My Lost Soul

Chapter 5 - 30 Minutes

Is-Is that Machida? He thought.

His eyes widened and he hurriedly jumped out of his seat.

"Wait here, I'll be quick!" He yelled as he ran out the front door.

"Hey! You can't just leave without payin'!" The cashier shouted at him.

The restaurant went dead silent.

"...Well he left his wallet," Enjō commented.

As the door shut behind him, Uyama started running down the littered sidewalk until he caught up with Machida. He rested on his knees and shouted," Hey! Hey Machida! Where've you been?"

Machida turned his head to the side," Oh...Uyama. How have you been?"

Uyama noticed he ignored his question," You never come out of that building. So why is it that you're here?"

He took his left hand out of his pocket and revealed a paper," Ever heard of the Purgatory Coupe?"

"What? The Purgatory Coupe?"

Machida turned back around," Well, then I guess it's not of your business."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Uyama became worried," What are you planning on doing to this 'Purgatory Coupe'?"

"I think the answer to that is perfectly clear to you, Uyama."

Machida turned back around and kept walking down the sidewalk, his shoes clanking on the ground. Uyama stood still as he watched him walk away.

Please, be safe Machida.

Machida turned to the entrance of the parking garage and analyzed it.

Doesn't seem like anything's wrong here, but there's too many corners. He thought as he cautiously moved further away from the corners.

A bottle crunched from somewhere further away, but then it became silent.

"Is the Purgatory Coupe here? Reveal yourselves before I have to find you." He commanded.

A bullet flew by his head from a higher floor. Machida quickly ducked his head, ran towards the slope, and hid behind a pillar. His hands balled up into fists and he already began sweating. He peeked his head from the pillar and saw someone running away.

"Get back here!" Machida yelled as his skin began to change in pigment, turning to a silver color.

He ran up the slope and turned the corner, pulling his right hand out of his pockets as it transformed and elongated into the shape of an assault rifle. He brought out his flashlight with his left hand to reveal a man holding a gun whimpering in the corner.

"Hey, are you in the Purgatory Coupe?!" Machida stuck his right-hand rifle at the man's cheek.

He whimpered even more but raised his right-hand pointer finger to the ceiling.

Machida's rifle left the man's cheek and he turned to the next slope to the next floor. It was significantly darker. He began to walk up when he felt a sharp but short pain in his back. When Machida looked back he saw the man's gun smoking. He had shot him in the back, but his skin wasn't penetrated.

"A monster..." The man's voice shook before releasing more bullets.

Machida's face scrunched at his words and he aimed his rifle back at the man, eyes on fire and a stern look on his face. He fired a warning shot above the man's head, and he jumped and squirmed away.

He continued up the slope as he rested his right arm rifle. He started to hear multiple voices in the distance.

Machida pinched his nose with his left hand," Reeks of piss."

As he continued walking through the garage floor, the voices started to get more cohesive.

"What do you think that shot was?" Someone presumably younger questioned.

"Probably just Tank, you know he always busts shots when he comes in." Another man, seemingly a little older said.

Machida saw a door at the end of the garage where the voices were heard from. As he crept towards it, his heart began to beat faster and faster. With his left hand gripped on the door handle, he swung it open and swarmed inside.

"Hands up!" Machida yelled as he lifted his right arm to scan the room.

But there was no one there. The voices he heard distinctly through the door disappeared. Machida's eyes widened and the rifle lowered.

The door closed behind Machida, he swung his rifle back at the door, right as he heard footsteps behind him. As he started to turn around again, he gasped as he felt a cold sharp feeling in his gut. His entire body flexed and he accidentally held the trigger, spraying bullets in every direction. He collapsed and snapped back to his senses. There was still no one there. He looked down at his stomach and saw a tear in his shirt and skin.

It missed my kidney, I just need to get enough strength to get up.

Machida reverted his right arm and put pressure on his gut until he heard footsteps. He stopped breathing and closed his eyes.

Machida felt two cold fingers on his neck, feeling for a pulse. His neck felt like it would start straining for air at any second when the fingers left his neck.

The door swung open again.

"Hey! Machida!" Uyama ran to him and checked the wound.

"Hey, wake up!" Uyama started trying to pick him up.

"He let his guard down." A voice whispered in Uyama's ear.

Uyama froze from the breeze that went through his ear.

"He believes me to be naive. I assure you he's alive, but he won't be for long if you don't leave this garage."

Uyama felt a cold metal being pressed against his neck for a moment.

He started to sweat and without a word, he picked Machida up from the ground. His hands continued to shake as he ran back through the parking garage, feeling someone watching him.

As Uyama ran through the entrance, he composed himself," I'm going to call the ambulance at a nearby store. I'll say it was just an accident, so stop following us."

There was no response.

"I guess that's a sure."

Uyama got Machida to the hospital. The doctor said that he will have to remain in hospital treatment for a week.

Back at Uyama's apartment, Enjō's phone rang.

"Hola?" Enjō greeted.

"Enjō, did you tip them?" Uyama asked.

"Tip? Tip who?"

"Dammit, I thought I told you to tip them Enjō! I left my wallet for a reason!"

Enjō gasped, "Wha-Wha-What in the hell are you talkin' about?! You're the one who up and left!"

"Well, then you should've taken the initiative and tipped them yourself! I thought you were independent!" Uyama's voice blew out Enjō's ear.

"Shaddup! Why would I tip 'em anyway?! I'm not giving a garbage dump money just because it gave me some decent food!"

Enjō could hear Uyama holding in a laugh.

"Weren't you the one who sat on the dirtiest chair there?" Uyama chuckled.

"It...it wasn't that dirty dude. Just get home will you?" Enjō muttered.

"Alright, bud." Uyama hung up the phone.