Volume 5 - CH 4.2

After closing the door, Shizuki tottered down the dark hallway.

She looked blankly around the corridor where Shirayuki once drew tigers to life. Her hand, wrapped in a leather glove, looked ghastly.

I should take her outside. There were no stupid rules this time around.

“Shizuki-san,” I called softly. “Let’s get out of here. You look tired. You should go home for now.”

Shizuki shook her head. “I can’t find what I’m looking for. I really, really need it. I don’t care what happens to me. Please… Please look for it. It’s supposed to be somewhere in this building. If I don’t find it… If I don’t find it, I…”

She raised her head, turning it smoothly. She looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’m going to die.”

Her eyes were bloodshot, the pupils quivering. There was madness in them.

Clear insanity. I knew that look all too well.

Broken people had eyes like this.

I could not take Shizuki outside, or she would die immediately.

“Please… look for it. Let’s go.”

She resumed walking, pulling on my hand. I racked my brains hard.

Was granting her wish the objective of this game?

I found it hard to believe that the words Yuri left behind had anything to do with this thing she was looking for.

Who killed Cock Robin?

Who was the robin?

Shizuki grabbed the doorknob of the next room. The lock was broken, so the door opened easily.

A putrid stench drifted from inside. I squinted.

Deep in the darkness, I saw someone lying on the floor.

The large room was filled with office desks and chairs. A woman was lying face-up on the floor next to a steel shelf. Silvery moonlight pouring in through the window illuminated her figure. I approached her cautiously.

The pale light revealed marks of livor mortis on her cold skin. Her eyes were closed. Her stylish dress looked like mourning attire.

Moonlight touched the glamorous fabric. It was torn vertically from the middle, revealing dull skin that was similarly torn.

Yellowish fat and darkened matter were exposed to the air. Her belly, forcibly ripped open, was stuffed with something, then stitched back up roughly. The wound had swollen into the shape of a pear.

A baby had been shoved inside.

Dull glass eyes were looking at me from between the threads.

A baby doll. Its bloody hair was stuck to its forehead. Though made of plastic, its red-stained figure gave it a grisly appearance.

Round fingers resembling maggots peeked through the cracks in the belly. They looked like they would move at any moment.

The woman’s face was at peace, but her stomach looked gruesome.

What the hell was this?

I swallowed and took a step away from the grotesque corpse. Shizuki let go of my hand. She walked toward the body and crouched down beside it, extending her arm.

“Those idiots had it coming,” she mumbled. “That’s why I…”

My ears caught an odd sound, like something was being pulled out of a body.

I quickly crouched down beside Shizuki. Her right hand was grasping a thick, bloody thread, twisting it. She was about to open the corpse’s belly.

Her eyes darted from left to right, searching the stomach.

“It’s in here… Here somewhere… Inside here…”

I grabbed her hand to stop her. Shizuki’s right hand was glistening with blood and bodily fluids, and pieces of flesh were buried in her nails. Her fingertips were still wriggling like the legs of a bug.

“Stop! What you’re looking for is not inside,” I declared, despite having no proof.

“It’s here… It’s here…”

Shizuke froze. Losing interest in the corpse, she stood up and staggered toward the office desks.

Blam!

She pulled the drawer out. When she saw that it was empty, she put her hand on the next drawer. One by one she pulled the drawers open. And I just watched her maniacal behavior.

What exactly was she looking for? There was no trace of the girl who drove Tsubaki and Ruiko to death, pushed Kotori to insanity. Shizuki was utterly broken.

After throwing the last drawer, Shizuki sank on the floor. She looked up at the ceiling, tears streaming down her face.

“It’s not here,” she sobbed. “It’s not here…” She rubbed her eyes as she continued to cry.

I sat down beside her. “Shizuki-san, please calm down and listen. What are you looking for?” I rubbed her back repeatedly.

Shizuki lifted her head, coughing. Drool dribbled down her chin.

“I need it… I don’t want to lose it… Please… Please find it… I can’t find it on my own…”

I could only think of one thing that would upset her this much.

Saori’s fingers.

Did Yuri hide them? Were Saori’s fingers somewhere in this building?

Would finding them calm Shizuki down?

“Why… Why? Those idiots killed her… So I… took her fingers… Why…”

Shizuki stood up and pulled my hand again. Concluding that what she was looking for was not in this room, she headed back outside.

As the door creaked open, there came a gleeful voice. I looked over my shoulder fearfully.

I saw the dead woman in the distance, her figure a shadow in the moonlight.

Her belly squirmed.

Pop.

I heard something.

Pop. Pop.

It was the sound of thread snapping. A round hand slowly reached out from within. A frozen fist opened, joints creaking.

A round head peeked out. Glass eyes stared at us.

I pulled Shizuki’s hand and started running.

The door slammed shut. I could hear squelching. It crawled toward the door at breakneck speed. We hurried down the hallway before it could come out. I heard the sound of the door opening behind us, followed by a bang on the wall. It seemed to have wandered off course.

What is that thing?

“What about the thing I’m looking for?” Shizuki asked.

“Not now!” I told her.

I had no idea what that thing was. But I was sure that it was better to stay away from it. The moving doll that possessed the voice of a baby was clearly a monster.

Her words played back in my mind.

“I’m a monster. I must give birth to a monster.”

The doll crawling behind us was a monster.

Was it related to the cat in any way?

I headed for the stairs, pulling on Shizuki’s hand. We had to get away from the doll.

“Why won’t you look for it?” Shizuki suddenly whined. “Please! Please look for it!”

But I didn’t respond. I put my hand on the railing.

Shizuki’s voice intensified. “Are you just like them? Just as useless as those idiots?!” she barked. “Then die! Go to hell! Those girls were a bunch of idiots, morons, buffoons! That’s why Saori… Why? Why isn’t it here?!”

Her voice turned sorrowful. Sobbing like a child, she kept spitting curses.

I dragged Shizuki with me up the stairs.

“It’s those idiots’ fault!” Shizuki cursed. “It’s their fault, so why am I the one suffering? I’m the only one who grieved for her… This is not right. They should’ve died. All of them. They killed Saori, so they should go to hell!” Her voice dropped low. “Die, die, die, die, they should all die.”

“In that case, you have to die too,” said an endearing voice.

I stopped halfway up the stairs. At the top of the staircase sat a white silhouette, wearing my jacket over her thin negligee.

Her white figure stood out in stark contrast against the darkness. She gave Shizuki a cold, steely gaze.

I watched her vacantly. She gave a slight nod at me.

“Kotori-san?”

“Um, Odagiri-san, right? I heard in the car that Shizuki was here, and I couldn’t sit still. Sorry,” she apologized.

The moment she turned to Shizuki, however, her expression changed. Quiet anger flickered over her youthful visage. She gave Shizuki a condescending look.

The doll was down there. We had to run upstairs. And yet, I couldn’t move. A knot formed in my gut. The person before us was Kotori, but for some reason, I was frozen.

I couldn’t go back down. But I couldn’t go up either.

“I finally got it. I finally understood,” Kotori said. “You never told me to die. Which means you should be the one to die.”

Kotori stood up. Her long hair cascaded down. Her small body was oozing an indescribable intensity. Her bare feet tapped on the stairs. She didn’t even feel the cold.

She looked completely different from the Kotori I saw before. Fierce rage burned in her.

Shizuki’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

“Playing dumb, are we? It’s me. Kotori. Drop the act, Shizuki. I thought it couldn’t be. But I was wrong. Your wanting Saori’s corpse could only mean one thing.”

Her feet softly thudded down the stairs. Mouthing cryptic words, Kotori slowly came closer. I moved Shizuki behind me.

“Kotori-san,” I said. “Please stop. Shizuki-san’s mental state is currently unstable. Please, calm down.”

“I know that! But I… I have to remind her.”

Kotori took a deep breath. Then she smiled.

A ferocious smile appeared in the darkness.

“You were the one who killed Saori.”