Beastars: A Symphony of Life

Chapter 79: Angel and Devil, Shoulder to Shoulder

It was quiet in the building across the street. The lights were out and the only sound was the sharpening of a hunting blade in the abandoned shop. No one knew he was there behind closed doors, watching through the window. Just as well, as he didn't have his mask on at the moment. Killing was surprisingly easy, though evidence was now harder to dispose of. His original plan was thwarted when that hybrid called the police to that furnace the building was on lockdown. No way to use that place again without being caught. He looked at the note, left by his 'friend'. He was busy trying to decide whether to trust it, or go about his own plan.

"It might be a trap," she said, coming into existence sitting on the windowsill in front of him.

"But at the same time it would give me a way to dispose of them without being caught," he answered.

"And how are you going to get the body there?" the shepherd asked. "Without being caught?"

He stopped sharpening his knife. He hadn't thought about that.

"Now granted," she continued, standing. "You could hotwire a car but, let's admit it you've never done that before."

"I've never killed before either," he said.

"But look at you now," the mask whispered. "Cherryton's most wanted list."

"Not most wanted," she corrected. "Pretty low on the list. For now."

"Just wait though," the burlap hissed. "We'll get there yet."

"Shut up," he said. "Once the mob's gone, you're done."

"You think it's that simple?" the mask asked. "You think you can just throw me away? I'm a part of you, I live here permanently. I've been here a long time before you made contact with me in the deepest part of your mind. And I'll be here along with you."

"He told you to shut up," she said, grabbing the sack and stuffing it in the killer's pocket. "There, now he can't disturb us too much."

"Thanks," he said sadly.

"Hey," she said. "Are you doing okay?"

"Not really," he smirked. "I mean look at me."

"I will admit I never thought you'd fall this far," she said. "Remember what I told you?"

"This is how I move on," he said. "I couldn't live with myself unless I knew they all answered for this."

"That's what the police are doing," she said, holding his hand. "That's what Adler does. Leave them to do that. When you do 'wake up' from whatever this is, it's not going to be the way you think. It'll leave you empty-"

"I'm already empty," he said, tears welling up in his eyes. He faltered in his sharpening and tightened his grip on the handle and the stone. They slipped from his hands and he buried the heels of his hands into his eyeballs.

"I can't go on like this," he ground through his teeth. "Everything just hurts. I don't like doing this but it's the only release I have."

"Then let me go," she said. "If you do that, you can move on."

"That's a lot easier said than done," he moaned.

"I never said it was easy," she said, sitting down next to the other dog. "But the things one must do are always the hardest to execute."

"You don't get to say that!" he shouted at her. "You are not her!"

"Of course I am," she said.

"But not in that way," he said. "You died."

"If this meeting has anything to say-"

"You're just an image of her I constructed from my memories," he said. "I can turn you off like a switch."