"Shhh."
Eh? What's going on? A-Am I going to die?
"I'm going to help you escape." I heard a woman's voice whisper into my ear. Who is she? She let go of my mouth, and when I turned to look at her face, she vanished into thin air. What was that? Is she someone that my parents sent here to help me?
"Young miss?"
I looked behind, and there I saw Rika. Was she the one who covered my mouth and pulled me into this dark and gloomy room? Their voice sounds different, though. "D-Did you pull me into this room?"
Rika tilts her head. "What do you mean, young miss?" I can see how confused she is, but I'm also confused. If it isn't her, then who was it? "The door suddenly opened, and you came in." My eyebrows furrowed hearing that. What does she mean I came in? Someone pulled me, and that someone told me that she'll help me.
"But what are you doing here this late at night, young miss?"
I gulped after being questioned like that. "I-I just can't sleep and thought that maybe I should go for a walk." There's no way that'll be a believable excuse. What kind of hostage will be able to take a walk at night? When I thought I won't be able to fool anyone with such a half-hearted excuse, Rika innocently believed me without hesitation. Why is it making me feel bad all of a sudden? She's a psychopath! Stop feeling bad.
"Do you want me to bring you hot cocoa or tea to help you sleep, young miss?" She asked with the usual smile on her face. However, something else caught my attention, and I couldn't answer Rika's question. I just noticed it, but in the middle of this dark and gloomy room, there's a bed with a lampshade beside it. Only the light coming from the lampshade brightens this room. "Young miss?"
"R-Right, I'm fine. I think I'll drink water later." I said while still staring at the bed. Someone's definitely lying there, and that person's being accompanied with IV fluids and an ICP monitor. "Uhm, if I may ask, who's that?" I pointed to the person on the bed.
Rika gazed in the direction where I was pointing, and she looked conflicted. What? Is it some kind of top-secret? Is he the boss here? Would it be dangerous for me to know about it? "It's fine if you don't answer." No, I would prefer for her not to answer!
"I-It's the master." The pressure must have made Rika blurt that out— but what pressure?! And what? Master? "H-Hiroshi Yamaguchi. He's the young master's father." My mouth went agape as I blinked thousands of times. There's no way that person lying on the bed unconscious is Night's father! I have seen Night's father before; he has a huge body, unlike this man. He also looked healthy!
"I saw Night's father before, though."
Rika fiddled with her fingers. "It's a secret the young master wanted to keep from his school." So Night's whole life at school was a lie? Then why did Rika tell me? What is she planning? If Night learned that I discovered his deepest secret, he wouldn't let me go! I don't even know if this is his deepest secret, but he'll probably kill me on the spot before I could escape or chase me to the depths of hell just to punish me.
I don't know what Rika's planning, and I can't figure her out. "Rika, please don't tell anyone that you saw me here, okay?" I grabbed Rika's shoulders. I'm unsure if she's truly innocent or just pretending to be. "Don't speak of this incident no matter what happens— and don't tell anyone that you told me about the master's condition." Rika nodded, but there's no way I'll trust her. I just told her to make me feel assured. Even though it's useless if she's indeed manipulating me.
"I'll be going back to my room. I apologize for disturbing you."
Rika placed the remote of the air conditioner she was holding on the table. "Let me accompany you."
"No, thank you. I can go back on my own." I told her. "Just remember to keep everything about this a secret, okay?" After I saw Rika nod, I left the room quietly. Even if Rika is not a psychopath, she looks like an innocent child who can't lie; if someone forces her to tell the truth, she'll spill it out. Because it's either Rika's a pretender, or she can't lie. I must escape this place as soon as possible before Night learns about this incident.
Night's been lying throughout those three years in high school, and no one caught on to his lies. I didn't even know that he was Japanese. He also introduced a random man as his father and acted like it was the truth. If the other students learned of this, how would they react? The perfect prince we've been looking up turns out to be the biggest liar ever. Those students gave me the nickname 'Night's stalker' because they thought I knew everything about him; that's also what I thought. But we're all wrong; I know nothing about him.
On the way back to my room, the hallway's still as dark as ever, and I hold onto the wall trying not to trip while tiptoeing my way back. Wait, how am I going to know where my room is? Every room's door looks the same as each other. How could I forget such an important detail?! I should have placed some kind of reminder on the sliding door. "Why am I so dumb?" And reckless!
"Chase her!"
The loud shout coming from behind baffled me. Did Rika snitch on me? Those people might be chasing after me, but where can I go? I looked around the hallway, and I found three doors near me. "Kill her immediately!" Those words gave me shivers. I can't be mistaken; that language is Japanese. All I can understand is the word 'korosu,' which means to murder. But who are they going to mur— It's me! They're going to murder me!
I speedily opened the door right before me to escape the gruesome death coming after me. "But how come they came here so fast?" I muttered as I leaned on the wall beside the sliding door as soon as I got inside the room. Are they psychic? Or did Rika really call them to chase me? The first one seems impossible, so it must be the latter.
"Kenji?" I flinched. "Is that you?"
Shoot.
T-That voice… I can't be mistaken; it belongs to Night. "Tell everyone to keep it down." He said, but I couldn't understand any word because he spoke Japanese. Was he so sure I was Kenji even though I didn't answer him the first time he asked? Why am I even wondering? What does it matter? All I need to know is that I can't stay here. I can already imagine Night's face if he discovered that it's not Kenji, but me, the girl he hates so much that he aimed a gun at me.
When I was about to open the sliding door, the audible sounds of footsteps and a girl panting outside made me stop. A girl? "Kill her!" The sound of a gun permeated the room and made my ears ring as I held onto the wall to support myself from falling due to shock. My heart started pounding so loud that it felt like Night will hear it any moment. I'm wincing due to the pain in my ear. Did they just shoot someone in front of this room? S-Someone— they killed someone!
"Tsk. I told them to keep it down." I flinched after hearing Night grunting on his bed. "Kenji." He called for Kenji again, which caused me to feel anxious. What if he gets up from the bed and sees that I am not Kenji? What if he kills me on the spot? Or what if he makes those people outside shoot me like they did to that other girl? Girl… No way! She might be that girl who pulled me before into that dark room. The one that told me she's here to help me.
"Drag her away." A familiar voice outside said. What just happened? Are they going to throw the girl's body just like that? What if that girl was sent by my parents? Or someone willing to help me get away from this place? But now she's dead. She's gone because of me. I waited for the people outside to walk away, but I heard a knock on the door. No! What kind of timing is this? "It's me."
I rushed to the closet while still managing to not make a sound and hid there in silence. "I told you guys to keep it down." Night said, but not in Japanese, so I understood. That's what he's been telling me all this time? "Did you kill her?" Kill who? Is it supposed to be me, but that girl was discovered instead? Am I supposed to die today?
"We did," The guy that came in said as he walked closer to the bed. I'm so glad that this room is too dark for them to notice me peeking from this walk-in closet. "What about you? Do you feel fine now?"
What is it this time? Is Night sick? Aren't I discovering too much of his secrets? Am I really bound to die here?
"What about her?"
"You didn't answer my question."
I can't see it properly, but I think Night's glaring at this other guy. The tension in the air grew, and the atmosphere was suffocating me. Are they on good terms, or are they not? "The lady's fine. She's resting in her room." That guy answered in Japanese, which I can't understand again. How nice would it be to be bilingual like them?
"What did the doctor tell you?" The guy asked. Wait, did he say doctor in Japanese? I can understand a little because my father often speaks in Japanese. Is Night really sick? Maybe he's doing all these to fulfill his psychopathic wish before he dies.
"It's nothing."
The other guy sighed. "I'll bring your medicine." He said and left the room.
Finally, my chance to get out of the room came. I tiptoed towards the sliding door.
"I didn't know we have a rat in this household."