A Fridge Full of secrets

I bolted back to my apartment, the door slamming behind me as I leaned against it, gasping for breath. Lulu barked frantically, circling me as if he could sense my terror. I fumbled to lock the door, sliding the deadbolt into place, my hands shaking so hard I almost dropped my keys.

Everything felt wrong. Maiko—sweet, eccentric Maiko—wasn’t just a quirky girl with bad habits. No, this was something darker, something terrifying. I collapsed against the door, staring at the ceiling, trying to make sense of what I’d seen.

I thought she was just obsessive, maybe a little crazy. But this? A fridge full of body parts? She was dangerous. Really dangerous.

Lulu whimpered and pressed his little body against mine. I rubbed his fur absently, trying to calm both of us. “Yeah, buddy. I’m scared too.”

I couldn’t ignore the signs any longer. The clingy behavior, the obsessive need to be around me, the way she’d laughed off showing me a refrigerator filled with dismembered limbs—it wasn’t just weird. It was something way beyond that. Something horrifying.

But how the hell was I going to deal with it?

Locking Her Out

I forced myself to stand, double-checking every lock on the door. I even dragged a chair in front of it. Lulu followed me nervously, watching as if he could sense I was trying to keep someone—or something—out.

My phone buzzed from the counter, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I grabbed it, the screen lighting up with a message from Maiko.

“Goodnight, Kazu! 😘 Sleep tight, and don’t worry—I’m right here if you need me!”

Jesus Christ.

I dropped the phone onto the counter, my hands shaking. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Should I call the cops? But what could I say? “Hey, officer, my neighbor’s a little clingy and maybe has body parts in her fridge”? That wouldn’t fly. And if Maiko found out I’d gone to the police…

No, I couldn’t risk it.

I had to play it cool. Act like nothing was wrong. The less she suspected, the safer I’d be. But I couldn’t just sit here. I needed leverage—something to use against her.

The Plan to Investigate

If I wanted to figure out what the hell was going on, I needed more information. And that meant I had to go back into her apartment.

The thought made my stomach churn, but I couldn’t ignore the signs anymore. She wasn’t just your average stalker. There had to be something deeper, something far worse. And if I didn’t act soon, I might end up in her fridge next.

Grabbing my Swiss army knife from the drawer, I held it in my trembling hands. It wasn’t much, but it was something. If things got bad, I’d at least have a weapon.

“Lulu, stay here, buddy,” I whispered, scratching his ears. “Guard the place.”

He whimpered in response, his big eyes watching me as I opened the door.

The hallway was empty, thank god. I crept across to Maiko’s apartment, my heart pounding in my ears. Her door, as always, was unlocked.

Why the hell is her door always unlocked?

Back Inside the Nightmare

I slipped into Maiko’s apartment, immediately hit by the overwhelming stench of rotting food and mildew. The mess was even worse than before—garbage piled high, dirty plates scattered everywhere, and clothes strewn about like a tornado had blown through.

I had to remind myself to breathe, every breath shallow as I pushed further inside. The thought of being caught in here made my pulse race, but I had to know what was going on. I had to know if I’d really seen what I thought I had.

The fridge loomed ahead of me, almost daring me to open it again. My gut twisted, every fiber of my being telling me to get out, to run. But I had to know. I had to be sure.

I crept toward the fridge, my hand hovering over the handle.

You don’t need to open it again, Kazu. You already know what’s inside.

But still, I had to be sure.

A Fridge Full of Secrets

I yanked the fridge door open, and the smell hit me like a brick to the face. The rotting stench of decay, the suffocating wave of death—nothing had changed since I last saw it.

There they were, wrapped in plastic bags: body parts. A hand, a foot, and a head crammed into the bottom shelf. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was real. It was all real.

I stumbled back, bile rising in my throat, the fridge door still swinging open. I was going to throw up.

She’s a killer. A goddamn killer.

I needed to get out. Now.

But before I could move, I heard the door creak open.

“Kazu?”

Shit. Maiko was back.

Caught Red-Handed

I dove behind a stack of cardboard boxes, barely able to quiet my breathing as Maiko’s footsteps padded into the apartment.

“Kazu?” Her voice was closer now, sweet and concerned. She was looking for me.

Through the narrow gap between the boxes, I watched as she moved through the room. Her eyes scanned the mess, searching for any sign of me.

My heart pounded in my chest as she moved closer to the fridge. Her hand hovered over the handle, and for a moment, I thought she’d open it and realize I’d seen everything.

But she didn’t.

She hesitated, staring at the fridge for a long moment, then turned and walked away.

Planning the Escape

I waited until I heard her footsteps fade into the hallway before I moved. My legs felt like jelly, my hands slick with sweat as I crept toward the door. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t make a sound.

I needed to get out before she realized I was there.

As I reached for the doorknob, I heard her voice again, softer this time. “Kazu… you wouldn’t leave me, right?”

I froze.

Does she know?

With one final glance behind me, I yanked the door open and bolted. I didn’t stop running until I was back in my own apartment, slamming the door shut behind me.

Locked in With Fear

I stood in my apartment, my back pressed against the door, gasping for breath. Lulu barked anxiously, his paws pressing against my legs as if trying to comfort me.

“She’s… she’s fucking insane,” I whispered, my mind spinning.

I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself get this close to her. I had to leave. I had to run as far away from her as possible. But no matter where I went, she’d find me.

She always found me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I almost screamed. I pulled it out with shaking hands, my blood running cold when I saw her name. A text message.

“Goodnight, Kazu! Sleep well 😊 I’ll see you tomorrow!”

I stared at the screen, numb. She was pretending like nothing had happened, like I hadn’t just seen her collection of dismembered bodies.

I dropped the phone and sat down on the floor, my back still pressed against the door. What the hell was I going to do?

At the Café: Everyone Notices

The next morning, I somehow managed to drag myself to Nanami’s Maid Café. Every step felt heavy, like I was moving through molasses. My mind raced, replaying the events of the previous night over and over. What was I supposed to do? How could I escape Maiko?

“Kazu, you alright?” Leo asked, frowning as I walked behind the counter.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine,” I muttered, wiping the sweat from my brow.

But I wasn’t fine. My heart was pounding, my muscles tense. Every time the door opened, I flinched, half-expecting Maiko to walk in with that eerie smile plastered on her face.

“You sure?” Leo’s voice was softer now, his eyes narrowing. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I didn’t sleep well,” I said, forcing a weak laugh.

“You don’t look like you slept at all,” came a familiar voice. Natsu stood in the entrance, cigarette dangling from his lips. “What’s going on with you, man? You look like shit.”

“I’m good,” I lied. But the way they looked at me made it clear that no one believed me.

What Now?

I went through the motions of work, pouring coffee, serving customers, but my mind was a million miles away. I couldn’t stop thinking about Maiko, about the bodies in her fridge, about the danger I was in.

Could I call the police? Could I tell Natsu? Who would believe me? And even if they did, what would Maiko do when she found out?

I glanced at the clock. I still had hours left on my shift, but I didn’t think I’d make it. The anxiety was gnawing at me from the inside, making it impossible to focus. I needed to leave, to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

“Kazu, take a break,” Leo said, his voice more concerned than usual. “You’re not yourself

Leo looked at me like he was trying to figure out if I was having a breakdown. And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure myself. But I couldn’t talk about it. Not directly. There was no way I could just come out and say, “Hey Leo, my neighbor is a psychotic killer and she has body parts in her fridge. Can I take the rest of the day off?” He’d think I’d lost my mind.

But I had to get this off my chest somehow. Maybe if I talked around it, used some kind of metaphor, I could get advice without actually revealing what was going on.

I sighed heavily, glancing around the café. The smell of coffee brewing filled the air, and the comforting hiss of the espresso machine should’ve calmed me down. But all I could think about was Maiko. The fridge. The head.

Leo raised an eyebrow, crossing his massive arms. “Kazu, seriously, what’s going on? You’re moving slower than a rookie on their first shift. You look like you’re gonna pass out.”

I rubbed my forehead, my mind scrambling for a way to explain the unexplainable. My eyes fell on the coffee grinder, and suddenly, an idea hit me. If I couldn’t talk about Maiko, maybe I could talk about coffee.

“Leo…” I began, my voice shaky, “have you ever… brewed a cup of coffee that seemed fine on the surface, but underneath, you knew something was wrong?”

Leo blinked, clearly confused. “What?”

I pressed on, leaning into the metaphor like my life depended on it. “Like, you know… you grind the beans, everything looks normal, but when you take that first sip, you can feel that something’s off. Something dark. Like it’s… hiding something. But you can’t tell anyone because it sounds crazy. I mean, how could coffee hide something, right?”

Leo scratched his head, his expression thoughtful. “You’re talking about bad beans, right? Like, when the roast is too dark or something? Happens all the time. You just toss it and start over.”

I nodded vigorously, trying to keep the metaphor alive. “Exactly! But what if you can’t toss it? What if the coffee seems fine to everyone else, but you know it’s not? Like, deep down, the coffee is… I don’t know… dangerous.”

Leo chuckled, shaking his head. “Dangerous coffee, huh? Sounds like you’ve been brewing too many espresso shots, my friend. But hey, if you’ve got a bad batch, you can always blend it with something else. Mask the flavor. Hide it a bit, you know?”

I blinked. Blend it? Was that what I was doing—hiding the danger, masking the truth? I was blending my fear of Maiko into this metaphor, hoping Leo would unknowingly give me advice on how to handle a murderer. The absurdity of it almost made me laugh.

“Right, right,” I muttered, trying to keep the conversation going. “But what if… what if the coffee doesn’t want to be hidden? What if it’s, like… waiting for you to slip up? What if, no matter how much sugar you add, it’s still just… wrong? You ever have coffee like that, Leo?”

Leo gave me a slow, curious nod, clearly thinking this was about the most intense coffee conversation he’d ever had. “Huh, well, I guess that’d be a real nasty brew. You wouldn’t want to drink that, no way. But if it’s already in the cup, what are you gonna do? Dump it out? Or just keep sipping and hope it doesn’t mess with your stomach?”

I froze. Keep sipping? That’s what I’d been doing this whole time—just sipping, pretending nothing was wrong, hoping I wouldn’t puke. But the coffee wasn’t just bad. It was poisoned. And Leo was right, I couldn’t keep sipping.

“Kazu, listen,” Leo said, leaning in like he was about to drop some profound coffee wisdom on me. “Sometimes, when you get a bad cup, it’s not about the beans. Sometimes, it’s the water. The filter. Hell, maybe even the cup itself. You gotta figure out where the problem is coming from. Then you can fix it.”

I stared at him, my brain working overtime to decode the metaphor. Was he saying Maiko was just part of the problem? That maybe the situation was more complicated than I thought? Or was he just talking about, like, an actual cup of coffee? I couldn’t tell anymore.

“Yeah… but what if… what if the problem isn’t just the coffee or the water?” I asked, my voice lowering. “What if the coffee’s, like… hiding something worse? And if you look too closely, it might ruin everything?”

Leo gave me a puzzled look. “You’re really taking this coffee thing seriously, huh? You talking about some weird fungus in the beans? Or maybe—oh, I know—bad milk! That’s it, right? You got some milk that’s gone sour, and now it’s screwing up the whole cup.”

My brain flashed back to Maiko’s fridge. The plastic bags. The body parts. It was like I’d opened the door to something rotten, something that couldn’t be fixed no matter how much sugar or milk I added.

“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Sour milk.”

Leo grinned, clearly pleased with himself for solving my “coffee dilemma.” He slapped me on the back with enough force to make me stumble. “See? You just gotta change out the milk, man! Once you’ve got fresh stuff, the whole brew gets better. You’ll be back to normal in no time.”

I forced a laugh, nodding along like everything he was saying made sense. “Thanks, Leo. I think… I think I know what I need to do.”

Leo didn’t realize it, but he’d just given me my answer. I couldn’t keep pretending everything was fine. I couldn’t keep sipping the poisoned coffee, hoping it would go away. I had to figure out a way to dump it out—without getting killed in the process.

“Anytime, man!” Leo said, completely oblivious to the real weight of the conversation. “You need any help with the beans or the milk, you just let me know.”

“I will,” I said, standing up and wiping my hands on my apron. “Actually… I think I’ll take that break now.”

Stepping Outside

I stepped outside the café, the cool air hitting my face like a slap. My hands were still shaking, but at least I’d gotten some of the anxiety off my chest. Even if Leo thought we were just talking about coffee, the conversation had helped. I knew I couldn’t keep playing along with Maiko. I had to do something.

But what?

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, stopping on Natsu’s name. Could I tell him? Would he even believe me if I said Maiko was a murderer?

Probably not. And even if he did, what if Maiko found out I’d told someone? She might come after me. Or worse—she might come after Lulu. I couldn’t let that happen.

But I couldn’t do this alone anymore. I needed help. I needed someone to guide me, even if they didn’t know the full story.

With a deep breath, I hit the call button.

“Natsu, it’s Kazu,” I said, my voice trembling. “I… I need to talk.”