Right behind you

Yota grabbed a frying pan from the dying section of the sink. His T-shirt chafed uncomfortably against his shoulder but there was no time to run it under water. Getting a scar was the least of his worries.

“Stay back!” he screamed, holding his throat for a second and waving the pan at the monster as it turned towards him again.

Hikari had filled up several more mugs and a smaller ceramic bowl with water but Yota knew he had neither the speed nor the steadiness to use any of them. The monster laughed, the sound alternating between high and low pitches, all eight of its eyes wide. As if it knew he couldn't get away. As if it knew he would try to fight back and fail.

As if it had been waiting to torment like this for years.

Hikari was taking too long. The air in his lungs seemed too hot. Both his feet and hands hadn't stopped quivering since the first scream and the ability to form slid thoughts seemed to be leaving his head. It might have been better to wait for Hikari to come back. Or wait for the monster to attack so he had time to think of a way to defend himself.

But then the monster pointed at him as it continued to laugh.

And he remembered every cruel whisper in the school classrooms and corridors about his dad being a murderer. Every sympathetic glance he received in the park from mothers who sounded like they pitied his own. Every single time Hikari and her family did thing something to cover for him or make things easier for him to manage. Everyone he looked in the mirror and saw traces of both the man who had destroyed his life and the woman who hadn't stayed alive long enough for his sake.

He ran towards it, swinging the medium-sized black frying pan from side to side like someone frantically trying to drive bees away from a flowerbed. He aimed for the space right in front of the monster each time and its flames flickered with each deliberate attack.

It wasn't enough to stop the monster from weaving around his temporary weapon and trying to latch onto his back. Yota remembered how impressed his basketball coach had been with his footwork during the first club try-outs. In the limited space of the stranger's kitchen, he tapped into the old skill that had earned him a place in the club, and ultimately a permanent spot on the court, once again.

He side-stepped and dodged the monster in an adrenaline fuelled dance, wielding the pan with every ounce of fury and fear he could command.

“Stay. The. Hell. Away. From. Me!” he said, swinging the pan with each word.

But the fire monster's laughter only grew louder, its mouth and eyes curved mockingly in different direction, as though it knew he was seeing a new person from his past with every blow he couldn't land. As though it were waiting for –

The pan slipped from his hands, sweat betraying his grip on the handle, and he gasped at it crashed into several bowls and plates by the sink. The entity's multi-coloured eyes widened and Yota fell back against the wall with the kitchen door to his right.

If he ran, he could possibly make it out of the apartment. But the monster could also slam into him the second he turned his back and the thought kept him pinned in place. Even though he knew that if he stayed where he currently was, he was sure to burn.

It released a triumphant cackle and levitated higher before diving towards him. Yota turned to the doorway where Hikari was standing with the fire extinguisher pointed at them. He remembered seeing the same expression when she had trained for a tournament at the end of her high school days, her eyes as steady as her hands, her mouth fixed into a faintly puckered line. She sprayed the monster and didn't stop even when she stepped aside to let him go past her.

“Go down,” she said tightly. “I'll be right behind you.”

After spending roughly five minutes alone with the monster, Yota knew he would die before he let her experience the same thing. So he half ran and half tripped into the bathroom, yanking the shower arm off the wall and checking just how far its hose could stretch. As soon as Hikari drew level with the door, he darted back to turn the shower on and aimed the head at the monster as it slowly floated into sight.

The water pressure wasn't the best but it was enough to douse the entity that had already been coated in dry powder and stop it from moving completely.

“Let's go!” exclaimed Hikari, keeping a hold of the extinguisher as they hurried out of the apartment and down to the seventh floor.

When he looked back, the fire monster made no move to follow them. If anything, it almost looked like it had disappeared into thin air. As if it hadn't been there in the first place. Hikari held out her arm to stop him from leaving the last step. Her fingers brushed against his left shoulder and he muffled his pain with the back of his fist.

“Sorry I took so long,” she murmured as she scanned the corridor. “The stupid thing got stuck so I had to – what happened to your shoulder?”

“It grabbed me,” he said without meaning to, adding hastily in response to her stricken expression. “But I put out the flames quickly. Don't worry.”

“What? How did it get into the kitchen in the first place?” She placed her hand on his shoulder blade and leaned forward to get a better look at the wound through the browned section of his T-shirt.

“It was fast,” he mumbled, torn between the desire to relax into her touch and shrug her hand off.

“We should look for a first aid kit,” she said, alighting on the seventh floor only after it had remained empty for a few minutes. “Or at least get something cold to put on it.”

“No.” He gripped her arm, fingers locked around her wrist and elbow, one eye squeezed shut. “We'll just be wasting time.”

“What do you mean wasting time?” she hissed indignantly. “If we don't treat it fast –”

“If we di- don't get out of here soon, it won't matter,” he said, pulling her closer to the next flight of stairs.

“Yota –” She shook her head doubtfully as she looked down at him.

“It's okay,” he said but his teeth were chattering, his face was probably red, and he had a feeling his hands were cold now as well. “Let's just keep going, okay?”

Her eyes barely left him as he led her down to the sixth floor which, fortunately, was also clear. His clothing felt like it was sticking to his shoulder but he couldn't afford to draw her attention to it any more.

“It's probably a good thing we haven't seen anyone else,” she said under her breath as they headed down to the fifth floor.

Right on cue, a sudden wail stiffened both of their knees. It was distinct and heart-breaking in the silence. The fluctuating cry of an abandoned infant.

“Is that a baby?” she wondered aloud, creeping back up to the sixth floor and angling her head as if doing so would help her locate it faster.

“Wait.” He held her back. “What if it's not?”

“But what if it is?” An unfamiliar iciness that made him question his own purpose passed behind her stare. “We can't just leave it there without checking, Yota.”

“I – I know but –”

But they were only three more flights of stairs and a corridor away from the elevator that would take them to the ground floor and he couldn't stand the unending waves of terror that he had been battered with for the last couple of hours. Surely the emergency services could pick up the baby on their way to rescue Juri once they arrived. There was no need to risk their lives and delay their calls for help.

“I won't be long,” said Hikari. “You can wait here if you want.”

As if she honestly thought he would consider it. His bones were pillars of salt and a single unshed tear threatened to destroy him from the inside out. He followed her back up the steps and over to the door of apartment number fifty two. The baby's cries loudened and Hikari adjusted her grip on the fire extinguisher so that it's nozzle was pointed at the wood.

She nodded at the door knob and Yota glanced both ways as he dried his palms on his shoulders. He turned the handle and she kicked the door open, poised to start spraying at the slightest hint of a threat. The baby stopped crying and Yota's stomach curled in on itself.

“We should go now,” he told her, covering his mouth.

“We will,” she replied, taking a step into the apartment as she tried to scan as much of its interior as possible. “Let me just –”

Something small and purple dropped from the ceiling, landing across her shoulders with a wail. She turned abruptly as if she had expected to find his hands on her, her mouth opening in shock when she didn't. Yota jerked back instantly and a headache spilled across his brain as the creature captured his friend's searching hand with a long, wet tentacle.

Right before it opened its mouth and sank its jagged teeth into the back of Hikari's neck.