Chapter 2.

In the Vault, to Whose Foul Mouth No Healthsome Air Breathes In

"Waking up... diethyl ether... anesthetic... possible nausea... will be hungry..."

Dieter's consciousness sluggishly aroused, and his ears picked up the hushed whispers of two people. His mind felt fuzzy, lightheaded, and utterly discombobulated. He also felt like he was going to vomit any second now. To sum it all up, he felt absolutely horrible.

I was... walking... down the road? With an ugly, bucktoothed man, who looked like a humanoid rat...

Dieter scrunched his eyebrows together and tried to remember the man's name.

Otter...? Otta? Otata... ...Ottertatato... Rat-man otta? No.

The boy gave up trying to grapple for the man's name and focused on opening his eyes, which seemed like a much easier task (considering how many ridiculous names he could invent for the man, like "Rata-otta-unsettlinguglyman").

Dieter managed to squint his eyes open a tiny crack. It took a while for his senses to slowly sharpen, however, just enough for him to discern the silhouettes of two men, standing by a dimly lit doorway, and the musty, dusty smell of the supposedly small, dark room he was in.

Where... am I? ... Who... are they?

Unconsciously, he stirred and squirmed around. Then he realized that he was laying on some sort of soft mattress. The two men must have taken notice of Dieter's subtle movements, because they both paused in the middle of their quiet conversation. One of the men walked towards Dieter, and the ancient, wooden boards of the floor creaked at every step that he took. Soon, the man was standing next to the side of the bed.

"Don't move too much, try to stay still," ordered the man in a velvety, soothing voice, hovering over Dieter with his hands clasped neatly together behind his back.

Dieter couldn't see the man's face too well, since it was too dark. Nodding slowly, he complied (but it wasn't like he was planning on moving anyways).

The man carefully placed his cold hand under Dieter's head and his other behind the boy's back. Strangely enough, the cool hands retained a soothing, gentle quality. Dieter felt his eye lids growing even again. The man slowly positioned Dieter so that he was sitting. To his dismay, Dieter found his nausea growing much harder to ignore. Luckily for Dieter, the young man was prepared.

"Here, hold this," instructed the man softly, handing Dieter a metal bucket, which was cool to touch like his hands.

Dieter licked his dry, cracked lips and shakily took the pail from the man's hands. He swallowed and queasily looked inside of the cylindrical container. After what felt like an eternity of nauseousness, Dieter's stomach finally chose to regurgitate its contents. It was not a pleasant feeling.

Shuddering at the revolting aftertaste, Dieter tried to calm his breathing, but the second wave came, causing his body to involuntarily lurch forward as his stomach rejected its contents again. There went all of his breakfast. Dieter coughed a little and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"All done?" asked the man in a feigned concerned tone, sounding like he was asking Dieter more out of the sake of politeness rather than genuine sympathy. Dieter was too tired to bother about the man's insincerity.

After a few seconds, Dieter muttered in response, "...Yeah..." noticing how raspy his voice was and how his throat was practically screaming for water.

The young man by the bed motioned for the other man to take the pail from Dieter.

The other man reluctantly came over, and he gingerly took that pail from Dieter's hands with a look of utter disgust, which was apparent even in the dark. He quickly exited the dark room, holding the bucket as far away from his face as his arms would allow, like he was holding a bawling, red-faced baby, who was furiously kicking and failing its arms around.

Dieter was left alone with the other man, who had taken a glass of water from the nightstand beside the bed was holding it in front of him. The young boy stared at the glass held in front of him blankly with his half-lidded eyes, and it took him a few seconds for the gears of his brain to click into place, realizing that the young man was offering him the glass.

He reached out to receive the glass, however, the man held it just out of his reach.

"Go into the washroom to rinse your mouth, then drink the water. You may take a shower afterwards," said the man, gesturing at a door across the small room (which Dieter hadn't noticed before), "And," continued the man, "Don't drink too fast," he cautioned, and he handed Dieter the glass of water before walking out of the room and shutting the door quietly, leaving Dieter holding the glass alone in the dark. There was an ominous click, then the sound of shoes tapping against the creaking, wooden floor.

Dieter waited until he no longer could hear the footsteps of the young man. Then he slowly slid off the bed and tiptoed up to the door, cringing at how much the wooden floor complained. Setting the glass of water down, Dieter grasped the dull, round, brass doorknob with both of his hands and tried twisting it while pulling with all his might. The stubborn door didn't budge. Dieter planted his foot on the wall, and tried again, this time using all of his strength and body weight. He let out a small grunt, but after about half a minute of rattling the door, Dieter gave up.

Dieter wasn't sure why the man had locked him inside the room, but that just made Dieter more curious about what was outside.

Dieter picked up the glass of water and sulkily made his way to the washing room. Fumbling for the light switch, Dieter's hand patted against something that seemed to resemble the shape of one. Flicking on the switch, the filament light bulb just above a nearly opaque mirror blinked seven times before coming to life with a small hum, which was similar to that of an annoyingly persistent mosquito buzzing just inches away from a person's ear.

Closing the squeaking door, which had white paint peeling off of its exterior, Dieter shuffled up to the sink, which he noticed had small cracks that blemished its originally polished surface. He slowly turned on the rusty faucet and let the water run for a while before he cupped his left hand beneath the stream of water and held it to his lips, swishing the water in his mouth, gurgling it, then spitting in into the basin. He repeated this a few more times until the horrid, bitter aftertaste was no more.

Gingerly wiping his hand on his plain orange T-shirt, Dieter started to drink the water that the man had offered him. Instead of listening to the young man, he drank the tepid water greedily in huge gulps. It gave Dieter the satisfaction of defiance. However, he started to regret his actions after he felt his stomach bloat, leaving him with the urge to vomit again. He shakily placed the glass on the table stool beside the sink and queasily looked up at the mirror. His blurry reflection stared back at him. A little unnerved, Dieter quickly looked away and decided that he would take a shower.

He slide open the shower curtains and stripped himself of his clothes. Looking down at his torso, he noticed the several scars and discolorations that marked his chest. He didn't want to remember how he had gotten them, but he found that he couldn't forget abusive Hartmann no matter how much he tried.

That was when Dieter realized that he couldn't remember anything past walking with "Rat-Man". He stood there naked, staring blankly at the cracked, dark blue, tiled wall of the washroom, trying to recollect his thoughts.

Mechanically stepping into the shower and turning on the showerhead, Dieter yelped and jumped away when the merciless, cold water hit him. Shivering violently and hugging his arms close to his chest, Dieter carefully avoided the freezing "waterfall" and slowly started inching his way towards the shower knob with his back pressed against the cool, tiled wall. He hastily grabbed the knob and adjusted it so that the temperature of the water was lukewarm.

His teeth gradually stopped chattering, and he scrubbed himself clean. After he finished, he stood under the stream of water, letting the water slid down his face. Dieter usually didn't take long showers, but this was an exception. He spent all the time clearing his mind and piecing all of his memories back together.

Finally, Dieter turned off the showerhead and stepped out of the shower onto the scruffy, white towel spread across the tiled floor. Straining his arm to reach for a towel from the towel rack, Dieter managed to grab one, but ended up accidentally pulling down the other five towels, which fell onto the ground. He hastily tossed them back onto the rack, saving the one he was holding for himself.

Quickly drying himself, Dieter tossed the used towel onto the rack with the rest of the unfolded towels then dressed himself.

Opening the door, which groaned in protest, Dieter left the washroom's light on and the door open, since there was no other source of light in the somber "room"... that is, if it was even considered a "room" in its dilapidated state. Walking towards the bed, he hoisted himself up, laid down, and stared at the ceiling, which had a few spider webs here and there.

Dieter had recollected all of his memories, and he had deduced that he had been kidnapped (and had accepted that surprisingly calmly for a boy his age). He knew that he had to find a way out of the room sooner or later, but for now, he decided that it would be the best to observe his kidnapper's schedule and discover the kidnapper's motive.

I need to stay calm and think things through, like Tenma, Dieter thought to himself resolutely.

He closed his eyes and nodded to himself mentally. Yes, he had to stay calm like Tenma.

Suddenly, Dieter found his thoughts turning towards Tenma; he remembered that Tenma was supposed to return to Germany in a few days.

A pitting feeling in his stomach grew. He started to connect his kidnapping with Tenma's return. There was only one person who would do something like this right before Tenma was returning, but he was most likely at rest.

Dieter had never actually saw Johan in person, but he did know that Johan was Nina's "evil twin." He had made all those children willingly fall to their deaths, he was responsible for numerous murders, and he was the reason why Doctor Tenma was convicted of murder. Nina and Tenma had tried to shelter Dieter from anything relating to Johan, but Dieter may or may not have overheard (or more accurately, eavesdropped on) Nina and Tenma's hushed discussions about her brother.

The sound of someone rattling the doorknob then opening the door startled Dieter out of his thoughts, and he immediately sat upright, inhaling sharply. He stared at the man standing beneath the door frame, wide-eyed.

"Feeling better?" the man asked kindly.

The shadow the young man cast was exaggerated and monstrous, it stretched across the room, giving the illusion of there being a giant present.

Although it was dark, Dieter noticed how similar the young man's facial features were to Nina's. Upon further examination, Dieter confirmed that it was him. The monster was standing just a few meters away from him. The monster had returned.

Johan had returned.

Review Reply

N: Thank you, I'm glad that you like this so far.

I full-heartedly agree with there not being enough "Monster goodness" online. I wish that Monster was more popular (I tried to get one of my friends to watch it, but she didn't get past the first two episodes) *sigh*...

A/N August 29, 2015

I did a little research here and there about "substances that could knock people out", however I'm not entirely sure how accurate my "research" was (and I highly doubt that reading "sketchy forums" counts as "research"). Taking into consideration that I'm by no means a knowledgeable doctor/chemist/person who is well informed about these sorts of things, I'd like to apologize for any misinformation in my writing.

Thank you for reading, and until the next chapter,

-ShootingStar103