The flashlight sputtered, casting the two men into short bursts of shadow and light. They could have been picked off, one by one by whatever had left a trail of blood and guts for them to follow. But between those moments, which dragged from seconds to minutes as the battery faltered; the only thing that the man with the human mask worried about was that he'd lose sight of the white rabbit.
If he couldn't follow it down the rabbit hole, who knew when he'd find him next. If he couldn't even catch a rabbit, then he'd be useless, and a useless pawn was a dead one. He himself would make sure of that.
"Looks like we're chasing a corpse huh?" The human mask smiled, leaning over to face the rabbit. They flinched, and he only smiled wider.
"Instead of a serial killer…this is more an animal, right? Or…they're making it look that way on purpose?"
The rabbit didn't respond, their sharp eyes narrowing at him, before glancing past the trees, where the trail dropped off into mountainous terrain. He followed that gaze, hitting his flashlight against a tree trunk until it shone strong enough to light the way.
"Past there? Not much to it, just some old shed by the cliffs, hard to get to, even harder to get back from…Hoh…that's a great spot, should have found it first!" He chuckled as he hopped over a row of barbed wire, watching the rabbit do the same. They had been quiet, too quiet, for the past ten minutes or so. From the rigid silhouette that stood against the washed out light, he could tell that something had changed.
This wasn't exactly a harmless rabbit; which was good, the Doctor had no use for harmless animals.
"Not much of a talker are ya? And here I thought you did magic with your words! Heh Heh!" He nudged the dangerous rabbit, who side-stepped away from him.
"Alright…keep your secrets, little rabbit." The mask's wooden lips curved dramatically downwards, creating an expression that was humanly impossible. It seems to phase the rabbit, so he let himself take pride in that.
"But I, Yusan, am an open book! And as your sunbae[1], I'll keep you somewhat safe! So don't worry and jump on down there! Heh Heh!" Yusan pointed the light to what appeared to be a hole in the ground, dark and bottomless. Of course, there was a bottom, it was only a ten foot drop to a lower area, the proper entrance to which had been lost to landslide and bombings.
He waited, very patiently for the rabbit to jump, but it didn't. They only paused and walked the other way, casually leaving him there.
Yusan couldn't believe it, not after all the effort he'd expended to make the rookie comfortable.
Worse yet was that they didn't run. What fun was it to catch a rabbit who didn't run?
"Oi, if you want to run again, try it. Properly." He grit out, grinding his molars. Before the rabbit got very far, his switchblade shot through the air, embedding itself in a tree by the rabbit's head.
It had scared the rookie, at least a little bit. A little bit of fear was always a good thing.
"Either you jump, or you run. Pick one."
The rabbit stood frozen where he was, his ears standing straight up as if listening for the slightest sign of a threat. Then he turned around, slowly.
"…Sorry, sunbea-nim." He said, finally.
"For what? I said pick one." Yusan stared him down, shining a metaphorical and physical spotlight on him.
He did not seem to like that.
"Hah. Right. I'll jump."
Yusan wasn't sure if the rabbit smiled, frowned or laughed, because even his mouth was no longer visible. There was only a foggy silhouette, clothes that seemed too small, and a rabbit mask. That was all.
"Good rabbit. Grab the knife and come here."
"Sure, sunbae-nim[2]."
"Just Yusan is fine! We'll be buddies soon, you know?" Yusan waved it off as the rabbit stepped close enough to hand him the switchblade. He pocketed it, then he pushed him down the hole.
"Heh! Watch your step!" He laughed, before following right after the white rabbit, down the rabbit hole.
***
Hajun only barely caught himself, avoiding the fate of falling off the side of a cliff for the second time. His hands and knees were scratched, but the smell of another's blood was too strong to focus on his own. It was pungent, fresh, and to the monsters that lurked here, it was delicious.
They're here.
I can smell it.
Fuck.
He didn't look back as his tormentor, and self proclaimed sunbae, senior coworker, landed next to him in a crouch. Hajun didn't wait for him to get up, speed walking through the narrow pathway carved into the side of a cliff. It wasn't evidence enough, but what he saw then did confirm something to him.
This place, whatever it was, was situated approximately where Ashford University should have been. Even from here, through the haze and fog, he could see glimpses of the port situated on the bay. It was all so much closer than he was used to. This wasn't the slums, it wasn't the overcrowded scraps that clung to the riverbed on the other side.
The shadows of ships, metallic and spewing smoke, brought a sense of reality crashing down on Hajun's lungs.
This is real.
It's not a dream.
I'm alive, and this is real.
It's real.
Suddenly, he found it hard to breathe.
This side wasn't where he belonged.
For a rat to walk into a cat's mouth is a stupid thing to do isn't it?
But he had to walk forward. He couldn't stop, because there was something hunting him.
Many somethings. Many faces.
[ They can smell the blood on you. But what they are…I can't understand. Turn back, look at them. I can only see what you see. If you look again, closely, I can help you. ]
Hajun stopped, for only a moment. He didn't want to listen to this demon. He didn't want to look back.
But he did.
The human faced mask smiled, the owner of it seeming pleased with himself. He thought himself to be the reason for Hajun's fear, that he was the predator, playing with something weaker than himself.
But he was wrong. He was also prey. To the blurred and gnashing faces that followed after them down the hole, to the blood that dripped down their chins as they ate the trail of evidence, the blood, the skin, the organs of the person that had screamed.
If what Yusan said was true, then it was a student that had died. They had been ripped apart and dragged down here, while Hajun had been lost to something that wasn't himself.
I'm not like them.
[ Oh but you might be? These creatures, I've never seen them, but they do share our hunger! Maybe it's a relative of ours? Haha! It'd be rude not to say hello! ]
No..!? I'm not greeting them??
I don't have relatives like that!!
"—Oi! Hey rabbit?? What're you staring at?? Get a move on!" Yusan pushed Hajun forward, frowning as he staggered and grasped the cliff wall.
His legs were shaking, and his vision was swimming, but he continued on. He walked forward, ignoring the faces that followed behind.
A few short stumbles, and scrambling up from a broken path later, they arrived at the shed. They knew the body was in there, because a smear of red painted the dirt leading up to it, and the side window, which had been shattered by a fallen rock, had a piece of intestine snagged on its glass.
Hajun was glad when Yusan shone the flashlight on it, because that made it harder to see the gory details. He wished that it would shine in his eyes and permanently blind him, just so he wouldn't have to see it again.
But that was melodramatic, because he needed his eyes to read. If he couldn't read, then he'd go insane.
Sleepless nights without books were torture.
But maybe it was too late now to worry about his sanity.
"Oi, rabbit. Come here."
Hajun winced when the light hit his face, moving out of the way and walking to the window where Yusan was. He stood an arm's length away, because he didn't know when he'd be pushed into trouble again.
"Hop in first, I'll stand guard here." The so-called senior offloaded his work casually, gesturing vaguely to the broken window.
"Ah…right." Hajun felt the trickle of cold sweat down his back, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
If I go in there, I'll die.
Having to experience the pain of death, only to wake up the next day and act like he was fine; he didn't want to do that again. He didn't think he could bear it.
"Here, almost forgot." Yusan rummaged through his pocket and handed him a small notepad and a pen. "Take some notes, the police will ask for it."
When Hajun stood there, staring at him in contempt, Yusan added "I'm not giving you the flashlight. It's almost morning anyway, you'll manage."
"…I didn't ask for it."
"You were asking with your eyes. Anyways, go on, hop hop."
I hope those demon faces fucking eat you—
What finally drove him to climb into the shed, was the monsters that had reached the blood by his feet. He couldn't stand there while those faces stretched their long necks forward from the dark depths of the woods above to feast.
Why can this lunatic not see it??
Why is it always just me??
Hajun panicked slightly as a face, which bore its bloodied fangs at him, rushed forward. He tumbled into the shed, accidentally cutting his hand on the jagged window glass.
"Argh—!" He hissed, clenching his fist to stop the blood flow. He knew, instinctively, that bleeding here was a bad idea. He knew, because blood was all that he could smell. It was all that he could think about.
"Bloody moons…!" He staggered back, covering his mouth to the mess of flesh and bone of a disemboweled human. From the window to the centre of the shed, where a body lay in a pool of its own blood and juices, their intestines stretched.
The stench of stomach acid leaking out and digesting its own body, it was putrid. Worse than being gassed, and worse than rotten, maggot infested trash; there was nothing quite as wrong as a human body rotting as you watched it.
He only moved from his stupor when he looked up at the window, watching the faces struggle to follow him inside. They seemed almost scared, shrinking away after a few weak attempts to get to the feast that lay inside.
"What…that…that's a good thing isn't it?" He laughed, weakly as he wiped at his mouth. Then his eyes flinched towards the body, who he'd been tasked with writing a scene report for. He wasn't experienced with such things.
What could he write as the cause of death? An unknown evil entity? Demon faces? A serial killer?
"Uff—" He coughed into his hand, feeling a sudden increase in air pressure. It was cold here, so very cold. It felt almost familiar, that coldness.
Victim is…male, early to mid twenties…? Short black hair…and…hah.
There was no face for him to describe, it was simply gone. He had no desire to look at or describe it any further.
Crime scene is a lone, inaccessible shed by the cliffs of Ashford University…victim was attacked in the nearby woods, and was visibly dragged into the shed.
Hajun paused, the pen stopping over the notepad as his eyes focused on a piece of paper, clutched in the victim's bloodied hand.
It was a distinct red colour, and it wasn't the blood at fault for that.
"Ah…is that…?" His eyes trembled slightly before he crouched and tugged the paper free of still warm fingers.
He unfolded it carefully, staring at an all too familiar symbol. It was the skull of a lamb, stamped in professional ink.
And on the other side, was a location.
"Ha…they're still doing this?"
Hajun knew what this was, because it was a common hazing tactic within Ashford. A calling card, sent from the university elites to those they deemed lesser.
If you were unlucky enough to receive the call of the sacrificial lamb, then university life would become a living hell for you. But even then, that hell didn't end in murder.
Suicide, yes, but not murder.
"This…doesn't make sense."
He pocketed the note, then ran a trembling hand through his hair. He couldn't focus. He couldn't think right, not here. Not with a corpse in front of him.
"It…can't be a human that did this."
"Was it those faces? But they can't…get in here. It wasn't them."
"I…don't understand."
"There's something else in here. What is it? Tell me."
[ Oh? You're asking me? ]
"…Yes."
[ Why should I answer huh? You rude twat? ]
"…I'll do something you want, just one thing. Later. Just ask for it later. I'll do it if you help me figure out what's in here."
[ Deal! Alright, well, you're right, it's certainly not human! ]
[ Now honour your deal! ]
"No. Your end of the deal's not complete, you bastard!" Hajun hissed, cursing himself for even bothering to ask. He stood, pacing around and looking through any nook and corner for any answer to his incoming mental breakdown.
All that he found was an old radio, a spilled bag of flour populated with maggots, some melted candles, and a wooden crate, which he couldn't pry open without a crowbar.
[ Hm, whatever it is, the source is in there. ] The demon spoke as his eyes lingered on the crate for a moment.
"So it's locked in there? Is it a cursed item? Is a demon linked to it? Confined in this space?"
[ Not exactly. Or maybe? Ah so many options! Oh but whatever this creature is, it's quite angry. I can smell the blood lust even from the distance. ]
"So it's…the demon isn't in here?"
[ Who said it was a demon? ]
"If I break the thing tying it to this place, then…"
[ Don't be moronic, touching something that contaminated would cripple a human body within seconds. I don't need another ■■■ latching on, there's quite enough competition as it is. ]
He ignored the demon and leaned down, grabbing a plank of wood to attempt prying it open, but startled away when a beam of light hit him square in the face. It didn't last long, but he had fallen over by then.
"Oi!? What's taking so long?? Suns almost up…!! Just get out here, we're going back!!"
It was Yusan, calling from outside the shed. For a moment, he was almost happy to hear that voice, but then he remembered that he was the lunatic that had pushed him into this mess in the first place.
"Wow, now that's a mess!" Yusan peered through the window, his mask twisted into a fascinated smirk. It was disgusting. How could someone smile at this?
"Oi, how about you make the blood disappear huh? Like you did before? Sure would save us a lot of trouble!"
When Hajun glared at him, his claws digging into the wooden plank as a threat, Yusan laughed.
"No? What? Don't wanna? Fine. Throw the body off the cliff then. Before it starts stinking up the place."
"That's…tampering with evidence."
"So? They're going to blame us anyway. I'd rather not trouble the Doctor right when he gets home." That human mask frowned.
"Doctor…hah."
Is that spider bastard the cult leader here? Why do all of these lunatics adhere to him?
Hajun took a shaky breath as he climbed out of the window and back into somewhat fresher air. There was a slight draft of wind, salty, fishy, but comforting as it swept through his hair.
"If we get rid of the body, and someone finds it, then we'll all become accomplices. At that point, our innocence won't matter."
Hajun turned to the frowning wooden face, then added "Dr. Kim will suffer the most, as your employer."
That seemed to give them pause, but Hajun was too preoccupied with the faces that hovered above him to notice.
"Pfft—! You think you're one special fucker, don't you?? Just wait, you'll remember what you're here for. Lab rat."
With those venomous words, Yusan turned and stormed away. Hajun only stood there, watching him. He didn't move, not an inch; because he was afraid.
"We're not actually related, are we?" He asked the faces, who stared at him, unblinking. If he stared back for long enough, he could start to see familiar eyes, familiar expressions.
But he didn't have to see them for much longer. As the sun rose behind him, filtering a weak light through the storm clouds, those faces began to fade. One moved forward, watching him the same way that he watched it. It tilted its head, then seemed to smile.
He knew that smile.
When it disappeared, leaving him alone on a cliff side once more, he sunk into a crouch, his hands clasped over his head.
For a while, he sat there in silence.
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[1] Sunbae: Upperclassmen or senior, in this case, Yusanis a coworker with more experience than Hajun.
[2] Nim: Korean honorific showing respect. It is usually attached after a name, an occupation or title.