Erudition of Doyle: Volume One

OPENING DOSSIER: BEFORE THE CHAOS

I don’t recall ever living
a happy or peaceful life. But
lately, fate seems determined
to break me even further, until
chaos is the only thing
I understand.

ROSALINDA

It was extremely dark all around me, with only a single light shining down from above. I didn’t know what to do, and my heart was filled with fear. I was surrounded by people dressed in doctors’ and nurses’ uniforms, but my vision was already blurry, making it hard to see their faces.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, struggling to catch my breath as sobs wracked my body. Terror consumed me as I stared at the man holding a gun, a large syringe gripped tightly in his other hand. “PLEASE! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER. PLEASE, GO AWAY!!”

This voice.

It was my voice when I was a child. And this scene… I remember it all too well. So many memories haunt me, but this one, the day I entered the laboratory, terrifies me the most.

I know I’m having a nightmare right now, but no matter how hard I try to wake myself up, I just can’t. It’s too horrifying. I know I’m trapped in this nightmare, and there’s no escape. They will never stop haunting me. They keep going until they get what they want. They don’t care about my life; they only care about their goal.

“Now, now, calm down,” he said softly, his tone carrying a haunting sweetness. But his words did nothing to ease my fear, especially when he pointed the gun at my forehead. Lalo lang lumakas ang pag-iyak ko noong mga panahong ‘yon.

I may not have realized it back then, since I was just a child when I first met him. But I remember, he was still young then, tall and incredibly thin. He wasn’t wearing a mask, yet because of the drugs they forced me to take earlier, it’s hard for me to see him clearly now.

“Just listen to me, and everything will be fine. If you wish to avoid returning to my tank of doom, then lower your voice, understood?”

Tears continued to stream down my face. “No… please… I want my daddy… please let me go!” I begged, but they didn’t care.

“Shh,” he whispered, trying to quiet me as he slowly inserted the needle of the syringe into my left arm. The liquid inside looked like some kind of drug.

Minutes later, my vision grew worse, and my thoughts became even more clouded. People in white lab coats moved around me, their presence heavy with sinister intent. They grabbed my hands and legs, forcing my body down until my chin pressed against my knees.

Because of the drug he injected into me, my strength faded away. My surroundings began to spin, and I felt as if I were about to collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, they stabbed several syringes into my back, and all I could do was scream. I struggled to break free from the restraints, but my hands, feet, and waist were tightly bound to a cold metal chair.

“ARGHHHHA!” I screamed as they continued stabbing me with large syringes. I could feel each needle and the drug coursing through my body, yet they didn’t remove them; the syringes remained embedded in my back.

I was growing weak from crying and sweating endlessly as strange changes began happening inside my body. My vision distorted, turning into a swirl of colors. The pain was indescribable. My body twitched uncontrollably, as if I was losing myself.

I cried out, over and over again.

Until my vision was gone.

I woke up, breathing heavily. I quickly sat up from the small chair beside my father’s hospital bed and reached for the plastic bottle of water on the table. Ininom ko iyon agad, trying to calm my nerves as I pushed the nightmare away.