AZUSA burst through the kitchen door only to trip. She spun three times in the air and then tumbled onto the ground. She sat up after finishing her painful triple axel fall, only to see nothing but trees in front of her.
“Huh? Why trees?”
She glanced around her. Trees extended in every direction. She looked up to see the blue sky through the gaps of a green leafy canopy.
“No way.”
Her disbelief was understandable—she had fallen into an unfamiliar forest. She looked behind her to discover the door she burst out of had disappeared without a trace. She opened a door that should have led to a hallway but ended up in a forest instead. “What kind of bad joke is this? Either way, I have to hurry to where Dad is!”
Azusa was in full panic mode. Her mind wasn’t in a state to consider why she had ended up in a forest. All that was on her mind was quickly finding her father and confirming his safety. The servants’ conversation kept replaying in her mind.
“It’s the end for him once the court of inquiry begins. No doubt Miss Azusa’s father will be killed.”
Her vision blurred with unshed tears. She endured the desire to cry and pushed herself off the muddy ground, wiping the mud off her knees and clothes. The same scenery stretched out as far as the eye could see in every direction. Not knowing which direction to go meant any direction was worth a try.
She froze when the thicket in front of her rustled. A shadowy figure slowly clawed its way out of the thicket, revealing a man in his mid-twenties. His greasy, long disheveled hair clung to his face, hiding his expression from her, but his hollowed cheeks and sickly complexion stood out under the tangled mess.
The bottom of his tattered shirt and pants looked like they had been through a shredder. If Azusa were to sum up his appearance in one word, it would be zombie. He was the living embodiment of the zombies portrayed in horror movies. Maybe living was the wrong word.
“…!” Azusa gasped. The man sluggishly approaching her with a limp had blue glowing eyes.
“I. Found. You,” the man’s head torqued to the side like a broken doll and let out a demented laugh. His twisted smirk gave Azusa the chills. “No runnin’!”
He lunged at her.
“Agh!”
He slammed her against a tree the moment she tried to run. The impact knocked the breath out of her. She struggled to escape, but she didn’t have enough strength to slip out of his grip. The man strengthened his hold on her neck where he pinned her against the tree.
“Let…go…of me!” she choked out.
“I. Found. You. Found. You. FOUND YOU!” The man shrieked deliriously, leaning his face toward hers. His dulled blue eyes glimmered with indescribable euphoria.
“No!”
“I found…you,” he spluttered. He opened his mouth revealing sharp, gleaming fangs.
He’s going to bite me! Azusa tensed and shut her eyes. The next moment, the grip released its hold on her. What? …He’s not going to bite me?
She slowly opened her eyes to see the man’s head at her feet. A headless body was all that pinned her against the tree. Blood erupted from the neck and rained down on her as though the body just realized it was missing its head. She couldn’t even muster a scream as she watched on in a stupor. Her mind didn’t comprehend what just happened.
“Are you okay?” A man with black hair and ruby-red eyes appeared in front of Azusa amid the blood-rain.
Azusa’s mind rushed with a recent flashback so vivid it was strange she hadn’t thought about it until now. Before her was the man who had been standing in a pool of blood the night she was kidnapped. He had been wearing a trench coat at the time, but now he donned a white T-shirt and black slacks. His clothes may have been different, but there was no mistaking him.
“Th-The guy from that night!” she stuttered.
“…Why are you here?” The man frowned the instant he saw Azusa’s face. He stared at her for a good minute then sighed.
“Wh-What?”
“…”
The man approached Azusa with an expression she couldn’t tell was angry or not, and removed the corpse from her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet—she didn’t realize she had collapsed onto her butt—and walked off dragging her behind him.
“Um, er…”
“……”
“Where are you taking me?”
“…Don’t ask questions. Just keep quiet and follow me,” he commanded flatly.
For a second, she flinched. But she wasn’t a meek girl who would stay silent just because someone demanded it from her.
“Please let go of me!” Azusa shouted, tugging her arm from him with all her strength. The man glowered at her.
“I can carry you instead if you insist,” he growled in a deep voice.
Azusa lost the will to fight. No way could she stand up to him if he decided to use even a small percent of his strength. He was the man who instantaneously killed the zombie-like man whose arms Azusa couldn’t even budge from her neck in a panicked frenzy. If she stupidly put up a fight against him now, it would likely end in him knocking her out and carrying her. In which case, following him while she was still conscious was by far the better choice.
“You are walking too fast,” Azusa complained.
“……”
He surprisingly slowed his speed to match hers.