Chapter 3 The Knock That Shouldn’t Have Been

Knock, knock.

…. .

No response…

"Oh. "

Well, maybe he should've rang the doorbell first, he thought.

Ding-Dong~

The cutesy sounding doorbell rang and Issei waited patiently for someone to eventually answer the door.

But it was odd. It seemed a bit too easy to hear the doorbell from his side of the door, didn't it? It wasn't a loud doorbell, so for it to be so clearly audible to him was off-putting.

That only meant that the house was eerily quiet.

Not to mention, the lack of an answer. Could no one have been home? No, that couldn't be.

All of the lights in the house were clearly on. As a matter of fact, there was even some light peering through the door frame.

Issei pushed the door a bit.

The door creaked open. No, in fact, it was already left cracked open just a bit.

. .

. .

Realizing this, another bundle of fear began to swell within Issei.

He wanted to go home. He did, but.

. .

"something" urged him forward… Right now, it felt like his being was comprised of two clashing "personalities. " One was telling him that this place was dangerous, the other was telling him he needed to check inside….

Was it possibly because…there might've been someone in there. .

?

Was it his "instincts" telling him these things?

It certainly didn't sound like anyone was in the house. So, why does he get the feeling that there is someone? And why does he feel like that same "thing" from earlier, was telling him the exact opposite; 'don't go inside'?

…. His better judgment would've been to listen to whatever was telling him otherwise and back away.

Walk home.

But… If there was someone in there, then…. .

why does it feel like Issei shouldn't abandon them in here either?

Creak. .

.

Issei finally decided to open the door entirely. He didn't announce his presence.

A wise decision, unbeknownst to him.

The lights were on, just like he thought. The first thing he noticed was the staircase, presumably leading up to the bedrooms.

To his left, he saw a living room. It was empty, but other than that, everything seemed relatively normal.

The TV was also left on, playing some random talk show.

Meow~!

". .

Ah!"

A cat scurried past Issei's legs, running straight out of the doorway with no hesitation. It almost appeared to be running from something.

Well, if the family was home, then he might as well apologize for letting their cat escape.

The next room was to his right. It was a kitchen that—

"—Onii-chan?"

Issei froze.

…. There was a little girl standing there.

She was standing near a kitchen table, staring right back at Issei with an emotionless expression.

She was a small girl, probably around 4 years old, with blue eyes, a brown haired bob cut, and wearing a large pink shirt that basically went down over her knees. But most of all—

—She was drenched in blood.

[—?!]

Issei approached the little girl without hesitation, despite his overwhelming sense of fear. Every part of him was screaming at him to run out, yet he didn't.

". .

Onii-chan?"

The girl said it again and stared blankly at him. Her eyes were empty and dull, like that of a dead fish.

Her expression was hollow and aside from her head, she didn't bother to move. She had her arms hanging down loosely at her sides, with a rabbit plushie in her right hand.

Issei's mind was racing now.

Why was this girl covered in blood? Where is her family? Where are her parents? There was nothing in the kitchen that indicated anything bad occurred. Everything around them appeared spotless, aside from the girl's bloody footsteps leading into the kitchen from a separate hall.

What on earth could have happened that could bathe her in this much blood—

Thump, thump. .

The sound of heavy footsteps brought Issei's mind to a halt. .

. Coming from the left of Issei, where another door was leading into the back section of the house.

It was the same area that the girl's footsteps led into from. Meanwhile, the entrance which Issei came through was behind him.

For some reason, he had the feeling that he needed to be ready to run for his life.

That reason was. .

Creak. .

.

". .

Eh?"

A tall creature with an elongated body of black, leathery skin— no eyes and no mouth— ducked its head under the doorway it entered from. And in the grasp of its elongated, three-pronged claws - was a severed woman's head.

[!?—?!]

Issei grabbed the girl and ran outside of the house without thinking.

KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

A blood curdling, ear piercing scream was let out from behind him. It undoubtedly belonged to the monster.

'It screamed and even though it had no mouth!?'

The sound of glass breaking, originating from the house. The loud thud that followed after indicated the beast's escape from the house and into the street, where it brought itself up.

And although Issei saw none of it happen and continued running, he knew exactly what was happening.

—It's going to chase after them.

KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!

In a second, it was above them. It was running and jumping across rooftops with little difficulty.

No matter where Issei took a turn, the beast jumped to an adjacent rooftop and effectively caught up.

Only Issei's fear ridden mind ran faster than the monster itself.

'Run faster! Faster, faster, faster, faster! FASTER!'

Issei was running with all of his might, but along with the girl's weight and his previous sprinting, he was already at a phyiscal disadvantage. It's hard enough carrying another child when you're a child yourself.

—No. In reality, that didn't matter.

This monster was certainly faster either way.

A monster. A real monster.

Issei questions whether this creature was at the park before or not? Is that what was following Issei originally? If that was the case, why didn't it get him right away?

'No! Wait! If it's the one from the park. .

! T-Then, maybe I can outrun hi—!'