Choices & Chains

I Do What I Want

 " Figured I would find you here." Yosano walked into the room, and an axe propelled on her shoulder as she locked the door. Kath raised an eyebrow.

" It's a serial killer case, right?" She walked around the bed and sat beside her, dropping the axe on the ground and leaning on it. " I thought that if we waited alone, the culprit would come at us."

" Probably. Probably not if they think it was a trap."

" But we have to bet on this now." Yosano looked down at her and offered a smile as she patted her back. " You've always been like that. Whenever you feel like you did something wrong, you either hide under your desk or bolt yourself in my office. Wanna talk about it?"

" I yelled at Rampo-san..."

" Well, I'm surprised you held it on for that long."

" I told him to get over it."

" Those words were in their place."

" No, they weren't..." She raised two trembling hands. " As someone who can't get over her past, I have no right to shout those same words at someone else. I've sworn never to force anyone to do anything, but just then..."

" Kath, you did nothing wrong. You didn't force Rampo-san to do anything."

" Still..."

A clattering sound got her attention, and she looked back just as a flash of silver shone across the room. Kath moved fast, throwing her body before Yosano. Then it came, a white sharp pain cutting through her abdomen. A rapier, the one that was hanging moments ago on the wall as mere decoration, transfixed her.

" KATH!"

She didn't see anyone, didn't even hear them approach. Her eyelids grew heavier and she tumbled onto the floor, blood seeping through her red dress, darkening it and gathering into a pool beneath her. She couldn't breathe, it hurt every time she tried to suck in air.

When you die here... do you die in the real world too...

Another thud.

No... Not Yosano-san too...

Her eyes closed, and her consciousness slowly faded as her mind struggled to process the last feeds from her dying body. Worried mumbling, fast footsteps. Someone was talking in her ear, shouting her name. She wanted to open her eyes but she couldn't.

That's it then... the story ends here for me. She thought as the darkness swallowed her whole.

Her soul was being lifted, as though gently being carried up. A bright yellow light engulfed her, was she going to meet God finally?

But then, her feet touched something. She was standing on something. Does the afterlife have a ground? She always imagined it as a wide sky replica where souls floated around freely.

Her eyes opened, and there she was, back into the empty circular room, back into her usual outfit, and back with her two friends.

Her hand reached to her abdomen, checking the wound. It was gone. Not even the smallest scratch was left. " Rampo-san..."

" Well, it was quite stimulating," Rampo said placidly as he faced Poe. " You made only one mistake. Challenging me."

" Y-You figured out who the killer was?" Poe was beyond befuddled. He apparently had so much faith in his inescapable story that it came as a shock to see the three of them back in the room.

" Of course. The murderer was..." Kath held her breath, awaiting the moment of truth. " It was me."

"... Ha!" It was uttered louder than she had meant it to be that it echoed across the large empty room.