I woke up with a throbbing pain in my head. It took a while to get my eyesight, adjusted. It was a rather large room. I was lying on the wooden floor. The ceiling of the room was painted in pitch black giving it a dungeon like look.
I sat up to get a better look about the situation, I was dressed in jeans and a full-sleeved black T-shirt. I checked for my purse and wallet but got nothing. I can't remember this place at all, it isn't my home. But then what was my home? Why can't I remember it? No sooner had I stood up, panting than I beheld the sight.
It was Six of them, seven what do I say, demihumans. A raid haired sexy girl of late teens with a snake like lower body and fiery raid hair was sleeping just in an arm's length. If I can remember they are called Lamia, I read about them in Greek Mythology.
The Blonde girl in white shirt and a huge skirt has to be a Centaur, I can see her ears and the tail protruding out from the skirt.
The one child-like girl dressed in a top and shorts, with blue hair and blue feathers on her limbs has to be a harpy, I can see her talons.
The pink haired girl is certainly a Mermaid, it can be deduced from her fish tail.
The sixth one was the most frightening; she had the upper body of a buxom woman covered in a tight top. Her lower body was of an enormous black widow's. She had pointed spider legs and two pedipulps. She wore a mini skirt like thing.
The blue skinned girl looked most humane of them all but a big scythe lay beside her. She was dressed in Black tube top and black stockinged boots.
The girls started yawning, the Lamia cracked her neck and sleepily replied, "Where am I?"
Then she saw me and cried out, "It's a human!"
This got the attention of all the other girls, within a fraction of a second I was bound in spider web and hung upside down. Six red eyes bored bullets in me, while my face was greeted with cold steel, I can feel the sharp edge cutting through my skin.
"Thou need to answer mine questions." The blue eyed blonde centaur pressed her Sword more firmly on my cheek, the Arachne nodded in affirmation.
"Look, ladies. I don't know about anything. Heck I can't even remember my name?" I tried my best to look convincing.
"Why should we believe you? Guess I have to torture the truth out of you." The Arachne bared her claws.
Suddenly the tv screen at the far end lit up, a woman dressed in all black with black shades appeared, "Hello, everyone. I'm agent Smith. You guys might be flustered due to your current predicament and have lots of questions. Well this is a survival experiment; you need to survive for six days. The food is stashed in the refrigerator , you'll have ample supply of that. Now the most important aspect of this game, there's a killer among you. If in these six days the killer isn't caught I'll kill every one of you but if the killer kills everybody else in these six days then I'll let the killer go scot free. I've already wiped away irrelevant memories from your brains, though the killer would be able remember the murder. So best of luck."
I cried out "What the fuck is this, don't you dare go Daganronpa on us." Wait a second, I'm able to remember about that crappy mystery game, but why I couldn't remember my own name?
The Centaur cut loose my binds and I landed on my feet first. I wasn't sure that I'm this much athletic.
"This is real tragedy. We're locked with a killer among us, who will go to the greatest of lengths to kill all of us." The Mermaid screamed on top of her lungs before plunging into the pool. This was the first time I realized that there was a pool also in this room.
The blue skinned girl placed her left hand on her face and pointed her scythe towards me, "I, the death incarnate will guide and reap all your souls once you're being killed. So don't worry." Before she could finish the Lamia smacked her tail on the girl's breast. A very interesting yet grotesque thing followed, the head of the girl got dislocated due to the impact. Her body dropped the scythe and started looking desperately for her head, something snapped in my mind. I picked up her head.
"Put it back on my body, Mortal."
"No; Hey spider lady secure her body."
The Arachne tied up the struggling body of the girl, while flashing me a grin.
I kept the head on the nearby table for further questioning. Suddenly the Lamia screamed, "Hey, you guys, the harpy, she isn't waking up."
I rushed towards the lying Harpy, I could bet that I saw her getting up from the slumber, I rushed to her. Suddenly a scent of bitter almonds struck my nostrils; I flipped the girl on her back and checked her pulse. She was already dead, the body was still warm, so maybe she died when the commotion was taking place.
I look up at the other girls and announced with a heavy voice, "She's no more. Probably it's a case of Cyanide poisoning."
This revelation sent a shock through the girls, the Lamia went crazy and started shouting, the Headless girl's head started laughing, the Centaur and the Arachne looked very panicked, the mermaid jumped off the pool and started weeping.
I had to raise my voice to calm them down, "Look, ladies I know that the situation is dire and the shade wearing lady is playing the most sado game that can ever be imagined, but we need to keep calm and catch the killer. The killer can't kill us if we stay in a flock. We have to catch her before the sixth day. So let's just cooperate okay?"
It seemed to work, the Arachne and the Centaur nodded in agreement, the Lamia somehow held herself steady, the headless girl's head was still grinning and the Mermaid looked blankly towards us.
{One week earlier}
"Look ,Smith. We can't continue this anymore not after that cold-blooded murder. She didn't even bother to feel guilty about murdering such a humble and bighearted kid."
"Mr. President we can't just deport them all for the sake of one miscreant."
"You're just not getting the point Smith, what's the guarantee that these Demihumans won't succumb to their bestial innate nature and go on slaughtering the whole mankind?"
"No, Mr. President. All I can say is that Liminals are just like humans, there are certain bad apples, but the bunch isn't that bad."
"Can you prove it that humans and Liminals can cooperate and trust each other with their lives?"
"Why don't we use the Danganronpa model and throw the killer in the ring?"
"Fine, You have Twenty days, and your time starts now."
Current Events
"We have to catch the killer within this stipulated timeframe, else things might worsen for us." The Lamia declared, while everyone nodded.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves? This will help us bond and at the same time the pent up tension will be released? By the way, I'm Centorea Shianus, a proud member of dignified Centaur race." The centaur introduced herself.
"I'm Rachnera Arachnera , I'm an Arachne and a member of the smart Arachne race." The Arachne replied.
"I'm Miia, I'm a Lamia." The Lamia replied.
"I'm Meroune Lorelei-du Neptune. Please call me Mero." The mermaid introduced herself in a regal style.
"I'm Lala, the Harbringer of death and destruction, I reap….." the headless girl's head was again tied up by Rachnera, "She's just a chunni dullahan, probably." Rachnera finished lala's introduction.
Now all eyes rested upon me, they were looking expectantly, but believe me, I felt like a constipated person, somehow I blurted out, "I'm a human and I've no memory about myself."
All of them looked surprised, the Arachne furrowed her six eyes on me, her Lilac hair gave her the aura of a hardboiled inquisitor.
"I'm telling the truth, I've no recollection of my past memories." I tried to defend my stance.
"What if you're the killer? Maybe you killed the Harpy? You're the first one to wake up." The Lamia pointed at him accusingly while the Centaur nodded.
I knew that I've to appeal to their logic and reason. I'm already a human in the mix of these powerful Demi-humans. If they become paranoid about me being the mystery killer then probably my chance of an alive escape will come down to zero.
"Think logically, Miia-san. If I was the killer then I wouldn't have attracted the attention of you guys. We don't know the name of the killer. So if I was the killer and I wanted to conceal myself I would have told you my pet name, but I didn't. Infact I stated the truth. I told that I'm suffering from Amnesia. So if I'm the killer then I'm a very stupid person or I'm not the killer at all. The first hypothesis assumes that I'm stupid while the second assumes that I'm suffering from amnesia. But even if I deceive you I don't gain anything more than your suspicion. So why would I do that?" I told them, hoping at least the Arachne will understand cause she behaved in smart manner. I seriously hope that she isn't the killer, else it would be a matter of seconds to abet the Lamia and the Centaur against me.
All of them nodded at my explanation, but I can still read the caution in their faces. But still it's better than outright distrust and contempt.
I checked my pockets, but alas I found nothing, then the pen and paper on the table drew my attention I grabbed them, "Let's note down the incidents uptil now, my watch says, it's 11th November 2016, 7.30 p.m and given our proficiencies in Japanese I should assume that we're in Japan, cause the shade wearing woman instructed us in Japanese."
The demihumans seemed to agree. Rachnera suggested, "So how about we just state our version of the event and thus we can compare our stuff. If anyone is lying he/she can be spotted easily." All seemed to agree.
"I'll go first. My name is Miia, I'm a Lamia. I came here for interspecies exchange programme but that's all I can remember, nothing more, nothing less." The Lamia said in a sombre tone.
Everybody else stated exactly the same thing, even the Chunni Dullahan.I knew that the killer has to one of them else I would have had my memories. Then I looked at the Harpy's body, "It's gonna get rotten within six days, so how about if we move it to the next floor?"
Me and the Centaur together with the Arachne moved the Harpy's body. Her body was very light, but we didn't take any chances, we handled it cautiously.
"Ladies, I think that the killer will strike whenever one is alone or a commotion is going on, so we need to stick together and keep our cool. I don't want to give the killer anything more to work with." I stated with a conviction worthy of Julius Ceaser.
Before I could make another sound I was tightly coiled by the Lamia, "You seem to be a very dependable and mature guy." As she almost hugged the life out of me. Soon the Centaur and the Arachne followed suit and I was getting crushed by three pairs of firm tits.
The Dullahan looked flustered and her cheeks took a deep purple hue. The Mermaid looked at us from the pool. She can't really stay on the land for longer periods of time.
Suddenly the lights started flickering, Rachnera muttered, "Damn, power-lines. It's just a ploy to fuck with our brains." The other two huffed in agreement while tightening their grips.
Soon the power was restored quite magically and the pool was empty. We didn't find the mermaid anywhere in the room. Soon panic set in, I saw the utter horror in their eyes. I knew that things are going to get ugly.
"How could she just disappear , in front of our eyes?" the Lamia panted.
"She's a spirit . She was the one who killed the Harpy and now she'll kill us too." The Centaur added.
"Death is going to befall, but fear not, I'll make your path easier by reaping your souls." The Dullahan struck a dramatic pose.
The Arachne promptly bound them up before they could succumb into deeper realm of panic. The Arachne looked back at me, her eyes had the coldness of a psychopath. I know I'm fairly athletic, but how on earth I'm supposed to measure up with this deranged killing machine?
She spoke while doing away with my fears, "Only you seem to be level headed, so I spared you. We have to figure out something before insanity grips us too." Her captives tried to speak desperately but the binds were too tight.
"Rachnera, I have a theory about this whole stuff." I blurted out while scratching the back of my head.
"You don't look very confident, so why should I pay any heed to you?" she smiled menacingly.
I deepened my voice to sound more convincing, "The killer is a very smart person, the poisoning of the Harpy can be done by anyone. But how did the killer carried the poison to the Harpy's mouth? I didn't find any trace of any food in her mouth. So how was she poisoned?"
The Arachne looked a bit disbelieving, "What are you trying to say? She's already dead. We all checked her pulse. But where did the Mermaid go?"
"When the light's went out, you with the Lamia and the Centaur were busy embracing me, probably trying to feel if I was hiding something on my body or not. So you guys can be counted out. The Dullahan has a detachable head, thus too much of a jerk can put her in inconvenience. The mermaid is missing and the pool water looks undisturbed. The floor is also dry, showing no signs that she was yanked out of the water. As if she got melt in the pool." I concluded.
The Arachne flashed me a smile, "The Lamia and Centaur are also innocent. I didn't feel anything strange on their body too, but who are you? You seem to be very calm headed and focused despite this entire ruckus?"
"I told you, I have no memory of my earlier life, but I just seem to reason these things in a logical manner." I winked at her.
"But still it doesn't answer our questions, at all. Who is the killer and how the mermaid disappeared?" the Arachne wanted more.
The question also intrigued me a lot. How did the killer poison the Harpy and how did the Mermaid disappear, her modes of transport is severely constrained, and also why do I have the feeling that something is different, but I can't pinpoint it, damn you headache.
The three captive girls by now got out of their bindings. They looked a bit angry and already started hurling abuses towards the Arachne.
The Centaur started yelling, "It's hat demonic Mermaid. She killed the Harpy and now she will come after us, we are doomed."
The Dulahan again stroke another pose, "I won't let another harbinger of death on my turf, only I'll reap your souls. "
Suddenly I slipped on something and landed in the pool, the pool wasn't much deeper so I was more or less unharmed. The water looked a bit slippery, I was instantly yanked out by strong webbing ,thanks to Rachnera. "Thanks for hauling me out of there." I thanked her with sincerity.
The Lamia announced, "We need to stick together, I guess it's the only way to confront the killer." Everybody nodded in agreement other than the Dullahan. She was busy practising her Chunni tendencies and went out in the hallway.
It was almost ten minutes since the Dullahan has left and we were busy playing Trump cards. Apparently Miia had this set of cards with her and it was a great thing for us. It really helped to bust the pent up angst.
Suddenly a sharp cry came from the hallway, the four of us rushed to the source, we saw the Dullahan lying dead shot through her head, which was detached from her body. It was a gory scene, her brain tissues splattered all over the place and her head was beyond recognization. Her silvery hair got dyed in her own blood.
Centorea started throwing up , Miia became busy to nurse her. Rachnera got the body in her webbing and both of us laid her body besides the dead Harpy.
"The killer has to be an outsider. We all had alibi for Lala's murder." Rachnee stated, "It must be the Mermaid. She looked very artificial from the very beginning. She's the one behind all of this."
I saw raw fear for the very first time in her face. Till now she looked to be in control but not anymore.
After Miia and Centorea got their act together we scooted across the main room, but boy there was another surprise waiting for us, on the very place where we were sitting previously, lay the dead Mermaid, there was a sharp mark of rope on her throat followed by some thin vertical scratch marks. One of her finger nail even had a tiny amount of blood on it.
"Somebody strangled the poor girl by a rope, she tried her best to get freed but only managed to scratch her throat in the process. So our theory that the Mermaid was the killer falls apart, like a house of cards." I looked back at three terrified Liminal girls. At the end of the day they weren't cops, it's too hard of a shock for them, but why I'm not feeling any fear or anything else. What the hell was my profession? Was I a killer and am I killing these girls one by one subconsciously? Wait ,wait, I can't be the killer, I have alibis but so does everyone, no not everyone. Probably these are suicides but Mero and lala, those aren't suicides they are murders. Am I going mad?
A tight slap broke my trance and I fell on my back as my hands were bind tightly by the lamia's tail, while the Centaur pressed her Hoof on my chest with enough pressure to choke me and Rachnera used her steel like finger nail poke my adam's apple.
"You're the suspicious one. We all knew about our pasts but you didn't, and guess what we can't even verify that you're speaking the truth. You must be the killer and you have every chance to do it. You could probably have poisoned the Harpy by offering her chocolates or something. You can kill the mermaid and hide her body during the blackout. Probably you knocked off lala's head and stuffed her body in our embrace as Lala wasn't very far from us. Thus we never knew that you sneaked out. Then you put her head back on and she committed suicide as she was used by a mere mortal. Under the guise of getting her head you hid the gun and thus duped us. You were the last to get out of the room after Lala's scream so you must have put Mero's body in the room for us to find out. Especially you seem to be very much in control when you are dealing with corpses that proves that you have prior experiences in that regard."
Rachnera stopped to breath, Centorea and Miia nodded in agreement. Rachnera bound me up tightly and forced me into a noose around my throat and hanged me in such a way that if I try to move a muscle I'll be suffocated to death.
I blurted out, "Please. I didn't kill anyone, please. I have alibi for all the murders, I couldn't have snuck Lala's body. You guys hemmed me. I couldn't have snuck out from there."
Centorea replied, "No we have no evidence to support your claim. Rachnera, I've asked Miia to bring us some drinking water while she'll put Mero's body in fridge."
Rachnera yawned; I knew that I had to find the killer before they do something worse to me. Shit I can't even think clearly, shit. What's that stuck under my shoe, it looks like a broken nail, nah more srot of a small talon.
Suddenly a cry was heard, it was Miia. Rachnera and Centorea looked surprised as they thought securing me would have been enough to counter the killings. I requested Rachnera,, "Please, at least cut the noose." She obliged and she also cut the binds of my leg but she secured my hand more firmly, as Centorea galloped out by then.
I also accompanied the Arachne, the scream came from the fridge room, upon arriving there we saw Miia, lying there with a slitted wrist. She was already dead. Centorea looked at me and then at Rachnera, before she lost her consciousness. Apparently the Centaur came first to the scene of the crime and discovered the Lamia in the despicable fate.
Both me and Rachnera helped the Centaur down to the main room. We nursed her back to her senses, she instantly stood up on all fours, Rachnera "I need to tell you something and don't believe for a second that he's innocent."
"He is innocent and I believe in him. I've seen his eyes, they are not of a liar's." Rachnera huffed.
Rachnera put me in a bound yet again but this time minus the noose. As the two Liminals scooted towards the hallway I felt relieved, I've checked the talon, it was the Harpies. I know who is behind all this, a sudden scream again proved my theory. I patiently waited in my binds as a skittering sound was slowly approaching me.
"Hi. Would you like to hear the conclusion?" I asked the incoming Arachne.
"What conclusion, Centorea tried to kill me, so I killed her instead. Man such a hassle." She knelt herself to my eye level, "Now what to do with you, piercing your heart after I cut open your chest, huh?"
"Stop joking please. You are jut a fake. Rachnera didn't have pupils in her eyes and her lipstick colour was violet not purple." I stated with firm conviction.
That earned a tight slap with a medium punch in my gut. But I didn't loose my cool. "Your so called dead bodies are 3d printed materials; the talon stuck to my shoe proves it. If it was the real deal, by now it would have pierced through my shoe." I retorted back.
The Arachne looked me with a questioning eye, while I went on with my deductions,
"None of us had any prior memories and only one of us is a human. So this indicates that a certain pattern was followed to set us up. So this is sort of a game. Everything triggered after the sunglass wearing woman stated stuff on the t.v. so that video worked as a trigger. The Harpy never drank or had any food still from her lips a scent of bitter almonds came out. Then we keep the body of her in the fridge room. Then comes the Mermaid, the pool water is mixed with a high amount of cellulose, which makes it a Newtonian fluid. So when we apply more pressure on it acts like solid and when we apply lesser amounts it acts like liquid. So the Mermaid could have easily been yanked out and carried over by the pool. Then her body was thrown out after the commotion regarding the lala. Lala was already replaced with a gory 3-d printed Dullahan body. Similarly Miia was done in and Centorea was first to arrive there, but she was also kidnapped. Then you posed as the real Centorea as you probably are a shape shifter; lured out Rachnera and then caught her too. Now given this enormous set up cost and making sure that we don't kill each other ,while keeping the pressure mounting on us. This has to be a Government experiment to check that whether Humans and Liminals would be at each other's throat in dire times or not." I stopped to breathe in.
Rachnera blinked at me, and then seductively closed the distance, "What if you're wrong?"
"If 'm wrong, I'll commit Harakiri." I replied.
Suddenly the walls started collapsing, a very bright light almost flooded my eyes. The shades wearing woman with another three came into our room and in front of my eyes Rachnera changed into a completely naked petite dark skinned girl with.
The shades wearing human woman pointed at me, "Fear not just as you have mentioned we caught the girls and tranquilized them. It was an experiment to see that whether Humans and Liminals can trust each other in dire situations or not. The result is that though there are some glitches in general you guys showed more cohesion than the control group consisting of humans only."
The patchwork girl became busy to get me out of my binds, the girl with big eye on her forehead avoided eye contact and the tall darkgirl smiled at me warmly.
Probably a new dawn will don our hopes and in that boundary less world I also hope to get back my memories.