Alisha bit her coat. Although Jack was cautious about disinfecting the head wound, at each touch, she moaned with pain.

"Done!" Jack, now, closed the first aid kit and kept it in his backpack.

They had walked down a wide corridor to a door that would give access to a small garden. On the porch, more properly, on one of the steps of the small stairs, Alisha leaned her back against the wooden pole and sighed with relief when her torment was over.

"How did you find me?" she questioned him.

"Somebody helped me." He was sincere. Alisha frowned in confusion. "I don't know how, why or who it was, but the voice said I would find you if I entered this house."

"Everything is so confusing."

"Besides, we lost contact with Nick and Judy. I hope they're okay."

Once again, Alisha sighed. They were entering the depths of hell. Every step taken was the road to death. They would have to be careful or they would actually die.

"The map will do us no good." Jack spoke again. "We will have our instincts to find them and get out of here as soon as possible."

"Jack?" Alisha called him, staring at him.

"Hmm..."

"Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"You would do the same for me." He smiled at her and put the backpack on his back. "I don't want to rush you, but I think we'd better start looking for them" and he stretched out his paw to help her up.

Alisha settled down positively with her head and took the rabbit's paw.

His paws were attached to chains. These chains were stuck on the roof. His feet barely touched the ground, so his sore body was supported by his stretched arms. His eyes opened slowly. His blurred vision became a little clearer.

"Where am I?"

Two small candles illuminated a small cubicle. Only one more mammal could in the same space. Blood stains were everywhere. Floors, walls and even ceilings. When he became fully conscious, Nick tried to release himself from the chains that held him, but in vain.

"Damn!"

Frustrated, the tears came to his eyes. He couldn't leave Judy alone in that village. He knew she was a target for those creatures. Not even knowing that he was the one most in danger.

"She's fine."

The voice that he recognized and that he began to hate, spoke through a small window.

"What have you done with her?" he growled. His green eyes were fixed on all the black people who looked at him through the small window in front of him.

"Nothing..." pause "...for now!" and laughed.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

"If I were you, I'd worry more about your own good."

"Do whatever you want with me as long as you don't touch her."

Again, that insane laughter.

"Sae, my dear. Natsuhiko is gone. Now I need you to help me with the ritual."

"Sae?" Nick repeated the confusing name.

"You are as naive as I expected. Even your dear bunny knows what's going on."

"Judy? What did you do to her?"

"I already told you nothing. However, astute as she is, she could screw up her decisions."

"I swear that if..."

"That insistence will get you nowhere. Either way, I need you to stay put for a few hours. Ritual needs preparation and I'm not ready yet."

"Explain to me what is all about?"

"You will know in your time. First, I need new flesh to strengthen my soul. Your friends will be a good reward" and she disappeared, leaving his insane smile echoing.

Nick's fury took hold of him. Powerless to do anything, he tried in vain to break the chains.

Judy...

When she finished climbing the stairs, Judy stopped to catch her breath. Once upstairs, a small cemetery took her in.

Good, a road without end! She thought to herself, frustrated.

"Open your heart. Let him guide you to those you love. Two butterflies will be helped you on your way. But beware, Yae has already begun preparations for the ritual."

Judy closed her eyes and caressed the wolf's voice to calm her broken heart. She had to be sane. She had too. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and listened to her heart. For seconds, she let herself be, until she decided to open her eyes, two crimson butterflies appeared in front of her. She smiled at them and they strayed to start trek. Judy passed through the chapels of the deceased and found a dirt road. On her return, the large forest welcomed her. With every step she took, she could hear the voices of the villagers caught in the curse. Sad laments and the confusion of having died suddenly. Nothing happens on her way and the butterflies stopped, flying over a small fire. Two small clearings welcomed a small dirt road and three steps. After these steps, a door.

"Go through the door. You will find a large corridor with two doors. Take the left. If you follow the corridor without any problems, you'll find what you're looking for the most."

Judy took a paw to her chest and took a deep breath. With the other one, she pulled the door handle and opened it. The darkness gladly welcomed her.

You can do it, Judy. You will follow your instincts and find it. Trust in yourself. And she advanced into the darkness. The door behind her, closed slowly.

"It's the third attempt."

Leaning back against the wall of the house, her arms crossed and showed frustration in her expression. They were lost. It was a fact.

"We won't leave here!" In a long sigh, Jack walked away from the decimate door.

"How did you get in?"

"I told you, that one over there!" he pointed to the front door of the house.

"This is too much!"

Suddenly, the sound of the phone ringing startled them. At the entrance, namely in the Hall, a few meters away from him, there was a kind of small balcony. In the past, that house should have been the reception of patients. It was a kind of hospital, because of the way it was decorated in the place where they were. Fearful, Alisha was the one who approached the telephone. She still hesitated before picking up the headset of the old telephone and carrying her ear. On the other side, no sound was heard for the moment.

"So?"

Curiously, Jack approached Vixen with a confusing expression.

"Nothing!" Alisha put the headset back on the phone. But as soon as she did, he rang again. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Once again, she took the headset off the damn phone and this time she didn't win to the fright when the sound, bass and sinister, shouted on the other side. At that moment, she dropped the device and walked away. Her paw went against her fast-paced heart and strong breathing.

"Kill her…Sae…Yae need's her…to…" and the beeper was the only thing that echoed right after the sinister voice through the Hall.

Confused, they looked at each other. What had happened? Who was Sae? And...kill? What the hell was going on?

To be continued…