Chapter 44: Through Our Veins

“By the way, can you see this?”

I pointed at the mannequin sitting behind me to my left.

Imitating me, the mannequin also pointed behind itself to its left.

『Yes.』

“Hey. Look at me when you answer.”

I grabbed the shoulder of Youth B, who was still lying on her back.

It was unpleasant that her touch felt completely normal.

Even though beneath the T-shirt was that strange mass of letters.

“I’m asking if you can see it.”

『I can’t see it, idiot. Are you having hallucinations now too? Do one thing, just one thing. It’s only you and me here. If there were anyone else besides us…, you know. That would be the scariest thing of all.』

“And father?”

The word left my mouth without thinking.

Not even “dad.”

“Father.”

Like a habit engraved on the tip of my tongue.

『…It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you forget even father.』

Youth B raised her upper body and sat facing me.

I looked at the place where her eyes should have been on that rippling face made of broken black letters.

『Was yesterday really that bad? Well, you did seem to be suffering a lot.』

“What happened yesterday?”

『If you don’t know, it’s better to leave it that way.』

“Why? Tell me.”

『And why should I? If you want it to be fair, then tell me all the things you’ve never told me.』

I remained silent.

There’s no way to explain something I don’t even know.

『See? You don’t tell me either.』

“…Then where is father?”

Youth B stared at me silently for a few seconds before answering.

『Sleeping. After putting on another one of his performances.』

“In the master bedroom?”

『Yes.』

“Do you know what time it is?”

I asked while recalling the contents of the article.

‘According to the ▓▓ Police Station and the ▓▓ Fire Department, a fire broke out around 3:10 a.m. in a detached house located in ▓▓-dong, ▓▓-gu.

(…)

The family’s teenage children, Youth A and Youth B, were found in the living room with stab wounds to their necks.

The father, C, a man in his forties, was found in the master bedroom with his limbs bound and multiple stab wounds across his body.

(…)

Police believe the perpetrator threatened and murdered C, then killed Youths A and B, who had witnessed the incident, and set the fire to destroy the evidence. They are also investigating the possibility that it was a premeditated crime motivated by personal grudges.’

According to that information, the sequence of events was as follows:

‘Tie up and murder father C → murder the witnesses, Youth A and Youth B → start the fire (around 3:10 a.m.)’

Since there were signs of torture on C, even being generous with the timeline, it had to be assumed that the killer was already inside the house thirty to forty minutes before the fire.

『Right now? Mmm… Around two-thirty? More or less.』

“Hah.”

Then it was exactly the time when the killer had entered the house.

Should I prevent the family’s deaths?

Or should I make sure they happened?

What exactly did the labyrinth want from me?

“Let’s go.”

But regardless of the answer, I first had to get out of this basement.

『Why?』

“Father is going to die.”

『Don’t you mean, “I’m going to kill father”?』

Guided by the moonlight coming through the tiny window, I searched for the door.

It was locked.

It looked like a lock that could only be secured from the outside with a key.

Furthermore, the electricity was out; even after flipping the switch, the lights didn’t come on.

“Someone is going to kill father. And they’re going to kill us too.”

『Oh, reaaally? I wish that were true.』

“I’m not joking.”

『Do I look like someone who’s joking?』

The sentences of Youth B, who showed not the slightest interest in leaving the basement, blended into the shadows.

Ah.

Don’t tell me…

“Edit” and “Publish.”

I had pressed “Publish.”

Because the objective was to achieve a “Publication completed.”

But editing an article originally means changing its content before publishing it.

And if that logic also applied to this labyrinth.

Then choosing “Publish” directly without first going through “Edit” meant…

That I had to make sure this family’s deaths happened.

Exactly as they were written in that draft.

A rule worthy of a labyrinth.

How many people would willingly walk toward a death whose outcome they already knew?

‘The family’s teenage children, Youth A and Youth B, were found in the living room with stab wounds to their necks.’

In that case.

I’m getting Youth B out of here.

No matter what.

Because we are supposed to die from stab wounds in the living room.

***

『See? I told you we were all going to die together today. Stabbed by some burglar? Because you read an article like that?』

Youth B followed me around as she watched me thoroughly search the basement, trying to make a lockpick or something similar.

『I didn’t know you were having such a happy dream. I should have let you sleep longer.』

The laughter turned into sentences by Youth B brushed against my neck as if trying to strangle me.

『But seeing you this absent-minded and completely deranged reminds me of the old days. It’s fun.』

She had absolutely no intention of believing me.

Nor of cooperating.

『Although…』

As she said that, Youth B ripped one of the drawers out of the metal filing cabinet I had been inspecting.

『Don’t do it so often. Hold on a little longer.』

I thought it was a magic trick.

Youth B stood the drawer upright, stepped on the inner side, and tore off the front panel in one pull…

Clink.

A thin piece of metal fell to the floor.

『I can’t do it alone.』

My sister picked up the metal fragment as she spoke.

『Just like you can’t do it alone either.』

Was she smiling?

Or did she look sad?

For some reason, I regretted being unable to see that face.

“By the way, that piece. Was it already inside the drawer?”

Youth B skillfully bent the tip of the metal and fashioned an improvised lockpick.

『No. You hid it when you were in elementary school.』

“Me?”

『Back then you were still pretty rebellious. You used to try forcing things open with chopsticks and hid them in the gap by that window.』

As she inserted the lockpick into the lock, she gestured with her chin toward the tiny semi-basement window behind us.

『And then you escaped through there and got caught by one of the lackeys. For an entire week father gave you lots of “love.” Did you forget that too? Anyway, after tearing this whole room apart, he somehow never found this. And after that, well…』

Click.

The basement door opened with an unpleasant creak.

『…We stopped even thinking about getting out.』

Even though she could open it so easily now.

My sister’s words fell one by one.

…Wait.

Just as I was stepping out of the basement behind her.

A strange feeling made me slowly turn my head to the left.

This mannequin.

Wasn’t it moving a little faster than before?

『What are you doing? Seeing things that don’t exist again?』

It wasn’t an illusion.

This mannequin was imitating my movements a little faster.

At first it was obvious to anyone that it reacted a full beat after me.

Now the difference was only half a beat, like a slightly desynchronized video.

What will happen if it keeps speeding up?

What if it starts moving at exactly the same time as me?

“…It’s nothing.”

I followed Youth B upstairs.

I walked carefully to avoid making noise.

She, on the other hand, moved without the slightest concern for it.

She clearly didn’t believe at all that a killer had entered to murder us.

『I don’t feel like anyone has come in.』

Youth B’s sentences trembled as if she were suppressing laughter.

As if she wanted to mock me.

And just as she said, the first floor was spacious, dark, and silent.

A completely ordinary detached house.

The kind of house that would appear in any television drama.

To think there was a basement like that underneath it.

And that children lived inside.

『Didn’t you say you were going to check on father? If you’re worried, at least take a kitchen knife.』

Without waiting for my answer, she walked straight into the kitchen and returned with a knife.

“I don’t need it. I’m not going into the master bedroom either.”

Because my goal was for father to die in the bedroom exactly as the article described, and for us to be murdered in the living room.

『You’re not going in? Even though a burglar is going to kill father and then kill us?』

Her tone made it clear that she found the whole thing hilarious.

『You have to go in. Otherwise, how are you going to find out who dares to kill our beloved ▓▓▓? Then you’ll definitely need this.』

“Mmm.”

Maybe it would be enough if we saw the killer in the master bedroom and then fled to the living room to be captured there.

“Alright.”

『Good. Then now…』

Shh.

Youth B pressed the knife to her lips and gestured for silence.

I watched as she stealthily moved toward the staircase leading to the second floor.

Her way of walking was so quiet that it seemed professional.

She didn’t allow even the slightest creak from the wood.

I could see the chaotic flow of fragmented letters that made up her body.

One step.

Then another.

And as we climbed the stairs, I felt something similar stirring beneath my own skin.

『Here.』

The words flowed soundlessly.

And the knife ended up in my hand.

It fit perfectly.

As though it had always belonged to me.

Using the improvised lockpick, Youth B opened the lock on the master bedroom door.

Creeeak.

The door opened.

And there was father.

Lying on a wide bed.

His head, formed from horribly mangled sentences, rested on the pillow.

He wasn’t tied up.

Not even close.

He was sleeping soundly while scratching his legs.

『Definitely.』

Youth B was already beside the bed.

She nodded.

『Even if someone killed him, he wouldn’t even notice. Right?』

And then.

I understood a truth so cold that it ran through my entire body.

No one was going to enter the bedroom where father was.

Except us.

Only us.

Only the three of us.

We were the only ones present in this place.

The only people capable of killing us were ourselves.

I tightened my grip on the knife handle.

I didn’t know exactly who had been primarily responsible.

But it seemed that we had tied up father, murdered him, and then stabbed each other.

I slowly walked from the doorway toward the bed.

Step by step.

Just as Youth B opened the drawer of the nightstand.

『The fishing line should be here…』

— ██. ██.

Father woke up.

“Aaaah!”

Father grabbed Youth B by the hair.

A black hand seized her arm.

The delicate letters that formed her body twisted desperately.

The intertwined sentences moved toward me.

███. ██ ████?

Thud!

Something struck my head.

Clatter!

The knife fell to the floor.

Crack!

A hand grabbed me by the throat.

█! ███ ██.

Why does father never let us leave?

As if that were the only rule that existed.

███.

“▓▓▓! Ugh! What are you doing…?!”

My sister was trapped by father.

And at the same time, she was holding on to him as well.

“You came here for this? To let yourself get beaten in such a patheti—”

— ██. ███ ██ ███ ██████.

No.

No.

No.

I don’t want to.

I don’t want to.

I…

Came here to kill you.

Because today is the day we are supposed to die.

█, ██!

With all my strength, I shoved away that black and disgusting thing.

I grabbed something sharp and pointed.

And swung it.

██, █! █! █…… ██!

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four times.

Five times.

Six times…

Black letters burst out from the black body.

They soaked my hands like a curse.

Seven times.

Eight times.

Nine times.

Ten times.

Eleven times.

Twelve times…

█, ██……!

I know.

I know I’ve been waiting for this moment.

For a very long time…

***

『See? I told you it was “I’m going to kill father.”』

Youth B’s voice pulled me out of my trance.

I raised my head.

And then I realized there was something behind me.

『What’s wrong? Do you have father’s ghost stuck to your back or something?』

My white mannequin.

Now it was so close that I could no longer see its entire body just by turning my head to the left.

It was standing directly behind my back.

And it was no longer imitating me.

Now it moved exactly the same way I did.

Like a twin.

At the same time.

For a moment, I felt relieved to see that nothing else had happened.

But an icy unease began to creep through my veins.

Because if it didn’t stop here.

If it started moving before me.

Getting ahead of me.

Then.

What would happen?