A Serenade for the Innocent - 125 Slowly Turning Black

“Your feet seem a bit dirty, father.” The policeman uttered as I stepped beside him when I hurriedly walked towards the other three with the silver man wrapped around my hands.

“My feet?” I said before turning my head down to gaze below me. Well, I am a bit dirty now since I have literally hugged that disgusting guy earlier, and frankly, I just wanna go home and have a cold shower! After a more in-depth look at my feet and even my legs, I saw that there’s nothing particularly wrong about it. “What do you mean? I think my feet look clean enough?” I said jokingly before chuckling for a bit.

“Oh, I mean your shoes!” He said with a twisted smile after seeing my fake gentle smile.

Now that I looked at my shoes, I realized that there is, indeed, a bit of black and slightly reddened spot on it around the soles. “Oh, you’re right! Maybe it’s because of the blood that… you know what happened earlier.” I aid with a downcast gaze, still wondering where this conversation with the policeman is supposed to lead.

Currently, we’re walking towards the third area. The corridor we’re walking in is just as metallic as the second area. Similar to how the end corridor of the first area is as rocky as the whole area itself. Unsurprisingly, our surroundings are well lit because of a long line of fluorescent light above us, making it easier to escape. It is a stark contrast from the first part of the dungeon where someone could jump from out of nowhere because of how absolutely blind we were in there. As you might have already known, someone did leap before us, which frightened me a bit, not gonna lie. However, the damn problem is already dealt with, and another challenge has finally started to rise.

The salesman and the nurse wordlessly looked at us as they continued to walk before us in the corridor. Their attention had been taken once they heard what the policeman had said, which made me feel like they must have orchestrated this whole damn thing. I have no proof, though, but I can see it in the way their eyes would shoot daggers at the silver man and me.

“Ahh… I get what you’re saying, father. Yeah, the blood must indeed have gotten on your shoes.” The policeman said with a nod as he smiled at me from ear to ear almost literally. “But, you see, father, I’m just curious why the mark in the soles of your shoes have a bit of that… dark color, you know what I mean? Like, it’s grease or something.” He said while looking at my light-brown colored leather shoes. True, there is a bit of grease on it that looked as if it was placed there using a rough and old paintbrush.

Ahh…

I get where this conversation is going.

I then chuckled as I looked at my light-brown shoes again with a scrutinizing gaze. The grease on it sends a trickle of hatred within me, which I had to contain in me as fast as I could, or else I’ll explode with anger.

“Ahh… Oh, yeah, there is a bit of grease in there, huh?” I whispered nonchalantly with a smile as I continued to walk with my companions in the well-lit metallic corridor. “I think it has always been there? Maybe it’s because of the rats in the first area? I believe that there’s a lot of those in there. This is the first time I finally saw my shoes again, so I never realized that there’s a bit of mark in there.” I then looked at the policeman with a wide grin before continuing, “Why did you ask?”

At this point, the salesman had already turned his face away from us, no longer interested in what else I wanted to say. Meanwhile, the nurse was still looking at me, but there doesn’t seem to be any hint of animosity left in her eyes; that’s at least what I think.

“Ohh… Well, I’m just curious as to why there’s also a bit of grease on your footprints since the first area is, you know,” He then laughed jokingly but his eyes definitely did not show a splinter of laughter. “wet.”

I then looked behind me and saw that I am indeed leaving a bit of black trail as I walked hurriedly with my companions. I also noticed that there’s only one footstep on the floor that has that kind of black color; well, in fact, it’s the only set of footprints on the ground. After doing so, I also finally realized that our surroundings are slowly turning from a bright silver color into a darker shade of gray.

“Hmm… Indeed it is. So what about it?” I said, still indifferent to the policeman’s probing questions.

“Oh, nothing, nothing! I was just a bit curious, father!” The policeman said as he slowly walked ahead of us while his smile gradually turned into a stiff poker face.

I then chuckled after seeing this. “You seem to be overthinking something, Mr. Policeman,” I said as I felt the silver man shiver beside me. It seems that even he had finally understood what the policeman wanted from me.

The policeman merely ignored what I had said while the nurse finally took her eyes off me. All of us continued to walk in the metal corridor quietly, not even talking about the changes happening around us. It seems that the once gray surroundings have now turned into a lighter shade of black. Looking at the distance, we saw that the door to the third area is just a few steps away from us, and it’s practically waving at us to put some kind of meat on it.

But… Haa… First, I have to deal with these suspicions getting thrown at me. I don’t want them thinking that I am actually a terrible person or even have a bit of power in me to cause harm. I must regain my status as a harmless sacrifice to them while still protecting this liability that is the silver man. It seems that maybe I have to find a way to make these people fight each other until they inevitably kill each other. Hmm… Perhaps, I can instill some kind of suspicion in them? I can probably do it.

The silver man then stopped walking, but the others just continued without even giving us a sidelong glance.

“I’m sorry, father.” The silver man said as he tried his hardest not to shed the water welling upon his eyes.

“Why are you apologizing?” Oh my… ugh… This man is crying again! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? People, this is what happens if you don’t hit your child! They turn into beta-male cry babies! FUCK!

“They’re only suspecting you because you’re helping me!” The silver man said a bit too loudly, which he may or may not done knowingly to make the others hear his beta-male whining.

Well, I have to admit that I appreciate what he has done here, even if he doesn’t realize how important it is for me. Somehow, I could feel the animosity from the people before me fading just because of what silver man had accidentally uttered too loudly.

Ha! Well, there you go! That pretty much covers a bit of their suspicion at me.

I then realized that our surroundings were now steadily turning into pitch black, but the corridor is still relatively well-lit even in front of the door leading to the third room. The three people then slowly took the smelly raw meat in their yellow body bags. The policeman then knelt and placed his raw meat on the floor. Afterward, he used the zipper of his body bag as a makeshift knife to cut a small portion of his raw meat. However, it seems that even a muscular man like him is struggling with it as I saw that his sweat seems to trickle profusely from his forehead while he very skillfully used his zipper like a saw.

“You seem awfully good with that, Mr. Policeman,” I said with a playful chuckle as I knelt beside him with a curious glint on my eyes. “Are you good with knives, hmm, Mr. Policeman?”

The policeman flinched slightly with his eyes widened as he stopped cutting a small portion of his meat. Nevertheless, he decided to ignore what I had just said and continued whatever it is that he’s doing.

“Hmm… Not a talker, huh?” I then stood up as I moved my gaze to the salesman and the nurse who’s standing a few feet away from the policeman. Meanwhile, the silver man hid behind me with a downcast expression. It seems that none of them wants to talk after what had just happened earlier. Well… I can’t really blame them, ekekeke! However, there’s a bit of dead air here while we wait for the policeman to finish whatever it is that he is doing. Thus, I spoke again, “You know what, I wanted to ask something earlier, but I thought it would be a bit awkward if I do it, you know… with our friend on the floor like that.”

“The nurse then looked at me with a weak smile. “What is it, father?”

“Well, remember how I fell earlier on the floor? It was really nasty, right? I just wanna ask who pushed me.” I then looked at the two people before me with a gentle smile. It seems that none of them was willing to talk, so I added, “Oh, don’t worry! I’m not angry about it at all! I was just… I found it a bit curious that I fell on the ground, and, at the same time, the silver man stumbled forward. Maybe someone pushed the two of us to make way for…” I then

Finally, my words took their attention since the salesman spoke, “Care to describe what it felt, father? I mean, the one who pushed you; you must have felt his arms around your chest if you fell that hard into the floor.”

“Hmm…” I then

“True. You are pretty tall, father.” The salesman said with a nod as he now looked at me with a gaze filled with interest.

“You know, I’m just saying…” I then moved my gaze down onto the policeman, who’s kneeling on the floor while still cutting a portion of his raw meat. “If someone could really push me hard like that, it would be a pretty big man.”

The salesman finally realized where my words were heading as he looked at me with a bright look as if he had just realized something.

I then chuckled, “But I’m sure, I’m just overthinking it! Right, Mr. Policeman?”

“Ha?” The policeman uttered as he looked at me with his sweaty face. He then continued whatever it is that he’s doing as he said, “Yeah, I guess you are.”

Mmm… This is what you get…

“Yeah…” I whispered.

Mmm! Cross me again. I dare you!