"RUN! DO NOT LOOK BACK, RUN!"
I ran as ordered, as fast as my feet could carry me. The screams of the monsters and beasts behind us making our frantic steps quicker, barely making it down the second to last flight of stairs without falling or tripping over one another. We could see the last flight that led to the front door, our freedom gate locking us inside. Another monster stepped into our path, and Sanageyama immediately shot out to attack it, not caring for the fact the beast in front of us rose one of its over-sized fists, swinging it toward the catapulting Sanageyama. He brandished his swords, ready to swing out against it blindly.
"SANAGEYAMA!" Lady Satsuki yelled, but her yell of alert did not reach Sanageyama in time.
He couldn't dodge in time as the fist slammed into his ribcage, immediately crumpling in his left side and sending him into the wall. He sagged down the wall in a pool of his blood, the now bent and broken beyond recognition Elite member dead instantly. The monster sauntered toward the body, and Lady Satsuki took the chance and drew Bakuzan, slicing through his neck and cleanly decapitating it, clearing the path once more.
"Ryuuko, Iori, Hakodate, Takaharu, Mikisugi, and now Sanageyama..." I heard Inumuta mutter as we hid inside one of the rooms we had a key for, safe for the moment thanks to the locks. I quickly looked around, confirming his list of the dead. Half of the original people who entered were long dead, and most we lost in the beginning due to an ambush.
Nonon, Mankanshoku, Inumuta, Maiko, myself and Lady Satsuki were the last survivors in this god-forsaken hell hole of a mansion. Everyone sat by themselves, excluding Nonon who, as predicted, sat the nearest Lady Satsuki for obvious comfort as she still shook from the amount of loss we suffered. Mankanshoku sat on top of the lone bed in the room, still crying heavy tears for the loss of her closest friend, whom had been the second to last to go.
Ryuuko had been brutally murdered by one of the monsters as she defended Mankanshoku from the hit destined to kill her. An honorable way to go in any other situation, but getting killed by one of those freaks makes the loss burn even more, even with the noble intention.
Seeing Mankanshoku cry without comfort hurt made waiting for action much harder. A dull but insistent burn in my chest to do something seeing that no one else made the move to do so. I swallowed my pride and fluster and approached her, silently sitting beside her and wiping away her tears. She flinched, but did not stop my help. Instead, she leaned toward me, the soft whimpering I could pick up under her breath disappearing. Her tears slowed until not one built up in the corners of her eyes, a mournful sigh escaping her. She looked toward me, a smile appearing on her lips as well as her thanks for my comfort. I knew not only Ryuuko's death weighed on her shoulders, seeing that Sanageyama's horrific murder happened not a few feet from all of us. She gently pushed my hand away and finally let a normal breath of air free, the tension in her body lessening.
"Thank you." she spoke quietly, setting her hands on top of mine. I nodded in response, squeezing her hands softly before turning my attention to Nonon, who had gotten up from her spot with rather unneeded excitement for the moment, something grasped within her hands.
"What is it now, Nonon? It would be best to stay silent." Inumuta scolded her. She waved him off with a huff.
"Shut up and listen! I started picking through my pockets when I found this."
She raised a heavy bronze key. It sported obvious age, with a large embossed seal of three diamonds over-locking as well as a vintage feel to the key, something with obvious age. It had visible details on it that matched the door that they entered from. My heart stopped as I realized what that key meant to us.
"It cannot be..." the words fell from my lips faster than my mind could stop them. Could it be the key that could let us out?
We moved to see the key, trying to tell if the key truly would be our salvation to get out. Lady Satsuki took the key, and looked it over, flipping it over to look over each detail of the key.
"I do not care how this key came into your possession, Nonon, but we have our way out of here."
No one cheered, not even I, but we started to collect what we scattered in our time of hiding, and readied to exit and run for our exit at long last. Mankanshoku nudged my side as she passed me, her eyes alight with her powerful fire. I did not nudge her back, but I am glad to see her ready to fight for freedom.
Lady Satsuki gave us a three-second countdown and we surged as a group out of the room, slaughtering two smaller monsters in our path as we ran down the hallway and down the last flight of stairs that divided us and freedom. The others ran ahead of me, while I busied mself with defense in the back. The monsters gathered behind me on the visible balcony of the second floor, letting us go toward the front door.
I heard and saw Lady Satsuki put the key within its place, the lock breaking and the doorknow beginning to turn. I stepped up toward them, still guarding the rear when I felt a jolt run through me, her voice suddenly whispering in my ears.
"Just where are you going?"
Fear settled within me, and I stopped in the middle of the foyer. The others gathered in front of the door as Lady Satsuki threw the oaken door open, sunlight pouring into the dim room. Maiko cried for freedom as everyone ran outside, their silhouettes visible from where I stood from as they ran into the light of day, their cries of freedom loud enough for me to hear.
The door swung closed behind them a moment later, and the lock reengaged. I turned toward the second floor and watched the monsters mill in the above balcony near their master, the blonde pigtails of the girl swaying in her freakish, unnatural wind. Her smile told me what I needed to know, and I turned to the door as the pounding began.
The shouting came quickly from the outside, their thoughts clear now that they left one person inside, one vital person still at the mercy of this hell, but they were too late. They remembered me too late.
I am dead already. I died without a witness, without a single person to witness my final moments. No one cried for my death. No one remembered that I had entered this place with them, the spell upon them keeping me from their memory.
I, Ira Gamagoori, belong to this home now. A specter within Nui Harime's monstrous, torturous game of house.
Nui stepped closer to the balcony. "So, Gamagoori...shall we find that clock and prepare for the next loop?"
I have no choice but to find that clock, I wanted to say to her, but I knew if I spoke up she would make everyone pay hell the next time, as she did this time with the early ambush. I nodded as I always have, obeying her rules in her game, and watched her disappear with her pets back to the main chambers hidden within the home, locked behind their puzzles and countless keys.
As I have for the last fifteen loops, I started my search for the grandfather clock that would send me back to the beginning, return my companions, and restart our journey to freedom.
If you did not pick up on it, this story came from inspiration from Ao Oni, a famous RPG game that spawned a near franchise. I also took ideas from Hetaoni, Hetalia's take on Ao Oni.
I'm debating on continuing this, or I can write the version I thought of with Satsuki as our main. Leave a review with your opinion. Should this continue?
