Encounter
Dark clouds embroidered the sky, denying the sun even a moment to reveal itself before it hid away on the horizon. Soon, the rain that had poured like a sudden downpour ceased, and darkness settled over the dense forest as the noisy chorus of insects began to fill the air. Chirrr, chirrr. Insects of unknown species called back and forth to one another.
Snore, snore.
".....Mmm..."
In the room, there was a child who had drifted off to the land of dreams, lulled by those sounds. The bandages wrapped around both eyes and the horrific scars visible through the loose clothing spoke of a life far from ordinary. Was she even craving affection in her dreams? Hugging a rolled-up blanket to her entire body like a soft companion, the child looked utterly content—a sight that could bring a smile to anyone's face.
".........."
And from a narrow gap, a pair of eyes watched her.
Creeeak.
".........."
".....Hic..."
The door opened slowly, and through the widening gap, two points of light flickered. In the pitch-black darkness where even faint moonlight couldn't penetrate, red eyes glowed, gazing at the child deep in innocent slumber. They didn't dare approach, staying at a distance. The vertically slit pupils, elongated like a beast's, might seem at first glance like those of a predator stalking prey—but anyone who saw them up close would never think that. Those red eyes held unmistakable affection for the child, plain for all to see.
"........."
"...Yawn...."
The owner of those eyes, Saelli, stood there in the child's peaceful room for a long while. Her expression was serene, as if etching the sight into her memory forever. The faint smile on her lips carried that very wish.
"....Sweet dreams."
"...Mmm......"
"Ah...."
She murmured softly, too quiet for the child to hear. As if in response, the child's adorable sleep-talk continued. Saelli's face lit up with surprise for a moment as she glanced at Aris.
"....Heehee.."
A small curve formed on her lips at the sight of the sleep-talking child. Aris seemed deep in slumber, unlikely to wake anytime soon. Convinced no major disturbances would arise for the next few hours, Saelli slipped out of the room as quietly as possible, taking care not to make a sound that might disturb her. Click. The door locked behind her.
Her footsteps, too faint for ordinary ears to detect, gradually faded from the room.
Crunch, crunch.
Quietly, ever so quietly.
Toward the distance.
Completely vanishing—
Twitch.
"........."
The child's finger jerked. In the unseen darkness, she smiled faintly.
Heehee.
A laugh she couldn't quite suppress. It echoed softly beneath the silent night sky.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was a small greed.
Preparing a meal for someone, sitting together at the table to eat. Holding hands under the warm sunlight, breathing in the fragrant scent of flowers. Realizing that sleep marked not the end of a weary day, but anticipation for an exciting tomorrow—I had no choice but to admit it then. I could never return to those old days.
"—Kweeeh, kweeehk!!"
"......."
One who has lived their whole life in darkness doesn't know what darkness is. Likewise, a monster who has spent eternity in loneliness can't recognize its own solitude. Amid scorn and persecution, it slowly grew accustomed to them. Because that was natural. Because that was all of life.
—But unfortunately, the monster learned love.
"Kweeehk!! Kwee, kweeee!!"
".....Yeah, I suppose so."
It was just one day. Exactly one day. Tomorrow, I'd tell her everything. That the one who saved her wasn't some kind, reliable big-sister type. That it was a monster who devoured people and reveled in it, who secretly licked her wounds and sucked her blood with those creepy red eyes.
I'd unwrap the bandages I'd forcibly kept in place and reveal the hidden lie. To Aris—
'.....Aris—'
'Ellie sis!! Look!! I made this so hard—!'
'.......'
'U-um, is it... a mess..?'
I'd tell her—
'Heehee....'
'Aren't you hot?'
'It's hot, but... I like this better!'
.....After steeling myself—
'—You can't leave the green peppers.'
'E-eh..!?'
'....I can see it all.'
'U... uuu....'
..........The truth.
'—Ellie sis, I love you!!'
'......!!!'
I tried to tell her. But I couldn't betray Aris. The thought of her looking at me with fear was too terrifying. I just wanted this brief, happy time in our fragile glass castle to go undisturbed. Tomorrow, I'd say it. No, next week. At the end of this month. After spring passed and the flowers wilted, everything—
...A day passed, a week, a month.
Before I knew it, half a year had gone by since Aris first came to my home. Yet the bandages she changed every morning still covered her eyes, never unwrapped even after all that time. Tightly bound, unyielding.
I'd missed my chance.
Would it have been fine if I'd revealed everything back at the beginning, when we barely knew each other? If I'd braced for rejection and confessed it all? Every night before sleep, hypotheticals haunted me. If only this, if only that. If it had been me, truly me. Back then, at that moment, this time. The what-ifs chained endlessly, the gap between a happy illusion and harsh reality tormenting me until late dawn.
No, I should have said it even during those agonizing deliberations.
Haha. Hahaha....
Squelch!
"Ha..."
"Kwe... kweeehk..... kwoo..."
But now, it was far too late.
It started as a small act, not wanting my true nature known. To hide that lie, another piled on. And another. Like a snowball, growing larger and larger.
Roll, roll. The snowball tumbles. On a snow-capped mountain, it rolls down. A tiny, fist-sized clump, tightly packed. That little fist rolls into a head, the head into a body, the body into a person, the person into a tree, the tree into a forest, the forest into a mountain. Small lies became flesh and blood for each other, until they avalanched into something that buried everything.
Now, there was no turning back.
Really.
Where did it all go wrong?
—Sob sob.
"...Kwe....eh......"
"...Ha... haha..."
Fading eyes, empty and dimming with life. Yet the wild boar, clinging to its final spark for its own sake—or something else—tried to flee from me. A futile struggle, nothing more. In those eyes burning with faint will, I was reflected. In eyes filled with terror, the monster was reflected.
Still pulsing faintly, that unidentified crimson lump of flesh in my hand, a woman soaked head to toe in blood. Riiip, I tore a strip from the meat in my grip with my teeth. Splat, a fresh sound like bursting fruit juice. The boar's whitening eyes captured the image of something—its face drenched in spurting blood.
Ahh.
Yeah, maybe it was wrong from the very start.
"—Did I do wrong?"
"......."
The carcass grew cold and stiff. I knew a dead thing like a wild boar couldn't answer. Still, I had to ask.
I had no choice but to ask.
"Did I do wrong?"
"......."
"This time too, is it me, my very existence!! That you want to call wrong—!!!"
Three days. Three days I'd endured this filthy, horrific, ugly, repulsive, grotesque act. The urges, once held back for over a month, had shortened in cycle. I could still last over a week at first, but after stopping Aris's blood, the intervals shrank rapidly—now, even every other day was a struggle.
Of course, I'd tried to resist at first. For the child sleeping peacefully beside me, I fought it. Scratching my throat, breaking my fingers, even considering yanking out all my teeth. But I failed. My esophagus burned like swallowing boiling oil, my lungs writhed like sand dancing inside. It hurt. It ached. As if the pain itself reminded me I wasn't human.
Even in the damp dawn air thick with moisture, my mouth was a desert, parched, seeking something to quench this scorching thirst. Blood and flesh. A small life.
—Aris.
"Pffft, hahaha..... hahahaha!"
"......."
"Haha... haha... hahaha...."
I laughed.
Bent over, squeezing the meat in my hand until it burst, I laughed. Squish, blood sprayed everywhere. Faced with this pathetic reality, I could only laugh.
—Yes, my body craved Aris.
Sweet enough to melt my brain, tangy enough to cleanse every corner of my mouth. That demonic temptation I still recalled at inopportune moments. Even my final vow—to prove I wasn't raising her like livestock—was mocked as my body yearned for her blood and flesh.
Yes, this was punishment. For the monster crueler and eviler than any other, who bound an innocent, unknowing canary and locked her in a tiny cage.
"Ha.... haha......"
"......"
When the sun set and countless stars filled the night sky, more lives awakened and stirred than there were stars. In that bustling place, only my laughter echoed now. The rustling underbrush fell deathly silent. Animals, even insects, clamped their mouths shut. Terrified their sounds might leak, might alert me, they fled with all their might.
Fear.
"—Hahaha.... hahahaha!!"
You fear me too, don't you? Of course you do. It was so obvious it made me nauseous, amused, murderous. I had to laugh. Lost in a trance, I hurled mocking laughter at the silent corpses. Laughing, and laughing again.
"—Sis...?"
"—Huh?"
Creak.
My head turned.