*Bang, bang! *
Haruto was knocking on the neighbouring door with his fists.
"Help! He's going to kill me! Please HELP ME!"
"Call the police then!" Someone from inside the house shouted back.
Haruto was rendered speechless. He didn't have his phone and he was asking for help but that other side sounded like they wanted him to go away. How could he reply to that? He immediately lost hope.
"I-I don't have my phone. Just let me in or I'm going to die!"
Hikaru walked out of the house and smiled when he saw Haruto.
Haruto's eyes were frozen open. Beads of sweat trickled from his face. He stumbled backwards and fell onto the grass. Hikaru walked towards him like he was casually taking a stroll in the park.
Haruto got up and ran past a couple of doors, which he quickly banged on while running. He even frantically punched the windows as there was no time and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Most of the country had already seen a breaking news report about a shooting and bombing incident a couple of hours ago when they got home. Some of them were sleeping and woke up to a sudden banging on the door. Some of them ignored the screaming as it was too dangerous to get involved with what was happening outside.
If they tried to help, would they get shot? That thought deterred most of everyone.
However, would anyone just assume there was a murder going on outside at night? Even if it wasn't a prank, the average time it takes for the public to call the police is surprisingly long. This is partly because of the bystander effect, which is influenced by two main factors, the diffusion of responsibility and social influence. The best example of this is the murder of Kitty Genovese.
Neighbours heard screams as Kitty Genovese was running around the streets with a stab wound. 38 witnesses didn't call the police until long after Kitty was dead. The news had exaggerated this number but a large number of people still didn't call the police because they thought it was just a case of domestic violence or they thought that someone else would call the police.
The bystander effect has been well documented in many other situations including those in everyday life. Most people would be disgusted and upset about this and would respond with "If it was me, I would have helped that person."
However, statistics say otherwise. When push comes to shove, most people follow the curve. It was as if the Grim Reaper himself guided the helping hand away from those that are truly desperate.
Indeed, there was no one else as desperate as Haruto tonight.
Haruto turned the corner and kept running as fast as he could but he had already fallen out of his peak adrenaline-induced speed.
"Haruto!"
Haruto turned around and was surprised that he saw his mum instead of Hikaru.
"Mum? Mum!"
With both of them running to each other, they quickly covered the ten-metre distance. Haruto collided with his mother which turned into a hug.
"Mum you're okay? Look, we have to keep running!" He said without waiting for her to answer and pulled on her arms to run with him.
However, he was pulled back.
"Haruto, honey, he's gone."
"He's gone! Really?"
Haruto peeked to the side and saw no one turning the corner. Had he gone after someone else? He trusted his mum but was too afraid by the chance that Hikaru might be tricking them and appear out of the shadows.
"But he could still come after us!"
His mum crouched down and gave him a tight embrace.
He couldn't live in a world without his mother. She was his everything. He missed her so much, especially her scent but right now she smelt like blood. But he didn't care. He was just glad that she made it. As long as she was around, they could move out and start over again.
He could feel his mum coughing silently. He thought that maybe she was hurt and was trying to hide it from him. It seemed to get worse as her body was shaking.
"Hmmmm hmmm"
"Mum are you okay?"
"hmm emm heh mhm mm hah"
She was chuckling.
Haruto lifted his head from her neck and looked at what was wrong with her. She looked back at him with a Duchenne smile. Seeing that her smile was out of schadenfreude, his heart skipped a beat. He pulled to get away but his clothes and skin were stuck to her dress.
"Hehehehehe, Hahahahahaha!"
"Mum stop!"
He tried pulling away but the pain of his skin tearing was too unbearable. He started to cry.
"Mum pleasee!"
A tear rolled down her cheek amidst her maniacal laughter. She looked completely insane.
"Ahhhhh!-"
Tina pressed his face into her chest, silencing him. His body began fusing with hers. He struggled like an insect stuck on a glue trap.
A car rolled by slowly and the man inside watched the woman holding onto her son as if they were going through something dramatic.
"How sweet." He muttered
No matter what life difficulties they were going through, as long as they loved each other and held on, things would be fine. Things for them were much better than between him and his wife. He drove by without a second thought to a boring life ahead of him.
The car lights illuminated the pair and the people from some of the nearby houses saw them lit up through the windows.
"Oh, never mind, they're fine." A woman standing next to her husband said before she hung up the call to the police.
"Goddamn it! Bloody idiots! What's with the new generation these days! This is what happens when they have kids!" The man grumbled.
"Sure, the next generation is doomed. Let's go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow." His wife reminded him.
Tina stood up, reverting to Hikaru's form. There wasn't a trace of Haruto having existed. There wasn't even a scrap of clothing. Haruto sunk through the dress earlier because all of Hikaru's clothes weren't made of fabric. They were made from his biomass.
When Hikaru gets dressed, he looks at his wardrobe for the combinations and then his parasitic cells imitate the clothing. He had been practising.
Hikaru wiped a tear that was budding from his chin and fondled the wetness between his fingers.
***
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Chiho asked out of concern from across the dining table.
Hikaru brought his hand to his face and felt moisture.
"I'm fine. I was just remembering something."