Chapter 268 - 264: Mysterious Girl

Chapter 268: Chapter 264: Mysterious Girl

Matsuda Yumi felt a chill run through her entire body. Every inch of her skin prickled as if with static electricity, goosebumps erupting in less than a second.

As the head rolled, its ghastly white face was still frozen in an expression of sheer terror. It was one of the parking garage security guards. Even without his hat, Matsuda Yumi recognized the middle-aged man who occasionally helped her back into her parking spot.

Except now, only two bloody holes remained where his eyes should have been.

It took every ounce of her willpower to stifle a scream. She glanced in the direction the head had rolled from but saw no other body parts, nor was there a killer in sight.

Yumi’s face was pale. She tried to suppress her ragged breathing as she scanned her surroundings. The entire parking garage seemed to be empty, save for herself.

Only a few seconds had passed since she discovered the head.

Gritting her teeth, Yumi pressed the unlock button on her key fob.

The BEEP of the car unlocking made Yumi’s heart leap. The sound was deafeningly loud in the silent parking garage.

She scrambled to the driver’s side, yanked open the door, and dove into the seat. She slammed the door shut and started the engine.

The series of actions was a single, fluid motion—the peak of her performance since she’d first gotten her license.

VROOOM~~

She slammed her foot on the gas, and the Honda shot backward out of the space like a wild animal.

CRASH! It slammed into the car behind it.

Ignoring the dizzying impact and the damage to her car and the other, Yumi immediately shifted into drive, cranked the wheel, and sped forward.

An eerie black shadow flashed in front of the car.

"AHHH!!!" VROOOM~~

Just like countless other terrified female drivers, Matsuda Yumi screamed, her foot flooring the accelerator and refusing to let up.

A THUD—it felt like she had hit something, but it could have just been the car jolting.

A dozen or so seconds later, the battered Honda smashed through the automatic sensor gate and burst out of the TV station’s parking garage.

"Hello? Hello... *huff... puff*... P-Police Department? Over here... Someone’s been killed..."

Despite having been speeding down the road for several minutes, Matsuda Yumi could still barely form a coherent sentence. Even the goosebumps on her skin refused to subside.

The suffocating fear she’d just experienced was utterly bizarre. The moment she saw the black shadow, a terror that seemed to erupt from the depths of her soul had consumed her.

Over half an hour later, though extremely reluctant, Matsuda Yumi was back in the building’s underground parking garage.

This time, however, she was not alone.

The crime scene was cordoned off with tape. Numerous officers from the East Great Capital Police Department were present, and a crowd of onlookers, including some staff from the TV station, had gathered at the perimeter.

Yumi’s grandfather, Matsuda Masayuki, was by her side, comforting her.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK...

Under the glare of camera flashes, the severed head was being photographed from every angle.

A police officer in a trench coat stood at the start of the blood trail, his brow furrowed as he stared toward the spot where the head lay.

’Where’s the rest of the body? And why is there so little blood?’

The man looked up at Matsuda Yumi, who still looked pale and shaken.

"Ms. Matsuda, when you came down earlier, was the head you saw rolling?"

Hearing the officer’s question, Yumi thought back for a moment, then nodded in response.

"Yes. I was about to get into my car from the side when I discovered Mr. Ichinose’s..."

"And according to your earlier statement, you didn’t see the rest of the body or the killer, is that correct?"

Matsuda Yumi hesitated for a second before nodding.

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation. If you remember any other important details, please contact us immediately. You can go home and rest now."

Matsuda Masayuki nodded at the officer, then turned to his granddaughter with concern.

"Yumi, your car got hit a few times. Are you hurt? We should go to the hospital for a check-up. Your parents have already canceled their vacation and are flying back from overseas."

As Matsuda Yumi and her grandfather were turning to leave, the word "hit" suddenly triggered a memory.

"Wait! Officer, I just remembered something!"

Hearing her shout, the officer in the trench coat and a female officer walked over.

"What is it, Ms. Matsuda?"

Yumi recounted the story of the black shadow she had seen while driving, the one she thought might have been a trick of the eyes.

Listening to her description, which was peppered with words like "maybe," "seemed like," and "not sure," the female officer couldn’t help but ask...

"Miss Matsuda, are you sure you hit something? Could it have been a hallucination brought on by fear?"

It’s possible for people to hallucinate when experiencing extreme terror, affecting both intuition and vision. For example, some people feel like they’re being watched in the dark when they’re scared, and the shadow of a pillar could easily be mistaken for a monster in that state.

"Well... I’m not sure..."

"Ms. Matsuda, you said you felt the car hit it?"

"I... I’m not really sure..."

Yumi couldn’t be certain of anything now, especially after hearing the female officer’s explanation.

The officer looked at her, then offered a small smile.

"Okay, we understand. Thank you again for your cooperation. Go on home and get some rest."

After the old and young members of the Matsuda Family got into another car and left, the officer in the trench coat returned to the edge of the cordoned-off area.

The female officer was already carefully examining the front of Matsuda Yumi’s Honda.

"Find anything? Any signs of impact?"

The officer walked over and saw his partner looking at a small scratch on the bumper.

"Just this. But I suspect Miss Matsuda scraped it against a wall or something in her panic."

"Hmm. Run a trace on all vehicles that left the garage earlier. I suspect the rest of the body is hidden in one of them. The head was likely left behind, either through negligence or for some other reason."

"Also, get a search warrant. With the TV station’s cooperation, we’ll search the building. I suspect the dismemberment site is somewhere upstairs."

"Yes, sir!"

...

The Matsuda Family lived in a traditional-style villa with its own courtyard. Inside, it was all wooden floors, tatami mats, and sliding paper doors. The outer veranda, however, had been fitted with aluminum and glass sliding doors for weatherproofing.

After the whole ordeal, Yumi, who normally got off work at eight, didn’t get home with her grandfather until almost ten.

The elderly don’t have the same stamina as the young, so Matsuda Masayuki went to bed first. Although Yumi had put on a brave face for her grandfather, as if she had recovered, she was still panicking inside and couldn’t possibly sleep.

So she sat alone in the living room, watching TV.

WOOF WOOF WOOF~ The mixed-breed Shiba Inu in the yard suddenly started barking, and Yumi’s heart leaped into her throat.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~

"Miss Matsuda, please open the door for me."

When Yumi turned to look, she saw a pretty girl in a high school uniform standing outside the aluminum sliding door on the veranda.

"Miss Matsuda, I’m Makino Hikari’s daughter. Please let me in!"

Makino Hikari was a senior colleague at the TV station who had always looked out for her. Looking at the girl, Yumi could see a faint resemblance, which greatly lowered her guard.

Good looks have their natural advantages. Or perhaps it was because Matsuda Yumi was afraid of being alone right now. Seeing a delicate-looking girl standing out in the cold, she opened the door.

"How did you get in? Was the courtyard gate open?"

The girl ignored the question after stepping inside and got straight to the point. "Miss Matsuda, you’re in danger!"

"Huh?"

’Does this girl know who the killer is?’

The high school girl, seemingly wanting to avoid any misunderstanding, explained with a serious expression.

"You’re being targeted by a Demon!"

"Huh?"

This "huh" was far more bewildered than the first. Matsuda Yumi was completely baffled.

"A Demon?"

’Is that the killer’s nickname?’

She was already planning to go get her phone and call the police with this new lead.

"Mhm!"

The girl glanced outside, slid the aluminum and glass veranda door shut, then walked into the living room and sat down as if she owned the place, placing her school bag on the low table.

The girl’s series of actions seemed remarkably practiced, as if she were nonverbally declaring, ’I’m not just any ordinary high school student.’

Yumi watched this, a frown creasing her brow. She went to the kitchen, took a drink from the fridge, and then sat down at the table as well.

"I’ll have the honey citron tea, thanks!"

’What an overly familiar girl,’ Yumi thought. She handed her the requested tea and waited for her to continue.

"Don’t disbelieve me, Sister Matsuda."

After taking a sip of the honey citron tea, the girl had, in a short span of time, already upgraded her form of address from "Miss Matsuda" to "Sister Matsuda."

"Demons are real! They exist in this world! I only figured this out six months ago. And all those hacks at the temples and shrines in this country are just fakes, all for show!"

The girl spoke with righteous conviction, her tone a mix of arrogance and disdain.

This sentence made Yumi realize that "Demon" wasn’t a nickname, but the idea itself was just absurd.

"I remember Mr. Makino’s daughter is named Xiangnai, right?"

"Yep! I’m Makino Xiangnai. Just call me Xiangnai."

She vaguely recalled how Mr. Makino had complained to her long ago that his daughter was a bit too eccentric. Back then, she had just laughed and said that’s how high schoolers are, but now, she was beginning to understand.

Still, Japan’s anime industry is a major cultural icon, and even Yumi herself was a huge fan. It was normal for a young girl to be into that stuff. But she shouldn’t be making jokes about a murder case. That was not okay!