Edited by: Waning_Crescents

As Sigal moved deeper into the basement’s labyrinth, a sharp sound stabbed his ears. He froze. The inside of the building consisted mainly of empty rooms; thus, every little noise produced an echo.

He raised his head and frowned.

Above?

Uncertain of what caused the echo, he suspected his partner. He had no trust in Cal’s skills in the first place, thus, it made sense.

What did he do now?

Sigal hesitated for a moment before he clicked his tongue, turned around and moved back up the stairs. I should have left him in the car! Then he aimed for Cal’s assigned area.

He walked for a good while to find his way around, while he tried his best to pinpoint the right spot in this huge building. Where should he even start?

With a stern expression he stopped at an intersection and waited a few seconds. No footsteps, no noises. He turned on his flashlight and searched around the corridors as he caught a glimpse of something white lying on the ground.

Thus, he crouched down and closely scrutinized the item which turned out to be some sort of cloth. Without a second thought, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and picked it up. At first glance it just looked like disposed garbage, which wouldn’t be unusual to find in a run-down building, but Sigal didn’t just discard it like that and rather took a closer look at the item.

What’s this? He held the item in front of his face as droplets of liquid dripped down. Is that water or-? He briefly sniffed on the cloth to identify the liquid and discerned a faint, yet sweet scent from it.

Chloroform!?

Then his gaze fell onto two other items on the ground and his expression turned grim: a cell phone and a flashlight. Sigal let the cloth with the liquid slide down again, while he put the handkerchief back into his pocket. He didn’t want to leave any evidence of him lying around.

Afterwards, the older Investigator picked up the cell phone and ascertained that it belonged to his partner. With gritted teeth he threw the phone into his pocket and cursed under his breath, “This idiot!”

Without wasting any time, he ran back the way he came from but then it hit him. Wait, how did they drag him away without me noticing?

A valid question, because as soon as he heard the echo, he moved up the stairs and hurried to the right side of the building. In this case, the criminals should have passed by him, but they didn’t.

Are they hiding somewhere else or is there another way into the basement?

Sigal came to a halt and took a deep breath. He had no time to spare, yet he faced a real problem.

Then he turned around and narrowed his eyes. If there is another path, it should be there.

He had to take the risk!

I knew he would screw this up! He thought as he formulated a text to inform the corps division of the situation by also requesting immediate backup.

On the lowest floor of the building a secret mechanism led to the criminal’s hideout, their laboratory. There they performed ‘surgery’ on their ‘patients’. First: drugs, second: removing the internal organs.

“Good job Ian for catching another test subject!” the man exclaimed and moved to one of the modified operating tables in the middle of the room, while he rummaged through the jacket of the unconscious investigator.

“My pleasure, Lester.” The other man grinned. “It was easier than I thought. I mean, he did put up a fight, but he was quite weak.”

“Ah, there it is!”, Lester fished out the ID from Cal’s coat and walked back to his subordinates.

Who?

Dull noises penetrated Cal’s ears as he regained consciousness bit by bit.

What happened?

He slowly opened his eyes but squinted as the strong light from above dazzled him.

Where…am I?

Cal moved his head where his gaze fell onto the shelves, with little jars on them, then onto the blood-stained floor.

“So, an investigator…Conciliator…hmm…must be this annoying Organization I heard about,” Lester said while he read the ID of Cal.

Still in a daze, Cal tried to get up, but an unknown force pulled him down, unable to move his limbs.

What?

He cast a glance to his hands, then to his feet. Tight straps bonded him to the operating table. He yanked at them, but to no avail.

What’s going on?

His head throbbed. He tried to recall how he ended up at this place as he discerned voices in the distance.

“To think that he came here all by himself...” another man said, “I think we should be careful, Lester.”

Lester? Cal froze. Lester Brown…I remember Sigal saying that name.

“Heh, don’t worry too much, Sam, if we got this kid, we are able to handle whoever else is here as well.”

Right, I was caught during the investigation…and now I am in their hideout!?

“Shall we get started then? Let’s make some money,” Sam said as he walked over to Cal, while he put on a plastic mantle over his regular clothes to avoid the blood from spilling all over him.

Through blurred vision, Cal glanced at the large-framed guy, who’s silhouette drew closer by the second.

“Oh see, the boy has woken up!” Sam called out as he came to a halt at the left side of the table.

“Nice!” Lester exclaimed. “I like it when they have to watch, their expression, the fear.”

“What are you going to do?” Cal asked in a low tone, the haze in his eyes lifting.

Lester bent down close to the investigator’s face and grinned. “Drug you up first, watching as the pain eats away your sanity until you are on the verge of death. And then when your heart stops beating...we are going to take your internal organs and sell them for good money.”

The man moved back again and laughed. “What a good day this is!”

Cal’s eyes widened in shock, and he tugged at his restraints. “You...you are Lester Brown, aren’t you?”

“Hooh, it seems I’m already quite famous,” Lester said, “You are right, and so I guess you are here to dispose of me, but would you have thought that it would be the other way around instead?”

“You are sick! Taking the internal organs from innocent people just to make some money…that’s insane! W-why are you doing that?” Cal raised his voice.

“Why? Well, no particular reason. I studied the human body and it interested me. I was a doctor actually; I was once saving lives.” The criminal explained, “Funny, but it’s their fault for not recognizing my potential, putting me down...oh yeah how often they quit my experiments. It could have been for the nation, but no they didn’t accept that. Certainly, there would have been sacrifices but in the end, it would have benefited mankind.”

“So, you want revenge?” Cal knitted his brows, while he still tried to break free.

“Revenge? No, not exactly...I just realized that humans don’t want to be saved. They are so fragile...somehow my taste changed from wanting to save them to see them suffer. It’s like a drug to me, when I see them in pain, struggling until they die, it satisfies me and the rest is just for making a living,” Lester elaborated on that matter. “I don’t even know why I tell you that, but sometimes it’s great to tell your own story, I suppose. Maybe you can die more peacefully now, now that you know why I am doing this, by knowing my reason.”

“Don’t make me laugh!” Cal hissed. “That is no reason! You just gave up and chose the most convenient way out or more like you lost your way because you got criticized and thrown out.”

I have to stall for time, Cal thought as he tried to establish a dialog with the other party.

“Lost my way?” Lester raised an eyebrow. “No, actually I am glad they threw me out or otherwise I most likely would have never found my real passion.”

Then he walked away from Cal and to a nearby table, while his back faced the young investigator.

“I doubt that’s how you really feel or otherwise you would have never pursued the way to become a doctor in the first place. I truly believe you did want to help people, but because no one took you seriously you turned out that way,” Cal uttered while he tried to stay as calm as possible.

Sigal, please get here soon!

He put all his hope into his partner's skills to find this place. Even if Sigal hated him, Cal didn’t want to believe that he would just abandon him. Therefore, he tried his best to stall for as much time as possible.

“Interesting…” Lester remarked as he turned around with a needle in his hand. “Turned out what way?”

He moved closer to the young investigator, whose calm demeanor slowly faded at the sight of the needle in Lester’s hand. Sweat formed on Cal’s forehead, his vision went blurry, his heart rate elevated, while he also gasped for breath. He instantly turned his head away and took a deep breath. “You…can still change your ways…and—“

Before Cal even finished his sentence, someone pulled him by his hair and turned his head the other way. Lester stared at him with eyes wide open and a vicious broad smile on his lips, like a wild animal ready to rip its prey apart at any second. Cal’s eyes widened at this sight, and he instantly forgot what he wanted to say.

“Became like what?”

Cal bit his lower lip but didn’t reply. What was there to say? No matter how he answered, it would only fuel that man’s rage. Therefore, he stayed silent.

“Don’t you mean insane? Worthless? Trash of society?” Lester answered for him. “That’s what you were thinking, right?”

“I…didn’t say…that,” Cal uttered, while he squinted one eye shut. This man twisted every word he said around. Even if he refrained from talking, Lester just put words in his mouth and used that as an excuse to accuse him. A truly insane man without any way to reason with.

“You don’t have to, I can see it in your face, it’s written all over it. I have seen it before and even heard it before.” Lester continued as he recalled a memory from the past.

***

A few years ago, Lester had worked at a hospital and had come up with a new method to save people, but the means would have required a lot of experiments and sacrifices.

“You are insane! How can you even think about something like that? Sacrificing humans?” an enraged colleague exclaimed.

“But we would have more and better methods at our disposal…we could save more lives like this, please at least reconsider it!” a younger Lester pleaded.

“You fool! Lester, you are not a doctor, you have no right to be one, you are trash...get out and never come back! I’ll make sure you never get to work as a doctor ever again…never!!!”

***

“They all said the same, they took all away from me,” Lester said maliciously, but he retracted his horrific smile and furrowed his brow “You better be quiet now; I don’t want to hear another peep.”

He forcefully smashed Cal’s head back on the table and then let go of him. A sharp pain pierced his head, and he squinted his eyes. He panted as he glanced to the wall. Sigal, where are you?

Cal shook his head, gritted his teeth, and yanked with all his might at the straps. I need to get out of here!

“Stop making so much noise! No matter what you try, you won’t be able to get out of your binds, let alone out of here….at least not alive,” Lester said annoyed. Then he turned to one of his companions. “Let’s get started without delaying any longer!”

“What should I do...what should I do?” Cal panicked.

Sam nodded and moved up to Cal, while Lester ordered Ian to keep guard around the entrance of the room.

Right after, Lester grinned mischievously at Cal, while showing him the syringe in his hand. “That scared you before, right? Don’t worry it’s over quick...oh sorry, I meant slowly. My bad.” Then he laughed in a mix of amusement and craziness.

Cal’s eyes widened, he gasped for breath, while his wriggling grew more agitated, but his restraints didn’t even budge an inch.

“No…don’t…stop!!” His heart rate accelerated.

Not this...just not this…

Lester laughed at the young investigator's futile struggle and then nodded to his companion. “Shut him up.”

“Help me!! Someone!! Anyone!! I don’t want this, noooo!!!!!” Cal screamed in agony, but in the next moment Sam covered his mouth. He leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “No one will come to save you. No one cares about you.”

Cal froze. He recalled that he heard these words before, a long time ago.

“Hold him down, if he moves it will just get messy,” Lester ordered. He grabbed his arm, while Sam pressed him down by his shoulder.

Tears filled Cal’s eyes; he trembled all over and yet no one came, no one saved him…again. As the needle pierced his skin, he cried out, but only gave rise to muffled noises. He squeezed his eyes shut and tears rolled down his cheeks.