The man let out a light laugh.
"You can only blame this on your husband."
His hands were tightly wrapped around the sharp edge of the blade.
He trembled as blood dripped down his hands.
Yet,
Drip!
Drip!
He didn't seem to notice this.
I could feel the anger emanating from him.
It was spilling from his eyes, overflowing into the surroundings with a slight tinge of madness that sent cold chills slithering down my spine.
Tears streamed down the corner of his eyes, and the trembling of his hands only continued to increase in intensity.
"...H-he placed this calamity on you."
Wiping the tears away, a calm expression slowly crept up his face.
"...Aren't you enjoying this?"
"It's actually kind of cool, don't you think so?"
The lady shook her head violently, teardrops dripping onto the ground beneath her.
Her trembling grew more intense and so did her struggles to speak.
It became much more pronounced.
And I could feel it from where I stood.
And just then-,
Creaaak!
The door to the house creaked open.
A grating sound that made my heart lurch to my throat echoed through the endless dark.
And a man who greatly resembled the shapeshifter slowly walked inside.
"Honey."
He called out.
Hanging his coat before moving to a nearby room.
But, he didn't find his wife there.
Tok-
Tok-
"Dear. I'm back."
His voice echoed through the quiet rooms.
And-,
"Hehehehe...seems your husband is back."
The shapeshifter's eyes gleamed in anticipation.
I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
"...I can't wait to see the terror in his eyes- the moment he realizes it's too late. Hah!... That look... It'll be priceless."
Tok-
Tok-
The steps echoed through the stifling quiet.
And within the blink of an eye, the shapeshifter had hidden behind the door.
And I could almost make out a wide grin on his face.
'Bastard!'
And just then-,
Tok-
A man appeared at the room's entrance.
"Fuck! What happened to you Nina!"
Yelling, he dashed towards the young lady.
His body trembled as he let loose the ropes.
He succeeded in doing that, but he saw that she was suddenly struggling intensely.
As though, desperate to say something.
Thump... Thump...
He nodded and removed the rope binding her mouth.
"B-ehind you!"
She spoke up with widened eyes.
Tok-
Tok-
"W-hat-..."
Turning back, a bright incandescent flame rose in his hands.
But-,
Slasssh!
He was still a little bit too slow.
His speech abruptly ended and a sharp blade easily sliced through the air, akin to a fierce whirlwind. It wasted no time in severing the man's head off his body.
Splatter!
Blood gushed out continuously from the neck before the headless body finally collapsed onto the ground.
The man's head rolled towards my feet, a widened look etched onto his face- even after his death.-
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
The blood splattered on my face carried an icy sting, as if it held the essence of a frigid wind.
A shiver crept down my spine, snaking through my body and chilling me to the core.
And then-,
***
.
.
.
"Noooo!!!"
I yelled out.
And-,
Thump… Thump…
My eyes darted to my surroundings.
Only to realize that… I was still in the car.
Then... What the hell was that?
The only thing that came to my mind was...
"Foresight?"
"What happened?"
Klaus hurriedly questioned.
His deafening heartbeat echoing through the suffocating quiet.
"The shapeshifter," I muttered, my hands still trembling from the aftermath.
"It's in the house. It's already there."
Klaus was skeptical.
I mean-,
He had been watching the entire time. And he would've definitely noticed if the shapeshifter had actually passed by.
'...That, he was very much sure of.'
"Just trust me Klaus."
I muttered under clenched hands.
And then-,
"That's him! That's him!"
I caught a glimpse of the lady's husband.
"Who's he?"
Klaus questioned with a raised brow.
"The lady's husband."
I was quick to reply.
Klaus gave me a weird look.
"Alright."
"But you owe me an explanation."
I nodded.
Alighting from the car.
We both headed for the residence.
Tok-
Tok-
Arriving before the door, I immediately busted into the room after Klaus gave the go-ahead.
Craaaack!!
My heartbeat pounded hard against my ribs, its deafening sound echoing through the stiling quiet.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Entering the room.
I realized that it was exactly the same as the one in my dream.
No. It was definitely the one in my dream!
The corner of my eyes caught a glimpse of a room- the room where the macabre act took place.-
And then-,
Thump… Thump…
I dashed towards the room, immediately followed by Klaus.
"Noooo!!!"
A loud shriek pierced the air.
One that sent cold chills running down my spine.
Tok-
Tok-
We both dashed into the room just in time to-,
Thump... Thump...
See a headless head spewing out blood uncontrollably.
My heart skipped a beat as I shifted my gaze towards the shapeshifter.
'Military agents?'
The shapeshifter had a furrowed brow.
Realizing that the chances of them being from a security company was rather high.
He immediately took to his heels.
Tok-
Tok-
'His mission here was done anyway. So there was no reason to duke it out with the cops.'
Klaus immediately pulled the trigger three times consecutively.
Kaa!!! Kaaa!!! Kaaaa!!!
PUCHIII!!
One of the shots managed to pierce through the shapeshifter's leg.
Just before he crashed into the window-,
Katchaa!!!
Glass shattered under the weight of his fragile body and he skillfully ricocheted off the ground, before finally getting onto his knees.
Taking one last look at the intruders.
He marked their faces and then-,
Did what a wise man would do in his steed.
Tok-
Tok-
He took to his heels!
Step-
Step-
He ran with everything he had got.
And despite the continuous shots from Klaus and I. It seemed futile, as the distance between us and the shapeshifter only continued to grow.
"Take care of the lady."
Klaus said, "I will go after it."
I nodded, whispering softly:
"...Be careful."
Klaus gave a light nod.
"I will."
Tok-
Tok-
He immediately jumped through the shattered window.
Rapidly chasing after the shapeshifter who was rapidly moving past his line of sight.
"Ma'am, please be calm. Everything will be okay."
Forcing a calm expression, I tried to comfort her.
"H-e… he killed my husband."
Tears streamed down the corner of her eyes, as she struggled to accept the grim reality.
I didn't stop her from grieving.
I knew she must be in pain.
And such pain really can't be described in words.
If I had to say.
Then:
...She would probably feel as though her entire world had come crashing down on her.
And such pain I doubt could be described with words alone.
***
.
.
.
The shapeshifter abruptly left Klaus's line of sight.
He calmly gazed at the perimeters, but he couldn't find the shapeshifter. And-,
'Where the hell is the bastard!'
Slowly, his patience began to wane.
…In the next five seconds to come.
He slowly grew annoyed and irritated.
And then-,
Kaaa!!! Kaaa!!!
He shot the gun into the air.
"Aaaarggh!"
"Ruun!"
The nearby humans ran helter skelter, and the shapeshifter seemed to have merged with the surrounding humans.
Klaus even had a guess that he was probably the one who had said the word:
"Run!"
"What a crafty bastard!"
With tightly clenched hands, he felt like smashing his gun onto the ground.
But,
"Eeuuf!"
Exhaling sharply.
He refrained from doing so.
His eyes moved through the now desolate streets.
They were still a few humans who ran to safety or those who were brave enough to head to any nearby security company.
But he still didn't see the shapeshifter.
It was almost like… he had suddenly vanished.
But he knew it wasn't that simple.
Only transcenders could probably be in possession of such mystical powers. And he doubted the shapeshifter was one.
"Huff… Huff."
…Despite knowing he had to leave before any military agents arrived.
He still kept looking, but eventually he came back to a semblance of rationality.
...Finding the shapeshifter as of right now was probably impossible. Not to even talk of the fact that it can just easily revert to its original skin.
"This is nothing short of a futile attempt."
Shaking his head.
Klaus exhaled sharply, and-,
Tok-
Tok-
The sound of his footsteps echoed through the stifling silence as he hastily made way for the residence