I smiled when Bryan finally replied. I had been waiting for this moment for some time. My anger only grew sharper because of the way he carried himself, as if he had done nothing wrong at all. Still pretending to be Misaki, I told him I was waiting in the abandoned room and asked that it be just the two of us.
Thankfully, he agreed. He asked in his text why of all places I had chosen that one to meet, but I did not reply. After all, he was already on his way according to his last message. Besides, I only wanted to remind him of the cruelty he had committed.
I positioned myself beside the door so he would not see me right away when he entered. Standing in the darkness of the room, I could not understand why my hands kept trembling. It was not from fear, but from the fierce urge and the anticipation of facing him again. At last I was decided. I was going to do the one thing I had forced myself for so long not to do.
Suddenly the way Misaki used to act when she was angry came to mind. I picked up one of the old papers scattered on the floor and tore it into pieces again and again. Tears fell as I did it, tears mixed with pain, fury, and pure hatred. Even if they all died, I would never forgive them. Their lives would never be enough payment for me to forget what they had done.
A moment later I heard footsteps approaching, quick and almost running. He shoved the door open hard, and a gust of wind from the window rushed in with him. The cold air met him along with the scraps of torn paper swirling through the room.
"Misaki, where are you?" he called out, still catching his breath. I began walking toward him, calm and quiet. He kept glancing around the room, but he still had not noticed me standing right behind him. His mind was probably fixed only on finding Misaki and the hope of seeing her, which was why he failed to sense my presence.
I deliberately shut the door hard with a push of my foot. The loud slam was enough to make him spin around at once. He turned to face me in shock, and his eyes widened even more when he realized it was not Misaki standing there. I wore a black hooded jacket with the hood up, my head lowered so he could not fully recognize me yet. He seemed rooted to the spot while the wind from the window kept blowing the scraps of paper around us.
"W-who are you! Where is Misaki!" he shouted. Only then did I slowly pull the hood back from my head. The moment I clearly saw his face, I tightened my grip on the gun and raised it without hurry.
"Do you really believe someone who always carries a knife is afraid of being shot?" I asked him with a grin, watching his eyes grow wider by the second.
"After all the cruelty you committed, you were still ready to face Misaki again as if nothing had happened?" I added, laughing softly. I took a step closer, forcing him to step back as well.
"I just want you to know that she is gone. She lost her life, and it was because of you." My voice turned cold as I looked at him with complete seriousness. The shock on his face was unmistakable, and he could not even speak.
"Maybe you want to follow her. Want me to help you?" I said, a sly smile on my lips.
"N-no… that isn't true. Mommy said Misaki is fine and that she is already in Japan," he stammered, trembling, as if he refused to accept what he had just heard. Those words made me scowl. The anger in my chest burned hotter and pushed me to continue what I had planned.
"Your mom really loves you, doesn't she? She is willing to lie just for your sake," I said sarcastically. I stepped closer again, and he retreated once more.
"What if I kill you? So your parents can feel how painful it is to lose someone they love," I said calmly while staring at the gun in my hand and slowly running my fingers along it. He shook his head, pure terror written on his face as he kept backing away.
"No! Please! Don't do that. Have mercy." My expression changed in an instant, twisting into the face of a furious demon. I closed the distance quickly, grabbed him by the collar, and pressed the gun firmly against him with my right hand.
"Please? Have mercy? When Misaki begged you, did you listen? Answer me! Did you listen!" I shouted, the veins standing out on my neck, my eyes blazing with rage.
"What! Speak!" I saw tears streaming from his eyes while I still held his collar tightly. He was almost forced to his knees on the floor.
"I regret everything. Please, Anthony, don't do this," he sobbed as he fully dropped to his knees and held up his open palms, trying to block the gun pointed straight at his face.
"You should have thought of that before you did it!" After saying those words, I released his collar, straightened up, and took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Stand up," I ordered calmly, though he could barely move from where he was.
"I said stand up!" When he still did not move, I shouted again and aimed the gun at him once more. That finally made him scramble to his feet in panic. I stepped closer, knowing he would only keep retreating. Eventually he had nowhere left to go and ended up pressed against the window.
"Give me your phone." He obeyed and handed it over with shaking hands.
"I will give you a chance to live, on one condition," I told him seriously.
"Jump out the window." His eyes grew even wider after hearing that.
"You might still survive, and the construction workers below might take you to the hospital. That is, if you make it that far." He slowly turned his head and looked down from the fourth floor, where workers were busy on a new building. After a moment he brought his gaze back to me.
"Are you going to jump, or should I put a bullet in your head!" Shaking with fear, he began lifting his left foot, but he still did not jump. He only sat on the windowsill and looked at me again.
"Anthony, I hope the day comes when you can forgive me too," he said through his tears. Those words made my hands, still holding the gun, start to tremble. I felt my own tears were about to fall at any second. Suddenly every cruel thing they had done to us flooded back into my mind.
"No, Bryan. I will never forgive you," I answered with firm resolve. I could no longer hold back the tears. I fired the gun at the ceiling, but the sudden panic made Bryan lose his balance and fall from the window.
I leaned out and looked down. The workers below immediately fell into chaos. Someone even said he had heard a gunshot and pointed up at the window where Bryan had fallen. When they looked up, I quickly stepped back so they would not see me.
I put the gun back into my bag. Before leaving I spotted a wire, so I took it and shoved it into the bag as well. I walked out at once without closing the door. With long, hurried strides I left the area and immediately texted Carl using Bryan's phone.
To be continued