The fire alarm blared through the hallway. Everyone instantly got up from their seat in the waiting areas or vacated the room they were in to proceed to the emergency exit. In mere seconds, Light and C were stuck in a tidal wave of people. There was nothing to do but follow the crowd along. Yet as they neared the stairwell, Light suddenly felt C slip away from him. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing still with her head down.

"C!" he called. "C, come on, we have to go!"

She remained in place. Light narrowed his eyes at her. Was she trembling? Oh, no... Was Cassia taking over? Had the sound of the alarm triggered the change between the two personas? No, no, no! If Cassia woke up now, chances were high she might freak out because she didn't know what was happening. The crowd would then likely go into a frenzy, believing that whatever tripped the alarm was happening on this floor, causing people to stampede through a single doorway down a narrow flight of stairs to escape something that wasn't there. Light couldn't let that happen. He had to get to her.
Going against the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream in a roaring river, Light attempted to get out of the crowd so he could reach her by going around, but it was no use. He was trapped, forced to keep the flow going one way or risk causing a mass hysteria himself. There was only one thing he could try.
As soon as he was in the stairwell, he pushed to the little corner that remained empty as people diligently made their way down. He stretched his neck, keeping an eye out for a young woman with blood-red hair, in case C was dragged along. Gradually, the constant flow of humans ended. Light stepped back into the hallway. He looked left and right, but the corridor was empty. There wasn't anyone but him. C was gone.

📓💀📓

Something was wrong. L knew it the moment shivers ran over his body. His entire being was on high alert, eager to hear from C, or Cassandra, or even Light. They arrived at the hospital nearly six minutes ago according to GPS-tracking and should've made it to the morgue by now. It was a terrible inconvenience that L couldn't follow their movements inside. The traffic cameras around the hospital had been surprisingly easy to hack, but the cameras inside proved more challenging, as they were on a private security feed.
L sat up straight (or as straight as his crouched position permitted), checking all screens one by one, and lowered the cuff around his right wrist to rub the sore spots. He really wished C hadn't pulled such a stunt on him, but he wouldn't deny it had been a brilliant move. Like him, she'd noticed Light's interest in her. That alone gave her a unique advantage. Men — and then specifically adolescents — were more susceptible to things that fascinated them. And to someone like Light Yagami, eager to unearth any mystery that came his way, a person like C was just too enticing to ignore.

"Sir, are you quite certain you are all right?" asked Watari again.

After calling his servant up, Watari had wasted no time in searching for the keys but freed L by breaking the chain between the cuffs with a pair of heavy cutting pliers. The long metal link currently lay discarded on the ground, connected now to only the one cuff that C hung around the leg of the desk.

"Yes, I'm fine," replied L, not wanting the old man to worry too much. "Thank you for freeing me. See if you can find the keys C threw in the corner so I can get out of this manacle and we can free the desk as well. We're going to need a new pair of handcuffs for when Light comes back."

"Yes, sir," said Watari. "I take it you will want a second pair for C as well?"

"She brought some with her, but I see no need for such measures yet."

"But, sir —"

"This was a calculated move and no cause for panic. I will not use them on her if I don't have to."

"L, you gave me your word."

The accusatory tone in the servant's voice and the manner in which he had addressed L made the sleuth glance aside. Watari stood straight and composed as ever, yet his stern expression was one of a father scolding his son. For all intents and purposes, he might as well be L's father, since he took him in after his actual parents died when he was just eight years old. And just like a son, L would respect but also challenge his adoptive father.

"I know, I didn't forget. But like I said, this was a calculated move. C will have activated the recording device hidden in the car's dashboard to tape her conversation with Light. Knowing her, she'll ask some specific questions that may prove vital to the case. We'll analyze it together when they return."

Watari sighed and shook his head. Just from that, it seemed as if the years were finally catching up to him. Once again, L felt guilty for keeping him at his side.

"I feared this would happen," said the manservant. "This is why I didn't want you to bring her here. You are blind when it comes to that girl, L. From the moment you first laid eyes on her, you were completely taken in."

"I am and was not. She's a regular young woman, no more beautiful than any other walking the street outside."

"There is nothing regular about her. And I wasn't referring to her beauty."

L knew Watari wasn't, but he still chose to interpret it like that. Would he deny he found the body C and Cassandra inhabited actually quite pleasing to look at? No. Would he deny he was fascinated by the mental health disorder she had? Again, no. In fact, the only one who might intrigue L more than the woman he called his partner was the murderer he'd been chasing for months now. Would he deny he had fallen under her spell as Watari claimed? No. But he certainly wouldn't admit it out loud, either.

"I will not discuss this again." L looked away. "You said you would respect the choices I make regarding C and Cassandra, so please do so."

"And you said you would act at the slightest hint of trouble."

"Watari, I —"

Something happening on the screen in front of the raven-haired detective drew his attention. A mass of people were exiting the building. Though there wasn't any immediate panic, L caught the anxious apprehension on some faces. He pulled the phone to him and pressed the speed dial button for Chief Yagami's cell phone.

"Mr. Yagami, are you aware of a disturbance at the downtown hospital and morgue?" asked L the moment the inspector picked up.

"The fire alarm went off a few seconds ago," answered Chief Yagami. "There are no reports of a fire or anything else that would warrant evacuation, but every cop in the city is on route just in case. I left Mogi and Matsuda to continue our work for Miss C while Aizawa and I go assist."

L met Watari's steely expression. What were the odds?

"Please hurry. C and Light are there. Find them and bring them back to HQ as soon as they are in your custody."

He disconnected the call before Yagami could demand an explanation from him. His eyes flashed between the monitors, hoping to catch the young woman with hair as red as the reddest strawberry. Despite Light being his prime suspect, he wasn't a priority right now. Kira never targeted the innocent, so this wasn't him. And if this wasn't a genuine evacuation or even a prank, it could only be...

"It's her, isn't it?" inquired Watari upon seeing his master and former pupil muse silently. "It's Mercy. She's back."

L offered no reply. He had to find his partner before it was too late and the only killer who had ever escaped him struck again.

📓💀📓

"I'm fine, dad." Light groaned when his father asked if he was okay for the third time since he picked up his cellphone. "I swear."

"Well, which checkpoint are you at? I don't see you anywhere."

"I'm still inside."

"What?" exclaimed his father. "Light, get out of there right now!"

"I can't." Light opened and closed the storage room, crossing the hallway to check on the next room. "I got separated from C."

"C can take care of herself! It's you I'm worried about!"

"Dad, no, you don't understand. I don't think she's C anymore. If she switched back to Cassia, she won't know where she is, how she got here, what's going on... I'm certain she's on the third floor somewhere. I just have to find her."

"For God's sake just —"

His father was cut off. Light halted in front of another door and listened closely. He heard Aizawa's voice but couldn't make out the words.

"Light, listen to me," said his father then, his tone grim and unyielding. "Aizawa checked with the crisis team and it doesn't appear to be a fire, a chemical incident or a disease outbreak. They're going to lock down the building and let the Special Assault Team do a full sweep of each floor in case it involves a terrorist attack. They'll start protocol any minute, so you'll have no choice but to stay on the third floor. If there is any staff left, go to them for instructions and help them with the bed-ridden patients. If you're alone, go into a room and stay there until the SAT clears the floor. They'll escort you out."

"The third floor holds examination rooms in the main building, but the burn unit is in the annex, on the other side of the glass walkway," said Light, checking another room before running to the next one. "If there's any staff left, they'll probably be there. I'll go once I find C."

"Forget about her! The lockdown will separate the main building from the annex, so you have to go there right now!"

"I only have a few more rooms to check."

"Son, no, don't —"

Light shut off the conversation. If a lockdown was truly imminent, there wasn't another moment to lose. He'd deal with his father when he saw him, but right now he had to find C.

"C!" He opened and shut the door to yet another empty examination room. "Cassia, answer me!"

Light listened for her, but everything remained eerily silent. He looked down the corridor again, eyes flashing to every door, every room he checked. Suddenly, all the lights in the hallway shut off. Was it the lockdown? No, nothing else was happening. The skin on the nape of Light's neck tingled. He shivered. It was getting hard to breathe. His heart drummed in his chest. Another tingle. He spun around on his heels. His eyes widened. C — or Cassia — stood on the other side of the overpass, facing him. The little Light saw of her was obscured by shadows.

"C? Are you all right?"

No answer. Light dared to walk toward her. Halfway across the walkway, he noticed C's beige blouse was stained at the sleeves with an odd brown-rust color. She wasn't wearing her shoes anymore. Had she stepped into something? Was she hurt? If she was, she didn't show it.

"Look, we have to go," he urged her. "My father and Aizawa are waiting for us downstairs."

Her hair shielded her face, yet Light still perceived a smirk. Cold and practically diabolical. The girl-like chuckle he then heard chilled him to the bone. He halted, unable to continue. Even though daylight surrounded him, Light felt as if he'd been cast into a dark pit whence there was no escape.

"C?"

The smirk widened. She ran.

"C, no, come back!"

Before he could pursue her, a sudden high-pitched noise broke through the silence. It forced Light to press his hands against his ears. Red and blue rotating flashes appeared before his eyes. It could only mean one thing.
Not wasting another second, Light darted off into the annex. The panel between the glass walkway and the corridor slammed shut, missing him by mere inches as he leaped and rolled over the floor. He quickly got up from the ground and sprinted down the corridor he'd seen C run into. The double doors clicked in the lock the minute he passed them.

That was close. Now, where did she go?

He heard a few agitated voices from up ahead. As he followed them, he kept an eye out for C. After a minute, Light came upon a central desk. The male and female nurses and doctors were in a hustle and bustle, talking on the phones, to each other, to patients in wheelchairs or on crutches. Light considered asking someone if they'd seen a young woman with red hair run by, but since they hadn't even noticed him, odds of that would be slim.
He meant to search further on his own until he noticed a brown-haired boy around Sayu's age. The kid's left arm was wrapped up in transparent gel dressings. He held on to his IV stand with his right hand. There was something about the way the boy pressed himself against the wall that Light found peculiar. And he was also the only one who wasn't looking at or trying to talk with a nurse.

"Hi there." Light walked over. "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

The kid gave a brief shake of his head, keeping his gaze fixed on the long white and gray corridor. Light checked if anyone from the medical staff had spotted him yet, but they hadn't.

"Did you see something?" He leaned in, keeping his voice low. "Someone?"

The boy nodded.

"A young woman with red hair?"

Another nod.

"Where?"

A trembling finger pointed toward the end of the corridor. Light's eyes traveled from door to door as he walked the length of the hallway. There was a little window in each of them. Patients were in bed, fearful of what was going on, but nobody appeared to have someone else in the room with them. For a second, Light thought the kid had pranked him, but not even the best actor in the world could've acted out the fear he'd seen on the boy's face. Whatever he saw had genuinely terrified him.
Light was about to make his way back when he noticed the last door stood ajar. He inched toward it, holding his breath. Carefully, he pushed the door open wider and slipped in. A single light was on in the otherwise dark room. An isolation screen was put around the bed to keep the patient safe from infection. Light drew closer, hearing whispers on the other side.

"I can help you. I can make the pain go away. Would you like that?"

Was that C's voice? It sounded so unnatural. Light reached for the plastic, but his hand halted mid-air. A strange odor hit him, sweet yet astringent. It came from behind the isolation screen. He peered through a gap at the entrance flap.
A woman lay in bed, mid-forties perhaps, though Light couldn't tell for certain because of the dressings that covered half her face. Almost all of her black hair was gone, and there were even more dressings around her throat, right shoulder, and torso. Yet the sight of the burn victim wasn't what made Light nearly recoil.
C stood beside the woman's bed. Her hair, crimson in the dark, appeared longer. Black veins crept all over her legs and bare feet like ivy on the wall. Shadows played and danced around the light above the woman's bed. They seemed... alive.

What the hell happened to her? She didn't look like this before. I only just saw her. Is this still C or is it Cassia?

"Don't you want your suffering to end?" she asked the woman. "Do you not long to rest peacefully?"

"Y-Yes," the woman sobbed. "P-Please... M-make i-it... stop."

"Shh, it's all right. No more tears now. Close your eyes. Soon, you'll be free of pain. Free of everything. I promise."

Her voice sounds so... ghostly. Wait a minute... She said there are a lot of ghosts in a hospital. Could she be possessed? Can ghosts really do that?

Light was about to draw back the isolation screen when he saw something that made him clasp a hand over his mouth to keep down a scream. C raised her dainty hand, revealing a set of silvery-white, two-inch claws. She rested the tip of the one on her index finger against the woman's chest, right where her heart was. The shadows on the walls fluttered as a golden shimmer illuminated her body. The woman shuddered, gasped for breath, and then fell limp as the numbers on the monitors hooked to her counted down.

In a split second, Light pushed the plastic flap away and grabbed hold of C. He yanked her away from the woman and threw her on the floor outside the isolation screen. Fearing the worst, he checked the burn victim's pulse, watching the numbers on the monitor pause. They flickered but weren't counting down anymore.
Light pushed the call button for the nurses. Then, he quickly picked C up and pushed her out of the room. He made her go into the storage room across first, shutting the door behind him. Hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. Light hoped he hadn't been too late. But he couldn't worry about the woman right now. Not when a pair of golden eyes with slitted sanguine pupils were gazing at him from the far side of the room.

"C, what were you doing?" demanded Light. "What the hell happened to you?"

She grinned at him. A quaint iridescence illuminated her eyes.

"Light Yagami." The way she spoke his name made his skin crawl. "I look forward to meeting the real you. What fun that will be!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You'll remember. Sooner or later, you'll remember. And then, you'll be mine."

She laughed. Maniacal. Demonic. Light stared in horror at her, frozen, too scared to even breath. Then the inhuman laughter ceased abruptly. C's head dropped, her hair falling forward like a curtain. The veins around her legs and feet crept up, disappearing underneath her skirt, while the stains on her blouse evaporated with a sizzle. The claws shrank back to regular nails.

"Light?"

He gasped when he realized her voice was different. Back to the voice he knew for certain belonged to C. She raised her head. Light exhaled in relief when he saw her eyes were back to normal as well. One blue, one hazel.

"Light, that woman... Is she...?"

"No," he said. "No, she's still alive."

She let out a choked breath. Even though Light'd been paralyzed in fear of her just a moment ago, his heart lurched when he saw her trembling uncontrollably. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that everything was all right now. Yet the vivid image of her monstrous self kept him from doing so.

"L was right," she said then, visibly shaken. "I shouldn't have come here."

"Why not?" asked Light. "C, what happened?"

"I lost control."

"With what? A ghost? Did someone posses you?"

She pressed her lips together and shook her head, refusing to answer.

"C —"

"Light, please... Take me back to HQ."

Her pleading, brittle voice tore at him. He pushed his curiosity down and nodded, opening the door for her. As she passed him, he detected the scent of orange blossom and bergamot. Whatever had taken hold of her was gone. But what had it even been? And perhaps more important — could this happen again?