Chương 12: The Week Of Unease
Before I knew it, six days had already gone by in the blink of an eye. Four days since Amanda's disappearance. Of note, nothing particularly eventful had transpired recently, at least not anymore near my vicinity.
I wish I could say the same for everybody else.
Six days. Six missing people.
It was almost routine by now to be scrolling away online only to find yourself reading a news article about the latest victim to have gone missing.
As a result of this, Ash, the ever precarious knight she was, had barred me from making any more trips to the store, or anywhere outside actually. Basically, I'm on house arrest.
"But food," I argued.
"I shall tend to it myself," She said with firm resolve.
So long story short, Ash was now in charge of the grocery shopping, and let me tell you… she was actually surprising adept. Well… she was eventually.
'Course day one had its fair share of bumps on the road but overall, she knew what she was doing. That is if you don't account for the fact that 50% of the stuff she has gotten was cereal brands.
The other 50%? Chocolate milk.
I blame myself for this.
"I even gave you a list this time!" I exclaimed on the second day, upon her return from getting us dinner.
She fished out a box of coco puffs from the plastic bag. "Yes, well, I have decided that some initiative was desperately in need. Your list was well… ah, there were some listed that I, uhh…"
"You didn't understand any of it, did you?" I let out a deep sigh.
"Ahh, but I understood 'can of tuna'," she said, beaming proudly, and handing me a can she plucked from the bag. "See?"
"Tuna, yes… one problem though," My sighs only grew deeper as I held out the can in front of me. "You got the one for cats."
She paused, a new carton of chocolate milk in hand, and frowned. "What's the difference?"
"We're not cats."
By the time the third day rolled around, she had finished revising the dictionary, encyclopedia, and was given an exam about which product is what. Needless to say, she hasn't made a single mistake since.
Still, that didn't stop her from getting the occasional cereal now and then. I think she might have a problem.
Seventh day now, seventh victim. People were getting paranoid, police were desperate for clues, and warnings had been issued to not wander out in the streets for so long or unaccompanied.
Every case shared the same similarities with Amanda. The victim lived alone, their house would be broken into, a mess would be left in the aftermath, and everybody else nearby… well, would not see nor hear a single thing, not until it was too late anyway.
Forums on the internet centered around where I lived would discuss on end about what could cause these strange happenings. Many outlandish theories, many nutjob conspiracies.
I saw a comment once.
<<It's almost like magic.>>
And that's the closest anybody has ever gotten.
I kept the detective's card by my bedside table even though I knew I couldn't really help out. Just in case.
What can I do? Ring her up one day and just flat out say, "It's magic, man," then hang up?
What sucks about the real world is that no one would entertain any fantasies.
So there I sat at home, twiddling my thumbs in front of the glow of my laptop, browsing about and sending resumes to companies that I'd never hear from again.
Then when that's all done, I would stare at the desktop, my gaze always falling to that one particular icon in the corner row.
<<Chronicles of Asteria>>
Download, installed, ready to go. Yet I haven't touched it once. Just looking at the game makes me feel like I'm reading someone's diary or something. Ash deserves her privacy and secrets to keep, I want to respect that.
But at the same time… what if the serial abductor was another being from her world? What if they're from the game too?
I could learn more. The clues were right there, sitting at my desktop. Am I justified for playing the game, delving into Ash's secrets, just because there's a criminal on the loose?
Most would say yes… and I'd be one of them. But just for this one time, one time only… I wasn't.
The 8th day would come with its 8th victim… what if it was me?
A double click sounded from my mouse.
Timing just right with the game's window popping up, I heard a rummaging from the front door, a second later, I heard Ash's voice echoing in the hall.
"Master? Are you here? Speak if you can hear me."
I closed my laptop shut, just as my bedroom door swung open to reveal Ash poking out from the doorway, clothes consisting of the same jacket and jeans combo I got her way back when. Her breath as a sigh of relief.
"You've worried me," she said.
"How so? I'm always here, just being quiet and doing my things."
"Precisely my point, master. In light of recent events, the deathly silence would be the last thing you want greeting you upon your return home."
"Good point… I'll yell next time."
She smiled. "A simple 'welcome back' would suffice."
"In that case, welcome back… did you get everything on the list?"
She held out a bag full of ingredients. "I have, yes… but I've also taken upon myself to add extra to our cost. A necessary precaution."
I chuckled. "Chocolate milk is a necessary precaution?"
Ash didn't respond, quietly she entered my bedroom, closing the door shut behind her, and took a seat at the end of my bed, staring at me with a rather serious expression.
Joking time is over, I guess…
"Master," she started, "Firstly, I must ask for your forgiveness."
That caught me off guard.
"Why, what happened?"
"For the past few days, I have been taking detours as I leave to go purchase supplies from the store. I believed it was best, in order to guarantee your safety. Whatever creature, whatever being had entered this world, I simply had to know before any could harm befell upon you."
I tilted my head, my eyebrows rising in question. "What did you do?"
"For every abduction that had occurred, I have visited each and every home of the victims as I made my way back from the store."
"Wha - " I shifted in place and leaned in closer towards her, gazing away at her face full of sudden remorse. "You've been doing this every day?"
"Since the first."
"Without telling me?"
"I… Master, I… it was for your sake, I wouldn't - I would never," she bowed her head deeply. "I feared you wouldn't have approved."
"Yes, I wouldn't have," I said quietly. "But it's not my place to decide what you want to do. You're your own person, remember?"
"Forgive me, I…"
"Forget it," I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine. I understand you enough now that you won't rest until you can assure my safety. Can't really stop you even if I tried to anyway."
Guilt showed in every movement, in every molecule of her body. There was just no easy way to convince her that I really wasn't mad. Shocked? Well, yeah. Angry? Hell no.
But Ash wouldn't raise her head to see that fact.
"Your words speak of a kindness that I do not deserve," she muttered. "I have misjudged… I should have consulted you before I've acted, that would have been the right thing to do."
"Did your previous masters tell you that?" I asked.
"Yes…"
"I'm not them," I said. "And you're not with them."
"They would have punished me."
"Do you want me to?"
Ash fell silent for a moment.
"No," she finally whispered.
I lifted up her chin, meeting her dispirited gaze with a smile. "Then all's forgiven."
For a moment, nothing, then slowly, surely, Ash nodded her head. Seeing that, I drew myself backward. Baby steps, but we're getting there.
"So," I rubbed my hands together. "You visited the crime scenes yourself, did you find anything?"
Her eyes began blinking rapidly, almost as if breaking from a stupor, catching herself with a stutter as she spoke back, "Y-yes, yes… ahem, as I was saying, master, I have investigated their homes and I've confirmed that traces of magic lingers still, confirming that our culprit is responsible for all the attacks."
"That doesn't really tell us anything, though…"
"On the contrary, master… it does."
"It does?" I ask, surprised.
"The same scent, the same nature of magic, the means of abduction, and the manner of these attacks. They all remained consistent for the last seven days. By my guess, these unexplained attacks could only be done by one being and one being only."
"Not a delightful being, I assume?"
Ash shook her head. "They're vile, deadly, and nearly untraceable. In my world, they haunt the nights where most lay unprotected. Plague the shadows under the moonlit sky. To be capable of slaying even one of their kind would be an unthinkable feat."
The more I hear about them, the more I dread coming face to face with this unknown culprit. As Ash spoke I could sense the fear and unease in her voice. No longer was she confident like she was back during the mob boss situation.
It made me wonder… if it got her scared - Ash, the woman who could blow people back with a single punch, crush guns with her bare hands, and can withstand literally bullets to the face - just what on earth were we up against?
Compared to Ash, they could be stronger than her, faster than her… more dangerous than her.
"Just what are they?" I heard myself say.
Ash stared at me and answered.
"It's a vampire."
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