I froze; it felt like he poured cold water at me, and I couldn't breathe. I-Is he talking to me? H-How? How did he notice me in this darkness? "Tsk." I heard him clicking his tongue and said nothing else. Did he really think that I'm a mouse?
I didn't dare turn around. I'm afraid that Night might be looking at me, and our eyes might meet. When my hand grabbed the sliding door, I slowly opened it and took the chance to get out. However, as soon as I got out, an unpleasant smell greeted me, causing me to cover my nose. What is this— I gasped and immediately covered my mouth before I could let out a scream. There's this sticky feeling on my feet too.
I think I want to vomit.
I'm stepping on a fresh pool of blood barefooted. It must belong to that person they killed just now. Thinking about it makes me feel shivers down my spine as a lump forms in my throat, making me afraid that I might retch. I need to get away from this place as soon as I—
"Young miss?"
I stopped breathing after hearing a voice on my left. "What are you doing outside of your room?" It's that young man named Kenji. Oh god, what should I do? He looked down and noticed that my feet were soaked in blood. "Should I help you clean your feet up?"
"I-I—" I didn't want to speak as I was afraid Night might hear my voice from his room.
Kenji, he creepily smiled at me. "Did the noise scare you?" He whispered those words as if he noticed that I was anxious to be heard. "Here. Use it to wipe your feet." He gave me a wet towel while still smiling at me. It's creeping me out. Is he planning to kill me too? Are they all here to kill me? Why isn't he saying anything else? Why isn't he asking me questions he should have asked by now?
"Oh, perhaps did you forget where your room was?" Kenji whispered those words directly to my ear, causing me to flinch. How did he get close without me noticing? "Should I accompany you?" This silence between us scares me more than the chaos before. Even though I didn't answer, Kenji accompanied me to my room as if he could read what was happening inside my head.
"Please avoid going out this late at night." Kenji reminded me as soon as we reached my room. "It'll be hard on us if you got injured." W-What? Wait, is he saying they might kill me like that other girl if they saw me outside my room at night? That girl was just trying to help me but died because of me.
The next day came without any of my questions being answered. No one would answer me because I'm their hostage, and it's too risky to ask Rika.
"Good morning, young miss."
Rika greets me with high tension. Her loud voice rings inside my head, and it hurts. "What time is it?" I grunt while rubbing my eyes. I didn't get enough sleep because of the incident last night. Who would be able to sleep after witnessing a murder? Those who can are probably psychopaths!
"It's already 10 o'clock, young miss."
10 o'clock?!
"You must be tired because you couldn't sleep early yesterday." Rika smiles. "Do you want me to get your breakfast now, or would you rather take a bath first?" Her smile is weirding me out, or am I just overthinking everything? No— I should overthink! I'm a hostage here.
"Breakfast, please."
Rika's smile widens as she gives me a salute. "Yes, young miss! I'll bring it as quick as I can." She said and hurried out of the room. Why is she so energetic today? It makes me want to overthink what happened yesterday. What if she's acting cheerful to hide what's happening inside the house? And the fact that she snitched on me?
It scares me whenever I think about what happened last night. I'm still wondering how they could kill someone without blinking an eye. I should get out of this house as soon as possible. I don't know if Kenji's planning something to keep me locked here, but I must eat breakfast first. My body won't function well without food, and my brain won't be able to think much since I don't usually think a lot. This is the only way I can reduce the burdens on my parents.
That reminds me, what day is it today? "What day is it today?" I asked Rika when she returned to the room with the food tray.
"It's the 28th of October, young miss," Rika answered. "And it's Saturday today."
My birthday is on the 31st of October. I already told my friends to celebrate it with my family and me, but that seems impossible now. Unless I escape successfully from this place before my birthday. "Oh right, young miss. I will be tending to some housework today because the other servants aren't around." Rika said. Isn't that good news for me? It'll make it easier to sneak out of this room without getting caught. I started stretching out as soon as Rika got out of my room. I better not run while my stomach's full since it'll hurt later.
Now how should I plan my escape? Should I stop thinking and just run for it? I'm pretty good when it comes to running away. Ever since I was a child, I've been athletic. I'm confident about my skills; those people from yesterday might not be around anyway.
What if Kenji told everyone to be on guard because of what happened last night? He witnessed me outside my room, so it'll probably raise some suspicions, wouldn't it?
If I can escape, it'll be nice, but if I can't, they might tighten their security, and there's no other way for me to escape without getting hurt. "Okay," I said after stretching. "I'm going to make a run for it."
Some people get surprised when they learn how athletic I am because of my small stature. I've been running in marathons since I was a kid, and I even get surprised with how I pass my limits. But that's past now; I'm not sure if I'll be able to outrun everyone. No, let's think positively. They won't be able to chase after me as soon as I get out of this place.
The only problem is that I don't know where the exit is. My plan yesterday failed because of the commotion that happened. "It can't be helped."
One… two… I took a deep breath. "Three!" When I opened the sliding door, I rushed towards my left side, where I sneaked yesterday. It'll be a risk not knowing where the exit is, but it's better than staying in that stuffy room alone. It's the best time since I learned that Night doesn't feel great and it stopped raining outside.
As soon as I took a turn to the intersection I saw yesterday, I bumped into another person. "Y-Young miss?" It's Rika! She fell on her butt because of that. What excellent timing is this, oh god!
"I'm sorry!"
"Young miss? Young miss!" Rika shouted after I continued running away past her. "Where are you going? Young miss!" Everyone must have heard her loud voice, so I hurried towards the massive door at the end of the hallway. I can hear the same loud footsteps I heard yesterday from the direction where I came from. They're fast.
I quickly opened the door, which made me squint my eyes as I got blinded by the bright light from the sun. When I got out, the grass tickled my feet and caused me to look at the ground. Huh? It made me curious, and when I darted my eyes everywhere, I realized that there wasn't a gate that would lead me outside.
This place is surrounded by walls that are too high to climb. Hmm, but if you're athletic enough, you can try. And when I say you, I refer to myself. Maybe I can find something to use. I roamed the place, and that's when I realized that this place looked exactly like that Japanese garden I had visited with my mom. I miss my mom. I can't wait to get out of this place and see her.
There's a big pond in the middle with koi fishes swimming and a bridge above it, some big rocks and plants all over the place. I can see huge bonsais near the walls. This place is neat; my mom will love having tea time here.
"Young miss!"
Wait! This isn't the time for me to be distracted. I ran towards the wall, searching for a better part to climb. But before I could reach the wall, I stepped hard on something sharp, causing me to scream in pain as I lost my balance and quickly fell on my butt.
"Young miss!" I heard Rika's faint voice from behind, but I couldn't hear anything else as my eyes landed on my foot. B-Blood's coming out of my foot.
My vision gets blurry as I feel dizzy just by the sight of blood. I started gasping for air while I could hear a loud ringing sound in my left ear. I'm not afraid of blood, but why is my body acting like this?
"Young miss— Oh my god! The miss's foot is bleeding!" Rika panicked, snatching my attention away. "Y-Young miss?" I suddenly feel nothing but numbness. The memory of that traumatizing moment resurfaced inside my head as it almost weakened my resolve to escape.
No. I've gotten this far; I can't give up here.
I got up as if the pain had vanished and tried to climb the wall the best I could. "Young miss! That's dangerous!"