy eyes, recalling something that left her breathless. "There was a blue butterfly gliding effortlessly across a field of flowers," she smirks. "My father used to tell me that it symbolizes calmness and joy. I was so moved by it, Shuu. There I sat, alone with him, marveling at the existence of such peace. I thought it would last forever." She closed her eyes. "But, everything changed quickly, dramatically. Everything in sight was burned as fires swept through the fields. My father was engulfed in those flames, and in the midst of it all was—that woman."
Akai understands the pain etched into her expression. He carried the same—the gut-wrenching emotion aimed at a particular silver-haired monster. A hatred—so profound that it cut into his veins, leaving a dent in his soul, an emptiness that cannot be filled.
"I was reminded of the fragility of it all. How everything you loved and cared about could be taken from you so suddenly. This—" Jodie leans against the walls, exhausted, giving a morose smile, unable to continue.
Akai nodded, bracing himself as the lift reached its destination. Metal moans as it bends, slowing to a halt. "That's why we're here, Jodie," he states. "We exist," peering into the never-ending chasm, "to stop them."
The trees, stark and erect, ooze blood.
As soon as the doors opened, a guard greeted them. "This way," he instructed, leading them down a series of dark corridors, down a few empty cells, and then through a series of weighted steel gates. With a series of keys, the guards opened them one by one. A loud bang accompanied the gates closing behind them. The haunting din reverberated through empty corridors.
To prevent the prisoners from learning the layout of the place, it was pitch-black. A futile effort. The individuals in this facility would have figured it out even with blindfolds, but it was still a protocol maintained in various high-security institutions.
They finally arrived at the locked room, sealed shut—a cage. Silence ensues, and Akai takes a deep breath. "Jodie, wait here," he told the woman, who nodded. Readying himself, he walked in.
A man goes to each tree, catching the blood in a cup.
"We meet again, Gin," Akai said to the man seated on a white mattress before him. His feet and wrists were chained to the railings that surrounded the room. The enclosed cell was dark. The only light source was a small naked bulb that swung from the ceiling. Ever so often, the swaying bulb would shine on the man's face, revealing to Akai—a deranged individual.
Although he could get around, his movements were limited. There were no sheets on the bed to prevent the man from using anything as a weapon. The silver-haired beast was unresponsive at first, but when lazy golden eyes met Akai's, a fiery glint appeared for a second as a smirk flitted to his lips. The man looked like a shadow of his former self. Once immaculate, his long silver hair was tangled in knots and stank of sweat and body odor. He had not bathed for days, the guards telling Akai they had given up after one of them had their head smashed by Gin. In a dungeon with no freedom, the beast is given a just punishment.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure?" Gin drawled, his voice deep and grating, just like Akai remembered it. Despite the boiling wrath he felt towards the man before him, the agent kept his emotions in check.
"I'll cut right to the chase," Akai said, keeping his voice neutral. "Vodka. Where is he?"
That was the mission. The organization member they thought was easy to track was still missing. The thought of it was frightening. Shiho was right; they underestimated the man, and now he was somewhere out there—free to do whatever he pleased. A crucial piece to ending the organization permanently. In this case, the FBI was not taking any chances. This time, they will be taking the first step. If they had to collect information from a silver-haired beast, then so be it.
Gin glanced at him briefly before shrugging. "The question is beyond my comprehension," he sneered.
"Is that so?" Akai eyed him, and the man snorted.
"Yes, is that all?" Gin replied.
Akai snorted. He would not fall victim to the man's trap. He was all too familiar with the mind games he played. As he prepared to leave, the beast spoke.
"Sherry," Gin snarled. The girl's code name reverberates through the cell. Akai paused, turning back to face the beast. A sinister grin spread across his lips, and Akai narrowed his gaze. "How is she?" he intoned. "Is she still missing her sister? Or," Golden eyes bored into his own, "Are you…A-k-a-i S-h-u-i-c-h-i?"
Akai clenched his fist, fury engulfing him as he stared at the beast. The man exhibited no emotions, no regret, and no empathy for what he had done. "Such a shame," Gin continued, "She was such a beauty too."
"Are you done?" Akai asked calmly, and Gin shrugged. The man relished in the taunts he was throwing out.
Gin had known his real name. How?
As Akai reached into his pockets, he secretly turned on the recorder he kept. Gin sniggered. His gaze was no longer on Akai but on the ceiling. His beady eyes were fixed on an abyss only he could see. "She can never seem to escape, can she? Our little bird, flying so far, so high."
"The organization is finished, Gin," Akai snorted, "The 'little bird' you speak off took it down. Are you hallucinating?"
Silence fell across the room, and the man smirked.
When his cup is full, he approaches me.
"Orcas?" Gin asked. "Do you know how they hunt?"
Akira dismissed him and was about to leave when Gin chuckled.
"Quite frankly, they are ingenious creatures," Gin said. "They choose their prey carefully before pursuing them," the man rapping his fingers against the side of the bed, "When the prey is within their grasp, do they simply kill it?"
"No, they don't," Gin taunted, continuing when Akai does not answer. "They release it, staying back and stalking it from afar as they are released through the ocean's expanse. And just when it thinks it's safe. That it's free...when it least expects it—"
The man lunges forward, moving so fast the agent could barely react. The chains around his wrist and ankles grew taut, holding him in place. And they were standing face to face, golden eyes withholding darkness that Akai could not comprehend. They were nothing behind those eyes, an emptiness that withheld nothing but hatred. A rage silently reaching its peak. Akai glared back coldly, knowing not to be intimidated. "It ends," Gin finished, backing away and sitting back down in his bed.
"What do you want," Akai asked, keeping his tone in check.
"I am but—just a mad dog, a piece in his scheme. You tell me… I am sure the great Akai Shuichi would be able to figure it out."
"I'm not interested."
The man's murderous glint betrayed nothing. A malicious grin appeared on his lips, sending chills down Akai's spine. "We shall see," Gin whispered. The beast's words haunted him as he sunk into the pervading shadows.
"Drink," he says. But I am unable to move.
The words in italics and bolded are actual phrases from a serial killer called John George Haigh. I will not elaborate on his crimes. He is despicable. The only reason why I used it is to explain the madness that is Gin (in this fan-fic, or how I perceived him to be.)
I have also used a quote from Dante's Divine comedy.
Again, I hoped you have enjoyed this short interlude, and we would start on Arc 3, proper :) Thank you for the reviews and feedback. It is greatly appreciated.
