"Attention passengers, we are now landing. Prepare to exit the plane in an orderly fashion. Thank you for choosing Yueii Airlines. Enjoy your time here in the wonderful city of Hōsu."
Excited (e/c) eyes scanned every bit of the scenery they could see from the window of the airplane. As soon as the plane landed, you were eagerly jumping out of your seat, ready to take on anything. Your mother slowly rose, attempting to get herself out of your way and grab her carry-on luggage. She brushed her dark hair out of her face and swept it behind her ear, turning to you. "Well, we're finally here (y/n)! Who would have thought we would be here so soon." She chuckled nervously.
Previously, she had felt worrisome about the flight, the trip - all of it. She could not even get herself to nap during the flight. She was overcome by an anxiety that she could not shake, and the closer the two of you got to Hōsu, the worse she felt. There was no telling why she felt that way, but it lingered over her and caused her to feel absolutely dreadful.
The two of you got off of the flight and grabbed your luggage. Your suitcase, though packed in a hurry, was almost impossible to zip. You had never been out of the country, so you fit almost your entire room into the medium-sized bag. Your mother, however, had a small suitcase with just a few articles of clothing, the basic toiletries, and her cell phone charger. It was evident that you were much more excited about the trip, but she was happy that the two of you were able to take such a trip to reconnect.
Once you were on foot to the hotel, there was minimal chatting. Your mother trailed slightly behind you as your phone lead the way to the place you would be staying for the next week. You would make comments along the way about how beautiful the place was and how excited you were, to which she would merely nod to agree with you. You could tell that something was bugging her, but you chose not to meddle - you did not want to risk upsetting her more.
The room you shared was small, but pleasant. It had two twin beds with a night stand in between, a small kitchen equipped with a stove and a refrigerator, and a bathroom. You settled in right away, making yourself at home and claiming your territory. It finally occurred to you, as you lay in your temporary bed, that you never finished that episode you were watching the morning your mother had announced the trip! Quickly, you fired up Hulu and continued watching after connecting to the hotel's Wi-Fi and putting in your headphones.
Your mother sat on her bed, overcome with anxiety and dread. She laid down on her side and faced the wall, away from you. She stared blankly into the cream colored enclosure as her mind ran one hundred miles a minute. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and you could hear it even through your headphones. You looked over at her, assuming her position was because of sheer exhaustion - now overcome with so much joy for where you were that you were almost entirely oblivious to how she seemed to feel.
"Hey mom," you began, "you hungry? I know we passed a ramen shop on the way here." You paused, sliding your headphones around your neck to better communicate. "You seem exhausted. If you want, I can run out and pick some up!"
She rolled over to face you, the emptiness in her eyes making it seem as though she was looking right through you. You could almost feel her forcing herself to grin at you. She pushed aside all of the worry she felt to speak to you unfalteringly. "Sure, (y/n). That sounds lovely. How about you surprise me with something from there - I'm not too familiar with what they would have."
You gave her a thumbs up, grinning at her. You jumped off of the bed and replaced your shoes. Grabbing your wallet, you continued, "I'll be right back, mom! I promise I'll bring you something delicious." You opened the door to the room and exited before she could even say good-bye. You were pretty hungry yourself, and were excited to get to see the scenery, even if just in passing.
The feeling in your mother's chest was rising, and she got out of bed as soon as you left. She swung the door open and tried to call out to you down the hallway, but her voice stopped in her throat. You had already began to descend the stairs, and she knew it was to no avail. She felt danger growing, and she just knew that this was the moment that she was worried about.
As you walked out of the hotel, you turned to the right. That ramen shop was right around here somewhere, you thought to yourself, trying to retrace your steps. You did not want to rely on your phone to get you there, as you felt it would take away from the experience of the walk in unfamiliar territory. You passed by an alleyway on the way, and you thought you could hear something moving.
Pausing in place, you glanced down the alley and you saw two glowing yellow orbs in the distance. Huh, you thought. That's some neat lighting! Suddenly, the 'lights' went out and you could just barely make out the sound of two men talking down the alley. Curiosity got the best of you as you headed towards where you had seen the lights, the talking seeming to fade away the closer you got.
You reached the end of the alley and discovered that there were, in fact, no lights down there. Chuckling nervously to yourself, you placed your hand on the brick wall of the building that enclosed the alley to feel around and see if you just had missed seeing the light. Suddenly, your hand was inside of something, and before you could even realize what was happening, you were pushed what seemed to be inside of the wall.
Everything was black for a moment, before you wound up falling face first onto a wooden floor. It seemed like everything around you had stopped, it was eerily quiet. You looked up after composing yourself, still lying on the floor, and your (e/c) orbs met red ones. Completely shocked from what had happened, you blacked out. The last thing you heard was from the lanky figure in front of you.
"Well, it seems we have a guest. This could be very interesting."