Kazuki’s heart pounded as he neared the door, tension clawing at his mind, the eerie silence of his home gnawing at his nerves. Every step felt heavier than the last, and his hand trembled slightly as he reached for the doorknob. A part of him expected a nightmare on the other side. Yet, when he opened the door, reality hit with surprising normalcy—just a delivery person standing there, clutching a small package.

“Mr. Hoshikage?” the courier asked, glancing at the label.

“That’s me,” Kazuki muttered, caught off guard by the mundane interaction.

“Here’s your package,” the delivery person handed it over after having Kazuki sign, then disappeared down the street, leaving Kazuki standing in the threshold with the box in hand. For a fleeting moment, the dread in his chest ebbed.

Inside the box, he found a pair of wireless earbuds. His father had mentioned these in thier last conversation—he had ordered them. That memory hit Kazuki like a wave, and the earbuds suddenly felt heavier than they should.

His chest tightened. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

He pulled out his phone, his fingers trembling as he dialed Grace.

"Grace, it’s all messed up... my parents are missing, and everything here feels... off," Kazuki’s voice wavered, his anxiety seeping through the cracks. He explained how his home seemed frozen in time, like the day of the accident had never ended.

Grace listened intently before responding. "Kazuki, have you checked their office? Maybe there's something there that can give us a clue."

“The office?” he echoed, barely processing her words.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there. If we don’t find anything, we can head to the police station.”

“Alright,” Kazuki agreed, hanging up. Grace’s suggestion gave him direction, but the knot in his stomach only tightened.

Taking Grace's advice, Kazuki decided to visit his parents' office.

Kazuki’s parents had a small warehouse on the outskirts of town—more of a workspace than an office. It was perfect for their needs: computers, high-speed internet, and plenty of quiet. The warehouse was close to a communications tower, standing on the border between populated areas and the town’s quieter edges. A place no one really cared about, but it suited them just fine.

Kazuki unlocked the main door using the spare key at his home and entered the building.

It was empty.

Where were the employees? His parents always talked about running shifts around the clock. Why wasn’t anyone here?

The warehouse had six desks, each cluttered with multiple monitors and laptops, wires tangled like webs. At the far end stood two cabins—one for his mother, the other for his father. Kazuki moved toward his mother’s first, taking a deep breath as he opened the door.

The smell was instant, familiar, overwhelming. Her scent still lingered in the air, and for a moment, Kazuki felt like he had stepped back in time. A tear formed at the corner of his eye, but he quickly blinked it away, dropping to the floor as his emotions surged, heavy and unrelenting. He sat there, unmoving, until he could regain control.

But the emptiness in the room mirrored the emptiness inside him.

After a while, he pulled himself together and began searching through the cabin. Drawers, shelves, files—nothing out of place, yet nothing that helped either. He left the room, a hollow frustration brewing inside him.

Originally, he had thought that the employees could know something, but they weren’t even here.

“The hell am I supposed to do?” Kazuki sighed and entered his father’s cabin.

The instant he opened the door, something twisted inside him. A sickening mix of bloodlust and hunger washed over him, tingling under his skin like a predator’s instincts kicking in. A strange, sweet scent hit him, sharp and disorienting.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

His father’s cabin was a chaotic mess. Unlike his mother’s orderly space, this room was a disarray of scattered papers and files, the desk buried under clutter. The walls felt like they were closing in, suffocating him.

And then his gaze fell on the almirah, large and awkwardly placed in the corner of the room.

Kazuki’s mouth watered uncontrollably, an animalistic craving rising within him, pulling him toward that almirah. His body moved on its own, his mind a haze of confusion and temptation. What was this feeling? Why was he salivating like he hadn’t eaten in days?

Without pondering much he opened the almirah, and to his surprise, only a few files and documents were placed there, along with a few sets of formal clothes belonging to both his parents.

But that scent—it was stronger here, seeping into his senses. The bloodlust. The hunger. They remained, gnawing at him even though nothing inside the almirah explained it.

He didn’t know what he wanted to find in that almirah, but he was left dazed by the fact that he found nothing in the almirah.

What was wrong with him?

He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. Not knowing what to do, he searched here and there for something, but he found nothing. In the end, he took some cash from his dad’s drawer and a laptop lying on the table and went outside. He felt more lost than he was when he had arrived.

While he was locking the door, Grace arrived.

“I already searched the office, no one is here,” Kazuki said dejectedly.

Grace clapped him on the back, offering a small smile. “Don’t worry, man. We’ll figure it out. Your parents will come back soon.”

After a quick discussion, they headed to the nearest police station, explaining the unusual disappearance of Kazuki's parents. The officers took their statements, promising to investigate the matter thoroughly. After that, both of them went their own ways.

As Kazuki walked back home, he spotted two strangers standing in front of his yard. They were talking in hushed tones, their gazes shifting suspiciously.

"Hey, who are you looking for?" Kazuki called out, trying to sound authoritative.

The strangers turned to look at him but said nothing. They simply exchanged glances and walked away, ignoring his question.

He scowled, frustration flaring in his chest. Something was off. Everything was wrong.

Feeling drained, he decided to eat some food. Despite the meal, an unsettling emptiness lingered in his stomach, a gnawing hunger that wouldn't subside. For some reason he desired meat, but looking at the piece of ham sitting in his fridge made him disgusted.

His mind wandered to the story he had read about a man who became a monster after an organ transplant. A terrible, sickening thought gripped him. He wasn’t… becoming like that, was he?

No. That was fiction. Monsters didn’t exist.

Kazuki tried to dismiss the idea, reassuring himself that such creatures didn't exist in reality. "I can eat food," he muttered, "but it just doesn't feel right."

Desperate to rid himself of the growing paranoia, Kazuki grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He stared at the blade, contemplating stabbing himself to see if he had changed. His hands shook as he held the knife to his skin, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Fear and self-preservation won out, and he dropped the knife, sinking to the floor in defeat.

The next day, his anxiety had reached its peak. Determined to get answers, Kazuki returned to the hospital, seeking information about the girl whose organs had saved his life. He had to know if there was any truth to his fears if he was becoming something monstrous. Even if he was not going to become a monster, the thought of being alive due to someone else dying was gnawing at his sanity as well.

He needed to know.

***

“Her name was Aiko Tanaka. She was an orphan with no known relatives. I'm sorry for your troubles," the doctor who had operated on Kazuki said, handing over the file.

Currently, both of them were sitting in the doctor’s private cabin.

“Kazuki, you don’t need to worry about the organ donator. Feeling famished is normal after surgery, just take it easy for some time.” The doctor said as he looked at Kazuki with a very reassuring smile.

Kazuki thanked him, feeling a mix of relief and dread. He flipped through the file, searching for any clues that might confirm or deny his fears. The more he read, the more he realized how little he knew about what had happened to him.

The thought of becoming a human devourer gnawed at him, but he tried to hold onto logic. "No such creatures exist," he reminded himself. But the gnawing hunger and strange sensations in his body made it hard to believe his own reassurances.

Kazuki left the hospital, the file clutched tightly in his hands. As he walked home, he couldn't shake the feeling that his life was spiraling out of control. He had to find out the truth, whatever it took.

The disappearance of his parents just added to his paranoia.

As he neared home, that sickly sweet scent returned, triggering something primal deep inside him. His senses went into overdrive, and his thoughts spiraled.