Kaoru could hear the herd of footsteps stampede the wooden floor. The laughter of his band mates rang behind the sliding door. Die was the first to open the bamboo doors.
He sung in a teasing voice. “Lea—der-san!”
Toshiya plopped a plastic bag chock full of souvenirs as promised onto the low table. A Cheburashka keychain rolled out.
“Wait. That’s mine,” said Shinya. He quickly snatched it from the table.
“For the record, there were no chili peppers,” said Die. “Even though I do want to have some spicy food today.”
“Kaoru, what’s wrong?” asked Toshiya.
Being the first one to sense the graveness of expression, Toshiya knelt down to ground level where Kaoru sat cross-legged.
“I’m afraid I’m the bearer of bad news.”
Kaoru spent an hour explaining the visions he and Kyo had witnessed.
“Things just get stranger and stranger,” said Toshiya.
“There’s no point in looking into these visions. So far they only show bits and pieces of Mavros’ thoughts. Plus they already happened so far,” said Die.
“The problem now is how to interpret these bits and pieces in time. Don’t forget that our lives are still on the line,” said Kaoru. “It’s not just past memories that I saw. There were also warnings and cryptic messages. Not to mention that dream from last night.”
“Dream? What dream?” asked Die.
“That’s right. I didn’t tell you guys yet,” said Kaoru.
“Why didn’t tell us before?” said Toshiya anxiously.
“I didn’t want to ruin your day out. It would have killed the mood,” said Kaoru.
“So while we were out, you were mulling on some serious crap. Not cool, man,” said Die. “You should have told us.”
“I appreciate the sentiment. What’s important is that we get a headstart,” said Kaoru.
“I’m too tired to function now. We’ll deal with it tomorrow,” said Die.
*****
“Wake up, sleepy head.” Shinya jabbed the pile of blankets.
A lazy groan came from under the comforter.
“Breakfast is going to be here soon,” said Shinya.
The blankets only moved slightly.
“He’s not moving,” Shinya said to Kaoru.
“Genma’s pretty late today. He said he would be here by now,” said Kaoru. “He’s giving you a chance to get ready.”
“Leave me alone,” said the muffled voice.
“This should do the trick.”
Toshiya forcefully pulled the comforter away from the futon exposing Die. He laid curled to the side and let out a yelp.
“It’s cold! Give me back my blanket!” he said.
“Get up already,” said Toshiya.
Late, but as promised, a hearty breakfast was served. Die came out of the bathroom brushing his hair. He tossed the hairbrush on the dresser and took his seat.
“Where are we going today?” asked Die.
“I don’t know,” said Toshiya glancing at the rest of the group.
“I think I’ll walk around the neighborhood,” said Kaoru.
“So the old man’s finally going to leave his cave,” teased Die.
“I’ll go with you,” Shinya volunteered.
“But before I go explore, I need to go to the convenience store first,” said Kaoru.
“Wait in the lobby for us?” said Toshiya.
Down in the lobby, Shinya played with the maneki neko by the front desk. He lightly pulled the spring coiled arm with his index finger and watched it rebound. The cat’s arm continuously pawed at the empty air.
“What’s taking him so long to buy a pack of cigarettes?” said Die.
“Maybe he can’t find his favorite brand,” suggested Toshiya.
“If he quit like the rest of us we wouldn’t have to wait,” said Die.
“The man runs on nicotine like a car runs on gasoline,” said Toshiya.
“I can’t afford to wait for him forever,” Die grumbled.
Suddenly, a draft entered the room. Shinya stopped paying attention to the maneki neko and turned to the door. It had not budged and Kaoru had not walked in. The room temperature dropped rapidly losing all warmth it had before. Everyone’s breath became visible and the chills were snaking down their backs.
“Kyo,” said Die in surprise.
Shinya turned to see that the front desk was now occupied by a silent friend. Kyo looked more translucent than usual, almost like ice. His stern complexion was paler and stiffer.
“Kaoru’s in danger, You must go now,” said Kyo.
His body disappeared and reappeared again at the entrance. He glided through the closed door. Very quickly everyone followed suit.
Upon reaching the outdoors, Kyo had disappeared.
“Over there!”
Toshiya pointed at the broken tall grass. Kyo stood among the dried grass facing them and pointed to the black mountains behind him.
“Follow the trail,” he said and disappeared.
“What trail!” shouted Die.
“This trail,” said Shinya.
He swept back the tall grass revealing drops of blood.
“He couldn’t have gone far. We can still catch up,” said Toshiya.
Tracking the smeared blood on plants and trampled dirt, the trail had led them to the foot of the mountain. The inn was far from visible. The blood trail was leading up the jagged steps into the dark trees.
“I don’t like this, but what choice do I have,” said Die.
Together the three trekked up the mountain. The path was difficult to maneuver through as the little pebbles and rocks were in the way. They walked past old wrangling trees with branches that twisted with each other. Only the sound of crunching leaves accompanied their ears.
The blood was growing increasingly apparent. It was splattered on trunks as if someone had thrown a body against it. The snapped twigs and bent grass presented an even clearer direction. The group quickened their pace. Shinya lagged behind to look at his phone.
“Hurry up, Shinya!” said Die. “Now’s not the time to check Instagram.”
“I wanted to call the police, but there’s no signal in the mountains. It will take forever to search the mountains alone,” explained Shinya.
“It’s too late to go back and call. We need more manpower here. We are dealing with Mavros after all,” said Toshiya.
Die stopped so abruptly that Toshiya and Shinya had almost run into him. The trail had led them to the mangled corpse of a mountain dog.
“What’s going on here,” Die said in disbelief.
Further from the corpse was a large circle drawn in more blood with strange symbols drawn in the dirt. They heard a rustle from the bushes. Immediately everyone’s eyes were alerted with attention. No movement came afterwards leaving the group anxious. Then slowly Kyo emerged from the dark trees. He walked through the ritual circle disrupting the writing on the ground and closer to the group.
“Kyo, where’s Kaoru?” asked Toshiya.
Kyo remained silent studying the three of them.
“Kyo, I’m asking you. Where is Kaoru?” Toshiya repeated.
He took a few steps forward until he felt Die’s hand fiercely gripping his biceps, constricting his blood flow. Shinya took notice and stepped backwards. He pointed at the sunken dirt.
“Spirits don’t make footsteps,” said Die.
Kyo opened his mouth disclosing his teeth, now sharp and craggier than before, and let out an inhuman snarl.
“Run!” Die screams.
Without further ado, the group was escaping the ritual circle. Shinya was the furthest ahead. He knew deep down that the Kyo that stood before him was not Kyo. It was an image meant to deceive. He could hear the heavy panting of a beast coming from behind him. Why did it have to be him? Die and Toshiya were frantically running beside Shinya never looking back. Tree after tree, they continued to run and Kyo continued to pursue without rest. Just then they saw Kyo zip past the both of them and hurled himself onto Shinya. The minute Kyo pummeled Shinya to the ground, they started tumbling downward and disappeared over the ledge.
“Shinya!” Die and Toshiya shouted.
Tripping over the ledge, the both of them fell and also began tumbling down the steep mountain. The twigs and stones did not make the journey any more comfortable.
Kyo latched himself onto Shinya by digging his sharp nails into Shinya’s skin. Despite being smaller in size, his strength was like that of a gargantuan fiend. Shinya jabbed his elbow into Kyo’s abdomen. It was like using a stuffed animal to retaliate against a heavyweight champion. Seeing that it had no effect, Shinya threw himself down the slope hoping that gravity would shake Kyo off. Finally, he slammed Kyo onto a slab of rock. Kyo’s claws had torn off a huge portion of Shinya’s coat leaving his shoulder bare with lacerations and blood. Clutching the stinging wound, he stumbled backwards away from Kyo.
Sliding down the mountain, Die and Toshiya made their way to Shinya. Die rushed over and pulled Shinya up to his feet while Toshiya picked up a thick tree branch from the ground. Kyo licks the blood off his hands and shifts his gaze from Shinya to Die. In a flash, he disappeared and reappears in front of Die. Die could feel his heart skip a beat. The sound of fabric tearing and blood wetting the dry leaves stained the air. Kyo had drawn his nails across Die’s chest severing even his clunky silver chain.
Die stumbles off balance for a few steps. He dug his heel deep into the hard ground and threw a punch at Kyo’s face. The wound from his chest stung greatly and provoked more blood to wet the ground. Kyo only let out a snarl and dug his fangs into Die’s neck. Die swerves his body to pull Kyo off. Just then a loud whack hit Kyo’s back. The tree branch snaps in half leaving woody fibers at its end. Kyo releases his fangs from Die’s neck drawing a bit of blood. He turns to face Toshiya who drops the stubby remains of a tree branch. Kyo made a high jump and buried his fangs into Toshiya’s neck instead. Toshiya let out an agonizing cry. In a fury, he drove himself into a nearby tree. Kyo finally let go, but ripped a chunk of flesh off Toshiya’s neck. The blood overflowed from the gaping wound. Toshiya quickly covered it with his hand.
A tree branch now stood out from Kyo’s chest where his heart once belonged. Kyo squirmed from his position as the tree branch pierced through his body. The squishing sound of blood and flesh oozed from the struggle of being pinned two feet from the ground.
“Here take this,” said Die handing Toshiya torn strips of cloth from what remained from his wardrobe.
“What about you? And Shinya?” said Toshiya.
“It hasn’t gotten too deep. Nevermind us. You got the neck. That’s too close to the jugular,” said Die.
The three musicians stare in disbelief at Kyo.
“What is he?” said Die. “How can you not die from that?”
Kyo let out a shrill screech followed by a growl.
“Is he even Kyo?” said Toshiya. “I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.”
“We gotta get out of here. We’ve been played,” said Die.
Kyo slowly squirmed out of the tree branch through his chest.
“We need to go quick or else,” said Shinya.
He took a look at Toshiya. The blood had drenched the rags around his neck.
Just then, the sound of a snapping twig brought everyone’s attention to a stranger in the forest. Kyo’s heavy panting wove into the background as the hooded stranger strided towards the group. The black hood reached the ground just short of showing a pair of pointy, leather boots. The skeletal hands under the wide sleeves slowly lifted the hood showing a face all too familiar.
*****
BGM: Reiketsu Nariseba by Dir en grey
Nothing good lasts for long when you have a cold blooded serial killer on your tail. I don't think I can catch a breath like that. If you enjoyed this bone chilling chase, leave a vote and a comment below.
