Dogra Magra (47/47)

by Hisashi Yumeno

Today, a month later, I was merely sleepwalking again, under the same street's suggestion, without the slightest deviation. No, perhaps the very act of waking up to the sound of the clock at that early hour this morning was itself governed by some suggestion. Perhaps Dr. Wakabayashi's casual remark, "a month later," had been firmly imprinted in my subconscious, and this morning, precisely a month later, it had awakened me.

However, in any case, this morning, while I was engrossed in various documents, Dr. Wakabayashi had quietly departed, and there was no one in this room. Dr. Masaki, the bald attendant, the castella cake, the tea, the picture scroll, the investigation documents, the cigar smoke—all were merely a re-enactment of my memories from a month ago. I was simply repeating a dream within a dream, all by myself.

My mind, despite recovering to that extent, was still circling the same point.

Even if I tried to deny it, I couldn't help but be confronted by the strange facts unfolding before my eyes. I couldn't find a solution.

Dr. Wakabayashi must have brought me into this room, repeating the same procedure as a month ago, to experiment with my mind. And, just as he surely did a month ago, he must be observing me from somewhere, meticulously recording every single action of my sleepwalking state. No, if that weren't the case, and if Dr. Wakabayashi's statement that today was November 20th, Taisho 15, was also a lie, then I would have been subjected to the same sleepwalking state repeatedly since the true "October 20th, Taisho 15." And every one of those actions would have been recorded.

Dr. Wakabayashi is truly the embodiment of terrifying scholarship. He conducts psychological experiments and forensic research simultaneously.

He is a being who combines the worst criminal with the greatest detective.

He alone secretly controls and manipulates everything related to this case: the fate of Dr. Masaki and the Kure family, the judicial authorities of Fukuoka Prefecture, the honor of Kyushu University, and so on.

And the mysterious fiend, feigning ignorance...

I began to feel an unspeakable shudder crawl and course through my entire body. I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering. The entire room somehow seemed like Dr. Wakabayashi's wide-open mouth. I stood frozen in the middle of it, staring deep into my own head, which spun like a fan...

However, if that were the case, I must be Wu Ichiro.

Ah, I am... that Wu Ichiro...

That Dr. Masaki is my father...

That Chiyoko is my mother...

And that mad beautiful girl... Moyoko... Moyoko is...

Ah... oh...

Was I a rare mad youth destined to curse my parents, curse my lover, and ultimately take the lives of several unknown men and women?

Was I a cruel and merciless psychopath, openly exposing my dead father's sins in broad daylight?

"Ah... Father... Mother..."

I cried out, but my own ears did not hear the sound. Only a mocking echo resonated in every corner of the room.

I simply clenched my jaw and looked back at the light of the swaying electric lamp, which was eerily silent. I looked around the room, which was as quiet as after a big sigh.

With my consciousness clear, in a state neither fully awake nor dreaming, I felt the floor in front of me tilt away, and I staggered forward, staring in the direction of the half-open entrance.

I looked back at the white paper that read "No Entry" from outside the door.

I must be strong... I must use my reason to the fullest... I thought, as I walked down the windowed corridor, where the white moonlight streamed in, swaying from side to side.

I descended the left side of the two dark staircases flanking the entrance, stiff as a rod... listening to my own footsteps go "thump-thump"... step by step. The moment I thought I reached the last step, my foot stepped into air, and I felt my whole body lightly tumble.

After that, I have no idea how I got up or where I walked. Before I knew it, I found myself standing naturally in front of the door to Room Seven, rigid as a stone statue.

After racking my brain trying to recall something I couldn't remember, I resolutely opened the door and went inside. I climbed onto the bed, which was still as it had been that morning, without taking off my shoes, and flopped down on my back. Above my head, the door closed by itself, echoing a heavy, gloomy sound both inside and outside the room.

Then, almost simultaneously, a high-pitched woman's voice, as if tearing at the soul, came from Room Six next door, separated by a thick concrete wall.

"Brother, brother... Please let me see my brother. He seems to have just returned. That's the sound of the door. Please let me see my brother... No, no... I'm not a madwoman... I'm your sister. Your sister, your sister... Brother, brother. Please answer me... I'm your sister, your sister, your sister..."

This is the dream of a fetus... I thought, lying on my back on the bed with my eyes wide open.

Everything is the dream of a fetus... That girl's scream too... This dark ceiling too... The sunlight from that window too... No, everything that happened today is like that...

I am still in my mother's womb. I am seeing such a terrifying "fetal dream" and struggling in agony...

...And then, as soon as I am born, I intend to curse many people to death...

However, no one knows about it yet. Only my mother feels my violent fetal movements.

The concrete wall next to me began to be knocked on from the other side.

"...Brother, brother. Ichiro-nii-san. Don't you still remember me? It's me, it's me... It's Moyoko... It's Moyoko. Please answer... Please answer..."

After several thumps, her voice changed into a painful sob, sounding as if she had prostrated herself over something.

I lay stretched out on my back on the bed, holding my breath like a dead person. Only my eyes were wide open...

...Bzzzzzzzzzz...

From deep within the corridor, the sound of a clock chimed. The crying in the next room stopped abruptly. In sync with it, another sound...

...Bzzzzzzzzzz...

...was heard. It seemed a little longer than before... I opened my eyes even wider.

...Bzzzzzzzzzz...

In time with that sound, Dr. Masaki's skeletal face appeared, dripping with cold sweat and wearing pince-nez. Then, as if bowing, he lowered his eyes, smiled weakly, and vanished.

...Bzzzzzzzzzz...

Chiyoko's tormented expression, with disheveled hair and a bloody lower lip, appeared before my eyes. Her neck was constricted by a thin cord, her bloodshot eyes wide open, staring intently at my face. Before she could even tremble her lips to try and say something, she sadly closed her eyes and shed tears. As she bit her lower lip, her face rapidly turned pale, and just as I thought her white eyes opened slightly, she suddenly fell backward.

...Bzzzzzzzzzz...

The crushed back of the head of the girl, Shino Asada, hung down, spewing black liquid...

...Bzzzzzzzzzz...

Yachiyo's blood-stained face, with twitching eyes...

...Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

The chestnut-haired head with a torn cheek... the daughter with long, hanging hair whose glabella was crushed... the bearded face with the skin peeled off its forehead...

I covered my face with both hands. Then I jumped off the bed and ran straight ahead.

My forehead collided with something hard, and my vision suddenly brightened... only to immediately turn dark again.

At that moment, a face exactly like mine, with disheveled hair and beard, and sunken eyes gleaming, emerged from the darkness. As soon as it met my gaze, it suddenly opened its large crimson mouth and let out a dry laugh... but...

"...Ah... Wu Qingxiu..."

Before I could even cry out, the figure vanished as if it had been erased.

...Buzzzzzzz... Mmm... Mmmmmm...