12: I See You

The ward Toshiya was in was purposely sectioned off to prevent reporters from entering. The white halls were empty except for the nurses pushing equipment from room to room. Beep. Beep. Beep. The monitor showed that Toshiya’s pulse significantly weakened. Kaoru and Die could only watch from behind the glass window. Kyo would occasionally pass through the walls and observe closely.

“The mist is dark,” he said worried. “I can barely see him.”

“Where is the doctor? Shouldn’t they be done by now? We’ve been here since the morning,” Die remarked impatiently.

“There’s no one coming to check on Toshiya. What is wrong with them,” Kaoru said angrily. “I need to look for Yamaguchi.”

Kaoru’s boots clapped the hospital floors loudly as he searched for Yamaguchi’s office. He was furious that Toshiya in his condition has been greatly ignored.

“Where is everybody?” noted Die.

The ward was deathly quiet. Not a single nurse or doctor was in sight. Offices were lit, but were abandoned. Kaoru quickened his pace. At least he reached the already opened door, He didn’t bother to knock and stormed right in.

“Yamaguchi, where—,” Kaoru spoke.

Papers were flown all across the room. A pile of folders were carelessly thrown to the ground. The phone on Yamaguchi’s desk was off its receiver. On the metal cabinets was a long streak of dark blood. Kaoru walked and peered over the doctor’s desk. Die followed suit. Yamaguchi’s head leaked with blood. The small pool where his forehead laid on the floor had congealed.

“What the hell happened here!” said Die.

“We gotta get someone,” said Kaoru.

They ran out of the office and searched the rest of the rooms. Like the previous rooms, they were empty. Die made a separate turn from Kaoru and paused in his steps.

“Kaoru!” he called out.

Kaoru ran and watched the scene in horror. The hallway was filled with uniformed nurses and doctors unconscious on the ground. Some had their bodies contorted at odd angles while some had lacerations on their bodies. The vibrating phone in Kaoru’s pocket rang. It was Shinya.

“Kaoru! Tell me what the hell happened to Toshiya? Why wasn’t I informed earlier!” Shinya’s voice rang from the phone.

“I have no time to explain now! I need to call the police! I’m at the hospital with Die where Toshiya is staying, but there’s a bunch of dead doctors and nurses here!” Kaoru said quickly.

“What?! What’s going to happen to Toshiya then!”

“I don’t know! I need to find someone quick!”

“Kaoru! This one’s alive!” Die called out.

He knelt beside a nurse who had a bruise on her face. Her eyelids fluttered open as Die shook her awake.

“What happened? I passed out and I—.” The nurse’s eyes bulged when she saw the blood.

“We just found you here among them. What do you remember?” Kaoru asked sternly.

“I was tending to my duties when I heard a scream. I ran to see that one of the doctors was on the ground. The nurse that was with him suddenly slammed into the wall like someone invisible picked her up and threw her across like a bag. I was going to run get security until suddenly I felt myself hit the wall. Then I woke up to you two and then ...”

She broke into a sob.

“As much as I would like to give you time, we need your help desperately. There’s a patient in ICU right now that needs an antidote. He’s close to dying,” said Kaoru.

The nurse wiped her eyes and stood up clutching her head.

“Is this patient Toshiya?” asked the nurse.

Both Kaoru and Die nodded their heads.

“The antidote should have arrived from the lab and picked up ages ago,” she said frustrated. “I’ll go check the office.”

She walked around the hallway past the dead bodies. The two guitarists trailed behind her. In a small enclosed office, she searched through the trays of packaged samples.

“This isn’t right! The antidote should be here!” the nurse exclaimed.

“Calm down. Could it have been somewhere else?” asked Kaoru.

“All medication that goes to patients in the ICU are all located here. I was here this morning when I placed the order sent from the lab. Why wasn’t anyone here!”

The nurse broke down into another sob.

“First Mari now this!”

“Mari? You knew Mari?” Die said in surprise.

“I’m her sister, Erika. How do you two know her? Wait a minute, you two can’t be ...?”

“It’s a long story,” Kaoru interrupted. “We need to find this antidote first. Perhaps there’s someone else left in the hospital that can help.”

“I tried called the other offices and the phone lines are dead. We can’t even contact front desk security.”

Kaoru and Die exchanged worried looks.

“This is his work,” said Die in a low voice.

While Mari continued to look in the office, Kyo appeared.

“Kyo, what are you doing here!” Kaoru whispered loudly.

“Something didn’t feel right. The spirits in the ward are going berserk,” said Kyo.

“Toshiya’s antidote is missing and the staff are dead,” Die hissed loudly.

Kyo looked around the office.

“It’s not here,” he said.

“What?!” both Kaoru and Die said loudly.

Erika jerked from her search.

“What happened?” she asked.

“The antidote’s not here,” said Kaoru.

“How do you know?”

“Uhh ... sixth sense?” he lied.

“I know very well it’s not here. Or else I would have found it by now!” raged Erika. “Who could have done this?”

“I’m going to talk to these loony spirits in the ward. Half of them don’t even realize they’re dead,” said Kyo as he floated away.

“Do you think we can check security cam footage? Maybe we can find something out,” suggested Die.

“Good idea. I know where the room is,” said Erika.

They took the elevator up one floor. The white hallways were also eerily silent and empty. Erika guided the group to the security room and opened the door. The uniformed guard was lying headfirst on the controls. Die shook the guard and reared the man’s head. His eyes were clouded white and his mouth was wide open. Die let the man’s helpless body lean back on the chair. Erika placed her hand on the guard’s neck and above his nose. She then shook her head sadly and brushed down the guard’s eyelids.

Meanwhile Kaoru fiddled with the controls. Some screens were covered in static. He worked in camera rooms before and technology was no stranger to him. The tapes rewound themselves to the morning. They watched Erika drop by the office and multiple nurses shuffling in and out. Then the footage was fast forwarded to the attacks began. The doctor was thrown to the ground like a doll and the nurse that rushed to help was thrown into the wall. They saw Erika’s head hit the wall and then flop to the ground. More nurses and doctors entered the hallway. By now, the footage became more distorted and ended in static. After the static passed, the grisly scene was played and a mysterious figure shrouded in mist was standing there. The figure with no face looked at the camera facing them and the footage ended like that.

“What ... was that?” asked Erika.

“Something ... bad,” Die replied.

“This might seem crazy, but that’s not a real person,” said Kaoru.

“It’s an evil spirit isn’t it?” said Erika.

“What? Why would you say that?” asked Die.

“I know it’s unprofessional of me to say this being a nurse, but there were rumors in the ward of strange things haunting the hospital. Sometimes patients tell me that they see flickering lights or hear voices in the night. But each time we check, it’s a bad light bulb or a kid that likes to play at night. Occasionally we get patients telling us about seeing deceased patients that occupied the rooms before them, but they never experienced harm or anything like that,” explained Erika.

“Shinya just texted me. He said that he called the police and he’s coming over,” said Kaoru.

“What are we going to do now? There’s an evil spirit on the loose and we need to find the antidote,” said Erika.

“No one’s watching Toshiya right now. How is doing?” Die asked frantically.

Kaoru maneuvered the equipment. The hallways in Toshiya’s ward were empty and there wasn’t anything outside his room.

“I guess he’s safe for now,” said Kaoru.

Die and Erika let out a sigh.

“Erika, we need salt and iron to protect ourselves,” said Kaoru.

“The cafeteria downstairs should have salt,” said Erika. “We also make saline bags on this floor so there should be salt available as well.”

“Anything strange at the office? We still haven’t tracked the whereabouts of the antidote,” said Die.

“The footage is all full of static. I can’t see anything,” said Kaoru. “Let’s get the salt first.”

With Erika leading the way, they snaked the hospital ward to another room. She fumbled through the supplied in the room and produced a box of sea salt. She then turned and gave a yelp.

“Behind you!”

Kyo’s small body was wedged between Kaoru and Die.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” apologized Kyo.

“Kyo! Where have you been!” said Die.

“I was talking to the spirits in the ward. I couldn’t get an answer out of a lot of them. Some of them are scared half out of their wits. They said there’s something terrorizing the ward. No need to tell me, I saw the bodies myself,” said Kyo.

Erika shuddered at the word “bodies”, but Kyo paid her no attention.

“One of them said that they saw that evil spirit carry the antidote out. Last they saw the thing was in the basement,” said Kyo.

“That’s where everyone gets trapped in scary movies,” said Die.

“We gotta get down there. It’s our only lead,” said Kaoru. “Erika, you know the way.”

Erika nodded and showed the party to the basement. Kyo’s body also drifted along with them. They took the elevator downstairs into the dark room full of machinery. The boiler hissed and its needles shivered in their meters. Erika searched for the light switch and flipped it on. The light bulb failed to shine. Kaoru turned to phone as a light source. Die did the same and explored the basement.

“I found it!” exclaimed Die.

The bag with the vial marked “Hara Toshimasa” was clasped in his hands.

“Thank goodness it’s here,” said Kaoru relieved.

Before they could leave, the basement door shut with a bang trapping them inside. The boiler was heating up rapidly.

“Shit!” Kaoru cursed.

The door wouldn’t budge the slightest. The stifling heat was choking Kaoru’s throat. He could feel the beads of sweat drip down his face.

“At this point, the temperature will destroy the antidote,” said Erika wiping off the sweat off her face.

The three hurled themselves at the door. Still it refused to open. A dark shadow was manifesting behind them.

“Crap, the thing is here,” cursed Kaoru.

He grabbed a fistful of salt from Erika’s box and scattered it at the faceless spirit. The image of the spirit didn’t disappear after the crystals went through the body.

“What’s going on! I thought salt worked on spirits,” said Die.

“That could mean only one thing,” said Kaoru. “This thing ain’t the usual spirit.”

They continued to pound the door. The faceless spirit raised its arms and the room temperatures escalated.

“Damn it! We’re going to roast in here!” Die cried out.

“Hold on a second!” a voice cried out.

The door suddenly burst open throwing the party to the ground. The cold air of the hospital enveloped their sweaty bodies. Kyo slammed the basement door shut.

“Hurry up, guys. I’ll hold this one as long as I can,” said Kyo.

“Thanks,” Kaoru said hastily.

Back at the ICU ward, they hurried with the antidote in the crumpled bag. Erika pushed the box of salt into Die’s hands and took the antidote. She looked at Toshiya’s monitor.

“We still have time. Let’s make this work,” said Erika.

She slapped on disposable gloves and pulled out a trolley of tools. In the metal tray, she speedily prepared a syringe and pumped the antidote from its vial. Toshiya’s arm was rubbed with alcohol and tightened with an elastic band. Erika located the bulging vein and inserted the syringe. The fluids were charged into the bloodstream.

Erika looked at the monitor again. Toshiya’s pulse was slowly regaining a faster rhythm. She whipped out the clipboard by Toshiya’s bedside and recorded as she read aloud.

“Heart rate normal. Pulse normal. Temperature is slowly rising. Everything is going to be okay guys,” smiled Erika. “He will live.”

Kaoru and Die bumped fists in victory. Erika’s face screwed in fear upon looking through the window.

“Oh no,” she said softly. The faceless spirit returned. Kyo tailed the spirit in an attempt to stop it from moving. With a flick of the wrist, Kyo was banished into thin air. Die looked down at his box of salt.

“What else are spirits afraid of,” he said.

Kaoru gulped. The faceless spirit in a white hospital gown looked back at him.

“I said salt before, but this one isn’t afraid. Depending on culture, different spirits heed different weaknesses,” said Kaoru.

Erika shook terribly and clung onto Die’s arm. He could feel her intense grip. He too was trembling.

“If it depends on culture, what if this one is a Japanese ghost, an onryou? We need an onmyouji to exorcise it or someone who knows Buddhist mantras,” said Die.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not the Buddhist here,” said Kaoru.

“I’m not the holy one either,” said Die.

The faceless spirit raised its arms again. The glass window shattered and an unnatural wind entered the room. Equipment attached to Toshiya’s bed rattled in their places. The metal tray holding the empty vial and syringe shook and fell on the floor with a clatter.

“BEGONE EVIL SPIRIT,” a voice bellowed out.

A white piece of parchment with a scribble of black ink was thrown at the faceless spirit. Upon touch, the ethereal mass exploded with a blinding light and high pitched humming. The room and hallway was temporarily filled with white rays. When the light died down, Shinya wandered in.

“Oh dear, are you guys alright?” he asked.

“Shinya, you saved us,” said Kaoru drained of strength.

“Shin-chan!” Die called out.

“Stop calling me that,” Shinya said blandly.

His boots crunched on the shattered glass and took a peek at Toshiya.

“How is he?” Shinya asked.

“His body is weak from fighting the poison, but he is in stable condition,” said Erika.

“The police should be coming soon. It took me a long time to convince them that there was a threat,” said Shinya. “You wouldn’t believe what I saw downstairs in the lobby.”

Two uniformed policemen straggled down the hall and into Toshiya’s room. They motioned two paramedics to come retrieve Toshiya.

“They’re over here!”

Toshiya began to stir from his long sleep.

“Wh-where am I?” he asked.

“Toshiya!” the three band members shouted.

“You’re currently in a hospital. You just fought a terrible poison in your body and lived,” smiled Erika.

“The last thing I remember was vomiting over a sink. How did I end up here?” asked Toshiya.

“It’s a long story,” said Kaoru.

*****

BGM: Lie Buried With a Vengeance by Dir en grey

Hospital spirits are not exactly the friendly type. I wouldn't say this would be Toshiya's fondest memory. If you liked this chapter, leave a comment below.

#thedarknesspreys