A dark, eerie corridor stretched out long before his eyes. Whispers, screams, and shouts echoed in dissonance. There was a flicker of light at the end of the corridor, caught by the sapphire eyes of a young man. The wider it grew, the darker it became. Faintly, the sound of running footsteps could be heard, their rhythm like waves sweeping away all other sounds along the corridor. The sapphire-eyed young man chased after a glimmer of light.
The light vanished instantly, and the young man's footsteps came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly, he found himself in a room that looked like a construction building. Dust coated the solid materials. There was no lighting there, only a sliver of light from the full moon reigning at the peak of the sky, slipping in through small gaps in the air vents.
Suddenly, from a distance came the sound of footsteps and something being dragged; the steps grew closer. Noel wanted to hide and peek at who was coming, but when he tried to move his legs, his body felt stiff and immovable, as if his body were made of steel wire coated in cement. Fear began to envelop Noel. His heartbeat quickened, his entire body trembled, and he couldn't escape.
In the darkness, the figure was visible to the naked eye. A man wearing a worn-out black duffel coat, while a white rabbit mask covered his face. The man walked casually, humming a melody through a whistle. His left hand was dragging someone by a rope tied around their neck.
The curses Noel wanted to hurl at the rabbit-masked man got stuck in his throat. Both the man's arms and legs didn't move—or rather, couldn't be moved. At both elbows and knees, fragments of bone were visible protruding through torn skin. A little blood seeped out, though the bleeding had already stopped. The more he looked, the more he saw bone marrow in the cracked fractures and red flesh bulging from beneath the skin. Apparently, before the man was dragged with the rope, both his elbows and knees had been broken with a hard, blunt object.
The footsteps stopped. The figure picked up an object not far from where he stood. A long iron rod with a sharp tip, already stained with blood. The man screamed again as the iron rod pierced his right eye. That pitiful sound echoed once more through the room. A thick reddish fluid, accompanied by a pungent smell, emanated as the sharp rod pierced through the man's eyelid, destroying it from within. Killer Rabbit twisted the embedded rod, deepening the wound, and then roughly pulled it out. Blood spurted onto his duffel coat, along with an eyeball that was no longer intact, pulled out with red, thread-like optic nerves dangling.
Noel witnessed the torture with his own eyes and felt the pain as well. Blood continued to seep out endlessly from where the eyeball had been forcibly removed. Like a small river, it left a horrifying hole pooled with blood. Not satisfied with just the eye, Killer Rabbit's stabs shifted to other parts of the man's body. One hand of Killer Rabbit choked the man's neck, while the other picked up the long rod again. A stifled scream followed as the tip of the rod pierced into the mouth, pressing down to the throat until the sound of breaking bones was heard, coinciding with the man's final breath.
"Died so quickly, how boring."
Slightly annoyed, Killer Rabbit kicked the lifeless body into the dark corner of the room. Then he turned toward Noel, who was trembling in sheer terror. Killer Rabbit smirked, releasing the rod from his grip, approaching Noel step by step.
Noel, realizing he had been discovered, kept muttering in his heart, "Don't come closer! Don't come closer!!!" He closed his eyes, clenched his hands until his fingernails turned white, and bowed his head, afraid to look up.
"Noel!" Killer Rabbit called him, his tone flat as if devoid of emotion.
Noel forced himself to face the fear that enveloped his heart.
"Nate?" Unconsciously, his lips uttered that name.
"We meet now." Nate removed the mask that had faithfully covered his face.
Startled, Noel's eyes widened. Amazed and awed by the creature before him. Behind the rabbit face mask was a handsome, mesmerizing face. The face of a man who still looked innocent and pure, deceiving anyone who didn't know him—like a wolf in sheep's clothing. However, those blue eyes couldn't hide everything. Their sharp, cold gaze seemed to say it all. Dark blue, like a bottomless trench.
"Why, why did you kill that person?" Noel mustered the courage to ask.
That question made one corner of Nate's lip lift. "Me, kill? Didn't we kill him together?" he replied calmly.
"No," Noel immediately denied, "I… I could never do that, and I never will."
Noel defended himself against what he hadn't done. Yet, in an instant, the iron rod lying on the floor was now in his grip. The bloodstains on Nate's clothes and hands also transferred to Noel's hands and the short-sleeved white T-shirt he wore.
Quickly, Noel threw the rod away, tossing it in some random direction. He trembled as he stared at his blood-covered hands, whose blood it was, he didn't know. Noel, terrified, stepped backward, accompanied by Nate who kept advancing toward him.
"W-what happened, why is it like this?" Noel forced the words out through his clenched teeth.
Nate clicked his tongue. "Listen, someday, you will kill someone for me, of your own free will," Nate stated flatly yet firmly at the same time.
"Why? Why does it have to be me?" Noel couldn't suppress the hysteria in his voice.
"You want to know why?" Nate brought his face close to Noel's; now only a few centimeters apart. Nate could feel Noel's panicked, fearful, horrified breath all mixed together.
Noel's eyes widened as he felt strong fingers wrap around his neck, choking him until his breath was cut off. "L-let… go…!"
Instead of letting go, Nate's fingers tightened around Noel's neck. The pain Noel felt was excruciating. His hands reached for Nate's fingers to release the grip, but it was futile; his strength seemed to vanish because of fear. Added to that, whenever Noel tried to inhale, sharp pain stabbed his lungs. And then came a stinging sensation. Nate dug his fingernails into the skin of Noel's neck, drawing a little fresh blood. Noel couldn't hold back his tears; even swallowing was beyond him. Without intending to snap Noel's neck outright, Nate the Killer Rabbit seemed to want to torture the young man before his end came.
Noel couldn't take it anymore; all he could think about now was life and death. Wait, wasn't he already dead?
"Poor stupid rabbit, are you okay? Ahahahaha!!"
"Arrgghh!!!"
Noel opened his eyes with a panicked, terrified scream. His whole body trembled, cold sweat continuously dripped down his temples. Anyone could see his frightened expression right now. Without realizing it, his hand moved on its own to his neck, touching the place where Nate had choked him. Vaguely, Noel still remembered how painful it was when Nate's steel-hard fingers had broken his neck.
"Nate, Nate, are you awake? What's wrong with you?" A man with wavy brown hair approached Noel, firing off a barrage of questions. His brown eyes stared intently at a man sitting on the bed, breathing heavily like someone who had just run a marathon.
Realizing there was someone else in the room, Noel immediately stared at the man for a moment. He remembered something before passing out. Panicking, he asked without any intention of answering the rapid-fire questions from the wavy-haired man with warm ivory skin.
"Police, where did they go?" asked Noel, his voice trembling uncontrollably. He didn't even realize he had just spoken fluent American-accented English.
The unnamed man raised an eyebrow. "Which police?"
"The ones earlier, who knocked on the door." Noel struggled to finish his sentence. He covered his mouth when he realized what he had said.
"Police? You believe there were police?" The man's brown eyes widened in surprise. "You're funny today, Nate, ahahaha...!" A sarcastic laugh escaped his mouth.
"So, those police…"
"That was me," the man confessed.
And after that, Noel breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."
Just moments ago, Noel had been scared out of his wits. What if it had been real police? Noel didn't know how he would explain the gun in his hand and the bloodstains on the clothes he had been wearing.
"Since when is Nate the Killer Rabbit afraid of the police?" the man mocked jokingly.
True, the brown-haired, brown-eyed man beside him didn't seem to realize yet that the person he was talking to now wasn't the Nate he knew.
"I-I'm not Nate!" Noel answered softly, looking unsure whether the man would believe him or not.
"Ahahaha, if you're not Nate, then I'm not Gregory."
His laughter sounded forced in Noel's ears. As expected, the white-skinned man who claimed not to be Gregory didn't easily believe his confession. Therefore, Noel spoke again, "I don't care if you're Gregory or not, but I am not Nate."
"Stop joking, it's not funny!!"
"I'm not joking!" Noel snapped back. His mind was busy thinking of words that could convince this man he now knew as Gregory.
"Your joke is rubbish. I've known you for ages."
"If I were joking, what part of me looks like Nate?" Noel asked emphatically.
"Everything," Gregory answered shortly.
True, I'm in his body, Noel thought.
His choice of words hadn't been right. He asked again, "You said you've known Nate for a long time, right? Did the Nate you knew ever behave like what you just saw?"
Gregory fell silent. After a few minutes of silence, an expression of belief began to appear on his face. "What happened? There's no way his body…."
Noel was now confused about how to explain. "I don't know what happened either. After waking up, I found myself in this body. I… I was shaken, I was scared, and…" Noel couldn't finish his sentence.
Gregory now believed that the person before him truly wasn't the Nate he had known all along. Then where was the real Nate? If his body was being possessed, it was possible his soul was still inside his original body now.
"So, what happened before you woke up in this body?"
Noel shook his head. "Sorry, I really don't remember at all."
"Besides that, do you remember anything else? Like your name or where you live, for instance?" Gregory asked in detail; this matter couldn't be taken lightly given who Nate really was.
Noel sighed deeply. "I still remember, my name is Noel, I live in Moscow, Arbat District, though I don't remember the exact address, and here…" Noel glanced briefly around the room.
"The details: inside an apartment building at 752 West End Ave, Manhattan, New York City."
"I almost can't believe this. The last time I was unconscious, I was in Moscow, and I wake up in New York. And I'm so fluent in English." Noel smiled bitterly, his lips trembling. Gregory frowned at the last three words and immediately knew that the young man in Nate's body was Russian.
Unconsciously, tears welled up around his eyelids, blurring his vision. When Noel tried to remember, a flash of a tragic event one night in the middle of winter terrorized his mind again, making him afraid to think about it further. "Sorry, I can't remember everything yet." Noel roughly wiped away the tears that were about to spill.
Gregory stood frozen, watching Noel cover his face with his hands to hide his tears. The man began to conclude that Noel might have lost some of his short-term memory.
"It's alright, you'll remember it soon enough." Slowly, Gregory reached out to pat Noel's back. He could see that Nate's eyes were expressing the clear sadness from Noel's heart. That was enough to explain how bad the situation Noel was experiencing.
Gregory's behavior showed the attitude of a friend. Because the owner of this body had been friends with this man named Gregory for a long time. So, whoever occupied Nate's body now, Gregory still treated them like a long-acquainted friend.
Noel didn't know why, but he trusted this man. Gregory was clearly a stranger. Yet Noel had trusted him within minutes.
"Um, are you hungry? Fancy something to eat?" asked Gregory, breaking the silence after neither had spoken for several minutes. Getting no response from Noel, Gregory patted his shoulder gently. "Hey! Are you hungry?" Gregory asked once again.
"I'm not hungry—"
Noel's answer was cut off by the growl of his stomach. Gregory chuckled softly. "Hold on a moment, I'll bring you something to eat."
Shortly after, Gregory came back carrying a plate of sandwiches and a carton of milk on a tray, placing it on the bedside table.
"Eat up!"
Noel got up and approached the table, and with slight reluctance, he took a piece of tuna sandwich and began to eat.
"I've only got tuna sandwich at the moment."
"It's fine, this is more than enough," Noel replied, a shy expression appearing on his face.
Gregory smiled. "Do you fancy juice or milk?" he asked again, placing one bottle of strawberry juice and one carton of vanilla-flavoured milk.
"I'll take the milk." Noel took the milk carton and poured it into an empty glass that Gregory had brought earlier.
"If you need anything else, or feel unwell, I can ring a doctor."
The buzz of a phone interrupted Gregory's speech. He quickly picked up the flat object not far from the empty tray. The man was slightly startled when he realized the call was a video call.
"It's a video call." Gregory looked at Noel, who was also looking at him, with an expression never before shown by the body's owner, Nate.
"Let me answer it," Gregory suggested. Noel nodded.
As soon as the screen was swiped, the smartphone immediately displayed a figure from the other end.
"What's up?" Gregory asked without preamble.
"Why are you the one answering?" The person on the other end showed displeasure that the recipient of his video call wasn't the one he had expected.
Gregory appeared apathetic about the man's protest. "Why not?"
"Where's Nate?"
"He's asleep."
"Asleep? At this hour?"
"You don't believe me?" Gregory signaled Noel to lie back down and close his eyes. Noel understood and quickly did so. "Look!" Gregory aimed the phone screen at someone lying on the mattress with eyes closed.
Then a rough grunt was heard through the audio.
"You believe me now, yeah?"
"Fine, I believe you. I warn you, be careful. Someone might be tracking your whereabouts, especially Nate's."
"What do you mean?"
"It seems 'they' are starting to move."
Gregory immediately understood what the man in the video call meant by 'they'. "Right, I understand," he replied briefly, before the video call ended.
Noel immediately sat up and asked, "What happened?"
"Something complicated."
Noel still didn't understand the situation. He wanted to ask for an explanation, but Gregory spoke first. "I'll explain later. I need to sort something out for you."
"For me?"
"I mean for Nate." Gregory put on a duffel coat similar to Nate's, only slightly brighter in colour. Then Gregory grabbed a bag attached near the closet. "Do you still feel unwell? Shall I call a doctor?" Gregory asked again while slinging the backpack over his left shoulder.
"No need. Isn't your matter more urgent? I just need more rest." Of course, Noel didn't want to bother Gregory, especially after the man had just received an urgent matter.
"Alright then, I'm off. Don't go anywhere!" he instructed, then hurried off before disappearing behind the door.
After Gregory left, Noel lay down on the bed. His gaze drifted to the ceiling. His mind churned through the memories he had—fragments of memories he could no longer recall. At least tonight, Noel needed sleep to rest his heart and mind. Tomorrow was a new day, and a new life as well.
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