Fresh out of the shower, Nox made a beeline towards the kitchen. After eating an early dinner the night before, his stomach was already demanding to be fed again. His newly changed bandages wrapped comfortably around his injured forearm, no longer feeling sticky with old blood.
Looking at his despairingly empty fridge void of any quick frozen meals, he sighed in resignation and tossed on a jacket, looping back to his bedroom to grab his phone before leaving the apartment.
The weather outside was gloomy in a good way- gray clouds rolled past overhead, but the air was crisp and clean with the smell of oncoming rain. It was great weather to kick off the weekend.
The corners of his mouth curled up as he caught the scent of chicken skewers, following the familiar route to his favorite food cart. "Two chicken skewers please." The old man gave him a wave, tossing the meat onto the grill and dousing it with a storm of seasoning.
"Young man, I didn't expect to see you here today," the old man commented, turning the skewers over.
Nox tilted his head in puzzlement. "Why not?" If his internal clock was to be trusted, it was sometime around the afternoon; it wasn't an unusual time to see him.
He was a normal office worker working at Aero, a massive corporation that held vast influence in the country. The paperwork waiting for him every Monday morning never failed to fill him with dread. Despite his dull, daily routine of commuting to work on the weekdays, he liked to search for delicious food on the weekends.
The perks of living in the city were few and far between, but food was definitely one of his top three.
The old man gave him a scrutinizing glance as if he had lost his sanity. "Young man, I'm not one to judge, but old people like me," he sighed, patting the side of his metal cart. "We run these for a living. You should stay inside if you don't need to go out, especially during uncertain times like these."
Quizzically, Nox thanked him and took his skewers. As he walked towards the supermarket, something caused his previous headache to rise again; it was as if someone had turned up the volume of his surroundings.
Oddly enough, there was almost no one outside. A few stray cars drifted past the otherwise empty street.
Saturdays usually meant that the streets near Nox's apartment were full of people and cars crowding the streets, groups of friends chattering excitedly over their plans, and adults looking to finish errands and shop for weekly necessities.
Instead, all Nox could hear was the gentle sigh of wind and hasty footsteps as if their owners didn't want to stay longer than necessary.
With a quiet ding, Nox entered the supermarket and grabbed a basket, throwing his clean skewer sticks in the trash bin placed near the store's entrance. The supermarket was as deserted as the street outside, with a single cashier leaning lazily on the conveyor belt, tapping away on their phone.
Nox wandered around the aisles, grabbing a few simple ingredients that would result in something edible and a number of frozen foods for quick meals. He gave a polite nod to one of the only other customers besides him and moved towards the cash register after gathering his items.
The employee scanned his items with surprising efficiency, haphazardly throwing them all into a bag. Within a few seconds, the cashier gestured to the card swiping machine impatiently. "Are you going to pay or just stand there?"
Fingers jolting, Nox scrambled to catch his phone as he stared at the screen in disbelief. "I- can you tell me what day it is today?"
With a glare, the cashier snapped, "It's Wednesday. Now, are you going to pay or not?"
Numbly, Nox held out his phone and waited for the 'beep' of confirmation before taking his purchases and rushing out of the store, phone still grasped tightly in his hand. Once he was outside, he checked the screen again, eyes wide as he took in the barrage of notifications.
Official warnings for citizens to stay indoors as much as possible, a shocking surge of people admitted to the hospital for abnormal heart rates, debates headlining the news about the alarming spike in death rates- murders, continuous car accidents, etc. There were even numerous texts from his high school group chat of all things, gossiping about the current situation.
It would explain why there was barely anyone on the street- for one, it was a weekday, and according to the news many companies decided to let their workers remain at home for a short duration of time. In addition to the recent murders, no one felt comfortable going out casually.
He opened his work group chat first, making sure that he wasn't fired from three consecutive unexcused absences. To his relief, the company had closed on Monday as a precaution, urging all staff members to keep an eye out for any changes.
There was also a large number of missed calls and texts from his close friends. Their messages were still coming in, getting faster by the minute.
A shiver suddenly went up his spine, making the hairs on his arm stand up. He had felt it somewhere before, coating his back in cold sweat. Looking around the empty street, Nox started back towards his apartment quickly, replying to his friends as he went.
[What's wrong? I'm still alive.] Immediately, all the message contents were directed at him.
[Why didn't you reply earlier then?] Li Zemin sent an angry expression with his message, a habit he'd picked up from his second girlfriend. [We've been trying to reach you since Saturday.]
Saturday… The day he went home after witnessing the corpse was Friday, which meant that he was out for five whole days. No wonder he was so hungry.
[Stop that, you're not his mom.] Ki's exasperated tone could be felt through the screen. [Although you are a bastard for not responding until now.] He directed the statement at Nox.
[Will you believe me if I told you I was sleeping the whole time?] Nox sent, quickening his pace.
Simultaneously, two answers came through.
[No]
[Yes]
Nox sent an amused expression. Just as he pressed the 'send' button, another notification popped up on top of his screen.
[Roxanne: Nox, you should come back home! There's…]
A red exclamation mark suddenly appeared next to the message, causing his eyebrows to furrow in confusion.
At that moment, two things happened simultaneously: first, the full signal on his phone flashed, and then disappeared; second, Nox couldn't hear anything at all, as if someone had dumped his surroundings underwater where human noise couldn't travel. It only lasted for a split second, but it caused him to stumble slightly, disorientated.
The silence unnerved him as he slid his phone back into a pocket for safekeeping, zipping it up for good measure. Now, even the sound of occasional footsteps couldn't be heard no matter how much he strained his ears.
As Nox stood there uneasily, he gradually started to hear the sound of chewing. The sound seemed to amplify bit by bit to the point where he could make out the distinct crunch of bone and the tear of meat, each bite creating a grinding sound that irritated his ears like nails on a chalkboard.
He could hear the squish of something—blood, his mind helpfully told him—through every mouthful, droplets of the crimson liquid dripping onto the floor with clarity.
Plop.
It was as if he was standing back at that scene, staring at the mess of blood and bone, engulfed in the iron-tanged scent of blood—"... police have reported that parts of the bodies seem to be missing…" That familiar aura of bloodshed...
Slowly, Nox braced himself, turning around to face the sound. Before he could fully see the hunkering monster crouching over a mangled corpse, a blood curdling scream snapped his attention to a woman a few feet in front of him, who looked ready to faint.
Cursing silently, Nox glanced at the monster, who tilted its bull-like head in their direction. With a sickening thud, the corpse was discarded at its feet, almost an exact replica of the one he saw before.
Once again, the smell of salt and iron burned into his senses, this time accompanied by the continuous screams of the woman and the equally deafening roar of the monster in front of them.
Deciding that it was better to think later than to die now, Nox forced his feet to move and ran in the opposite direction of the monster, heading for one of the buildings nearby to hide in.
There was a middle aged salaryman next to the woman, slumped onto the ground, unmoving even as Nox rushed past him.
His heart pounded through his rib cage, breathing erratically as he sprinted without looking back. It was as if the shadow of death stood directly behind him, goading him into running faster.
Rushing past a shadowed archway, Nox aimed for the glass door in front of him. Just a little bit further-
With a sudden movement, he was yanked by an arm into the archway's corridor. With a startled hiss, he threw off the hand holding onto him, ready to escape despite his shortened breath, heart hammering. "Woah, wait, we're not going to hurt you."
Seeing human faces stare back at him, Nox didn't drop his guard but replied cautiously, "You could've said that before you dragged me out of nowhere." A brick wall leaned on the other side of the archway, obscuring them from the monster's view. It was a good hiding spot.
The young woman laughed guiltily, extending a hand. "Sorry about that. I'm Fay, and this is Chang Feng," she jabbed a thumb at the bulky man behind her. "We were out shopping for some supplies before we got caught up in all this."
Fay had eye-catching red hair cut off sharply at her shoulders, the fiery color contrasting with Chang Feng's down to earth military style haircut. Despite their loose clothes, the firm outlines of muscle were still visible.
Nox nodded at both of them in greeting, ignoring Fay's hand. "Nox." He lifted up his grocery bag. "An unlucky errand run this turned out to be." The sound of bones snapping and a man's anguish screams in the distance echoed his statement as the sickening rip of flesh began anew, churning the contents of his stomach unpleasantly.
Fay burst into hushed laughter, undisturbed by the sounds as she slapped Nox on the back twice. "I like this guy." She looked at Chang Feng with a wink. "We're keeping him."
Chang Feng shrugged, his broad shoulders lifting with nonchalance despite their situation. She leaned against Chang Feng, poking a cheek after his lackluster response. It made their height difference more prominent, Fay being at least two heads shorter than Chang Feng. She had to stretch up to jab him.
Their relaxed demeanor made Nox narrow his eyes with vigilance. "How long have you guys been here?" he asked, catching his breath against the wall. His side objected to his abrupt burst of running.
He really didn't have enough stamina as a normal office worker who sat at a desk all day. The burst of adrenaline had long faded away, leaving his legs in a jelly-like state. It was hard to control the subtle tremor running through his leg.
After sprinting here, his heart was still beating like crazy. Images of the monster gnashing its blood stained teeth, crashing into this temporary hiding spot ran through his mind. Despite its attention focusing on its newly acquired prey, Nox didn't feel at ease in the slightest.
Chang Feng replied this time. "Half an hour at least. Someone ran straight into its mouth, telling us to run away."
"What happened to them?"
"They just stood there, like they were constipated and became a corpse," Fay sighed.
Nox had gotten a look of its beefy, paw-like hands when it rose up to chase after them, armed with claws that could shred apart its prey with a few blows.
Grimacing in disgust, he turned to peek out of the archway. The monster was still feasting on its meal, streams of red slowly trickling into the surrounding area as it chewed on the corpse leisurely.
It looked like the screaming woman managed to run away.
Maybe it was because of the sheer amount of blood spilt onto the street, but for a split second Nox could almost see a hazy layer of red descending around the monster, revealing its bloodlust. "It won't chase after us?" he asked, staring at it warily.
Fay shook her head in negative. "I think there's some sort of buffering period when it catches someone. When we got in, the monster just finished eating that one." She pointed to a pile of flesh Nox didn't notice before. Was there no way to leave?
"There is no exit." Chang Feng explained, as if he read his thoughts. "The entire area is blocked off." They were able to look around without getting injured? Nox scrutinized their clean clothes, passing off his actions by pretending he was looking around in confusion. Something just didn't add up.
"So…"
"We probably have to kill the monster." Fay looked way too casual about it.
It was a terrible conclusion, and he didn't know if these people could be trusted.
Fay jabbed a finger at Chang Feng, poking him repeatedly. "Aren't you supposed to keep a gun with you at all times? Why do you not have it now?"
Nox latched onto her words, eyes darkening. Ordinary citizens weren't allowed to own guns.
Chang Feng let her poke and jab him. "How was I supposed to know a five minute supply run was going to trap us with a man-eating monster?" he asked stoically, not responding to her light provocation.
Well, there was some good drama to watch, even if they were growing more suspicious by the second. At the very least, it could distract him from the stench of iron seeping into every corner of the area and the continuous crunch of teeth breaking bone.
Seeing Fay shoot an odd glance at him, Nox pretended to rummage around for his phone. "There's no signal here," Chang Feng told him, noticing his actions.
Nox stiffened, not expecting him to pay attention. "Ah- I just wanted to check the time since I got in not too long ago," he explained, pulling out his phone. Thankfully it still had half of its battery left, but it could only function as a flashlight or a notepad at that point.
The time was frozen at three o'clock, unmoving in this strange space as if they've been cut off from the rest of the world.
Glancing around, Nox went up to the strange shimmering wall across from them, feeling along the surface. It felt like the brick wall had been coated in some sort of cool material, a barrier to keep them contained in the monster's hunting ground.
"If you kept running, you would've rammed straight into that barrier," Fay chirped, popping up next to Nox. "I don't know about you, but a bloody nose doesn't sound like the best idea with a bloodthirsty monster roaming around in the same space."
"Indeed, it wouldn't," a dry voice rang out above them, startling the trio. Without hesitation, Chang Feng placed himself in front of Fay and Nox, using his body as a shield. Nox noticed his left hand going for his empty belt.
A cat… head appeared in front of them. On a human body. Nox squinted at the creature, staring at the odd misplacement of fur on skin. The cat was wearing a silky looking black top hat, the kind people saw in anime, paired with an extravagant, long cape flowing behind it. It wore a dress shirt, along with a skinny black tie and a pair of pressed trousers.
"What are you supposed to be?" Nox blurted out bluntly. "A cat with a human body, or a human with a cat head?" Chang Feng and Fay looked at him like he went crazy.
Fay's amber eyes widened at him as she mouthed something he couldn't figure out. Most likely something along the lines of 'what are you doing' or 'have you lost your mind.'
He wanted to ask himself the same question.
The odd being looked at him in disdain. "That is none of your business. I am simply the overseer of this trial." It spoke with a male voice.
"Trial?" Nox narrowed his eyes at the cat, floating outside the arch beyond his reach. Even with Chang Feng's added height, it wouldn't be possible to reach him.
"You should congratulate yourselves," the cat continued, ignoring him. "You have been chosen for this special test before we release the full glory of Chaos." He took off his top hat with a flourish, bowing in their direction. "I am here to observe and intervene if necessary."
Nox exchanged a glance with Fay, who was the closest to him. The distrust in both of their eyes was clear as day. "What are the… conditions of your interference?" Fay questioned, hand straying to her pocket.
A savage smile spread across the cat's furry face, violet eyes dilated with excitement. "When you all die, of course," he purred, returning his top hat between his ears. "Now, shall we begin?"