Chapter 2 - Tense Situation

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Night quickly fell, and the patrolling morning guards were all in a daily meeting to hand over their shifts to the night guards, while the scientists were all presumably asleep in their bunks.

Arkiel Lutifolde quietly waited for the whole day after that, time passed and soon, the door could be heard opening as Tsubaki Akira once again walked in, albeit sneakily.

She put her hands in her lab coat pocket and took out a keychain with silver keys that looked like it was the perfect fit for the holes in the leather strap locks.

“Arkiel, the guards are all in their daily meeting to hand over their shifts, that’ll take approximately thirty minutes. After I unlock your straps, follow me closely and don’t wander about!”

Tsubaki Akira prompted Arkiel Lutifolde to get ready and prepare for their grand escape, to which he replied in a trustworthy tone, “I got it, Akira! Quickly unlock these straps, it’s hurting me so much!”.

She first unlocked the one that was tying down his waist, followed by his feet, then his hands.

The more she unlocked, the wider the smile on Arkiel Lutifolde’s face, his heart pounding rapidly from sheer excitement as he glanced at her pocket.

Just when everything was going smoothly, the pair heard the reader of the entrance door beeping.

Beep!

It was then– the door opened. A few guards rushed in, took their positions and aimed their rifles at them. James Bolden leisurely walked and stood in the middle of the guards with a smile that made Tsubaki Akira feel like she was just dancing in his palms.

James Bolden made a few slow claps while smiling and said, “My dear Akira, well done. What do you have to say for yourself?”.

Arkiel Lutifolde was now sitting upright on the metal bed while Tsubaki Akira spread out her arms to block them from him, she glared hatefully at James Bolden and shouted.

“What all of you are doing is too inhumane! I can’t stand it anymore, once I report this information– I wonder what will the world think of you heartless monsters!”

James Bolden burst out in an unrestrained laughter. “Do you really think you could even get out here alive?! Hahahaha! You know how tight the security is here, have you turned stupid from stress?”

The guards smirked at her foolishness as well, they were trained to deal with all kinds of situations, even an unexpected one where a scientist turned rogue.

“Karma will get all of you fuckers! Arkiel, quickly make a run for it! I’ll block them for you, even if it means my death!”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

She cursed them in despair and tried to take out her pistol that was hidden in her pocket to threaten them, but found that it was now empty, she did not know how she lost it and panicked.

“Where’s my gu–”

Bang!

Tsubaki Akira heard a loud sound of a gun being fired behind her; everything had happened too fast for her to react as she looked around to see who fired the shot but found that everyone was looking at her with a weird gaze.

“W-Why are all of you looking at me like that…”

She was oblivious as she turned around and looked at Arkiel Lutifolde smiling devilishly while his arm was still stretched out holding a pistol with smoke still emitting from a fresh shot out of the gun barrel.

Tsubaki Akira was confused, she looked at where the pistol was aiming and slowly looked down at her chest to discover something horrifying.

She saw a small gaping hole in the middle of her chest; the power of a point blank pistol shot from the back. As her body was pumping out adrenaline furiously in overdrive– she could not feel the pain, that was why her brain did not register that she was shot.

She snapped out of her daze and looked at the smiling Arkiel Lutifolde tearfully with a sense of betrayal and asked softly, “...Why?”

The guards and James Bolden just watched the drama with apparent interest– having no intentions to interfere in this scene of utter betrayal that was taking place right in front of them.

Tsubaki Akira could not feel her legs as she knelt down powerlessly and looked at Arkiel Lutifolde and asked him the same question yet again. However, this time screaming– “Why?!”.

Arkiel Lutifolde squatted down to meet her at her eye level, his face almost touching hers.

He seriously contemplated her question for a short bit, he then answered her slowly with wide eyes and a creepy smile after a short while,

“As I've said before– I. Will. Kill. Each. And. Every. One. Of. You.”

Arkiel Lutifolde's serotonin level was shooting through the roof; he felt unimaginable joy just from seeing the look of absolute despair appearing on Tsubaki Akira’s face.

Tsubaki Akira had a thousand thoughts running through her mind, she recalled the moments whenever she saw Arkiel Lutifolde crying pitifully. She had finally come to a realization that– it was only when she was with him that he showed this innocent side to her.

James Bolden then interrupted her thought process and shook his head in disapproval, “Tsk tsk, my dear Akira, this was why I said to not be emotional as a scientist, you really think someone who endures a year of torture– ahem, research, with a smile on his face every time would be normal?”.

Arkiel Lutifolde agreed with James Bolden fully, he gave Tsubaki Akira’s cheeks a few gentle pats and remarked emotionlessly,

“That bald guy’s right. Tsubaki Akira, the only gullible one in this facility was you, and you carried out your part dutifully. Rest assured, I’ll send all of them down to accompany you shortly.”.

Tsubaki Akira laid weakly on the ground as she stared at Arkiel Lutifolde with hatred in her eyes, unable to even breathe properly while gasping desperately for air.

James Bolden laughed at his arrogance, “Do you even hear what you’re saying? Look at the situation around you. You think that you can escape?”.

Arkiel Lutifolde responded to him in a suspiciously confident tone, “No, no, no– baldie, I’m afraid you have some misunderstandings.”.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Just when James Bolden had wanted to ask him what he meant, Arkiel Lutifolde suddenly opened fire and shot Tsubaki Akira a few more times in her chest area to ensure she was dead for good.

The body of Tsubaki Akira convulsed for a moment and laid there motionlessly in a pool of blood afterwards– no signs of life from her anymore.

James Bolden frowned slightly at his actions; although scientists were basically humans that had emotions like robots, the ruthless Arkiel Lutifolde was a bit too extreme– even for him, he tried to ignore what happened as he spoke out with doubt.

“What do you even mean by misunderstandings? I simply can’t find a possible way that you could ever escape alive.”

“Ah! Hold on, let me find it, maybe after you see it– you'll realize it! Hmm, it’s somewhere around here– Ah, found it!”

Arkiel Lutifolde fiddled with Tsubaki Akira’s bloodstained lab coat and fished out a small remote device with a single red button that was protected by a transparent plastic cover.

The instant James Bolden saw that device Arkiel Lutifolde was holding, his eyes open wide and shouted warily as he prepared to run.

“How did Akira even get that?! I hid that in my book– FUCK! I should’ve known! It was when she seduced me in the afternoon– that was her goal?! FUCKING BITCH!”.

Arkiel Lutifolde had a creepy smile, he stood up and playfully teased them, “Now, what would happen if I press this button~?”

“ARKIEL LUTIFOLDE– DON’T BE RASH! GUARDS, FUCKING SHOOT HIM NOW! ARE YOU GUYS WAITING TO DIE?!”

James Bolden screamed in panic as he was aware of the consequences of pressing that deathly red button, he ran to the exit and hurriedly escaped.

This seemingly simple looking device held a massive amount of power, it was a trigger to initiate a self-destruction of the whole institute if things inside here ever happened to get exposed.

A safety precaution to cover their asses and wipe out evidence– had ultimately led them to their potential doom.

…