"What kind of half ass letter was that? And what the---Hitomi..?" Ayato-kun stared at me.

Gourmet. I know you're the puppeteer behind this. If you think it's that hilarious, let me tell you I think it's frivolous. If you think this will do any convincing for me to join your pointless group, you're wrong.

"Oi, Hitomi. What's this picture?" Ayato-kun waved his hand in front of my face.
"It's me." I replied in a monotone voice.
"What..?!"

I stared at the old photograph in my hand. Where the hell did he get it from? When was it even taken? Ha, perhaps Gourmet is collaborating with those gruesome scientists. But wouldn't that be betraying his darling, Hironaka Yami, since the same scientists experimented on her?

But the real question, if it's really him who is doing this, why was he manifesting himself?

"I can't look at this anymore." I spat angrily, crumbling the letter and the photograph together.

Before Ayato-kun could reply, I threw the letter into the trash bin along with the photograph. If Gourmet wants to play this game, we will play it the Mad Hatter's style. I will not afford to lose. I admit that I'm childish and I hate losing.

"Hitomi." Ayato-kun spoke again, crossing his arms.
"What?" I looked at him.
"I want an explanation. Now." He demanded.

I took a deep sigh and I swallowed the lump in my throat. The next thing that I said came out in a rather raspy voice.

"I don't want to go to details," I sighed, "All I can say for now is that I was experimented by scientists. I was later thrown into the asylum because I did things that weren't normal. The photograph you just saw is one of the crazy things the doctors did to me in the asylum."

Ayato-kun opened his mouth slightly ajar to say something, but immediately shut his mouth and didn't say anything. He bit his lips and then deepened his frown.

I don't expect him to say anything comforting. I know it's not really his thing and he kinda sucks at it. After all, what can you probably say to a mental patient who once belonged in the asylum?

"I'm going to sleep," I broke the silence, "It's getting late. We will solve the riddle tomorrow."

And with that, I turned around and headed towards the room I'm supposed to sleep in.

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DREAM:

"YOU USELESS CHILDREN!" My father screamed at my brother and I, "YOUR MOTHER DIED BECAUSE OF THE BOTH OF YOU!"

My father grabbed a fistful of my silky hair and pulled it harshly. I couldn't speak without permission. I had to keep quiet through all this pain. I had to keep all my thoughts to myself, and little did I know, my thoughts were slowly eating away my sanity.

"Fa..Father..please..stop.." My brother, Hisoka, begged on his knees.

Enomoto Hisoka. I'm proud to call him my brother. He's not an older or a younger brother. In fact, we are both twins. We have the same porcelain skin, golden hair, and electric blue eyes. We have been together through thick and thin ever since our mother's death.

"DID YOU DARE TO GO AGAINST YOUR FATHER, HISOKA?" My father yelled, releasing me from his grip. He walked towards Hisoka and kicked his ribs.

He then raised his hand and whipped it across Hisoka's face. He wasn't done torturing him. He yanked Hisoka's arm and pulled him upstairs.

My body turned stiff as I realise what my father was about to do to Hisoka. I tried to reach out to him, but my body was too weak and I collapsed on my knees.

"Hi..Hisoka.." I whimpered.
"It's okay, Hitomi." Hisoka whispered, giving a weak smile before my father threw him to a room and locked it behind him.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I realised how useless I was. I couldn't do anything to stop my father. This would go on ever since my mother's death. My father was going to do it to me, but Hisoka begged him to spare me and do it to him instead.

That's right, my father raped  Hisoka.

We were kids, and him doing this to my brother was sick.

I couldn't take this anymore.

|||

I woke up in cold sweat. I looked at my trembling hands and I realised that there were dry tears on my cheeks. Why did I dream of a past memory? It was certainly a wrong time to be recalling the past.

It felt bizarre. For some reason, I felt like someone was watching me. The feeling grew stronger and ominous, sending chills to my spine. I turned my head towards the window in slow motion, hoping what I thought was pure hallucination.

I was wrong. There wasn't anyone watching me from the window, but there was a mark that proved that someone did. Handprints. Two handprints implanted on the window. Maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe it had been there when I didn't notice.

I decided to take a closer look. I rose from my bed and tiptoed towards the window. I narrowed my eyes, only to widening it as reality hit me. These handprints were from outside the window, and we are nearly above three stories high. Therefore, it is impossible for a mere human to have such an uncanny ability.

The only guess is that this was a ghoul's doing.

I took a few steps back. What should I do? It's nearly 3 am. Hunting down the stalker would do no good. Should I wake Ayato-kun up? He's just next room.

That's it. I walked out of my room and knocked on Ayato-kun's bedroom door. I shuffled my feet and all of a sudden, I became fidgety.

"You do know it's goddamn 3 am, don't you?" Ayato-kun grumbled as he opened the door, "What is it, Hitomi?"
"I--no, there's someone watching me." I replied bluntly.
"What?" Ayato-kun widened his eyes.
"It's true. There were handprints on the outside of the window, and we are like three stories high, you know?" I frowned.
"Show me the handprints."

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into my room. I then pointed towards my window, but the handprints weren't there anymore.

"No. I swear there were handprints." I furrowed my eyebrows as I let go of his wrist.
"Are you sure?" Ayato-kun raised a brow, "Maybe you were just seeing things."
"I SWEAR IT WAS HERE!" I yelled, gripping my hair. Pain struck my head and my vision was starting to blur out.
"Hitomi?" Ayato-kun grabbed my arm, "Get ahold of yourself! Hitomi!"

From the corner of my eye, I could see a girl sitting on a chair miserably. I knew I was the only one who could see her. She gave me a pitying look, but that expression was later on replaced by a menacing one.

And suddenly, my vision turned pitch black.

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"wHaT eVeR haPpENeD t0 pAtiENt 67?"

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(A/N) Looks like nobody got the right answer to that riddle of the letter :")

However, leevebl1nk was right about the fact about the photograph. Yes, it was Hitomi as a child. Moving on forward, the rest of you all, your answers were pretty interesting and close to the truth!

You all still have the chance to unravel the riddle before the next chapter!
The riddle: WHICH PLACE CONTAINS DREAMS THAT HAD DIED?

Good luck!!

(Votes, comments, and feedback are greatly appreciated! :D)