Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 11: Masked Kisses

Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 11: Masked Kisses

"The places you are unwillingly visiting are places that Len has seen himself, quite often as my parents tell me. On an average day, he would visit ten to fifteen different locations, a few of those repeating throughout his day," Rin says while keeping her firm gaze on me. "How many did you say you seen so far?"

I tense up as she asks the question. I drop my gaze to the wooden floor as I reply, "Three now. One was on the way here, actually." Rin doesn't seem to be surprised by my answer. Her face remains emotionless as she sets her jaw, thinking maybe. Before she can come up with anything, I also numbly say, "Len seemed to be around in two of them, might have been three if Kaito didn't drug me at school. He..." I shake my head. "You said they're places he has seen before? How?"

Rim clears her throat. "He was diagnosed to be schizophrenic when he was two or three years old. He had what doctors... never seen before, or at least that what my parents told me they said. They said he hallucinated people, animals, objects, places, and even 'dreams' while he was awake. The doctors called this 'dreaming' because everything around him seemed to change in his mind for hours at a time. He seemed to be in a completely different world."

"...How did he die?" I ask, a little hesitant about the question. Even though she said she never met him, it still must be at least a little emotional for her.

She doesn't seem to be bothered with the question, but instead a disappointed expression paints onto her pale face. "I don't know. My parents won't tell me. They said it's better for me not to know, but I do know he died when he was fourteen, and that I was born two years later after his death."

Since Rin is fourteen now (another tip Gumi picked up from Kaito's documents), that means Len died the same year I was born. A shiver crawls down my spine at the thought of that. Honestly, Len turning out to have been something other than a hallucination doesn't really shock me, mostly because I predicted that several times throughout my life - but I can't believe that they were actually true.

Then if Len is dead and only me and Kaito, for some unknown reason, are able to see him, then what does that make my other hallucinations, such as Gumi? Did she die, too? How could the appearance of a deceased person... get trapped inside my mind?

Rin straightens up and breaks the silence, "My parents told me he mentioned seeing a pale, distorted human figure in almost every landscape he got stuck in. It never touched him, only tainted and scarred the boy. That's why I asked you if you seen it back at the police station. As soon as you reacted the way you did, I knew that you were somehow linked to my brother. That can't be a coincidence, and turns out it wasn't." She smiles at me before asking, "How is he doing?"

I glance over my shoulder before returning my gaze back to hers. It's strange not seeing a hallucination in here with us, usually they would be annoying me right about now.

When he's with you, I suddenly lose all my senses connected to you - and I have no choice but to wander around looking for you, Gumi's voice rings around my head. I almost gape remembering her saying that to me on the balcony a few days ago. If she can't find me when he's near, then my other hallucinations must be the same way. That might be the reason there's nothing here with me and Rin as we talk - but if it is true, where's Len?

"Well... I honestly think he's the one that is pulling me into the places I'm seeing." I look past the couch we sit on and stare at the kitchen, anything besides watching her expression change as I tell her my opinion. "Two out of the three times I went somewhere, he always seemed to know what I was going through and all he would do is smirk. On my way here, he was in the... 'dream' with me this time, covering my eyes asking me 'what am I doing here?'. When I pushed him away, I was back in... reality."