Part 17 (2/2)

She'd failed to sense the signs. She was never curious about bodies other than Tos.h.i.+aki's. It couldn't be helped now.

No more noises. Maybe the woman had left...or maybe she was unable to move, s.h.i.+vering in fear.

What should She do with her?

She saw no reason to hesitate. She would need to reveal Herself sooner or later.

Besides, the woman was alone. Tos.h.i.+aki was Her ally now. She could finish off this woman's dreams once and for all.

No. If She did that, she could make noise and bring attention. But there was another way She shook Her entire body. Then, She started slowly towards the door.

Asakura breathed in sharply upon hearing the noise again.

She dropped to the floor, trembling as she looked around from beneath the desk. For the next minute or so, nothing could be heard, and she was at last able to calm herself. Just when she was ready to pa.s.s it off as a trick of the ears, the sound returned like a dragging mop.

”No...”

Large drops of perspiration fell nervously from the tip of her chin, soaking into the front of her s.h.i.+rt. The inside of her skull was hot as fire. While her head seemed to be boiling, her skin, coated with sweat, felt icy cold.

Sounds of splas.h.i.+ng. Moving. Plops, like bubbles bursting.

Asakura imagined a slimy glob of garbage coated with mold, a rotting viscous ma.s.s mottled green and brown and black, and nearly threw up.

A dull sc.r.a.ping. Wet thumping.

The door. It was trying to open the Cultivation Room door. Asakura had locked it after Tos.h.i.+aki had left.

There came then the sickening sound of thick fluid squeezing through a narrow hole, mixed in with a gurgling like a stopped-up drain. Bile rose to the back of Asakura's throat.

The thing was trying to crawl through under the door. Asakura swallowed back the sour stench in her mouth with her saliva. A moment later, coldness swept over her, and her teeth began to chatter.

Flump... Flump... Again. She could hear the dragging noise clearly this time. It had made it into the hallway.

She could not stop her teeth from chattering. I should be quiet. 1 can't let it know I'm here. Asakura put a hand to her mouth, trying her best to silence herself. The chattering of her teeth echoed in her skull.

Flap!

”Aa...!”

Something had hit the door.

There were two doors into the lab, one on her side and another farther back. Both led into the hallway. Whatever was making the noise was trying to get in through the door closer to the Cultivation Room. The refrigerator let out a hum. The sudden noise made her cry out again. She covered her mouth. Too late. Her voice could easily be heard from the hallway.

Asakura's eyes clouded over and she lost sight of her surroundings. Both the lab doors were closed, but they weren't locked. This thing would have no trouble getting in. Once the k.n.o.b turned, it would only be a matter of moments before...

She held her breath.

The k.n.o.b was turning. Asakura was frozen stiff. She thought she should run to the door and lock it, but she couldn't move a muscle.

And then, the door opened.

She heard a distinct squis.h.i.+ng sound.

If only I could run, she thought. From where she was squatted, she could not see the open door at all; her view was blocked by an experimentation table. She looked at the other door, but her direct path to it was impeded by a large desk. Even so, it was probably no more than ten steps away. The distance felt way too far.

Without warning, her vision went completely dark.

For a moment, she was unsure as to what had happened. But then, she saw two pale, flickering lights: the lamp on her desk and the standby light of her Mac. Everything else was swallowed in blackness. She could no longer see the desk, equipment, or even the nearest door.

It had turned off the lights.

There was a switch near the other door. Asakura gasped again upon realizing what this meant.

This thing knew that if a switch was flipped, the lights would turn off.

It knew that if it tinned the k.n.o.b, the door would open.

...It had intelligence.

She refused to believe it.

At that moment, a pale yellow light appeared from near the door.

Since the experimentation table was still in her way, she could not make out what was happening. A light tapping. Something being moved.

It had opened the refrigerator.

She heard agent vials being taken out. It was searching for something.

A sign saying ”RUN!” was flas.h.i.+ng inside Asakura's head. She got on all fours and moved her hands and feet in desperation. Her heart was shooting ahead but her body wasn't following. She managed somehow to crawl on all fours to a position where she could see the entire refrigerator. The door was half-open. The thing was on the other side, rummaging through the shelves, making sick, sticky noises now and then. It seemed not to notice her.

Asakura could not see the thing, nor did she particularly want to.

She turned an angle and crawled gradually to the door. Just a little more, and she would reach it. And when she did, all she had to do was get up, open it, and run at full speed. If she could just reach it with her hand, she would be saved. Her heart pounded furiously.

Suddenly, there was a sc.r.a.ping sound, and an intense pain shot through her knee.

Asakura screamed and held her kneecap. Something had stuck into it. She tried pulling it out, but cut her fingertips trying to do so. Her palm become wet with blood. Tears flowed from her eyes and she cursed herself upon realizing her own carelessness. The cup. She had crawled onto a fragment of it.

Whatever this thing was, it moved with agility. It fell to the floor. It was on to her escape.

Asakura's heart froze. As it moved towards her, she could make out a few details.

Almost all of it was completely opaque, but what she did see looked like a heap of flesh.

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