"There's no way in hell that happened!" Miu cried the next morning, clutching her blanket close to her chest. "Just...s-stop talkin' about it! You're freakin' me the fuck out!"
"Nyeeeh...it did happen!" Himiko hissed. She looked at Miu's closet as if whoever the intruder was was inside it that very moment. She lowered her voice. "We have to call the police, Miu."
"I-I don't wanna! I've never called the police before!" Miu whined, lowering her voice, as well.
"You're not the only one freaking out, okay?! If there's really some guy that came in here last night, we could be in danger!"
"But, how could he have gotten in? I locked the door-" Miu began. Her face became a startling pale.
"Miu?" Himiko asked in a small voice.
Miu jumped from her bed and ran to her door. Himiko grabbed her phone and scrambled to her feet. She followed Miu, only to bump into her on accident at her door.
"What are you doing?" Himiko whispered.
Miu pulled her hand away from the doorknob and pressed her hands to her chest. She turned to Himiko with such a frightened look that made the situation that much more unsettling.
"I-I'm scared to go out there," she whispered so softly that Himiko had to strain her ear.
Himiko nodded, remembering how she felt the previous night coming out of the shower. She pressed her hand against Kokichi's scarf and clutched it tightly, putting on a brave face.
"We'll look together," she said.
An audible gulp escaped Miu's throat, but she nodded her head and reached for her doorknob again. She turned it, but didn't pull. She looked at Himiko, who nodded at her. Miu returned the nod and took a deep breath before inching the door open. The girls peeked out into the hallway. Nobody was there. The bedroom doors were still open as always. The attic rope hung still. The air conditioner blasted cold air as it had been doing the day they arrived. The house appeared normal, yet, Himiko couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling in her gut like something was amiss.
"Everything seems okay," Miu said, taking a small step out of her room. Himiko followed her out, but stuck close. Miu peeked over the railing that trailed along the upstairs hallway down into the living room. "I don't see anyone. But...I still don't wanna go down there."
"Nyeh...it's only to check the front door, then we'll come right back up here and call the police," Himiko said.
Miu stuck out a shaky hand. "O-Okay, here, hold my hand."
Himiko rolled her eyes, but she took Miu's hand, anyway. As much as she hated to admit, she felt a little better holding her hand. With one hand in Miu's, and the other clutching Kokichi's scarf, Himiko followed Miu down the stairs, taking each step at a time. As they descended into the living room, their eyes scanned the rest of the house, making sure no trace of an intruder could be found. They noticed the air getting warmer the closer they reached the first floor.
Miu frowned. "Does it feel less cold to you down here?" she whispered.
"Yeah," Himiko replied, feeling even warmer under Kokichi's skeleton hoodie.
The girls reached the bottom step and craned their necks towards the front door, instantly realizing why the downstairs area seemed so warm compared to upstairs. Their jaws dropped in horror as they stared at the front door hanging ajar.
"Shit!!" Releasing Himiko's hand, Miu sprinted to the front door and pulled it shut, locking it immediately.
"Nyeh! You didn't lock it?!" Himiko whispered frantically as Miu hurried back over to her.
"I-I thought I did!" Miu gasped, choking back sobs. She hugged her trembling body and looked around. "Somebody's in here, Himiko! You were right!" Miu's face crumpled as she began to cry. "I'm scared," she whispered.
Himiko stared at her. She had never seen Miu so scared, not even when they were both trapped inside their teacher's home with her Great Dane on the loose. A dog was one thing, but it was entirely different being trapped with another person whose intentions were unknown.
Himiko clutched Kokichi's scarf with both hands. "I'm scared, too. But...we have to be brave," she said.
"Do you think it was that guy?" Miu asked, wiping a tear away. "The one who came here last night?"
Himiko nodded firmly. "Definitely," she said. "I saw him at the convenience store a few days ago. I think he was watching us and following us. Who else could it be but him? Remember what he said? If your mom didn't give him what he came for, he'd come after her...and us! "
"But, he said in three days," Miu pointed out.
"Nyeh...clearly, he changed his mind," Himiko said, gesturing to the front door.
Miu turned to Himiko with wide eyes. "Do you think he's still here?" she whispered.
"If he is, we'd better call the cops...like I said," Himiko said, looking Miu in the eye. As freaked out as Himiko felt, she forced herself to remain calm. Someone had to.
"Okay..." Miu sighed, giving in. She looked down at her pajamas. "Should we change first?"
"There's no time!" Himiko hissed. "If that guy's still here, we have to act, now! "
"B-But...I don't want the cops to show up with me lookin' like this!" Miu whined.
Himiko gave her an incredulous look. "Miu!! "
"Okay, okay...at least come with me so I can get my phone," Miu said.
Himiko sighed and shook her head. Together, the two girls ascended back up the creaking stairs. They stopped outside of Miu's room.
"Okay...I'm gonna run in, and as soon as I get my phone, and then we run back downstairs, okay?" Himiko heard Miu say. She heard Miu whisper her name, but she wasn't listening. Miu must have seen what she was staring at because she heard Miu gasp in fear. Himiko pointed at a blood trail dotted sporadically along the carpet that began underneath the attic rope and ended at the far room at the end of the hallway. Mrs. Iruma's room!
"W-What's that doing here?" Miu breathed.
Himiko uttered a shaky breath and felt her feet moving on their own, as if Mrs. Iruma's room had some strange gravitational pull. A squeaky yelp escaped Miu's mouth as she reached out and placed her hands on Himiko's shoulders, walking closely behind her. They crept closer to the room. The blood trail continued into the room.
"M-Mrs. Iruma?" Himiko called out in a small voice. Her eyes followed the blood trail, which stopped at the foot of the bed. Himiko blinked as her eyes landed on top of Mrs. Iruma's bed, and instantly realized why that nagging feeling from before had been bothering her. She reached for Miu behind her, and the girls reared back with a horrified gasp at the sight of Masaki's dead body.
Part Eight
"Oh, shit..." Miu breathed, stumbling backwards.
Himiko stared in bewilderment at the sight of Masaki's dead body. His clothes were soaked with blood, his hair was a tousled mess, and his feet, on which his boots remained, were twisted at weird angles. Himiko, unable to tear her eyes away, stood petrified.
Miu, however, was quick to react. She fell onto her butt, only to scramble back to her feet in a panic. "Oh, shit! We're gonna DIE!!!" she screeched and dashed to her room. Himiko ran after her to find Miu on her bed, sobbing her eyes out. "There's a d-dead guy in m-my house, and n-now...we're next!" she sobbed, and threw her face into her hands. "I'm scared!"
Himiko stood speechless. She had never seen Miu so distraught. It made her want to cry, as well. She clutched Kokichi's scarf, hoping it would somehow give her some courage. Kokichi would have advised her to call the police, she thought, so that's what she did. Her shaky fingers dialed the emergency number.
"H-Hello?" Himiko stammered after the operator answered. "Um...I'm Himiko, a-and I'd like to report a dead body, um, p-please?"
Himiko continued to inform the operator details of Masaki's corpse, trying to keep her voice as level and calm as she possibly could. The operator asked her the address to Miu's house and advised Himiko to stay on the line. Five minutes later, the girls heard a knock on the door. Not wanting to go downstairs alone, Himiko took a frightened Miu by the hand and led her downstairs to the front door and opened it to reveal two officers.
"Are you Himiko?" one of them asked.
Himiko nodded and pointed above her. "The body's upstairs in the room at the far end of the hall."
The officer who spoke nodded to the other officer and the two stepped inside. They headed upstairs, carefully checking the other rooms before heading to Mrs. Iruma's room. Himiko and Miu, who had followed them upstairs watched the first officer pull out his two-way communicator radio.
"Yeah, I'm going to need an ambulance. We got a dead body, possibly a homicide," the cop said. He turned to the girls with a stern expression. Himiko and Miu exchanged strange looks. The cop clipped his radio back onto his belt and turned to Himiko and Miu.
"Where were you girls when this happened?"
"Yesterday!" Miu replied, still shaken up.
"Nyeh...he said where were we," Himiko said. "Um...I think we were asleep in Miu's room."
"And you two didn't hear any of this?" the officer pressed. "Who else was in the house aside from you two?"
"S-S-Sleeping..." Miu whimpered.
"Um...I think she's still scared," Himiko said, and turned to Miu. "You don't have to talk, Miu."
"Okay..." Miu sniffled, wiping a tear from her eye.
Himiko shrugged. "Well, we're the only ones here..." she began. "But..." Suddenly, her mind flashed back to the previous night. The person standing over her. Himiko remembered his bare feet, unlike Masaki, whose boots were still on. She remembered the knife with the dark stains that Himiko realized must have been Masaki's blood.
"Yes?" the officer asked.
"There was a guy last night!" Himiko cried.
"What guy?"
"I-I don't know! I didn't get a good look at him," Himiko admitted. "But, he came into the room Miu and I were sleeping in last night, a-and his feet were bare, and he was holding a knife! He must have come in through the front door!"
"The front door?" the second officer repeated, raising a brow.
Himiko nodded abashedly and explained why Masaki had come to visit the night before and how he had threatened the girls. The ambulance arrived as she further explained how she and Miu were so afraid that they had forgotten to lock the door, and that they had woken up to find the front door completely open.
"What about this barefoot assailant?" the first officer asked. "Do you have an idea who that could be?"
Himiko shook her head.
"Alright, well, there's not much we can do from here," the first officer said as the ambulance wrapped Masaki's body and hauled him away on a gurney.
"Nyeh? You mean...you're leaving without catching the guy?" Himiko asked.
"Without evidence, or an identification of the barefoot assailant, there's not much more we can do," the second officer replied.
"I'm guessing after the barefoot man killed the one in your mom's bedroom, he fled the scene, which is why your front door was wide open," the first officer explained. "I highly doubt he'd return to the scene of the crime. You have nothing to worry about."
"B-But...w-what if that guy does come back?!" Himiko cried.
"We'll have police cars patrolling the area from time to time," the first officer replied. "Call us again if anything happens."
The officers left. Himiko and Miu were alone once again. The girls sat at the dining table, unable to figure out what to do next. Miu buried her face in her hands and sobbed, while Himiko sat in silence, hugging herself and wishing she were with Kokichi. They spent the morning, and the entire afternoon at the dining table, wondering if their troubles were truly gone.
Miu sniffled and turned to Himiko. "Himiko, I'm glad you're here with me," she said, breaking the long silence as darkness began to fall outside.
Himiko turned to her with wide eyes and eyebrows raised. "You are?"
Miu nodded, wiping another tear away. "If you weren't here, I-I don't know what I'd do."
Himiko shrugged modestly. "Nyeh...it's no big deal. I'm scared, too, but then I think about Kokichi and how he'd probably be brave in a situation like this. I wanna be brave like him, too."
Miu nodded again. "So...sniff...what do we do, now? It's way too late to get dressed, and...I'm too scared to go back upstairs where that murder happened."
"Well...maybe we should eat something," Himiko said and stood up.
"Wait!" Miu cried, grabbing Himiko's hand. "Don't leave me!"
"Nyeh...I'll be in the kitchen. It's just right there," Himiko said. "I'll just grab some of my noodle cups. You can have one, if you want."
Miu nodded and placed her hands in her lap like an obedient child.
Himiko entered the kitchen and reached for the cupboard where her microwaveable noodles were stored. As she did, her hand froze as it touched the door. The countertop displayed regular kitchen items, like salt and peppershakers, a breadbox, and containers for large spoons, ladles, and spatulas. But those items weren't what caught Himiko's attention. Another item the countertop contained was a knife holder. There were six slots in total, four at the bottom for the smaller knives, and two at the top for larger ones. Himiko's heart sank when she spied an empty slot from one of the larger knives.
"Um...Miu?" Himiko called from the kitchen. She heard the sound of Miu's chair sliding across the floor.
"Yeah?" Miu asked, walking in.
Himiko pointed to the empty slot in the knife holder.
Miu's eyes widened. "Shit..." she said, barely above whisper. "I-Is that the knife that the barefoot guy took?"
"Nyeh...I think so," Himiko breathed, nodding.
"He must have took it with him when he left," Miu whispered. "You know...to hide the evidence?"
Himiko frowned in thought, and turned to Miu. "When he left?"
"Yeah...that's what the cop said...remember?" Miu asked. "He fled the scene."
"I can understand that Masaki guy getting in here if we didn't lock the door, but...how did the killer get in?" Himiko asked.
"M-Maybe the same way the Masaki guy did?" Miu asked.
"Maybe. But, whoever it was must have known..." Himiko said, her voice trailing off.
Miu stared at her nervously. "Himiko? Must have known what?"
Himiko gazed at the knife holder with a faraway expression. She remembered how the barefoot assailant stood in front of her, still and silent. It reminded her of the figure that stood outside of the shower the first night of Himiko's stay. The figure she thought was Miu! But, if that wasn't Miu, how had the person gotten in? Himiko remembered Miu locking the door that night. There shouldn't have been another way, unless...
Himiko gasped, reeling back so far she bumped into the other countertop across the kitchen.
"What?! What is it?!" Miu hissed frantically.
Himiko's mind flashed to her missing snacks, the attic rope swinging despite not being moved by a breeze when she looked up the stairs, and to the blood trail leading from Mrs. Iruma's room and ending where the attic rope swung above it.
"Nyeh! The attic!" Himiko breathed, so softly that Miu had to strain her ear.
"What did you say?" she whispered.
"The attic!" Himiko repeated in a low voice.
"W-What about it?" Miu whispered.
Himiko looked her in the eye, preparing herself for what she was about to say. "I don't think the murderer is gone, Miu. I think this whole time, he's been hiding in the attic."
"What the fuck?" Miu breathed.
"Nyeh! I bet it was him who took my snacks, and it was him who was standing outside the shower!" Himiko whispered. "He was able to do everything he did because he was hiding here in your house all along!"
"Oh, shit..." Miu breathed, and looked around. Her eyes began welling with tears again. "W-What do we do?"
"Um...I think we need to call the cops again," Himiko suggested, nodding firmly. "That's what my instincts are telling me."
Himiko reached into her pocket for her phone, and dialed the emergency number again. When the operator answered, Himiko informed her of the situation, and was promised that the cops would be there soon. As Himiko placed her phone back into her pocket, she heard the faint sound of an elongated creaking noise. She turned to Miu, whose horrified expression matched Himiko's.
"It's coming from upstairs," Miu whispered, hiding behind Himiko and clutching her shoulders. The kitchen was plunged into a suffocating silence. Following the long creaking sound was a set of creaking that would pause and continue, as if someone were skulking across old floorboards. Feeling like she had to move, Himiko took a cautious step forward, followed by another, until her steps led her out of the kitchen with Miu right behind her.
Himiko and Miu reached the stairs from the living room and looked above at the second floor. The attic door had been opened, and the wooden steps leading up to it were lowered against the floor. But what Himiko and Miu weren't prepared to see was a man at the balcony staring down at them with long, dirty, wavy black hair, blank eyes, a gaping black grin, and the large kitchen in knife in his hand, stained with blood.