Listen carefully, for the world you think you know... is a lie.
Sin does not linger in the shadows. It does not hide, rather, walks among you and me.
Shaped by our greed, our lust, our envy and much more...
It breathes. It waits. And one day, it will claim us all.
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Date - September 20th 2022.
A Tuesday morning, the time was exactly 5:32 AM.
The sky was a heavy slate, clouds swallowing the last hints of night. Mist crawled through Fukui's streets like ghostly fingers, chilling the air to a damp bite. No wind stirred, just a cold, wet stillness that cuddled with the ambient silence in a haunting embrace.
We start off at an abandoned warehouse, junk piled against the walls of the exterior. Almost deliberately....
Inside however seemed empty, until a young girl was spotted nestled gracefully at a corner.
Her height while sleeping was nothing more than average, the same went for her looks and size. All about the measurements of an early teen.
As if just feeling the cold hard surface, she groggily rose from the bare floor. Rubbing her cheek to ease the uncomfortable feeling.
After some seconds. She let out a slow, drawn-out "Yawwwwwn~", shattering the dead silence in the warehouse. Her raspy voice echoed off the walls, sending rats scurrying for cover.
She smacked her dry lips twice, then finally spoke.
"Ow, goodness.... my neck!" She wiped her eyes, shaking off the sleep. Her back ached badly, like the floor had decided to imprint itself on her spine. Definitely not the comfiest bed she'd ever had.
She took a deep breath still half asleep and clapped both hands.
"Okay, Inori! Today is the day! It's your birthday!"
She grinned with glee, her joy evident in her high pitched voice.
As Inori was now fully awake, she glanced around. Still seated on the hard concrete.
Her gaze ping-ponged around the warehouse, taking in the crumbling walls, the junk-strewn floor, and the incomplete roofing. Her eyes snapped to her outfit which felt uncomfortably snug, a little tight infact.
Behold, it was a full body wrapping with white bands of cloth, stopping exactly at her neck, most certainly not her usual sleepwear given her confused expression.
The excitement drained out of her like air from a popped balloon, and Inori asked an obvious question.
"Where...am I?" she whispered to herself with a voice laced with panic. This wasn't her bedroom, not even close.
"What's going on?" Her eyes frantically scanned the space, landing on rats scavenging in a corner, their beady eyes glitching in the dim light.
Inori's gaze swung to the wall, where a dried red stain spelled out
'Good luck'
in neat, deliberate letters - English words in such setting, written with a precision that sent a chill down her spine. A scenario enough to frighten any teenage girl.
Her pulse immediately thundered to life, sweat beading on her forehead like a cold rash as her lips quivered in fear.
The terrible aroma of over due garbage exuded from God knows where, mixed with the pungent scent of engine oil, both clawing at her throat. Making her nauseous.
Inori scrambled to her feet, standing up in a haste. The panic had jolted her fully awake. "What is this? Where am I?!" She bellowed, fear and annoyance wrestling in her tone.
With no answers coming, Inori sucked in a breath and forced herself to size up the situation.
'This can't be real...am I dreaming?'
Inori was puzzled but logically reasoned. The scenario was far too fetched, a strange place in strange clothes. The thought almost made her laugh.
It simply felt like a nightmare.
And with that, a weird calm washed over her as she landed on the thought. "I'm having a crazy dream." Inori almost giggled, slightly embarrassed for reacting so much minutes ago.
"How strange...it feels so realistic too, is it because today is my special day?"
She spoke to herself, Inori decided to shrug it off. She then searched for the exit, using only sensory details since it still pitch black in the morning.
Outside, Her monologue continued.
"I need to wake up, Father must be waiting for me. He even came home a day early so we could celebrate."
A smile appeared on her face as she walked about.
Her eyes gawking at heaps of junk metal stacked like trophies.
"Creepy..." She muttered while maintaining a normal pace, the crunch from her footsteps being the only sound present.
Inori called out for her dad, half-expecting him to answer, but a grumpy voice snapped back, telling her to shut up, some people were trying to sleep. She winced, apologized to whoever just spoke, and kept walking.
After about 10 minutes, now considerably leaving where she woke up, Inori found herself in a small market, shops still closed shut and some flailing banners scribbled with kanji.
Amidst all the silence, she muttered with a dead serious face.
"I have to wake up."
She homed in on a wooden fence, gripped a plank, and wrenched it loose.
The plank snapped free with a loud crack, jolted the man inside from his sleep. "H-hey?!" He drowsily stood up from his futon and faced the window.
"What the heck are you doin'?! Who are you?!" He barked, causing dogs in the neighborhood to do the same.
"I'm s-so sorry sir, but please I need this for something!" Inori cradled the wood and ran to a secluded area away from the streets. Now under a bridge, she elegantly sat on the rocky floor with the plank in her hand. She brought the board to her scalp.
'This is a waste of time, I have to wake up.'
Her mind decided. Inori needed to end this illusion, it was getting old.
The Prime Minister being her father was extremely busy, finding time to celebrate her 14th birthday was no easy feat. This opportunity could not be wasted on some realistic nightmare.
"Rather than waiting to wake up....I'll... I'll just...end it in the dream." Her voice was stark. Desperate to jolt herself awake, Inori recalled how she'd always snapped out of nightmares when things got terrible.
However, she was obviously shaking from the statement, but she still slowly stretched the plank away from her head-about to crack her skull.
'I can do this.'
A quick mental pep-talk. She tried clearing her mind to no avail, her heart pounded and her hands trembled. Cold sweat ran on her skin, the feeling too vivid not to call this real.
Her body seemed to betray her, refusing to move a muscle related to self-harm.
Of course, no one could commit suicide at will so easily, but today was special.
She needed to "wake up" and celebrate with her father.
Inori breathed in, then out. She mustered all of her strength then acted.
Bash!
The sound of bone cracking echoed like a gunshot.
The impact startled nearby crows, sending them scattering into the sky-That was unmistakably painful.
As the feathers of the crows landed, Inori could be seen seated with the blood stained board.
Later letting go, causing it clatter on the floor.
Her eyes quickly teared up as her brows rose in agony.
"Arrrggghhhhhhhbh!!!!"
She cried like a mad man, her body rolled on the floor as if set on fire, Inori tried her best to stop the bleeding as her forehead had been lacerated.
"OH GOD IT HURTS!!!" Screaming only made it worse, like gasoline on fire - the pain in her skull intensified. It felt like the wound was searing, driving her to stumble to the lake, plunge her forehead into the cool water.
Eventually, her wailing died down, pain dulling to a throb. She sat frozen as her bloodied hands trembled. The world around her didn't fade, didn't flicker. It waited.
In the presence of the pain she just felt, she finally acknowledged.
"This...isn't a dream."
With a voice barely audible, Inori was certain. Then what was she doing in such a random location?
"Perhaps I was kidnapped?" Her second theory.
"No, that shouldn't be possible...Father was at home, meaning his protection was more than enough!"
She contemplated her situation as she rubbed her forehead, Inori stood up and decided to return the plank she removed from that poor mans fence.
Headed back to the bridge, She placed her hand on her chin, her mind searched for every possible solution to this conundrum. Finally settling with with the most obvious answer.
"Ah! I just need to call father on the telephone, I'll tell him I was kidnapped and he should come rushing to save-"
She suddenly halted. Rapidly shifting her head in search of something.
Inori suddenly got goosebumps as dread filled the atmosphere. It got...odd...
"I smell, blood... animal blood."
Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she turned around looking for the source of the scent. The smell of blood, goat blood to be precise, flowed through the air as Inori got closer and closer.
The scent was strangely pungent as if appearing from nowhere. Since Inori had already passed there minutes ago.
Her instincts screamed at her to turn back, to flee from this feeling of unease that settled in the pit of her stomach, but curiosity got the better of her.
She followed her nose to a local temple nestled between two larger buildings, just before the base of the bridge.
Expecting to see a slaughter house where animals were killed, her brows furrowed upon seeing a normal building.
A faint sound with negligible decibels echoed through the alley, gently grasping Inori's attention.
'...I hear... chewing?'
Inori peeped, the source of the sound came adjacent where she stood.
Her heart skipped a beat as she peered into the darkness, her eyes adjusted to the lack of light as she finally saw IT.
A large shell blocked the scenery, but Inori leaned in closer for a better look. "What in the world....?" She spoke aloud demanding a reply.
- At exactly 5:55, for the first time in her 14 years of living. Tabata Inori witnesses a Sinner.
It was a 15 feet tall snail-like creature, its body crouched as it nibbled on the corpse beneath it, revealing the mans organs torn through his flesh. Lazily chewing as if not enjoying the meal.
Its color palette consisted of completely dark red skin-however its shell was accompanied with black dots resembling...a lady bug?
It had unrealistically huge eyes, looking animated, something otherworldly, but the immaculate details on its body made sure to spell reality.
Simply put - THIS WAS NO DREAM.