Akugami

3. Nightmare.

Yukiyo yelped on the sound of the next knock, was that another one of those monsters?

She couldn't tell if it was a person or not, it was too loud, Teru was holding his blade tightly as he thought thoroughly of his chances of stabbing it in the head as he had seen Tatsumi do, but with this very limited space was a fight even possible against one of those things?

The bangs were consistent and hammered dread into the teen and his cousin, but Tatsumi was calm at heart, he had experienced situations like these so much in his previous life that he had a clear grasp of what was happening.

But that didn't stop the bangs, and that didn't mean he wasn't afraid, currently he was weak, and unarmed, he was volnurable.

Each resonating sound caused their limbs to involuntarily twitch, Teru in particular was shaking similarly to a tree in harsh winds, the breath escaping him rigid and uneven as his mind danced in the melody of fear being played by the fast beats, each loud metallic thud crept inside his body, causing his heart to skip unnaturally long beats; consuming him.

The knob of the door rustled and twisted, jerking violently, and Teru glanced over at Yukiyo, she was still shaking in Tatsumi's arms, whispering an inaudible prayer with her eyes tightly shut and still pouring tears down her cheeks, but the look in Tatsumi's eyes made Teru more alert, was he really the same person, what the hell happened in the short time he had left him at the bus stop to meeting him back at the hall, why was he so composed in this situation?

Even when he was being shaken with fear Teru still wondered.

The last assault on the door demanded their undivided attention though as their heads snapped back to it.

"I …I know you're in there!" A deep male voice boomed from the other side of the metal door, a voice Tatsumi didn't rember, but from the reaction of Teru and Yukiyo he figured he should remember once he saw that person's face, not that it was gonna heppen. " let me in, pease, let me in!" The man shouted desperately banging at the door in obvious panic.

Teru sighed, then turned to the others, gesturing with his finger across his lips to stay still, they would be dead in seconds of opening that door, it didn't take a genius to figure out that he'd been followed:

Teru told himself that little truth several times after failing to drown out the sound of the man's voice as he called out to them from the other side, it was selfish to not open that door but it was also very smart, they were dealing with an unknown species of violent creatures.

"Please, whoever's in there, open up!" The man screamed "I-I'm begging you!"

Yukiyo grit her teeth and began breathing heavily while shaking her head with her hands covering her ears, still speaking inaudibly as tears shot from the corners her her eyes, she was falling in a pot of panic that she didn't have the will to climb out of, but while all of that was happening, Tatsumi was just staring at Teru, waiting for him to make some kind of a decision, his expression, slightly terrified, But mostly unshaken, he was far more ready than Teru could have been, but at this point he wasn't confident in his ability to fight one of those monsters in such a small space, much less with his friends in there with him, he made a motion asking Teru with signs what he would do.

Teru however, signaled him to stay put, of course he hadn't planned to do anything in the first place, but if memory served, which it did; he remembered that Teru was a sharp and decisive person capable of split decisions, it really was a pity how he had run off with untrustworthy people and had perished in the thick of a sticky situation. "No way in hell I'm gonna open that door." Teru thoughtfully droned, and rightfully so.

Before another moment passed the person that tatsumi had finally remembered as Mr.Kiki; the owner of the weapons shop they were in, screamed and madly began beating at the door with swift hands. "S-St-Stay away!" He screeched and Tatsumi heard the distinctive sound of a gun being drawn, he hadn't done it on purpose, but the moment he heard it he sighed and turned his head, next after the sounds of Mr.Kiki screwing and pulling his gun was a loud growl, a sound that gave Tatsumi shudders instantly, he had been there, more than one time in the past he had been caught in the worst situations and had escaped by the hair of his teeth, placing his hands over Yukiyo's and looking her in her eyes to calm her down, Tatsumi heard what could only be described as a s**t-load of gunshots being fired off.

Their faces went pale when they heard that deep beastly growl again on the other side of the door, and fear once again began making tracks in their minds.

The man on the other side gave off another scream from the depths of his stomach, a scream of fear turned to a roar of resistance as the man drew another gun and shot off a single round and then another, each time the sounds fell to bearable degrees the man would be heard screeching in terror, a few more gunshots rung out, leaving a ringing silence in the air.

And then, something hit the door hard, shaking the entire building and Mr.Kiki began wailing hoarsely, he released a loud cry for help before screaming once again then there was a crunch, a sound that triggered a fire in Tatsumi, this was no time to be acting like a scared kid, it was happening, they had escaped death several times to get into this bunk, but with someone so close as the other side of a door being eaten Tatsumi felt heat enter his body, and he stopped shaking, he took control of his own body.

The heavy breath of the creature echoed through the vents above the door between cries of heartbreaking agony, sending cold chills down the others' spines and all through their bodies, Teru swallowed silence and held on to his blade; to him, this was his lifeline.

Suddenly the screaming was silenced by the horrid sounds of chewing and munching; satisfied animalistic grunts came from the other side and his heart began sinking to the depths of defeat, Mr.Kiki was his mentor, he had taught him so much over the past few months he had worked at the shop, and yet he had simply allowed his mentor to die, he felt useless, but that uselessness had saved his life, he didn't want to die, so he justified his actions as self preservation, and truly that's exactly what they were.

Knowing that the munchy sounds he was hearing, were the sounds of a man being eaten. Chewed. Devoured, by something he still couldn't fathom though made it that much harder to swallow, he would do whatever it took to not die like that.

Gripping tighter at his blade, Teru waited, cursing his own self in thought, he wanted to open the door, but the human desire to live will forever overwrite such a thing as conscience and his guilt didn't last beyond a few seconds before he began fretting for his own life again, did that creature hear them, could it sense them?

He was scared, frightened; terrified.

He could hear his own heartbeat, feel the rush of blood coursing through his body as his legs prepared to throw him at anything that managed to get in, the room was as silent as if death itself was standing in their presence.

"Hey, we have to wait." Teru looked around and mouthed silently to Tatsumi, who was holding Yukiyo again in an attempt to stop her from giving them way with her hyperventilation it was a trying task, Tatsumi was already frustrated with it, she had almost caused him to die several times in his previous life, he was going to address her lack of courage as accurately and swiftly as he could this time around to prevent the same mistakes.

Their hearts began to lighten as they began to attentively listen; they could clearly hear the snarls fade; they could feel every thud from the monster's footsteps as it made a slow exit out of the passage. "Thank goodness, it's leaving" Teru allowed his mind to briefly wander before collecting himself as best he could.

He sighed and inhaled then relaxed several times as the tension in the small room barely eased.

All three of them sat on the bed and gave their bodies a little relief, and then they lied down.

After what felt like forever waiting, night finally came, they were only aware because the small window in the roof became orange and then darkened after the sun set, the room was secure, but that wasn't enough assurance for any of them to fall asleep. They'd killed all the lights since the incident with the shop owner, and they were all sitting on the bed with their backs to the wall, facing the door.

Damn well hoping nothing more happened.

Being in there should have made them feel if even a little better.

But, the sounds leaking through the air vents wouldn't provide them with any peace of mind the horrifying snarls and roars kept them on edge constantly.

They, were everywhere, and the sounds never stopped.

So far they had heard a total of three close screams of pain before long silences from the alleyway above the bunk, Tatsumi was fuming, and he didn't care that his anger was bleeding out for the others to see it, to think that he would be reborn in a time like this, it felt like punishment for being a coward for most of his previous life.

"Damn them... Damn them all." Tatsumi cursed silently, hugging Yukiyo tighter and exhaling in quiet rage. "Damn monsters." He was furious.

"This is so wrong." Yukiyo whispered, curling into his lap, seeking comfort from his angry breath as it fanned across her cheek, she wasn't the only one. "What is this anyway, what the hell is all this, what are those things, why are they attacking people?" She opened her mouth to begin speaking again, but Tatsumi placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, so instead she once again allowed her tears to flow, she was confused, she had seen so many people die that she felt dead herself.

It couldn't be helped either, everyone any of them knew were probably dead by then; eaten, why?

The screams never stopped throughout the darkness, and the night dragged on for an eternity with endless unanswered cries for help echoing in reverb over and over again, down the street and back for hours upon hours as group after group tried escaping their fate and miserably failed, the outcome was always the same, eaten, torn to pieces.

Tatsumi kept checking his watch, a habit he had picked up subconsciously, from his other life, he also counted the number of screams that would end up eventually haunting his mind as he watched the seconds take ages to pass.

After looking at his watch for that long, he was out of it, lost in thought and deep concentration and eventually, sleep.

"Tatsumi."

Looking around, his eyes peered open and fright collapsed on him like a box of detonation clay.

Trapped between two of the monsters?

How the heck did it get to this so damn quick?

He raised a gun he hadn't even been aware he was carrying and squeezed the trigger, there was a loud click, no shots fired. "Of all the times for a gun to stick on someone!" Tatsumi yelled pulling out his next last hope, a small pocket knife, swallowing his heart as it lumped in his throat and bracing his self he charged at the monsters like a madman, knowing he wouldn't make it, but he wanted them dead, he wanted them all dead, he would never die until the last of them had also drawn their last breath "DIE!" Tatsumi pounced screaming.

Plunging the little knife at the eye of the monster, and seeing the blade push against the surface as if to penetrate, but snapped in two instead Tatsumi felt the bottom of his stomach hit the ground.

"Tatsumi" he heard Yukiyo's voice in his dazed state.

"s**t!" He cursed, turning to run away when the one he attacked grabbed his arm, and with a powerful jump the other one landed in front of him, picking him up by his leg "this is it!" He gasped in regret.

Biting and clenching his jaws shut and wheezing, he began choking on his own saliva as the one holding his arm bit into his shoulder, sinking it's teeth through his skin and pulling at him, causing his own blood to fountain pass his vision and paint his torso crimson, Tatsumi's bones started turning in different directions before they began to crackle and snap beneath his skin. "No, stop, s-staap, no- Please, priiiiaag!!" His words became deformed and unrecognisable the greater the degree of pain arose, he helplessly screamed in pain as his leg was torn from his body, feeling his nerves shoot through him under the hellishly brutal sensation of being eaten alive. “How much longer?” He asked in his mind; the only thing that was still working, after all he had gone through, and to think he was even reincarnated, only to die as soon as he came back. “This is too unfair… just kill me already, please... bite my damn head off and put me out of my f*****g misery!!” He cried out in his mind while his eyes were wide open and his mouth unable to make another sound after blowing his voice out. “Please!!” He screamed and begged inwardly.

"Tatsumi!"

Blinding lights captured his vision.