"It's quite late, isn't it?", I asked.
"Yeah".
"Isn't it late for you?"
"I live in this hotel. This is my father's hotel".
I raised my eyebrows.
'Out of my league'.
I looked around and my eyes fell on the portrait of the terrible organism, Apeisynthecoid. It was portrayed as a giant jelly spider with almost infinite limbs and the limbs had infinite tentacles.
"That shit is a God, here?", I asked.
She made a disgusted face and I realised that she could be one of those devotees of the organism.
"I didn't mean to offend…"
"It's fine. I hear that a lot",she said with a stern voice but smiling. And anyways, you can't expect me to fucking respect a jelly spider.
"Actually, me and my friend are here to write an article on Apeisynthecoid. Practiced that word the whole day."
I smiled nervously. She nodded her head. I felt dumb. Why did I have to add that meaningful information?
"So, can you say something about your God or where can I see it or feel it?", I asked.
"It has never been seen before. People have only claimed to have feel it".
"What kind of feeling?"
"I am an ardent Synthecoid follower but I have never had those feelings. But many devotees have recently stated that they could feel the jelly through their bodies and heads and they have severe headaches all the time".
"Really?"
"That's how Mr. Hayato died".
"One of the most ardent devotees, isn't it?"
"He is my uncle".
I looked at her and the photo I saw later that day, to make connections.
"What really happened to him?"
"He woke up one morning and said that his brain was feeling so much pain that he felt numb. We did rub some balm on his forehead. But lo and behold, his head exploded. It was like seeing the bursting of a balloon filled with blood."
I should have flirted first. How do you flirt in the face of death?
The next morning, Sam and I got ready and went straight to Mr. Hayato's house, which was tucked deep into the woods of the hill of Zushter. The trees were tall and almost seemed to merge with the sky when looked up, the birds chirped endlessly, flying here and there and the obscure insects made up for the usual forest sound background. We hiked up the hill for an hour and were dead tired upon reaching the house.
The house was old, and you could easily say that it was built from the wood in the forest. It was the only place in the dense forest with almost no trees. It looked like one of those abandoned Japanese houses which was used for inspiration to draw a horror manga.
As we entered the house, our eyes immediately caught the sight of a huge portrait of Apeisynthecoid, seemingly floating in space. Under the portrait was another portrait, most likely of Mr. Hayato.
We began to looking around for any human being to pop up. A thin line of black smoke came from some distance. We began pacing towards it's origin. An old Japanese woman sat by the burning logs of wood, staring deep into the fire as if there was something. We immediately knew she was related to Hayato.
An hour later, we sat with her and she offered us some tea and biscuits. She was so fair that it felt like someone had put a light bulb inside her and forgot to turn it off. Something about her made me feel like she was a tender woman, edging on the lashes of grief. She was Hayato's wife.
"We have been praying Apeisynthecoid for our whole lives. For our initial dates, we used to go to the Synthecoid temples and sit there for hours," she stopped speaking and began to rub a balm on her forehead.
"And then after two years into marriage, he would daily claim that he feels the presence of our God. At first, I didn't believe him. But then after many years, other people also began experiencing the same thing".
"How do you know that he died due to your God?"
"That's not something I know".
She stood up and quietly walked to the window. A peacock had sprung up out of nowhere.
"But we have read articles pertaining to your husband dying due to the deity".
"That's what Mr. XY said", she said grumpily. We looked at each other, both taken aback.
"Mr. Hayato knew Mr. XY?"
"He never told me anything about this but Mr.XY claims to know him."
"Has anyone ever seen Mr. XY?"
"I don't think so".
Sam got a notification on his phone. He looked it up and then looked at me, completely horrified.
"Look!".
I saw the phone and was taken aback as well. It was a message from Mr. XY.
"How the fuck did he get my number?"
"I don't know. What does it say?"
"Meet me. Simply meet me".
"Is there some problem?", Mrs. Hayato enquired.
"A big one", Sam said.