EnderOni, Loop One:

Chapter 15:

A Work of Gory Art

-...-

“Has....Has anybody seen Sub?”

It was that moment when their stomachs dropped. Sky had just finished walking across the whole room, the library, and noticed that the mute was nowhere to be found. Did he just miss him? Sky walked back past the rows of books, and Sub wasn't between any of them. Sky, Seto, Ty, and Tyler looked at each other, a fear rising within their systems. Sure, Sub was questionable to his motives after trying to kill Ty, but he was still a friend they could not lose to the Oni.

“Oh god!” Sky choked, and they ran out the room.

“Where could he have gone?” Seto asked, eyes full of worry. There was still a chance.

“You think he went back down to the safe room?” Tyler asked. “O-Or upstairs?”

“We can't split up to look for him though!” Seto shook his head.

“Um, Guys..?” Ty gulped, but wasn't loud enough.

“I saw we go get Mitch and the others and search for him.” Sky suggested.

“But we don't have time!” Seto replied.

“Guys?” Ty frowned.

“We're wasting time like this!” Tyler said.

“GUYS!” Ty stomped loudly, and the three turned to him finally.

“What is it, Ty!?” Sky asked and they wanted for what he had to say.

Ty pointed to the room across the hall. The Piano Room.

“Do you smell that?” Ty asked, and then it was clear.

They all smelled it. It was blood. The strong stench of fresh blood.

“FUCK!” Tyler shouted, and they sprinted to the door of the Piano room.

Tyler couldn't open it at first, and Sky pushed him out of the way to try to open the door. “IT'S LOCKED!” Sky cried out.

“Move!” Ty then made his way to the door, and after a few seconds, he got it to open with a click.

They ran into the room, and what they found was a sight they would never forget. The most gory death of them all. One that, like the music once performed, was a work of art. A reply to Sub's final words, it would seem the Oni was most pleased.

The white piano was half red now. Crimson red seat and keys, as well as insides, and the floor too. There were still drips of blood falling from the instrument to the floor, suggesting that the death was only about a minute ago. As they got closer, they realized that, located in the back of the piano, where the strings are located, and the top is set up, laid a body. Like frightened cats, they slowly investigated, their hearts fast at work.

Sub had his right leg hanging off the side of the piano, and his left leg off the end. His head was laying against the music rack. His arms were twisted about, everything stained with blood, but that wasn't it. The Oni had taken it one step farther then just that. Sub's guts intertwined with the strings and the lid prop. A hole had been dug inside the very middle of sub, and you could see his ribs. Sub's left hand was resting over this whole, hiding it's horrors at first. But it was also hiding something else.

“Oh god.” Sky was the first to see it.

“Holy shit-” Tyler saw it next.

The key that Sub had found in the seat of the piano was lodged under his left hand. The lights reflected off it's cold metal handle, a gift left behind by the Oni. The tag of the key was visible, hanging down Sub's side. It read “Room 209”. That was a room on the second floor.

“Oh, Sub....” Sky stepped back, tears falling from his eyes.

“Oh my god.” Ty had his hand over his mouth, his body leaning on the wall. He looked sick, disgusted.

Seto gulped, trying to take his eyes away from the messy corpse.

“Look.” Tyler then got their attention.

Walking around the piano, facing the side of the lid where it faced up, Tyler pointed out the six. The bloody Six. Six O'clock. It had been painted on there like a canvas.

“W-Well then...” Seto shook his head, walking back around the piano, now standing by the seat.

“We have to take him back t-to the safe room now, don't we?” Tyler asked, following Seto.

“But the mess!” Sky gasped.

“We can't leave him here. We can't disrespect our friend.” Seto sighed, looking at Sky.

“But-”

“Just because we left one friend doesn't mean we can leave another. Bashur is out of reach. In fact, he's free. He's outside. Sub is not, and sub can be put to rest if we are careful.” Seto said.

There was a small silence.

“Sky....?” Seto then looked away, asking for something that was painful to even think if. “....Ty?”

“I don't think I can.” Sky choked out his words, leaned over the clean floor, almost expecting to throw up. But he couldn't.

Ty cleared his throat, taking a deep breath, and then taking a step towards the crime scene.

“L-let's get this over with, okay?” Ty weakly said.

“But I can't!” Sky continued to say.

“Sky please.” Seto asked again, and Tyler stood there, watching as the scene played out.

Sky breathed in and out a few times, then turned to Seto.

“I know I should. He was a close friend of mine. But I just can't stomach it. Please. Let me be.” Sky replied.

Seto gave up, and nodded his head. “You and Tyler get the door. I'll help Ty then. Don't worry about it.”

“Thank you.”

Seto and Ty were left with the horrid task of untangling poor Sub, and taking him off the piano, into their arms. Sky and Tyler waited by the door, looking the other way, out into the hallway. Ty took the key from Sub, the noises that were made making him want to throw up. He cleaned the key with his shirt and then placed it in his pocket. He helped Seto grab Sub when they were done, so that Seto was left to carry Sub as the other three finally were able to walk out of the room of horror.

Sky lead the way downstairs to the safe room, Tyler following, then Seto with Sub, and then Ty behind. Blood dripped from the body in Seto's hand, and Ty watched as he followed a path that was being created. Drip after drip. Ty gulped. It was in perfect beat with the tick-tock of the clocks. The group walked into the safe room quietly, Ty closing the door behind them.

Nobody said anything at first. Mitch, Bodil, and Ian only had to open their eyes to see it. Ian and Bodil stared in horror, and Mitch shook in his seat. Of course one of them died. What did any of them expect. He hit the table, tears coming to his eyes.

“Why?”

Tyler stopped walking and looked at Mitch, who had spoken. Seto and Ty helped place Sub in a bed and Sky broke down with the comfort of Ian and Bodil. Tyler walked over to the table where Mitch sat.

“Why did you all leave if you all knew this was going to happen?” Mitch asked.

Tyler tried to come up with words. He had to settle with the truth.

“I don't know.”

Mitch shook his head, his head ache still stabbing at his skull. He rubbed away the tears from his eyes and stood up.

“Where. W-where di-”

“The Piano Room. It's....” Tyler paused. “..It's a mess in there.”

Mitch and Tyler looked over and saw Seto and Ty finish up with placing Sub down in a bed that was next to Jerome. Sky was crying with Ian and Bodil trying to help, but failing. Seto and Ty turned away from the beds and walked over to the rest of the survivors. Seto's clothes were stained with Sub's blood, as well as torn from the fabric he had to give away. Ty scratched at his head, flinching at the pain that caused him, and quickly stopped.

“What happened to you?” Bodil asked quietly to Ty.

Ty looked at Seto. There was silence among them, other then Sky, and then Ty decided just to shake his head.

“It was nothing.” He answered.

Ty then remembered the key, and took it out of his pocket.

“T-The Oni left a gift for us.” He said, holding it up. “Goes to room 209. It's on the floor.”

“We have no choice but to check it out.” Tyler added.

Mitch shook his head.

“We're all going this time. Nobody is going to stay behind. Nobody will split up.”

“W-We're going?” Bodil's eyes widen.

“A-After S-Sub!?” Ian asked.

“What else do we have to lose?” Seto sighed.

“Eachother!” Bodil fought.

“Everything!” Ian joined in.

“Give up.”

The two were surprised from the dark mumble of Sky, who was on his knees between the two of them. They looked down at him as he began to stand back up. Sky wiped the tears away from his eyes, even as they kept coming, and he took another deep breath.

“It's not worth fighting anymore.” Sky said.

With that, Bodil and Ian stopped. Sky had given up. It was only a matter of time before everyone did, if they hadn't already.

“Ready?” Seto asked.

“Yeah.” Mitch nodded his head. They were going to the room 209 now.

There was no more revolting. Liking it or not, everyone Left the safe room. The group was silent, but they made their way to the hallways of the second floor. They passed the stair wells and to the other end of the building, finding the first door they came too, right in the middle, was what they were looking for. Ty put in the key and, with a click, it opened.

The room was rather dull, and looked the same as ever. There was a bed to the side, a carpet, a side table and a small couch. There were dead flowers in a vase on the side table, and a bookcase to the side of the door. The group walked around the room, looking for anything at all. Keys, papers, clues. Escapes. But in the end, nothing turned up.

“There's nothing here.” Mitch frowned.

“What the hell?” Seto was confused.

“Why would the Oni give us a key to a room that had nothing in it?” Ian asked.

“He's laughing at us.” Bodil kicked at the floor. “He's giving us false hope.”

“Making fun of us?” Seto asked, and looked down at the couch that he had just searched. “Seems unlikely, but then what do I know?”

“Well I mean there is nothing here.” Sky shrugged.

“That's right.” Tyler agreed.

“That's just fucking great!” Mitch hissed. “We're toys to this monster! That's all he sees us as!”

“Game pieces, more likely.” Sky sighed.

“What do we do now?” Ian asked.

“We go back to the safe room.” Seto answered.

“...And then?” Ian asked.

“We sit in the corner and we think about our lives!” Tyler answered, raising his voice.

“Sounds like a plan, if you ask me.” Bodil looked down.

The group left the room, the door wide open as nobody closed it. They walked down the hallways, silent, and made their way into the safe room, all in one piece, no Oni to be found. Then they parted ways and did whatever they could. Seto walked into the kitchen, stopping when he saw a half eaten apple sitting on the counter. It was Sub's. He shivered, shaking his head, and grabbed an apple from the pile, leaving the half eaten one be.

Ian and Bodil sat around on the floor, Bodil poking at the wooden flooring and probably getting a small splinter while he was at it. Ian had his back to the wall, and his eyes closed, probably tired from the past few days. Ian couldn't fall asleep though, and got up to get a drink of water. It was then following that that he got hic-ups. The kind that hurt, and wouldn't go away easily.

Sky laid down on the seat of the table, his arm over his eyes in attempts to sleep. His mind was still probably buzzing with feelings. Ty leaned against the wall close by Sky, his eyes lids heavy. Tyler sat in the corner again, his eyes looking across the room at the beds. Nobody really wanted to go near the beds now. The smell was starting to get worse. Tyler still held onto his journal though, and would open it from time to time to just stare at the pages. Some had things written on them, some did not.

Mitch had found himself in the bathroom, leaning over the sinks, splashing water onto his face. His head was still pounding with it's headache, and there seemed to be no end to it at all. He used a rag that was on the counter to clean around his face, but nothing really helped him. He sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. The area around his eyes were darker then before. When was the last time he was happy? It was hard to remember the feeling.

“A-ah!” Mitch gasped as another horrible ring bit at his skull. The headache just would not give him any mercy.

Mitch put the rag down, and it fell from the counter to the dirty floor. Mitch squeezed his eyes shut and held his head with his hands. After the period of extra pain passed, Mitch stood back up straight, and yawned. He looked at himself in the mirror again. He was still as he was a few seconds ago.

“Why can't it stop?” He asked himself.

“Why can't the ticking stop?”

-...-