Andrew's POV

I groggily flush the toilet, tie my sweatpants tight against my waist, and stumble out into my living area, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I give a big, obnoxious screech as I stretch and itch my arm. I stumble into my connected kitchen and navigate the fridge, pulling out an orange juice container.

Taking a swig, I look around my cozy living space. The room was dimly lit from the sun shining through the shut curtains. I had a single recliner placed directly into the middle of the room; a small coffee table right next to it with a large flatscreen TV against the wall across from it. Nothing more, nothing less.

I take another swig and put the juice back in the fridge, turning my attention to my loud, meowing cat.

"Whaattt, honey? You hungry or something?" I say as I pet the cat on her head. "Yeah, well guess what, Zazzles? This morning, you get the breakfast of a lifetime."

I open a cupboard that hung over my kitchen counter and pull out a can of wet cat food. Zazzles immediately began pacing around me and meowing loudly into the open air, showing her passion for the delectable dish.

I open the small can and place in on the floor right in front of the fridge, where she immediately digs in.

"That should keep you busy for a solid seven minutes." I mumble to myself, lazily walking over and flopping into my recliner.

I lay back and kick my legs out, relaxing and feeling the cool leather tickle my bare skin. I look down at my no-shirt, sweats and socks combo.

"Time to do a whole lot of nothing." I chuckle to myself as I turn on my tv and grab my gaming controller I had resting on my coffee table.

As my electronics powered on, I heard my phone buzzing from the table next to me. I reach over and grab it, recognizing Sayori's contact picture.

"Yoo, whatsup?" I answer.

"Hey, Andrew! Good morning!" Sayori screams from the other end of the line.

I wince and pull the phone a few inches away from my ear.

"Damn, girl. If I wanted a ruptured eardrum, I'd go to the shooting range without hearing protection."

Sayori giggled on the other end of the line.

"Sorry! I was just excited to say hi to you!"

I laugh and shake my head at her antics.

"Well, it's good to hear from you too. What you go going on today?"

"Well.." She says with something obstructing her mouth and causing her talking to be muffled, most likely food. "…I'm going to go with Monika to the craft store downtown."

I cradle the phone in between my cheek and shoulder so I can hold my controller.

"Oh yeah? That sounds fun." I tell her.

She laughs on the other end of the line.

"I know it's not your kind of fun but still!" We share a laugh and she let out a soft sigh. "There's actually something I wanted to bring up to you. About Yuri."

I shifted my hand up and grabbed my phone, sitting upright in my chair.

"About Yuri? What's up?"

"Well, last night we kind of had a four-way video call. We all just hung out for a few hours and talked, doing our own things. Yuri though….she seemed very distracted and was shifting in between being really quiet and really open whenever we tried talking to her. She didn't show much on her camera either, so I didn't know if something was up. You're the closest person to her out of all of us, so I wasn't sure if you knew anything."

I sighed and racked my brain for an answer.

"Well, I know she seemed a little off the past few days, but nothing too crazy. I'm sure she's fine." I answer truthfully.

Sayori sighs on the other end.

"Well, as long as you don't think anything is wrong, then I won't worry."

I smile, standing up from my chair.

"Good, don't stress about it too much. I'm probably going to go check on her soon, anyways."

I hear her crumbling some wrappers.

"Okay, I'll let you be then! Text me and let me know how she is!"

"Will do, cinnamon bun. Take care and have fun today. And be safe!" I finish, hanging up the call.

I go to my room and change, throwing on a normal black, band t-shirt and some jeans. I throw on some sneakers and head to my front door, where I pause to grab my keys.

"Zazzles! I'm going to be gone for a while so don't have any parties or do drugs while I'm gone! And if I die and don't come back, take good care of my Xbox!" I call into the empty apartment, opening the door and exiting.

I put my hands into my pockets and descend the stairs on the outside of my apartment complex. I reach the sidewalk and fall in line with other pedestrians heading about their business.

Yuri's place was only about a three-minute walk from mine, so I'd be there in no time. I couldn't help but wonder why she is acting so strangely. It all started happening with that book….right? Or was she always like that?

I step out from the crowd traversing on the sidewalk and head up a walkway to Yuri's place.

I hop up some stone steps and turn into a small, outdoor hallway. I arrive up at her door and hesitate before knocking.

"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay, don't be a murderous, horny girl who will obliterate me." I pray quietly out loud, slamming my knuckles on her white, wooden door.

I stand and patiently wait for a response. She doesn't answer, so I casually look around and whistle, hoping to look normal. I try again and still am left with silence.

"Come on, Yuri. I know you aren't asleep."

I try for her doorknob and it turns, showing me that it's unlocked.

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy, please have clothes on." I mumble as I push the door open, entering inside.

Her living room is similar to mine in that it is immediately the first room you come across. I take a few steps in and notice how dark it is. Her blinds are completely closed with curtains covering them, so little to no sunlight was getting in. Candles were lit up and littered throughout the room, some on mantles while some just sat of the floor. The soft glow emanating from the candles made shadows dance on the walls. I squinted and noticed that something was out of the ordinary in the room.

I reach to my right and fumble around on the wall for a light source. I find the switch and flick it, gasping at the sight.

"What the actually fuck?" I mutter out loud.

Her living room was a complete wreck. Her peach-colored couch she had was upturned and thrust up against the wall. Several lamps lay broken on the ground. A television she had was powered off and laying against a wall, completely off its intended stand. A half-glass coffee table was shattered and pushed toward the far corner of the room.

That wasn't even the weirdest part.

All along the room were pages from a book strewn all over her floor and stuck onto her white walls. There were red stain lines running all over her walls and on the floors, as if to connect each of the parchments. There were words scrawled all along the walls that I didn't understand, like "Libitina" and "Observatories". I noticed that all of the red trails lead up to her novel, 'Portrait of Markov', that was nailed above the TV stand. Above it read the words, "The Speaker".

I stepped further into the middle of the room, staring in awe. My eyes focused onto one of the words above a page.

"Telekinetic dismemberment? What the hell is going on here…"

I hear movement behind me and an audible gasp, causing me to swing my body around to the source.

Yuri was standing there, clutching a stained paper towel in her hands. She was wearing a black gown that covered her from neck to ankles (thank Christ). Her sleeves were rolled up, showing her wrists and forearms which were plastered with scratches and scars, some old and some fresh.

She stared wide eyed at me while I did the same back at her, not daring to move. I didn't even know how to approach the situation.

Out of nowhere, she grows a smile and claps her hands together.

"Andrew! Welcome! I'm so happy to see you!"

I stand awkwardly and give her a half smile, unsure of how to react.

"Er-Hey there, Yuri! Sorry to um….intrude, I guess. I just wanted to check up on ya and you know….see how you were doing…." My voice fades as I look around the room.

She clapped her hands and lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my neck in a tight embrace.

"Oh, you thought about me and came to see me? Oh, Andrew! That's so thoughtful! I don't know what I would do without you!"

I halfheartedly hug her back and give her a forced laugh.

"Hehe, yup! That's me…"

She just stood there holding onto my neck. Her wrists seemed sticky, leaving a grimy feeling on my neck. I pursed my lips and gazed around the room, searching for an escape from the situation I've been thrust into. I clear my throat and pull out of her embrace.

"So um….been doing some redecorating?"

Her eyes lit up and she grew a weird, sinister smile.

"Oh! You noticed my notes?"

'Well, no shit, how would I not notice?'

I nod my head and she stepped away from me, opening her arms to show off her work.

"This here is my calling." She says to me, as if that clarified everything.

"Um…what do you mean?"

She walks to one end of the room and stands next to one of the pages.

"I need to go save my sister. She is imprisoned at the camp that we grew up at. I need to liberate every individual that has been being experimented on for the past twenty years and destroy all those who oppose me."

I stand there awkwardly and shift in place.

"Um…..what?" I flatly ask, scratching the back of my head. "You…..need to break your sister out of an experiment prison?"

Her eyes lit up.

"Yes! Yes, she is waiting for me to arrive. Every day we wait is another day that those bastards antagonize those they keep prisoner."

I took small steps backward towards the door.

"Oh, I see. thank you for clarifying, that makes perfect sense."

Her smile slightly faded and she squinted her eyes at me.

"Where are you going?"

I freeze in place.

"Who, me? Ha, I have some….errands to run. My cat needs some…food and stuff so I better do that."

I blink my eyes and she isn't standing in front of me anymore. I frantically look around the room before hearing a locking noise behind me, whipping my head around to see her standing at the door.

"You aren't going anywhere." She quietly tells me. I stare at her with my eyes wide. "You're going to help me."

Her awkward, clingy demeanor fades and is replaced with a stoic, sinister façade.

"Er….how exactly am I going to help you, Yuri?" I uncertainly ask. I start to feel stressed out, unsure of what exactly I've gotten myself into.

She steps towards me and takes hold of my wrist, dragging me to the front of the room where she had her novel nailed up on the wall. She tapped the book several times and turned her gaze to me.

"This here, this novel, it was the key. Ever since I started reading it, I started to receive premonitions and little glimpses of me from before. I always felt that something inside me was missing, and now it makes perfect sense."

She picked up several loose papers that were scattered on top of the stand. She shuffled through them mindlessly, eyes focused on finding something.

"This! Right here, this is where I need to go." She thrusts the parchment into my open palm.

My eyes scan the page, confused, until I noticed some highlighted text.

"…and there, deep inside the Rossolimo Observational Facility, we assimilated the first chosen subjects. What started…"

I looked up at Yuri and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Er…the Rossolimo Observational Facility?" I pronounce with difficultly.

She nods her head and takes back the paper, placing it with the rest.

"Yes. That is where I need to go. I feel this aching in the back of my mind that's just….calling for me to return. Also, given the fact that my younger sister is there, my path has already been chosen."

I meet her eyes, and I could sense her determination. The purple in her eyes were a tinge darker than usual, a strange, fierce fire burning inside them. She believed every word she told me, and she wasn't going to stop until she completed what she is sought out to do.

"Well….where is this facility place at?" I curiously ask her.

She furrows her brow and steps away from me, examining each parchment that she had fixated on the walls. She gently ran her fingers along each page, as if reading them with her fingertips.

"I don't remember it's exact location. But I know how to get there. I just have an instinct."

She tells me, stopping at the page where the word, 'Libitina', was scrawled up high. She cradled her fingers along the word, sighing softly to herself.

She turns to me and gives me a piercing stare.

"Andrew, we must leave soon. The longer we stall, the longer those fiends have to defile innocent people."

I shift uncomfortably in place.

"Listen, I support you Yuri, I really do, but um…..I'm not going."

Her gaze hardens, and her lips shift into a neutral frown. Her eyes bore into me like knives and I felt a strange itching sensation on my arms. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

"Listen, I don't mean any disrespect or anything..." I start, quickly trying to defend my stance. "…I just don't think I'd be any use in this whole…ordeal."

The more she stared at me, the more I started to feel a dull aching sensation deep in my mind. I winced and placed an open palm to my forehead.

"Andrew, I am needed to resolve something I should have years ago. I am answering the pleas that have been reminding me slowly who I was, or who I am."

She took slowly strides toward me and I started to feel like the room was wavering. Nothing was falling out of place or breaking, but I felt the sensation of the world crumbling apart.

My equilibrium faltered and I fell to my knees, fiercely clutching my head, feeling something pull apart my mind.

"Y-Yuri…." I stammered out, struggling to create simple sentences. "W-what is happening-?"

I feel my consciousness begin to fade, my body falling limp onto the floor. As darkness surrounds me, I hear Yuri's frigidly gentle voice speak.

"I'm coming, Libitina."

…..

Libitina's POV

I shoot up in my bed, frantically looking around to regain my composure. I looked up and saw the familiar bloodred light glowing at me. I scooched my body back until I was flush with the metal frame of my bed, tucking my knees to my chest.

I wiped off some forehead sweat with my sleeve and placed my palm to my temple, feeling a headache plague me.

"What….was that dream..?" I ponder out loud to myself. "It all seemed so….familiar. I don't remember being there but…I remember the incident. It was…Yuri. That's the day she got away…but why was there so much bloodshed? Why did she do that…"

I sigh in exasperation and sit in the still dark air. My head replayed what was left of the dream, the once vivid images becoming obscured by me being conscious again. Why did it show me that?

'I'm coming..'

My eyes widen slightly. Who's coming? Who said it?

I took deep breaths to contain myself. Before I could think about much else, the morning siren rang throughout the section, causing me to flinch in place.

The alarm rang out for several moments before quieting. I sat still and waited for the guards to do their morning rounds of pounding on the doors.

I heard my door unlock and I shifted to my feet, sighing and brushing off my gown.

"Report to the Playroom" I hear a guard shout as he rapped his instrument against the steel door.

I took a deep breath to calm the storming ache I had in my head and made my way to our normal gathering place.

I creeped into the solemn room and made my way to the corner to meet with Ilia.

She seemed to have regained some of her normal energy, for she flashed a soft smile my direction.

"Morning, Lib." She says to me, following my lead and sitting next to me with our backs against the wall. "Sleep alright?"

I ponder telling her about the dream I had, but advise against it, for now anyways.

I shrug my shoulders at her.

"I guess, the best it can be at a prison like this, anyways."

She giggles lightly at my sassy remark.

Our conversation was cut short when several guards walking in, doing the routinely attendance.

"I don't even know why we do this." I lean over and mumble to Ilia. "It's not like we'd have anywhere else to go."

She bumps me with her elbow.

"Well, you trying to make escape attempts the other evening probably doesn't help anyone's case." She counters back.

I roll my eyes. Damnit, that's not the point….even though she's right.

Roll call was finish and the Onyx guard lowers the clipboard to his side.

"Alright, listen up Section E. You're going to be dismissed to your quarters for breakfast and to wash up. Stay in your rooms until advised otherwise. Go and get it done."

The door was opened, and we all shuffled out, ready to clean and eat.

The morning slowly creeps by, but I manage by writing and reading my creations. I'd gladly spend an eternity in this room than do those cursed experiments over and over again.

I heard banging on the doors, guards ordering us to report to the Playroom.

I place away my small belongings and make my way out of my room, trying to swallow the feeling of trepidation growing in my chest.

When I file into the playroom, I see that everyone is standing in somewhat of a formation instead of sitting. Confused, I fall into the back next to Ilia.

"What's going on?" I ask Ilia nervously.

"I don't really know, they just ordered us to remain standing when we arrived." She quietly tells me.

Thoughts of yesterday's events pop into my head and I feel sweat start to formulate on my forehead.

The dozen or so of us remained quiet as we stood, waiting for some sort of instruction from the section's authorities. One of the section guards walk into the room, positioning himself in front of the group.

"Alright, Section E, listen up. When ordered, you will be escorted to the courtyard. As you can tell, nothing is planned as far as experiments go, and we got the proper authorization to allow you guys a day of outside leisure time."

The room broke out into optimistically uncertain murmurs. The guards waved his hand and we all followed them through the halls, and through the sealed gate.

Every time I stepped out of the section, I felt a weird sense of unease. We spend so much time in these few halls and rooms that it seems almost alien to be anywhere else.

We follow the guards throughout the facility, heading down a set of stairs and hitting a hallway on the first floor. At the end of the pearly white hallway was a set of double doors.

We reached the double doors and the guards opened them, having us pass through into the open air.

We've only been allowed to the courtyard a handful of times. I swear they do it to try and give us the façade of morale. Every time they allow us here, I feel like they use it against us, amplifying the hell we receive afterwards.

The courtyard was a very simple, fenced off area. On three sides of the outside space was the stone walls of the facility, with a wire fence connecting as the fourth wall, closing off the yard. There were some benches along the perimeter, with the rest of the space being unoccupied.

Most of us congregate at the wire fence, where we can see out into the world. Or, more accurately, the outside lands of the prison we were in.

There were watchtowers in several places, keeping watch on anyone who dare attempt escape. In the far distance, I noticed undistinguishable hills, some ranging far over the height of the facility, while others were more compact.

"The Dead Man's Hills." I heard Ilia say next to me.

I turn to see her staring through the fence, her face was millimeters from the wire, fingers gripping the wide cavities.

"Rumor is those are bodies from those who pass away here." Ilia says with a little too much enthusiasm.

"I told you no one really leaves." I tell her flatly.

She huffs at me and rolls her eyes.

"Come on, now. It's just a rumor. They wouldn't really store dead bodies over there, we would smell it every time we come outside."

I squint at the faraway mounds, trying to see if I could make out an outline of anything.

"Unless they put some sort of preservatives on them or something." I mutter.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I'd much rather go to the Hills than….there."

Ilia pokes her fingers through the fence, pointing her index finger towards a smaller, circular structure that was detached from the rest of the facility. It was forged of red brick, though over the years of its existence, it's been weathered down to a brown exterior. There were no windows and from this angle, didn't even look like there was an entrance.

"We don't even know if that's the Pit." I shoot to Ilia.

She shakes her head and sighs.

"Well, how would we ever know for sure anyways? It just looks….menacing. No windows, no doors. What else could it be?"

I shrug my shoulders, gazing around the empty, dull field in front of us.

"I don't know. And honestly, I don't want to find out."

Ilia nods her head in agreement.

Even though we were granted a small amount of strict freedom outdoors, I still felt the hanging dread of what this place really is. The gloomy shadows from the grey overcast didn't help.

My dream once again popped into my head and I thought about telling Ilia, wondering what her opinion would be. She must've noticed me disconnect because she nudged my shoulder.

"What is it?"

I sighed and hesitated. It's been so long since I've even brought up Yuri. I figured she was long gone by now, not even remembering I exist. Now here she is, popping into my dreams.

I turn my head to her and furrow my brows.

"Do you ever think about Allison?" I carefully ask.

Ilia keeps her gaze out into the field, her shorter brown hair flowing slightly from the breeze. Her stare was pensive and unmoving.

"Everyday." She simply says.

I wriggle my fingers with each other, hesitating on asking her more.

"I don't even know how she's doing, how the other sections are being treated. I don't know if they have it worse than us or not. All I have of her is that wallet-sized picture I was gifted from the director."

I reach my hand over and squeeze her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ilia. I didn't mean to be so blunt about it, I just-"

She cuts me off, turning to me with a small smile.

"It's okay. I know she's doing okay. I'll see her again when we all get released one day."

We stood there in silence, just listening to the sounds of nature around us and the other section mates conversing throughout the courtyard.

After what seems like a hundred years, Ilia breaks the silence.

"It's Yuri, isn't it?"

I turn to her with a shocked expression, mouth slightly agape. She adopted a small smirk.

"You're kinda obvious, you know that? Besides, you just randomly brought up Aly, and I'm not the only one with a sister they haven't seen in a while."

I sigh and place my hand up on the fence, resting the crown of my head against it.

"Yeah, maybe so." I take a deep breath and exhale roughly. "Yeah, it's about Yuri. I keep having this weird feeling about her. She popped in my dream last night and it just….seemed so out of the ordinary. I mean, it's been over six years since she left…and even then, we haven't seen each other for almost double that. I don't know, it just seems strange….."

I lock my gaze on the "Pit", getting lost in my own world.

"Maybe it's all a coincidence, you know? Our minds are already fragile as it is from being here, maybe that's your mind's way of keeping you grounded on earth." Ilia says softly.

I sigh and slowly nod my head.

"Yeah, maybe…"

As I focus on the mounds in the distance, I start to get a weird hazy feeling in the back of my head. I pinch my eyes shut, holding onto the fence.

"Libitina, are you okay? You're turning pale." Ilia ask me while grabbing arm, concern bleeding in her voice.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" I mutter out.

The world seems to fade in and out, creating a strange illusion in front of me. I feel something calling to me. I feel someone calling to me. I focus all my energy into that one concept in my mind, trying to listen as hard as I can.

I can feel it reverberating in my head, bouncing around like a loose cannon shot. I can't pinpoint exactly what's being said but that doesn't make it any easier to focus on.

All of a sudden, the world clears up. I slowly open up my eyes and see nothing different and feel nothing different. I look at my hands, examining to make sure I was still in one piece.

I glance at Ilia and see she still bore a concerned expression, visibly swallowing.

"Jesus, Libitina. Are you okay? What was that about?" She worriedly asks me.

I dismissively shake my head.

"Don't worry, I'm okay. I think it might've been a side effect from the experiments or something-"

I heard a gentle voice as clear as day, freezing me in place, eyes wide with confusion.

Ilia looked around with uncertainty before stepping closer to me, grasping hold of my shoulders.

"What is it Libitina?"

I looked her in her eyes, anxiety flowing through me.

"I…I heard a voice, clear as day in my head."

Ilia seemed at a loss for words.

"Wh-what? What did it say?"

I swallowed and held Ilia's gaze.

"It was Yuri's voice. And she said…..I'm here."