I heard his words, but I couldn't find the right response. What was he talking about? Suzune, curious and unsure, asked him who he was, wondering if he was a cosplayer or something of the sort.
He introduced himself as Red. He said he was hoping to find the Ryuu. Nobara, shaken, asked what the Ryuu was.
Red said he was to kill the Ryuu. He admitted he hated killing anyone but his target. He promised to let the rest of us go home if we revealed the Ryuu's identity. I mustered up the courage to speak, stating that we couldn't tell him something we didn't know. It was even possible that none of us were the person he was looking for. Red insisted that it wasn't possible because he could feel her energy, her Tàh. Confused, I asked him to explain what he meant by that. He clarified that it was the energy he felt coming from one of us. He then counted down, threatening to kill us all if the Ryuu didn't reveal himself or rather herself. Before I could finish speaking to him, he reached three.
A red chunk of rubber emerged from his back. It split into four fangs that shot out and pierced Suzune. I screamed in horror as she fell, blood splattering everywhere. Red taunted us, asking who was next.
At that moment, I heard Suzune's weak voice, urging us to run. And so, we ran for our lives, not knowing our destination but desperate to escape that place. Red's chilling words echoed behind us.
He promised that he would find the Ryuu and laughed. He commanded what seemed to be small creatures that looked like wolves. But, fire engulfed their bodies. He commanded them to chase after us.
¶
After running for what felt like an eternity, we finally stopped to catch our breath. Nobara in shock, asked me what we should do and if Suzune was gone.
Fear gripped us all as we realized that we had seen the murder of our classmate. I knew that we had to make it to my house. "We have to make it to your house, Ria. It's close to the police," Nobara informed me.
"Alright, let's head home," I replied. As we continued, I noticed the same man lurking in an alleyway, staring at us. Although I couldn't see his face, I could sense his sinister grin. "Guys, we need to keep running," I urged, and we started sprinting. "What's wrong?" they asked, following behind. I couldn't find the words to explain, so I kept running. We reached my house. It was late evening, and I glanced at my watch to see that it was 7pm.
To evade our pursuer, we decided to split up and run in different directions.
Sweat drenched my school uniform, making it feel as though I had emerged from a swimming pool.
Ding! Ding!, I rang the doorbell, but there was no response. Could it be that my dad hadn't returned home yet?
"Who is it?" my dad's voice echoed from inside the house.
"It's Ria."
"Ria, you're in so much trouble-" As soon as he saw us, he ushered us inside and closed the door.
"What happened?" he inquired.
"We were being chased by someone, we need to call the police," I explained.
"Ria, calm down. Who was chasing you?"
"Me!" came that same sinister voice. He had found us. But how?
"What are you doing in my house? You better leave now, or I'll call the-" Before my dad could finish his sentence, the man grabbed him and held him hostage.
"I'll give you three minutes. Ryuu, come out, or I snap his neck. One, two-"
"We need to keep moving," Sakura interjected, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
"But I can't leave my dad behind, can I?" I protested.
"You're right, I'm sorry. But we do know one thing for sure – he's vulnerable to fire because of the rubber," Sakura reasoned.
She pointed to the gasoline my dad had recently bought. It seemed he had forgotten to bring it inside, but now it could work to our advantage.
"If we douse him with it, I'm certain it'll burn him, and we can all escape," Sakura suggested.
"What about a lighter?" I asked.
"I have one now, she said shuffling her bag. let's proceed," she responded. Standing up, Nobara faced us and said,
"We need to be brave, okay?" Before Nobara could finish, she fell to the ground with a thud. Blood gushed from her back.
Red had killed her.