“Do you think Kazuya is going to be okay?” Rini’s shaky voice rang in Akira’s ears, as they strolled down the narrow pathway, and past the series of trees, standing as firm and tall as skyscrapers. “What if something happens to him?”

“Don’t worry too much,” Akira said. “If he moves according to plan, he’ll be fine. We’ll all be.”

Rini sighed deeply. She gazed upwards, the dark, green canopies obscuring the night sky. “But what if we won’t? We don’t even have anything in our possession to defend ourselves against the demon. And we don’t know what it looks like, so it could be anyone we see. The only thing we know is that it has a female voice.”

The silence between them was deafening. There was only the sound of their feet hitting the fawn ground, twigs and branches snapping, as they sauntered.

“Daisuke told us he had been trapped here for twenty years,” Rini said after a while, her long hair fluttering in the wind. “Wouldn’t that mean that he encountered the demon twenty years ago? And then maybe, we could find out its age from there, right?”

“Right.” Akira confidently crossed his arms across his chest. “But wrong.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Listen,” Akira said. “We'd only know its age if we were talking about a human being. We don’t know enough to draw conclusions. Maybe the demon is incapable of aging. Maybe it can change its form into an ordinary human, varying from male to female. So, in reality, we don’t even know its gender. We just don’t know enough.”

Rini breathed heavily and her gaze was locked on the ground beneath their feet. Silence washed over them, like a deadly tsunami, roaring in the forest.

That was when a distant sound crept into Akira’s ears. He pricked up his ears and his eyes flitted around, following the sound through the dark. The light of the flashlight had dimmed and flickered every few seconds. Despite that, he didn’t hesitate to step closer with Rini on his tail.

It was only when he took the next step, that he caught a glimpse of a shadow.

Her feminine figure gave away her gender. She was sitting uncomfortably on the muddied ground, sagged against a tree trunk and her legs to the side, missing one of her shoes. Her hand rested on the trunk, and the other softly covered her mouth and nose, as she quivered and breathed heavily.

Then, Akira realized that the sound he had heard was her crying.

She raised her head, and the beam from the flashlight lit up her face. Akira jerked backward in panic.

“Class Rep!” He gasped.

Her face was coated with a mix of brown and crimson, like face paint. Her usual puppy eyes were puffy, and her lips blood red. Her eyebrows were drawn together and raised, and clumps of blood colored her strawberry blonde hair a bright, scarlet.

“C-can you please help me stand?” she stuttered, not from fear, but pain.

It was written all over her face.

Akira’s expression hardened. Without hesitation, he handed the flashlight to Rini and stepped forward towards Rai. He wrapped Rai’s arm around his shoulder and supported her as she stood up on her feet, swaying and wincing from the pain she was in.

“Oh no.” Rini’s mouth stood agape like an opening to a cavern. “What happened to you?”

Rai’s right leg was purple and lumpy, swelled to twice its size. Mud and dirt had become entangled with crimson blood and raw, cherry-red flesh. Rai pulled her arm, resting on Akira’s shoulder, back to her chest and leaned the weight of her body against the tree.

“The demon is real.” She panted. “Our team and I were attacked by the demon. I barely managed to escape, before it… it…” Tears filled the corner of her eyes, and then they trickled down her cheeks. She broke into tears, leaving the sentence hanging in the air.

Akira and Rini became as silent as the grave, as they watched Class Rep sob, clear fluid dripping down her chin, vanishing into the ground. Akira had no clue what to do. But a tinge of happiness blossomed in his chest. At some point, he had been convinced that Class Rep had died along with Yasuhiro and the rest of her teammates. But she had managed to escape.

How?

Rai breathed deeply out. She fumbled with her glasses and took them off her face with a trembling hand. The sleeve of her shirt was spotted with fluid, as she wiped her eyes dry.

“Come to think of it, where’s Aina and Kazuya?” she asked, still sniffling. “Weren’t they on the same team as you two?”

Akira cast a glance at Rini, but she dropped her head and pressed her lips together.

“We got separated,” he half-lied, scratching the back of his neck. “And we haven’t been able to find them, yet. This place is a maze, you know.”

Class Rep smiled thinly. “Really? I feel quite the opposite.”

Suddenly, overwhelming anxiety gripped Akira’s chest. At first thought, it would make sense why Rai didn’t think of this forest as a maze. She was clever, always acing exams and getting top marks in every subject. It wasn’t surprising if she had an outstanding sense of direction, as well. But still, Akira couldn’t shake away the uneasy feeling sneaking into his mind. This place was unusual. A demon was capable of changing its tracks. And surely, the one who didn’t think of this place as a labyrinth could only be the demon.

Akira shook his head. What was he thinking? There was no way Class Rep was the demon. In fact, she was the one who had been willing to help him scare Kazuya.

Unless…

“Class Rep.” Rini interrupted Akira’s thoughts. “Do you, by any chance, know if anybody else from our class has been k-killed, besides your team? Earlier, we found an a-arm, so we thought there might’ve been other victims.”

“They’re all dead.”

Just for a split second, Akira thought he saw a smile playing on her lips.

“N-no way…” Rini’s eyes widened, as tears welled up within them. She let herself dump down on the ground like a doll as if her world was shattered into tiny, uncountable pieces. She just sat there, with a far-away look in her eyes.

“How do you know that?” Akira asked.

“The demon told us.” Rai rearranged her features into a more concerned one. “It said, that when it was done with us, there was only one team left for it to take care of.” She turned her head and stared intensely into Akira’s eyes. “I suppose, that’s you.”

A piercing unease raced down his spine. Did that mean, the only ones left were him, Kazuya and Rini?

And Rai.

It seemed so unreal as if all of these events had only been a nightmare, he was never able to wake up from. Panic flooded through his body, and he suddenly found it painful to breathe. As if his lungs were on fire, and the more he tried to breathe, the more fuel he added.

A cold sensation clawed on his chest.

“That reminds me, why hasn’t the demon appeared, yet?” he asked, softly gasping for air. “Since we’ve seen our tombstones, shouldn’t it have shown up by now?”

“We should leave before it does, already.” Rini’s voice sounded strained when she finally broke out of whatever trance she had been in. Unsteadily, she stood up on her feet. Her lower lip was slightly trembling.

“You’re right,” Akira said firmly, his throat still throbbing and burning. “We’ll get out of here, all of us.”

He attempted to give her a reassuring smile but failed to, even just a bit. Why would Rini believe in his words, when he didn’t even believe them, himself?

“Before we leave, can somebody, please, give me my shoe?” Rai’s melodious voice rang in Akira’s ears, as she pointed a few feet to her right. “They’re a size too big, so I dropped it, while I was running away.”

Rini aimed the flashlight at the place she was pointing at, and sure enough, a single sneaker lay on its side, on the muddy soil.

Akira shared a look with Rini and nodded. Two requests now, he had been counting. There was no doubt.

“Kazuya, now!” he screamed.

Kazuya emerged from the darkness behind Rai, clutching a huge bough to his chest. He swung it sideways, aiming for her face. She didn’t even have the chance to react. Her face pressed against the bough, and her head flew, her body trailing closely behind. Akira could hear her skull crack, when her head smashed against the tree trunk, blood splattering on it, around it, everywhere. Rai slumped against the tree. Her body lay sprawled out on the cold ground, her head lolling forward. Crimson fluid drained from her nose, streaking down her lips, and her jaw had been torn off, hanging from her face by a few tendrils of skin.

A few seconds passed in silence. And then, a few more passed, but it was as if everything was frozen, as the three of them stood motionless, staring at Rai’s unconscious form.

“What’s going on?” Akira asked. “Isn’t she the demon? How come she passed out just like that?”

“Hey, this was your plan!” Kazuya dropped the bough he had held in his arms, and it fell to the ground with a bump. “Don’t blame me if she’s dead.”

“Wait, she's d-d-dead?!” Rini gulped.

Kazuya sighed. He crouched beside her and placed two fingertips on the side of her neck, gently pressing into the soft groove. “She’s alive. But she needs medical treatment and probably won’t wake up for now.”

“Wait a second,” Akira said. “She needs help. I can’t believe we thought she was the demon. What have we done?”

“We just assumed the demon would be the first person we see since the man told us it would show itself pretty soon. I-I couldn't believe it was Class Rep, either,” Rini said.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now. We’re no doctors, so we obviously can’t treat her.” Kazuya stood up. “We should leave.”

“You’re telling us to leave Class Rep behind?” Akira clenched his teeth.

“Yes.”

“Why? Are you insane?”

“No, you idiot. If you used your brain once in a while, you'd know that you’re not supposed to move an injured person around. And especially not someone with an open head injury. You’d do more harm than good. Face it, there’s nothing we can do.”

Akira curled his hands into fists and clenched them so tightly, his knuckles turned white. He cast a fixed glance at Rai. Dark blood gushed out of her wound in her head, staining her hair and face more than it already was. A feeling of weakness welled up within him. He hated it. He hated it, being able to do anything, especially since this had been his plan. Why on earth did he think Rai could be the demon?

He exhaled deeply. He didn't like to admit it, but Kazuya was right. If they moved her around, her condition could worsen. They had to leave without her.

“Fine,” Akira muttered in a low voice.

“Here.” Rini took a pace towards Akira and stretched out her arm, handing the flashlight to him. Her lips pressed together in something like a faint smile. “You lead the way.”

Akira hesitated for a second, but then grabbed the flashlight from her hand, and soon, the three of them continued down the narrow pathway.

Somehow, it seemed oddly distinct from the rest of the forest. The path sharply twisted, and their feet squelched against the muddied ground. The keen wind stirred the light leaves to the air, and like feathers, they drifted around, captured by the strength of the wind. The path gradually straightened, and suddenly, Akira’s spirits soared and he broke into a run.

“Hey, where are you going?” Kazuya asked.

Akira didn’t answer. He just had to reach the end of the pathway. Somehow, he knew it was too good to be true. There was no way this path would lead them out. No way.

His breaths came out in short, pained gasps. Shrubs rattled by the force of the wind, as he sprinted past them, his legs pumping faster and faster. The flashlight in his hand suddenly became fainter than before, before flickering one last time, and then dying out completely. Akira clenched his teeth behind closed lips and threw it aside. He didn’t need it anymore, even if it worked properly.

He rushed past the trees in complete blindness. He heaved his body forward, forcing himself to take the lasts steps to freedom. And then, suddenly the sudden thumping against fresh grass hit his ears. He halted dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead. Kazuya and Rini appeared behind him, gasping heavily for air. But then, they looked past Akira.

Only a few feet away, the cottage perched on the grassy plain in front of them, exactly as they had left it. The yellow light leaked through the small, faded windowpanes, and the gable, thatched roof hung low over the cottage, almost like a blanket. Despite the dark, Akira could see the blood-red bricks that made up the walls, piled up evenly beside each other. Just like he remembered.

He hastily spun his feet, turning around. There it was – the shabby wood sign, standing where the path started, with the words ‘NORTH ENTRANCE’ carved on it. Were they back?

Akira blinked, and his body slumped, losing its rigid posture. They were really back. He couldn't conceal the smile playing on his face. A shaky laughter escaped his mouth. This had officially been the absolute worst night of his life, not being able to tell whether he and his friends would be devoured by a demon or make it out alive. But here they were. Back and alive. He couldn’t believe it.

“W-we made it.” Rini gasped softly in realization. She jumped up and down like a kid, a glint of excitement bubbled behind her eyes. “We made it!”

“Finally,” Kazuya said. “Let’s get the heck out of this place. I’m tired and I need sleep.”

Suddenly, Akira remembered. He squeezed his hand inside the pocket of his jeans, pulling up his smartphone. The faint, white glow lightened his face, and the sign in the top right corner of his phone indicated that the signal was back.

“Wait a second,” Akira said. “Let’s call for an ambulance first. You know, Class Rep…”

“Fine,” Kazuya groaned. “Hurry up, already.”

“While we’re at it, we should check out the cottage, too,” Akira continued, his gaze locked straight ahead. “Maybe some of them made it out of the forest, like us.”

Rini nodded. “Yeah, maybe the d-demon was lying to Rai. Maybe it didn't k-kill… everyone.”

The three of them sauntered towards the cottage, squashing the grass beneath their feet more than it already was. The milky-white door was wide open, the light inviting them inside. They made their way through the wood-lined hallway, leading them into the first room – the living room. Things were exactly how they had left them. The chairs were dispersed disorderly around the table, and the candles had burned away, only clumps of melted wax surrounding it.

“Hello?” Akira called out. “Is anyone here?”

The room drowned completely in silence, as the last word escaped his lips.

“So, Class Rep was right? Everyone is d-dead?” Rini curled her hands into fists, holding them tightly next to each other by her chest.

Akira gulped. “What about the other room? We should, at least, check it out.”

“You stay here and keep an eye out,” Kazuya said. “Rini, let’s go.”

Rini eyed Akira and hesitantly nodded, following Kazuya, as he strolled further down the hallway, entering the room next to it.

Akira drew in a shaky breath and cast a last glance at the living room, before leaving. When he stepped inside the hallway again, he felt the wind softly caressing his skin, as it wandered inside from the open door. It was jet-black outside.

But not more than inside the forest. Akira still couldn't comprehend the fact that they had made it out alive. Now, they just needed to get out of this area, catch the train at the station and make it to their own lively city. Though, the walk from here to the station was far, two hours with the bus to be exact. No bus would drive this late at night, but Akira didn’t care. He didn’t care if he had to walk all night to the station. He just wanted to get away.

Then, he remembered. He had to call for an ambulance.

He pulled up his phone from his pocket, but as he pressed the power button, only his confused reflection stared back at him from the black surface of the screen. He pressed it again. Nothing happened. This time he held down the button in at least a minute. Still, he could merely see his reflection on the screen biting his lower lip in vexation.

Are you kidding me? He thought, clenching the phone helplessly in his hand. Did it have to die now?

Akira exhaled. They would just have to call from Kazuya or Rini's phone. Why weren't they back, already? The cottage was dead silent.

“Kazuya! Rini!” Akira said loudly, his eyes drifting down the hallway. “What’s taking so long?”

No answer. Anxiety started growing in the pit of his stomach, and his body stiffened with fear.

What was going on?

He swung his head around, and his heart dropped to his stomach. A pitch-black shadow stood in the doorway, eyes burning with hatred and indignation.

It was the demon.