Chapter 28

Kitty and Claire had arrived at the psychiatric hospital. The whole place was in chaos. Police were there. Nurses and doctors were rushing around and engaging in quiet conversations.

They both looked at each other with worry. Claire stepped up to the reception desk. A small, chubby lady with blonde hair was typing on the laptop at high speed.

"Excuse me." she asked the lady. "What's going on here?"

The receptionist glanced up at her and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, were you here to see someone?"

"Yes, but I can see now's not the right time." Claire pursed her lips. She turned her head to see if Kitty was still there. He was clutching a drawing he made for Damien, staring at the disorder with anxiety in his eyes. She turned back to the receptionist. "What happened exactly?"

"A patient has escaped."

The words sent a chill down Claire's spine. "Which patient?"

"We don't know." The lady shrugged. "We only identify patients by name, and we have a lot of people checked in here. Unfortunately, we don't know his name."

"That's ridiculous." Claire snapped. "Don't you have photo ID or anything?"

"No. We believe it jeopardises their privacy." The astounded look Claire gave her made her frown. "I know it sounds silly, but a lot of the patients here have come from abusive backgrounds and fear for their lives. We refuse to take pictures of them because it makes it easier for dangerous people to find them."

Claire sighed. "I suppose that makes sense, but you could have made a bit more of an effort to remember these people."

"We have about ten people checking in every day. We can't be expected to remember everyone's names. The only nurse who could identify him is in shock. Apparently she saw him spit out spider webs, and she said he had a flying purple-haired companion."

Brown eyes widened. "That's him!" Claire yelled before she could stop herself. She cleared her throat and lowered her tone. "I know who it is. It's my son, Aoi Nakamura."

"That's great!" The receptionist grinned. She continued typing on the keyboard. "We chip the patients, but we can't track them without knowing their names. Now, we can find him."

Claire breathed a sigh of relief. She hoped that Damien was all right. She beckoned Kitty over to her, and he stood by her side. He looked up at her, as if asking for reassurance. Claire smiled at him and told him everything would be fine. He put his head down and held the picture to his chest. He had done his best to draw him and Damien sitting under the sun. It wasn't the greatest piece of art in the world, but it came from the heart. It was perfect in its imperfection.

"I found him!" The receptionist beamed. "He's in the neighbouring town, Akayuri. Just a few miles from here." She used the mouse to click on something. The printer to the side of her kicked into life. "I'll print off the map for you."

"Thank you so much." Claire nodded.

She looked back down at Kitty. His face was full of hope. They both prayed that Damien hadn't gotten into too much trouble.

☽☾

Staring at the buttons of the bombs' console, Damien started to doubt whether he should do this.

He had found himself in the control room, on a balcony above the weapons themselves. Karuki was searching for an instruction manual to figure out how to detonate them. He had left Damien standing at the sea of buttons, contemplating his motive for what he was about to do.

The world had wronged him, it was true. He hated them all and didn't want them to get away with leaving him to die. But did that justify ending their lives? Ending the lives of everyone on Earth? He didn't think so. Yet, here he was, one button press away from destroying it all. His head hurt, and he was confused.

He just wanted this all to stop.

"Hey, Aoi!" Karuki came in from the back office, carrying a huge book with a massive grin on his face. "We're in luck. I know what button it is."

Damien gave him a dismissive hum and nodded his head. Karuki dropped the book on the floor, sat down and opened it. As he was flicking through the pages, Damien realised it was now or never to voice his concerns.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

Karuki raised his head to look at him. "Er, yeah." He snorted and continued reading. "Don't be a pussy. We have to do this. Those pricks deserve it."

A sigh escaped Damien's lips. "I don't want to do this."

All he got back was a frowning stare. "Why not?"

"Because it's not right." The words came pouring out of Damien's mouth. "I mean, blowing up the planet because of a few people. That's insane! It won't just be them who dies. It'll be everyone on Earth, including the people I love."

"They'll thank you for it." Karuki said. "You'll be eradicating all of Earth's evils. Anyway, you can all meet up in the Afterlife when you eventually die, anyway. Unless she kills you. A moment of pain for a lifetime of joy. You won't take that away from them, will you?"

Damien ran his fingers through his hair. He noticed it had started getting a little too long. When had he allowed it to get so long? When he had cut his knee-length hair four years ago, he vowed never to let it grow past his shoulders. This was the new him. This was Damien, the boy who took no shit and stood up for himself. He had gotten rid of the soft, feeble long-haired Aoi long ago.

"Aoi-"

"Stop calling me that!" Damien snapped. "Aoi's dead!"

"Yeah, sorry. You're not Aoi anymore. I forget." Karuki closed the book with a sigh. He looked into Damien's eyes. "Damien, it's better to do it. It'll make the pain go away. You want the pain to go away, don't you?"

He did. He desperately did. Damien stared at Karuki for a moment. Determination filled his orange eyes.

Maybe this was for the best.

"It'll make the pain go away." Damien whispered to himself.

Karuki told him which button to press. Damien's finger hovered over the round plastic bump, gearing himself up to push it. As he was about to do so, he saw the doors to the building open below the balcony, the sunlight flooding into the dull room.

"Dimmy, stop!"