Flashback – Edo Era
The lone samurai knelt in blood-soaked dirt, his cracked armor hanging in jagged pieces from his shoulders. A deep gash across his forehead bled freely, warm rivulets tracing paths down his face and neck. All around him lay the broken bodies of villagers and fellow warriors, their lifeless eyes staring into the smoke-filled sky. The air hung heavy with the metallic stench of death and the distant crackle of dying flames.
"Tsuma… forgive me," he whispered, voice cracking like dry leaves.
Behind him, something inhuman stirred in the deepening shadows—twisting, unnatural, *wrong*. Joints popped and sinew stretched in ways flesh was never meant to move. Before he could turn, the darkness surged forward and swallowed everything.
---
**Part 1 – The Police Station**
7:20 AM. Three days after the disappearance.
Kaiya, Yui, and Riko sat crammed together in the small holding cell. Riko had finally drifted into exhausted sleep on Kaiya's lap, her small face peaceful despite the nightmare they had barely escaped. Yui kept glaring at the officers beyond the bars, willing them to notice. Kaiya looked utterly drained, dark circles carved deep beneath his eyes like bruises from sleepless nights.
A police officer finally approached and unlocked the cell door with a heavy metallic clank that echoed down the corridor.
---
They were ushered into a sterile interrogation room. A bored-looking detective leaned back in his chair, sipping lukewarm coffee from a stained mug.
"So what were three kids doing breaking into the library at two in the morning?" he asked with a lazy smirk. "And don't tell me you wanted to read books." He chuckled at his own joke, the sound flat and humorless.
The three of them explained as calmly as they could: the old woman with the too-wide smile, the way her body had moved with grotesque, impossible speed, the security guard snapped in half like a dry branch.
The detective burst out laughing, the sound loud and dismissive in the small room.
"Monsters? Really?"
"We aren't lying," Yui snapped, leaning forward. "Do we look like we'd make up something like that? And for what?"
She jabbed a finger toward the hallway. "You didn't even check the library properly for the guard's body. I bet you didn't do your job at all."
"Please remain seated," the detective said flatly, his amusement gone.
Yui sat back, fuming in silence.
"There was no one there," he continued. "No blood. No body. Nothing. Just an empty building."
"That can't be right…" Yui muttered, voice tight.
Kaiya had remained quiet throughout, but his eyes suddenly locked onto a missing-person flyer lying on the detective's desk. The photo showed an older woman with kind, gentle eyes.
"That's her," he said quietly.
Both the detective and Yui turned.
"Who?" the detective asked.
"She's the one that attacked us," Yui said.
The detective raised an eyebrow. "She's been missing for two days. Her son reported it yesterday."
Kaiya and Yui exchanged a tense, knowing glance.
The detective sighed heavily and waved a hand. "Go home. And don't trespass again."
A police officer drove them back through the quiet morning streets in silence, occasionally glancing at the three children curiously through the rear-view mirror.
---
**Part 2 – At Kaiya's House**
Back in the familiar living room, the three kids sat together. Riko was half-asleep on the couch, curled up beneath a blanket like a small, exhausted animal.
"We can't do this alone anymore," Yui said firmly, arms crossed. "We need more people."
"What do you mean?" Kaiya asked.
"This is some deep shit going on. We need allies."
Kaiya pulled out his phone. "I'll call Ren and Mio."
Yui's expression darkened. "Not that bitch."
Kaiya remembered how Mio had thrown the same word at Yui the other day. It was Saturday, at least they were free.
---
**Part 3 – At School (Same Day)**
4:30 PM.
They gathered in an empty classroom after school hours. Ren crunched loudly on a bag of chips while Mio laughed and playfully punched Kaiya's shoulder. Yui sat apart from the group, irritation radiating from her like heat.
"I knew this wouldn't work," Yui muttered. "Calling them was a waste of time."
"Hey hey, lady—" Ren started.
"What do you mean by *waste of time*?" Mio asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.
"You heard me, bitch."
"Me? A bitch?"
The two girls nearly lunged at each other across the desks. Kaiya and Ren quickly stepped between them, pulling them apart. The room settled for a tense moment—until Mio couldn't resist one last jab.
"So you and Kaiya were alone at night? Interesting."
"It's not like that," Yui said coldly.
"Really? But you came to his house—"
"Mio. Stop," Kaiya cut in sharply.
The argument flared again. Ren just laughed under his breath. "Girls…"
At 5:35 PM, someone stood listening quietly outside the classroom door. Only their silhouette was visible against the fading afternoon light filtering through the hallway windows.
---
The figure slipped away without a sound.
(Later, they would learn it had been Marata.)
---
Meanwhile, Mio had stepped outside to cool off near the school pool. She spotted Hikaru Nakayama stretching by the water's edge, his athletic frame moving with easy grace. Her cheeks instantly flushed.
Hikaru noticed her and offered a kind smile. "Bad fight, huh?"
Mio looked embarrassed. "You heard that…?"
"Yeah."
"That loud, huh…"
"Wanna talk about it?"
She smiled a little, tension easing from her shoulders. "What are you even doing here on a Saturday?"
"I come here on weekends to stretch and relax."
They talked for a while. Mio was quietly surprised at how genuinely nice he seemed—nothing like the distant, idolized version the other girls whispered about.
---
Back inside, at 6:00 PM, Kaiya and Yui sat in the computer room, searching desperately for any trace of the dark-web video about the disappearances. Ren lounged on a nearby desk, eating yet another bag of snacks.
The screen suddenly glitched, pixels fracturing across the monitor.
"Come on, work!" Yui growled, smacking the side of the monitor.
Kaiya and Ren stared at her.
"Don't break it. You'll get us in trouble," Kaiya warned.
"Arrgh… fuck it."
Ren checked his phone. "Guys, it's 6:30. Let's just go home."
---
**The First Attack – 6:32 PM**
At the pool area, a loud *CRASH* echoed as something slammed violently into the metal ball racks, sending equipment scattering across the concrete.
Hikaru instantly stepped in front of Mio, shielding her with his body.
Two figures emerged from the deepening shadows: a man in a blood-soaked business suit and a woman in a torn nurse's uniform. Their faces were horribly distorted, dark veins bulging like black ropes beneath pale, stretched skin.
"What the fuck—" Mio gasped.
"Run, Mio!" Hikaru shouted.
They sprinted as the creatures gave chase, moving with terrifying, unnatural speed that defied human limits.
---
**School Blackout – 6:59 PM**
Back with Kaiya and Yui, every light in the building suddenly died. Computers powered down with dying whines. The hallways plunged into complete, suffocating darkness.
"Ehhhh… guys…?" Ren's voice trembled.
Kaiya quickly turned on his phone's flashlight, the beam cutting a narrow path through the gloom.
Something moved behind a desk.
A figure suddenly popped up—Marata.
Ren jumped. "You're sick! I'm gonna kill you!"
Kaiya felt that familiar sharp headache spike behind his eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came.
"I heard everything you said," Marata sneered. "You guys are sick. Sick in the head."
Before anyone could answer, a shadow shifted behind them.
Two more blood-covered figures appeared.
Now there were four of them.
---
"Not again—" Yui whispered.
"What the fuck is that!?" Ren cried.
"Guys, RUN!!" Kaiya shouted.
The creatures twisted their bodies at impossible angles, limbs bending wrong, reaching for them with clawed hands.
Kaiya grabbed Yui's hand and dragged Ren along. Marata screamed as the monsters closed in on him.
Their frantic footsteps echoed through the pitch-black hallways.
Meanwhile, outside in the courtyard, Mio and Hikaru were still running for their lives, the creatures gaining with every unnatural stride.
---
At the same exact moment, back at Kaiya's house…
Riko was alone.
She heard the front door slowly creak open.
To be continued…