Chapter 10 - Oni no Me Ni Mo Minokoshi

1

Shun left the hospital room after the nurse told him to go home. He was in a daze from the unexpected turn of events.

What in the world happened to Ms. Saya? Was it just an accident that she was bleeding from her stomach? Or...

His mind raced as he took the elevator down to the lobby. Anna was sitting on a bench there waiting for him.

“Anna...”

“Did you get to see the old lady?” she asked quietly as she got up and walked over to him.

“Yeah. But we didn’t exactly get a chance to talk...”

Shun then told her what had happened in Saya’s hospital room.

“Could it be...”

As he reached the end of his story, one of Anna’s flawless eyebrows arched sharply.

“Do you know something?” he asked, stepping closer.

“While I was waiting in the ER lobby for you, I suddenly couldn’t breathe. It’s a little creepy there with the dim, flickering lights and all... So I went outside to get some fresh air. I found myself staring into the sky, and I was a little surprised. Clouds are actually really pretty if you stop to take a good look at them... But then I heard a noise from the palliative care unit—this building—and when I turned around, I saw Naoki running out of the open door,” she said fearfully, pointing to the door ahead of them.

“Naoki? You mean the boy who died in the accident?”

She gave a small nod and continued, “I don’t think he’s given up on getting revenge on Takuro and Takeshi for killing him. He wants to see them fight for their lives against the Jailhouse monster. Maybe Ms. Saya, who might have known something about the monster, was a hindrance to him...”

“So, he attacked her?”

It wasn’t impossible.

“Where did he go?”

“I tried to give chase, but I lost sight of him.”

“I guess it’s no wonder I didn’t see you when I came in.”

“I’m sorry. You told me to wait in the lobby, but I ran off on my own anyway...”

Anna looked away, her eyes full of guilt. But perhaps it was for the best that they’d missed each other. She’d already had enough trauma for one night. Shun wanted to spare her from any unnecessary stress.

“Don’t worry about it. I should be the one apologizing to you for all this. After the scare you had...”

Shun lowered his head, took Anna by the hand, and led her outside. A warm wind stroked their cheeks.

“...What do we do now?” Anna asked, holding on to his hand tightly.

“Once I’ve walked you home, I’ll go back to the Jailhouse,” Shun replied, checking the sky for rain.

They needed to get moving, and soon. Ideally before it started to pour.

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“Huh? But...”

“I’m feeling fine now. And Naoki is sure to be there, too. Maybe he got some information from Ms. Saya. I’m the only one who can speak with him. So... don’t leave me behind.”

Anna was right. If Naoki had attacked Saya, it was very possible he had information they didn’t.

“Do you think... Ms. Saya will be okay?” Anna whispered, looking up at the light coming from a window in the palliative care unit.

A great wave of guilt washed over Shun. If he hadn’t thought to visit her, she probably would have been just fine. The nightmare Anna had gone through, the living hell Hiroshi and the others were experiencing right now with no end in sight... It was all his fault. Maybe it wasn’t the Jailhouse monster or Naoki that was the curse. Maybe it was him. The only thing that was keeping the self-reproach from crushing him right now was the warm feeling of Anna’s palm against his.

I have to stay strong.

He had to steel himself and keep his wits about him until Hiroshi and the others were safely out of the mansion.

“Oh. Isn’t that your mother, Shun?” Anna suddenly asked as she pointed up ahead.

“Huh? Where?”

It was too dark to see anything.

“...Shun?”

However, the voice that came from the darkness was unmistakably his mother’s. Hearing it, Shun panicked and let go of Anna’s hand.

“You little scamp. I was wondering where you had gotten off to,” said a second, unfamiliar voice—clearly not pleased.

Shun held his phone up, and the light revealed his mother standing next to a stern-faced policeman.

“Honestly... Can you not cause so much trouble for us adults? Kids these days...”

“Did you save Takuro and the others?” Shun asked, ignoring the lecture.

“No... not yet,” the officer answered guiltily. “Now that we suspect the killer is inside the mansion, we can’t just break down the door and bust in the place. But don’t worry. We called the fire department. They’re bringing a fire engine with a big ladder. We’ll use it to get in through the attic door, and the killer will be none the wiser. It’ll all be taken care of soon.”

“Officer, you came here in a patrol car, right? Could you please give us a ride to the Jailhouse?”

“No can do, kid. You know, I don’t understand you. How many times do I have to tell you to leave the rest to us?”

“But...”

Shun’s mother watched their exchange with a worried expression.

“I’ll give you a ride, all right? But not to the mansion. We’re going to the police station.”

Not understanding the officer, Shun cocked his head quizzically. The stern-faced man stared down at him as he began to explain, carefully and purposefully choosing his words.

“We just got a report from the hospital. A hospice patient was stabbed and killed.”

Shun could hear Anna gasp.

“You were there, weren’t you? The hospital said you checked in as her grandson, but she doesn’t have any kids. The hospital staff thinks you had something to do with it.”

“...”

“I doubt you stabbed her, but it doesn’t look good. We at least need to take you down to the station and get a statement from you.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now.”

“But...”

“If you resist, I’ll arrest you for obstruction. That’ll just make things even worse for you.”

Bringing my mom is just playing dirty...

Shun bit his lip. If he were there alone, he might have tried to run away again and make it to the Jailhouse on his own. But seeing the look of concern of his poor mother’s face, he couldn’t. He’d caused her so much grief since they’d moved to this town. He just couldn’t bring himself to add to that.

“I understand...” Shun nodded reluctantly.

“Give your phone to your mother. We’ll be taking your laptop for a bit, too. Those are the rules.”

Children had no power. Shun knew resisting would prove fruitless. He removed his shoulder bag and handed its contents over to the officer.

“I’ll tell you the truth of what I know. So...” Shun said, looking him straight in the eye. “Please save everyone. Please save my friends.”

The officer met his gaze and gave a strong nod in response.

I can trust him.

Shun felt a little better.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I’ve gotten you mixed up in a sticky situation.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Her smile made his chest ache a bit.

“Then let’s go.”

He clasped her small hand once more and slowly began following after the adults.

2

The moment they burst out of the dining room, freezing cold air enveloped them. Their breath turned to white vapor as it floated upward. Hiroshi began shivering uncontrollably. It seemed his cerebrum had immediately sent orders to his body to generate heat. The ambient temperature in the mansion was only continuing to drop.

The giant monster was caught at the door they’d just come out of, struggling to fit its massive figure through it. That was apparently enough to blow its rather short fuse. It let out a low growl and began tackling the door frame. The whole building shook terribly, sending a crumbling rain of white powder down from the ceiling. It was only a matter of time before the monster broke through the wall. They had to get as far away as possible while they still could.

“This way! Hurry!” Takuro shouted as he ran ahead.

He made a sharp left turn before the hole leading to the underground path and proceeded down a hall made of marble with Hiroshi not too far behind him. It was unsettling to head into unknown territory, but it was far too dangerous to backtrack into the pitch-dark underground path. The square sides of the hall surrounding them, however, felt like yet another tunnel. It was impossible to tell for sure from where they were, but it seemed this passageway also connected two buildings.

A great booming sound erupted from behind them as they ran. The clouds of dust that caught up to them made both boys cough, but they couldn’t afford to let it slow them down. Fighting for breath, Hiroshi focused only on chasing after Takuro.

The moment they exited the square tunnel, they realized they’d entered a mansion hall similar to the Jailhouse ones they’d been running through. Dim light illuminated the length of the passageway. The walls were splotchy in places. The refinement of the main building was certainly nowhere to be seen in this annex. The planks of the wooden floor even creaked as they ran across them, giving the place a rough, unfinished feel.

Creepy paintings lined the walls, each canvas filled with disturbing monsters. Reptilian limbs extended directly from their giant eyeballs. Their backs hosted what looked like bat wings. And beneath their unsettlingly shiny irises ran a single red crack that rows of fang-like objects were protruding from.

But they weren’t what the boys were concerned about. The giant blue monster chasing them was relentless in its pursuit. It showed no sign of tiring, and no sign of giving up any time soon. Takuro took a left and began ascending a set of stairs that spread out before them. Hiroshi followed suit. A continuation of the gallery of monster artwork accompanied them on their way up. Each was painted so realistically that it looked like the monsters might jump from their frames at any moment.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Takuro suddenly stopped. With the stairs at an end, they could go up no further. Their only options were the doors at either end of the hall to their left and right.

“What now?” Takuro’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the bottom of the staircase behind them. There was no time to hesitate.

“Let’s go.”

Hiroshi grabbed Takuro’s arm and twisted the closest doorknob.

3

Fortunately, it turned easily. The door opened, and they practically tumbled through it. What they found was a small tatami mat room just large enough for a bed and wardrobe. At first glance it appeared to be a bedroom, but the purple lighting made Hiroshi uneasy. There was some sort of scribbling on the innermost wall.

Locking the door from the inside, the two boys hid in the shadow of the bed. It was still cold. Hiroshi longed for the warmth of the fireplace. They’d run for so long, but his body was freezing. Heavy footsteps drew closer. Hiroshi could hear Takuro gulp as he crouched next to him. Then came a knocking at the door.

“...Takuro?”

It was Takeshi’s voice.

“You’re in there, aren’t you? Please, open up.”

Takuro looked at Hiroshi, who shook his head in return—a silent, urgent warning not to be fooled.

“Don’t leave me alone. Please!” The knocking persistently continued. “Mika’s here, too.”

Takuro’s expression changed in a flash. He went to stand, but Hiroshi quickly grabbed his shoulders and held him back. Takuro glared at him, but Hiroshi only shook his head more emphatically than before.

“...Are you not there?”

With that, the knocking stopped.

Has it given up?

Hiroshi stood up, careful not to make a sound, and snuck toward the door. He pressed his ear to the wood and listened for any movement on the other side. All he could hear was the sound of rain.

“Looks like we’re safe for now,” he whispered.

Takuro let out a great sigh and collapsed onto the bed.

“What the hell was that?” What happened to Takeshi?”

They were good questions.

“It is just as I explained earlier,” answered Hiroshi. “That was not Takeshi. That was the monster, morphed into a new form modeled after the DNA of its previous victim.”

“Layman’s terms, man. Are you saying it transformed into the person it ate?”

“In the most basic terms, yes, that is correct.”

“They couldn’t do that when we came here two weeks ago.”

“They must have gained the knowledge from this,” Hiroshi said, retrieving the tablet from his jacket pocket.

“Yeah, real funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Seriously? That’s pretty studious for a monster.”

“We should learn from it, actually.”

The corners of Takuro’s lips twisted upward as he chuckled. “You really are something, joking around at a time like this.”

“I assure you, I am not—”

“I get it, okay? The monster used the tablet to study and learned some magic trick to turn itself into a human. One ate a cowardly boy and became Takeshi. Another ate a cute girl and...” The smile faded from Takuro’s face. “Mika’s really gone, isn’t she?”

“Yes, I’m sorry to say.”

“Damn it! What the hell is this?” Unable to contain his emotions, Takuro slammed his fist into the bed. “Not even some snot-nosed kid would believe this crap. What’s going on? Have we lost our freaking minds?”

“Please calm down.”

Hiroshi put his hand on Takuro’s shoulder. He could feel the uncertainty through his palm.

“I understand how you feel, but try to stay calm for now. If you fall into despair, it is all over.”

“I know that.” Takuro put a hand to his chest and took a few deep breaths. “I’m all right now... Okay, so if we’re gonna do this rationally, first things first. Where are we? Are we still inside the Jailhouse?”

“Most likely,” Hiroshi replied simply. “If I were to put it in terms of Shun’s game, I would say this is possibly a detachment of the annex.”

“But this doesn’t match the layout of his game. He said he only added a few items to the entrance hall, so what is this place?”

“That... I do not know.”

“And what were those creepy paintings on the walls? More of the monster’s friends?”

“I don’t know that, either. Shall we investigate?”

Hiroshi pressed the tablet’s power button, but the screen didn’t light up. It had likely broken when he slammed into the dining room door.

“No good. It won’t turn on.” Hiroshi sighed and put away the tablet.

“So, what now?” Takuro’s voice was becoming shrill. “Now we can’t even rely on Shun for help. We definitely need that keycard to get out of here, but we couldn’t find the other piece Takeshi was supposed to have. If the monster ate it along with him, then we’re completely screwed.”

“No, I believe it still exists.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Takeshi was wearing the exact same clothes he was wearing before he died. It seems the monster copied everything about its ingested prey, organic and inorganic alike. As such, it should have replicated the keycard fragment along with Takeshi’s other possessions.”

“But he didn’t have it on him.”

“Perhaps, fearing we would steal it, he hid it somewhere?”

It was a very real possibility.

“I see... In that case, let’s go find it.” Takuro stood up and strode boldly toward the door.

“Wait, please. It’s dangerous to leave the room at present.” Hiroshi stood before the door, blocking Takuro’s path. “Unlike the mansion with its myriad of rooms, this building is rather small. If we encounter the monster again, where would we run? There are only so many rooms we can hide in. It’s too dangerous to explore this area willy-nilly.”

“Then what? Do we just stay in here forever?”

“There is one thing I’m curious about...” Hiroshi answered, stepping away from the door and approaching the innermost wall of the room.

He had no idea what the scribbles there meant. It looked as if someone had written across the entire wall with blue magic marker, then painted over the whole thing.

“What do you think this is?” Hiroshi asked, still studying the wall.

“Graffiti. Other than that, I can’t tell. In Shun’s game, there was a four-digit code hidden in something like that. Can you figure it out?”

“I doubt there is any meaning to the graffiti itself.” His hand on his chin, Hiroshi continued, “But I found myself thinking back to when we first entered this place. The floor below us seemed much bigger than this one.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“That there may be more to it. Perhaps another room beyond this wall.”

“But there’s no door.”

“This graffiti is a bit unnatural, no?” he said, pointing to a section of the wall.

The right-hand side of the chaotically scrawled scribbles stopped in a neat, straight line.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s like someone put wallpaper over top of—oh.” Takuro seemed to realize something midsentence.

“Indeed, it’s just like when we found the underground passage. Let’s try peeling the wallpaper back.”

Hiroshi took the sharp plate fragment from Takuro, pressed the point of it against the wall, and drew it down vertically. The sliced wallpaper revealed a door.

“Here we are.”

Hiroshi turned to Takuro with his discovery, but he didn’t look excited for some reason.

“What is the matter?”

“That door doesn’t have a knob. The one to this room looks like we could remove it and use it, but...” His face scrunched up like he’d just swallowed something bitter. “We’d need the screwdriver for that, and I can’t find it. I must have dropped it when the monster attacked us in the entrance hall.”

“Perhaps there is something else we can use instead.”

Hiroshi approached the wardrobe and opened the door, but it was empty. Even looking around the room together, neither he nor Takuro could find anything to work as a replacement screwdriver. Hiroshi tried manually getting the doorknob off the door to the room, but the screws were too tightly nestled in the plate to budge.

“There was another room opposite this one, correct? We should investigate there.”

“I thought you said not to leave the room.”

“The situation has changed.”

Hiroshi’s answer made Takuro grin slightly.

“I thought you were all about logic, but you’re surprisingly rash at times.”

“Humans are very hard to understand creatures,” Hiroshi said as he opened the door and left.

“You’re surprisingly rash at times.”

What Takuro said echoed in Hiroshi’s head. They certainly weren’t words of praise, but a warm feeling rose up in his chest nevertheless.