Knock. Knock.
K doesn't wait for permission. He steps inside.
The room is a mess of paper. Stacked like brittle towers, some yellowed with age, others stained with blood. The air hangs heavy, thick with ink and iron.
He walks to the desk and sinks into the leather chair. The seat sighs beneath him. His fingers skim across a document, eyes scanning without urgency, like he's searching for something buried between the lines.
Bang.
The door bursts open.
L stands frozen in the doorway, his grin faltering. Grey eyes sweep over him, there is no warmth in the eyes. Only cold and calculating.
His hands are crusted with dried blood. He hides them quickly, like a child caught red-handed.
"What are you doing in my room?" L asks, voice tight, the manic edge dulled by surprise.
"Where is it?" K voice is low. A hint of coldness but not with anger.
L blinks. His grin twitches back into place, but it's thinner now. Hollow.
"Where's what?" He says, too quickly.
K doesn't look up. His fingers tap the edge of the document, slow and deliberate.
"I will ask again. Where is the report of these past years about that kid?" His tone sharpens, just slightly.
L shrugs, stepping further into the room. Unbothered by the fact that K skim through the secret document on the table.
"Didn't write it yet. Got distracted." L strides in, peeling off his coat. The fabric is stiff with dried gore. He tosses it aside like shedding skin. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he burns it. Magic curling around the cloth, devouring it in silence.
K's jaw tightens. His teeth gnash, restrained fury bleeding through his calm.
"Half years, and not a single damn report?" K trying to calm down after hearing his partner answer.
"What? Don't be angry K. I know you already do the report for me." L wink at him cutely, though a shiver still run down to his spine.
"You think I'm your secretary?" His voice is quiet. Too quiet.
L chuckles, rubbing the dried blood from his fingers like it's paint.
"Come on, K. You're good at that stuff. Numbers. Notes. All that boring shit."
K stands. The chair groans behind him.
"Drop your acts. I know you already done it." He says.
"You're overreacting." L's grin falters. Just slightly.
"No. I know you." K steps closer, the air between them thinning.
"Fine. The second drawer on the third shelf." L quickly waving the white flag.
K walks to the shelf, slow and deliberate. The drawer creaks open. Inside is neatly stacked files, each marked with dates, codes, and the child's ID.
All the report in this drawer is about that kid. K flips through the pages, each one immaculate.
Dates. Observations. Results.
Flawless. But unsigned.
"Why don't you sign the report? You already complete it." K voice is calm, but the weight behind it is heavy.
L shrugs, too fast.
"Didn't feel like it."
"You mean you didn't want to be held accountable." K's eyes narrow.
L chuckles, but it's brittle.
"Come on, K. You know how it works. If something goes wrong, they'll trace it back to whoever signed."
"He will start his lesson soon. Today will be his last day with us." K steps closer, the file still in hand. K sets the file down, slow and deliberate.
"I didn't think he'd last this long." Then L mutters, almost too quiet to hear.
K doesn't blink. His leans in, voice low.
"You know the procedure. We need to sign all of them today." K says, turning toward the door.
"Or else, I will submit them as they are. And let the higher-ups ask why your name's missing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Close your eyes, my little angel
The tears will melt like morning dew
Dreams will wrap you in their cradle
And bring the light back into you
The lullaby stirs me from unconsciousness. The melody is soft and familiar. However, it vanishes the moment I move. Pain flares across my body with every twitch.
I never see the singer but sometimes…
There is a silhouette. Although blurry but the presence have a long silver hair cascading like moonlight through fog. Her voice sweet like honey and soft enough to soothe the ache.
"Ouuu…" My breathe catches. The pain rushes in like a floodwater, drowning the warmth her voice left behind.
Outside my cell, I hear many footsteps echo around the hallway. Maybe someone did not survive the experiment.
Again.
I have seen someone dragged in, trembling, clinging to silver thread of hope.
Hope?
Hoping to be saved? There is no future for us…
Some survive and some go mad before the body breaks.
In here, we barely survive. Escape? Keep dreaming.
No one can escape from those people. From the start, our body have a seal. We have to obey their command or else we will be the monster food.
I have forgotten some of my past life memories.
It feels like a fantasy and even now when I wake up, I'm still in this hellish place. Oh, how I miss my cat…
Suddenly the door creaks open.
An unfamiliar man in a stained lab coat steps in, clipboard in hand. His eyes skim over me like I'm a checklist.
"It's time for your lesson. Get up."
My body doesn't move. It's not because I refuse but I can't. My limbs shaking and I try to stand up. Just to be fell down.
"Sigh. That damn L." The lab coat man flick his finger and the light surge around my eyes.
When I opens my eyes. We are in a lab. The lab coat man walk through the shelf like his own this room. He open up the drawer and pick a yellowish liquid in a vial.
"Found it." He bring the vial in front of me.
"Drink it. It will make you better."
Who is this man? This is my first time seeing him. I stare at the vial.
"Drink or do you want me to force feed you?" He repeats.
"No…" My fingers tremble as I reach for it. The seal on my back pulses again. Obedience stitched into my skin burning up.
I drink. One sip and another sip until I gulp down all the potion in this vial. The man watches beside me, scribbling something on his clipboard.
True to his word, I feel a little bit better. My limbs stop trembling as the potion numbs the pain.
"You will start your lesson with me. That damn lunatic and K had handover your file to me." He ruffling his messy hair.
"Oh, I'm Z. Now, I am your new master." Z smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. It's the kind of smile that says I own you now.
He flips the clipboard shut and tosses it onto the nearest table.
"Before we start. I will tell you, my rules." Z stretches, bones cracking like dry twigs.
Rule 1: Everything I says must obey.
Rule2: I don't take a No.
Rule 3: No crying. No screaming.
Rule 4: Remember that you are just a tool.
Rule 5: If you fail, you bleed. If you succeed, you bleed less.
He steps closer towards me.
"The last rule…" He grins wider. He crouches to my level, voice dropping to a whisper.
"Never trust kindness. Especially mine." He yanks my clothes and, in his hands, there is a muddy black mixing with blue hue liquid in a vial.
"Surprise." He uncorks the vial and forces it to my lips. The liquid claws down my throat. It tastes like thick rustic and metallic. Like something that should never be inside a child.
I gag. My body tries to reject it but his hand clamps over my mouth, fingers cold and firm.
"Swallow it." Z commands. Heat floods my chest.
Hot. My body feels hot and cold at the same time. My throat is burning and it taste unbearable.
"Ugh…" I want to scream but his grip seals my mouth shut without a choice. Slowly my vision start to fade.
"Don't reject it." Z whispers.
"Let the power run loose." His words is sweet like an apple, poisoned underneath.
"I will teach you how to live as a human tool."
No…
"Lets them see what a monster they created from keeping you alive."
Monster…? I am a monster…?
"Do you want to hear a secret?" His breathe is close to my face. Too close…
Secret?
"We will be together for another 10 years."
What…
"Welcome to another Hell."
That is the last thing I remember as my consciousness slips beneath the surface. Darkness folds around me like a warm blanket.
Close your eyes, my little angel…
The pain is gone. In its place, a lullaby hums through the void, wrapping around me like a memory that refuses to fade.
The tears will melt like morning dew…