It’s not a lie.Shedidn’t scare me.Her rational brain has already filed it away as hysteria, the normal reaction when one of your senses is deprived.But after what I’ve already seen and what I’ve just read in Junko’s journal, I’m not so sure it can be explained away so easily.
Hayami didn’t scare me.
But something did.Something in this house.
I just have no idea what.
TWENTY-EIGHT
FENRIR
PRESENT
Day nine at Belial House,and the last two nights have been quiet.Hayami appears to have slept well, but in the early hours of this morning, I could have sworn that there was someone in her room.I don’t know why.There was nothing on the screen, nothing picked up by the camera, and she appeared to be sleeping soundly.It was more a feeling, a sense of dread climbing up my spine that she wasn’t alone.
I raced up the stairs and pushed open her door to find the room empty and Hayami sleeping peacefully.
Tiredness can do strange things to the brain.Couple that with being alone in a house with only one other person and an old journal for company, and you’ve got a recipe for madness.With that in mind, I take the bull by the horns and make an executive decision—not only for Hayami’s sake but my own.
“I think we should take the Jeep into town to pick up a few supplies,” I say.
Hayami’s eyes dart up from the book she’s reading.Her spoon is suspended over the bowl of dry cereal she’s taken to eating because she isn’t keen on the long-life milk.
“You mean, like, leave the house?”
“Is that a problem?”I hover by the kitchen door.
“No, not at all.I just thought you wouldn’t want to leave because it’s too risky.I’m all up for getting the hell out of here for a bit.”She’s already pushing her chair back and slipping the scrap piece of paper she’s been using as a bookmark in between the pages.
“We could do with topping up a few supplies, and I think we both need a change of scenery.”I try not to give too much away.Hayami isn’t aware of the journal I’ve been reading or the things I’ve been seeing.
I’m a few days into Junko’s journal, and I’ve built up a good picture of how she ended up being married to Devall and what she’s learned of his previous marriages.But she’s obsessed with the house and how it makes her feel, convinced that something is within the walls.I can’t help but wonder if this was the beginning of her depression, the decline of her mental health, and whether being swept away from her job, her friends, and her family was the start of it all.
Or maybe there’s something to what she writes about this house.That she really felt something when she was here.
I read a few pages in the early hours of the morning, Junko describing her sleep as fitful, as if something was knocking at her brain and asking to come inside.There was also an entry about seeing a face in the mirror that was not her own.She continues to talk about the house as if it’s a person—a being occupying her thoughts, and a sense of evil she feels that’s breeding under the foundations.
There’ve been no further disturbances since the night the light blew in the en suite.Although, having investigated the light after I rehung the door, it was clear the bulb hadn’t blown, and the light had just gone out.
Hayami has recovered, brushing it off as one of those things when your mind plays tricks on you.She spent ten minutes explaining to me what happens to your brain when one of your senses is taken away from you and what panic can do to your body.For once, I’m happy she can explain the event away with her logical thinking.I, on the other hand, am not as easily convinced and need a break from these walls.
“We’ll bring Willa’s work phone with us and leave yours and mine here so that if Markus does a spot check on our locations, it’ll look like we’ve sent Willa out for supplies and you and I have remained here.It’ll also help to keep up appearances that Willa is here, and we’re all functioning as normal.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Hayami says as she dumps her cereal bowl in the sink.“I’m a little giddy.”
“We need to keep our wits about us,” I remind her.“And you need to wear a baseball cap, keep a low profile.”
“Sure.Body armour as well, or do you think that’s too much?”She smirks.It isn’t a bad idea, but before I can say anything, she’s disappeared out of the room.
She returns ten minutes later wearing a large black coat, thick leggings, and winter boots along with her New York Yankees baseball cap.
“Is there a drill, a protocol you need to run through with me before we leave?”she asks, half joking, I think.
“Just the norm.You do what I say when I say it and don’t question me.”
“Yes, sir.”Hayami mock salutes me, which is better than before this week, when she would openly argue with me, ignore me, or flip me off.
I wonder why she’s suddenly showing a little more respect.Is it because I shared my past with her, and she now knows the calibre of person I am?Or has she changed her tune because there are only the two of us here?She has no audience, no Willa to entertain, no shackles of the Devall house.But she’s only swapped one cage for another—this house being her new prison.I’m not sure the reason, but whatever it is, this new Hayami is easier to work with.Although I miss the feisty Hayami I’ve become so used to.
