Shudders: Retribution

Chapter 57 - The Clash

Violence and Blood Warning ⚠️
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      This was it. Yama took in a deep breath as he waited for a couple of Elitists to pass by.

       Once they were gone, he floated himself down to the bottom floor of the throne and approached Zankoku's old quarters. He pushed the tarp open slightly and peeked inside.

       It looked almost the same. Zankoku's personal collection of morbid bones that had some pieces missing, old dusty glass jars, hooks and spears near a back wall as old makeshift instruments of torture laid in the sink. Zankora must've left everything where it was.

       He entered inside and hid behind a wall and kept an ear out for anything. Zankoku's quarters were made up of the asylum's kitchens and when he was alive, it looked more like a torture dungeon. Not everything he left was just sitting around. Unused and covered in years of dust.

        Yama moved forward, taking slow steps as he approached the sink. He grimaced at the sight of the old tools once used to torture demons but he picked up some that he could carry.

      The goal right now was to find anything of use against Zankora. Any weakness, something that cripples her. Whatever that'll effectively take her out of the picture.

      He hoped Dog was able to make it to the cells. He wanted to go back too, he didn't like being this far from (Y/N) after finally growing up and accepting his feelings for her. He could see why she was so reluctant to let him go though. The asylum only got ever the more ominous with the Elitists.

       Approaching the back room, he started to get a foul smell that raked his noise. It was so much that he had to cover his face, forgetting the Elitist mask he wore.

       He narrowed his eyes and looked inside the room to see that the smell was coming from a... bathtub?

       It wasn't technically a bathtub, more so a large container cut in half and positioned in the corner of the room. A hook hung above it that dripped blood into the already blood-filled tub. Parts of the floor around it were stained black as if someone was continuously getting in and out.

      Yama has been in Zankoku's quarters before and he's never seen a bathtub here. This was new.

       He approached the tub and looked over the edge, the window above cast the evening light against him so that he could see his reflection in it. He grimaced at the sight.

       Thunder rumbled outside which brought his attention back to the task. Whatever this tub was used for, it made him disgusted.

       So turning back, he went to inspect the rest of the room. Not noticing the blood in the tub move a little.

       He went over to some counters and looked around. There wasn't much here. Just old broken trays and dishes and more empty jars. There was a box sitting on the edge of the counters that he lifted up and was immediately met with the sight of Ki's skull.

        The doctor held back his surprise as he stared down at it. It was broken and chipped in a way to form a mask like all the others. Black blood stained it a dark gray while the dark horns looked faded and scratched up. The only difference between Ki's skull and the others was that there were no straps on it. The mask Yama wore now had straps to keep the mask in place, but Ki's didn't...

        Yama hesitantly took the skull into his hands to look closely at it. He didn't have jaw bones, just a hard plate. But Yama could see where Ki's jaw would've started beneath his skull. Faint indents running along his jaw that would've been where teeth once were. But they were gone.