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obviousniklr · 2 months ago

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"Something Left Unpatched" Part 2

(Warning: This story includes content that might seem violent and graphic to some audiences. Please be careful if you are sensitive to those topic.) (This is also a Halloween story)

(See part 1 before reading this)

They searched almost all of the rooms on the second floor and met a room with two metal doors. Juliet moves away to the trolley to examine the door. She fumbles with the knobs and opens both of them. The dark room is finally laminated with a sliver of light, growing wider and wider to reveal another stitched figure in a medium-sized meeting room, this time it's a man with a black coat, draped lifelessly on the floor. He's the same as Isabelle, his body and flesh stitched up with many kinds and states of tissues. His face has been frozen in a shocked state, his eyes and mouth open widely as they face the left side of the room.

His left arm stretches in the same direction where he's looking at, half of his arm has already separated from the rest, the only thing connecting each part are the threads. While the other arm is nowhere to be seen. The same can be said for his right leg and half of his left leg. His white shirt is soaked in dried blood and filled with tears, while the stains are invisible in his black coat and pants. As for the blood that has flooded around the corpse, it has already dried up and fused into the tiles and cement underneath it. The man has been lying here lifeless, for a long time now.

"Cesar, my love! You were here the whole time!" Isabelle shouts with glee and relief on the trolley.

"Let's get you closer to your husband. I'm sure it's been a while since you've since him." Juliet walks back to the trolley to push it into the room.

"Oh Juliet, thank you so much for reuniting us! I never could've done it without your--" Juliet gives a strong push to the trolley as if she wants to lift the handles. This made Isabelle fall to the floor, her chin hitting the cold tiles.

She groans. "Why did you trip--" as she turns around she is faced with Juliet just standing still in front of the exit. The light from behind, shadowed her unimpressed and emotionless face.

"Are you happy now? Isabelle." Juliet coldly says before strongly pushing the trolley to the side, making it collide with the wall.

"Why...Why are you suddenly acting so strange?" Isabelle as nervously and "meekly".

"Cut the act already." That made Isabelle freeze up.

"So this is your husband." She walks forward at a calm pace. "Who has been a part of you the whole time." She stabs Isabelle's right arm with half of her staff directly between two stitched parts. Isabelle screams in agony. The part that has been cut off shows the rest of the black fabric inside that has been tucked in the stitch.

"WHY ARE YOU--" Isabelle's coarse voice suddenly became agitated.

"This proves my theory." She raises her staff from the target point. "You knew where he was all along, did you?" Juliet flatly asks Isabelle.

"What do you mean?! I told you we split apart to roam this place!"

"But you didn't mention what happened before that separation. You just gave me a similar explanation of 'I left him here'." Juliet stares at her with unimpressed eyes, unwavering.

"Why you--" Isabelle growls before scratching the floor with her hand to move her body to jump in the air, about to pounce at Juliet --

*slice* *slice* *SLASH*

Before Isabelle could even lay a finger on Juliet, her body fell on the ground chunk by chunk, along with her head still attached to half of her torso. Isabelle blurts out noises of choking and coughing, blood spills out with every piece of her once was body, but most from her torso.

"How...HOW COULD--" she continues to choke and cough.

"You said you couldn't move your arms...but suddenly your senses came back?" Juliet snarks. " And you thought I wouldn't notice this underneath your gown." Juliet holds a jagged knife near her face so Isabelle can see both the knife and Juliet's emotionless gaze.

"I...w-what do you mean??" Isabelle suddenly shifts back to weak, defeated character.

"When I was about to hoist you up to the trolley, I noticed this...sharp and hard object under your clothes. It couldn't possibly be a bone, it's too cold and surprisingly well-kept." She examines the knife, gently turning it around as if she's examining it. "Not to mention those rolls of threads left in that storage room."

"Did you use them?" Juliet straightforwardly asks.

"I... ofcourse! How else would I keep myself intacted for so long?"

"Are you sure you were using that just for yourself? Or are you using it to attach other people's body parts to you." Juliet remarks.

Isabelle grinds her teeth.

"Your body was rotting. Lacking enough nutrients to sustain itself. Every single one of its parts." Juliet walks a few steps around the chunks of bleeding tissues. "Overtime, this facility would run out of edible sustenance for those who's trapped here. Even I couldn't find traces of infestation or food expiration, meaning... You milked the place dry of it." She exchanges back a sharp glare at Isabelle's still breathing head. "And since you mentioned that your sense of hunger has been removed, all you needed to do was let your body survive. For as long as it takes."

She snickers. "You really are a survivor."

"Your husband didn't have enough time to survive due to his body eating him from the inside, but I guess..." she looks at the husband's corpse, "you made that choice for him."

"You're... you're just accusing me of infidelity! I would never do such a thing!"

"Oh am I?" Juliet barks back insolently yet calmly "You can't even say his name whenever you mention him!"

"And your story. I do sympathize with those who live in poverty and those who suffer due to society, but not every one of them deserves pity if they choose to live a life of crime rather than hope, even those who only center their narrative on themselves. Not even giving your partner a spotlight or even a mention of his good deeds?"

"Your words for him are nothing but words, are they?" She said in a light, whispering tone. "So this is your true nature. Someone who values her own life rather than others, even if that "others" is your life partner. You're not a weak woman, but you tried to be." Juliet remarks.

Isabelle can't react more than a grunt. She tries to move somewhat but nothing works. Her remaining limbs have become broken pieces that cannot be moved as one anymore.

"And lastly, tell me...." Juliet walks closer to Isabelle's head and kicks one of the arm chunks away.

"Were you planning to chop me too?" She slightly tilts her head.

Isabelle grunts "Wh-Why would you ask that? Was that what you were thinking the whole time?! Hiding your suspicions of me under that kind act!?"

"Hm...I was genuine at the start. I truly was. But when we saw that corpse, it further verified my suspicions. The moment you had a slip of the tongue... you did it, did you?"

Isabelle's sculpted, boney face continues to squint and furrow in anger, grinding her unkempt teeth nonstop. She turns around and attempts to bite Juliet's ankle only to miss her as she steps back.

"If you're me right now, you would want to look like a human again won't you?!" The lady screams. "Someone who's still young, healthy, a-and beautiful..." her voice quivers as it begins to quiet down, still seeping with anger from within. But that didn't waver Juliet's stare, nor make her have that sense of care again.

"You were fortunate enough to have some of these researchers come back to retrieve their work, but little did they know that they left someone behind, and still alive. That's what you've been doing all this time, right? Even before your husband's passing you weren't ready yet." Juliet places her foot on Isabelle's cheek, enabling her to move "Killing any intruders coming in here just to sustain your body. Your last ditch effort to continue living. That corpse hasn't been long there has it?"

Isabelle doesn't have any more response other than a scowl.

"You still hope to live longer. But even so, over time those parts you have taken began to rot as well. You keep trying to stand up, only for you to fall back again."

She continues to scowl, more furiously.

"Well, thank you for having a chat with me Miss Isa, but I have an important mission to accomplish." She places the blunt end of her staff on the side of her template. Isabelle begins to cower, becoming afraid and frustrated.

"I still wish that your life didn't end up this way, I really do." Juliet looks down at the panicking head with nothing but cold, sharp eyes as it shifts to a darker hue and smaller pupils. Her eyes glow slightly in that dusky blue. "If only you ended it sooner, you could've been in a much better life by now, but your heart is still clouded with resentment, tormenting yourself rather than saving yourself."

"I still wonder, if you actually deserve this." She raises her staff a bit, holding it like a cane that's about to tap the floor.

"Say hello to Mr. Caesar for me..."

Aires walks out of the halls of rooms, back to the middle of the second floor, where they agreed to meet once they're done searching the place.

"If you'd end up in heaven."

"Hm, she's not here yet..." She pulls up her phone to call her, "I hope she's not in danger or something..." Aires worries. But just as she said those a familiar figure walks closer to her, waving with a smile.

"Jyuls!" She sprinted towards her with excited feet, "How was your search? And...why are your clothes covered in blood?" She said as she looked down at her clothing which was covered in black splotches and stains, aside from her legs that were untouched.

"Oh um, I stumbled upon a bloody room. It was kinda gross to go through but I had to check just in case." Juliet says her excuse with a clumsy smile. "I suppose the red pools still managed to splash on me even though I was careful."

Aires lets out a big sigh of relief. "I thought you run into someone dangerous here, or a monster even."

"But there's no signs of life here, right? Everything I found in my area is dead. How about you?"

"Same. It's kinda creepy though." She scratches the back of her head. "Glad you're not as spook about that than you're used to."

"Hehe yeah. I'm glad as well that I can handle things like this now, even though it's...a little--" Juliet looks away " It's still eerie."

"Aww~don't worry about it Jyuls!" Aires scoops Juliet closer. "How about let's explore the remaining floors together this time! That way it'll be less scary."

"Hm, okay." She nods.

"Plus it was getting kinda boring without you! I wanted to call you a couple of times but it seems the cell signal on my side was weak."

"Huh, hence why I couldn't call you either."

"Anyways, what did you find on your end? Anything interesting or important?" Aires asks.

"Well, the only thing interesting that I found was a file on one of the experiments these researchers have done on their patients. They used to make Frankensteins of people in order to find a way to find a cure for physical impairments." Juliet explains.

"Frankenstein? You mean like stitching up body parts together? What does that have to do with people born with a missing limb?" Aires asks.

"That's the thing, they never done it to people with physical impairments but rather normal people!" Juliet added.

"Eh?! That's straight up cruelty!"

"*sigh* tell me about it." Juliet slouches as she expresses her exhaustion. "I'll tell you more on the way but Aires...can I ask you something?"

"Hm? Sure, what is it?"

"If one of us is...I guess, stuck somewhere, and I have the lowest possibility to survive...will you leave me behind to find a better way to survive?" Juliet asks with a bit of nervousness, and melancholy in her tone but that doesn't stop her curiosity.

"What? Of course not!" Aires responds without a thought. "If you die then I won't leave your side, or I'll take you with me."

Juliet is intrigued by her response.

"Even if your soul has already left, I can't bear to leave you and rot on your own, so I'm gonna keep warming you up with my flare so you're never cold!" Aires explains herself with such dedication. "Even though it all seems pointless" her energy has lowered a bit, "I just couldn't leave something--someone meaningful behind." Her cheeks blush and bit, and so does Juliet.

Her attentive awe switches to a grateful smile, and hugs her. This surprises Aires, leaving her a bit confused, but she hugs back anyway.

"Do you think human lives is so trivial?" Juliet asks once more.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Aires is more confused and held back by her sudden deep questions. "Well for me, I think all life is worth protecting, even the ones that seem small or that don't have an impact in the world." Juliet retracts and steps back, being able to look at her partner again. "What matters is that people get to live a happy life before they die right?" Aires shrugs, explaining her belief without breaking eye contact. "At least, that's one of the reasons to cherish them." She bows her head, somewhat becoming shy. This gives Juliet the opportunity to reach her head and pet it. That surprises Aires and perks her head back up again.

"It's good to know that we still haven't lose all hope for each other." Juliet says with a warm and pleased tone.

"Wha-Why are you suddenly asking existential questions all of the sudden?" Aires is still dumbfounded.

*Sigh* "I suppose my mind needs a bit of a breather after going through a bleak place like this that has an upsetting history." Juliet lets out her frustrations.

"Heh, you're right. Maybe let's take a breather outside for a moment? I found the stairway to the roof on my end." Aires suggested.

Juliet sighs in relief "That's exactly perfect right now." She still expresses abit of exhaustion.

The walks forward to find the stairway to take a short break, while continuing to discuss their findings that'll be important to include in their report. They still haven't found what they need nor explored half of the facility yet and its secrets but they, mainly Juliet, has already found something that'll make the facility much more daunting to revisit.

#original character #aijyul #halloween #storytelling #story #futuretl

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obviousniklr · 2 months ago

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"Something Left Unpatched" Part 1

(Warning: This story includes content that might seem violent and graphic to some audiences. Please be careful if you are sensitive to those topic.) (This is also a Halloween story)

The Team Justice Guild has been assigned to investigate an abandoned facility once used by researchers looking for cures of all kinds of diseases and ailments, but for the wrong intentions. As one of the investigation teams, Aires and Juliet split up to cover more ground, but little did Juliet expect that she would find something--someone alive here.

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Taps of light gray boots can be heard walking through an abandoned hall. The girl opens each rusted door she finds openable, peek in through rooms that doesn't even have doors, observe the shelves of tools and folders, hospital beds and machines that's been left behind. Some rooms seems like a common room that you can see in a research center or hospital while some has a far darker story to tell, having chains and sharp buzzsaws lefts to rust in those rooms. But throughout all of those, Juliet doesn't see any evidence of the organization's work.

All the folders she can find are either empty or it has been taken of its essential data, or burnt intentionally or accidentally, or its papers has been wilted away due to broken water pipes. She comes across what seems to be a patient's room with a computer that looks to operate rows of screen. She clicks on the keyboard to see if it responses, and even turn on its system unit, but still, no signs of function.

*sigh* "Still nothing." Juliet sighs. "These people must've missed something to give us clues."

Aires and Juliet were assigned a mission to search an abandoned facility that has been left to be devoured by the elements for a decade now. It used to be a home to an organization who researches on finding treatment for diseases, disorders, and impairments that could possibly change the medical field and the lifespan of humans. Unfortunately, the local government has found that in reality they have committed several inhumane crimes, taking advantage of volunteers from poverty to run their curious experiments. Many of the reserchers have been arrested due to their crimes but there are still some in their records that has escaped the consequences of the law, and managed to erase all evidence before abandoning the facility. Aires and Juliet's job is to find evidence of where these remaining researchers could've fled to, in case if they're still continuing their callous agendas.

The two have split to search each side of the facility's second floor. Due it being a huge building, other guild teams assigned to the same mission are also searching the other floors and basements.

The taps of her boots can be heard throughout the empty quiet halls, with no other noise to accompany it rather than water drops in the distance. Even the cold and quiet space is getting to Juliet, having chills on her bare arms as she hugs herself.

"I wonder if Aires has found anything yet. My I should call her." She pulls up her phone from her pocket.

Then suddenly, her ears perks up, making her flinch and stop, and hears a noise in the distance. She looks to her left, only seeing rows of rooms that's either shut or doorless. She doesn't hear another noise. Perhaps she must've misheard --

"Hello? Is..." the rest of it is unintelligible.

She heard that. She can't mistake that as her imagination. She waits once more to verify it, only to hear a faint bang and another cryful hello.

Gasp, there is someone here! But how? It's been a decade since the place has been abandoned. Perhaps someone lives here now? And they need help? No matter, Juliet runs towards the noise to see where those calls came from.

"Hello? Is someone here? Please tell me where you are!" Juliet hollers, hoping that the voice will call again and help her with navigating their location.

She hears another call, still unintelligible, but it's the same voice.

She runs to the right, and hollers onces more.

"I'm here!" A muffled call of a lady can be heard just nearby. She's closer now. She speeds to the next right turn and looks to her left, an end of a hallway with a single closed door. She moves closer to it.

"Are you in there?" She calls.

"Yes yes, please let me out!" The woman in the other side cries.

Juliet fumbles on the knob to find it unlocked and opens the door to see a woman on the floor -- She gasped and jolted back. That determination to help someone in need immediately turned into a disturbed shock. A mix of disgust and disbelief cumulates in her body as she looks down at what was calling her.

The woman...is not a normal one in the slightest. The woman's body is only half of what it was once. Her scrapped, dusty, and blood-stained gown covers her back though it only ends there as it droops down to the floor to cover the rest. Her flesh and limbs were sown with a mixture of human flesh, and other colored skin, some rotten, some scarred, and some somewhat intact, and even some that has the fabrics of their clothes sown with it, as if her right arm has a chunk with a black cloth in the middle of it. Her hair is disheveled and dry yet still so long that it spreads on the floor. Perhaps it's about stomach length long. And her face is one that is malnourished. Her cheeks are no more than sculptures of its bones, and her eyes are wide open, with bags of flesh underneath them. And yet, with all the flesh just hanging on the skull, covering it like a mask, it's still covered with stitches and different colored skin.

This woman, isn't a normal human stuck here, it's a Frankenstein of what used to be a normal one.

"P-Please don't be afraid..." The woman begs. "I just want to be reunited with my husband."

"Uh..." Juliet hesitates. Still terrified, the shock in her eyes hasn't left. "I-I sorry..." her voices trembles, "but I can't help you..." she steps back and flees.

"No please! I don't mean any harm!" The woman begs once more in the room, and it did stop Juliet from fleeing. Letting her morals listen to the lady first before running like a scared puppy. "I just want to see my husband again! He's still somewhere here in this building, and I can't move on my own." The lady added.

"W-What do you mean?" Juliet turns around, only looking at the opened room.

"My limbs... lost its function to move a long time ago. The only thing that's left controllable with my body is my head, hence why I never left this room."

Juliet nervously comes back to the room, and peeks to see the stitched up lady once more. "But...how did you end up here? In a storage room." She observes the room to see nearly empty shelves, with a few tools and metal left untouched. "And how are you still alive? What are you?"

"I have lost sense of that as well. Those who have experimented on us have removed some of our organs to be replaced by artificial ones. I...used to--I mean, they said I have signs of stomach cancer so they gave us a "cure" for that. I may not need food to be hungry anymore but I still search for sustenance to keep some of my organs somewhat nutritioned."

"What? What is all this? What do you mean by experiments that they've done to you?" Juliet politely kneels down as she asks these questions. Letting her curiosity and concern move at the forefront now. "I--we know what this organization has done many inhumane acts but...not the details of it."

The stitched lady sighs. " It's...a long story but basically, me and my husband offered our help to the organization in exchange for money to help us in living. We thought it was just something simple like testing out medicine or check-ups but...we didn't know we'd be used as dolls." The lady's tone is a mixture of sorrow and regret. Huffing at each end of a sentence before starting a new one. Having trouble speaking while stuck lying on the floor, her chest lying flat for so long.

"What do you mean 'used as dolls'? What reason would they have to do experiments like this?" Juliet asks further.

The lady sighs in thought. "The men said they were working on research that involves curing people who have been amputated, born with missing limbs and organs, but I don't think they were being transparent with their true intentions." The lady's face turns into a more serious one. "Instead of testing those from the target demographic, they allowed-- more like forced-- people who have normal bodies. The reason me and my husband got involved? We were diagnosed to have organs that have signs of 'possible cancer'" she said somewhat mockingly. "We didn't think too much of it and accepted their offer for surgery."

"Little did we know that we'll be used as test dummies."

"How long were the two of you being tested? Can you still remember the process?" Juliet asks again.

"I remember EVERYTHING that they did to our bodies. It was agonizing. Even though we were unconscious throughout the procedure, by the end of it, whenever they would leave us in our rooms, where we could attempt to move unfamiliar parts of our amalgamation of a body, it's... it's insanity." The lady shook her head as if she were trying to forget these painful memories.

"So when we heard of the whole building being shutdown, being swatted by soldiers, me and my husband tried to escape but never found an exit in the underground floors." The mood shifts back to being gloomy. "And when we finally managed to get to the top floors, that's where we found that...were trapped here. For god knows how long."

"Since the doors has been locked and windows has been barricaded right after the arrest, this place has been blocked from the outside." Juliet continues the rest of the context.

The lady helds out a deep sigh once more. "Me and my husband tried to live here instead, find any rations that we could eat until...our body starts to become immobile, and fall apart."

"So, the last time you and your husband has seen each other, you both lost the ability to move."

"I'm afraid so."

"Now please..." The lady continues, "I have told all that I know, so can you help me find my husband?"

"But... what if he has already passed?" Juliet let's out her concern.

"I...it doesn't matter now I suppose." The lady looks down at the floor. "But I hope to die by his side, if the end is really that near." She said so meekly.

"Maybe...we can brought you along with us." Juliet shows a bit of hope, switching her frown to a small smile. "We can help you have a new life, and maybe have a new body to be able to move again."

The lady stares a bit and close her eyes with a smile, slowly shaking her head. "Can you not see my current state, little girl? There's no more future to me out there." Juliet's face turns back into a defeated expression. "Just a wish. That I can die happy with my husband."

"But... you're perhaps in your 40s or 50s right? You still have half a life to live happily with." Juliet still remains hopeful.

"I... don't know how old I am anymore, and I don't know if I still have the capability to be strong and healthy again."

Juliet sadly moans, looking down at the floor knowing that all the possibility of hope that she can think for the woman is not possible. "Well..."

"If the only thing left is your wish, to see your husband again, I'll help." She kneels up, her determination coming back once more.

The lady's face beams in excitement and relief. "Ah, thank you, thank you so much!" She seems nearly close to crying as her eyes squints.

Juliet smiles a little, looking down at the lady who has been lying chest first on the floor for so long, finally having the chance to move one more time. "You know miss..."

"Oh, Isabelle, or you can just call me Isa."

"Miss Isa, for staying alive here for so long, and going through many hardships in your life... you're a survivor, Miss Isa," Juliet said with a soft and gentle smile.

Isabelle nods, with her eyes closed once more and a smile.

Juliet stood up. "Now before we move, I don't think I can carry you for too long without any of your limbs possibly falling apart. How sturdy are those stitches?"

"I...I couldn't tell. All I know is that they're made of thick threads."

"Hmm... maybe there's a stroller here somewhere..." Juliet looks around. "Please wait here for a moment." She tells to Isabelle before going to the other rooms, searching for a device that she can move and carry Isabelle on. Not too long in her search, she finds a metal trolley. A movable platform with a handle big enough to travel a big crate. "Yes, this is perfect!" She says as she goes to it and pushes it back to the storage room.

"Here, I can move you around with this." She shows the trolley to Isabelle.

"Oh, how wonderful."

Juliet goes to Isabelle to pick her up, but she now faces the problem of how to pick her up. She awkwardly moves her hands around Isabelle, trying to find a spot where she can carefully and respectfully carry her, and without the risk of any parts of her falling off. She manages to find a secure spot, placing her hand on her chest and wrapping her arms around her stomach, she lifts the stitched lady from the floor and onto the trolley. Surprisingly, the lady is not as heavy as she expected, it's like carrying 1 kilogram of rice. Juliet also places her lifeless limbs, and hair as well on the trolley, making sure that no part of the lady would be dragged or left behind. Juliet huffs as she stands straight back up. She looks back at the spot where the lady stayed for a long time. The spot has been blackened, perhaps due to blood loss from all the cuts and unfinished stitches. Other than that, the floor has been kept clean, only leaving a few bolts and rolls of threads that have probably rolled down from the shelves. Juliet looks down at her white clothes. It's a bit stained now, mostly her sleeves, for carrying the lady. It's hard to tell its colors due to the low and cold lighting of the facility.

The two heads out their way. Juliet, who was walking on her own before, now pushes a trolley with a stitched woman lying there.

"Thank you again, young girl, for giving me this chance." Isabelle tries to look back at Juliet, but she can only meet her halfway.

"It's my pleasure." She smiles brightly. "I'm always willing to help anyone in need. Even in a place like this."

"I won't lie, we didn't expect to find anyone here. Well, alive at least" Juliet continues. "Since you and your husband were one of the tests--patients" she corrects herself to avoid offending the lady, "did you know what happened to the other patients? Did they try to escape too?"

"Well..." Isabelle sighs. "We did have some comrades during our times here, they would even help us regain our morals and hope when it fleeted, but there are some patients who... didn't make it that long, or the inflictions done to their bodies was far too... inconsiderate to even let them live until their next tests. I-I can't remember the rest nor know it due to us being confined in our rooms, only to be let out when we needed to be tampered with." Juliet furrows her brows as she feels upset, thinking of all these careless scenarios in her head. "When we escaped, yes some of them came along with us, but not a lot was able to reach the top floor. It was only a few of us who did, and we went our separate ways, scouring every room of the facility to ourselves."

"But...I haven't seen anyone or any remains in my search. Maybe they're in the other side of the building?"

"Perhaps."

"Maybe we will bump into my partner too. I wonder how she's doing." Juliet suddenly grows concerned for Aires. "Maybe I'll call her, see if she made any progress." She pulls up her phone and calls Aires.

"Progress? On what?" The lady asked.

"Oh, we were sent here to find evidence of where the rest of the organization could've possibly gone to. Unfortunately, not all of them were arrested until now."

"Huh. I thought this nightmare already ended by then." The lady turns to the front once more, only to jolt her head back to ask "Oh, I haven't gotten your name yet, young girl."

"Oh heheh, my name is Juliet." She smiles with her eyes.

"Ah, what a beautiful name for a pretty, young girl like you." Isabelle replies.

"Oh, thank you." Juliet shyly replies back.

"I wish I was as pretty as you back then when I was still little." Isabelle weakly giggles.

"Well, your husband must've seen you as a beautiful girl in his eyes, that's why he have chosen you."

"Ah, my husband did made me feel special back then, eventhough we didn't have the money to buy enough food everyday."

"How sweet of him. What's his name?"

"Caesar. He was a generous man." Even though Isabelle's voice is coarse, the sweetness of her tone can still be felt. It makes Juliet smile hearing that but eventually becomes concerned as an automated voice clip speaks from her phone instead.

"The number you have dialed is unavailable right now. Please try again later."

"That's... concerning. Is there no signal here?" She close off the call and messages her partner instead.

"Aires are you okay?" "Anything on your end?" She sends those messages, and the small icon of "sending" quickly changes to "sent".

"Hm, there is signal..."

"Young girl look over there!" Isabelle says in a whispery tone, looking to the left. This made Juliet quickly hault her pushing.

"What is it?"

The two can see a corpse in the distance. They move towards it, but not too close where they can smell its scent. Juliet moves towards it with her sleeves covering her nose. The corpse seems to be that of a civilian, wearing some sort of a long sleeve shirt and pants. The flesh is still in the continuation of decaying, molded chunks of it being inhabited by maggots, and the brown bones are easily visible. The person's face is far from recognizable, it's nothing more than a skull with moldy tissues. Juliet feels uncomfortable looking at it, feeling a bit pitiful but mostly disgusted, until she finds a discrepancy in her observation of the corpse. The rest of the body seems intact, or at least some parts are left where they should be, but the right arm and leg are missing, and even the sleeves of its clothes seem to be cut along with it. She looks around to find if those parts have suddenly moved around but nothing. Only the spot of the corpse has signs of human decay. Juliet thinks this is odd.

"Anything interesting there?" Isabelle asks loudly and hoarsely.

"Nothing." She replies, as she hurries back, away from the stench, "it's just a corpse of a stranger. Did you... know about that, Miss Isa?" She asks.

"This is the first time I've encountered that actually. We've thought that all of the researchers have been arrested that I'm surprised we'd see a corpse of one of them left here." Isabelle explains.

"Wait, how did you know it was one of the researchers?" Juliet's head immediately turns down to Isabelle.

"Oh, in the earlier days of our entrapment, we have been hearing rumors about break-ins here. I have never encountered a sign of it, until now." Isabelle explains.

"Strange. Maybe perhaps one of them came back only to be attacked by something. Perhaps one of your fellow patients." Juliet reverses the trolley and steers it around, putting them back on their main route.

"It's a possibility. Though it's been a long time since I've seen one of them, nor do I know if they're still alive." Isabelle mourns.

The two continue to stroll around the second floor of the facility. Juliet asks Isabelle many things she knows about her experience in the organization as this could help in the searching. She also takes stops to observe every room for further evidence, only to find little data in the empty areas. As they continue to stroll, Juliet asks Isabelle about her life as well, growing up in poverty and trying to stay alive even if it means they have to steal at times. Juliet sympathizes with her stories, wishing that poverty would slowly fade away so that everyone could live happily and healthily. Isabelle tells how comforted she is to hear those words, that there are people who are kind after all those that she has faced and witnessed throughout her life of living, those who are selfish, cruel, and remorseless.

(Continue...Part 2)

#original character #aijyul #storytelling #halloween #story #futuretl

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