Chapter 5

A Walk in the Park

A bright pink clock pointed slightly right of the twelve as the other hand slowly approached it from behind. Beneath it, a fully rested girl began to awaken. Her long black hair fluffed up after a long night’s sleep. Sitting up with a nice long stretch, she started her day, though later than the norm.

She headed to her bathroom to deal with the fluffy disaster above, family pictures hung around the walls. Most photos have her, Haru, and their mother in them. There wasn’t much in the house to remind Kana of anything about her dad. Except for the cat-shaped comb she used to brush down her hair.

The sound of a tune rang out from back in her room. She quickly shuffled back inside and smiled with glee, something rare, as she opened up her phone to read the message left for her.

Hey Kana! Are you awake? It’s almost one, and I haven’t heard from you yet. Call me, please. ♡

The gleeful face remained on as she picked her attire while making a call simultaneously.

“Hey, Kazumi!...... Yes, I’m awake…... I’m putting on my clothes right now……. Do you want to meet at the park? …….. Okay! I’ll be there in a jiffy!”

Once fully covered with the cutest attires she could find, she approached the front of her house to put on her shoes with her brother’s footwear nowhere to be seen.

She burst through the front door as the sun shined painfully in her not yet adjusted eyes, but it didn’t slow her stride.

With purse in hand and hat on head, she pranced away from her home behind, never planning on going to school that day.

*****

Kana sat on a park bench, overlooking the lake in front of her. She skipped school on occasions because being locked up at home and then locked up at school was miserable. Since she had no parents at home, no one would scold her.

She waited in the agreed-upon spot. The park was lively, as other people walked around, enjoying their day. However, there was no sign of Kazumi. Kana occupied herself with her phone while she waited, which was fine because she enjoyed the outdoors no matter what she did.

The sensation of the sun on her skin warmed her like a hot blanket, the trees danced to the light breeze in the air, the reflection of the lake shimmered and glistened from the sunlight, the grass was as green and dense as she remembered, the white puffy clouds soared through the sky. The sound of the —

“Hi there!”

The sudden high-pitched voice firmly pulled Kana out of her trance.

She surveyed the area to see a little girl who looked no older than eight. There was a big smile on her face and seemed genuinely happy. This girl wasn’t Japanese. She had bright blonde hair and blue eyes, which is out of the ordinary for someone in Japan to have. However, as she greeted Kana, her Japanese was flawless. Somehow, she reminded Kana of someone else.

“Uh…. hi. Where are your parents?” Kana asked the young girl as she scouted the area, looking for her guardian. Or anybody, for a matter of fact. The park was empty, and a slight mist floated in the area. There were plenty of folks walking around not too long ago, but now the park was dead.

The squeaky voice returned.

“Where are your parents?”

Kana snapped her glance back at the girl, who still had that cheerful smile on her. She clicked her teeth in annoyance, bothered by the audacity of the little girl to respond with such a remark.

“What’s it matter to you?” Kana retorted.

The little girl’s smile faded away. “If they’re not around, there’s always someone else just as reliable to turn to, right?”

The little girl’s demeanor suddenly changed. She stood there silent, staring deep into Kana’s eyes. It was so eerie; Kana averted her glance for a brief second.

*Sigh*

“Look, kid, things are…. Huh?”

The girl had disappeared without a trace. Kana shot up from her seat to scan the area to locate her. It was still hazy, but the fog slowly dissipated and the park soon returned to normal. The missing people returned as if nothing odd had even happened.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Kana!!”

Before she could gather her thoughts, her friend could be heard rushing down the park pathway. Her voice was oh so familiar. She peered over to see her blond hair flying behind as she ran, and her bright blue eyes twinkled in the sun.

“Hey, Kazumi! You’re Late!”

“Sorry. I got caught up in something.” Kazumi apologetically responded.

“I accept your apology.” Kana proclaimed.

“You wouldn’t believe what just happened!” Kana said. “About a few seconds ago, I was…..ugh…..what ….. happened again?”

Her memory completely vanished from her mind.

She sat down, distraught, as Kazumi took a seat next to her and gave her a big hug. The warm embrace of her longtime friend had always put her mind at ease ever since they were both little. She was fortunate to have Kazumi in her life. Her parents came from Europe and decided to move here when she was young. How lucky for Kana; she might have been lonely forever without her.

Kana returned the embrace, snuggling her face into her blonde hair.

“Thanks. I needed that,” Kana murmured as they resumed their day.

A pleased Kazumi strolled along. “No problem! You will always have your brother and me if you need someone to speak to!”

“My…...brother?”

*****

Later in the evening, the house’s front door opened to let in a disgruntled Haru. As he took his footwear off. He noticed his sister’s shoes were gone, but her school bag was nearby on the floor.

The only conclusion, she skipped school again. Usually, this would worry Haru, but today was an excruciating day for him, and he couldn’t think about her now. Haru quickly headed to his room with dark bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. Yesterday took a toll on him, but luckily for him, Raiden didn’t show up to school today, which gave Haru a nice break from the bullying.

Without breakfast or lunch, one would expect to be hungry, but Haru felt the opposite.

He lay flat on his bed and glanced at his clock. It was 3:40, about four hours until the meet-up. He closed his eyes and began to ponder tonight about the prospect of hunting down a Werewolf. He didn’t feel confident about his hunting skills, but as long as he was with Ryu, things should be okay, right?

Nevertheless, he felt both giddy with excitement and a sense of worry as he imagined what kind of animal the Werewolf might be. Are they similar to the ones in his comics? Are they weak to silver? Maybe they were feeble, and he was concerned over nothing. These thoughts had taken over Haru’s mind.

After some time thinking, he raised his head to glimpse at his clock….

It’s 7:29.

He fell asleep and didn’t even notice! He violently rolled off his bed and changed out of his school uniform. He picked a white shirt and gray shorts off his floor and decided it was suitable enough to wear for fighting a Werewolf.

Out his room, down the stairs, through the living room, then burst right out the front so fast he almost forgot to shut the door during his haste.

He quickly darted down the road and commenced sprinting to the meet-up spot.

“HEYOOO! UP HERE!”

He immediately halted at the familiar voice.

“Ryu!” He was sitting comfortably atop a streetlight that curved inwards. His feet dangle right above Haru’s head.

“What the – How did you find me?” Haru mustered out.

“Hey, don’t worry about that, aight!” He flipped upside down and hung with his legs hooked around the streetlight. “You sure are lively, aren’t you! Running to meet me, you must be excited about tonight!”

Haru looked down the street and the corner he had run around just a minute ago. He didn’t even reach one hundred meters away from his house.

“You could have come to me instead!”

“You’re right, I coulda!” Ryu snorted as he released his grip from the light post and landed softly on his feet.

“Now, let’s get down to business,” He grabbed Haru and dragged him alongside him, ensuring he was within range of his soft-spoken rambling.

“So, there are two important things to know about Werewolves. First is the moon, second is the time.”

Haru gave off a perplexing look which quickly ticked off Ryu.

“Let me explain it, aight!” He let in a long inhale in preparation for his lengthy exposition.

“So, a Werewolf’s strength is measured by two things. How close to midnight it is and how full the moon is.” Ryu pointed towards the moon shining in the night sky. “On that night you were attacked, I believe it was a crescent moon, similar to tonight. But luckily for us, the moon has been slowly waning since then. He’ll be easier to deal with now.”

Haru glanced down at his watch. It was 7:35.

“Keep your eye on the clock. Once midnight hits, he’ll be at his strongest for the night.” Ryu warned.

The only thing Haru noticed was that it was not eight o’clock. Ryu made arrangements to meet at eight but made his way here instead.

“I’ll explain more about Werewolves as we search for it. I got a trace of its blood so I could follow its scent! Vampires got excellent noses, especially for Werewolf blood!”

Worry, excitement, fear, eagerness. Haru was feeling a symphony of different emotions. His chest was thumping from his rapidly beating heart; he was surprised that Ryu didn’t notice. The young boy would never venture out this late or leave without a plan. But tonight would be different. Ryu was taking him who knows where, and Haru would follow no matter what. He felt somewhat secure being by Ryu’s side. How could he not? Ryu was overflowing with confidence; he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Hey, Ryu,” Haru asked. “After you turned me into a Vampire, what did I do afterward? How did I get home?”

“Oh,” Ryu let out a nervous laugh. “You just …. Uh ….. Got up and left. It was kind of bizarre.”

Bizarre? Haru thought to himself. Out of everything that had happened, that was the only thing he called bizarre.