Terror

“No, it can’t be. No. No. No.”

I couldn’t think about anything I could do to help her. Why was she suddenly so vulnerable?

“It’s… It’s ruined. It’s way too early. He should have suffered more. Way more. He ruined it all.”

It’s as if I was looking at a toddler throwing a tantrum, the only difference being the obvious age gap, and the deadly consequences of taking a single wrong step. Instead of trying to defuse this minefield, I instead decided to wait out the storm. Maybe she’d recover by herself.

“No!” she wailed. It seemed like the tears wouldn’t stop coming out.

“Is there nobody left? Please someone, anyone. Help us. Help my parents! Hello? Anyone? Why is nobody there? Where is everyone?”

The longer I observed her situation, the clearer it got. At least it seemed familiar. She was probably losing control right now.

“Help me,” she screamed. “HELP ME!”

I feared there was nobody who could help her, or even attempt to snap her out of it.

Should I help her? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive toward my goals? Could now be my chance? No. She could still snap back any moment, I’m sure.

“Laura…” she whimpered. “Please… touch me. I will make sure your death is swift.”

I crawled towards her and embraced the crying mess in front of me fully. I even brushed through her hair. Even though my body temperature stabilized, I didn’t feel the endless aching all over my body. Instead, I got even warmer throughout my entire body. It felt as if I was embraced from the inside.

Matsumoto pressed her head against my chest and continued crying.

“Thank you…” she whispered, in the softest tone she had used so far.

She curled up a bit more, almost catlike, as her fingers slowly interlocked with mine. I considered pushing her away right then, but didn’t.

Instead, I reclined to the ground, still tightly embracing her.

A few minutes later, she had mysteriously fallen asleep, still in my arms. Yuri would probably genuinely be furious if she saw this.

I would have stood up and maybe even considered carrying her to the car, but my legs just couldn’t anymore. I simply resigned myself to nature, as the soothing warmth within me gently rocked me to sleep.

I woke up in complete darkness. I could barely breathe, and every breath I drew stung deep inside my chest. The air was thick and heavy. A faint scream rippled through me.

Where am I? This isn’t the forest. It’s somewhere else entirely. Am I stuck here?

I struggled around, slowly pushing the layer of soil above me away. Finally, I could breathe again. It was still night, wherever I was.

The scream became much clearer. Someone was clearly crying for help.

I stumbled toward the noise, only to find a little girl cowering above a pile of dirt and rubble before her.

“Please help me. They’re down there, I just know it.” The girl yelped. Her white summer dress was completely soiled in mud, her hands burrowed deep within the pile before her, desperately scraping away at the dirt below her.

All around me I could feel the same sensation as the first time I lost control of myself. They’re most likely dead, but I couldn’t bear to tell that small bundle of hope kneeling before me.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

“I’m Takako. Will you help me, miss? Please help me.”

“I think you should take a break, Takako. I’m sure you’ve been at it for more than long enough by now. I’ll take over for you, so don’t worry. I’ll help you.”

Her shattered face broke out into a genuine smile.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

She tried standing up, but slipped on the muddy ground below her, breaking out in tears.

“It hurts. It hurts so much.” Her face was covered in mud.

I reached out for her hands, covered in blood from the countless cuts and tears, with small pieces of glass sticking out of her hand’s surface.

I pressed her tightly against me chest, gently brushing through her hair. I could imagine exactly how she must have felt in that moment, empty of all hope and filled with despair, no help in sight.

“You’ll be fine,” I whispered, a few tears welling up in my eyes. This entire thing was just horrific.

A warm, soothing feeling ripped me out of it.

I awoke still in the forest, laying on the cold, hard ground. Matsumoto clung to me like a child would to their mother.

That girl seemed quite familiar.

“No, don’t go!” she whispered, still sound asleep. Her arms slightly tightened around me.

What should I do now? Is she going to kill me when she wakes up? Was that her just now? Can I really put here through that if it was? Something’s definitely wrong with her.

I still didn’t dare try and wake her, fearing of terrible repercussions. The aches throughout my body had mysteriously subsided over the night, though. The feeling inside my legs had even returned. There wasn’t even a hint of pain within my entire body.

Could it be? Did my wounds just heal? Otherwise I’m pretty sure I would have just bled out in the forest, so it must be. I feel way better than I did ever since all of this started. Maybe I can finally walk on stable legs again, if she ever unhands me, that is. I’m sure I wouldn’t end up as gracefully as that puddle of blood before us if I move around too much.

So, I waited. At least her body was barely keeping me from freezing in the chilly morning air.

If she’s such a high-ranking officer, then why isn’t there anyone looking for her by now? Are they scared of her, too? How is she not cold I that dress? I’m almost freezing over here. Then again, I guess I’ve become accustomed to being cold the last two days. Why am I feeling so calm right now though? I can’t even think about crying.

Without any further warning, Matsumoto’s arm slipped away from below me. She just woke up, but her face looked utterly disturbed. She barely managed to hold herself up with her right arm, staring at me with eyes filled with a mix of embarrassment and disgust. Suddenly, she began slightly blushing.

I was certain she had just gotten off from an entire rollercoaster of emotions, unsure what to think of me after what happened not only yesterday evening, but also presumably at night.

“Hey… you’re quite the sound sleeper.” I tried lightening the mood any way I could. “Anyway… back then, was that you?”

“Back when? Wait. No… you couldn’t have been. That’s simply impossible. What did you do? How?” She seemed to have found a fitting emotion to display on her face, that being utter disgust. “I don’t need your pity, if that’s what you’re thinking about right now.”

“No, I know. That wasn’t what I was trying to do at all. So that really was you? What happened? I can only make assumptions, but maybe you want to tell me yourself? I mean, you quite literally hugged me through the night, so there has to something I can do, is there not?”

“It was a landslide. I don’t remember when exactly, but everyone died. Except for me, as evidenced by me being here right now. If you tell another soul about what happened here, I will tear you limb from limb, just so you know. And I’ll make certain that you’ll survive.”

Her mood immediately shifted after muttering those words.

“Thank you… for all of that. But you know I won’t kill you right away, don’t you? I couldn’t have held myself together without you. I suppose you still have a purpose to fulfill for me, let me put it like that. I’m sorry, but I can’t help it. I promise to end you when the time is ripe. Her left hand briefly twitched, trying to reach out for mine, before quickly grasping the white fabric of her dress again.

In the distance, I heard multiple cars approaching.

“They’re fashionably late, as always,” she chuckled, brushing off the few specks of dirt caught on her dress. When her hand stroked over the small burn mark, she slightly teared up.

Multiple heavily armed men ran towards us.

“Miss Matsumoto, are you alright?” The all froze in place when seeing the damage to her dress.

“We… We’ll have it fixed by tomorrow, Miss,” a slight uneasiness came through his voice, even while wearing a mask.

None of them dared to step any closer than they already stood.

“At ease, men. I have important business to attend to. Don’t worry about the dress, I’ll fix it myself.” She seemed back to her previous, cold self.

As she walked towards the car we came with, she quickly glanced behind her. I hurried to the car right afterwards.