"You're sure then? It's her?" Leaning slightly out the window, the man's gaze directed to the courtyard beneath. Down below was a group of three who had just exited the dining area. The three each headed to a different building, each with a different stride, but all with a certain intent behind them.

"Seeing as they are the only ones interested in the killings, I'm pretty confident." A lazy reply came from within the room. Lounging on the chair with his legs on the table, he gave off the impression of being bored and detached. The sharp glint in his eyes accompanied by his sinister smiled told of otherwise. "As for my target, I already know who I want it to be, but when would be best. When would shatter his hope so thoroughly, so finely that only helpless terror will be left on that delicate face of his. Hehehe."

Slightly revolted by his companion's words, the man seeked to change the subject. "You said that my target would have gotten to you by now, but apart from me, no one else has even gotten close to you. Heck, no one wants to even be in your vicinity."

"Nothing much I can say, the previous guy playing that 'vigilante' role came right for me, like some dumb mule. Straight up tried to challenge me, and it did catch me by surprise but he was such a wimp. Man was he bad at it, he did most of the work for me hahaha." The man chuckled, reminiscing at fond memories. "Maybe she was smart enough to figure out that I actually didn't complete my task. Well either way, my actions already fished her out for you, so you're welcome."

The man kept silent, eyeing the blue bracelet, a slight shiver ran down his spine as he recalled his near death experience. His target was whoever that was playing this 'vigilante' role, as Blue had put it, and he figured that Blue would be the best bait, seeing as the insane man had commited murder in front of everyone else. Even so, having been caught tailing Blue, misunderstanding had almost resulted in death, though fortunately he had been quick enough to explain himself. Even so, being near Blue did not make him feel comfortable in anyway, he would much preferably follow his gut instincts and have nothing to do with the man.

"Inform me before you go ahead with your task, I want to be prepared." The man exited the room, trying his best to excude a calm and confident demeanor. It would be best if Blue did not think of him as an easy target either.

...

When Ethan woke up, his thoughts immediately went to Brown. Recalling the previous night's events, he instinctively wanted to go find her. I just want to see how she's doing that's all. Not sure why, Ethan reasoned his actions with himself. Ethan eventually resisted the urge, choosing to stay patient and have faith in Yellow. He wasn't sure how therapy works, but part of him hoped to speak with Brown soon. I don't think I'll have the chance to see her when this whole thing is over... A somewhat saddening thought.

Nonetheless, Ethan headed to the dining area, expecting to find Grey. Breakfast came and went, on to his plate and then into his stomach. However, he did not catch a glimpse of Grey or Yellow. Not seeing Yellow was understandable, but Grey's lack of presence made him feel uneasy. At first, he was concerned that something had happened to her, but the lack of any congratulatory announcement gave him some comfort, so he opted for more optimistic thinking. Maybe she found the poisoner from yesterday.

But then came a different sort of unease. Watching the other participants come and go, Ethan could not figure out the source of the unease, gnawing at his heart. When Blue entered the room and casually threw a wink in his direction, Ethan had figuratively jumped out of his skin. Half-scrabbling out of the dining area, seeking the safety of being somewhere that did not contain Blue, Ethan then had his epiphany, I'm alone. Right now, he did not have the protection of a trained detective, nor does he have the safety in numbers.

In that instant, Ethan felt like day 1 all over again, plunged into a horror movie with murderers and madmen at every corner. All the while rushing somewhere aimlessly, he kept his head low. Eventually, he entered a random room, and instinctively pushed over tables and chair to barricade the entrance. Collapsing in the corner of the room, Ethan became aware of how soaked his shirt was, a joint-effort of cold-sweat and physical exertion.

Ethan had no realised how dependent he had become on Grey's presence over a short span of two days. Apparently, without her or Yellow, he could function no better than a newborn chick. Scared, fearful, steps away from being paralyzed by fear, Ethan felt a growing sense of disgust at himself. I'm so weak, and pathetic at that... Whenever he watched movies, he always identified with the heroic and brave main leads, often scoffing at cowardly characters and ridiculing their lack of spine. Seems like I'm less heroic than I thought...

However, the self-pity did not last long. Having been forced to come to terms with death due to his illness, Ethan had learnt to not dwell on things for too long. His mentality was strong in that aspect at least. Keeping in mind said heroic leads from movies, Ethan sought to bolster his own heart with courage, to bravely exit the room and face any dangers that goes his way. Resolutely shifting the barricade he had constructed, he aimed to find Grey and help her out with her task. ... Resolutely has a nice ring to it...

What Ethan imagined for himself was vastly different than his actual actions. Hands shaking, heart still filled with uncertainty, the barricade was dismantled after much hesitation and deliberation. Eventually, Ethan found himself nervously stepping out of the room, slowly and carefully, as though any sudden actions would trigger something terrible. While his cautious behaviour could be argued as extreme, this time it had paid off. Ethan's exit into the corridor did not alert the person passing by the room, hence Ethan was not noticed.

Ethan quickly recovered from his shock, hurriedly closing the door till a thin gap remained, allowing him to continue observing the man. With short, hurried steps, the man walked down the corridor, before entering a room two doors away from where Ethan was. The entire time, he had been clutching onto a black duffle bag, and frequently looking around him, exuding nervous energy. Curiousity surfaced and Ethan had to fight the urge to dash over and sneak a peek into the room, a fight which he easily won thanks to the lingering fear in his heart. No no no, I should just leave. Better safe than sorry, I can just tell Grey what I saw and if there's an announcement, then he will just be the prime suspect.

Despite all his reasoning, Ethan found himself struggling to regain the courage to open the door again. He found himself rooted, staring at the now empty corridor, as if expecting something to happen. And something did, though nothing very much dramatic. The nervous man simply exited the room, this time hands empty, allowing Ethan to see the purple bracelet on the man's wrist. Purple's face was scrunched up, reflecting a curious combination of contemplation, nervousness and resolution, as he walked in Ethan's direction.

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The fear of being discovered unshackled Ethan's limbs, who prompty jumped away from the door and went to hide under the pile of tables and chairs. With bated breath, Ethan listened to Purple's footsteps, wishing for the man to quickly leave. To Ethan's dismay, the footsteps stopped right outside his door, followed by the creaking of hinges.

"Weird, was this door always opened? Is- Ahem. Is anyone here?" Purple's voice was tensed and soft, but the man never entered the room. Probably deciding it was nothing, the door eventually closed with a click, and Ethan let oxygen back into his lungs again. Quietly, silently, very much carefully, Ethan crawled out of his hiding spot. Halfway out, he frozed, realising what he had missed. Is... is he still outside? Ethan had heard no footsteps after the door has closed but he had heard the poisoner's footsteps through closed doors the previous day. He's out there, waiting for me. Does he know I'm in here? Oh no, I'm trapped. Icy cold terror coursed through his body, freezing his entire body in place, his mind racing a thousand miles a second, coming up with all sorts of scenarios and possibilities, but not a single solution.

What is he doing? Am I going to be trapped here forever? Time dragged slowly, almost torturously as he felt his knees and wrist go sore. He still had no solution in mind, well, no good solution. The best involved ramming the door open in hopes of disorientating Purple enough that he would have time to run away, but he rightfully lacked confidence in his own physical attributes.

A minute passed, and then footsteps leaving the door could be heard. To Ethan, it was the sound of salvation, and the terror that gripped his heart slowly loosened. The rollercoasting of fear and relief he had experienced in the short span of an hour had him exhausted, both mentally and physically. This can't be good for my heart... Collapsing on the floor, Ethan weakly laid there, recovering himself.

His thoughts slowly wandered to the duffle bag Purple had been holding, wondering what Purple had been hiding away. Certain that Purple would not be coming back anytime soon, Ethan felt that it was safe for him to satiate his curiousity. Dragging himself out from under the tables, he headed over to investigate, his gait somewhat unsteady.

Entering the room, Ethan was surprised at what he saw. The centre of the room had been cleared, all the desks and chairs were messily pushed to a corner. At the centre were three tables neatly placed in a row, with a plastic sheet over them, forming a makeshift bed of sorts. At the side, a table held many items, and a closer look revealed these to be medical related tools. Ethan realised that these were items that he could commonly find in surgery scenes. Looking through the duffle bag, Ethan found an IV bag, as well as bottles containing various liquids. Its a makeshift surgery room!

The discovery sent a chill down Ethan's spine. This setup is for Purple's task! Crap, I need to get out of here. It was the only reason Ethan could come up to explain why one would bother with the trouble of setting a makeshift surgery room up, and highly unlikely Purple was planning to save lives. Unfortunately for Ethan, footsteps and voices filled the hallway, and Ethan recognised Purple's voice. Left with no choice, Ethan once again seeked refuge under the furniture, crawling as far in as possible to avoid detection.

"H-Here, its all setup and ready to go. I just need your help to get someone here, a-and I'll take care of the rest." Ethan could only see their lower halves, unable to make out who Purple's partner was. The duo walked towards the makeshift surgery table, where purple gestured towards it, or something in the vicinity. "S-see this? O-once I'm done, you can just wr-wrap the body up and do whatever you need with it."

"Wonderful doc. You sure are as meticulous as ever! Wow, how ever did you find all these items?" Purple's partner sounded genuine impressed, the clings of glass suggested that he was looking through the duffle bag. Ethan watched as Purple positioned himself behind his partner, pulling out a syringe and resolutely stabbing it into the man's right arm, injecting the contents. The partner, well I think victim, reacted violently. He swiftly turned around and shoved Purple away, sending him sprawling onto the floor. It was fortunate that Purple was focused on his victim, else Ethan would have easily been discovered, given that he was in Purple's line of sight.

"What the fuck doc. What was that? You little shit, wha-" The man suddenly stumbled, unable to keep his balance. Ethan knew what he was seeing, Purple had injected some sort of anesthesia into his victim, but Ethan was completely unprepared for what Purple had planned to do.

Ethan nervously watched Purple drag his victim to the makeshift surgical table and setup the IV drip. Using the same syringe, Purple carefully measured and injected some amount of anesthesia into the IV drip bag and then hooked it up to the victim's hand. Finally, Purple shifted his attention to the tools laid out on the table. Ethan knew that the gory, often not included in shows and movies part was coming up, and he mentally prepared himself, screwing his eyes tightly shut.

The next few hours were torture for Ethan. No matter how hard he tried, he could not completely block out the sounds, which cued his overly active imaginations to come up with horrible, disgusting images. Mid-way through, Purple's victim had seemingly become half-conscious, which prompted Purple to tie the man's hands and feet to the table. The groans of pain and barely audible begging for mercy did not improve the situation for Ethan, nor did the pungent smell of blood which has filled the enclosed room. Silently sobbing and thoroughly sick to the stomach, it was through sheer willpower that Ethan somehow managed to keep his silence, going so far as to bite onto his arm. It is only much later that Ethan would realise he had drawn blood from his arms.

Eventually, the activity of movement died down, the moans and groans ceasing as well. The lack of any audible sound from Purple scared Ethan, forcing him to open his eyes. Dark red liquid sliding off the table and pooling onto the floor, caught Ethan's eye immediately. Standing in it was Purple, as though he was taking in his handiwork, and the only proof that the man was still alive came from the occasional spasm of his bloody hand, a bright red bracelet to match.

"H-He's still alive! Look!" Purple suddenly announced, which was followed by a short, sharp scream from Red, proving Purple's point on still being alive. There was no reply. Purple faced the tool table, seemingly hesitating at it. A few seconds passed in silence before he turned back to Red, and in one swift motion, pulled something out from Red's chest, causing the man to scream in agony, body arching in an attempt to escape, before immediately falling back to the table, lifeless.

"T-there! I removed his heart, and h-he was still alive! I did it, g-give it to me!" Purple waved the freshly removed heart towards the ceiling, blood splattering everywhere, further completing the hell-like scene.

“– Congratulations. Task completed. –”

Purple cackled madly at that, dropping the heart with a plop. "S-Sorry James, I'm going to get a new identity after all this is over, l-leave my shitty past behind. Can't have anyone know I l-left here alive. Its just to-too bad for you." With that, Purple hurriedly exited the room, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in his wake.

Time passed, maybe an hour or so, Ethan found himself curled up, motionless under the desk. The only source of sound came from blood slowly dripping from the table to the floor. Listening to the sound itself, it was almost therapeutic, one would just have to think of the blood as water with red dye. The past few hour felt surreal, almost dream-like for Ethan, and he was exhausted. He knew he should leave and find Grey, inform her of Purple's actions, but he lacked the strength to do so, his willpower fully spent. I'll tell her later.. Right now... Right now... Right now he did not feel like doing anything.