BWDC:SDDK Chapter 57: An Encounter Like a Horror Movie
Satoshi Miyahara felt a wave of gloom wash over him.
On December 31st of last year, he had killed his accomplice at Noboru Temple. By disguising the scene to look like a case of excessive self-defense and accidental homicide, he had successfully deceived the prosecutor at the time and walked away a free man.
However, he never imagined that someone would be bored enough to write the details of that incident into a song!
With no other choice, Satoshi Miyahara had to take matters into his own hands to solve the problem. First, he kidnapped Shiina Nagano, then he lured out Minami Takayama and abducted her as well—conveniently snatching a primary school student along with them.
Yet, even after things had progressed this far, unexpected complications continued to arise.
How could Minami Takayama be so careless as to let a group of kids play with a master tape worth tens of millions of yen? She had even forgotten to put the tape back in her bag, forcing him to turn back and threaten the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to deliver the recording!
"Damn it, a bunch of idiots!" Satoshi Miyahara cursed under his breath as he descended the external staircase toward the ground.
Perhaps due to his frustration, he ripped off his mask and pulled a cigarette from his breast pocket. He flicked his lighter, lit it, and took a long, satisfying drag. As he exhaled the smoke, the rush of nicotine significantly improved his mood.
Just as he reached the ground level, surrounded by his own clouds of smoke, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Yes, he was smoking, and that created mist. But wasn't the fog around him a bit too thick? He had only ever seen vapor this dense in specialized smoking rooms.
Miyahara immediately grew alert. He dropped his cigarette, letting the butt fall to the ground, and scanned the corners around him. But at some point, his surroundings had vanished. All he could see was an impenetrable wall of white mist.
"What is this... Hey, who's there?"
The unease in Miyahara's heart intensified. He instinctively drew his handgun from his coat and aimed it at the blinding fog. He aimed left, then right, but found nothing.
Finding no target, he tried to back away, attempting to find a sense of security by pressing his back against a wall or the stairs. But at that exact moment, the sound of footsteps echoed around him.
The sudden footsteps sent Miyahara's tension skyrocketing. He reflexively leveled his pistol and fired toward the direction of the sound.
Bang!
The footsteps stopped.
However, Miyahara's heart did not settle. He hadn't hit anyone. As a career criminal experienced in robbery and murder, he was highly sensitive to the smell of blood. Right now, there was no metallic scent in the air, which meant he had missed. Furthermore, since nothing had hit the ground, there was no possibility that he had struck someone wearing a bulletproof vest.
—But how was that possible? How could someone dodge a bullet inside a fog where they couldn't see?
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps came from a different direction. Miyahara spun around and fired another shot by reflex. The footsteps vanished again, but just like before, nothing had changed.
A trace of panic finally flickered in his eyes. He stood frozen, not daring to make a reckless move.
Then, the footsteps returned. Compared to before, they were much closer.
Yet, Miyahara saw no silhouette. He felt as though an invisible person was steadily approaching him, each step seemingly treading directly on his heart. He felt like a stupid, bit-part character in a horror movie, desperately trying to fight back against the inevitable.
Miyahara fired again and retreated once more. But after a brief silence, the footsteps reappeared. This time, they were right in front of him!
"What the hell are you?!" Miyahara screamed, using his voice to mask his terror.
He fired several shots in rapid succession, emptying his magazine, and scrambled backward until he finally felt something solid. His back was against a wall.
The footsteps stopped. The fog began to dissipate.
Miyahara breathed a sigh of relief. They say spirits fear the wicked, and it seemed that was true.
However, the moment Miyahara relaxed, the footsteps returned. His eyes widened, and his ears pricked up as disbelief filled his gaze. Because this time, the direction of the footsteps... was behind him.
But the wall behind him was solid concrete. How could there be footsteps coming from inside it?
Terror caused Miyahara to lose his last shred of sanity. He turned around like a madman, pulling the trigger against the wall.
Click. Click. Click.
The empty handgun offered no sound other than the dry strike of the firing pin.
The fog finally cleared completely. Miyahara looked down at the base of the wall. There lay a small ball, and from that ball, the sound of heavy footsteps was still playing.
It was just a recording.
A mixture of relief and exhaustion made Miyahara's body go limp. There were no vengeful spirits in this world. There was no karma, no retribution—it was all just him scaring himself.
Yet, the moment Miyahara relaxed, his body instinctively stiffened again.
—If there were no spirits, then who placed the recording ball there?
Before he realized it, a dark shadow had fallen over his body, causing his own shadow to look bloated and distorted. Miyahara could feel something standing directly behind him.
He intended to turn around. But he didn't have the time.
A powerful electric current surged from a single point on his back, instantly spreading through his nerves. Miyahara's body shook violently, his screams muffled as he pitched forward, collapsing onto the iron steps of the external staircase. His heart was filled with absolute dread.
The shock left his body unable to move like a normal person's. Driven by a desperate will to survive, he reached out, clutching the steps above him, trying to crawl upward like a man fleeing a ghost to call his accomplices for help.
It was too late.
Footsteps were approaching from behind, closing the gap. One step, two steps, three.
Miyahara's eyes bulged as he exhausted every ounce of strength to turn and see what kind of monster was behind him. But he was out of time. His body completely stopped obeying him, and his consciousness began to sink into darkness.
An anesthetic needle struck his body. Then a second, and a third.
Satoshi Miyahara fell into a far-from-peaceful slumber. Without outside interference, he wouldn't be waking up for at least two days.
"Wh-what happened?"
Miyahara's accomplice burst through the door, stepping onto the external staircase landing. He looked down and immediately saw the wretched state of Satoshi Miyahara.
The kidnapper's heart thrashed against his ribs. He instinctively let go of the iron door handle.
As the door slowly swung shut, a black shadow was already standing behind him. Like a phantom claiming a soul, the figure loomed.
Then, everything went silent.
End of Chapter
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