The trees in the park had begun to turn. Sunlight bathed the trio in shades of gold, red, and orange as it shone through the leaves. For a brief moment, either the feeling of fall or pretending for the rest of the school…everything seemed alright. Breaking the serene silence, Jeremie drug Yumi and Odd back into the grim reality of their situation.
" After everything's been said and done, I think we may need to ask Ulrich for help this time." He looked at Yumi as they walked onward down the winding path that led to the manhole in the clearing. She didn't return the stare of concern. Her eyes were set forward…not even focusing on the ground…they were just dead to the world, and stuck in a normal position.
"Whatever." Responding any way she could force her vocal chords to, she terminated any hopes for conversation before they were even in Lyoko. That walk to the Factory rivaled Yumi's cold walk home two years ago in terms of desperation for answers. Once they were underground, Yumi's pace had slowed and slowed until she lagged far behind. Odd had slowed his pace to let Yumi catch up…but Jeremie took him by the arm, and simply shook his head…they went on ahead of her.
Lost in thought, Yumi finally registered her eyes into focus, and looked upward toward the light. Another manhole to the surface. The sound of her footsteps droned on throughout the hollow sewer system. She'd reached the intersection of the tunnels. And stood still, listening to Odd and Jeremie's steps getting weaker and weaker. The light that filtered through the ceiling was getting duller and duller…clouds were beginning to form in the 'real world'…at least that's what Yumi called it. 'The world that goes on, regardless of what we do…we…the protectors of that disgusting race of subhumans up there…they don't deserve it.' Light tapping noises had caught her attention from up above, but she didn't look up…she knew that sound. She knew that sound very well. From hours of concentrating, shed memorized the patterns. It was rain. On her arm, she felt three drops of ice-cold water… 'Its just starting'. Kneeling next to the water's edge…she gathered enough courage to look at herself in the reflection. As her thoughts rambled on, more drops fell onto her body.
"It's probably your fault anyway…" she stared at the girl in the water accusingly.
She could see the manhole above, and the light shining through in rays…after a few minutes, she finally realized that the rain had picked up. Her eyes focused once more on the horrible person in the water, and watched helplessly as the girl's hair became soaked, and water covered her entire body…she watched as the girl started shaking from the cold. To her surprise, the girl moved. Her hand raised into the air, as if to strike Yumi. The hand dropped into the water…and then the girl was gone…and it was only Yumi then. The sound of rain was all around her. Deafening in the tunnels, she stood, and walked on to the factory, drenched and shivering, yet not feeling cold or shaken…. 'I wonder how December's doing…'
The hallway of the seven hundred block had been quiet all day…at least after the silent disturbance early that morning. Every room was quiet….every door was closed. In Odd and Ulrich's room, December sat, taped to the computer chair…unconscious from the blow that Odd delivered with the trophy after he rammed Odd into the wall with his shoulder. In the hallway, movement had finally stirred. Sissi made her way down the numbers until she stopped at the very door that held December from the rest of the world. Ulrich had told her to meet him there for " some fun" as he put it. She eagerly grabbed the handle, and began to speak before the door was open.
"Ulrich? I just wanted you to know that I dreamed about this for a very long ti—" She stopped short as the door swung all the way open to reveal December in all of his bondaged glory. Her concern for Ulrich's absence disappeared when she rushed in to help December. " hey…you're the guy that hangs around with Yumi…are you ok? Who did this? Here, I'll help you out." She ran to the back of the chair, and began ripping the duct tape off of his wrists. The movement had aroused him out of his sleep, and he opened his eyes. The first thing he'd realized was that his hands were untied…and the next thing he saw was Sissi walking in front of him, tending to his trophy wound on his head… he raised his head to face her, and her eyes fell right into his…she stood slowly, her breathing became quicker. Before she could run to the door, December's hand shot out, and grabbed a fist full of her hair. She stopped short, and fell to the ground. Her screams were immediately muffled but the very tape she'd removed from December's hands. He sat on top of her to keep her still. His face was blank, and he worked very deliberately. Pulling the tape, he bound her hands and feet together, and reinforced the gag. He then stood, looking over his defenseless victim…a smile finally broke his emotionless face, and he walked to the door, and locked it shut.
An hour went by…and December stared at Sissi's body on the bed. She was very much alive…but she had no energy left even to scream. Her clothes lay tattered and sliced on the floor of the room…cut from her body, apparently with no care taken in regards to the knife and her skin. Her bare skin was covered with deep incisions. She now lay on Ulrich's bed, naked and barely breathing, blood soaking the sheets, and her eyes ever open, and trained on December. He stood there, shirtless, scars and all, in the window, staring down at the courtyard below…studying people…in his mind, laying devices and plans for each one of them… He turned suddenly, and walked to the bed. At his sudden approach, Sissi used what was left of her ability, and moved as best she could away from him…she was up against the wall by the time he'd sat down beside her.
"I'm sure you must be wondering why…" he stared down at her, smiling, and brandishing the knife he'd found with his blood covered hand. With the other, he ran over her body, and traced the deep bloody bite marks he'd left earlier with his fingers. "Well, my little entertainment for the moment…like everything in life…as you've seen so far…there is no answer. Everything is just presented…no sort of ending is ever in sight…except for yours…its very much in plain view." With that, he reached down, and grasped her once more by the hair. He lifted her up, and yanked down along her back, throwing her chin up high. " But don't worry…I'll tell your little boyfriend Ulrich how good it was." He raised the knife, and quickly raked it along her throat. Releasing a torrent of blood that surged over December's body, accompanied by a garbled gurgling noise. Sissi's body fell limply to the bed. December stared down, feeling the warm blood on his chest and arms. He suddenly felt overcome with fatigue… as if he'd just had a violent session in bed. He laid down next to Sissi's lifeless corpse, and wrapped his arms around her. Falling into a deep sleep, the true December inside screamed until his vocal chords bled. He wanted to kill himself for what he'd witnessed what happened here…all he could do was rage and thrash until his soul was tired…and watch…watch as his possessed shell of a body wandered around and brought XANA's dreams into his reality.