⚕︎

"CODENAME LADY IS A 46-year-old male who has a severe mother complex. He dresses up as a woman and uses that to fool men into gaining their trust, raping them, and then killing them after. Lady confessed that he does not like men and he is, in fact, very straight, but he loves the pleasure of overpowering men, which is why he did what he did," Claudio tells us, and the picture that I was staring at suddenly felt disturbing.

     "Alright, we have three patients left, but where are their pictures?" Father Laurence next before taking a bite of his food.

     "Yes, we have three other patients, but the reason why I did not attach a photo of them is because you will not be handling them yet. I will study them for a while to see who is fit to take care of them, so for now, I will handle them," master Claudio explains to us, making me realize that these remaining patients are actually part of the SWL or the suicide watch list.

     "So these three are..." Lino pauses and takes the remaining patient's profiles that didn't have a picture attached to them.

Patient no. 005

Codename: Messiah

Gender: Male

Age: 34

     "What did he do?" I ask out of curiosity.

     "Actually, what did they do?" Lino clarifies, gesturing at the other two patients without a picture since they didn't have any descriptions either like the other patients.

Patient no. 006

Codename: Tomorrow

Gender: Male

Age: 13

     "Whoa, this one's only thirteen. He's younger than Adie. Why is he receiving the death penalty? Is that even okay?" I ask as I stare at the kid's profile.

     "And this one's almost my age," Lino then adds, showing us the last patient on the list.

Patient no. 007

Codename: Doll Face

Gender: Female

Age: 43

     For a second the patients seemed normal, even pitiful, but then you realize that before they were called patients, they were criminals first. These were people who did terrible things to other people. There's no time for me to feel bad about them.

     "Their crimes are classified for now. After some tests, and if they're ready to meet you, I will introduce them properly. These patients are hanging on the edge. Given the opportunity, they will jump and kill themselves, so I will do everything I can to not make that happen. They are important assets..."

[PRESENT TIME]

I looked at the unfamiliar doctor and tilted my head to the side. "I don't have a name," I say, making him furrow his brows in confusion. He was about to say something about my answer, but then I remembered what the others used to call me when we were back at the hospital with Dr. Harvey.

     I don't have a name, but Autumn and the others usually call me...

     "Tomorrow," I say to him. "They call me...Tomorrow."

     The doctor in front of me doesn't say a word, but after a while, his confused expression turns into a grin, and soon after, he started laughing; his laughter echoing inside the room was enough to make me feel unsettled.

     Why was he laughing?

     What was so funny?

     "So it's you," he says. "I've been waiting to personally meet you, Tomorrow. Do you know that? Do you know what I had to do just so you could show yourself to me?" He asks, and the way he looked at me made me take a step back in terror. His sudden shift of personality sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't even explain why I felt terrified of him. He just had this aura that felt completely sinister.

     "What am I doing here?" I ask him instead.

     "I don't know," he answers. "Why are you here? What could be the reason why your alters' most precious person would even come out all of a sudden?" he tells me, taking another step closer.

     I unconsciously touched the hem of my shirt and tried to call out to someone. Winter...that's his name. That's the name of the boy who I always talked to me. Where are you Winter? But everything was silent. No one was listening to me. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?

     "Tomorrow, you know where Krimson is, right?" he then asked me, and his question immediately made my eyes widen in surprise. How did he know Krimson? Krimson is mine; I'm the only one who can have him. No one else is allowed to see him other than me.

     "No," I then answer, and the grin on the doctor's face instantly changes like a switch, turning into a frightening frown.

     "No?" He repeats, finally standing just inches away from me.

     The room falls silent again, but before I could even do anything, the doctor lifts his hand and was moments away from grabbing me, but before I could even feel his grasp on my neck, I felt my entire body heating up. My vision becomes blurry for a second, but then my own hand immediately grabs onto him, stopping him from what he was about to do.

     "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked Dr. Giovanni, making him look at me with furrowed brows. While the two of us were staring at each other, I suddenly felt something warm ooze out of my nose. I quickly reached out to it and realized that it was actually blood. I knew it, forcing myself to come out right after Tomorrow is a bad idea. But it's better to do this now before Krimson sees.

     Whatever happens, we cannot let Krimson out no matter what.

     "You really are my least favorite alter...Alice," Dr. Giovanni states as I continue to clench his wrist so he wouldn't be able to do anything. He guessed who I was again; how irritating.

     "I don't know if it's plain curiosity or just stupidity, but if Krimson comes out, you and I will be in terrible danger, especially Bishop. You said you need Krimson to come out so you can help cure us, but I suggest you at least not do it in the open like this," I honestly tell him, and Dr. Giovanni stares at me for one last time before eventually pulling his hand away from my grasp.

     "You're in no position to tell me what to do," he says, walking back to the man on the hospital bed. At first, I didn't know who he was, but as I got closer, I eventually realized that he was the man at the party.

     It was the police officer that was very dear to Bishop.

     So something really did happen to him at that party.

     "What bargain did you make with Bishop?" I finally asked him.

     Dr. Giovanni stares at the patient and doesn't answer me. He remained quiet for a while, but then he pulls out a syringe from his pocket and suddenly injects it into the officer. The officer flinched, and then his body started to shake, but after a while, he calmed down and his heart started beating normally compared to earlier.

     "What on earth did you do to him?" I persistently ask, hoping to get some answers, but the doctor continued to ignore my questions.

     "I was unsure for a while if Tomorrow was real or not, but now that I've finally seen him, things just became very interesting," he says to me instead, making me tilt my head in confusion. "I don't know what triggered it. I don't know why he suddenly came out either, but now I'm starting to have hope again."

     What is he even talking about? What does Tomorrow have to do with all this? There's no reason for the doctor to meet him, especially when Tomorrow barely remembers anything. He will be useless to him. Does Dr. Giovanni need him too so that he could help cure us? Is that it?

     "Tell Bishop that this is his reward for today," Dr. Giovanni then says to me, handing me the empty syringe. "Tell him that Mateo will wake up by tomorrow. There is no need for him to worry about something like this."

     I grab the syringe and stare at it before looking back at the police officer. When it looked like he was starting to feel better, I looked back at doctor Giovanni this time who was busy writing something down on a chart board.

     This man...

    Why is he so complicated? Like the last time I spoke to him at his office, I don't sense any danger around him. There is something about him that is not entirely evil.

     "Why are you still helping us? Even after what Bishop did," I remember asking him earlier during his session with Winter.

     "My relationship with Bishop is different from my relationship with everyone else in him. I have my ways of making things work in my favor, but if I have made a deal with someone, I fulfill them. You, as well as Winter and the others, are my patients," he then answered, only confusing my thoughts even more.

     Other than plaguing the town, what else is he planning to do to us? What else is he planning to do to Bishop?

     "This is why love is such a useless thing. I've already told him that, but he wouldn't listen. And when I asked him to gain Mateo's trust, I didn't know he'll actually fall in love with him. What a complete moron," Dr. Giovanni says in irritation, making me look at him indifferently.

     "Dr. Giovanni," I called out, and the doctor—who was checking the police officer's vitals this time—glances back at me and asks, "What is it?"

    "What are you? Are you the hero or the villain of this story," I then asked him, and my question must have humored him so because the doctor started laughing.

     "That depends on what a hero and a villain mean to you," he answers, turning his head to look at me. "And besides, I treat each of your alters differently. Depending on who I talk to, I can be evil, kind, or both. That's why you cannot make a full judgment out of me."

     So the way he's talking to me now is different from the way he's been talking to Winter, Autumn, and even Bishop? For him to have a different persona according to the alter he's facing is much more terrifying that our system, that's for sure.

     "Well, if there is nothing else that you need, you may go. The only reason why I brought Bishop here was because I wanted to provoke him, but now that you're here instead, there's no point in it," he then explains to me before putting on his glasses.

     I didn't entirely know where I was even supposed to go since I had no clue where we were in the first place. Thankfully the doctor saw our reaction, so he suddenly smiled and told me, "Marcelino is waiting outside. You may both return to the manor. I still have things to do here."

     What an irritating expression to have.

     No wonder Bishop easily got infatuated.

     "Thank you for today," he then adds, and I turned away from him and hid the syringe in my pocket. As I walked my way to the exit, I opened the door and paused. Before taking a step back out, I turned my head to face him and said, "Please be more gentle when it comes to handling Bishop. Your ways are very...provocative."

     "Gentle?" He repeated before giving out a chuckle. "For being one of his alters, I expected that you would at least know that being gentle is something that won't work on a man like Bishop. If it did...I wouldn't have fucked him."

     His answer surprised me, but instead of giving a response, I took a deep breath and slammed the door shut so I would no longer see his face anymore.

     "Doctor Giovanni," I whisper under my breath as I walked out of the hospital. "The way you know all of us so well...is definitely terrifying."

...

"So now I'm talking to Alice," the gardener slash soldier—Marcelino—says to me while the two of us were driving back to the manor.

     I haven't switched back to Bishop yet, and the reason isn't because I didn't want to switch with him. My chest was tight and my body felt completely weak. Switching between one alter to another is supposed to be a normal occurrence, but not for us. We rarely switch, which is why it takes a lot of effort to do it.

    We have switched a few times just this morning so I'm completely drained. Switching with Tomorrow was already a pain and it literally left me bleeding. I can't risk another switch.

     "What did the master say?" He then asks, glancing at me through the rearview mirror since I was seated at the back.

     "That has nothing to do with you," I answered, and he just sighed and said nothing. I looked out of the window and took a deep breath. But as I was staring at the scenery outside, I couldn't help but massage my temple which started aching. I felt like I was moments away from passing out again.

     "Are you alright?" Marcelino asked, glancing at me again. "You've been looking sick since this morning," he then adds.

     "I'm fine."

     "Are you sure?"

     "I told you, this has nothing to do with you so let me be," I stubbornly say, and Marcelino takes another deep breath and nods his head in understanding. The gardener didn't say another word until we finally got back to the ever-so-frightening manor. At this point, I felt completely drained.

    Marcelino parks the car at the front, and I immediately open the door and run back inside. I spot a little girl staring at me at the entrance, but I ignored her and went straight to our bedroom instead. I had no strength left for any chit-chat.

     As soon as I got to the room, I spot the bed, and every fiber of my being instantly got drawn to it, but I stopped myself when I saw the desk that had Winter's diary on it. I practically dragged my body towards it and gently placed the syringe on the desk before grabbing the pen so I could write something down in the diary.

09/24/1952

Bishop...

I don't think I have the strength to come out for a while, so make sure to take care of yourself and everyone else. The police officer is also okay. And the doctor...

He is not evil, and you may actually be able to trust him, but you should still be cautious. This is just something I had observed so you should still make your own judgment.

There's also something else that you have to know. "Tomorrow" came out. It's been a while since he came out, so I had to drain myself just to push him back in. You have to be careful and make sure to hold your ground, especially since Winter's trying to take control again. You don't want the past to repeat itself, Bishop.

You know how much damage Winter has done when he locked us all in.

That is all.

- Alice

     I stared at the journal entry and got ready to walk towards the bed so I could rest, but just as I was about to take another step, everything around me turns completely black and I instantly drop to the floor and lose consciousness.

     Darkness surrounded me for a while, and for a moment I thought I'd see the light, but nothing was there.

     "Hello?" I called out, walking around this nothingness. But as I took another step forward, I suddenly heard knocking sounds from a distance. It was quiet for a while, but then the knock turned loud and aggressive.

    The knocks got closer and closer, and soon after, the knocking sound was heard just right beside my ear, and in an instant, I opened my eyes and gasped for air, instantly making me look around to check where I was.

    When I realized that I was back in my bedroom at the manor, I grabbed my racing chest and sighed in relief. For a moment I thought I'd wake up in another patient's room, but thankfully I was back here.

     "Bishop! Wake the fuck up!" a voice outside the room calls out, making me realize that the knocking sound actually came from that.

     I got up from the bed and walked towards the door. As soon as I opened it, I saw father Laurence looking at me with an annoyed expression. "For fuck's sake Bishop, I thought you died," Laurence tells me, making me chuckle in response.

    "I wish."

    "Anyway, dinner's ready. Adeline is waiting at the dining table. Marcelino, on the other hand, is out since he had to get master Claudio from the hospital, but I think they'll arrive soon," father Laurence explains to me.

     "Alright. Let me just get my mask. Wait here," I say as I ran to my desk to get my mask, but just as I was about to get it, I suddenly saw the diary. It was open, but there weren't any new journal entries written on it, just a ripped page. I looked around the area to check if there was any crumpled paper, but there wasn't.

     "Was an alter supposed to write something to me?" I asked myself.

     "Bishop! Come on, I'm hungry!" Father Laurence complained from outside my room.

     "I'll be right there!"

     I grabbed my mask and immediately wore it, but just as I was about to run out of the room, I accidentally stepped on something. I quickly looked down, and as soon as I saw what it was, my eyes widened in shock. It was the glass syringe that master Claudio had back at the hospital which contained the 2nd plague's cure. Thankfully I moved away on time because if I stepped hard enough, the glass would have shattered under my feet.

    I immediately picked the syringe up and saw that it was now empty. When I saw this, a tear instantly streamed down my eye as my heart was suddenly filled with this overwhelming relief.

     "Thank god," I say, hugging the syringe close to my chest.

     Looks like Mateo's okay now. Thank god.

    "For fuck's sake Bishop, how hard is it to wear a—" Laurence barges inside my bedroom in irritation, but before he can even finish his sentence, he suddenly stops when he sees what I was doing.

    Father Laurence sighs and approaches me. "You feeling better now?" he then asks with a warmer expression this time. I didn't really answer him, but I nodded my head and gently placed the syringe back on the desk before following Laurence outside.

     While Laurence and I were walking down the hall, he suddenly tells me, "I'm glad you're feeling better. That mister scar face told me that you've been fainting a few times now so I made you some soup that might help you feel better."

    "Wait, does that mean he carried me to my bed?" I asked after hearing what Laurence had to say.

     "No, from what I remember, you walked your way to your bedroom on your own. Marcelino then went to the greenhouse after parking the car and stayed there all day," he says, making me furrow my brows. So when I fainted back at the hospital, someone actually switched with me and took over. But who was it? Why can't I recall anything?

     "Is that so..." I say, scratching the back of my head in confusion, but I eventually brushed it off and told him, "Anyway, thanks for making that soup. I'm looking forward to it."

    "Well, I had time since the patients got reduced drastically," Laurence suddenly tells me, instantly making me stop walking.

     Father Laurence continued walking, but when he noticed that I was no longer following him, he stops and looks back at me. "Bishop, are you okay?" he asks.

     "Laurence, what did you just say?" I then ask, feeling my hands trembling.

     "Wait, did no one tell you yet? Patients 03 and 04—Oz and Lady—died earlier. We already buried them beside patient no. 01, so there are only two patients left. Our duty here will be over soon, so you should be celebrating," father Laurence explains with little to no empathy.

     I knew what he meant by that despite it sounding cruel, but I felt my heart shatter. I knew nothing about those two patients, but like the time they buried Hunter, my chest ached for them. Why am I even feeling so attached to these criminals? They shouldn't deserve my tears, but here I am, moments away from shedding them.

     "Bishop, don't tell me you pity those patients," Laurence then tells me, making me blink my tears away so I could look at him with a straight face. I was about to just brush it off and pretend like I wasn't affected by their deaths, but then I suddenly remembered the time I was forced to sleep in Oz's room.

     "I've been observing this manor from outside. There's an extra floor, but you can't find any stairs. That room is directly above that soldier's bedroom. Steal a ladder and break the ceiling." Those were the words he told me just before he was taken.

     I can't waste any more time. There are two patients left. Our freedom isn't guaranteed here, so I'd rather take my chances and do something now. I have to know what master Claudio is really planning, and I want to know why he's even doing all this in the first place.

     "Laurence, you said that Lino isn't here yet, right?" I asked, and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion but nodded his head anyway.

    "Then grab a ladder and a hammer downstairs, quickly. We're going to break a ceiling and look for answers. We might be his precious horsemen, but we don't need a rider to be able to run forward, don't you agree?"

to be continued...