The silence was deafening. There was absolutely no noise, which made even the slightest noise their steps made sound too loud. Partially due to that, Adachi nearly reacted to every sound in alert, stopping every now and then to confirm whether he had only heard the echo of their steps, whether someone was trying to recreate their steps or whether there was actual foot steps behind them. Whenever he was content, he started making his way forward once again. Unfortunately, the peace didn't last long.
They stood in front of a door next to a dirty plaque, you could still tell the words on it; Basement, Archives, Warehouse, Morgue, Dissection Room. Adachi swallowed and nearly suggested for them to a very swift U-turn, but before he had a moment to comment, Alexei had taken charge of the situation in his stead. He felt like he had lot in a way, but at the same time he didn't really care anymore. This started off as a fun pokey-fun pissing contest but now that things were fucked up (in more ways than one) he couldn't be bothered to make fun of the situation anymore. Quiet, but ready, Adachi kept his weapon at ready to swing at the first chance of danger.
The way down was pure torture. Their steps barely made noise, but the occasional uneasy sound of a water drop (or something else...) really kept him at the edge. At the same time, he was almost expecting for something to crash upstairs and start chasing them downstairs. The thought made him feel really uneasy and he stepped a little bit closer to Alexei, just in case. Alexei was too much of a wimp to be able to fight if things got serious. Yes, that's exactly what it was. He had a near accident when he stepped too far on a step and he slipped, but his quick reflexes allowed him to catch the ground on time to stop him from further damage. Whatever was on the stairs, it was sticky and honestly, he didn't even look when he smeared it onto his dark uniform trousers. The incident made him twice as careful on the way the rest of the way down, but still aware enough for him to keep an eye on their backs as well. He stumbled slightly at the end when the stairs ended, expecting another step, but he didn't make a fall, but the smell caught him off guard.
It was a smell he had gotten used to in his youth of living at a shrine. Although, partially it wasn't even the smell but rather the air around here. It just felt... tangible, which made him feel at unease. It could have been his slight sensitivity to the spiritual world, but there was something in here and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to find out what it was. "I hate it when video game logic is correct." he muttered quietly, expecting Alexei to flip a switch on his whole video game logic commentary. When there was no quip, he looked around to where the light was pointing to and he almost wishes he hadn't. The arms hanging from the lamps, rotten but still bleeding. He heard the question, but he really didn't hear it per say. He took a shudder of a breath and turned to look at Alexei who was covering his mouth and nose. In a momentary lapse of judgement, Adachi took off the jacket he'd had on and tossed it over Alexei's shoulders, pulling one of the free sleeves to cover Alexei's mouth instead. "I know it fucking smells, but anything is better than this." he himself hoped he would have something to hold back the smell as well, but instead he just pulled up his shirt and covered his nose. He paid no mind to the text on the wall and brushed past it, hoping it would be a figment of his imagination, as he continued forward.
Before he went too far, he made sure Alexei was following him and that the male was within an arms reach. He made sure of this by practically dragging Alexei with him by the arm. He stopped at a door that he felt the least "disturbance" from and looked at the plaque. Archive. He took a deep breath and opened up the door. The room smelled musky and cold, making Adachi feel uncomfortable. "We need to find out more information..." he mumbled loud enough for Alexei to hear and entered the room, but soon froze still. There was something in here. He was afraid to look and see but they wouldn't be able to go around... whatever this was. He took Alexei's phone from the male's hand and whatever it may have been, it did not prepare him for what he saw. The best way to describe it was a bloody snowman that was made of nothing but stripped raw flesh, the head night severed from the rest of the body, hanging by a ligament. He could clearly see the white of the spine, veins pulled to their limits to hold the lump in the air, attached to hooks and even the esophagus (or whatever tatters were left of it). The main cord with the noose was pulled taut and whatever little skin there was had been pulled to it's limit and held by hooks and veins, making this lump of flesh look like a frilly necked lizard, the skin itself full of holes with obvious teeth marks. And the worst thing was that this thing was still alive, breathing, and staring right at them.
Briefly, his judgement lapsed. "Don't look at me." The words left his mouth before he could stop them, the corpses eyes moving around wildly and then setting on him again. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable as he clutched the weapon in his hand. And upon an impulse he moved. The sound of metal on flesh was deafening. The creature was like a bloody pinata. It took a few hits before the flesh held by hooks ripped by the force of the strikes and it hit the floor with a loud thud, squirting blood. It didn't make Adachi stop either. He beat it and he beat it and he beat it until the head and the spine were separated from the body and the last breath of the creature turned into a gargle and then silence. But there was none, Adachi kept on hitting on the lump of flesh, viciously, blood squirting onto his feet and bottom of his trousers, the words "Don't look at me!" repeating almost as if the dead creature would be able to take it's bulging, staring eyes away from him.
He stopped only when he lost all strength in his body, his legs collapsing under him and the words "Don't look at me." repeating quietly. Looking at the scene, you wouldn't know whether it was addressed to the creature or towards Alexei. On the floor there was a name pin that had probably fallen at the same time as the human pinata. If one would wipe off the splattered blood, the name Dr. Arden Belaque was visibly inked and carved into it.