We spent the entire time staring. Minutes passed, and not even a knock came to the door. I glanced at Tesha who stared cross-armed with me. Tesha tried to speak, but kept silent when she saw me bar the door with whatever gym equipment seemed big. I also crossed some of the gardening tools across the door. I tried not to stare at Tesha as she stared at me.

After some time, I decided to break the silence, and hopefully stop Tesha from glaring at me. Even in my tense situation, Tesha probably didn’t forget my comment about her being inhuman.

“I think the people chasing me are gone now,’ I said, “maybe I should just go now.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

Looks like Tesha really didn’t forget. She acted upset too.

Note to self, do not call the serial murderer inhuman.

Especially when you’re in a room with them.

I unbarred the door and tugged at it.

…

I tugged at it.

Am I not tugging enough?

“Hey, um…” I turned towards Tesha.

“What do you want?” Tesha looked up at me.

“The door’s locked.”

Once I said so, a new sense of uneasiness crawled through my body. I got myself trapped with a serial killer.

“What?” When she heard that, she got up and went to inspect the door, presumably to find the lock to pick.

Unluckily for her, there was no lock on the inside. After seeing her give up, I watched her back away from the door, and she crouched to the floor.

“Hard luck right, Tesha? Huh? Tesha? Wait, Tesha!” I flinched as she began running towards the door.

Just before reaching the door, Tesha jumped and performed a spinning kick on the door. A loud crunch echoed in the shed, but the noise didn’t come from the door coming loose.

“Agh!” Tesha nearly whimpered, before collapsing, “That hurt!”

“Wh-what was that!?” I reacted, “Are you all right? How hard did you kick the door, anyways?!” I hurried to the back of the shed to get a hold of the first aid kit in the corner.

I had a hard time finding the big red cross in the dark shed, but I tried to keep an eye out as I looked through the big metal shelves.

“I only kicked the door like normal,” Tesha said while hugging her leg, “Usually something in it gives way. That door is too strong.”

“Of course you have experience with kicking doors down,” I mumbled.

“I’m an inhuman murderer after all, yeah?” Tesha spat my words out.

Finally retrieving the first aid kit, I grabbed a hockey stick from a sports shelf and returned to Tesha. I planned on using the hockey stick as a makeshift cast for her leg. We had some tape in the first aid to keep the stick in place.

My stomach sank, but I told myself she couldn’t hurt me with a broken leg. Comforting myself with my silent thoughts, I crouched down to help with Tesha’s wound. “Could I see your leg?”

“...You’re helping me?” Tesha questioned, “I thought you said I was inhuman.”

“I only insulted you because you took my book,” I assured her, “I’d say similar things to anyone else who touched my precious series.”

“Oh please, you can’t be serious,” Tesha assumed, “me being a part of the group who tortured your mother has to have a part to play in how you feel against me, yeah? You can’t deny that.”

…

“Just show me your leg,” I told her.

In the dark, I couldn’t tell how badly her leg had been broken, but she winced when I touched her calf. I decided to just use the hockey stick to help keep her leg straight.

“I only took the book because you forgot it,” Tesha blurted, “I didn’t mean to steal it.”

“Really?” I asked, as I remembered my time in the auditorium. I accused Tesha of a crime she never committed.

“Yeah, you got all sappy after the play, I was so shocked, and I thought I could just get it to you late- wh- hey!” As she tried to explain herself, I acted on instinct. I embraced her, mindlessly. “Ow! Ow! Hold on, you’re pressing against my leg!”

Immediately pushing myself back, I apologized. “I’m sorry, I…” I scooted a little further away on the floor, “I’m not sure what came over me.”

“It’s okay, you were just a bit…sudden,” Tesha assured, before falling silent.

The two of us sat there. I could just barely make out her facial expression from the sunlight coming from the vent at the top of the shed, but I couldn’t exactly decipher her. I only saw her with one knee up to rest her hand, and the other leg out with the hockey stick I taped to her.

“Hey, Tesha?” I called her name, “do you have a phone or anything? I don’t think it’d be cool if we had to spend the night here…”

“No, but I can guarantee we’ll have a cool time here,” Tesha answered, “It’s going to dip into forty degrees Fahrenheit before the sun comes up. Feel like screaming for help?”

“I wouldn’t chance being loud,” I replied, “I don’t know if my chasers are still on the lookout for me.”

“Who was chasing you anyway?” Tesha asked, “Did you really have to lock us in here?”

“Your friends,” I answered, “just not Mr. Yellow. They were cornering Harry Ballman.”

You walked in on them when they were attacking someone?” Tesha shot straight up, from her waist up, her legs twitched a bit but they didn’t spring up, “They didn’t see your face did they?”

“Hm? No, they didn’t, I made sure to not look at them unless I was at a certain distance.”

Tesha looked down at the floor, glaring at it. Even her thinking face scared me. “You got yourself in a lot of mess, Nwier.”

She only stated the obvious, “I know,” I started looking through the boxes, “if you’re feeling it, you could kill me right now, you know.”

I realized I messed up. I just told Tesha I made a nuisance to her group of friends, all of whom wanted to kill me. Tesha broke her glare with the floor, only to continue glaring but with me.

Before she could say or do anything, I decided to add, “Just let me finish my book first.”

“Bahahahahaha!” Tesha burst out laughing, “Nwier, there’s no way any of the other guys would grant that wish for you.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She wiped her eyes. Apparently she found my comment funny enough to cry and laugh. I hoped she took my choice seriously though, I did want to finish my book before I died.

“Fine, I’ll let you live,” Tesha settled down from her laughing, “you feel glad you’re with me, yeah?”

“Right, I’m grateful,” I turned to face her, “will you be willing to wait after I finish all the books, maybe?”

“That might be a bit much,” Tesha answered, “but I’m willing to try.”

“I feel so much safer with you trying,” I said, “I’d rather not die…”

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came to me. I had nothing to say, so I just let the silence settle in.

While sitting down, I noticed Tesha clenching and unclenching her fists. I couldn’t make sense of her. Was something troubling her?

“Nwier.” Tesha spoke up.

“Hm? What is it?” I turned to look her in the face, “Something on your… mind…”

I turned to face Tesha, but and trailed off. Oddly, I found myself almost captivated by the way she looked in the dark. And, I do mean almost, it would be bad if I were actually captivated with the person who killed my mother.

“What do you think about cuddling with strangers?” Tesha asked abruptly, “I’m not a fan, but we might have to.”

“W-what? Why are you asking?” I stammered, bewildered by the sudden change of subjects.

“Again, it’s going to dip into the forties before the sun comes up,” Tesha reminded, “we might have to preserve heat somehow.”

“But…don’t you think that’s a little too…” I searched for the word to describe the idea.

“What, awkward?” Tesha asked, “There’s nothing wrong with clinging for your life.”

“Y-you have a point,” I gave in, “I guess dying would…make finishing my book series hard.”

“Is reading your book the only thing you’re alive for or something?” Tesha questioned. “We can always start a fire, if you’re confident you can keep the rest of the shed from burning up.”

“I guess you’re right! We can do that,” I agreed.

“...I’ll blame you if anything goes on then, yeah?” Tesha said, “I’d think my friends wouldn’t like it if I died because you were too chicken to be next to me.”

“I-Chicken?”

“And your book too,” Tesha pointed out, “are you okay with risking your book in a sea of flames?”

“...Absolutely not. I can’t bear with Mushoku Tensei being on fire,” I concluded, “but…”

“Nwier,” Tesha stopped my excuse making, “there is, absolutely, nothing wrong, with clinging for your life.”

She put emphasis on her words, and she added, “Don’t you ever think otherwise.”

“...Even if I’m clinging to someone who killed my mother?”

“Now that’s something close to your heart, yeah? Good job,” Tesha praised, “Let yourself have the confidence to say things like that more.”

Staring at Tesha, I found myself unable to speak. She suddenly shot out a helpful line that I never knew she had the capability of doing. Her advice about speaking from the heart echoed the same advice I had received from my mother, back when I was first making friends in primary school.

With nothing else to do, my attention turned to my book. The entire reason I sat in the shed in this situation with Tesha rested in my book. If I didn’t leave it back in the auditorium, I wouldn’t have to endure a whole night with Tesha. Then again, Harry Ballman would probably be dead too.

Thinking about Harry, the gravity of the situation I resided in came down on me. These people were murderers, true killers that took other people’s lives away. Meanwhile, I sat around with one, while talking as if it were the most natural thing to do.

I looked up from the cover of my book, and eyed Tesha’s sitting figure. At some point, she started looking away. Her face kind of looked serene, under the quiet light in the dark room.

My feelings about her conflicted with each other. It must have been due to my first impression of her, that I felt human traits from her. Of course I would though, all inhuman humans are still humans.

Still, I had a hard time believing that Tesha was truly horrible. There must have been a reason that Tesha hung around with the other five killers, but I couldn’t think of one. I could have asked her, but I doubted I would get a straight answer.

My best bet at figuring out the story between the six killers would be eavesdropping. By doing that, I could gather information about them without needing to ask. But, if I were ever caught, my life would be on the line.

“You’re thinking hard about something, yeah?” Tesha sounded out, “Want to share?”

“Oh, uh,” I stumbled over a response, “it’s nothing.”

“That book of yours is really important to you,” Tesha noted on the way I embraced my book, “Is there a reason for it?”

“It’s, uh,” I attempted to come up with a response, “just a really good book.”

“It has to be a really amazing book,” Tesha inferred, “if you’d go to such lengths for it.”

“It’s that good,” I replied, “my heart’s inside it.”

“Your heart’s inside of your book?”

“That’s correct,” I confirmed, “nothing else really matters, not when I have it.”

Tesha kept quiet for a moment, possibly trying to come up with a response to my statement.

“Astonished by my love for Mushoku Tensei?” I asked, “Don’t worry, it’s a lot to process.”

“Astonished isn’t the right word,” Tesha responded, “more like… unnerved.”

“Unnerved!?” I yelped, “But how?”

Tesha sighed, “You’re crazy, huh.”

“Very,” I validated, “but you are too, right?”

Tesha’s mouth curled into a frown at my remark. Her eyes took on the squinting appearance of displeasure.

“You don’t have to mention my nature every chance you can,” Tesha muttered.

Could I have said something out of line there? Tesha carried an accusing face, so I would have assumed so.

“Sorry,” I apologized, “I guess something just comes over me, everytime.”

“Because you’re holding something back,” Tesha stated, “You can either hold it back even harder, or just let it out.”

“I don’t think I’m holding something back,” I reasoned, “I just have an inner teasing self.”

“If you really think that,” Tesha replied, “then you’re holding back against yourself too.”

“Holding something against myself? How would I do that?” I asked, “I know everything I think about.”

“There’s a lot of things you can think about that you don’t know about,” Tesha stated, “thoughts controlled by your subconscious.”

“My subconscious?” I questioned, “How would my subconscious decide how I feel?”

“Doesn’t it always?” Tesha answered my question with another, “you can’t just choose your feelings.”

“Still, how would I be keeping it from myself?” I continued, “I’d have to realize that I’m trying to keep my feelings back.”

“Your subconscious can do that,” she responded, “and there are ways to realize, like that irritation for me, that you’re hiding.”

“My irritation for you?” I tilted my head, “What do you mean?”

“It’s pretty obvious, the way you try to avoid me,” Tesha replied, “and that would be why you always point out my murdering nature.”

“No, I wouldn’t say that I…” trailing off, I recall my actions, “it’s not irritation.”

“Then what is it?” Tesha pressed, “Why do you act like you do?”

“I’m scared,” I confessed, “I’m scared of you, that’s why I try to avoid you.”

Tesha went quiet, processing my words.

“And the reason why I point out your nature?” I went on, “I want you to refute it, because I don’t want to believe you’re a murderer.”

“Well,” Tesha spoke up, “what part of being scared explains the glowering?”

Glowering?

I reached my hand to touch my face. Sure enough, my forehead wrinkled. Have I been scowling the entire time? My face felt tense, but maybe I really wasn’t being true to myself.

“It’s just reflexive,” I lied, “like a butterfly using its wings to intimidate its predator.”

“That does explain it,” Tesha muttered, “well fine, I guess you aren’t irritated.”

A low rumbling noise interrupted our conversation. The noise originated from Tesha, and her eyes flashed wide for a bit, from bashfulness.

“Hungry?” I asked, “I have a few snacks in my bag from the trip.”

“You do?” Tesha perked up, “I’ll have some then.”

Tesha, at my mention of food, scooted herself closer to me. Meanwhile, I reached into my bag to grab the leftover snacks I had from the trip to the auditorium. I fumbled around with my notebooks, folders, wrapped granola bars, and ziploc bags of popcorn.

“Take your pick,” I offered a bag of popcorn and a granola bar to her, “I might have more things in my bag, if you don’t want these.”

“I’ll take…” Tesha grabbed both choices in her hands, “all of the above!”

“Now that’s cheating,” I responded, “but that’s fine, we’re going to need to last a whole night in here.”

I watched Tesha scarf down the food items I gifted her, and I leaned back. Since we would be spending a night together, I decided to let my guard down. Keeping my guard up all night would put a strain on my mental health.