DedicatedFan: ; D We're getting closer and closer to Whodunit! I can't say anymore!
MusicalBear: Agh! I'm glad you feel that way about this story – admittedly, it should be an intense read through – every chapter filled with mystery and uneasiness! Thanks for the compliments! I feel awesome knowing that my stories affect you so ; ) And it's totally cool – all your posts have intrigued me with this fandom of yours! I'll have to check it out!
: 11 :
Once they touched down onto the First Floor, Ace hustled Luffy to the front door, and found it locked. He saw that the key was broken into the lock, causing him to curse, hitting the hard wood. He looked out the security windows, but there were iron bars in front – too narrow for them to slip through. He turned and prompted the pair to follow him, looking for the dumbwaiter. But as he saw the solid metal tunnel coming from the dining room upstairs, he saw that it opened on the outside of the building. There was no way to access it from the First Floor.
Ace caught the sharp scent of smoke, and for a moment, his mind fuzzed. In a flash, he pictured different blazes; a recent wildfire, burning candles, the fire that nearly destroyed everything in his hometown. The acrid scent made him think of bright flame, power in its destructive possibilities. How easily structures fell under its strength, toppling into ashes under a miniature sun. How human bodies looked when found afterward, curled and blackened, hugging themselves in an effort to combat the heat. Intense guilt and a heated sense of fascination hit him suddenly, causing a flux of emotions and thoughts that made him anxious to catch the flame.
Luffy realized he was distracted, and looked at him with a frown. Zoro paused in mid step and looked back, eyebrows lifted.
"The sound is louder down here," he complained, flicking at his right ear, before clamping a hand over it. "We should go back up."
"It's bad up there," Luffy said with worry. "We have to get out, Ace said."
"That smell is not doing me any good," Zoro commented, sniffing the air. "Someone lit the fireplace early. It's too warm in mid summer for flames."
"FIRE!" Luffy sounded suddenly, panicking. He couldn't see where it was coming from, but the smoke was building. He could see it charging over the ceiling over their heads, building up from the floor below them. Stricken, he looked towards the basement. Then he understood why Ace had given pause, the man staring off at the wisps of smoke coming from the nearby piping.
He grabbed him impatiently, pulling him out of his trance. "Let's go! Ace! We need to get everyone out of here!"
Rattled by his brief blackout, Ace looked at them, then nodded. He pushed away from the area, looking for another doorway. He reached for the nearest door, into the front office, and found it locked. It rattled in his hand, and he yanked his hand away quickly, sure that someone had twisted it from the other side. Catching his breath, he kicked the door, hearing the response in that kick with one returned.
"The door is possessed," Zoro commented, eyes wide.
"You fucking jerk!" Ace shouted, sure that it was only Law messing with him. "You fucking dick! Come out here and face me – man to man, you piece of shit!"
"Calm down, we'll get to that eventually," an impatient boy's voice said from their left, drawing their attention. Ace wondered how he'd missed seeing Law earlier – the man was on his knees, drawing on the floor with a couple of crayons, the floor covered with hangman games, tic tac toe and various phrases that Ace couldn't see from where they were standing. Ace stared in silence as the man concentrated on his task, but it wasn't a man they were looking at – rather, a man hunched over as a child would be, sitting on his knees with a tongue visible between his teeth.
"There!" he announced, his voice changed into the boy Ace had heard. He accompanied this voice with mannerisms similar to a boy – sitting backward with a huff, head tilted, moving so unlike the tall, thin man that he truly was. "I got bored waiting for you guys, so I decided to 'occupy my mind' like Dr Smoker told me to. My mind certainly was occupied. I think I did pretty good with just a green and blue crayon!"
"Ace? What is he doing, talking like a kid?" Luffy asked, in a much too loud whisper.
"This is part of it, Luffy. This is part of the reason why he's insane," Ace explained, grabbing his arm and forcing him to move in the other direction. He reached out for the side door, frustrated at the sight of the lock with the key broken in that as well. The smell of smoke was growing stronger.
Law looked at them, furrowing his brow. "You can't get out. Nobody can. You're not allowed. No one can leave here, anymore."
"Where's the keys?" Ace snapped at him, taking steps close to him. Law pushed himself to his feet with a startled look, dropping his crayon. Eyes widened, he looked at Ace with considerable fear before smiling, patting his pocket. Keys jangled noisily. With a shriek of laughter, he turned and raced down the hall – it would have been funny to see a man of his height racing away, head bobbing and arms crooked with exaggerated pumping, but Ace wasn't able to laugh. He watched as Law pushed through a doorway near the visiting room, and so he raced after him.
"Ace!" Luffy shouted with alarm, unsure of what to do as he watched Ace leave them. The smoke gathering from underneath him alerted him that the floor was growing hot, and he looked down at his feet, covered only by slippers. He looked at Zoro, the man looking at him with unease.
"Kuina said the gates are locked down. We should expect a buggy by morning, but we won't be able to go anyway," he said low. "Should we go upstairs and wait?"
"No, we can't. There's …Sanji. Sanji always has keys!" Luffy said, eyebrows lifting as he turned and raced for the stairway. Zoro was left standing there, feeling abruptly forgotten. He shifted uneasily, mystified by what was happening around him. The air felt hot, but it was for another reason entirely – it vibrated, and it made his ears uncomfortable, making him twitch as he struggled to resist the thought that something was making its way inside of him.
he moved to cover his ears when he caught sight of something moving in the hallway Law and Ace had just abandoned. Venturing over, he looked down at the drawings, there. With shaky movement, the scrawl of the boy was rearranging itself from the hangman games, the tic tac toe. Rearranging into something he couldn't really read. The x's threw him off. His head began to buzz, and he didn't like the feeling of whispering coming from everywhere and from behind him at once.
"I can't help you, now," Kuina told him regretfully. "He's much too loud!"
: :
Ace caught sight of Law running around the furniture before jumping onto the largest couch to face him. He hopped up and down with some delighted laughter, causing Ace much pause, disturbed at the sight.
"The floor is lava!" Law cried.
"You psycho son of a bitch," Ace muttered with disgust, wondering how these personalities went undetected for so long. He walked forward to teach whoever it was a lesson when the floor creaked ominously, and he found himself lurching backward as it seemed to drop. Sparks of burnt wood snapped as smoke billowed upward from below, casting the room into a dingy fog. It horrified him that this man had set this place on fire when they had no way out of it. He didn't know how Law had caused the fire, where it was exactly, but the basement was out of the question.
He coughed and sputtered as Law used a few tables to run away from the pillar of smoke, to jump onto a chair, and then use that to jump clear to the steps leading out of the visiting room. Seeing that he was getting away, Ace turned and raced back the way they'd come in, spying him running in the halls.
"Dunderhead, dunderhead, stupid face, stupid face!" Law shouted, dancing around Zoro, Zoro looking at him with bewilderment as he crossed his arms.
"Get away from him, stupid!" Ace yelled at Zoro, running fast. Once he realized he couldn't see Luffy, his heart stopped. "Luffy? LUFFY!"
"Hey, Zoro, Kuina wanted you to know something extra special," Law paused in shouting to whisper, watching Ace grow nearer. "But I can't tell you, now!"
"You can see her?" Zoro asked, showing some relief in his features. "Fuck, that's great."
"Don't listen to him!" Ace shouted, Law running away from Zoro with a wild cackle. " Don't listen to a word he says! He's insane!"
He paused in his chase as Law raced down the other end of the hall, near the doctor's offices, the medical ward. His gait turned sloppy, a kid enjoying the chase, to make sure he was still being pursued. When he saw that Ace had caught sight of the drawings around them, he gave an exasperated shout. He paused and began calling them names, shouting out encouragement for the chase. Ace ignored him, reading what had been arranged.
Zoro looked off in Law's direction with bewilderment. "Where'd that kid come from? He's using that guy's voice. Is he a shapeshifter?"
' x x the floooor is lava! Can xx yooou resist the flame, Ace-ya? Oor will you let it eat you?'
"That little shit!" Ace snarled, pushing away from Zoro. Law whooped with delight once he saw that the chase was back on, and pulled out the keys. Giggling madly, he opened the door to the medical ward and slammed it shut as the man caught up. Ace fumbled with the doorknob, then jerked it open. Inside, he saw the man lighting up piles of gauze and paper, the piles tied to each other by a roll of toilet paper. Once one pile lit up, flames licked their way to another, and another, filling the air with smoke. At the end of the ward, Law watched him, tossing aside the matches he'd used. Ace was caught by the sight of flames building over the beds, spreading quickly over liquid spilled on the floor.
He grit his teeth, quite aware of the dangers around him. Heat built fast, and Law clapped his hands,running in place.
"Isn't it pretty? Look how pretty it is! It's so bright! So warm!" he cried, whirling around. He suddenly turned, grabbing hold of a nearby room divider. He shoved it onto the floor, then grabbed another, tossing that over it. Then kicked the bed closest to him, sending it squealing over the floor, essentially creating a pathway from him to Ace.
Breathing deeply, focusing on the man across from him, Ace examined the set up of the room. It was near similar to the one upstairs, but there was only one door that he could access. He knew better than to chase the man, knowing that it was wrong. He could be trapped inside the ward without those keys, knowing that every door was locked. The floor shifted underfoot, smoke escaping from below. It warped and melted, causing one of the beds to sink. He thought of the bodies he'd seen after the fire he'd caused months ago – hugging themselves. The more he stood there, the more he could see them; they were the bodies of his friends, of Luffy, and he felt an overwhelming sensation of guilt hit him.
He didn't cause this fire, but he could be the cause of death for Luffy. With hard breaths, he took a step back. Law frowned at him, seeing that he wasn't taking the bait. So he reached out into the operating room, and pulled out the severed head of Sengoku.
Ace jerked backward with revulsion. The boy tossed it towards him, like a ball – it landed with a hard splatter on the floor, flies buzzing around it. Observing the saggy skin, the half closed eyes, Ace was frozen on the spot. His stomach roiled, bile coating his tongue.
To his horror, the head looked at him, eyes suddenly blinking.
'I'm sorry. But God will make it right. I'm sure of it,' it said to him, the mouth moving sloppily, dry tongue caught between dried, bloodstained teeth.
"Where is your God, Ace?" Law shouted, hopping up and down once more, seeing Ace's reaction. "Where is he? He's not here! Ha ha ha!"
"You fucking psychopath!" Ace shouted at him, face reddening as he ran toward him, eager to stop him. Law shrieked with laughter, delighted in the chase being renewed. He stepped back to run through the operating room, keys shaking in his hand when the floor collapsed underneath Ace's feet. Wood shattered, sparks flying upward, Ace crying out with surprise as one of the beds followed after him.
He reached out to catch himself, but the heavy metal frame of the bed rammed into him, further shoving him into the broken section of floor. He hit the basement floor with a hard landing, wood landing around him, the bed's back legs catching against the debris above him. It hovered in the air above him, but he was coughing violently, affected by the heat.
Covering his stinging eyes, Ace managed to see that the entire basement was covered with smoke. Flame licked at the floor above him, guided in long splatters – oil, he assumed, some type of fuel that caused the fire to eat slowly at the supports, the joists glowing blue around him. He wasn't in danger of being burned – he was in danger of heat suffocation, smoke filling his lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He didn't know the layout of the basement, but he was frantic to find the stairway, the door out. He stumbled to his feet, affected by the hard landing. He was unable to take a breath, heaving painfully as he found a wall, using it for support. The bed fell through with a tremendous clatter, metal slamming hard off the basement floor, splaying dirt and flames around it. the mattress was on fire, and it lit the area only dimly.
He thought he could hear Law yelling and laughing again, but the sound was far away. He couldn't breathe. He slid along the wall, searching in vain for the stairway. Once he reached the concrete spread of the floor near the cells, he fell to it, searching for cool air there. Lifting his head with effort, he managed to see the bottom stairs ahead of him. he began moving in that direction, using his elbows to do so until he could bring his legs under, pushing to his feet. Once he touched them, he climbed them with intense effort, eager for fresh, cool air.
He slammed up against the door, pushing it. Then pulling it when it didn't budge. It only rattled faintly, locked. Panic and frustration hit him, and he banged upon the door, shouting for Zoro to help him.
In the hallway, Zoro heard the noise, and turned, looking in that direction with surprise. He heard his name, but he didn't recognize the voice. The heavy coughing, the thickness of the door distorted the sound. He didn't know if it were one of his friends calling him, or just another one of those voices.
"What's wrong, puppy?" Robin asked him, strolling into view from the medical ward. She leaned against the wall with an amused look. "Look at you, so lost, so alone. Where are your friends?"
Zoro paused to look at her, bewildered by her presence. The tall, raven haired woman smiled lightly at him, arms crossed over an abundant chest. She looked familiar, but he couldn't place her in his memory. The banging continued, the voice screaming for him. he looked in that direction again, moving towards it.
"What do you hear?" she asked, walking slowly in his direction. "You look as if you heard, something."
"Just a voice."
"A real one?"
"I don't know…it's calling my name. I should at least check it out before anyone else, does," he said, furrowing his brow. "I thought I heard flies, earlier, I hope it's not that serious. Kuina doesn't want to talk to me, right now. I can't ask her."
"that little girl is your friend?"
"Yeah. Do you see her?"
"I know of her," Robin said mysteriously. "She's at your side all the time, right?"
"Yes. Usually, no one can." Zoro frowned at her. "She only stopped talking to me before you came. Who are you?"
"I'm a visitor, here," she said, flashing a piece of paper his way. His features lit up.
"Can I use that? I might need that to find my friends. Paper can lead me anywhere," he said with confidence.
"Sure. Just bring it back to me when you're done," she said, handing it over.
He took it, but once he touched something wet and thick on the back, he reacted with disgust, flapping it out of his own grasp. Left behind were worms, wiggling frantically in a some type of blackish liquid, and he froze, face paling.
"What's wrong?" Robin asked curiously. "Didn't you want it to find your friends?"
The buzzing noise grew louder, and they were coming from the worms. But the noise wasn't what he thought it was – it was a sharp crackle of sound, as more of the floor from the medical ward fell, taking with it more equipment, a supply closet. The sound was deafening as glass cracked in the nearby windowpanes, an eerie groan billowing over the air as more of the floor started to cave. Smoke filled the air, covered the ceiling.
The banging at the basement door had stopped, Robin noticed.