by @dreamworld_121
IMPORTANT----> "Dialogue" [character thoughts] {author notes}
Arc 1: The Trial of Akai Tsuki Island
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Chapter 3, The Night The Devil Cried Epilogue:
Power now returns shortly after The Nameless Abyss left, after a few minutes, more officers arrive at the scene, sirens are heard outside, officers come down and start inquiring about what transpired, they eventually make it to Akira's room.
"Antonio, where is he..? Where is Antonio..?!" An officer, James Pettibon, is trying to find Antonio Gomez.
"Over here… Unfortunately, whatever happened here, it also took his life…" Another officer, Michael Brown, delivers the cold news to Pettibon.
"What-?! No, how can that have happened…?" Pettibon is devastated.
"Bring the medics! The girl needs treatment… Hey, you there," Officer Brown speaks to Emilia, "It's okay now, whatever happened here, it's over. You can tell us the details later, but first we need to treat those cuts."
Emilia keeps on crying without responding.
"Hey, don't pressure her, she is clearly not in the best state.. Let the medics treat her here, she does not have to force it, after all, what happened here was clearly the work of something beyond the boundaries of what we call normal…" Pettibon dreads.
Right after power returned, people immediately uploaded videos of their thoughts about the recent event.
Video playing of a girl, "What the hell was just going on?! What was the sound?! And also, all the lights were off!" Another video of a guy, "Those sounds… were horrifying, I almost shitted myself… Plus also all of the city had blacked out… It was utter darkness…" Another different video, "I'm calling it! Aliens!" "No, I'm saying this is a sign from God that he's already coming!" A different video, "Perhaps it was terrorists? But that doesn't explain why everything electrical and mechanical stopped!" The TV is playing, a news reporter is on the case, "Breaking news, just now a few minutes ago the whole city of Los Angeles was out of power, strangely however it wasn't simply a mere power outage, all vehicles, electronic devices and all other machines were malfunctioning, shortly following this a sudden and horrifying sound was heard all over the city, it was a terrible noise like the screeching of a demon, on the internet there are already people claiming this to have been the work of terrorists, of aliens, and some others took it as a sign that the Second Coming of Christ is near-." Different news report, "Among all the chaos taking place all over the city, police were already on a case that took place in the Takahashi household and was possibly the source of all this chaos, here's what officials and the victims have to say:'' The video cuts to a live stream showcasing Officer Pettibon, "My friend… Officer Gonzales was killed… We are still not sure what exactly took place and we can't exactly just ask the residents because they are all traumatized… But what I can say with certainty is that, whatever was the root of this chaos… it isn't from our world…-" Cuts to another video showcasing Detective John White, "I don't know what to make of this situation. All the people are curled up scared to death still, as if they just saw the devil, and well, an officer was also found dead and a girl along with another guy were injured and bleeding while a grown up man was found unconscious on his bed, fortunately their situations weren't too bad, the man simply was out cold, but the injuries inflicted upon the girl and the boy ARE strange, the girl has cuts all over her body, and the boy was simply bleeding, from his mouth and nose and eyes and ears! He didn't have any sort of injuries nor was he poisoned or anything! It was definitely something, something supernatural. I'm a professional detective that's been on the field for over 20 years and I didn't find the smallest clue or hint of any escape taking place! All of it simply happened in a room, and it seemed to have ended in that same room. Some of the victims have also begun talking, and they are talking of some monster, they describe black shadowy hands emerging from an abyss, and this is where it gets crazy! They claim that it was the monster which kidnapped a boy named Akira Takahashi, they say that the monster dragged him into the abyss which they claim to be a portal to a whole different dimension or universe, and as insane as it may sound, what they have to say is the only thing that we can go by right now-" Cuts to a video showing the whole scene, police cars with sirens on, ambulances stationed and taking people in, people gathering up to see what's going on. A black car stations itself hastily, a woman exits the car and starts making her way toward the scene, interviewers quickly gather round and start inquiring her while also letting her pass.
"Detective Gonzales, what is your opinion so far on this case?" An interviewer asks.
Detective Gonzales responds, "Hm? Well, I've yet to really see what exactly is going on, I don't want to give a baseless opinion." Another interviewer asks, "Detective, do you really believe that this is the work of the supernatural?"
"I never said such a thing." Gonzales responds.
"Detective, I presume you were assigned this case?" Another interviewer asks for confirmation.
"Why yes." Gonzales confirms.
"Detective…-" An interviewer is about to ask but is interrupted.
"Ah! Miss Gonzales, you're here!" Detective John White welcomes Gonzales.
"Good night, Detective White, I presume you already reached some kind of conclusion?" Gonzales presumes.
"Sure thing." White answers.
Silence. "So?" Gonzales asks.
"Conclusion: there is no reachable logical conclusion to draw from current circumstances on the given case." White responds.
"..." Gonzales doesn't say anything.
"In other words… The supernatural…" White says.
"The supernatural…?" Gonzales is perplexed.
"Yes, you can take a look yourself for confirmation. Follow me." White invites Gonzales.
White leads Gonzales to the main scene of the crime: Akira Takahashi's room. Both enter the room, they examine it for a while.
"The perpetrators clearly had guns in order to keep the crowd in check. They should have been able to leave with the victim easily enough, right? However, the event which took place does not support that hypothesis, where is Akira Takahashi? Of course they took him with them. How? All vehicles were malfunctioning, they could not have gotten far carrying an adult male. And if they were carrying someone around and managed to hide somewhere, where? It has to be near. And why has no one said anything if everyone was out in the streets trying to figure out what was going on, they would have clearly seen them. And what about the sounds? Were they at all necessary? What caused the malfunctioning of so many electronics and vehicles? Was it the perpetrators? Why would they purposely put themselves at a disadvantage?" White wonders.
"If it was criminals, among all the chaos, they could have taken the victim and put him quickly in a vehicle, then when everything started working again, they could have taken off as if nothing had happened. Of course, this is assuming that they broadcasted the sounds themselves all over the city, and that they also had the capability of rendering all electronics and vehicles useless at will. Which seems highly unlikely. All of this just for one kidnapped person and one dead officer?" Gonzales is starting to reach a conclusion.
"That's what I'm trying to get at. Plus, it's not just what we can deduce with observations and logic. The other victims also have much to say…" White adds.
…
Later on the next day.
"Miss Flores, we need you to swear and pledge that you will provide us with the truth and nothing but the truth. For the sake of this investigation." Detective Selena Gonzales, head of the leading investigation team tells Emilia, girlfriend of the recently kidnapped Akira Takahashi.
Emilia is lying in a hospital bed, "Yes. I swear that I'll give nothing but the truth."
"Good, do you mind signing here?" The paperwork is taken care of.
"Okay, we can now proceed, first question, Miss Flores, you confirm to have witnessed Akira Takahashi's kidnapping, right?" Gonzales asks.
"Yes, I witnessed the whole thing…" Emilia answers.
"Okay, can you explain to me exactly what kidnapped Mr. Takahashi?" Gonzales asks.
"..." Emilia is hesitant.
"It's okay, you can take your time." Gonzales tells Emilia.
"It was… Well for starters… It wasn't something of this world… It was something which went beyond the boundaries of the natural…" Emilia explains.
"Can you describe it?" Gonzales asks.
"... I don't know how to put it exactly, it was almost like a demon? An alien? It was a bunch of… hands… Arms coming out from a pit… It was a small abyss, and it was covered with eyes and mouths everywhere…" Emilia describes the monster.
"And so, it took hold of Mr. Takahashi and dragged him into the abyss?" Gonzales predicts.
"... In essence, yes…" Emilia confirms.
"How many people were there to witness the event.?" Gonzales asks further.
"Quite a bit." Emilia answers.
"Did anybody try helping?" Gonzales questions.
"Well at first, we were all terrified and frozen in place, but after manning up we tried helping him, not shortly after, it was when it opened one mouth and started screeching like a demon…." Emilia tells what happened.
"The screeching, huh? It was a terrible sound, it was heard all over the city and it was painful to endure. I heard you managed to stand up to it, is that true?" Gonzales questions Emilia.
"...Y-yes, I'm not sure how, I could hear the sound, but it did not particularly affect me in any way, however I wasn't the only one, shortly after, Jose and… And the officer showed up, they too were unaffected by the screeching, I saw everything that happened to them, after they showed up, the thing stopped
and instead with one eye, looked in the direction of the two, Jose, our college classmate, he went down to his knees coughing blood, the officer was terrified in place, the thing then made its way towards the two, this- this is where I'm not sure what happened, all of a sudden, the monster bursted out in blood, it became frozen in place, something must have stopped it, then the officer took advantage of the opportunity and tried helping out, he was pulling on Akira… Then… It… It spoke…" Emilia is having a hard time recalling the events.
"Hm? The thing spoked? What did it say…?" Gonzales tries to ask.
Emilia shrugs in nervousness, "I… I wasn't able to understand… It was speaking, but we were unable to understand…"
"I see…" Gonzales is disappointed.
"Afterwards, it grew claws on its hands, it tried attacking us, but it only inflicted injuries on us… As a last resort, the officer tried firing shots… His death… It's mostly my fault… I stopped him from shooting since he might have hurt Akira… Unfortunately, the monster attacked him and pierced his stomach with one of its arms… Then the monster without any interruptions was ready to take Akira… I jumped in at the last second and barely managed to grab his arm… But the thing… It picked up the officer's gun and was ready to kill me… After firing all available rounds… I found that I had survived because the officer protected me with his life… And finally, the thing hurt my hand… Causing me to let go and so… I let go…" Emilia finishes telling her story.
"...Well, thank you, I think we can stop here for now, I don't want to put too much pressure on you." Gonzales is satisfied.
"No it's completely fine, I mean, you're just doing your job. But before you go, can you promise me something?" Emilia asks the detective.
"A promise? Sure, what is it?" Gonzales asks back.
"Yes! I want you to promise me that no matter what happens you will… I know I'm asking for more than I should but I don't want you giving up on searching for Akira! Can you promise me that, or am I asking for too much?" Emilia wonders.
"No of course not! Miss Emilia, I'll promise you that I'll try my hardest to try and find any leads about your boyfriend. Hopefully find him altogether, though with the current circumstances it seems like wishful thinking." Gonzales admits.
"T-thank you… I really want you to know that I'm grateful, I'll support you in any way I can, so if you ever need anything or are short of hands don't hesitate to call me!" Emilia is willing to help.
"Right, sure will! After you fully recover! Good luck with your recovery!" Gonzales takes her leave.
A week later, the news report is playing on TV: "It was a peaceful night on the 27th of May in the city of Los Angeles, when suddenly all ceased to work, power all went out, cars came to a stop, electronic devices malfunctioned, and panic soon followed as everyone became confused with the current situation. This went on for a while, but after a few minutes, a demonic screeching sound was heard all over the city of LA , at first people thought it was terrorists who had taken control of sound transmitters and were broadcasting the sounds all over the city, but this later became refuted as 'The Incident of Akira Takashi' came to light, on the same night, a party was taking place in a residential area of Los Angeles, all this disaster is said to originate from the Takashi household, Emilia Flores along with the other attendees have already turned in their reports and they all speak of the same thing, a monster of several black arms that dragged Takahashi into an abyss. To provide 'evidence', no traces of either any suspects nor Akira has been found. Police, however, are still on the lookout for both, any help and information will be gladly accepted by the police department so please feel free to speak up. We also pay our respects to the officer who died protecting Emilia this very night, may Antonio Gomez rest in peace. People of the world, the days when we used to believe that God manifested his wrath as thunder are coming back, we may or may never learn the truth about what happened, still, May 27 may now be a historical day which reminded the world of their fear of the unknown and be remembered as 'The Night The Devil Cried'. Let Nyanners be with us."