Welcome to Viremonté (Part 3) (OLD)

Curiosity had slowly got the hold of me. I wanted to see what was outside of the door of this mysterious room. I walked over to the door and slowly twisted the door knob. I slowly opened the door to a dimly lit hallway. Like my room, there were no windows, the only light sources were candles. The candles barely even let you see down the hall. Across from my room was a door, and to the left and right, were more doors, each were equally spaced apart with a candle in between each door. I slowly left the room and began to walk to the right.

A few minutes later, I happened to come across a window. The window was big and gave me a good look of what the world looked like. The sky was red, every building was huge. and in the far distance, I could see a tall clock tower. It's a beautiful view. Breathtaking. I began to walk until I reached dimly light stairway. As I began to climb down, I noticed that the stairs seemed never ending. I tried to look down the middle of the stairway, but all I could see are more stairs.

After what felt like hours, I finally reached the bottom of the staircase. The ground floor was not like the others, it was brightly lit and had a bright red carpet leading to the entrance. As I stepped outside the building, I noticed something. All the buildings were painted the same color, a faded brown color. The men all wear suits of all different colors and wear different kinds of hats and goggles, while the women wear all different colors of dresses and wear different types and colors of bonnets. 

I started to roam around the city, I saw restaurants with huge glass windows, I saw all types of vendors and arms dealers who sell different types of guns and other goods. One of the guns had caught my eye. A flintlock pistol. It was like it was calling to me. It had a wooden grip and a metal muzzle. It fit perfectly in my hand. It's like it was made for me.

"How much for this?" I asked the arms dealer.

The arms dealer had dark green hair and a scar over his left eye. He had very unusual clothes on. He had a dark red vest with nothing but his bare chest under it. On his vest he had a pocket, inside that pocket was a white flower.

"I see you have a good eye," He said as he picked up the flintlock and examined it.

"That'll be 200 Yuanli's."

"Huh?" I asked. 

What the hell is a Yuanli?

"Did I stutter? 200 Yuanli's." The arms dealer replied.

Yuanli must be money...

I frantically began to search my pockets for money. My suit pocket had nothing but some sort of bottle cap, while my left suit pocket contained 5 silver coins.

"Will this do?" I asked, handing him the coins.

The dealer examined the coins and then put them on the counter. "You're 100 Yuanli's short." He replied.

I began to frantically check my pockets again for any loose change. I was searching my pants pocket, when I found something that felt off. I pulled it out of my pocket and began to examine it. It was gold badge of some sort. It read:

League of the Ten Elites #10:

Chen Xiaotong

It seems like some sort of badge or something...

Before I could even put the badge back into my pocket. The vendor seemed to have jumped in his place. "Y-you're one of them?" He asked as he frantically handed me the gun. People around us started to gasp and mutter to their friends. I grabbed the gun right as he ducked behind the counter. "Please don't hurt me" 

I bowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this meant something bad." I said. By then, a crowd had formed around us. It's probably due to the fact that the dealer was screaming his heart out. All around me, people were gasping and muttering. 

"He's one of then, right?"

"Isn't he..."

"I've seen him before."

"So sad, what happened to his parents."

I decided to push my way out of the crowd with the stolen gun. I felt bad. I didn't know this badge meant something bad. I gripped the badge in my hand. 

What does this mean?

 ***

Today was a normal day in the V.S.S office. A few minor incidents, but nothing too alarming. Yang was sitting in his office when suddenly, someone knocked on his office door. Before Yang could say something, a small envelope slid under the door. Yang got up from his chair and grabbed the envelope from the floor. The envelope was quite small, it was about the size of Yang's palm. On the back of the envelope it read:

To investigator Yang

Yang slowly opened the envelope to reveal two pieces of parchment paper. On the papers, it read:

Dear Mr. Yang.

I am your BIGGEST fan. I am a HUGE fan of your work. You stopped a murderer who went around Lóngyún and killed like TWENTY PEOPLE. He carved happy faces into their own faces. Remember that? Such a brutal case.

He was the biggest murderer in the world. TWENTY PEOPLE he killed. I am trying to top that. Yesterday, you investigated the murder at the bar. Remember? That was me. I did that. Last month, I killed a family of 5. Those idiots INVITED me into their house. Poor bastards.

Ah, yes. Where was I? The family. Yes. Gone, like the wind. But not just gone, oh no. That's boring. Too… simple. Simple isn't fun. Simple doesn't taste good, doesn't leave a mark, doesn't make you feel… alive. Alive! That's the best part. You should've seen their faces when it happened. Like the moment before the storm hits the shore. I could hear it in their breaths. I could taste it in the air. Couldn't resist it. Had to. I killed everyone in that poor fucking family.

It was a cool autumn day. I was minding my own business when suddenly, I hear a woman screaming. Odd, ain't it. I turned to see a man trying to rob the woman of her purse. I don't know what came over me. A sense of justice...? No. An opportunity. I rushed over to the robber and punched him clean in the nose. Only took one hit before he fell straight to the ground.

The woman thanked me, then she invited me for dinner with her family. That dumb bitch shouldn't have brought a stranger into her home. Lucky me. She drove me to her home and I was introduced to her family. Her husband wore an ugly green suit, similar shade to vomit. Her three sons all had the same white button up and black bow tie. The only way you could distinguish them was their hair styles. One had their hair slicked back, while one had their hair combed to the side, the other had messy hair that stuck up in random places.

We had dinner, a lovely turkey that glistened in the light, and some vegetables. I am not quite fond of vegetables myself, but I can't be too picky. Their conversations were boring and all they talked about was their work. I had to comply and talk about my work. I lied about how I was a psychiatrist and I lied about office jobs being quite interesting. They are not. I didn't even have a job. Employment is slave work for the weak.

After dinner was served, I headed to the kitchen to find the wife watching dishes. Unbeknownst to her, I had took off my belt and quickly wrapped it around her neck. You should've saw the look on her face as I strangled the daylight out of her. It still makes me so excited every time I think of it. We must've made noise because the husband came into the kitchen. At that point the wife was already dead on the ground.

He saw his wife dead on the ground and decided to pick up a nearby knife and try to stab me with it. We fought for the knife for a few minutes before he some how lost of grip on it and dropped it. I picked up the knife and stabbed him in the gut three times. He fell onto the ground and I finished him off. I stabbed him directly in the throat.

By then, the children were already panicing and ran up stairs to their room. I decided by break down their door and stab them with the same knife I had use to kill their father. How hilarious. You should've seen them. They were begging for their lives, screaming, crying. 

But let's not dwell on that. There's something more important. Yes, yes. The man at the bar. The bar owner, to be specific. His name—well, names don't matter, do they? People are so easily forgotten. So… interchangeable. That's the funny thing about people. They think they matter. They don't. They just make it easy for someone like me.

It was a day like any other. The sun was out, the beer was cold, and his old, grizzled face was waiting for me at the counter, wrinkled like a prune, sitting there like he knew he was gonna die. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was his eyes, maybe it was the way he smiled at me. I don't like being smiled at. Not by them. By people who don't really see you, who only pretend to. I knew what I had to do.

I had enough of his shit. I went behind him, when he wasn't looking, and I slit his throat clean open. One swipe, that's all it took. His blood, warm, like something you'd dip a spoon into. But it wasn't the blood that got to me. No. It was those damn eyes. Those eyes. You know the ones. People don't appreciate them, do they? Eyes. They just sit there, staring back at you, like they know something you don't. They never stop looking. But not anymore. Not his. Not after I… took them.

The strange part? It wasn't the blood or the gurgling noise that makes your stomach churn. No. It was the satisfaction. The quiet satisfaction of those eyes staring at me from their little hiding spot in the drawer. Right under the counter. They're still there, you know. Hiding. Waiting. A perfect little prize. Don't worry, they'll never be found. People never look in the right places.

I wonder if I'll keep them. You know, just to… admire. They are beautiful, aren't they? Round, unblinking, full of regret. I don't think I'll eat them. No, no, too much. But they'll make a nice keepsake. A little souvenir from the night I learned that people should really be more careful about who they smile at.

And then I had cupcakes. Cupcakes, you know? The best batch I've ever made. I mixed the frosting just right this time. Rich, velvety chocolate. It went perfectly with the silence after it was all over.

I think I'm going to kill someone else soon. Maybe someone at the bakery. I'll leave them with a batch of cupcakes, of course. I'll give them the best frosting. They deserve that. They really do.

But first, I need to clean my knives. They're a bit… sticky, if you know what I mean. And then, I'll make more cupcakes. And maybe a few more eyes to collect.

You know, the eyes really are the most fascinating part of all this, aren't they? You can see the fear in them, the life fading. People never see it coming. They never really know what they're looking at until it's too late. Like a deer caught in the headlights.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Let's not talk about the next one just yet. There's plenty of time for that. You can wait, can't you? I know I can.

I'll just… finish this cupcake.

Yours in the art of satisfaction,

- The Fool

P.S. You really should try them with lemon zest. It adds something special.

The note was quite disturbing. Yang had heard of this type of stuff happening, but not in detail. If this note was true, then "The Admirer" is behind the brutal murder of the Chang family last month. The same person who killed that family is the person behind the bar keeper's murder, and he is planning another murder. Yang started to stroke his chin.

I need to figure out who sent this...

Yang opened the door and left his office. Yang's office was directly connected to the rest of the V.S.S. office, so someone must've seen who sent the letter. Yang turned towards a brown haired woman. She was working in a small cubicle cluttered with paper. The woman was Hao Fan, daughter of Xiaogang Fan. Xiaogang is the head of the Ānníng Kējì group, which makes him the most wealthy person in the nation. Ānníng Kējì is a group that owns hundreds of hospitals, banks, schools, etc. They donate millions of Yuanli's to fund the research of the "X disease" that is spreading through out the nation.

Yang cleared his throat, Hao didn't notice. She was too busy reading papers and signing them. Yang cleared his throat again, no responce. Yang tapped Hao on the shoulder, that time she responded. 

"Oh! Sorry, sir! I didn't see you there! I-if this is about t-the paper, I can have it in by Tuesday." She said as she began frantically shuffling through papers.

"No, no. It's okay. This isn't about that," He said reassuringly. "have you seen someone delivering a envelope to my office?"

Hao thought for a second. "No, I-I don't think so. I have been too busy for my work. Y-you should ask around." Suggested Hao.

Yang thanked her and began to ask around the office. The answers from everyone had different answers. Most said no, some said they saw a man with a white hat, but a few people said the mailman had delivered it.

"Why didn't I think of that!" said Yang.

Yang rushed down the stairs of the office and ran down to the post office. On the way there, he saw something. A woman being attacked by the local thugs. The woman was lying helplessly on the ground, while three men wearing all black suits were stomping on her legs and her arms. One of the men was stomping on her head. 

Yang rushed over to the scene to try to de-escalade the situation. One of the thugs who was stomping on her arm, turned around when he heard someone walking over. "Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are? Piss off." He said as he started to approach Yang. The man tried to swing at Yang, but Yang quickly dodged. Then, Yang punched the man straight in the gut, causing the man to collapse on the ground from the pain.

The other two men heard the noise and stopped stomping on the now bloodied woman. The two man rushed at Yang, but before they could swing, an invisible force sent them flying into the wall next to the woman. The two men were now lying unconscious on the ground. The first man, who got punched in the gut, decided to get back up and try to swing again. Yang looked the man dead in the eyes before the man was sent flying into a building by an invisible force. Yang Guoliang's weapon was called The Unseen. His weapon allows him to push or pull an object, like a hand.

Yang walked over to the injured woman. He checked her pulse, it was faint but she was still alive. Before Yang could even think, he was stabbed in the stomach by the woman. Yang looked down at his stomach to see a small blade. Yang immediately backed away from the woman. Yang slowly grasped the blade and quickly pulled it out. A slow flow of blood rushed out of his stomach. Suddenly:

BANG!

Yang was shot on the back of his right shoulder. Yang fell to the ground as the civilians nearby started screaming and evacuating. A man began to walk towards Yang, who was still on the ground. The man was wearing a black suit and was wearing a black top hat. The man's glowing red eyes were fixated on Yang's unconscious body.

"Hello...Mr. Yang."