When presented with extreme danger, the body releases a chemical that increases power and endurance. Adrenaline. A short-term drug, but if the threat persists, it remains pumping through the body for an extended amount of time. It is not without its drawbacks however, the longer it had been used the more tired the body would grow. If exploited for too long, coming off it would leave the body too tired to function and a blackout would happen.

Tanuki experienced the very same. One moment he had just killed the centipede and, in the next, he found himself in an uncomfortable position, chest against the ground, arms mangled behind his back, and drool dripping down the side of his mouth.

He had passed out.

“God damn it,” he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned.

To his surprise, a playful voice replied.

“Thought you didn’t believe in God.”

The soft female voice left him shocked; he stepped back with hands raised to defend from the opponent. But there came no attack. Though the wave was already over, Tanuki’s mind had not yet adjusted from defence mode.

From the blur, a girl formed. She wore white and blue school uniforms, a short skirt, and knee-length socks. Her face bore a smile, eerily friendly. Only her eyes could Tanuki not see, as the pair hid behind a veil of brown hair.

“Come on now, why are you scared?” She spoke again.

Tanuki felt embarrassed. He dusted off his torn clothes and apologized.

“Sorry, it’s just that… a lot has happened to me this past day.”

“Why don’t we paint?”

Tanuki cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Paint?”

“You love painting, don’t you? You’ve been talking about it ever since last September. Oh silly, don’t you remember?”

He did not. In fact, the more the girl talked, the less he understood.

“No,” he muttered after a while.

The girl laughed.

“You wanted to rearrange the club, so we do arts every other day. Andrew got pissed as hell. He said you are ableist and didn’t think about those with hand tremors.”

“Andrew?”

“He is way too sensitive. This is an anime club! If you want to draw, go open your own! I swear, if it wasn’t for you, the other members would have left already. You make this club what it is, Tanuki. I am grateful for that.”

With every passing second, his senses grew sharp. The room he found himself in was a classroom. An endless mist floated on the other side of the windows. There was painting equipment nearby.

“Come on, Tanuki! Let’s paint!”

In the next moment, he was standing before an empty canvas.

“Go on! Or should I pose for you?”

Even though he had never met the girl, her teasing left him embarrassed.

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“There is no need for that!” He blushed.

“How about I give you something to paint? Close your eyes!”

“What? Why?” He tried to move.

“Just do it! You wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

He had no other options. He closed his eyes.

Something was dragged across the floor to the opposite side of the canvas.

“Open your eyes!”

The girl was nowhere to be seen anymore, yet her voice persisted. The canvas was big and Tanuki could not move to better see what was on the other side. He had to peak by leaning left, which left him uncomfortably… vulnerable.

There was an apple on a chair.

“Paint the apple!”

Tanuki could not turn his head.

“Where are you?”

“Go on! Paint the apple!”

Paint was already prepared on the palette. There was also one brush and a black pencil.

He grabbed the pencil and worked on an outline. He was a bit slow, as he was more focused on searching the corner of his eyes than painting the apple. But the girl remained unfound.

Next, he dipped the brush in red and filled the apple with colour. Weirdly, only a few strokes later the apple filled instantly.

“Good job!”

“I can’t see you, where are you?”

“Close your eyes! I got something else you could paint.”

His paranoia grew stronger. Twitching eyelids. Cold sweat. He wanted to move but something rooted him in place.

“I don’t want to paint anymore,” his lips trembled.

“Just one more! Pleeease~!”

Her voice was cute and playful. It only made him more terrified.

“Close your eyes!”

Before he could speak a word, as if someone turned off a light switch, the world grew dark. The white mist outside shone bright as day but cast no light into the room.

The door opened. Someone unseen came inside, dragging along something heavy.

Tanuki breathed as quietly as he could.

The item fell on the floor with a loud thump.

“Let’s paint!”

The room lit up. There was a pair of keys on the chair. They felt familiar.

Tanuki did not ask questions, but quickly cleaned his brush and made an outline for the keys. He hoped that the quicker he finished, the quicker he could escape this hell.

He leaned to the left and looked at the keys again, and for a second, someone was standing next to it. A figure whose skin was pale as snow, wearing a bleached school uniform. Before Tanuki could look at it, however, she disappeared.

Tanuki froze and remained motionless for a few seconds until the voice scared him.

“Come on! Paint!”

He cried a quiet yelp and hurried with the painting. Like before, it suddenly finished only a few strokes into it.

“Good job! Thank you for painting these.”

“Please, I want to go home!” He begged, but the voice continued.

“These are beautiful. Wow! Say, can you do the same thing with people?”

The air around him turned cold.

The lights turned off. The door opened again, but this time there were no footsteps.

“Come on! Make me beautiful!”

Suddenly, the light turned on once more.

He could not move. No, his body refused to move. His heart pounded against his chest like drumsticks, his legs howled in pain that they could not run.

Then, on its own, the canvas moved ever so quietly, ever so slowly to reveal it.

On the cold floor lay a large trash bag. There was something inside akin to broken furniture. The bottom of it drowned in a small pond of liquid. The entire thing was wet, revealing the crooked figure inside.

Tanuki was rendered motionless by sheer terror. He wanted to die. He wanted to find a knife in his hand and stab himself, quickly ending this nightmare.

But he was not allowed death.

“Come on! Make me beautiful!”

Tears ran down Tanuki’s face. The fear tore at his chest. He was nauseous. The world spun around rapidly, all but the bag. It grew worse, but he was not allowed to pass out.

“Come on! Make me beautiful!”

“I’m sorry,” he cried quietly, but it did not care.

“Come on! Make me beautiful! Come on! Make me beautiful! Come on! Make me beautiful!”

The bag moved and suddenly, the lights turned off.

Silence filled the room. All had disappeared, but teardrops as they fell to the ground and the voice repeating itself.

“Come on! Make me beautiful!”

It went on, the sentence repeating faster and faster until it eventually overlapped with itself. Even then, it only grew louder. The voices grew until they turned into an ear-piercing scream.

Then it stopped. And there was silence once more.

For a moment he did not hear it, but then realized the footsteps from the door. He did not even try looking at it anymore. By then, he was made a statue of fear and pain.

The footsteps were slow, yet louder with every stomp. Three meters. Two meters. One meter.

She was here, right next to Tanuki. Her heavy breathing filled his ear, her damp breath freezing his skin.

She breathed in.

Then breathed out.

In.

Out.

In.

And out.

Then she stopped.

Silence fell in the room.

There was no sound.

Not a step.

Closer or away.

Not a movement of the hands.

Not a fall of tears.

Silence.

Nothing.

Void.

Death.

Infinity.

Until he finally awoke.