Chapter 5 - Oni no Hitokuchi

1

“I’ll leave her in your care, then.”

After giving a rough explanation of the situation to the ER doctor, Shun bowed and left the examination room. Anna’s expression was the epitome of worry as he walked away.

Just remembering what happened made Shun’s heart ache. Turning around, he gave the room Anna was in one last glance before jumping in the taxi, feeling guilty.

She’ll be fine.

He grabbed at his shirt, his chest feeling like something heavy was clinging to it, and told himself not to worry. Anna’s complexion was looking much better after the exam compared to when he’d gotten her out of the Jailhouse. And she said she was fine, too. There was probably nothing to be concerned about. Even if anything did happen, the hospital had her mother’s phone number.

But nevertheless, Shun’s anxiety refused to listen. In fact, as time went on, it only got worse.

Should he really have just left her like that? She was acting strong, but after being attacked by the Jailhouse monster, there was no way she was really okay. Shun couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible had befallen her. It killed him that he couldn’t be there by her side, but saving Hiroshi and the others from their nightmare had to come first right now.

Shaking his head to toss his worry for Anna out of his mind, he dropped his gaze to his laptop. The monitor still displayed the Jailhouse ceiling. He raised the volume to max, but could hear nothing other than digital noise.

“Hiroshi?”

Shun tried calling to his classmate through the built-in mic, but there was no change on the screen. Judging from the image, the tablet must have been abandoned by the front door.

“If anyone’s there, please answer me!”

He even tried raising his voice to no effect. In the rear-view mirror, he could see the taxi driver giving him a concerned look. He must have picked up on the fact that something bad was going on, though he said nothing. Most likely, he didn’t want to get involved in anything messy. But Shun was grateful to be ignored rather than constantly pestered. He wouldn’t have any idea how to answer the driver if he asked what was going on, anyway. He’d probably just burst out laughing if Shun told him the truth.

Are we not there yet?

Shun’s impatience was growing.

Where are we?

The moment he leaned his face in close to the window, lightning streaked through the darkness. Not long after came ear-splitting, rumbling thunder. Its roar made his body tremble. It sounded just like the monster’s growl.

2

The books on the highest shelf of the bookcase were all arranged neatly by volume number. Only one was out of place. The design of the spine was quite similar to the others, so it was easy to miss at first, but the odd book was titled Motorbike Shove. If you rearranged the letters, it revealed the secret message, “reMove thiS book.” Takuro took the book from the shelf, stuck his right hand in the gap, and pressed.

Just as it had the last time he’d been here, the bookshelf slid to the right to reveal a stairway to the attic. Peering up the dimly lit path, he saw no sign of the monster. He made a break for it and ran up the stairs two at a time. He knew everything about escaping the mansion, and that was what had led him here. Glaring at the door before him, Takuro nodded vigorously.

If they jumped out of the small white door in this room, a bug would occur and reset the game. This was how he’d revived Mika, Takeshi, and Hiroshi after they’d died at the hands of the monster last time. He just had to do the same thing again, and everything would be solved. His father would be safe, too.

Opening the door to the attic, Takuro set foot inside. He planned on going immediately to the white door in the back, but he froze when he realized something was different from before. In the middle of the floor lay a man. He couldn’t see his face, but from his large frame and slicked back hair, Takuro knew instantly who it was.

“Dad...” he called out, but there was no response.

Takuro approached cautiously and touched his father’s neck. It was cold as ice and stiff as a board. And that was it; Takuro began to lose his cool.

He took a step back, gaining some distance, and then looked down at the man on the floor again. All Takuro had seen at first was the body, but he now realized it was lying in a pool of red blood. Looking even closer, he could see that there was a diagonal slash across his father’s brand-name suit from the waist to the shoulders. Soft, flabby pearls like globules of fat protruded from the gash.

Takuro’s face stiffened, and he took another step back. At some point, he must have stepped in the puddle of blood. The wet bottoms of his sneakers made a nasty squelching sound when he moved.

My father’s dead.

Wiping the soles of his shoes against the floor, Takuro gazed down numbly at the body. His heart was empty. He felt no grief over losing a parent, nor the pulsing pleasure he’d experienced after Naoki’s death. Only emptiness dominated his body.

Takuro knew better than anyone that he was cold. He’d always been sure that not even the death of his parents would shake him. And sure enough, he was calm beyond belief right now. But what he was feeling was a little different from what he’d vaguely imagined.

His breathing was labored. His eyes scanned the room. A large manila envelope and a black, leather-bound notebook were tossed atop the simple bed with a frame of bare metal piping. Trying his best not to look at the body, Takuro moved along the wall toward the bed.

A bloody handprint was on the manila envelope. The fat, stubby fingers looked like his father’s. He could imagine him, covered in blood as he refused to let go of the envelope. But what was in it? What had his father clung to even in his final moments? Takuro picked it up and looked inside.

It was filled with documents, pieces of paper with cramped print filling them from margin to margin. Takuro couldn’t understand the legal jargon, but he got the sense that it was the deed to the Jailhouse. How hilarious that his father had tried to protect the deed to the monster’s mansion as it killed him.

Returning the files to the envelope, Takuro smiled wryly.

I’m an idiot.

Albeit only for a moment, he’d thought it might have been a will or a collection of family photos. How foolish could he be? His father had only been thinking about business until the very end.

Of course, Takuro had no intention of criticizing him for that. He’d always dreamed of becoming a man like his father. Family bonds and feelings for others were of no use to him. In fact, they were only hindrances if he truly wanted to be successful like his father. And yet...

Shaking his head, he opened the notebook next. In it were multiple ideas for further expanding the company. It seemed his father jotted them down whenever something came to him. Scanning through it, most of its contents were just itemized lists and bullet points. It was hard to grasp the bigger picture.

But one section in particular stuck out to Takuro. It was a hastily scrawled mess in stark contrast to the rest of the fine, orderly pages. Takuro was sure it was his father’s handwriting. And he must have written it in quite a hurry, because it ignored the ruled lines in places and there was hardly any punctuation.

I think this is the end

Takuro gasped after reading the very first line. Could this be his will, scribbled out right before his death?

There’s a bloodthirsty beast in this place

A dog? Monkey? Bear?

No, it’s none of those

It’s something far more disgusting than anything I’ve ever seen before

It appeared out of nowhere in the entrance hall

The others abandoned me and ran

Funny, I still remember when they said they would die for me

But this is reality

I’m not disappointed

I was bitten in the stomach, but I somehow managed to fight it off and run here

I opened the white door looking for another way out, but there was nothing

The ground is a good ten meters below

I would certainly die if I jumped

The monster just jumped into the room

I thought it was the end, but for some reason it disappeared

I don’t understand

Is it playing with me?

I have been given one final chance

I have to tell someone I’m here

I’m going to drop this notebook out of the door here in the attic

I just hope someone will notice

I heard a scream from a lower floor

The sounds of breaking bones

The sounds of rending flesh

The others are likely dead now

It’s their fault for abandoning me

My stomach won’t stop bleeding

Sleepy...

Am I dying?

No...

I have so much left to do

Where is this devil?

If I could just find it...

I don’t want to die

Someone

Someone help

Help

His father’s message ended there.

Looking away from it, Takuro shifted his gaze to the open door. It was about two meters away from him. His father’s right arm was outstretched toward it. He must have run out of strength just as he tried to throw the notebook out the door.

As Takuro looked back down at his father lying at his feet, a burning pain flickered in his chest. Had his father always looked so helpless? Takuro shook his head. He didn’t want to see his father like this. It was just too pathetic. Betrayed by the subordinates he’d trusted, repeatedly uttering curses into the darkness as he died all alone...

Use any means necessary to win. Never show mercy to others. Takuro had learned those values from his father, and had always admired him for being so strong. It all seemed so stupid now.

It was fun to treat others like your pawns and to play life like you were in control. But in the end, it was a lonely game. When you truly needed help, there would be no one there to reach out and take your hand.

Takuro prayed over his father’s body, then walked past it toward the white door. Putting his hand on the wall, he gazed at the ground far below. If he jumped from here, the game should reset. He inched his right foot closer to the edge. Although he’d already done this once before, it was still really high. He couldn’t completely stifle the fear of what he was about to do.

Steeling himself, Takuro leaned forward just as lightning flashed through the sky. For a moment, it illuminated the whole yard. Some ten meters below on the ground lay a tall man in a gray uniform. His limbs were splayed around him at impossible angles, and something thick and white peeked out from his skull, cracked like an egg.

“Whoa!” Takuro yelped and jumped away from the door.

What... was that?

It was obvious. Judging from his clothes, it had to be the construction worker that had come to the Jailhouse with Takuro’s father. He must have jumped in an attempt to save himself while pushing Takuro’s dying father out of the way. But he too had met his end all the same. Probably on impact as soon as he hit the ground.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Takuro asked his father, who couldn’t possibly answer. “Shouldn’t everything have been solved once he jumped out the door?”

What now?

Running his fingers up through his messy hair, Takuro looked around. A business card case, a wallet, a key holder, a fountain pen, and a cellphone. His father’s belongings were scattered about his body.

He grabbed the cellphone first and checked the LCD screen. Upon spotting the symbol indicating that there was no cell service, Takuro’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. He looked around for anything else that might be of use and spotted a blue card underneath the bed. Stretching his arm out, he picked it up. On the opposite side of it were several fine grooves. Was it a card-shaped key of some kind? Perhaps he could use it to get into a different room somewhere.

Next, Takuro searched for a possible weapon. He stood up and went over to his father. Careful not to look at his face, he searched his pockets. His fingertips touched something cold. What was it? He retrieved it carefully, and recognized it when he saw it. It was the platinum lighter that his father always used. Perhaps it could serve as a weapon in a pinch.

“Father, I swear I won’t die a pathetic death like you,” Takuro said, slipping the lighter and card into his own pockets. “I’m not like you. I’ll escape this place alive.”

As Takuro issued those parting words, he took one last look at his father and quickly left the room.

3

S... sh.

She felt like she’d just had a terrible nightmare. Mika opened her eyes and looked around. She let out a complicated sigh that conveyed neither anxiety nor security.

She hoped it had all just been a dream. She imagined rays of light peeking through gaps in the curtain. The delicious smell of clam chowder wafting through the door. Heart, her pet cat, stretching out its front paws as it awoke from its slumber atop her pillow, as if to say good morning. Mika realized, all too late, that such a seemingly normal morning was the epitome of happiness.

“...Help me.”

The faintest cry escaped her throat. Even she had no idea who she was talking to. Sitting up, she leaned her back flat against the pink wall. Scared, she looked around. The room was quiet. She could sense no one other than herself. All she could hear was her own ragged breathing.

So... ...y... ...esh.

Next to a toy box overflowing with stuffed animals was a red lake of blood. She clasped her hands over her mouth in a gasp.

“What... is this?”

Tears suddenly began to fall from her eyes.

All that blood on the floor... came from me.

Her memories came flooding back to her, fresh and raw.

Mika had always had confidence in her speed, but the mansion was unlike the track in that she couldn’t keep running forever without stopping. There were twists and turns, stairs and dead ends. Upon reaching the third floor, she dashed into the first room she saw, locked it from the inside, and dove to hide in the shadow of the bed. Holding desperately on to her shaking knees, she covered her mouth and held her breath. She could hear creaking sounds coming from the hall.

It’s the blueberry monster. It must have followed me.

She looked up at the door in rapt horror. If it just continued on past, she’d be fine. But if the knob turned, she’d dart outside the moment the door opened.

It’ll be fine. It’ll work out.

She continued to tell herself that.

That monster probably isn’t very agile. Remember how it tripped on the stuffed bear and fell to the ground like an idiot? Its head is so big that it can’t keep its balance. I can move way faster than it can. I don’t have anything to be afraid of.

The monster’s footsteps grew louder. Swallowing her saliva, she waited to see what would happen.

In short-distance sprints, the start was the most important part. The runners who trained their senses to the limit so that they could respond the fastest to the starting pistol were the ones who won. Mika took a crouching position and concentrated all her focus on the doorknob before her. It had been half a year since she’d quit the track and field team, but she hadn’t lost her touch.

The footsteps stopped in front of the door. Tensing her quadriceps, Mika waited for the go sign. Time passed in silence. It only could have been a few seconds, yet a million things went through her mind. The track team she’d quit. Her parents who she was always so defiant with. Her classmates who always talked to her. Her cat, Heart. Takuro. She loved them all. And yet she’d never been able to honestly show it. She hated herself for that.

Mika decided then and there that if she got out of this alive, she’d be more straightforward. Crossing her heart, she glared at the doorknob. But then there were creaking footsteps in the hallway that moved away and faded into the distance. When silence fell once again, all the tension in Mika’s body drained instantly.

She heard the door to another room open, and there wasn’t a single sign of the monster after that. Mika let out a great sigh of relief. It must not have noticed her. But it was too early to feel safe. There was no telling when it would attack again. It was too dangerous to be alone. She needed to find Takuro as soon as possible.

Mika stood and, without making a sound, opened the door.

“No way...”

She could feel all the blood in her body run cold. The monster was standing right there.

It looked down at her, one side of its mouth curved up in a disturbing sneer. Had it tricked her into thinking it had gone into another room, and then snuck back here? Was it really that smart? Mika’s surprise slowed her reaction. Although, even if she’d moved immediately, the result would have likely been the same.

The monster, which she had assumed was too big and slow for its own good, shot out its right arm with shocking speed and sent Mika flying. She heard the snapping sound of her own ribs as she flew straight into the wall. The intense impact knocked the wind out of her.

Not good. It’s going to kill me if I don’t do something.

Mika tried to stand but, as if a nerve circuit had been broken somewhere in her body, her legs wouldn’t move. The monster approached, licking its lips repeatedly.

This is the end.

Mika said her prayers and closed her eyes... but nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes again to see the monster in front of her, chowing down on a reddish-brown piece of meat. She felt a hot liquid run along the floor underneath her. She looked down, thinking she had wet herself, but let out a voiceless scream at what she saw. She was lying in a pool of blood. And it was plain to see where it was coming from. Her legs were gone from the femur down, with blood pouring from the stumps like water from a garden hose.

“What... is this?”

Bone and muscle protruded from what was left of her lower body. A complex net of nerves and blood vessels was tangled beyond repair. It seemed she’d been right about her circuity, then. Something was very, very broken. No, it was just plain missing. She couldn’t feel any pain. Or was this a dream? That had to be it. It just had to be.

A shaded bulb hanging from the ceiling shone a bluish-white light over the room that made the monster’s slick body glimmer. Its muscular arms stretched out for Mika’s upper half next. Grabbing her shoulders, it twisted her arms in opposite directions as if wringing out a rag.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

Pain like she’d never felt before pierced her body. Blood mixed with shredded bits of flesh sprayed from her torn arms and splashed on her face.

“Owowowowowowowowwwww!”

She screamed with all her might. It did nothing to soothe the pain, but she couldn’t sit and do nothing. Sensing lethal danger, her body was pumping gallons of adrenaline through her system. Mika desperately tried to move. She finally understood why insects still struggled after they’d had their wings and legs ripped off. Even now, her very cells were stubbornly trying to survive.

I’d love to live if it were possible. But... it’s too late.

She could see Hiroshi standing in the doorway, but she hadn’t the strength to cry for help.

So... ry... ...ve... ...sh.

Shaking off the horrible memory of it all, Mika stared at her palm. She slowly moved her fingers. It felt normal. She reached up and hesitantly touched her shoulder, but found nothing amiss. There wasn’t even a scratch. Her legs were still there, too, despite what she’d seen to the contrary.

The ruins of a lampshade lay scattered about the center of the room. Had the monster knocked it down in its rampage?

...Huh?

Mika opened her eyes wide and looked around. Light from the hallway was peeking in through the gap in the door. There was no other light source in the room, yet she could see everything perfectly. She could even see the flecks of blood spattered on the bed and pieces of flesh on the carpet clear as day, as if she were wearing night vision goggles.

“What... happened to me?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks endlessly. But she wasn’t crying from the joy of finding herself alive. She was merely confused. What was going on?

She’d thought the monster attacking her had all been a dream. Yet the bright red blood all over the room told a different story—it was all real. Even the jacket and blouse she had on were stained. There was no denying what had happened.

No, we can think about the details later. First things first, I have to escape.

Mika wiped her tears away, took three deep breaths, and then firmly stood up. There was still some slight tingling numbness in the recesses of her mind, but everything else seemed normal.

It’s okay. I haven’t been broken yet.

Mika slapped her cheeks and focused on the door before her.

So... ry... ...ve... ...sh.

She raised an eyebrow. That thought had been echoing around in her head since she woke up. On some level, she realized it was a primal cry from her heart. The Mika inside her was desperately trying to tell her something, but there was another Mika telling her not to listen.

Suddenly, there were footsteps outside the door. Mika’s heart jumped.

The monster?

She bit her lower lip.

No more. I don’t want to feel that pain again.

She must have bit too hard, because the taste of blood spread through her mouth. The knob slowly turned. The door creaked open. Bright light flooded in from the hall, blinding her.

“Mika?”

It was Hiroshi. Mika sighed in relief.

“...You’re okay?”

Hiroshi looked at her in utter shock. It was rare for him to be so candid with his emotions, so seeing him expressive for a change surprised Mika.

“But when I saw you earlier...”

“I don’t get it either, honestly. But I feel like this has happened before somehow. You remember, don’t you?”

Not answering her question, Hiroshi replied, “There must be some kind of gaseous chemical in this mansion that causes hallucinations. There’s no other explanation.”

Of course. Well, that’s Hiroshi for you.

If what he said was true, it would just about explain the entirety of this unreal situation. They’d all heard the rumors of a man-eating monster living in the Jailhouse since they were kids. Whether they believed it or not, it must have affected them all in some way. In that case, it wasn’t strange to think they’d hallucinate about it if exposed to some unknown chemical while in the Jailhouse.

“Mika, we have to get out of here quickly.” Hiroshi said, extending his right hand to her.

“Oh... Yeah.”

How many years had it been since she’d held anyone other than Takuro’s hand? Slightly shy, she reached out to grab it. But then... A dark emotion that no words could describe began to form in the front of her mind.

Arrogance. Jealousy. Rage.

She began to feel inexplicable malice towards Hiroshi.

So... ...ngry... ...have... ...flesh.

The voice in her heart grew noticeably louder. A sudden, intense ringing in her ears scrambled her brains.

What? What’s wrong with me?

Mika quickly batted Hiroshi’s hand away, feeling as if she were about to be crushed by the weight of the terrible emotions that came over her.

“...Mika?” Hiroshi looked puzzled. “What is the matter? You look quite pale.”

His voice began morphing, low and alien-like, as if someone had slowed down a recording of him talking.

So hungry... have... flesh.

Mika felt awful. She curled up where she was and unloaded the contents of her stomach. Something round and sticky fell to the floor with the other goo coming from her mouth. It only took one look to realize it was a human eyeball.

What... is this?

Her consciousness quickly began to fade. She licked her lips repeatedly without meaning to. Her arms itched. The veins below her skin began twitching like they were living creatures. Her white skin turned blue before her eyes, disgusting fluids releasing from her pores.

What? What’s happening to my body?

She looked at herself in the mirror and screamed, practically shredding her vocal chords.

So hungry... Must have human flesh...

The blue monster that was Mika now howled.