Eiriko slowly awoke, raising herself up. She stood around and noticed that she was back in her new, run down home.

“See Eiriko? It was just only a bad dream.” She told herself.

She stretched her legs and arms widely. A feeling of relief finally took over her as she stood there in her home. No more walking aimlessly, no more demons to encounter. It was the most horrid experience for her to go through. She managed to wake up. But yet, she wondered if it was truly the worst thing she’s experienced. The demons were horrifying, and things she had done and seen in that forest were unforgettable. However, the feeling of pain was a feeling that had never left her.

She stood there for a little bit before going over to the dirty couch and lying down on it. It was utterly filthy, but miles better than the rough ground she laid on when she was in the forest. She had a lot of cleaning to do, but she took the time to rest on the couch. If one thing was for sure, she can finally relax herself after finally…

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She chuckled as she relaxed on the couch. Did she really hear that noise again? Oh she must be tired; otherwise she wouldn’t be able to hear that noise. Oh what a funny little oddity.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Oho how funny! She heard the noise again, ohoho...She heard it again. She saw the source of the noise again. The hourglass stood on her fireplace shelf. Eiriko went over to the hourglass, with terrified curiosity. She nervously chuckled as she stared at it. What an oddity, she thought to herself. It was almost like the fact the hourglass was right there. She continued to chuckle as she placed her hand on it. She felt that it was physically there. Her chuckling stopped. No reasoning whatsoever could convince herself the harsh truth. What happened in that forest, it was no dream.

She stood there shivering in terror. She can feel the malevolent aura from earlier flowing within her. Her sweat poured out like no tomorrow. She saw the demon’s transformation, the demon eating all those corpses, and she ate human meat. She dropped on the floor and began to gag after this revelation.

“It’s just a dream right? It’s just a dream right? It’s just a terrible, horrid dream right?” Eiriko asked herself.

Her body began to overheat as she walked around, pondering and panicking. Her steps became sloppier and her balance became uneasy. She headed over to the door and opened it widely. The cool breeze blew onto her as she stood out there panting and shivering. The malevolent aura still flowed through her, causing her to shake. She gripped onto the rail guards as the aura sped up its flow within.

She violently shook around as the aura tried to keep her in place. She bashed herself against the railing, walls, and fell onto the floor, trying to beat the aura out of her. She felt it less within her the more she beat it out. She eventually felt it no more, as her body was left heavily bruised. She sat down as the cool breeze continued to cool her down.

“It’s just a bad dream. It’s just…it’s just a bad dream.” She said to herself.

She stood up slowly, wincing due to her wounds. She leaned her body against the glass, trying to calm herself and rest herself. As she stood there, she noticed figures at the bottom of the hill. She stepped toward the railing and peered downward. She couldn’t believe what she saw at the bottom. They weren’t looking at anything particular, like what they were doing in the forest, and they encircled the base of the hill. If the sight of the hourglass wasn’t enough, she was now thoroughly convinced that it was no dream.

She slowly walked over to the steps of her porch. However, as she arrived there, she hesitated to move forward. She could feel the malevolent aura within her slowly spark up. She opted not to go forward and went back into her home, locking the door behind her.

She went over to her couch and sloppily laid herself there. She spat away any dust and dirt that got into her mouth as she continued to lay there. As she lay there, a thought popped into her head. A thought she wished wasn’t, but was unfortunately the truth. She knew what those demons did; they trapped her within the forest. And now, just like the forest, she is trapped within her home. She wished she could think of ideas to escape her current situation, but she knew they would all fail.

Even though she was trapped, it was at least her home. The thoughts of escape ran through her mind as she continued to rest. As she lay there, her attention went toward the hourglass on the shelf. She looked at the very thing that brought into this situation with utter hatred. Yet with this hatred filled look, she headed over to the hourglass with curiosity.

She stood in front of the hourglass, still with the same look of hatred and curiosity. She noticed that all the beads had all fallen at the base. She continued to look at the hourglass. She admired its craftsmanship and imagery on the hourglass. The detail put within the hourglass impressed her, but her anger still didn’t dissipate.

As she stood there, she felt the key within her dress pocket slowly moved around. She took it out and moved it closer to the hourglass. Curiously, she noticed that the key slowly moved itself to the hourglass. She couldn’t resist herself and moved the key closer to the hourglass. As it was mere centimeters away, the key flung out of Eiriko’s hands and on top of the hourglass. It merged itself on top of the hourglass. The hourglass then glowed as the beads rushed back up to the top at fast speeds. After all the beads gathered at the top, they slowly fell.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

The beads continued to fall as Eiriko stood in front of the hourglass. She damned the noise it made. She left the hourglass and calmed herself down in order to focus on the more important matters, cleaning this filthy place.

She passed through the small hallway. She made a note of this hallway for being particularly filthier compared to the previous rooms. This will be one of her main priorities. As she found herself in the kitchen area, instead of going upstairs, she went over to the room on the right.

She approached the stained sliding glass door and opened it. She went onto the large porch, with a decently sized backyard. Like the front of the yard, she saw the demons encircled around the base of the hill. Any hopes she had of escape were all crushed. She knew that there would be no escape, but she had this naïve little thought that just maybe, just maybe, she’ll be able to escape. She went back in, trying to forget about that foolish thought. She closed the door and continued her trek back upstairs.

As she made her way back upstairs, she found herself stopping in front of the basement door. She didn’t move one bit as she continued to stare at the door. She was in a unique circumstance. There was nowhere else for her to go to; there was no way in hell that the man was going to come over. She could go down to the basement. She could finally ease her curiosity.

Yet, she still seemed hesitant. Her recent trip in the forest made her uneasy. Her curiosity may lead her into another hell, but yet the satisfaction of it being relieved was so tempting. She wanted to go in…she didn’t want to go in. She again had this back and forth between those two thoughts. As she stood in front of the door, she felt the malevolent aura rushing within her. Yet she still stayed in front of the door not reacting to it.

She wanted to go in so badly, but yet she didn’t want to. It’s just a simple action, yet it is blocked by such a decision. Her mind kept on pondering as the malevolent aura continued to amplify within her. She again felt too curious. She wished to finally put down her curiosity in its place, but yet it’s too powerful for her. She again moved her hand down toward the knob, with the overwhelming aura causing her hand to shiver uncontrollably. As she made contact with the knob, a large spark occurred. She was sent back, with the aura finally becoming too much for her to handle.

She battered her body around the area of the door, beating out the malevolent aura. Her body became battered blue along with new scarlet red scars as she continued to beat out the aura. The malevolent aura was still very potent within her. This caused her to become even more desperate and violent as she bashed herself around. There had to be another way than doing this, but she couldn’t think of any other options as her blows became even stronger and stronger.

Eventually after several minutes of never ending pain, she was left there lying on the floor battered up and bloodied all over, but at least the aura finally left her. The pain was utterly unbearable, preventing her from moving. She didn’t try to budge or move as she rested there. Even though the aura dissipated, she could feel something within her, albeit negligible feeling compared to the pain she inflicted on herself. Her body continued to ache and bleed as she laid there. She was alone, suffering as tears fell from her eyes. She hated every single moment of this. It was so cold, so very cold. Only they could provide the warmth to overpower the cold she felt. But they were not here for her. The cold added onto the pain as she continued to lay there.

Even despite the growing pains, she needed to clean up her home and more importantly patch herself up. Not being able to stand up, she crawled her way toward the stairwell. She felt her wounds getting worse as she felt them rubbing against the filthy and rough floor of her home. She stopped crawling and laid there on the floor in agony. She peered up and noticed she was halfway there. She couldn’t find herself to continue and rested there for a moment. She put her head down, feeling the pain grow.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

Her curiosity got the better of her again. Hearing the noise coming from the door nearby, she perked her head up. She saw the door slightly ajar, revealing the dark inside of the room. She could see a figure of some face looking down at her. However she was too far away from the door and it was too dark for her to see clearly. She crawled forward to get a better view of the face. As she got closer, the clearer the face looked, but also the greater her regret became.

The visage had a wide toothy grin with no life to it. Its eyeless sockets stared down at her as the door shook. It was difficult for her to make out any other features of its face as it continued to look down at her.

She couldn’t move. The face was too frightful, she was left vulnerable. Yet, it didn’t seem to move out of the room. It just continued to look at her, with its grin growing. She couldn’t lie there for any longer and continued to crawl closer to the stairs with the face continuing to grin. As she got mere inches away from the door, it promptly closed. While her curiosity wasn’t satisfied, she at least relieved to not see that visage. She finally arrived by the stairs and crawled up, beginning to feel pain and hurt as her wounded body bumped on the steps.

She arrived upstairs, ignoring everything as she made her way to the bed and the trunk. She placed herself on the bed, moving the trunk close to her. She bandaged her scars and applied salve onto her wounds as she sat there on her dirty bed. She then laid down on it to rest, allowing the wounds to heal and for her to think about the foreseeable future being trapped within her home. After a couple of minutes, she found herself asleep, stopping her ponderings.

Eiriko awoke on her bed, still being bandaged up and her body wounded. On the bright side, she at least felt infinitely better than before. She stretched around and stood up from her bed and got the broom. She’ll have more time to think after she’s cleaned around her home. And so she continued her progress at the top floor.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She continued sweeping the floors. The dirt was rather hard for her to get rid of, so she put in more effort sweeping the floor.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

How funny, it seemed the area of the floor she was at was already swept up. She chuckled quietly realizing her mistake.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She began to sweep around aggressively and loudly. Her arms began to hurt, but it didn’t matter to her. As long as she couldn’t hear the noise the floor was cleaned to perfection.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She stood there silent, continuing to clean the floor.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko sat on the couch staring in front of the hourglass. Her broom stood next to the hourglass. Her house was still utterly dirty, but she stopped cleaning. She couldn’t stand the noise wanted a break.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Why must this hourglass make this wretched noise?” Eiriko asked herself. “It is such a horrid, grueling noise. The noise of breaking bones sounds like a beautiful symphony compared to this. The absolute ruler of hell wouldn’t even wish upon this suffering among sinners. Why, this noise is the source of all the evil in this world. The pure wretched noise, yes, brings upon the passion of evil. No person truly becomes evil, unless they hear this very noise. This is a noise of utter hatred! Hatred! Hatred…Stop Eiriko. What are you saying?”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Why won’t this thing just be quiet?” Eiriko shouted at the hourglass.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Be quiet!” Eiriko shouted at the hourglass.

She quickly stood up and left the living room with her broom.

Eiriko found herself on the couch. Her house was still not clean. She had no way to tell the time, and found herself in front of the hourglass. She wanted to avoid it for many times, but alas things were getting quite lonely for her. While she had no idea how long she has been here, it must’ve been a while. She heard its dreaded noise over a million times by this point. And every time she heard it...

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“…I am hungry.” Eiriko told herself. “Why maybe if I enjoy a nice meal, maybe I’ll be able to ignore it.”

She went over the kitchen, continuing to ignore the noise. It was been a while since she last felt this hungry, which will make the meal all the more satisfying for her to consume. All she needed to do now was go into the fridge and…

“Oh…Oh My…God!” Eiriko exclaimed backing up.

She gagged in her mouth after seeing the sight of what was in her fridge. She saw this rancid meat, covered with dead cockroaches and molds. She hurriedly scrounged around the drawers and cabinets for other sources of food, but alas the only thing there for her to eat were the rancid meat.

“No…I will not eat…”

*growl*

“I will not eat…”

*GROWL*

“No…there has to be other food! I will not eat…”

*GROWL GROWL*

“I must not…I must eat!” Eiriko exclaimed.

Unable to hold in her hunger, she scarfed down on the rancid meat. It tasted utterly awful.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She heard the noise as she munched down on the food. She couldn’t stop scarfing it down. She was too hungry.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Stop!” she shouted with her mouth full.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“STOP!” she again shouted.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

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Eiriko had finally finished the meat and found herself on the floor. Her stomach ached and her mouth was left with a horrid tasted. But, she was at least fed.

“It’s all just a horrible dream.” She told herself. “I will wake up from this horrid dream. And when I do…I’ll clean around the house. Ohohoho, yes I must clean around the house. I and my family shouldn’t be left to live in this mess.”

Eiriko stood up, closing the refrigerator door. She kept on hearing the noise, but she blissfully ignored it as she walked through the halls. She arrived at the door parallel to the mirror and opened it. She went in and closed the door behind her. She was determined to wake from this horrid dream.

“Mommy…Mommy wake up!” a soft female voice exclaimed at Eiriko.

Eiriko awoke from her bed and moved her body toward the direction of the noise. It was her daughter. She had a fresh oak scent, waking Eiriko up.

“Good morning sweetie, just give mommy a few extra minutes okay?” she told her daughter in a warm voice.

Eiriko patted her rough hair as she ran down the old stairwell into the kitchen. She stood up from her bed as well and made her way down to the kitchen as well. She passed by the door, which now had this no entrance sign plastered on. As she made her way into the kitchen, she encountered the rest of her family. They all looked like how they appeared in her photos.

They were all situated in the room by the living room. Her mother and father were sitting on one of the couches with empty dirty plates, while her daughter and son were playing on the floor. The noise of her steps brought the attention of her family.

“Mommy!” her son exclaimed as she ran over to her.

Eiriko knelt down and gave her son the tightest hug she could on his rough and tough body.

“Ohoho, look who’s finally awake!” her father exclaimed.

Eiriko’s son went back to playing with his sister as Eiriko stood up and went over to her father.

“Morning father, morning mother.” She formally greeted them.

“Good morning my dear daughter.” She greeted her.

“Bah, no need to be so formal to your old man!” he exclaimed. “The meal Edmund cooked up was quite scrumptious; you should try some of it.”

“I will eat in a bit.” Eiriko replied to him. “Do you know by any chance where Edmund might be?”

“Ah you two love birds can’t be separated huh?” her father asked her.

“I hope you would understand. He’s usually busy at his job, and…”

“You don’t have to explain it to me Eiriko; he’s just right outside on the front porch.” He told her.

“Thank you.” Eiriko told him.

She made her way toward the porch with excitement and a warm feeling within her. She will finally see him again, after so long. She quickly ran over and opened up the front door. As she ran out, she found him. He was staring out in the distance, admiring the view.

“My love!” she exclaimed as she ran over to Edmund.

He turned around and before he could say anything, he was met with a tight hug.

“Eiriko, honey…you’re…”

Eiriko loosened her grip on his firm body as she continued to hug him.

“I’m sorry my love, it’s just…it’s just been so long since I was last able to hug you.”

“Yeah, I do miss this feeling though. All my acting jobs have been taking away so much time from the two of us, but I have some amazing news!”

“What is it?” Eiriko inquired.

“I’ll be able to finally take leave this and next week!”

“Really?”

“Yes, really! We’ll be able to spend so much time with each other and I’ll finally be able to be there for our son’s birthday.”

“Don’t play with my heart my dear…surely you are not joking around with me right?”

“I’m not my dear, I’ll be with you.”

“Oh Edmund, I…I…”

Before Eiriko could finish, she saw the demons surrounding her home in the distance. They were still there, all of them looking at her. She broke off from Edmund backing away in fear. The tenderness of the moment was forever ruined.

“Eiriko, what's wrong my dear?” Edmund asked her.

“No…no…at…at the bottom of the hill…” she muttered.

Edmund turned his head toward the bottom of the hill. He formed a confused expression on his face.

“My dear there’s nothing down there.” He told her.

“No…there is something…there is!” she exclaimed.

“Hey now…there’s nothing to be afraid of.” As he finished he heard her stomach growling. He continued. “You’re probably just seeing things because you’re hungry. Come on, let’s go back inside.”

“You’re…you’re right.”

Edmund eased Eiriko, causing her to hug him back. After their quick hug, Edmund continued to ease her as the both went into her home, closing the door behind them.

Eiriko was in the kitchen cooking food for her whole family. Her beloved Edmund was resting upstairs and her parents outside in the backyard balcony. She was just about done finishing all these plates of rancid meat, the only thing left for them to eat. However, they didn’t seem to realize its funky taste, so it would make do.

She plated the meat and went over to the living room, where her two children were playing. They were running around energetically with their toys and dolls, appearing to be recreating this marvelous action fight with them.

“Hey kids, it’s time to eat.” She told them as she entered the room.

“Alright mom!” her son exclaimed. “We’ll continue playing after we eat sis!”

And so, her son ran over to the kitchen, leaving the two of them in the room.

“Sweetie, aren’t you going to the kitchen?” Eiriko asked her.

“No mom, I’m not hungry.” She replied back.

Her response caused Eiriko to jitter. Her daughter didn’t notice.

“Sweetie, you need to eat to become big and strong. If you don’t you’ll…you’ll…”

“You don’t have to worry about me mom. I’m not really that hungry.”

“Sweetie…please…just eat…okay?”

“I’m not hungry, but alright mom.” She replied back and made her way toward the kitchen.

She took a deep breath and stopped jittering. She made her way over to the kitchen. As she arrived, she saw her parents and Edmund with the plates of the cooked rancid meat sitting on the couch along her children eating some of the food. She too grabbed a plate and sat next to Edmund as they began to chat.

“So kind little Earl is going to have his party soon.” Her mother noted. “What do we plan on doing for such a wondrous occasion?”

“Hehehe, maybe Eiriko right over here can do her amazing Madame Alberossa.” Her father noted.

Eiriko sat there silent, not responding to her father’s request.

“I don’t think that will be appropriate to have such a character like that for his birthday party, besides it has been a while since she’s last acted.” Edmund stepped in.

“Ah true…”

While Edmund and her father were discussing, she turned her attention toward her children eating. Her son had finished eating, while her daughter sat there only with little eaten off her plate.

“Sweetie, why haven’t you finished?” Eiriko asked her.

“I’m not hungry mom.” She told her.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko twitched after hearing the noise. She told her daughter again, “Eat your food.”

“But I’m not hungry…”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Just eat your food.” Eiriko told her.

Her daughter again complied and ate her food, despite her lack of hunger. Eiriko’s attention was pulled back into the adult’s conversation after she finished telling her daughter to eat.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko jittered around after hearing the damned noise again.

“I must say, the hourglass makes the most peculiar noise.” Her father commented.

“It’s such a dreadful noise.” She commented out loud.

“Pardon?”

“It’s such a horrid noise. The hourglass shouldn’t be making such a horrid noise!”

“Er…um…well, it’s not that bad Eiriko.” Her mother commented. “Surely there are worse noises like…”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“The screams of torture and the stabbing of flesh is more graceful that the noise being created from the hourglass.” Eiriko commented.

The room became silent after hearing Eiriko’s remark. There was only one source of noise.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“This noise is the music of the devils…they enjoy its wretched messed up appeal.” Eiriko whispered to herself, jittering very noticeably.

Edmund noticed her jittering at this point and leaned in to whisper, “Everything alright dear?”

Before she could answer, her father said, “Well erm, let’s go back to Earl’s birthday plans shall we?”

The adults in the room nodded their heads as the children blissfully ignored their conversations.

“I was thinking, maybe we could cook something dear.” Her mother told her father. “We can make quite the delightful meal.”

“Yes, yes! I can whip up the best fried poppable pastries on the pan and…”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko jittered hearing the noise and her father’s plans. Edmund took notice again.

However, before he could ask, Eiriko told her father, “I will not allow you to cook.”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“What do you mean by that Eiriko?” her father asked.

“I will not allow you to cook.” She told him again.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“I understand that I am old Eiriko, but I am a competent cook…”

“You will not cook.” Eiriko told him again coldly.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Eiriko dear, what’s the matter?” Edmund asked her. “It would be nice if…”

“No! He will not cook! My dear mother will not cook either!”

“Eiriko what has gotten into you?” her father asked. “Why must you get upset over this?”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

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Eiriko stood up and moved her plate aside. She walked away, jittering even more.

“Eiriko where are..?”

Eiriko was out of their sights as she made her way upstairs. She continued to rush upstairs, trying to keep her jittering to a minimum. The malevolent aura’s attempts to rush within her were successfully hindered as she found herself upstairs. She sat on the bed gripping herself tightly.

She sat there in utter silence for a few minutes. She tried to listen on to the ramblings during dinner, but she couldn’t hear them.

“They won’t understand.” Eiriko muttered to herself while curling up. “They won’t understand.”

*JITTER* *JITTER*

She turned her head over to the source of the noise. It was coming from the hidden door across from her bed. She stood up and made her way over there. As she approached the door, smog and mist seeped underneath the gaps of the door. She held in her breath coughing and hacking due to the gases. She stood in front of the door, not moving a single inch. She knew she should’ve gotten away and told her family.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

But…

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Her curiosity…

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Her curiosity needed to be satiated.

Without any more hesitation, she opened the door and shut it tightly behind her, covering her mouth.

The smog and mist blurred her vision as she walked around the room. To her, it was this large master bathroom. She could barely make out the toilet and the large bathtub on the side. She walked around the room, trying not to inhale any of the smog and mist. As she walked further into the smog, she noticed something in the distance. There was this lavish sink and mirror. While her vision was blurred, these things were very out of place. She made her way toward the sink and mirror.

The smoke and smog became thicker and more pungent. Eiriko coughed and hacked with her eyes very teary. It also became progressively hotter as she made her way closer to the sink. She persisted however, and continued her walk toward the sink. The heat was becoming utterly unbearable as she made her way toward the sink. It will be worth it. Her curiosity will be satiated.

She arrived in front of the sink and mirror and started to sweat and hacked more harshly. As she stood in front of the mirror, it was too fogged up for her to see her reflection. She tried wiping it away, but as she did it was covered up with even more mist.

“Let me tell you a tale….”she heard a voice behind her.

As she was about to turn around, she saw there was a drawing being created on the mirror. She turned back to observe it.

“There was once this little girl…she had an amazing mother and father.” The voice narrated

An image of a large house and the family of three were drawn. Eiriko stood there observing the scene, shivering.

“Their house was quite large…the little girl ran around and played.”

The image then shifted to a drawing of the little girl running around, with her parents watching her. Eiriko shivered even more.

“Their little one was quite the energetic and curious little thing…”

“No…” Eiriko said, muffled. The picture was slowly changing.

“She was too curious…she would find herself in trouble because of it…”

The picture shifted to the little girl now in front of a stove.

“No…no!” Eiriko said, muffled.

“It was very late in the night. She turned on the stove, it sparked a wondrous flame. She was entranced by its flame…its bright heat…it was beautiful…”

“Stop! Stop!”

“She saw how it grew with oils on the kitchen counter…she found it very beautiful…”

The image of the girl in front of the stove now had intense flames burning on the stove top.

“Stop!” Eiriko shouted, on the verge of tears, shaking visibly.

“Her parents found her…”

“No…no…no….no…”

The voice remained quiet as the picture began to change more. It became animated. The girl’s parents were looking upon the large flames in utter shock. The parents ran forward to the flame trying to pull her daughter away. Her mother pulled her away, while the father took the oil container from her. However as he took it, he became engulfed by the flames of the stove. He screamed in agony as the oil continued to spread, spreading the fire. The mother pushed her out of the room; however she was too slow to exit. The flames engulfed her too. The daughter ran out of the room and the flames of the image engulfed the entire image. The smoke on the mirror slowly dissipated.

“The question is, who is the curious child responsible for this?”

As the mirror cleared up, it revealed the reflection of Eiriko’s sobbing and horrified visage.

“Why…why…why did I…I…do that?” Eiriko stuttered while sobbing.

As she continued to stare at the mirror, she saw a pair of red eyeballs in the reflection. She turned around. Behind her was exactly what she saw in the reflection, the two red eyeballs. They stared at her bloodshot and observed fiercely. She couldn’t find where the eyeballs came from, nor any outline of another being there.

“Who…who…who are you?”

“I am Aeil Haze.” The eyeballs told her.

Eiriko and the demon stood there in silence. Eiriko was still sobbing and jittering.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Eiriko?” the demon asked her.

“How…how could’ve that been wonderful?” she asked back.

“Isn’t the scent quite nostalgic? Isn't it quite familiar?” Aeil Haze asked her.

“Stop…”

“Doesn’t it feel nice to crisp up your beloved mommy and daddy?”

“Stop! Please just leave me and my family be!”

“Hohohoho…you now wish for me to do such a thing? Eiriko…you’re quite the foolish demon aren’t you?”

“Stop…”

“You burnt them alive Eiriko.”

“Please…just stop…I was just a child…I…”

“What child would such loving parents…what person would damn their parent to burn?” What person would char their skin…what person would see their parents scream in agony?

“Please…” Eiriko muttered while crying.

Aeil Haze’s eyes became more bloodshot and were staring at Eiriko’s fiercely.

“You.”

As Aeil Haze finished his final words, more smoke came in, blinding her. She began to hack and tear up as the smoke overtook her and the entire room.

The smoke slowly dissipated after a while. Eiriko found herself in a new place. While there was a thin layer of gas blurring her vision, she knew she was in a familiar place. She was in her old home, in her old bedroom. Her old room was simply perfect for her. The bed was comfy, the centerpiece of the entire room and there were shelves full of her dolls and books. She stood in her old room, still crying. Oh how she missed those days, but yet she knew she’s unable to relive those good old days. She had to now live in the depressing present.

As much as she wanted to stay in her room, she needed to find a way out. She exited her room and went further into her home. She ended up in the small hallway upstairs. She saw her parent’s bedroom door at the end of the hall. Though she knew she needed to find a way out, she couldn’t help and take this detour. She quickly walked over to her parent’s room and opened the door.

As she went in, she was again overwhelmed by nostalgia. Her parent’s room was bigger than hers, but not by a significant amount. She ignored the sights of the room and made her way over to the drawers. On top of the drawers were the photos of her and her parents, smiling and having good times. She will never see those good times again nor will she ever have those good times again. An overwhelming sense of guilt took over as she looked at these photos.

“I…oh why? Why did I do this to them?” Eiriko asked out loud, crying.

Amidst her crying, she noticed the photos slowly becoming charred and wrinkled. She tried to prevent the photos from crumpling up, just so she can still see those happy memories, but its heat and the rate it crumpled prevented her to. She spent enough time getting side-tracked. It’s time for her to find a way out.

She exited her parent’s room and went down the steps that were nearby. She found herself by the front door, however as she tried to open it didn’t budge and had a coldness to it. It needed heat. There was only one place where her home had the heat to warm up the knob, the kitchen. She tugged on the door knob, but it didn’t budge. She desperately continued to so she wouldn’t have to go to the kitchen, but again it didn’t budge. She had to go to the kitchen.

She arrived at the kitchen with relative ease. It was a decently sized room; it fit the small dining table and the fridge. However, all of those things didn’t distract her from the main attraction, the stove. She jittered and sobbed, but she didn’t have any other options.

She went toward the stove and turned the dial. It sparked a small, insignificant flame. It was too weak.

“It…it needs to be hotter.” Eiriko said.

She went over to one of the cabinets, and pulled out the oil container. She turned off the flame and poured the oil all over the stove top. She moved back and turned the dial again, the stove’s fire became so powerful and roared.

“It needs to be hotter.” Eiriko said as if she was being forced to.

She then poured the rest of the container’s contents into the flame. She went closer to the stove. She tried to move her hands away from the dials, but she couldn’t find it in herself to stop. She turned the dials on its maximum setting. The flame engulfed her and spread throughout the house and in the kitchen.

She screamed in agony as the flame continued to burn her and engulf her home. She walked around on fire and could see her old home change around her. It became this hellscape, everything was set ablaze. She could see her mother and father burning as well, lying on the floor in agony.

She walked around the fiery hellscape on fire and in agony as well. This is what she had inflicted on her parents that night. Their flesh became charred and melted off as this great flame burned. They would become nothing but ash as it continued to burn her alive. This is the suffering she inflicted on her parents. It was her fault.

She couldn’t move anymore. So much has burned off of her. Her bony legs kept her up with a majority of her flesh burnt off. It delayed the inevitable. She will be burned alive. As her body was engulfed by the flames, she noticed the same pair of red eye balls being shrouded amongst the flames.

She stared at them as a majority of her body was bone. The eye balls stared at her fiercely.

“I consume all Eiriko. You cannot forget what you have done. Your parents are now forever burning. Their skin is charring in this great flame you have created. The very flame I bathe in. I can feel the sorrow and guilt splash all over me. It is such a good feeling. Join with us...Join with us...JOIN WITH US...LET US BURN IN THIS FIRE TOGETHER FOR ALL ETERNITY!” Aeil Haze exclaimed.

The flames soon engulfed everything. Amongst the crackling and burning were Eiriko’s screams of pain and agony.

She awoke on her bed. She looked around in a panic. She was back in the room upstairs on her bed. There were no burn marks on her or any missing flesh. It was all just a horrid dream. She lay there for a bit longer. Despite feeling refreshed after waking up from such a horrid dream, she felt different. She felt less of the malevolent aura within her, but she felt the same living thing within her grow and became slightly more active. However it wasn’t too much for her to bother her. Eiriko continued to lie in her bed, trying to forget about the horrid nightmare.

“Eiriko, honey? Are you alright?” a familiar voice warmly asked her.

Eiriko turned her head and saw her beloved Edmund there. She quickly stood up and approached him.

“Woah there, are you…”

Before he could finish, Eiriko hugged him tightly.

“I…I…”

“Easy there, easy there, you must’ve had a horrible dream my love.”

“The fire…the fire…”

“There’s not fire my love. You’ll be fine.”

“Are...are my parents still here?”

“Yes, yes they’re still here.”

“Okay…okay…”

With the comfort of Edmund being there, she was able to calm down. Edmund kissed her on the head and brought her down for breakfast. The two of them arrived in the same room, with everyone there. Eiriko became jittery after seeing the sight of her mother and father.

“Good morning mom and dad!” the two kids exclaimed.

“Ah, good morning to you both.” Her father greeted them. Eiriko’s mother greeted the two with a nod as she drank her tea.

“Yep we’re up and early. I’ll get you something to eat my dear.” Edmund told her as he went in the kitchen.

“So, what was with the ruckus from last evening Eiriko?” her mother asked her.

Eiriko shivered again, but she managed to respond, “Just don’t cook.”

“Yes but why?”

“Just don’t cook okay? I’ll cook for his party.” Eiriko told the two of them.

“Alright then, whatever you insist.” Her father replied back.

Her beloved came back with some tea and bread, giving it to her.

“So did any of you hear the news?” her mother asked.

“No, I don’t have any idea of whom or what you’re referring to.” Eiriko replied with jitteriness.

“Mr. Adams is coming to visit us.” Her mother told her.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“I’m sorry…I don’t think I heard that correctly.” Eiriko told her mother. “Tell me, who is going to visit us?”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Mr. Adams, you know, your old babysitter?” her father added on.

“Yes…my old babysitter…” Eiriko said with jitteriness again in her voice.

“Mhm, heard that he’s coming over in the next couple or so days.” Her father again added on.

“Yes…alright…” Eiriko commented.

Eiriko finished her bread and tea and left to go back upstairs. Edmund noticed her jittery behavior. He followed her as she went back up.

Eiriko was curled up on her bed. She jittered at the thought of seeing him again. Surely they were jesting with her. There was no possible nor conceivable way that he would visit…right?

Edmund saw her on the bed jittering and slowly approached her.

“Dear, what seems to be the problem?” Edmund asked her as he got closer.

“It’s nothing my love…it’s nothing.” Eiriko replied back with this unconvincing answer.

“Now come on Eiriko, stop lying to me. There’s something wrong and you’re not telling me.”

“…I wish not for him to come…”

“You wish not to see your old babysitter?”

“Yes…now what I am about to say about him may sound odd, but it is the truth. He is quite the odd person, he never made me comfortable. I…I would just do something simple…and…and…”

“Hey now calm down Eiriko. What does he do to you?”

“He…he…he punishes me.”

“Punish?”

“I didn’t do anything to cause his wrath, but he punished me. He…he…he would beat me till I was battered all over…and even then he wouldn’t just stop there…he would…he would…”

“I’ve heard enough Eiriko, I understand. I had him as my babysitter too, but he’d never done that to me.” Edmund told her as he got nearer. “He’ll only be here for just a couple of days. You won’t even see him that often, I’ll promise you that.”

“You…you promise?”

Edmund affirmatively nodded his head. He again kissed her on the head and went back down, leaving her alone to her own devices. In order to mentally prepare for Mr. Adam’s visit, she tried to distract herself. She went back into her trunk aside her bed and looked through the things within there.

The items within there brought her great memories. While she looked through the other miscellaneous items, she noticed something amongst them. She pulled the two items out, two familiar items she dreaded to see. One of them was a bottle of cooking oil; the other was a cricket bat. She gripped tightly onto the cricket bat. It was an item the caused her brutal amounts of physical pain. She could feel its evil energies flow within her, but she refused for it to take over her. She will stay strong, she will endure his visit. She put away the bat and lay back onto her bed, awaiting Mr. Adam’s arrival.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

The loud noise awoke Eiriko who was sitting on the couch. She made her way to the door as she heard the rushing steps of her parents from the other room. Eiriko opened the door.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Behind the door was Mr. Adams. He was quite a lanky man. His arms were quite long and his shoulders were tucked in. His black trench coat covered over his black clothing. His hands were hidden with these black gloves. He had also quite the peculiar face. It was circular and was utterly pale and lifeless. His eyes had these lifeless black pupils and his lips were fixed to be always frowning.

“Good day Eiriko…” Mr. Adams greeted her.

Eiriko stayed silent

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“It is quite rude not to greet me back Eiriko…it seems you are still the rude, disobedient child I took care of.” He noted.

Eiriko remained silent. She tried not to cry.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Oh how it is nice to see you again Mr. Adams!” her mother exclaimed as she moved closer to the door.

Eiriko back away as her mother shook his hand. Her father approached from behind him and he too shook his hand. Edmund arrived over with their two children as Eiriko backed up to them.

“So that’s him? It’s been a while since I last saw him.” Edmund whispered asking into Eiriko’s ear.

“Yes…” she whispered back in response.

“Mommy, who is that creepy old man?” her daughter asked her. Edmund nudged her after she asked that, communicating her to quiet down.

“It’s…someone…” Eiriko replied to her.

“He’s going to stay with us?” Her son asked.

“Yes…though hopefully not for long.” Eiriko replied to him.

As they finished their little conversation, the three by the door approached them.

“Ohohohom, isn’t it great to see him again Eiriko?” her mother asked her.

Eiriko remained silent.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“She has quite horrible manners…” Mr. Adams commented.

“Oh don’t mind her Adams. It’s been many years since she’s last seen you.” Her father replied to his mark.

“Hopefully that is the case…I wish she hasn’t grown up to be an impolite adult…”

“Do tell, you never had told us why Mr. Adams is visiting us.” Edmund inquired.

“Ah, well you see here we’ll be gone for a good while, we won’t be able to look after your little ones.” Her mother told him.

“And why did you not inform us sooner?” he asked.

“Ah, I thought you wouldn’t mind if we went out.”

“I…I could look after them…” Eiriko suggested.

“I insist that I take care of the two of them…I understand that you two are busy…it’d be unproductive for you to take care of your children…”

“Look, I can take off work it’s fine. We could take…”

“I insist…” Mr. Adams told him.

In the end, Edmund and Eiriko reluctantly agreed for him to take care of their children. Eiriko’s parents went back over to the area beside the kitchen to grab their bags. Edmund and Eiriko guided Mr. Adams within their home, leaving their kids to play in the living room.

Edmund and Eiriko hadn’t prepared a proper place for Mr. Adams to stay in. However, Mr. Adams noticed the basement door. He found the basement an adequate enough place for him to stay in. He opened the door and went down there to settle down.

Eiriko was upstairs sitting on her bed reading a book about Madame Alberossa. It had been one of her go-to reads, bringing her back many good memories about the show. Yet, she knew she couldn’t revisit those good old days. As she continued to read her book, she heard the rushing steps of someone coming up the stairs. She put her book away.

She saw her son crying and pouting as he ran over to him.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” she asked him.

“I hate Mr. Adams!” he exclaimed.

“Sweetie, come here…”

Eiriko came in with a hug; however before she could fully embrace him, her son winced in pain and stepped back. She knew what he did.

“Mommy, I don’t want to see Mr. Adams again. He’s so mean, he’s so…”

“Shh…I’ll talk to him okay? Stay here.” Eiriko told him.

Eiriko carefully laid him on the bed. Eiriko went down to confront Mr. Adams. As she went down, she heard the lashing and noise of a blunt object coming from the living room. She ran over to the source of the noise. As she arrived in the kitchen, she saw Mr. Adams come out from the hallway. He had a wooden rod held in his hand.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked him with anger.

“They are such naughty children…” he replied to her.

“What did they even do?”

“You should know what they were doing Eiriko…they’re just like you when you were younger…”

“You can’t just beat them for them become proper! You have to teach them, you can’t just…”

“No wonder where they get their rude behavior from…Such a vulgar and rude parent…they’ll never learn to be kind. They must be punished…”

“You keep your hands off my children!”

“Such a naughty and rude family…”

Mr. Adams made his way toward the basement. He opened the door and went in there. Eiriko rushed over to the living room. She found her daughter on the couch, riddled with wounds and lash marks.

“Sweetie!” Eiriko said rushing over to her.

“Mommy…” she muttered.

Eiriko knelt down and examined her wound. They were recent.

“Mommy…it hurts…”

“Sweetie just rest okay, I’ll patch them up later…”

“When is he going to leave mommy?”

“He’ll still stay here for a few days, but mommy will handle this okay? I’ll tell him to leave earlier, alright?”

“You will?”

“Yes, yes I will.” Eiriko told her.

She hugged her daughter, continuing to console her. She knew it was a terrible decision to let Mr. Adams visit. She knew she can’t get rid of him so easily. She had to take matters into her own hands. A horrid idea came up in her head. She contemplated about it as she stayed with her daughter.

She stood in her room walking around back and forth with the cricket bat in her hands. It has been several days since Mr. Adam’s arrival and he was still there. Her children were facing so many beatings and punishments. She wished this day wouldn’t come. She wished that her children would have to face the pains Mr. Adams has inflicted. She wished no one else would have to face his wrath. She could feel the evil aura from the bat overtake her. She made her decision.

She went down the stairs with the bat in her hand. She quickly made her way to the basement door. She heard the quiet snores of her children on the couch as she found herself in front of the basement door. This was familiar, yet unfamiliar territory for her. In front of her lead down to the only part of the house she’s never been to, yet she can tell what may be in there.

She shivered with the bat in her hands, but she couldn’t waster anymore time being in front of the door for any longer. She opened the door. It revealed the narrow steps leading downward. She felt such a dark aura emanating from the bat and the basement overwhelm her. But she refused to back down. She stepped down the basement and closed the door behind her.

She finally arrived down in the basement. It seemed to be a large room, but she couldn’t see much. The dim lighting only lit a small portion of the room, a portion where Mr. Adams was visible. He initially faced behind her and then turned around when she heard her steps approach him.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“What are you doing here?” Mr. Adams asked.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko jittered hearing the noise while she held the cricket bat.

“You continue to be rude to me…you naughty child…”

“I won’t allow you to punish my kids any longer... Are you blind to what you’re really doing? You tell them they are naughty kids, but instead of helping them you just punish them. Do you not see how ineffective it is? Do you not see how much you are hurting them? Did you not see how it harmed me!?”

“You are naughty children…you deserved to be punished.”

“Enough is enough…” Eiriko muttered to herself. “It’s time.”

*THWACK*

Eiriko swept the bat at his legs. It sent him airborne, falling toward the ground with his neck.

*CRACK*

Mr. Adam’s body lay on the floor lifeless. Eiriko shivered as she held the cricket bat. She killed him. No one will have to suffer from his punishments. No one will be hurt again. But, she killed him. She took his life.

“Oh...God…Oh God…” she muttered as his lifeless corpse laid there.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She dropped the cricket bat on the floor and ran back upstairs. She slammed the door shut. No one needed to know that he’s dead. No one needed see her sins.

Eiriko sat on the couch with her son and daughter as they ate dinner. They were both heavily bruised from their beating from Mr. Adams, but they wouldn’t have to worry about him any longer. Eiriko noticed her daughter still had a full plate of food.

“Sweetie, how many times do I have to tell you this? You need to eat your food, especially with how wounded you are.” She told her.

“I’m not hungry.” Her daughter replied back.

“You need to start eating if you want to feel better though.” Eiriko told her.

“Alright.” She replied back to her.

As her daughter ate her meal as she continued to be around her children. She noticed her son silent with his plate finished.

“Hey sweetie, are you alright?” Eiriko asked him.

She got closer to him and noticed there were tears forming on his eyes.

“I…I don’t like Mr. Adams…” he said while sobbing.

“Hey now, don’t worry, he won’t be here for any longer. He’s going to leave soon.” She said consoling him.

“Really?” he asked with eyes still teary.

“Yes really.” Eiriko replied back.

Some relief fell upon her son, but he was still shaken up by Mr. Adams beatings. Eiriko got closer to him, thinking about something to distract him from the pain.

“You know, your birthday is coming up pretty soon. Aren’t you excited for it?” Eiriko asked him.

“Mhm!” he replied back, with his teary eyes slowing down. “I can’t wait!”

“It’ll be the best, most awesome birthday you’ll ever have!” Eiriko told him.

She had successfully distracted him. She turned back went back to her daughter and noticed that she still hadn’t eaten anything. She held back her anger at her though; she’s been through a lot.

“Sweetie, please eat, okay?” Eiriko asked her to do again.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

Eiriko shivered, it came from the basement.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” her daughter asked her.

“Nothing sweetie…but excuse me. I need to go to the basement.” Eiriko told her. “You stay close to your brother alright? Daddy will be coming home soon okay?”

She and her brother nodded as Eiriko got up and went in front of the basement door.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko stood in front of the door jittering. What could be making such a noise? Didn’t she kill him? Such questions were in her mind as she stood in front of the door.

“They don’t have to know…I don’t have to go down there…but…”

Her curiosity needed to be satiated.

She opened the door. Like when she first opened the door, the basement was dark. However, unlike last time the entire basement was engulfed by the darkness. She slowly went down the stairs, closing the door behind her.

As she arrived at the base of the stairwell, she couldn’t see anything. Everything was pitch black. She took a couple of slow small steps in the dark. However she froze, not taking any more steps. She heard something twitching and cracking around. Even though she didn’t want to move forward, her damned curiosity prevented her from keeping herself in place. She walked toward the source of the noise.

*SNAP*

Eiriko slowed her pace after hearing that. She looked around hopelessly in the dark for where the noise came from. But it was overall useless. She continued to walk around. She felt very uneasy and she made her small steps through the dark room.

She didn’t know where anything was or could be. But, that wasn’t the thing that made her uneasy. She could feel someone or something else was down here. She could feel it right behind her, but even her curiosity wouldn’t make her turn around. It made her dead set on finding the noise.

As she walked in the darkness, she could barely make out what seemed to be a shoe on the floor. It seemed to be around the area of Mr. Adam’s corpse. As she got closer, she couldn’t find the corpse. It was gone. She wished to go back, but…

*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

Pit Pat Pit Pat

The source of the noise was nearby. She could feel the person/thing behind her get closer. She continued to walk forward in the darkness. She could feel herself getting closer to the source of the noise. She continued to walk through in the darkness. As she went further in the room, she noticed the outline of a familiar tall figure. As she got closer, she could feel the figure right behind her. She couldn’t find it in herself to move forward. She didn’t know what the thing behind her could do to her.

*RUMBLE* RUMBLE*

She heard the noise coming behind her. Her overwhelming curiosity made her turn around. As she did, nothing was behind her. She could feel the figure behind her from where she initially faced forward. She could feel something cold and wooden press against her head.

*THWACK*

She was knocked out cold.

Eiriko found herself slowly wake up, still in the dark room. She tried to move around, but she found herself tied up against a support. She tried to budge and move around, but she couldn’t get herself free.

“Don’t squirm or wriggle. The ropes will hold you tighter.” A voice echoed to her.

She stopped wriggling as she heard the steps of something approach her. Her eyes opened widely. It was the body of Mr. Adams standing in front of her. He was holding the cricket bat in one of his hands.

“What..? How? I…I killed you.” Eiriko muttered.

“What are you doing here?” a distorted voice came out of Mr. Adam’s mouth.

“You’re not…you’re not him…” Eiriko noticed.

“Such a naughty child. You shouldn’t be down here.” The voice replied back.

Mr. Adam’s body moved closer.

“Stay away from me!” Eiriko shouted.

He stopped as he became perfectly visible to her. As his body stood in front of her, it stretched out its arms from wall to wall. His body slowly started to change. His whole body became meatier and more metallic. He grew taller as his arms became thicker, with sharp fingers. His legs became large as well, become thick and goat-like. His body became slowly eroded, with holes showing his inside metal exoskeleton. His head slowly deformed as his new open hand put it over his head. His head became morphed into a shape of a goat, and as once it reached that shape, he tore it off. It revealed a grinning goat heat, having the smile of a human with his face and horns hole-ridden.

“I am Satarael Eiriko.” He told her. “Do you know why I am here?”

“No…just please let me go!” Eiriko pleaded.

“Such a foolish naughty girl.” Satarael commented. “I am here, because you need to be punished.”

“No…”

“You are such a naughty misbehaved girl Eiriko. You caused your parents so much pain. You killed your caretaker when you were orphaned…”

“No!” Eiriko screamed.

She tried to wriggle and break free from her ropes. But the more she did, the tighter it became.

“Such a naughty child.” Satarael said mimicking Mr. Adam’s voice.

Eiriko stopped in place as he continued.

“What is a child doing down here? You know you aren't allowed down here.”

“No…”

“Why are you such a naughty child? All you do is break the rules.”

“Please…I didn’t do anything wrong. I…I just wanted to…”

“I can't let that stand anymore...I'm going to have to punish you. Don't resist or try to leave. It will only make me angrier.”

“Please…I didn’t mean to…I was just curious…I…”

“You are a naughty child Eiriko. Your rule breaking behavior hurt so many people. It hurt the people around you.”

“No…I didn’t mean to…”

“There is only one thing you naughty kids deserve.”

Satarael brandished the cricket bat and moved closer to Eiriko.

“You shall be PUNISHED!”

“No…I’m a good girl…I’m a good girl..!”

*THWACK*

Satarael landed hit right across Eiriko’s face. There was a noticeable bruise mark left there.

“I’m…I’m a good girl…” Eiriko again said.

*THWACK*

There was another bruise mark, this time across her body. She wriggled around hopeless to try to escape, but she was unable to.

Satarael went to its back and turned a knob. A tune was being played. He started to sing to the tune as he readied his bat.

“There was this little girl called Mary”

*THWACK*

“She was quite young and rambunctious”

*THWACK*

“Her parents told her not to go to the hilltop”

*THWACK*

“But she refused to listen, so…”

*THWACK*

“Little Mary went up the hill”

*THWACK*

“She frolic and played”

*THWACK*

“She had such a gay old time”

*THWACK*

“But she was caught”

*THWACK*

“Her parents called her down”

*THWACK*

“In a panic, she ran the other way”

*THWACK*

“As she ran down, she tripped and fell”

*THWACK*

“She bruised her body, and hit her head”

*THWACK*

“Her body became even bruised, all her bones broken”

*THWACK*

“Her parents ran over, to find the lifeless body of their dear daughter”

*THWACK*

“They cried and grieved as her body continued to lie there”

*THWACK*

“So all ye naughty kids listen well”

*THWACK*

“If ye do not listen to your parents, you shall make them suffer”

*THWACK*

“Your disobedience shall not escape you from ye consequences”

*THWACK*

“Ye shall be punished, punished, punished!”

*THWACK*

“Like all ye naughty kids deserve.”

*THWACK*

Satarael continued to hit her as it hummed along with the music box. She wished Edmund would come in and save her like the very day she was tied up down in the basement. Each hit made Eiriko more battered up than before. Her whole body was covered entirely with bruise marks. Yet, each hit made her think about her actions more. She was such a naughty child. She killed her mother and father. She killed her caretaker.

“I’m…I’m such a horrible girl...” she muttered while crying. “I can’t bring them back…I took their lives. No good girl would do such a thing. I’m such a horrible naughty child. I need to be punished!”

Satarael raised the cricket bat over his head.

“Such a naughty child.” He muttered again one last time.

He swung the bat down with all his might and it crashed upon Eiriko’s head.

*THWACK*

Eiriko was knocked out cold. The final hit ended her punishment, a punishment appropriate for the horrible child she thought she was.

“Eiriko? Eiriko!” a familiar voice shouted at her.

She slowly awoke. She found herself on the basement floor bruise-ridden. Above her, she saw her beloved Edmund.

“Bloody hell my dear! What happened to you?” he asked in concern.

“I…I’m a naughty girl…” Eiriko told him.

“What? What do you mean by that?”

“I’ve been…I’ve been punished…”

“Eiriko, what do you mean by..?”

Before he could finish, Eiriko tried to stand up despite her wounds. She winced and fell back down onto the floor.

“Easy now Eiriko, you can’t just…”

Eiriko pushed him out of the way and stood up, shivering due to her wounds. The amount of pain overwhelmed her, but more noticeably was the thing inside of her. It became livelier than last time. Added onto the wounds, it made her standing up absolutely insufferable.

Edmund try to help her walk, but she pushed him aside.

“Eiriko dear, you shouldn’t…”

“I deserve this…I’m such a horrible girl…”

“Eiriko..!”

Eiriko pushed aside her beloved and made her way to the stairs. He easily caught up as she made her first step. As she stepped on it, she leaned against the railing with her heavily bruised leg. She grunted as the weight of her body leaned against the railing. However she needed to be put under this suffering. She was a naughty girl.

“Eiriko, stop doing this to yourself!” Edmund shouted at her as she continued her painful trek up the stairs.

As she moved up, her beloved tried to help her up.

“My dear…please stay away…” Eiriko told him nudging her body against his.

“I can’t let you suffer like this, my dear I need to…agh!”

Eiriko nudged him with more than before. He lost his balance for a moment, but he managed to regain it.

“Eiriko please dear…you shouldn’t do…AHH!!!”

Eiriko pushed her beloved back with a substantial amount of force. He couldn’t keep his balance as he fell on his back on the basement floor. She was such a horrid girl. She held in her tears as she rushed upstairs, feeling the pain from every single step. She needed to be punished. No one needed to interfere with her self-inflicted punishment.

She immediately ran to her room upstairs, and slammed herself onto the bed. The pain she felt as she ran up the stair was amplified as her bruised body landed onto the bed with all her weight. It was horrible, but she deserved this punishment. She heard the steps of someone rushing upstairs. She turned her body around, knowing fully well who it was.

“Eiriko!” he exclaimed as he approached her on the bed.

“My love, please leave me!” Eiriko exclaimed back.

“My dear, there’s something clearly wrong here. You need to tell me!”

“My love please…”

Edmund approached her while she lay on the bed. She moved farther away.

“Eiriko, please tell me what’s wrong.” Edmund softly asked her.

“Please…”

“My love, since when has there been a day where I left you when you were like this? Please tell me.”

“Please…”

“Eiriko, tell me…”

“You want to know my love?” she asked angrily, making Edmund surprised. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong! I’m such a horrid, horrid girl! My mere existence has been nothing but causing misfortune to others! So please, just leave me be…Such a wretched girl like me must be punished…”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“I must be punished…so please leave me be…I need to undergo this punishment…I need to suffer as I listen to that noise…I need to be punished…”

“Eiriko…I…I don’t how…”

“Please…just leave me…If you really love me you would leave me here…”

“No.”

“My love, did you heard what I said? How could you be so willing to be around…”

Before Eiriko could finish, her beloved hugged her tightly. She tried to push him away, but she couldn’t.

“I won’t leave you my love…I will help you go through what you’re dealing with…Just let me help you.” Edmund softly told her.

Eiriko teared up as she was still in his hug. Maybe the pain she’s inflicted on herself wasn’t the punishment. No, rather it was something else. Her eternal punishment was the misfortunes she will inflict on the people close to her. She was forced to bear the ever-lasting guilt, a guilt that will never leave and will grow within her.

“I’ll find something that will make you happy Eiriko. I’ll find something. My work will get in the way, but I promise I’ll make you happy my love.”

“My love…”

“Until then my love, as difficult as it can be, try to keep strong. I know you’ve been able to for all these years, so try to stay strong for just a bit more.”

“My love…” Eiriko muttered as she hugged him tighter.

She was tearing up as the two continued their embrace. She believed in his false truth as they continued to hug.

“I’ll stay strong…” she said, trying to convince herself.

It had been a few days since her punishment. In a couple more days, it would be her son’s birthday. She was in her room upstairs all alone. She would do nothing but lie on the bed and walk around her room aimlessly. She tried to stay strong for her beloved.

During her aimless walks around her room, she would always find herself staring up at the ceiling. Every time she stared up, she would find something peculiar in a certain area of the ceiling. Being bored to death, she grabbed the chest, which gave her a boost. She jumped and stretched as she tried to reach the area. After several attempts, she caused something. A piece of string with a ring at its end fell out. She tugged on it, slowly opening up an attic door.

She moved the trunk and continued to move backward as the ladder lowered on the ground. She shivered at the sight of the attic. She felt the chilling breeze pass by as she stared into darkness of the attic. It was another familiar place to her like the basement. She wished not to go up there.

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Nothing will tempt her to go up there, not even her curiosity. She pushed the attic door up, which created a loud slam. Eiriko went back over to her bed. As she did, she heard the footsteps of someone rushing upstairs.

“My dear!” Edmund exclaimed as he entered the room. “What was that noise?”

“Oh…the noise…it was the chest my dear. I accidentally banged it against the wall.” She replied back.

“I see…well no matter for that. I have something amazing to show you!”

“What is it?”

“Oh you’ll just have to see.” Edmund told her as he went over to her.

He covered his hands over her eyes.

“Hey my love…” Eiriko said playfully.

“Don’t worry my dear, by the time we get there, you’ll love it!” he exclaimed back.

He slowly brought Eiriko down to the living room. Her beloved’s excitement was infectious. She slowly became excited to what he has set up as they made their way to the living room. Edmund let go of his hands to reveal his surprise.

He somehow found a way to make the old television work. Her parents and children sat on the floor as they watched episodes of Madame Alberossa.

“Tah dah!” he exclaimed showing it off.

Her family noticed Eiriko come in the room. Her children ran up to her and hugged her legs, while her parents went over to her.

“Mommy!” they both exclaimed.

“Ohoho Eiriko, you should see how amazing you were on your show. You’re quite the great actress!” her father commented.

“Indeed.” Her mother commented. “Hopefully this will help you feel better. Edmund has told us about your delirium and…”

“I think she gets it.” Edmund said butting in. He continued, “I spent so many long nights trying to set things up here, but I finally got that bloody thing to work. So…how do you like it.”

Eiriko stood there in silence.

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“I appreciate what you have done here...thank you…” Eiriko told them.

Her parents seemed satisfied with her answer, unlike Edmund who still noticed something was off about her. An idea popped into his head.

“My love, I have the most wonderful idea.”

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“And may I ask what is your idea?” Eiriko asked jittering.

Edmund went over to the chest and opened it up. He took out Madame Alberossa’s dress.

“My dear, if I may suggest…what if you and I reenact…”

“No.”

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“I’m sorry my dear?”

“No. I refuse.”

“My dear, I don’t understand why…”

“Of course you wouldn’t! None of you wouldn’t…” Eiriko stopped as she noticed the room stare at her in silence. She could see the shock in some of their faces. She changed her response, “I’m sorry…I don’t know what came over me…I…”

“My dear…I’m sorry if I did something wrong. I didn’t mean to hurt you I…”

“No stop! You don’t have any blame to this whatsoever. You just wanted to make me happy. Don’t blame yourself please…”

“Eiriko…”

“I’m grateful that you’ve this for me though. Please forgive my outrage…I don’t know what came over me…”

The room remained silent. Eiriko hoped her cover up worked. They truly wouldn’t understand her reasons. She hoped they wouldn’t know about her reasons.

It was late in the evening as Eiriko sat on the couch watching the T.V. She managed to return the mood back into jovial awkwardness as she sat with her family to rewatch the show. Most of her family was asleep as she stayed up watching the show. Oh how she enjoyed rewatching the show. There were so many scenes that brought her good memories, memories she could never go back to.

“I should be watching this with them…I don’t want to spoil them when we watch again.” Eiriko said to herself as she sat on the couch. “Oh well…I’ll just watch one more episode.”

She sat there as the title of the next episode was displayed on the screen.

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The narrator from the T.V. announced, “Evening viewers. I have to bring around unfortunate news. The beloved show Madame Alberossa has been unfortunately cancelled.”

Eiriko stared at the screen jittering. She knew what the news was.

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She ran over to the T.V. and hurriedly tried to shut it off. The T.V. didn’t turn off.

It continued, “The episode you all have been waiting for, One Shot, has been scrapped. As you may know this was going to be the episode, however Edmund, the actor for Madame Alberossa’s rival Sir Kerichhoff, has been fatally wounded. The show cannot continue on without him. It is such a tragic even…”

Eiriko managed to shut off the T.V. She was hyperventilating as she backed toward the couch.

“Oh God…why?” she muttered to herself on the couch, crying. “Please…I don’t need to be reminded…Oh God please!”

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

She perked her head up towards the door. She went over to the door and opened it. As she did, she found a black tape on the floor. It was labeled One Shot. She shivered as she picked the tape up from the ground. She closed the door and sat back down on the couch. She continued to stare at the tape, still jittering.

She didn’t want to view what its contents were, but it didn’t matter. Her curiosity forced her. She found herself being forced to move forward with tape. She tried to resist and move back, but she was unable to. Her curiosity needed to be satiated. It didn’t matter at this point. Her curiosity has taken over her. Despite her obvious refusal of seeing its contents, she can’t help not to feel the satisfaction of her curiosity being satiated.

The tape was put in and the video footage rolled. It seemed to take place on this fancy porch set at night.

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Madame Alberossa and Sir Kerichhoff faced off each other as the cameras rolled. Sir Kerichhoff wore this intricate suit. His pants were sewn with this fine yellow, white, and orange fabric blending harmoniously. His suit coat had many gems and medals pinned on, along with intricate patterns. Like Madame Alberossa, he too wore a mask. It was made of this black velvet material and had this draconic imagery as it covered half of his face. His hair was immaculate and black.

“Well, well Madame. What brings you out here on such a beautiful evening?” Edmund as Sir Kerichhoff asked.

“Nothing much my sir. The moonlight is so beautiful out my sir, so I just came out to bask in its light.” Madame Alberossa replied back.

“Indeed…”

Madame Alberossa reached for the prop revolver latched onto her dress as Sir Kerichhoff continued, “You know...I wish things could have been better among the folks. Sadly I doubt anything good is yet to come.”

“Indeed. But, I have a solution.”

“And your solution is..?”

Sir Kerichhoff turned around and faced Madame Alberossa pointing her prop gun at him

“So this is it? This is your so-called solution?” he asked.

“You should have seen this coming sir. You left me with no other option.”

“Oh? What do you think killing me is going to accomplish? Things are already falling down, and yet you think you'll do a better job? You stupid..!”

*BANG*

Edmund gasped for air as he slowly slumped onto the floor. The director ended the scene. However, Edmund still laid there. Eiriko runs over in concern. She is shocked from the sight.

“My Love!” Eiriko exclaimed in concern as she got closer.

As she got closer she finds the area where she shot him becoming a blood red.

“My dear...I will be alright...right?” he asked as he gasped for air.

Edmund covers his bleeding wound to stop the blood. It keeps on pouring out

“No...No!” she said panicking.

“I'll...I'll be fine...It's just a wound...It'll heal...” he replied to her trying to calm her.

Edmund slowly stands up. He walks a few inches before kneeling on the floor. Eiriko and Medics arrive over to him.

“No, you have to be fine! You have to!”

Edmund looks up to her while uncovering his wound. The blood stain was large on his clothing. He put his bloody hand on her face.

“I'll...be...fine...”he said to Eiriko trying to console her.

“We're losing him quick! The blank is too lodged in!” the medics exclaimed.

“I'm...not...dying...” he muttered.

Blood kept pouring out at a rapid pace, making Edmund turn white.

“You'll be fine...you'll be fine!” Eriiko exclaimed in desperation

Eiriko hopelessly tried to put the blood back into Edmund's wound.

“Stay...Strong...” Edmund told her on his last breaths.

Edmund closed his eyes as his lifeless corpse laid on the floor.

“How...how could I let this happen? How could I kill someone who I loved so dearly to me?” she said crying and filled with guilt.

Eiriko pumped his body in the hopes he lives, causing even more blood to spill out. The other cast members pull her away.

“Stop! Stop! Please stop! I can fix him! Please stop pulling away from my love!” Eiriko screamed desperately as she struggled while being pulled away.

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All this time, Eiriko watched this scene in utter horror. She was bawling on the couch. She couldn’t find it in herself to turn off the damn thing. She was watching this entire thing like watching a fatal car crash. She couldn’t believe how she watched her husband’s death again, a death forever engrained in her mind. She’s a monster. She’s a monster.

“Why are you so sad?” a voice asked her.

She perked her head up and turned her head toward the T.V.

On the screen of the T.V. was this eyeless man unnervingly smiling at her. He was bald, had decently sized face, with several wrinkles and a long mustache.

She looked at the screen in horror as she continued to bawl.

“I’ll ask again. Why are you so sad?” he asked her.

She didn’t answer as she bawled. Eiriko watched in horror as she saw what happened next.

The man continued to smile at her. The text, “WHY ARE YOU SAD?” appeared on the screen.

As the text lingered on the screen, the man’s head slowly popped out from the T.V. and into her living room. As he continued to move out, the rest of his tall lanky body came out. His entire body as on the floor as it all came out of the T.V. He slowly rose from the ground. His lanky body towered over Eiriko as he put his top hat on, which had the faces of terrified visage on it. His arms and pants were covered with striped clothing as he wore an unkempt suit coat.

“Girl, why are you so sad?” he asked.

“Who…who are you?” Eiriko asked as she bawled.

“I am the Fallen Showman.” He told her. “Now, can you please tell me as to why you’re so sad?”

“Why am I sad? Why am I sad?” she asked angrily. “How could you be asking me that? Have you seen what was on the screen?”

“Ah yes…the tragic event. It is quite indeed a sad event.” The Fallen Showman commented. “But, it’s so beautiful.”

“What?” she asked, with her voice going back to fear and sadness.

“Can't you see the beauty you have created here Eiriko? You have created such a powerfully evoking scene. Such emotions from this death cannot be replicated with mere actors. They wish to achieve such great emotions and provocations!” He told her.

“No…please…how can you say such a thing..?”

“How can such a beautiful demonstration of art be questioned? Many artists seek to evoke such feelings, but they are unable to. Only the lucky few are able to bring out such emotions!”

“Stop! Please! I don’t want to be reminded of it! I don’t want to see it again!” Eiriko pleaded.

“But why not? You’re among the lucky few who are able to view such a powerful scene!” The Fallen Showman pointed out. “Seeing this scene again is so powerful!”

“Please stop!”

“I have such an amazing opportunity right here! I am with the very amazing Actress who participated in this scene!” The Fallen Showman exclaimed.

The Fallen Showman went over the chest and pulled out the dress Eiriko wore for Madame Alberossa. He threw it on her, and magically the whole dress set was put on Eiriko. He approached Eiriko with his sharp hands. Eiriko sat there in fear bawling.

“No Stop!” she exclaimed trying to break free.

The Fallen Showman grabbed her and made their way to the T.V.

“What are you planning?” she asked as she tried to break free.

“Such an opportunity cannot be passed! I wish to relieve the beauty of this scene. So come on! Let us commence forth! Let us recreate the scene of your loved one's death! Let us recreate this true beauty!” The Fallen Showman exclaimed.

The Fallen Showman and Eiriko went into the T.V. They were warped into its world.

It was all darkness surrounding Eiriko. She was still in her glamourous Madame Alberossa dress. She felt this overwhelming dread as she stayed within the darkness. Whatever what would happen here, she knew something would go awry.

As she stood there, she was overwhelmed as area around her was illuminated with these expensive stage lights. The surrounding area around her was this lavish balcony, with intricately polished and cut stone. Violet and red flowers were scattered around the greenery on the sides of the stone barriers and arches. The bright lights illuminated the beautiful night sky.

Eiriko was dazzled and confused by the sight of all of this. However, her confusion became clear dread as she saw who was in front of her. It was her beloved Edmund, playing as Sir Kerichhoff. The cameras started to roll.

“Action!” the Fallen Showman exclaimed.

“Well, well Madame Alberossa. What brings you here on such a fine evening?” Edmund asked her.

“No…No! I refuse! I refuse!” Eiriko exclaimed.

“My, what is the matter with you?” Edmund asked her, still in character though showing concern.

“Please oh why? I don’t want to do this! Please let me free!” she exclaimed.

“Such emotion, it’s beautiful! Keep it up Eiriko!” The Fallen Showman joyfully exclaimed as he continued to watch the scene.

“Eiriko…what’s the matter?” he asked in a lowered voice.

“My dear, please you have to leave…”

“I don’t understand…”

“Please for the love of God leave my love! I know you won’t understand, but please leave!” she desperately exclaimed to him.

“Alright. I have no idea why you’re acting like this, but we can’t continue on like this.” Edmund replied back in a lowered tone. “Hey! Cut this out!”

The cameras rolled. He turned over to them and walked over to them.

“What the hell?” he asked. “Can’t you see here that…”

“It’s fine my love.” A voice told him.

He turned around as saw Eiriko back to her normal self.

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

“Yes.”

And so Edmund went back into position. However, in reality what he heard was not Eiriko’s voice. The Fallen Showman imitated her voice as she slowly aligned her back into position.

“Such drama, such beautiful drama!” he exclaimed.

“Get off of me! Please let me go!” she said desperately trying to struggle.

“Now, now…this is what the audience wants! The amazing drama!” The Fallen Showman again exclaimed. “But now we must close this scene! We must close it with such a stellar ending!”

Eiriko faced Edmund as they continued the scene.

“You know...I wish things could have been better among the folks. Sadly I doubt anything good is yet to come.”

“Please let me go, please!”

“And your solution is..?” Edmund asked.

As Edmund turned around he saw Eiriko with the revolver pointed at him. The Fallen Showman locked her arms in place as she pointed the revolver at him.

“So this is it? This is your so-called solution?” he asked.

“Please don’t let me do this!” she said desperately crying.

“We must finish the scene!” The Fallen Showman exclaimed. “We must finish this beautiful scene!”

“No!” she said struggling within the Fallen Showman’s grasp.

“Things are already falling down, and yet you think you'll do a better job?” Edmund asked her.

“Oh God why?” she said wriggling.

“Pull the trigger.” The Fallen Showman demanded her.

“No I won’t do it! Let me go!” she exclaimed.

The Fallen Showman squeezed her arms. It caused her hands to grip around the handle. She resisted her pointer finger from pulling the trigger, but only barely.

“No…” she muttered as the Fallen Showman gripped her arms tighter. Her finger slowly moved on the trigger.

“Pull the trigger. Finish this beautiful art piece.” He demanded again, squeezing her arms even tighter.

“N…no! I don’t want to experience this night again!” she

“You stupid..!”

Before Edmund could finish, his faced turned into one of fear. His beloved was tearing up as the demon squeezed on her arms with the revolver pointed at him. The realization hit him. It was a real revolver in her hands.

“Eiriko!”

*BANG*

Edmund’s wound splattered out blood. It splatter beautifully covered the screen in a fancy pattern. Blood continued to pour our as it danced around him in this graceful blood tornado. Eventually, all of his blood danced around him. The tornado ceased as it gracefully rained down on Edmund’s lifeless pale corpse. Eiriko watched the scene in utter horror. She killed him again.

“Cut!” The Fallen Showman exclaimed.

The cameras stopped rolling.

“Such great beauty…Never again shall a great beauty like this will be produced.” The Fallen Showman reflected.

The entire surroundings slowly became engulfed with darkness. Eiriko stood there in tears and shivered. The pain of her husband’s death never left her. It could never leave her. Like everything else, she too became engulfed in the darkness.

She could feel the malevolent aura and the thing within her livelier than ever, however it didn’t affect her during the hell she was going through. Eiriko sat on the couch watching the fizzing T.V. screen with tired deadshot eyes. Every couple of hours, her eyes teared. She also continued to hear that damned noise as she watched the T.V. What seemed to be static was the recreation of that very night. She stood up all night rewatching the recreation of that night on replay. The monotony of each replay never dulled and numbed the pain she felt that night. She couldn’t even sleep, because the nightmare of that very night popped in her sleep.

Edmund came into the room to see the sight of Eiriko.

“Bloody hell Eiriko what happened here?” Edmund asked her.

Eiriko became jittered hearing his voice. She still sat there watching the T.V. Edmund walked over and turned off the T.V.

“My dear, how long have you’ve been watching last night?” he asked with concern.

As he continued to look at Eiriko, he saw an endless trail of tears fall from her eyes.

“Eiriko? My dear, what’s the matter?” Edmund asked her.

She noticed that he got closer and she moved away from him.

“Eiriko why are you like this?” he asked.

“Please…please get away!” she pleaded with him.

“No, I’m not going away Eiriko. Enough is enough, what is wrong with you?”

“No please… get away!” Eiriko pleaded.

Edmund continued to approach her, but as he got close to her, Eiriko bolted upstairs.

“Eiriko!” he exclaimed as he chased after her.

Eiriko bolted by her parents and children as they had breakfast up to her room. They saw Edmund in pursuit of Eiriko as he ran after her. Eiriko ran up the stairs and went over to her trunk. She hurriedly pushed it over to the stairs as she saw Edmund run up them. The trunk blocked the staircase.

“Eiriko what the hell?” he asked as he pushed the chest. “Let me through!”

“No! Stop it!” she shouted at him as she kept the chest in place.

“Eiriko please let me know why you’re like this!” he pleaded while still pushing the chest.

“Please my love…please leave me!” Eiriko told him while still keeping the chest in place.

Eiriko kept on holding the chest in place; however she felt the push on the other side stop.

“Eiriko I don’t know why you’re so hard headed like this, but you can’t stay up there forever. Once you get back down here, I’ll give you the tightest hug you’ve ever gotten. I don’t want you to hide anything Eiriko. I need to know why you’re like that. I don’t want to see you like this.” Edmund told her.

“No…why must you say such kind words? Why must you tempt me like this? JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!” she shouted at him.

Edmund was taken aback by this. He had no other reaction than heading back downstairs. Eiriko was left upstairs all alone.

It had been a while since she’s been upstairs. She hadn’t heard Edmund try to push through the trunk. It was for the best though. He shouldn’t be getting close to her. She knew she deserved all of this pain.

“I’m so hungry…” Eiriko muttered to herself as she lay on her bed. “There’s food downstairs…but he’ll get too close to me…”

Her hunger overwhelmed her, she needed to eat. She stood up from her bed and moved aside the trunk and made her way downstairs. She made quiet steps as she walked downstairs, trying not to alert anyone. She snuck her way toward the kitchen. As she was in the hallway, she overheard the ruckus coming from the kitchen.

“Sweetie you need to eat!” Edmund reprimanded his daughter.

“Dad, I’m not hungry!” she exclaimed back.

“Sweetie, you know what I’ve told you before. Please eat!”

“I’m not hungry!” she exclaimed back.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“She needs to eat…” Eiriko muttered to herself.

Eiriko slowly backed away. As she did, he step created a creak from the floorboards. She immediately rushed back to her room as she heard Edmund’s steps approach her. She moved the trunk in the way of the stairwell, but Edmund managed to power through and push the trunk out of the way. Eiriko ran over to the bed while Edmund ran up to her.

“My dear...” she muttered backing up.

“Eiriko you’ve been up here for days! You’ve been making us worried sick!” Edmund exclaimed to her.

Edmund approached her and all Eiriko could do was sit in fear.

“Please get away from me!” she pleaded as he got closer.

Instead of backing away he continued to approach her. As he got close to her, he tightly hugged her.

“My dear…” she muttered while tearing up. “Why? Why are you doing this…I’m…I’m…”

“Shh…” Edmund told her as she sat there. “You need this Eiriko, you need this my love.”

“Edmund my dear…” she muttered again while tearing up.

“My love, let’s get you something to eat.” Edmund told her.

He stood up and took Eiriko’s hand. He brought her downstairs, still holding her hand.

“I’m…I’m a monster…” she muttered to herself as he continued to lead her downstairs.

As Eiriko wound up downstairs, she saw her daughter still with her plate of food untouched. Her parents were on the couch sleeping. She could hear the noise of her son playing coming from the other room. Edmund went into the kitchen to whip up something for her while she stood beside her daughter.

“Sweetie…why haven’t you eaten yet?” she asked her.

“Mom, I’m not hungry.” She replied back to her. “I told dad, but…”

“Sweetie…eat your food.” She told her.

“But mom…”

“Sweetie, if you don’t eat your food you won’t be able to participate in your brother’s birthday okay?”

“But…I’m not hungry…”

“Sweetie you’re going to eat…You won’t be able to leave until you eat your food okay?”

“Alright…” her daughter replied back sounding defeated.

Edmund gave her some toasted bread which she ate. Edmund tried to strike up a conversation with his beloved, but she remained silent. After several minutes, his beloved thanked him and went back upstairs. He didn’t try to push again. This relieved Eiriko as she made her way upstairs. She planned to go back downstairs later, to check up on her daughter.

Eiriko went into the kitchen, several hours after being upstairs. She peered over and saw her daughter’s plate still full and saw her all alone on the couch. She walked over to her.

“Sweetie, why is your plate still full?” Eiriko asked her.

“Mom…I’m not hungry.” She again told her.

*GROWL*

“You’re not hungry huh?” Eiriko asked her. “Then what was that noise?”

“Mom that wasn’t me…”

“Sweetie, do you know how many times I’ve told you to eat?”

“But mom, that wasn’t me!”

*GROWL* *GROWL*

“Sweetie, this is the last time I’ll tell you nicely. Please eat your food. You need to grow up big and strong. I don’t want you to shrivel up and suffer. Please eat your food. Please.”

“Mom I’m not hungry…”

*GROWL* *GROWL* *GROWL*

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“Sweetie…you refuse to eat your food?” Eiriko asked her. “Don’t you know how much suffering you’re causing me because of this?”

Eiriko slowly put her hands around her daughter.

“Mom..? What are you doing?” she asked her.

“Sweetie…you have one last chance. Eat Your Food.”

“Mom…you’re scaring me…”

“Sweetie…Eat Your Food.”

“I’m not hungry!” she told her again.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

This was the last straw. Eiriko tightly gripped her and picked her up. Her daughter struggled to get out of her tight grip as Eiriko continued to bring her upstairs.

“Mom let go!” her daughter pleaded as she continued to struggle.

She brought her upstairs, with her still wriggling.

“I’ve had enough! Enough!” she angrily shouted at her. “Why don’t you listen when we’ve told you to eat? Why?”

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry!” her daughter pleaded to her as she was still in her grasp.

“If you’re sorry then please eat!” she shouted at her.

“I’m not hungry!” she said still struggling out of her grasp.

Eiriko made her way over to the area of the attic door. She jumped up and tugged the rope down. The attic door opened as the ladder pulled down as well.

“Mom! I’m sorry!” she said again to Eiriko.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it anymore! You’ll have to stay up there until you’ve learned your lesson!” Eiriko shouted at her.

Eiriko stepped up the ladder, with her daughter wriggling around even more.

“Mom please! I’m sorry!”

Eiriko reached the top of the ladder and forcefully shoved her daughter in the dark attic. As she went back down, she felt her daughter grip tightly on her hand.

“Mom don’t leave me! I’m sorry!” she tried to apologize to Eiriko.

“Let go of me!” she shouted at her losing her balance.

“I’m sorry..!”

After one last tug, Eiriko fell off the ladder. She hit her head, falling unconscious. As she fell off, the attic door retracted back, locking her daughter in the attic. Her daughter desperately screamed for help as she was locked and stuck up there.

Eiriko slowly awoke from her unconscious state. She hadn’t known how long she’s been unconscious, but it felt like a while to her. She looked up to the attic; she felt it’s been long enough since she put her daughter up there. She slowly made her way over to there as she massaged her head.

She jumped and pulled down the rope down. The attic door opened. She couldn’t hear her daughter.

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“Sweetie…are you up there?” she asked.

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Her question echoed through the empty attic. She didn’t hear her respond. She slowly climbed up.

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She again asked, “Sweetie, are you up there?”

She continued to climb up the latter. She finally reached the top of the dark attic. It was too dark for her to noticeably see anything. However in the distance, she could swear she saw her daughter.

“Sweetie!” she exclaimed. “Look I understand that you’re angry at me, but I’m doing this for you. I want you to grow up to be big and healthy.”

As she got off the ladder, the attic door slammed behind her. She panicked from hearing the loud noise. She tried pressing down on the door, it wouldn’t budge. She had to cease her panicking as she made her way to her daughter. She had to be calm, or else her daughter would panic. She made her way to her daughter.

The more she made her way to her daughter, she could smell something pungent. She thought it was probably the scent of the old attic, so she brushed it aside.

“Sweetie…it seems that we’re in quite the situation…but rest assured we’re fine.” Eiriko said trying to comfort her as she got closer to her.

As she got even closer, the pungent scent was very powerful. Eiriko became jittery as she approached her daughter. The scent was the scent of a rotting corpse.

“Sweetie, that’s not your smell right? It’s just attic right?” she asked as she got closer.

“Why don’t you get closer and see for yourself?” a voice asked her.

She shivered even more as she approached her daughter. What could the darkness be hiding from her? As she got closer, she wished the darkness was able to still hide away what it hid.

She saw the lifeless body her daughter lying on the floor of the attic. She was unnaturally thin as the bugs and rodents ate away at her rotting body.

“Oh…Oh my God..!” Eiriko muttered to herself as tears slowly ran down from her eyes. “What…what have I done..?”

“The answers you have seeked, they have been revealed.” The same voice told her.

She peered more in the distance and saw another horrifying figure.

The demon sat against the wall of the attic. It had this sack covering over its circular head as the sack’s two eyeholes revealed these orange eyes staring at Eiriko. It sack was secure with a metal collar that had chains dangling on the collar’s back side. It wore a prison uniform with blue and black stripes over its large body. There were many pins, barbed wire, and chains scattered throughout its body. It has these large hands with sharp nails at the ends of its tips. Its wrists and heels had cuffs with broken chains secured tightly.

“What…who…who are you?” Eiriko asked in fear.

“I? I am the Damned Wanderer.” It replied back to her. “I have seen your daughter in her last moments. She was so lonely…she was so hungry…”

“I…I…”

“Why did you leave her here? What did she do wrong? Did she do anything wrong?”

“She didn’t eat her food. I didn’t mean for her to be locked up here to starve…”

“You’re time is up Eiriko…” The Damned Wanderer butted in. “The answer: She didn't.”

“What do you mean? I just told you why…”

“Do you think I’m referring to now Eiriko?” The Damned Wanderer asked her. “You should know what I’m referring to.”

Eiriko jittered. She knew what it was referring to. She wished she didn’t know, but how could she forget the pain that her daughter has felt all alone in the attic. She couldn’t.

“I didn’t mean to…I…”

“Only a foolish mother like you Eiriko could only have something done to your child like this. She was starving here, left alone. She screamed out for help, but yet you didn't come. Now...she's stuck here with me. She can't be freed just like me. Just like me...she is now forced to walk around suffering every single moment. Her shackles tug even harder than mine...you have done this to her. You're making her suffer every living second. It's all your fault.” The Damned Wanderer grimly told her.

Eiriko couldn’t answer back. All she could do was tear up. The pain hurt her so much. She wished it could leave her. As she stood there tearing up, she felt chains and shackles being placed onto her. She immediately felt weak as she slowly lay on the floor. She heard the attic door open behind her.

“I and her are hungry Eiriko.” The Damned Wanderer told her.

It put its fingers on its sack and cut the area around its mouth in zigzags slowly. Black gunk oozed from the area as sharp teeth slowly formed. It went on all fours and positioned itself towards Eiriko.

She knew what had to be done. Eiriko slowly stood up from the floor despite feeling weaker. She made her way over to the attic door area being chained up. The Damned Wanderer was still in a ready position as she continued to walk over to the attic door. However not even a few steps away from The Damned Wanderer, she fell onto the ground. The chains tugged on her so harshly, making her shriek in pain. She felt so weak, so hungry.

As she lay there, she head the Damned Wanderer’s hand slammed down, mere inches away from her feet.

“Mommy, I’m hungry.” The Damned Wanderer told Eiriko in her daughter’s voice.

Despite the agony she was in, she continued to walk toward to the exit. Each step she took, made her hungrier and in more pain. However she couldn’t stop moving. The Damned Wanderer was still close behind her.

“Mommy, I need food.” The Damned Wanderer again told Eiriko in her daughter’s voice.

No matter how much pain it inflicted on her hearing her voice, she continued to power through. The Damned Wanderer swiped at her, barely hitting each of its blows. She sped up her pace, increasing the amount of pain she felt. However she was so close to the attic door.

“Why did you leave me here? Why did you leave me here to starve?” The Damned Wanderer asked Eiriko in her daughter’s voice.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” Eiriko said sobbing and in agony as she reached the attic door.

As she grabbed on the ladder, the Damned Wanderer gripped tightly onto one of Eiriko’s feet. She shriek in agony as the sharp fingers constricted and punctured her food.

“Finally…fresh food…” The Damned Wanderer told itself in its and Eiriko’s daughter’s voice.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for this to happen! I’m a horrible mother!” she exclaimed in guilt and agony.

She tugged her foot off of the demon and fell through the attic door. The chains that were on her were no more. Her body landed on the rough floor as the attic door shut close.

“Mommy…I want you here…I…I…don’t feel so good…” The Damned Wanderer whimpered to Eiriko in her daughter’s voice.

Eiriko laid on the floor crying and in agony. She could feel the thing within her even livelier than before. Her sudden crash on the floor brought Edmund’s attention as he rushed upstairs.

“Eiriko!” he exclaimed with concern.

He picked up Eiriko and put her on the bed. He tended to her wounds. While her physical wounds were healing, she forever bares the pain of her daughter’s death, every single waking moment. She caused her demise. It was all her fault.

Eiriko sat on the couch watching her son in the living room with a depressed visage. She was broken after seeing her daughter’s death. Her father and parents were looking for her daughter for the past couple of days. They have yet to find her. Eiriko knew fully well what happened to her. However, when they asked her, she refused to tell them the truth. They didn’t need to know about her death.

“Mommy, why are you sad?” her son asked her as she sat there.

“Oh…it’s nothing sweetheart.” She replied back to him.

“Are you sure? I haven’t seen sis in a while and…”

“I…I shouldn’t lie to you sweetheart. I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m just worried sick for her. I haven’t seen her around in a while. I just hope I don’t lose you…” Eiriko admitted to him.

Her son ran over to hug her. However she couldn’t find it in herself to hug him back. Even though she told him that she wouldn’t lie, she still lied about his sister. How could she hug her son making him believe such a horrid lie?

As her son kept on hugging her, her parents came in the living room.

“Oh Lord, this is such an unfortunate circumstance…” her father pondered as he entered the room.

“Mom…dad…what are you doing in here?” Eiriko asked as they came in.

“Ah it’s utterly terrible! We couldn’t find…”

Before her mother could finish, her father talked over her, “Ah, he shouldn’t have to worry about that darling! He should be excited for the big day tomorrow!”

“Aha, yes indeed!” her mother noted. “Aren’t you excited for the big day tomorrow?”

“Yeah! I just wonder if my sis will be here…”

“Ah don’t worry about that my birthday boy. She’ll be here tomorrow.” Her father told her son trying to reassure him.

“We’ll cook you up something…”

“Dad…what have I told you and mom?” Eiriko asked her looking away from them

Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Come on Eiriko, we need to cook for his special day…”

“Dad! Please don’t cook!” Eiriko shouted at them still looking away.

“Ah just ignore her dear, now let’s come up with what you want to cook…”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko sat there shivering, hearing that damned noise. She couldn’t stop them if she wanted to. She didn’t want them to cook. She didn’t want them to burn alive again. Her parents noticed her jittering. However before they could comment, Eiriko went back upstairs.

She quickly ran through the hall and up the stairs. However as she ran up the stairs, she was met with the tight embrace of her beloved as she arrived upstairs.

“My dear…why are you hugging me?” Eiriko asked in utter confusion as she arrived upstairs.

“Eiriko…I know you’ve been acting odd lately, and I doubt that our daughter missing is helping your mental state right now. But you have to tell me Eiriko, you have to tell me what’s wrong.”

Eiriko managed to push away her beloved’s hug.

“My dear…please just leave me be!” Eiriko pleaded.

“I have left you here so many times Eiriko. I need to help you.” Edmund replied back, persisting.

“Just leave me be!” Eiriko shouted at him.

Edmund still stayed there. He left her too many times like this. He will not leave her again.

“Please my dear…please leave…” Eiriko pleaded with him pouting.

He refused to leave. Eiriko sobbed as to what she was about to do next.

“My dear, what are you…agh!”

Eiriko forcefully pushed her beloved back down the stairs.

“I’m sorry my love, but you keep on resisting. Please just leave me be! Stop being around a monster like me!” she shouted at him, hoping he would understand her pleas.

He still stood there by the stairwell, refusing to break eye contact. Eiriko left the stairwell and over to her bed. She was tearing up as she faced the wall whiling lying on her bed. Edmund peered over, trying not to get her attention as he walked up the stairs.

“Oh God…I’m such a monster…I let them believes these horrid lies…yet…they won’t understand the truth…Oh God…what do I do?” she asked herself.

Edmund soon went back downstairs, fully realizing the state of Eiriko’s condition.

Eiriko continued to lie there sobbing. Wanting to distract herself, she went through the trunk of all her miscellaneous belongings. The oil bottle was still there, but she also noticed another thing hidden among the items. She pulled it out, it was the revolver used on that very night, this time it was not a prop one, but a real fully loaded one. She hand shivered as she slowly put it back in the trunk.

It was the day of her son’s birthday. She continued to overlook her son as he enjoyed playing around the house on his special day. He was having so much fun. Eiriko was currently in the kitchen cooking up his favorite food, fried puffed bread. She came out of the kitchen with the puffed bread plated.

“Here you go sweetie, your favorite.” Eiriko told him as she gave the plate of bread to him.

“Thanks mommy!” he thanked him as he went over to the couch to gobble it down.

Even though she couldn’t stop the feeling of pain and guilt, she at least wanted to be happy for her son’s special day. She wished for him to enjoy every aspect of this day as she could. Eiriko sat on the couch beside the kitchen to relax as her son sat there with an empty plate.

“Oh wow, you finished your food already.” She noted as she sat there.

“It’s so tasty!” he exclaimed.

Eiriko sat there quietly without responding back.

“It sucks that sis isn’t here, but I’m having a great time!” he exclaimed.

“That’s…that’s good to hear.” Eiriko muttered back.

Her son put the plate in the kitchen and ran back over to her mother.

“I’m having so much fun! Mom, do you know what else is planned for the day?” her son asked her.

“Oh sweetie, you’ll find out later…why don’t you go off and play for now?” Eiriko asked her son.

“Alright.” Her son replied back.

Her son went to the glass door and opened it. He went outside to play as Eiriko sat there watching him. It was enjoyable for her to see him happy. It’s been so long since she’s seen such joy coming from her son. As Eiriko sat there looking after her son, she became drowsy. Even though she hadn’t done much, she felt more lethargic than usual. Something within her was draining a lot of her energy. Her eyeball felt too heavy for her to hold up. Her eyes shut and she dozed off.

Eiriko awoke abruptly. She was still on the couch, but she felt the thing within her wriggle around profusely. She jabbed her stomach several times, making it stop. She couldn’t find herself falling back asleep so she looked back in the backyard to see…to see her son not there.

“MOMMY!” her son screamed from the outside.

Eiriko immediately perked up and ran to the door, widely opening it. She ran through the porch to find the source of her son’s screams. She shivered at the sight.

She saw this hulking demon on the ground below the porch. It had this large stone helm covering its face. It was in the shape of a mix between a pyramid and hourglass. Many unnerving sad and happy faces were etched on the sides of the mas as it surrounded the mask’s lifeless blank expression. It had two large slimy blobby hands. One gripped tightly on her son, the other gripped tightly on the ropes of the handle of his sack. His sack rested on the back of its large stone body. Its body seemed to be this mix between of a bull and a lizard.

“MOMMY! MOMMY HELP!” her son screamed while crying.

The demon pulled down its sack and opened it. The demon stuffed her son down the sack. The demon saw Eiriko on the porch. It jumped and loudly landed on the porch. The demon towered over Eiriko as it stared down at her. Eiriko jittered as she was in front of the creature. For some reason, Eiriko recognized the demon. She never met this thing before, but yet she somehow knew what it was.

“Gripsnarl…” Eiriko muttered as the demon was in front of her.

“Hoho Eiriko…” Gripsnarl muttered. “Why are you so frightened?”

Despite her fear, Eiriko swallowed it as she stood in front of the demon. She replied back, “You took my son! What mother am I to just leave him there?”

“I know you still remember your son.” Gripsnarl commented.

“Remember..? What do you mean he’s right in your sack! I’m not leaving until…”

“You loved him so dearly...but yet it seems to me you didn't care too much for him.”

“I do care for him…I care for him…I…”

“You let him get taken away from you and when you saw, you became desperate. You can't take him back.”

Eiriko stood there silent as she stood in front of Gripsnarl. Tears fell from her eyes.

Gripsnarl continued, “He's already with me. He's having so much fun in my sack, along with the other things I have within. It's so much fun in there. So much FUN FUN FUN FUN!”

“STOP IT!” Eiriko shouted at Gripsnarl. “Give my son back now! I’m not leaving him there!”

Gripsnarl’s free hand moved around as it continued to stand in front of Eiriko.

“So…you wish to get your son back?” Gripsnarl asked her.

“Yes.” She confidently replied back.

“I have an arrangement.” Gripsnarl told her.

Its free hand moved toward Eiriko and gripped her tightly. Gripsnarl brought her up close to it.

“You shall play a game in order to get your son back.” Gripsnarl told her.

It opened up its sack with Eiriko still in its hand. The demon threw her into the sack and tied it back up.

Eiriko landed onto the floor of this odd room. It had all these bright vibrant patterns on its wall and on the floor. Eiriko stood up in the room staring forward. In front of her was this man entirely in black holding onto her son.

“Mommy…will I be okay?” he asked her as the man gripped tightly on him.

“Sweetie, you’ll be alright. Mommy’s going to make sure of that.” Eiriko told him.

Eiriko and the man stood there in silence until they heard Gripsnarl’s voice.

“If you wish to have your son back, you must catch him from the man.” Gripsnarl’s voice announced to Eiriko.

The walls of the room opened up, revealing these thin hallways.

“You have a time limit. If you don’t catch him by then…his fate will……Good luck.”

As Gripsnarl stopped talking, the man in black ran through the hall behind him, holding onto Eiriko’s son.

“MOMMY!” he shouted as he was being dragged away.

Eiriko ran after him. She was determined to get her son back. After all the hell she’s been through and put people through, she didn’t want this happen to her or those around her anymore. She will throw him the birthday he deserved. She’ll make up with her family. She refused to be like this anymore.

Eiriko ran through the tight halls, passing by the pictures of her son’s smiling face on the wall. She kept a solid pace behind the man, not letting him out of her sights. Despite the sudden turns and constant other paths, she kept her pace and was still behind the man.

After taking one turn, Eiriko entered this room. There were ladders over this large pit. It bottom was hidden away by the mist. The man in black lifted her son and gracefully walked on the ladders onto the other side. Eiriko followed suit, but not as gracefully. This caused her to lag behind as the man managed to get on the other side. However, Eiriko persisted and rushed to the end and continued to follow him.

While she was behind, she was able to detect the man’s location due to her son’s cries for her. As she passed through the thin halls, she noticed the pictures of her son’s face on the wall appeared to frown.

“Time is going by quickly…Eiriko.” Gripsnarl told her.

She continued to run after the man. She took several more twist and turns as she ran through the halls still in pursuit of the man.

She took another turn and wound up in another room. She saw the man in black struggling to go across the monkey bars to the other side over another gap. This gave her an opportunity to catch up to him. She went on the monkey bars and rushed over to him. The man in black tried to rush over to the other side as Eiriko got closer. Eiriko got extremely close to him, however as she reached out to him he jumped onto the other side. He immediately ran as Eiriko lost her grip on the monkey bars.

She fell form the bars as she was right by the edge of the other side. At the very last moment, she grabbed on the edge, barely avoiding her fall. She managed to lift herself from the edge after several attempts. However, she could barely hear her son from her current location. She bolted in the halls in desperation to find him. She noticed the picture of her son began to cry.

“Time is running low…Eiriko.” Gripsnarl told her.

Eiriko began to run faster through the halls after hearing Gripsnarl’s warning. She felt very tired, but her adrenaline kept her running. She needed to see her son happy. She ran around aimlessly through the twist and turns of the halls, still not finding her son. She wouldn’t give into the despair any longer, so she kept running through the halls. Her efforts paid off. She heard her son’s cries coming from the distance.

She ended up in another room. This time there was a swing that would bring her across the gap. However, the man was already on the other side and bolted away as the swing chair swung back. Eiriko immediately hopped on and swung to the other side. She barely made it as the swing chair swung back.

“10…” Gripsnarl counted down.

Eiriko forcefully swung to the other side, but again, she barely just made it as the chair swung back.

“9…”

Eiriko again swung to the other side, she barely made it again.

“8…”

Finally on her fourth attempt, she made it to the other side. She bolted after the man.

“7…”

She ran through the hallways in a panic, trying to find her son.

“6…”

She couldn’t hear him anymore.

“5…”

She began to panic even more running around aimlessly through the hall.

“4…”

She needed to find her son.

“3…”

She didn’t want to meet the same fate again.

“2…”

She stopped trying.

“1…”

She couldn’t save him.

“0…”

Eiriko sat on the floor of the fun house crying. She couldn’t save him. She let him die like those years ago. It was all her fault. She looked upward at the pictures of her son’s face on the wall. His face became distorted, his eyes cried out tears of blood.

Eiriko stood up from her spot and walked forward. There was nothing else to do than to find a way out. As she walked forward, she saw in the distance a door. She continued to walk over to there. She got within the distance of the door. It had a poster on it which had the text: “Birthday Boy!”

Eiriko gulped as she put her hand on the door. She opened the door, revealing the dark room. The light flickered on, illuminating the whole room. An old birthday song played loudly on a radio. She was overwhelmed with horror and sadness as she saw what was inside.

There was a large colorful banner hung across the ceiling with the words: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” All the other plates, decorations, and party give outs laid scattered across the floor. The tables and the walls of the room were splatted with blood, viscera, and limbs scattered about. In the center of the room was a bloody birthday cake on a small round table. Her son’s head was sloppily placed on top of the cake, with a party hat strapped on his head.

“No…this was supposed to be your happy day…Oh God…WHY?” she stood there muttering at the sight. “I did this to him…he can’t enjoy his special day…I did this to him…”

Everything slowly faded into darkness around Eiriko. She continued sobbing and the darkness engulfed her.

“Such a horrid mother…you made him sad on his special day. But don’t worry. He’s having so much FUN FUN FUN FUN WITH ME.” Gripsnarl echoed as the darkness took over.

Eiriko found herself on the porch as she continued to cry. She wouldn’t see her beloved children anymore.

“How…how could I have let this happen?” Eiriko asked herself while sobbing.

She immediately stood up and ran back into her home, still crying. She ran through the halls and to her room upstairs. She fell on her knees in the middle of the room. She couldn’t stop crying as she was upstairs.

“I…I…I was the reason behind all of their deaths…Oh my God…I killed all of them…I can’t bring them back…I took their happy lives away from them…I’m…I’m a monster.” Eiriko muttered as she cried kneeling on the floor.

The guilt and pains of her past overwhelmed her. She understood why she experienced all those torments. She needed to be punished for all the sins she’s inflicted on her loved ones. She felt the aura malevolent aura and thing within her take over her. She didn’t resist.

Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat

“This evil within me shouldn’t be anything no one has to experience…only those who are truly horrid like me should suffer…” Eiriko muttered to herself.

Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat Pit Pat

“Only people horrid like me should bear listening to this wretched noise. With each time just bringing more pain than the last…”

Eiriko started to hack uncontrollably, spitting out this black goo as she continued.

“I wish no one…not even Mr. Adams to suffer this pain. I can feel it…I can feel it…” Eiriko muttered as she stopped hacking.

Eiriko knelt there still. Everything about her appeared lifeless. But yet she was still alive. Anyone could feel the darkness emanating from her.

“I’m a monster…” Eiriko muttered lifelessly.

She stood up from kneeling on the floor and went over to the trunk. She pulled out the loaded revolver and the bottle of oil. She jerked upward after collecting her items. She slowly shambled towards the stairs with crooked abrupt steps. Her steps going the stairs created lots of noise. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she crookedly ran toward the kitchen.

As she arrived, she saw her father and mother by the stove cooking up something.

“Do you know where little Earl is?” her mother asked her father.

“God knows my dear, god knows.” Her father replied back. “I just need some oil in order to fancy the meal, but I couldn’t find any.”

Eiriko loudly shambled toward her parents, causing them to turn around.

“Ah Eiriko darling, have you seen…Oh dear God!”

As they turned around, they saw Eiriko pointing the revolver at them as she held the bottle of oil.

“I heard you needed oil…” Eiriko muttered as she held out the oil getting closer.

She swung the oil bottle after putting off the cap. It released large drops of oil on the stove top. Its flames sparked and grew bigger, her parents avoided being hit.

“Eiriko what in blazes is going on with you?” Her father asked.

“I thought you said you needed oil? Aren’t I being a nice girl?” Eiriko asked them.

She continued to swing around the oil bottle, making even more oil drops. It landed on the stove, making the flame even larger than the first time.

“Eiriko stop! Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting your parents like this?” Eiriko’s mother asked in fear as they stepped away from the stove.

“I’m not a good girl..?” Eiriko asked with shakiness in her voice.

“NO!” they both exclaimed.

“I’m not a good girl! I’m not a good girl!” Eiriko said enraged as she shook around the oil bottle.

Drops of oils spread around. Her parents and the floor were doused with oil.

“Eiriko darling! For the love of God…”

Before he could finish, oil landed on the stove top. It sparked this massive flame taking over the entire stove top. The oil on her parents sparked quickly as the flame engulfed both of them. Their screams of pain were muffled by the sounds of crackling and burning. No one could hear them suffering. She ran pass them effortlessly, dropping the bottle of oil as they continued to burn. The fire slowly dissipated as it left her parent’s charred corpses.

Eiriko ran through the thin halls and into the living room. She had the revolver at the ready as she entered the living room. She saw her beloved standing up, waiting to confront her.

“My love…we need to talk.” Edmund told her.

“My dear…what have I told you…”

“No, I’m not going to leave you Eiriko.” Edmund determinedly said before she could finish.

Eiriko jittered, but continued to stay within her current state. She pulled out her revolver at him.

“My dear…do I have to tell you again..?”

“And have to tell you that I won’t leave again?”

Eiriko jittered at the fact he didn’t leave. She continued to point the revolver at her beloved.

“My dear…do you not realize the situation at hand..?” she asked him.

“Eiriko I’m not leaving. Not anymore.” Edmund told her again.

The power within his voice slowly chipped away at Eiriko’s current state.

“Why won’t you leave?” she asked angrily.

“My dear, I have left you to suffer for so long. You are not mentally well…and I blame that on me.”

“What..?” Eiriko asked slowly regaining control of herself.

“I should have stayed with you Eiriko. I don’t know what in my right mind would make me leave you when you are so unwell. What kind of a husband am I? What kind of a beloved am I to see you suffer?

“My dear…stop…” Eiriko muttered regaining control of herself.

“My dear Eiriko, please tell me what’s wrong.” Edmund pleaded as he stood there.

Eiriko stood there in silence. Tears ran down her eyes as she continued to stand there crooked.

“My dear…” Eiriko said still crying. “There’s a reason why I don’t want you to be around me…”

“I don’t know what that reason may be…but I refuse to leave you.”

“Don’t say such nice lies to me. You’ll take back everything you said…” Eiriko muttered still crying. “I killed everyone. I killed my parents, I killed my caretaker, I killed my beloved children…and I…and I killed you. I’ve been lying to you, I’ve been lying to everyone! None of you wouldn’t understand, none of you won’t. So why do you stay around me?”

Edmund stood there taken aback in shock. This is what his beloved hid from him. The dark truth.

“Eiriko…” Edmund muttered in shock.

“So now…now you’ll take back your loving words. You’ll take them away to give it to someone else who deserves it. And finally you’ll leave me behind like you should have all…”

“I won’t leave you.” Edmund said to her determined.

“Agh!” Eiriko shouted in anger. “Why won’t you leave me? Do you refuse to after all this I have said? Do you not realize the stupidity of your actions?”

“Eiriko, I won’t leave you…”

“My dear, my dear stop!” she pleaded.

Edmund slowly went toward her; she began to cry as the revolver was pointed at him. He told her this, as if it came from her actual beloved, “It’s not your fault…”

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Edmund stood there with bullet holes scattered throughout his body. He stared at Eiriko with his widened eyes. He slowly fell onto the floor backwards. He broke into many pieces as he landed on the floor. Among his remains was the broom Eiriko, Edmund and her children made from all those years ago. All her family had died.

Eiriko stood there as she felt the aura leave her. She stood there crying. She pointed the gun at herself, only to hear it clicking empty. She did it again. She killed her beloved.

“OH GOD WHY?” she shouted with regret and remorse.

BONG BONG BONG BONG

She looked at the hourglass. She saw all of the beads fell to the bottom. It ceased making the noise. However, she felt a strong malevolent aura form around her, a familiar malevolent aura. She was on the floor crying and mourning.

“What have I done?” Eiriko asked herself as she lied there, crying. “I killed all of them…how could they be so happy around me…HOW?”

All she could do there was lie around and cry. She could do nothing to bring them back. However…she knew of one thing that she could do; a thing that will rid the world from her horrid self and give her family and loved ones sweet retribution for her sins. She slowly went back upstairs.

She returned to the living room with the very noose that came with the hourglass. She went over to the trunk and pushed it over to a certain area. She stepped up the trunk and tied the other end of the noose on the hook of the ceiling. She put her neck around the noose and closed her eyes. Before she would end her life, she felt the malevolent aura intensify around her.

She opened them to see who was there. She saw The Fallen Showman face her. She took her neck out of the noose and turned around. The demons that surrounded her house were around her. Among the demons were also Aeil Haze, Satarael, The Damned Wanderer, and Gripsnarl. All of them looked at her. They didn’t speak at all; they just continued to stare at her.

She closed her eyes as she put her head back into the noose.

“You won’t hurt anybody anymore.” She said to herself.

She kicked the trunk away as her neck fell upon the noose.

The room around her formed into a dark, shadowy void. Eiriko fell lifelessly down it. The silence was deafening. She was the only presence in this empty, forsaken void.

“What horrid child hurts their caretakers so? This woman right here is the spawn of the devil!”

“This actress has perfected her craft, her acting made us believe she was a good person.”

“You don’t deserve to be called a mother. You abhorrent fool! No mother would let their children suffer so, but you, you are the worst mother! You let your dear children die!”

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Two shivering, blood-covered hands appeared in the background. They brought out a photo. It was a photo of her parents’ charred corpses among the remains of a burned-down home.

The hands brought out another photo. It was a photo of Mr. Adam’s corpse lying in a dark basement with his neck broken.

The hands brought out another photo. It was the photo of Lily’s starved pale corpse, rotting away and being eaten by bugs in a dark attic.

The hands brought out another photo. It was the photo of Earl’s dismembered corpse in an area near a playground.

The hands brought out the last photo. It was the photo of Edmund’s corpse, with the bloodied area where the bullet hole is, lying there in his Sir Kerrichhoff costume.

The hands brought out a photo album. They placed the photos in. The right hand wrote with the blood on its hands, “ALL MY FAULT.”

Eiriko’s distressed cries echoed throughout the void. Eiriko fell deeper into the dark void. She was engulfed in its suffocating darkness.

Eiriko slowly awoke. She found herself lying on the lively grass. She slowly stood up. She was overwhelmed by her surroundings. She was in this field, with lively grass spread throughout its entirety. The beautiful sun shone on her during this beautiful and warm day.

“Where am I?” Eiriko asked herself.

Not knowing where to go, she walked forward. She could feel her worries and guilt go away as she walked through this warm area. She didn’t deserve to be in here, but she finally felt free.

“Eiriko!” a familiar voice called out to her.

Eiriko jittered as she peered into the distance. She couldn’t believe it. It was her children and her beloved.

“Mommy!” her children exclaimed as they ran up to her.

Eiriko didn’t budge forward. She wanted to back away, but yet she couldn’t find it in herself to do so. Her beloved and her children hugged her tightly. They finally got to see her after so many years.

“Eiriko my dear, I missed you so so much.” Edmund warmly told her as he kept her in his embrace.

“Mommy you’re finally here!” her daughter exclaimed.

“Kids…My dear…” Eiriko muttered trying not to cry.

They eventually let go of her. Eiriko backed away from them, tears streaming down her eyes.

“Eiriko, please don’t back away from us.” Edmund pleads.

“Please why are you hugging me? Why are you getting so close to me?” Eiriko asked them.

Her daughter approached her.

“Mommy, I don’t want you to be sad. I want you to be happy!” she exclaimed.

Her son approached her.

“Mom...I know you are sad about me and want me to be mad at you. But you’re my mommy. I love you mommy!” Earl exclaimed.

Eiriko wiped the tears from her eyes. She saw Edmund approaching closer.

“Eiriko, I sense your pains. You are no monster. No monster would feel so guilty and remorseful over our deaths.” Edmund tells her.

Edmund looks at his children.

“You can go ahead, kids. We’ll meet you later with the family.” Edmund tells them.

They nod. Before they left, they ran up to Eiriko to give her one last hug. The children scurried away.

Edmund continued approaching Eiriko, who still backed away.

“My dear...Why are you getting so close to your murderer?” she asked.

“Because I know it isn’t your fault. The gun malfunctioned.” He told her.

Edmund’s arms wrapped around Eiriko’s frail body.

“Eiriko, just know I forgive you, even if you don’t forgive yourself.” Edmund told her.

He hugged her even tighter.

“But if you still feel guilty, please, don’t let your guilt win. We will forgive you by being with us. By letting us heal you. Please, don’t let it win.” He told her, trying to comfort her.

Eiriko then hugged Edmund tightly. She cried in his embrace.

“My love...I...I missed you...” she muttered.

Edmund slowly loosened his hug. He locked hands with Eiriko. They began waltzing. Eiriko stared into Edmund’s eyes lovingly.

“My love...” she muttered

Edmund smiled as he looked back.

“Be free my love, be free.”

They continued waltzing. Finally she felt relief, happiness. She wanted this moment to last forever.

“My love...how I longed to be with you again...how I wished we could waltz again...” she muttered.

Edmund picked up Eiriko by her arms. He gracefully twirled her around in the air while still holding her. They both lovingly looked at each other.

Edmund slowly landed Eiriko back onto the ground. They both stared into each other's eyes.

Eiriko and Edmund kiss and their hugs tighten.

She hugged him back tighter. The feeling was so warm. She didn’t want to let go, she didn’t want to leave.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

Eiriko felt lightheaded. She lowered herself onto the ground Edmund took notice.

“Eiriko? Eiriko?” Edmund asked her as his voice became hazy to her.

Eiriko slowly faded away from the plain. Edmund panicked as he saw her disappear.

“Eiriko!!” he exclaimed as she fully disappeared.

Eiriko slowly awoke, hearing a loud ruckus. When her vision and hearing became clearer, she could see all the demons cackling at her. She became horrified at the sight of the demons’ faces. Their faces were the deformed and bloodied versions of her parents, her beloved, and her children.

“What..? What?” she asked in a panic. “I…I died…why am I back here?”

The demon’s faces slowly formed back into their original faces as they began to talk to Eiriko.

“Foolish naughty child. Did you think your punishment is over?” Satarael asked her.

“Bring me back to my family! Bring me back!” she pleaded.

“You will be forced to wander around in pain just like me Eiriko.” The Damned Wanderer remarked.

“You shall answer our encore!” The Fallen Showman exclaimed.

The Fallen Showman snapped his fingers as Eiriko hung from the noose. Gripsnarl placed the whole Madame Alberossa set below her. Eiriko screamed in agony. She felt the thing within her move around violently. She could feel every part of her innards being eaten away. Her body jerked around as she continued to scream in agony. As her head hung there, she could feel the rest of her body slowly tear away from her. Her body fell cleanly off and onto the floor on top of the dress. It continued to wriggle around in agony as her body slowly absorbed the dress.

“Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!” she screamed in agony.

The demons listened to her commands. Satarael, Aeil Haze, The Damned Wanderer, and Gripsnarl moved their arms over to her body. They stopped her body from wriggling as they gripped onto her legs and arms. They tugged at them, trying to tear it off.

“AGH! STOP! STOP!!!” she screamed in pain.

The demons cleanly plopped off Eiriko’s arms and legs. In their place were a new set of arms and legs growing from the holes of the missing area. They were dark blue, thin, and seemed to have the texture of rough felt and scales. Her nails were sharp and glowed indigo, with her hands and fingers being covered with a black velvet glove. Her feet had these sets of dark red boots. Her torso cleanly cracked open like a little bird hatching from an egg. It revealed the thing within her wearing the fantastical Madame Alberossa dress.

Her torso melted into black goo onto the demon’s body. The demons threw Eiriko’s limbs on the creature. One by one, they too became black goop and melted into the demon’s body. The body wriggled around and sparked as this was all occurring.

All Eiriko could do was watch in horror as her head rested on the noose. The Fallen Showman approached her head.

“Please…I just want to see them again…” Eiriko pleaded.

“An amazing actress like you doesn’t deserve to go back to your family. You must become perfect in your work.” The Fallen Showman told her.

The Fallen Showman put his hand on Eiriko’s head.

“NO!” Eiriko screamed.

The Fallen Showman pushed her head off of the noose. Her head slowly fell onto the demon’s body. She closed her eyes. There was no escaping this fate. She was sorry for her family. They would never see her again.

Like all her other limbs, her head splatted on the floor and became a black goo. Her new demonic body slowly absorbed the goo from her head. The demons around her slowly disappeared, leaving the demon on the floor.

Everything slowly became engulfed in the darkness, everything except her new demon body. Her body slowly rose in the darkness. She held the hourglass that brought her into this hell in one hand and the noose that sealed her fate in the other.

She would no longer be known as Eiriko Faltina or the mysterious, yet beloved Madame Alberossa. Nay, she will be now known as, The Mistress of Sorrowful Ends.