Nocturne of Nightmares: A Retelling

Chapter Fifteen

NO CLOSER TO FINDING RAY, Subaru and I decided to go back. As we exited the atrium jungle, the main hall greeted us with a haunting silhouette, the sun setting low behind it. Subaru's jaw slackened as he scrutinised our surroundings.

"We're right back where we started."

The way he said it, I knew he didn't just mean where we were standing. We hadn't found anything useful, not a single clue, and we hadn't found Ray. For all we knew, he could have been in trouble.

"Ugh! I can't believe we came all this way for nothing!" I stomped my foot on the ground, letting out a fit of frustration - ironically, the floor didn't cave in. Wandering through that maze had been nothing but a colossal waste of time.

Subaru scratched his head, sighing, "We still have time."

I bit my lip, embarrassed about losing my temper all of a sudden, but the sunset was a reminder that the nightmare world was beckoning, and we'd made no progress. "Sorry. It's not like me to just explode like that."

Subaru snickered, and said, "You're cute when you're angry, though."

My cheeks reddened. "Oh, please..."

"Yeah, just like that." I pouted, refusing to look at him. "But I don't think you're really angry. You're just really worried that we didn't find Ray." Well, I am worried, but... I blushed again as I thought back to what had happened earlier. Subaru continued onward - it was almost like he'd forgotten about it already. "Let's check the other areas."

I didn't know why I felt so flustered all of a sudden. For a moment, I wondered if my concerns about Ray were really so obvious that they might as well have been spelled out on my face, and I wondered if Subaru was right. And if he was right, if what he had said earlier was true, and if not finding Ray was the real reason for my outburst, wouldn't acknowledging it hurt him more?

With no luck trying to locate Ray, we ended up at the entrance to the underground passage. The echoes of our footsteps were the only sound.

"In the nightmare world, we found Licht for the first time in one of these rooms, right?" I asked, holding onto my arms as the chilly air made me shiver.

Subaru nodded. "Yeah, that room over there."

We tried the door. Unfortunately, there was a keypad beside the handle, coated in a light layer of dust. Its red and yellow eyes blinked at us, telling us that we weren't getting in.

"No good," I sighed. "Looks like we need a passcode."

"A dead end, huh? Let's check elsewhere."

We resumed our search.

As we continued on our way, I was struck by an overpowering scent like rusted metal. The smell reminded me of Thoma's death, and I couldn't help but gag. Subaru noticed it, too, and followed the scent. The basement was a labyrinth of its own, but the smell was so strong that it wasn't long before he discovered the source of it.

"Ziya, look..." And I did. There was a large bloodstain in the old hallway, and next to it was a wilting bouquet of flowers. "The blood's dry, but it's relatively fresh. Given how big this puddle is, I doubt whoever it came from is still with us."

"Who could've done this?"

I turned to see a nametag on the floor and, removing one hand from my nose and mouth, I decided to pick it up. It had the name Silas Ackerman written on it. I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before... But where?

As I got tangled up in my thoughts, I suddenly heard Ray's voice from behind us. "Finally, I found you!"

"Where were you?" Subaru's tone was icy. "Did you at least find anything useful after you ran off on your own like an idiot?"

Ray narrowed his eyes in reply, panting heavily, while my eyes broadened at Subaru's words. It seemed so uncharacteristic of him to say something like that, and I again thought of our second visit to the nightmare world, but then I suddenly understood. It wasn't the same thing. Back then, Subaru had run off after we'd already established a plan, and to him, that must have been his way of seeing it through. I didn't know whether or not he'd cared about what happened to him, but it hadn't been a careless endeavour either. It was like he'd wanted to help the group out as efficiently as possible. It was different because it wasn't selfish idiocy. In fact, it might have been the opposite. Ray, on the other hand...

"Sorry..." He looked like he regretted what he'd done. Well, this is rare.

Despite how swiftly this day seemed to be coming to an end, it also felt like the longest day of our lives, and I could bet it had been twice as long for him. I couldn't blame Ray for acting the way he had, but under circumstances, we had work together. I tried not to get frustrated about how much time it felt like we'd wasted, as the last wisps of sunlight faded from the sky.

"Ray, I understand that you're anxious, but we have to stay calm," I uttered. "And stay together. 'Slow and steady wins the race,' right?"

Ray blushed with shame. "Yeah, you're right."

"Don't go of on your own next time," said Subaru. "We're all in this together, aren't we?"

Ray looked surprised, like he wasn't expecting those words to come from Subaru's mouth, but I was more stunned by the warm smile that had accompanied them. Then, Ray grinned. "You sure got some guts to tell me that."

Subaru scoffed silently, as if he was trying to challenge him. Is this some sort of unspoken friendship thing between guys? I smiled, thinking to myself. At least I know they don't hate each other.

"So, what did you find?" Ray asked as he examined the flowers and the bloodstain, and I revealed the nametag. "Silas Ackerman..?" he grunted. "If I remember correctly, that's Father's name."

"Huh, I guess it was something like that." I'd never really given his name much thought when I was a kid.

"Could he have been killed here?" asked Subaru.

"Judging from the amount of blood, that's almost certainly the case."

"I guess that means we're not getting any information out of him..." I sighed, dropping the pin.

"You're right about that," said Ray.

With no more clues and little time to spare, we headed back. As we walked towards the main gate, we talked about our next step. We'd established that what lied behind the locked door with the keypad was in fact the Bluebells archive room. The same one Licht's apparition had taken us to.

"We'll have to access the old archives to find -" Ray stopped in his tracks, and so did we.

Just between us and the entrance, a vision appeared: there were six children frolicking on the playground. It was all of us, the younger versions of ourselves - picture perfect, happy, and without a care in the world. Yet, a sense of helplessness overtook my mind. I glanced beside me and saw Ray clenching his fists - I guessed he felt the same way. Or was he mad at himself for wasting a whole day? Ray... I glimpsed from him to the visions, to Thoma, and back again. I knew he was trying to act like nothing had happened, but he couldn't deny it. Thoma's passing was too much for him to handle.

"Let's go," said Ray, turning back to Bluebells, and Subaru and I shadowed him in silence.

We continued our search until the last possible minute before leaving the building. Even so, we came up emptyhanded. We found ourselves back in the car, with Ray reminding us to lock the doors and the windows. At least here, we could protect ourselves better. The blue tint of the crescent moon lit up the sky, like Death smiling on us, waiting for its next victim.

"Alright, let's see what happens tonight." I tore my attention away from the moon and settled in the backseat, got as comfortable as I was able to.

Ray and Subaru reclined their seats slightly, just enough that they could lay their heads back. We used to do everything we could to prevent ourselves from falling into the nightmare world. Now here we were, waiting patiently for 10p.m. to come. We couldn't fight it. We just had to accept it - this nightmare, and our pasts.

It wasn't long before the bell rang.