II. Monster

A hand roughly pulled me to my feet. Hot breaths beat against my cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" said a male voice, its tone was deep, slow and calm. Menacing. Too afraid to respond, I merely cowered in fear. But the voice growled with impatience, and the hand tightened its grip. "Speak."

"I-I was lost and found this place," my voice quivered, at first from the shock of having been woken so abruptly. My head was still dizzy from sleep. The room was dark. Only parts of the room received shreds of dim light, but even then it was too difficult to see. This blindness deepened the fear that penetrated my bones, leaving me petrified, my voice a shaking whisper.

"Ah," said the man, "you are a woman. State your business."

"I didn't know someone still lived here. I didn't mean to trespass," I said, genuinely. "I—"

The hand flung me across the room with such force that it knocked the wind out of me. For a moment, I could concentrate on little else other than breathing properly, but my head was spinning, and my heart was palpitating wildly.

"Such petty excuses," he said evenly. "I should have you killed."

I gasped, choking on my own breathlessness. As I rose, my whole body sharply protested in pain. Everything hurt. My knees, which had suddenly gone weak, shook so violently that I had to stop myself from swaying and crashing back down to the floor. The darkness seemed to cave in from all directions, as if to swallow me whole. I couldn't see a thing. I might have been floating in space and I wouldn't have noticed the difference. The disembodied voice spoke again.

"Quiet, are we? It only makes your execution less personal."

"What?" I stammered, voice hitching in panic. My heart, it felt, had dropped from my chest and sunk down to my stomach. Did he mean to kill me? "I'll leave immediately! Please, I..." Tears bubbled in the corners of my eyes.

"You weep? How pitiful." Despite his threats, his voice was so steady, so calm that he sounded bored. The lack of inflection frightened me. Normally, if an owner found a strange person sleeping in his home, he would scream at the person to leave, he would threaten to call for help, his voice would rise naturally out of fear. But this man... He was not afraid. Not afraid in the slightest. And by the way he spoke, I did not doubt that if I made the wrong move, he would surely kill me.

A footstep sounded from across the room. My breaths all but stilled as I heard another footstep. The old floorboards groaned from the weight. Feeling around in the darkness, I recognized the general shape of my purse on the floor. I snatched it and tried to pull out anything that could serve as a weapon, as protection. But my hands settled on only scraps of paper, the wooden fan, and a pen. There was nothing, nothing at all that could save me now.

With unimaginable speed, a hard body slammed me against a wall, and it did not let go. A strong hand held my chin. "Hold still. You won't even feel a thing."

Something fast rushed through my blood, like cold and creeping vines spreading their limbs across open land. What soon followed was only feeling and movement, but no thought. Suddenly, thinking wasn't necessary.

I gripped hard plastic. The cap fell away. My thumb ghosted over the exposed point. Sharp. I waited, hearing my heart beat once, then twice.

"Now die," said the voice, but I was faster.

I plunged the pen in hard flesh, moving away only when the body stumbled backward and released me. The harsh sound of a beast in pain echoed loudly, but I knew that the man would soon recover from the distraction. Across the room a pale ray of moonlight came through the broken window through which I had entered. It was high up, and escaping through it was near to impossible, but it was my only chance left. I ran toward it, ignoring the searing pains that shot up through my feet to my knees. Only a little further and...

Something grabbed me. With enough strength I shook it away, but the force of the sudden movement threw me off my feet. I landed on my side and immediately made to get up, only to fall back down again. What little I could see of the window and the shred of light seemed to diminish. Exhaustion and pain blended into one confused sensation, temporarily robbing me of consciousness. I could hardly see, hardly move. It was all over.

"Please," I begged once more as he came near. "You don't have to do this."

"I don't have to," he agreed, and I gasped when he stepped into the light. "But I can and will."

Before me stood a large, tall creature, whose face glowed beneath the moonlight. Sharp teeth peeked beneath violet lips which curved into an unsettling smirk. A patch of black stood bold on the bridge of a defined nose. Gray skin, the color of shriveled corpse flesh, hid behind locks of long, unkempt navy hair. And peeking through them were narrowed red eyes, shining with rage and hatred. The red irises were spotted with what looked like black ink, as if his eyes had been artificially colored. Tattooed. I couldn't remove my gaze from them despite how disgusting, how terrifying they were. I had never believed in the supernatural. Monsters, demons, strange creatures and the like. But this... this thing that was watching me was no human.

"You thought this could save you?"

The creature reached over a broad shoulder, the muscles twitching. His gray fingers wrapped around the pen. With a sharp tug, it came loose. He brought his bloody hand forward, palm supine. Then he crushed the pen in his fist and let the fragments clatter to the floor.

"They ought to send a competent assassin next time. Dispatching such a weakling insults me."

I tried inching myself away from the creature but stopped when, in a blur of movement, he unsheathed a sword from a scabbard that hung at his hip. The long blade was all that stood between us now.

"Step into the light. May your death bring me much pleasure."

Feeling my eyes moisten, I reluctantly obeyed.

I'm going to die and no one will ever know, I thought as I held back a sob. They'll never find my body.

I looked into the horrible eyes of the monster, expected him to derive morbid amusement from the life he would soon take. Yet what I saw surprised me. Shock flickered across his features, and his brows drew together in confusion.

"What," came the whisper, but I knew I had heard it as clearly as I could hear my heart beat. I merely watched him, unsure of what to do. "You..." he muttered. And then his gaze darkened.

I faltered at his expression. Why was he looking at me like that? So dark, and so full of hatred.

"I see. They sent some amateur, someone with a face like yours," he snarled, his face contorting in growing rage, "in the hopes that I bring my guard down. But I am no fool."

I moved slowly backwards, careful not to make any sudden movements that might elicit a violent response from him. Not once did I remove my sight from the gray hand that clasped the sword.

The next few moments were an incomprehensible blur. Spurts of heat and ice spread throughout my body violently, stabbing my insides like knives. I shut my eyes from the pain. Something was falling above me, cutting through the air in one swipe. I felt my hands move, warm and trembling. Then stillness. And just as quickly as the fiery sensation had possessed me, it departed.

Some sick delusion told me that, if I were to open my eyes, I would see the blade sticking out of my chest. But instead, the sword protruded from an object I clutched in my hands. It took a minute for me to realize that it was the uchiwa from the forest. I didn't know when I had whipped it out, but somehow it seemed to hold the sword in place, the tip of which had stopped mere inches away from my face. The monster stared, looking just as appalled as I probably looked.

Darkness was fading fast now. Shadows retreated back to the isolated corners of the room. From the ceiling hung old cobwebs, like delicate tapestries. The wooden floors were covered with a thin film of dust, disturbed only by the pair of footprints made during the little skirmish. There was a door at the other end of the room. It had been completely hidden in the shadows! I could have escaped through it! Why had I only noticed the window?

As the first beams of sunlight began to penetrate the room through the lone window, I could more clearly observe the monster standing before me. He was much taller than I had first perceived—he was heads taller. His mop of hair was so disheveled, it appeared as though it had been hacked by hedge clippers. He sported an unfastened shirt and baggy pants, both of which hung slack on his body. Wrapped around his hips was a sort of drape, held secure by chords of thick rope. And sprouting from his back were two wings, riddled with veins as thick as human limbs.

His eyes met mine. I diverted my gaze, uneasy. What exactly was he?

"I will ask you this once," he said, closing the small proximity between us even as I tried shuffling away. "Where did you find this?" He plucked the fan from my hands and held it before me.

For the first time since finding it in the forest, I really examined it. I saw that the body featured two concentric circles, one red and the other white. The fine, tight-knit fibers of the paper indicated its high quality as well as the precision with which it was crafted. The smooth wooden handle was coated with a layer of varnish, and embedded within the wood was a little blue stone.

"Well?"

"The forest," I responded, shaking beneath his dark gaze.

"Have you any idea of how I punish those who have done me wrong?" he asked, bringing a cold hand to my face, then grabbing it until it began to hurt. "I used to be quite merciful. I used to throw them in prison and leave them at the hands of their crooked inmates and guards. I hardly ever dealt with them myself."

His hand lowered to my throat, where it softly scraped the skin with sharp claws. He kept his eyes on me, daring me to look away. But I couldn't.

"But pests like you irritate me. I could kill you with this hand in numerous ways, ways that you can't even begin to fathom."

I whimpered, my eyes wet and warm. "I'll do whatever you want. Just... please don't..."

"Do you really mean what you say?" he asked, taunting, the tips of his claws brushing across my skin, and then finding their place at his side. I could barely hear him above the sound of my heart beating.

"If... if you want money, then—" I tried pitifully, but he interrupted with a scoff.

"You think I care for the stuff of the human world?"

The monster circled me like a predator circling its prey. As he passed, I felt the heat of his breath against my flesh. My body stilled. I concentrated on calming myself enough to hear his movements, in case he decided to whip out his sword at any given moment. The feat was nearly impossible. My limbs hurt from the rigidity. My heart was still beating too hard. Somehow, I found my voice again.

"If there is anything that you want—"

He frowned. "There is nothing of value that you, a mere rat, can possibly give to me. And consequently, I suspect that there is nothing that you can do to forestall your fate. Your trickery fools no one."

"I swear, I wasn't playing any tricks on you! I got lost trying to find my way home and was merely trying to take shelter for the night. Had I known someone still lived here, I wouldn't have trespassed. Please, believe me," I said all in one breath, ignoring the way my voice, hoarse from exhaustion, threatened to crack and cause me to lose the little confidence I had left. I tried to convey honesty in my words, but it probably came off as desperation. But I was desperate. I didn't want to die. Not so soon, not like this!

"Your lies do not fool me, for many men do not know of this place. And the few who did know came seeking to kill me. Why should I believe you, a trespasser who not only invaded private grounds but also stabbed me?"

He had a point. But I had only entered the castle out of ignorance, and I had attacked him to defend myself! He had assaulted me and threatened to kill me first! But how could I convince him? What could I do to survive and escape? The odds weren't stacked in my favor. I could feel that my time was running out, fast.

"Furthermore," he continued, "in your filthy hands I found what once belonged to me. Not only are you a liar, you are a thief."

"I swear, I found it in the forest on my way here! I just happened upon it, just like how I discovered this place. I..."

No matter what I said or did, nothing would persuade this monster of my innocence. And I had nothing to give. I regretted not having stayed in the woods. I regretted not having stayed with my friends. I regretted not having stayed at home. If only I had done one thing differently, then maybe I would have lived a little longer. Maybe my fate would have taken another turn, down a different path. But it was too late now. I set my gaze to the dusty floor.

For a long moment, all was silent. Though confused, I did not look up out of fear that he would kill me the second our eyes met. I didn't want my final moment to be the image of a sword, or his claws, cutting through my body as I lay dying. Silently, I said goodbye to my loved ones, to the patients I had grown to care for, to the future husband I'd never marry, the kids I might have had. There was no hope for me.

"Have you no words left to say?" he asked.

My eyes filled with hot tears. It hurt to breathe.

"It does intrigue me to know how you found this place," he finally said, after a moment of silence. "The last one came quite a while ago. A century ago, perhaps. It is not a common sight to find human intruders. Tell me, how did you find this place? Who sent you?"

"No one sent me," I managed to utter, hating the way my voice shook. "I came from the Obon Festival. I cut through the forest."

"And?"

"I got lost," I said again, unable to blink away the tears that kept falling. "I... I know you don't believe me. But it's the truth. If there is some way I can prove to you that I meant no harm, that what I'm saying is true, then I would do it! But I promise that if you let me go, I will leave and never come back!"

"How can I be sure that if you leave, you won't come back with a team, or an army to kill me, now that you know of my whereabouts? These castle walls have kept me from the outside world for centuries. It isn't every day a human manages to find the exact location and uncover the illusion hiding it from view. No, I cannot be sure of anything. The only thing left for me to do, then, is to kill you."

A sob tore from my throat. I brought both hands to my mouth, shutting my eyes in dread.

"Unless..." he began to say.

I forced the sobs to cease by holding in my breath. I opened my eyes and saw his terrible black ones staring back at me. Then the black pools gave way to piercing red, and the colors swirled together in stark contrast. The red seemed to glow amid the black, like blood and ink. It was unnatural. Terrifying.

But I could not draw my gaze away. Every fiber of my body wanted to look away, but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried to move. I mustered all the strength I had in my body. My fingertips barely twitched in response. It was one of the most terrifying sensations I had ever felt, feeling as though your mind and your body had separated completely. A bodily disconnection.

Suddenly, I felt a shock within me, disrupting the paralysis until I regained all feeling in my body again. Yet my limbs felt stiff and heavy, like dead weight. The monster's eyes swirled back to an endless, empty shade of black. His expression remained blank.

"What did you do to me?" I cried, backing away.

He took a moment before responding, taking his time in observing me. "I looked into your mind."

What? I thought, unsure if I had heard correctly.

"It appears that you were telling the truth. You are innocent." His expression was one of displeasure, his eyes narrowed. "But I cannot let you leave. I cannot take that risk."

I had nothing to give him. I had no way to prove that I would not renege on the agreement not to bring back a hoard of angry killers. There was nothing that could be done to convince him to let me go. There was only one thing I could scramble together from the chaos of my thoughts, only one thing that could keep the both of us sated, although there was no guarantee he would agree to it. But I had to try.

"There is another option," I suggested, timidly.

One dark brow rose in interest, and down-turned violet lips pressed into a hard line.

I took a breath. "Spare my life. You can take me as prisoner."

The monster took a step forward. Then he began to circle me, slowly, like a lion assessing its prey. I focused on the frenetic rhythm of my heartbeat, trying to slow it down. I noticed my arms and legs prickling with sensation as the blood began to circulate again. There was wetness lining my hairline and faintly coating my face. My lips and throat were dry with fear.

It felt like ages before he finally spoke.

"If I ever catch you attempting to escape or attempting to bring me harm..." he began, taking one slow step after another and then stopping behind me, his mouth hovering above my ear, "I will not hesitate to end you."

Unable to speak, I bit my lip and nodded. My hands balled into fists, but it did nothing to stop the shivering.

And then, without a word, he exited the room through the door behind him. The door slammed shut. And I was left alone.