Back upstairs in Renji's room, he was still curled up in the corner, hugging his knees as he bawled his eyes out.
The room was dead silent. Aside from his faint whimpers, not a single sound echoed.
Yet.
The peace didn't last for long. In an instant, the air shifted and an unnatural coldness seeped into the room.
Renji's hair stood on end. His body trembled for a second before turning rigid. His fingers clamped together even tighter.
Slowly, the greyish room began to change. The color filling every corner started to fade, leaving behind a sticky residue.
The scene resembled an empty canvas on which grey paint had been splattered, and now that paint was drooping down, like droplets of water sliding down a windowpane.
"Haaah… haaahhh… shit… haaah…"
Renji's breathing turned erratic, hitching at intervals. He felt as if countless slugs were crawling across his body. His skin crawled; he felt sticky, repulsed, and utterly disgusted.
Above all, he felt his energy draining at an alarming rate. His limbs grew sluggish. Previously, fear had turned him into a statue, but now his body didn't even have the strength to hold that posture. His arms fell limp and so did he.
Paralyzed, he could only open his eyes to see what was happening. He already knew. He had already witnessed it a dozen times. Yet it was still as horrifying as ever.
Hundreds of thousands of leeches with pale grey skin were oozing down from the walls, ceiling, table, bed, and even the PC, crawling across the floor.
The 'grey' of the room had turned into leeches. And they all seemed to share one destination.
Renji.
Slowly but surely, they slithered forward, leaving behind sticky silver trails as they made their way toward him.
They latched onto his skin, covering every inch of his body. And then, they did what they did best—
Suck the blood out of him.
Pain surged through Renji instantly. His mind went numb from the synchronized bites. He could feel the agony, yet not at the same time.
His body was already paralyzed, but at least he had still been able to move his eyelids. Now, even that small freedom was gone.
He could only bear witness to the atrocity consuming him.
Fortunately or perhaps unfortunately, he got a brief respite.
One of the leeches had found interest in his open eye. It wriggled closer and bit into it.
Instantly, blood filled his vision, turning everything red. He could feel the leech clinging to his eye, its tiny mouth gnawing at him. Thankfully, the pain had dulled, and with his sight blocked, he no longer had to see them.
Now, he could only wait for daylight to arrive and for the paralysis to fade. There was nothing else he could do.
…
Morimoto Hina wasn't from a well-off family. In fact, she was from a poor one. Her parents worked as construction laborers in the Shiranui region, saving just enough to enroll her in Akebono University.
She, on the other hand, juggled part-time jobs to pay for her room. Hina was the type of person whose kidnapping wouldn't lead to any worthwhile ransom.
That was exactly why, when she felt a presence tailing her on her way back from work, she decided to ignore it.
It was only when she reached her apartment building that the lingering presence started to feel like a threat.
"Well, maybe they're also coming here. It's just a coincidence. Yeah! That's it! Just a coincidence."
Her self-assurance didn't even convince the person in need… herself. The unease in her gut persisted, so she decided to test it.
Instead of entering the apartment complex, she took a detour, heading toward the open bridge near the park, hoping she was wrong, that no one was following her.
But alas… her wishes didn't come true.
Once she reached the center of the bridge, out in the open, she finally saw them, the people tailing her.
About five to seven figures stood at the other end of the bridge, each cloaked in black hoodies that obscured their faces. Their garments blended perfectly with the shadows, making them almost invisible.
Hina didn't bother trying to reason with them. Instead, she recorded a quick voice chat for the group, shared her location, and called the police.
She didn't wait for them to close the distance. The moment her fingers hit the screen, she bolted, running at full speed, not giving them a single chance to catch up.
She sprinted across the bridge into the heart of the district. It was still around 8 PM, and the area was lively with activity.
Under normal circumstances, running toward people would have been the best choice. She could have asked for help.
If not for how strange they looked.
They were doing normal things, managing stalls, chatting, walking around but the way they moved was… off.
Their motions were stiff, unnatural, almost mechanical. No, not even mechanical, worse than that.
It was as if they'd forgotten how to use their bodies. Their movements wobbled and jerked, and they couldn't seem to stand still.
But the most disturbing part was their eyes.
Empty, hollow sockets devoid of any life or emotion.
Hina felt safer turning back toward her pursuers than approaching one of them.
"I need to take a detour."
The problem was there weren't many places to go. The streets were packed, but the people weren't normal. To Hina, the safest choice was somewhere without people.
"The stadium… yeah. The stadium is a great choice."
The "stadium" wasn't actually a stadium, just a massive open ground where kids, teenagers, and adults came to play.
It had somehow escaped the hands of private developers, remaining a free space for everyone. Normally, it would be filled with people.
But after 7 PM, the place was always empty.
Which was strange but tonight, Hina didn't care. She just needed to get away from the crowd. Away from the people.
Away from everything.
She turned and ran toward the stadium.
"Why the hell won't the police pick up the call!"