Your Answer

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

The sound was coming from the entrance.

I'm sure of it, whatever It was, whatever I summoned it was there.

The hour was late and nothing would stir at this time, nothing good at least.

Was this all really happening?

Maybe all this was, was a horrid dream and anytime now I would wake up to find Kuro sleeping beside me.

The thought gave me hope and pinching myself gave a momentary pause to the madness.

Foolishly I hoped it had worked, after all, the knocking had stopped. In that case what happened wouldn't be real and if it wasn't real then that would also mean I'm not a monster.

But it's real isn't it? The sort of thing I had always assumed was faked for internet clout was in fact real! Getting caught up in this madness made me overlook a simple fact.

Whether I remember or not, I'd done something irreversible.

 *Knock* 

 *Knock*

  *Knock*

There it was again, no doubt our "guest" was getting agitated.

I slowly moved towards the door doing my best to not make any sounds

There was only one thing left to do

Taking my time to look through the peep hole would tell me all I would need to know

There will be no one there I'm sure. I'm just loosing it! it's all a hallucination!

Peering through the peep revealed something I didn't expect in my wildest imagination.

Nothing.

There was no one outside.

How can this be? I swore I heard knocking.

My curiosity got the best of me and my hand instinctively grasped the door handle.

Only to abruptly stop all movement, terror gripped my very being

Even before this maddening situation the outside world was always full of terror for me. Betrayal, expectation, hatred. If I opened this door people would think I was crazy, they would no doubt hate me, stigmatize me, lock me up and throw away the key!

I hate "meat space" the most, it's terrifying even without some conjured creature that now inhabits it.

My mind knows to open it, to dowse my fears. To pursue peace of mind.

But my heart and the terror it feels betrays me. 

I can't do it! 

I can't explain the feeling, I can't explain the reasoning.

I Just can't! I'm a coward I know, I get it! but I can't!

Releasing the grip of the door handle my body crumpled down to my knees while the feeling of catharsis flooded through me. As I began to breath a sigh of relief

Is it wrong that I cherish this feeling the most? to run away from ones problems.

It's alright, I'll just check the peep hole again. There's no need to verify otherwise.

Peering through the peep hole once more to reveal once more what I expected to be on the other side.

It was once again nothing yet not in the same way.

Just pitch blackness, no view of the lower floors and apartments, no street lamps or signs of life that I previously beheld.

Slowly the curtains unveiled the darkness and the peep picture was given clearer focus.

An singular glowing yellow eye looking back at me, piercing and unblinking as if it could perceive past not just the darkness but it's gaze could also see into my soul.

A gaze so vile, I could feel crawling all over my skin. 

So violating the gaze, I forced my body into motion to be ripped from it's fixation.

I don't know how, but I knew it had seen me.

"How boring, how long are you going to keep me waiting Nori?"

My blood ran cold, my palms began sweating profusely and my heart began to race.

The voice didn't come from outside as I would expect. Instinctively I had moved in the direction of where I thought the voice came from only to be greeted by another eye.

The first eye's twin fixated it's gaze on me from within the shadows of the living room.

It drew closer, creeping it's way towards me and before long it spoke again.

"It's rude to keep a lady waiting yknow!"

Through the slits of light coming in from the window, illuminated the invader hidden in the shadows. 

In stunned silence I fell on my backside trying to back create distance between us, only for my back to hit a wall. I was paralyzed, a deer in front of headlights about to meet it's end.

There was no escape, I was at the mercy of this creature. 

The invader looked to be a adult woman in her prime, Hooves in place of feet along with fur covering the lower half of her body. Her chest area was bare revealing all, her hair black and long and silky which ran down to her breasts protecting her modesty. 

Her skin was deathly pale which made her glowing yellow cat like eye even more pronounced, the other a socket without it's twin. The lips to which she spoke those words, a sanguine red which looked small on her eerily large mouth almost spanning ear to ear. Alarming of all were the ram like horns protruding from both sides of her head.  

"T..T..Take whatever you want! just don't hurt me!" I said, with as much courage as I could pluck up.

"Anything I want? well then, I'll help myself to your soul!" 

She said, her voice sultry though sounded to be a mix of multiple foreign accents, shifting with every word. 

My body tensed then surprisingly relaxed, I had lost Kuro so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to go to with him.

Catching the acceptance in my eyes she spoke once more.

"It was just a joke, yknow to lighten the mood?"

While she said this the other eye began floating, visibly phasing through the peep hole in the door. It continued only to be pinched in between two of her fingers, brought to her mouth which opened in response to show multiple sets of shark like teeth and an elongated pink tongue then beginning to lick the eye before finally ingesting it. Reappearing in the empty eye socket and joined her other eye's fixation on me.

A...joke? hahaha of course!

Nothing makes sense to me anymore. There's only one viable explanation

I've lost my mind.

"Who are you? what do you want from me!?!?" I courageously said though the courage now tinged with hysteria. 

She went quiet for a moment then pointed a elongated finger at me displaying her claw like sharp red nails.

"That hurts Nori! I thought we were already acquainted! after all..." 

Her mouth widened fully opening as she continued.

"The blood on your hands brought me here! gegegegege!"

There was no way refute her, the silver bullet to kill any lingering hope I had left.

"To think the one I came here for would be so...

PATHETIC! 

gegegegege!"

Her mocking tone only added salt into the wound. Her mocking face broke just as quickly as it appeared, her tone abruptly became cold and matter of fact.

 "Listen closely Nori! The cardinal rule of the cosmos is this:

Nothing is gained that which hasn't sacrificed first.

Now I offer you the chance to sacrifice and in doing so obtain your hearts true desire

What is your answer?"