According to Rin, the man had overheard their conversation with the boy in the red hood. Then he’d taken advantage of what they’d talked about and told Rin he knew a way to escape the wriggler and to call Natsuna to the shrine. He’d also told them not to tell anyone or to bring their phones to make it easier to kidnap them.
“The police caught him earlier, though. They said you spoke to him, too.”
“That man might have been…”
It had to have been the man who told her where to find Rin at the shrine. The white figure Natsuna had seen out of the corner of her eye had probably been his white tracksuit.
“No one is usually at the shrine. Luckily, there was a boy there that day, and he told the police…”
Thanks to that, Natsuna and Rin had escaped with slight injuries.
“I’m sorry, Natsuna…” Rin sobbed and bowed her head.
“It’s not your fault, Rin. So chin up.”
But Natsuna couldn’t feel upset at her. Rin had just been worried about the terrible fate that was waiting for them, and Natsuna understood exactly how she felt.
“It’s fine, since we haven’t been attacked by the actual Blank,” Natsuna said with a smile, but right then, she thought of something.
Blank…
“Maybe the white thing following after us was…” Natsuna remembered what Yurie had said during the accident and turned to look at Rin. “Wait, Yurie was in an accident near her house, right?”
“Yeah, Mr. Aoyama said she was at an intersection really close by.”
“Doesn’t a dog named Blanc live near her?”
“Blanc? Oh, right!” Rin exclaimed.
One of the neighbors had a large white dog named Blanc. When Natsuna and Rin would go to Yurie’s house to play, the dog would bark at them a lot.
“So Yurie was chased by Blanc!”
“You’re right! That must be it!” Rin brightened up.
It wasn’t Blank the monster, but Blanc the dog. The dog had probably gotten off its leash and chased Yurie into the intersection. In other words, she hadn’t been chased by the wriggler at all.
“Thank goodness.”
Natsuna and Rin suddenly felt relieved. They were still worried about Yurie, but nothing bad would happen to them.
“Oh, you’re awake.” A nurse had noticed them and peeked into the room. “You two came out of this very lucky that you weren’t too badly hurt.”
When the nurse said that, Natsuna and Rin both gave an enthusiastic “Uh-huh!”
“Oh, right, you two are friends with Yurie Miyamoto, aren’t you? She just woke up, too.”
“Huh?! Yurie’s awake?!”
They were at the same hospital as Yurie.
“Rin, let’s go see her!” Natsuna said.
“Okay!”
The two of them excitedly headed off to Yurie’s room.
At the same time near the intersection where Yurie had been hit, the boy in the red hood was talking to the woman who owned Blanc.
“You think Blanc chased a girl?” she asked him.
“I just thought it might be a possibility,” the boy said.
But the woman replied, “That’s just not possible.” She explained, “We keep Blanc tied up very firmly. And Blanc has never run away before or chased any kids.”
The boy looked at Blanc, who was next to the front door. Just as she’d said, a cable was secured to Blanc to keep it near the house. The dog was barking, but it seemed to be doing that because it was afraid of people. It really didn’t seem like the type of dog that would chase after anyone.
“I see… Thank you,” the boy said to the woman.
Then the boy left.
“It looks like that dog really didn’t have anything to do with it. That must mean ‘Blank’ is actually…”
Suddenly, the boy thought of something.
Meanwhile, Natsuna and Rin walked into Yurie’s hospital room.
“Yurie!”
They found her sitting on the bed.
“Oh, good! I was so worried!”
Natsuna and Rin smiled and ran over to Yurie’s side.
“Blanc the dog chased after you, right?”
“What a bad dog.”
Natsuna and Rin both eagerly started talking to Yurie. However, she didn’t say anything and only shivered.
“What’s wrong, Yurie?”
“Does it hurt?”
When Yurie looked at them, the color had drained from her face.
“No…,” she said.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t attacked by a dog…,” Yurie told them.
“What?”
Right then, Yurie looked at the door. Natsuna and Rin both followed her gaze.
They saw someone in white.
But it wasn’t a person—it was the monster from the urban legend creepily wriggling right in front of them…
The monster slowly started to approach the girls.
“No!” Natsuna grabbed a vase on a shelf near the bed and threw it at the being. “Yurie! Rin! We need to run!”
The two others reacted when Natsuna shouted. Yurie still struggled to walk, so Natsuna pulled her by the arm, and all three of them dodged the white figure as they bolted out of the room.
“Somebody help!” Natsuna yelled as she ran down the hall.
But right at the time when they needed someone most, the hallway was empty.
“Where is everybody?!” Natsuna shouted.
“Natsuna, we need to go downstairs! Everyone should be downstairs!” Yurie told her.
The reception desk was there, and usually, there was a whole crowd around.
“All right!” Natsuna replied, and started to head for the stairs.
Snatch!
Suddenly, Natsuna felt something slippery and gross on her arm. She spun around and found that the white figure was right in front of her and holding on to her arm.
“Aaaah!” Yurie and Rin both screamed.
The white figure wriggled and pulled Natsuna closer.
“No… No… Noooo!” Natsuna’s voice echoed through the halls.
When they heard the commotion, the receptionist and nurses downstairs ran up.
“What’s wrong?!” the nurse asked as she made it to the hallway.
But no one was there.
Natsuna, Rin, Yurie, and even the white figure had disappeared as if they’d gone up in smoke.
After that, the three girls were never heard from again.