A Serenade for the Innocent 124 Goodbye, Reddened Metal Road

I heard the sound of someone groaning as the thudding sound of stomping on what seemed like mud resounded on the still darkened room. When I regained my senses, the room was already lit up once more with the lights on the side.

I looked around me and saw that something odd is happening. The nurse looked at the direction of the pendulums while covering her lips with her hands tightly as her eyes started to be flooded with tears. Beside her, the policeman held her shoulders tightly as he scowled at whatever was happening around the pendulums. Meanwhile, on my other side, the salesman started to whisper at me, but I can't really hear what he's saying because of the loud ringing in my head. I then stood up gently with the help of the salesman, and only then did I see what exactly happened.

Okay. The good news is that the bloodied stranger is dead. Yes, cool, great, amazing! The bad news is that, by the looks of things, it seems like the people are blaming it on the silver man. After all, the silver man is stepping his right silver foot on the mangled head of the bloodied stranger. So that was where that mushy sound came from, huh? I reckon that the loud metallic thud I heard earlier was the sound of the silver man stumbling forward and hitting his face onto the pendulum. I know this for a fact because there's that distinct silver paint and glitters around the surface of the ninth anchor-shaped metal slab. At the moment, the pendulums have stopped swinging from side to side, so the silver man didn't necessarily get hurt.

The person who did get hurt is the bloodied stranger, and oh boy, did he get hurt; it looked glorious! It seemed that the pendulum hit the stranger's open mouth because there's a tooth plastered around its blade. His mangle skin looked like a paintbrush as it kept spreading red liquid on the now still pendulums. His outstretched eyes show nothing but white while his forehead creases into many flaps and folds. Meanwhile, his furrowed brows made it look like he's feeling both the feeling of sadness and anger before his inevitable death. Since the pendulum has cut from his left cheek straight into his other one, his jaw dropped onto his chest, revealing his yellowed tongue and blackened teeth. The pendulum had cut his cheeks in a pretty nasty way, so the lower part of his mouth now looked like it's hanging for its dear life on the edge of his skull. His blood flowed from his face down until it covered the entirety of his face and trickled into the metal floor. It seemed that there's a blackened footstep on the man's severed jaw, which might be the reason why the silver man's shoe now had a bit of red on it.

Well, I'm sure everyone knows now why the pendulums are only exceptionally red around its blade. I can still remember when it was white... aahhh! Memories!

The silver man then shrieked and moved far away from the corpse of the bloodied stranger, crawling as far as he can away from the now dead stranger with a tearful pair of eyes. Like some kind of curse, the stranger's blood flowed towards where the silver man headed as if chasing him till the very end of the dungeon. The silver man then stood up and hid behind the policeman like he always did.

"W-what happened!? Th-the lights went off, and..." The silver man said while trembling coldly with his hands gripping the policeman's shaking arms.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME, FREAK!" The policeman thundered as he pulled his hands away from the silver man.

"Wh-what? I..." The silver man whispered with trembling eyes as he slowly stumbled away from the policeman.

"Obviously, what happened here is not an accident." The salesman uttered as he sighed with his eyes eyeing the blood on the floor. "Everyone heard what happened, at least. Someone struck the dirty guy, whether deliberately or not, and now he's dead."

"B-but... I didn't do it, I..." Tears then started to flow out of the silver man's eyes, finally ruining some of the silver paint on his face for once. "I DIDN'T DO IT!"

"I..." The nurse said as he covered her body with her trembling hands. "Maybe it's true that you didn't do it, and it was just an accident." The nurse said, making the silver man smile wide with thankfulness. However, before he could speak, the nurse continued what she was saying, "But that just proves how careless you are. We all know that you're not the bravest person in the group, but... your carelessness killed a man."

"NO! NO, PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME!" The silver man desperately pleaded as the blood trickled towards his silver shoes. "I didn't do it! I didn't do anything! Someone pushed my body, and then I stepped on something, and I... PLEASE, GUYS, COME ON! WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME LIKE THAT? I'M SAYING THE TRUTH HERE!"

"WE DON'T GIVE A SHIT, FREAK!" The policeman said as he pointed his finger into the silver man's face. "FOR ALL I KNOW, YOU'RE A MURDERER! ACCIDENT OR NOT, THAT MAN STILL DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"I... no..." The silver man shuddered as his feet shook uncontrollably.

"We can't deny what the policeman said." The salesman sighed while pinching the area between his eyes. "Someone did die here..."

"P-please... guys..." The silver man tried to show a gentle smile to ease the people throwing dagger-like stares at him, but it only turned into a distorted grin instead.

"It's okay; we all understand, and it happened already, so just tell us the truth, and... maybe... haa... maybe we can forgive you." The nurse whispered those words slowly, but it seemed like even she was not buying what she had just said.

"I really didn't do iiiit..." The silver man finally couldn't take it anymore and fell onto the floor as his tears intensified, sending an unprecedented amount of agony throughout the now silent area. However, the others already saw the silver man cry and fall into the ground countless times. They've already grown to detest the way his voice would crack as he cried because he has been doing that from the very beginning he showed himself to us... and we're not even out of the second area yet!

This is bad. This is very, very bad for me. The fact that these three finally found one thing they could all agree on is already a bad thing. That means if the opportunity arises, they would definitely kill the silver man first before fighting each other to death, just like how it would usually occur. Back then, people would move on from the second area without overthinking about it later, but now, they've all found a way to remember it for all the wrong reasons. It's not at all good for the silver man, and that's just as horrible for me. If the silver man dies first, then there's no one else here I can successfully turn into my gullible little scapegoat for the last door!

This is just... insane now! How could I lose control of these damn people already when we're still in the second area? I have to fix this. FAST!

"Let's just move on," I said as I wrapped my hands around the silver man's shoulders. I then tried my best to lift him from the ground as the people around us looked at me with a face filled with disbelief. It seems that they can't accept the fact that a priest is helping a man that's being bullied. Stunning!

The policeman then approached me with his hands on his waist. "With all due respect, father, but that man is..."

"I know DAMN WELL WHAT HAPPENED!" I uttered as my voice suddenly turned into a shout midway, and even I didn't expect that I would get into a scream-filled agony like that. I then closed my eyes as I tried to find the will in me to stay calm again while the silver man continued to weep like a damn idiot! "Let's just move on, okay? Everyone is uncertain, but we can't do anything about it now. The man is dead, an accident happened, and there's no murderer among us. Now, can we move on, or are we waiting for the giant insects to eat us?" I said with a stern expression as my sharp eyes pierced through their grim expressions. "If you want, you can take the corpse with you, but we need to move on; don't we all agree on that one?"

The three people then paused before me as they grunted a few unintelligible grumbles. Meanwhile, the silver man is STILL crying! DAMN IT TO HELL, WHY IS THIS MAN STILL CRYING!?

"The priest is right. We have to move." The salesman said as he wiped his sweaty face with his palms. "Anyone wanna take the man?" He said while pointing his thumbs on the corpse on the floor. "Do it now, and let's leave." He then walked towards the open and well-lit corridor a few feet away from us.

The nurse then wordlessly followed the salesman as she looked at the silver man with a pair of worried eyes.

"You're lucky we got an angel with us, freak!" The policeman whispered as he leaned his body onto the silver man's crying face. Wait, was he talking about me? Me, angel? This sounds like a good day to sing that new pop song about that one movie remake. The policeman then looked at me with a worried but proud gaze before tapping my shoulder gently. "Be careful around this man, father; you're a good man. We would hate to see you go." He then moved away and walked through the corridor.

It seemed that none of them took the greasy man on the floor.

I then carried the silver man with me as we followed them. "Thank you..." He said in between sobs repeatedly.

I then looked at him as we stopped our tracks behind the other people. "Look at me, silver man," I said as I knelt slightly before him. He's a rather small man, so I have to make myself appear lower, so I could look at him eye-to-eye without him needing to look up at me. "Tell me the truth. Did you do it."

The silver man then sobbed as he spoke some words that I could not possibly understand. I'm only doing this to remove suspicions from me, but it's starting to get on my nerves.

"ENOUGH CRYING!" I whispered, but the intensity of my anger is so high that my voice rang throughout the quiet metal corridor leading to the third area. The others then looked back at me, but I paid them no mind. "No more crying, okay? No more!" I then placed my hand on his shoulder to block his view of the other people walking ahead of us. I then gripped his jaw gently and moved his head to make him face me. "Now, look into my eyes. Imagine that you're not looking into the eyes of a man nor a servant of God. Imagine that you're looking to the eyes of God himself and tell me the truth. Say a lie now, silver man, I tell you, God himself will come here to take you!" I said as I saw him try his hardest to restrain his tears while looking at my bloodshot eyes. "Did you do it?"

He then shook his head as he slowly replied, "Father, you know I--"

"YES OR NO!" I shouted this time, but the others didn't look at us anymore. They just continued walking.

I then saw a newfound determination in the small silver man as he had spoken the word, "No."

I then

The silver man then tightened his embrace in my body as he shook but still tried his hardest not to cry, "Thank you, father."

I got you now.

Now, I just have to prevent the others from killing him.

Chapter end