Upstairs, Nick's mind was busy worrying about Judy. He didn't want to leave her alone in the unknown, but if he insisted on her, he'd get tired of hearing: 'I'll be fine. I know how to get my own way.'

"At least this door didn't give us any trouble." Alisha had a smile from ear to ear for not wasting unnecessary time on another damn door.

The darkness welcomed them and the light from the three lanterns was not enough to light up the room they had entered, since it was divided into three rooms.

"I think everyone should see a room." suggested Jack, settling into the first room they had entered.

"I'll move on to the last one," Nick said.

Twisting her nose, Alisha agreed to investigate the second alone.

The old things were what they found. There wasn't much value in the things there. Only

Alisha was the one who had discovered something valuable. The kimonos were in very good condition and of various shapes, when she found a large dresser in front of her.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor, the flashlight on Judy's paws was shaking. Her heart was racing, wanting at any moment to come out of her chest. Her breathing filled her chest at a dangerous rate.

"Where are you?"

The hoarse and deep voice was very different from what Judy had heard. And, really scary.

"Who?"

She wanted to run away. Her adrenaline was telling her to run away, but her body was paralyzed by fear. Fear, which she did not take away when the other voice spoke, but that voice was very different.

"I looked for you all over the village...".

As the voice spoke, something strange began to move in the darkness. A discolored and deformed paw took hold of the door, sticking its claws in the wood door.

Judy, run away. This is not good. She told her mind to act, but her body did not react.

"They told me I would find you here again, my love."

It was no longer only the paw that was beginning to be visible. A disfigured face, unrecognizable to know which species it was, began to reveal itself.

Damn, Judy, run away!

"It was you who stole it from me. You, who took the love of my life from me!"

Now, an evil smile has revealed itself on a demonic face. Eyes lifeless, they were wide open. The whole iris was black. It was really a vision of hell.

"I..." Once again, fear responded to that monstrous being and her body refused to move.

"You gave him to Yae, to save her soul. You gave my Andrew for your personal good. So that you could save the person you love the most."

Words that Judy didn't understand. Words that caused her even more curiosity and confusion at the same time. Words that she, without knowing why, made sense to her. But she had to run away. That creature from hell was already totally out of the closet. Her body, or rather, her torso, dragged itself along with the help of her claws. On this path, the blood left a trail. The distance between her and that creature was getting shorter and shorter. This creature, which Judy realized to be the female who had written the words in the notebook she had read before and who had been stuck in this village. Her death must have been very...violent.

"Now it is your turn to rest. As soon as the ritual is over, you can say goodbye to the one you love. To the mammal that possesses the soul of your beloved, Natsuhiko."

And without delay the creature raised a foot and managed to scratch Judy's leg. The pain was tremendous, and from her lips, a cry of pain echoed over the house.

Upstairs, Nick was crouching in front of a small closet. Nothing there seemed interesting to him. When, through the corner of his left eye, he glimpsed something that caught his attention. A small old camera. Without delay, he approached the small device and began to examine it.

Interesting. He thought to himself when a well-known scream echoed over the house.

Alarmed, he stood up and put the camera on a shoulder strap, since it had a strap that could be placed on his shoulder or neck.

"What was that?" asked Alisha, scared.

"Judy!"

Shouted, Nick running towards the door and opening it. He went down the stairs and entered the hallway, where he suddenly stopped.

"CARROTS!" He shouted in order to know where she was.

"NICK!"

To the sound of her voice, made he ran, followed the direction of the sound. However, inside the room, Judy had finally managed to move and run towards the door, but after several attempts to open it, it wouldn't open.

"Nick, here!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

The creature, that one, was crawling on the ground behind her.

"You've ruined my life. I'll ruin yours."

"Please, I don't understand what you're talking about." she replied, while now she was banging her fists hard on the door. "Nick, please!"

On the other side, Nick had reached the door. He, too, was trying to open the doorknob unsuccessfully.

"Carrots." Fucking door! He thought.

"Nick?" Alisha called him worried. Jack was coming with her.

"The door won't open! DAMN!" and slammed his fist into the wood hard.

Jack came up to him. "Get away!" he asked and, going a little further away, tried with his foot to knock the door down.

Inside, Judy's desperate attempt was running out of strength. The leg wound was bleeding and did not help her affliction. Meanwhile, the creature was getting closer and closer to her. So much so that when she reached her, she put her claws on the wood of the door and began to climb it, standing face to face, snout to snout, with the rabbit.

"Yae will want her sister's soul to finish the ritual. This is the only way things will go back to the way they were."

"Yae? Who is Yae?"

"She's the one who will kill the most important mammal in your life!"

Suddenly, the door slams and Judy fall backwards with it. Still scared, it took her a few seconds to recognize that the creature had disappeared and was in the company of her friends.

"Carrots!" Nick knelt before the little one and he hugged her tightly without delay.

"You're bleeding!" alarmed, Alisha said, not caring about that moment of affection between the two of them.

Still trembling, Judy let go of her embrace and turned her violet eyes towards the darkness. None of that female.

"Where did you get that wound?" Anger took hold of him, as he saw Judy wounded with gravity.

"I..." the words feared her.

"We'd better go to the hall. We'll be able to treat that wound of yours there." Jack suggested, turning his back and starting the way back. Alisha followed him seconds later.

Nick held her friend's arm, helping her up. His body would be the support for Judy to make the slightest effort to put the wounded leg on the floor, preventing her from bleeding anymore.

"You will explain to me all the details of what add happened."

Judy simply nodded her head. Her gaze, this one, remained on the ground. The words of that female stirred with her consciousness. What did she mean by that? Natsuhiko? Who was he? Yae, was it one of the twins she had seen? So many questions without a concrete answer. But the worst word she had heard was the ritual. Rituals in the last century were made by sacrificing lives. Unbelievable beliefs in today's ears were indispensable to ancient ears. Without sacrifice, things did not move. And rituals were always made to sacrifice lives. Judy needed answers and quick answers. After all, that female had said something important. The life of the mammal she loved most was at stake.

To be continued…