The maze of alleyways, a product of haphazard urban sprawl, felt like a labyrinth designed to trap the unwary. I ran blindly, no longer certain of my own direction.
Finally, my lungs began to burn, and my breath came in ragged stabs. I ducked behind the corner of a building, checking to see if that monster was still on my tail.
The timing of the dusk was a small mercy. Above the desolate concrete wasteland, the sky had begun to bleed a sallow orange. The tint was deeper to my left—the west. At the very least, I knew my orientation.
But that was all I knew.
This was entirely unfamiliar territory. Even if I managed to break out of these backstreets, I had no idea where I would emerge. I considered asking a passerby for directions, but then I looked at myself.
"…In this state, I'd be lucky if a 'valiant, model citizen' didn't tackle me to the ground first."
I stared down at my wrists with a look of pure loathing. The handcuffs were the ultimate badge of a criminal. I could try to claim they were some kind of sick toy, but…
The cuffs weren't the only problem. My face and clothes were a nightmare. To say I was "bloody" was an understatement; I was utterly 𝘥renched in it. The gore on my face came from the gash on my forehead, but my clothes were soaked in the viscera of the younger officer—the remains I'd had to climb over to escape the wreckage.
"If only I could reach Hitokawa…"
But the Ghoul had my phone. It was a new model, too. Damn him.
I could try to find a CCG branch and ask for protection, but that plan was dead in the water without a map or a working knowledge of the area. Truthfully, my priority wasn't escaping or even getting revenge on that monster.
"Eto…"
I was terrified for her. She had felt responsible for my downward spiral and had left the house to scavenge for food herself. I prayed that she had failed. I didn't want her to be hurt.
Yet, if she had succeeded—if she had witnessed death for the first time, or felt the literal weight of it on her skin—the trauma would surely leave a jagged scar on her fragile, immature heart.
I had to get back to her. But not like this. I wasn't even sure I could survive the next hour. If I died here, Eto would be…
Die… Eto… I… die…
"…Ugh!!"
My torso buckled as if someone had slammed a sledgehammer into the back of my skull.
It felt as though hundreds of snakes were writhing in my stomach, trying to tear through my abdominal wall to reach my throat. My limbs shook with an uncontrollable, electric tremor, and my vision blurred until I could no longer tell up from down.
Now that the immediate life-or-death chase had paused, the reality of my situation finally crashed down on me. The Ghoul hunting me, the murder I'd witnessed, the literal scent of death clinging to my skin… like a child throwing a violent tantrum, my mind recoiled from it all. My body followed suit.
𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬.
This one was more violent than any I had ever experienced. It was so intense I feared my own heart would give out before the Ghoul even found me. To have an attack now, when a predator could be lurking around any corner, was the ultimate death sentence.
I fumbled for the breast pocket of my jacket, searching for my medication. But…
"It's gone…?!"
The bottle was missing.
Memory flashed back to the police car flipping, the violent rolling and tumbling. It must have fallen out then.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!"
I hissed a string of curses through grit teeth, forcing myself to stand. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for the attack to subside. If I didn't suppress this with medicine, the seizures would keep coming, pinning me down until I was slaughtered.
I had to get home. I had spare pills on the shelf. If I didn't deal with this panic first, I wouldn't even be able to think of a plan to deal with that Ghoul.
Moving with the desperate energy of a man trying to outrun reality, I stumbled toward the end of the alley. I could see the main road, the flash of passing cars.
And there—the only lifeline left to me.
"Not many customers today…"
The taxi driver leaned back in his seat and sighed at the darkening sky. He'd only had three fares all day, and all of them were short trips. At this rate, he wouldn't even cover the cost of gas, let alone a birthday present for his daughter.
He offered a silent prayer to the heavens. I don't care if it's a human, a Ghoul, or a ghost, he thought. Just give me a customer.
As if the heavens had been listening, the sound of the rear door opening clicked through the cabin.
"Welcome—!"
The driver's professional smile froze on his face. He had a customer, alright. But he was far from "normal."
The man was caked in blood—a sight far too gruesome to be some eccentric fashion choice. His forehead was split open, he was hyperventilating, drenched in a cold sweat, and shaking with an ominous tremor. But the finishing touch—the crown jewel of red flags—was the pair of handcuffs binding his wrists.
The driver instantly regretted his prayer.
"Mister…"
"Y-Yes! At your service!" the driver stammered, his posture snapping to attention out of pure terror.
"Pick one. Do you want to chat about why I look like this? Or do you want to take every cent in my wallet and drive like a maniac to the ○★◇ Villas?"
"..."
The silence was brief; the action was swift.
The driver slammed the car into gear and tore down the road as if he were competing in a grand prix. To him, it didn't matter if the passenger was a human, a Ghoul, or a ghost—as long as they paid, they were a customer.
I shoved every bill in my wallet into the driver's hand, leaving myself with only a few coins, and stumbled out of the taxi. I told him I wasn't a suspicious person and begged him not to report me, but I highly doubted he'd listen. Not that it mattered much now.
"𝘩𝘢𝘩… 𝘩𝘢𝘩…"
I leaned against the wall, dragging myself into the elevator and finally reaching my front door. My hands were shaking so violently that I fumbled the key several times before finally managing to unlock it.
The apartment was silent. Eto hadn't returned yet. I felt a wave of crushing worry for her, yet a twisted sense of relief that she didn't have to see me like this.
𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘥!!
I collapsed in the entryway, not even bothering to take off my shoes. The safety of "home" caused my exhaustion to hit me like a tidal wave. The panic attack seemed to be receding, but it still held my body in a relentless grip.
I crawled across the floor, leaving a smear of wet blood behind me, toward the shelf where I kept my medicine.
Trying to reach up for the bottle was an agonizing ordeal. In my desperation, I swiped at the shelf, sending everything clattering to the floor, but I finally felt the plastic bottle in my hand.
I shook out two anti-anxiety pills and tossed them into my mouth. Without water, they caught in my throat, forcing a dry, painful cough. I swallowed hard, forcing them down.
"Haa… haa… whew…"
I sprawled out on the floor, waiting for my breath to steady.
Gradually, the seizure began to fade. Perhaps it was the sedative effect, but even the throbbing pain from my wounds seemed to dull. Once I regained control of my motor skills, I crawled to the toolbox and found a length of wire.
I wasn't a locksmith, but after a frantic struggle of twisting and poking at the mechanisms, the handcuffs finally clicked open.
I threw the steel restraints aside, walked into the shower fully clothed, and let the water wash away the blood and grime. Once out, I stripped off the ruined clothes and grabbed the first aid kit. I poured disinfectant over my forehead—a stinging bite of fire—and patched it with gauze and white tape. I ignored the minor scrapes. I didn't have time for a full recovery.
That Ghoul would come for me. I possessed information far too dangerous for him to let me live.
I changed into clean clothes and went straight for the landline. I racked my brain for Hitokawa's number—the one I'd saved in my phone and rarely bothered to memorize.
"3478… no, was it 9?"
Uncertain, I pressed the digits. I held the receiver to my ear, listening to the dial tone.
𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨… 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨… 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬.
"…?"
What happened? The dial tone had been steady, then it just… died. I hung up and picked it back up, but there was nothing. Not even a hum.
"What's going on?"
I needed to reach Hitokawa, and now the phone was broken? A malfunction? No. The timing was too perfect.
I prayed that I was just being paranoid, but the universe was done being merciful.
𝘛𝘢𝘱.
The sound of a heavy, blunt weight landing.
The front door? No. It came from the other side. The balcony.
There was no logical way for anyone to climb up to a fifth-floor balcony. Yet, there he was, perched on the railing… the blood-stained police officer.
𝘏𝘦~ 𝘭𝘭𝘰~?
The murderous Ghoul in the police costume mouthed the words with a sickening grin.