He was in the same room, wearing the same dress.

Who put him in it anyway? It was nice and all, but the idea of someone stripping him naked and putting the dress on him wasn’t exactly reassuring.

Ella got up from the velvet chair in the corner of the room and made his way to the window. Outside, the same grass-covered hills rolled into the distance until they were met with a wall of trees. It was overcast, but definitely midday. In other words, it wasn’t dark, and it wasn’t raining. Hopefully whatever chased him was gone.

He exited the room. To the right was a long hallway that led to the inner garden. The cat might still be there, but with how the conversation had progressed he didn’t particularly want to go to find out.

He supposed he could try to find the exit, but he wouldn’t even know where to start. The mansion was gigantic, and even if he did make it out, he would have to walk through the field and then to the forest. There was no way of knowing how long it would take to find the city. Besides, he wasn’t exactly dressed for the trip.

The piano. He could hear the piano being played somewhere in the house. He looked to the left, and saw that the hallway continued in the opposite direction. Picking up the sides of the frilly dress, he turned left and walked briskly toward the sound.

He passed by a few doors, but didn’t bother to stop to check them. As long as he was unarmed, he didn’t want to wander around the house more than he needed to. If he followed the piano, he would find the right room.

The sound got clearer and clearer, and finally he stood in front of the room. He couldn’t help but hesitate as he reached out for the doorknob. After all, that thing had appeared when the piano stopped playing. If he opened this door, would he inadvertently alert it to his location? Even worse, was it in this room?

“God damn it,” he looked down at the dress. If he was going to die, at least he would do it in style. He turned the knob, and flung it open.

The music stopped. In front of him, he could see two couches facing each other in front of a lit fireplace. On one side of the room were bookshelves. In the corner of opposite side was a piano, and a man sitting at it with his back turned.

“Excuse me,” Ella choked out.

The man turned around in his seat. He was much younger than Ella expected, only around ten years older than himself. He wore a white button up shirt, and black slacks with a black tie. Ella was a little disappointed his clothing wasn’t something flashier to match the dress. Now he just felt out of place. Even something as simple as a top hat would have helped.

“Please, come in,” the man said.

“I’m sorry,” Ella stuck his head in, peaking around the room before entering and closing the door behind him. “Is this your house?”

“It isn’t.”

“Okay,” Ella walked further into room, but kept his distance. “Well where are we then?”

The man rubbed his chin and smiled. “I’m afraid I have no idea.”

Ella sighed. Despite seeming just as clueless as he was, he was relieved to find someone that seemed to be on the same page as him. “How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here as long as I can remember,” he smiled weakly, looking straight into Ella’s eyes.

“Years?”

“Probably.”

Ella shuffled his feet. “You’ve never tried to leave?”

“I suppose I have,” the man rose from his seat, walking over to the fireplace with slow, deliberate steps. “Won’t you sit with me?”

Ella glanced around the room again, but then moved to one of the couches and sat down. The man did the same.

“I’m… Ella. What’s your name?”

“Can’t remember.”

“Of course you can’t,” Ella narrowed his eyes. He was either dealing with an amnesiac, or someone as secretive as K. The chance that this guy was an alien was about fifty-fifty. “So why haven’t you left this place?”

The man looked at Ella as if he was expecting him to go on, but then laughed. “Well when I first got here, I was just set on exploring, you see.”

“The house?”

“The house, the field, the forest,” the man said. “Everything I could, really.”

“What’s out there?” Ella asked. “In the forest, I mean. Are there other houses?”

“As far as I saw, no,” the man said. “But there’s so much here. So much to see.”

“Like what?”

“It takes my breath away,” the man’s eyes lit up as he spoke. “There are things here that I only dreamt I’d see. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Uh, okay,” Ella said. “You’re not giving me much to go off of.”

“You would have to see for yourself.”

“I’d really rather not,” Ella mumbled to himself.

“What was that?” The man asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “So have you ever found anyone else during all this time?”

“Of course I did,” the man smiled. “I found you, after all.”

Ella frowned. The man reminded him more and more of K by the second, and in the worst way possible. “I meant before today.”

“I met you.”

Ella tilted his head to the side. “Huh?”

“You really don’t remember, do you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about us meeting before,” the man said. “Dozens of times. Always asking the same questions, always wearing that same dress. Always mumbling to yourself about you’d rather not see for yourself.”

“What are you talking about?” Ella’s heart dropped. “This is only the second time I’ve been here, and the first time I’ve ever seen you.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“I don’t know you,” Ella stood up, his legs trembling. “I’m leaving.”

“Wait,” the man stood up. “Something isn’t right.”

Ella hurried to the door but stopped before opening it. Somewhere in the house, he could hear something. Voices.

“Clear!” a man yelled.

“This room’s clear too!” said another.

There was someone else in the house.

“Who is that?” Ella took a step back and turned around, but the man was gone.

Loud banging noises echoed from the room next door. Whoever it was, they were only a wall away from him.

There was no lock on the door. He had to block it. Ella rushed to the piano, picking up the seat. He then wedged it under the doorknob.

Once the seat was in place, he ran back over to the piano, attempting to hide himself behind it.

His heart was pounding. It pounded so furiously, he thought it might be audible to whoever was in the room next door.

“Clear!”

The sound of the knob being jiggled around, and then something banging against it. The door cracked, and with the second impact, fell to pieces as if it were nothing more than a stack of blocks.

Five men in black swat gear and gas masks poured into the room. Ella put his hand over his mouth to keep himself from screaming, but there was already no point. The men spotted him immediately.

“On your feet! Hands in the air!” One barked. The five men carried guns, and each of them was pointing the barrel right at him.

Ella trembled. He had never even seen a real gun, let alone had five pointed at him. He slowly rose to his feet, his hands pointed straight above him.

“Now slowly, come out from behind that piano,” the voice was slightly muffled by the gasmask. “Don’t move those fucking hands!”

Ella did as he was told. Tears streaming down his face, he took a step out from the corner.

“Now I want you to lie on the floor,” the same man said, a little calmer this time. By the way he was talking, he seemed like the leader of the group. “Keep your hands up.”

He got on his knees, then laid himself out of the ground. Questions raced through Ella’s mind. Who were these people? What did they want with him?

“Okay,” the captain approached him. “Now keep still while we cuff you.”

Ella flinched as the man knelt down next to him, taking a pair of handcuffs from his belt. He yanked his arms behind him, slapping the cuffs tight around his wrists.

Suddenly, gun shots rang out from somewhere else in the house.

“What the hell?” One of them yelled.

Someone in the hallway screamed. Then another. Then it was the sound of at least ten and countless shots ringing out.

It was unlike anything Ella had heard before. It was nothing like the movies. These screams were on a whole different level. They were of pure terror. Not like men, but animals. It sent a chill through his entire body.

“What the fuck’s going on out there?” One of the men yelled.

“I’ll cuff this one,” the captain shouted over the gunfire. “Get out there!”

As if on cue, the gunfire ceased and the cries of the other men were cut off like a needle coming off of a record. The light coming from the hallway dimmed, leaving only the fireplace.

The other four men moved their guns to the ready, crowding around the edges of the doorway. They went quiet, but Ella could hear the sound of them quivering as they breathed through their masks.

They stood like that for what felt like ages. Finally, they nodded to each other, and all took a step forward to exit the room.

Just then, Ella spotted something at the top of the doorframe. “U-u-up!” he screamed. “Above you!”

Blood sprayed everywhere as a shadowy humanoid figure launched itself onto one of the men, using its razor sharp teeth to rip into his neck before any of them could react.

“Son of a bitch!” One of them aimed his gun at the creature.

“Stand down!” The captain tried to yell over the sound, but it was already too late. The monster launched off its victim and the man was pelted with bullets in its place. It landed on another, knocking him to the floor. It battered him with its claws, sending blood, fingers, and chunks of bone flying everywhere.

“Fuck!” The captain screamed. “Open fire!”

The captain and the two remaining men’s guns lit up as they fired at the dark figure. Ella’s ears were ringing. He felt like his head might split in half.

Bullets tore into the monster, spraying black blood all over the room and onto Ella’s face. It was cold like ice, and burned his skin.

He was going to die if he didn’t make a run for it. Adrenaline shot through him as he struggled to stand while handcuffed. He caught sight of the corpses of the two men. They were completely unrecognizable as human, turned into heaps of flesh. He tried to avert his eyes, but the damage had already been done. He vomited all over the carpet.

The men reached the end of their clips, all simultaneously fumbling to reload their guns. The black figure was undeterred, leaping at another one of the men, ripping apart his legs in a single swing. He fell to the floor screeching in agony.

“Kill it! Kill this fucking thing!” The man next to him took aim again.

The dark figure didn’t waste a second. It grabbed his head between its hands, smashing it like a grape. The man’s headless body convulsed, pulling the trigger of his weapon and firing bullets all over the wall before falling to the floor.

Either he or the captain would be next, and he wasn’t going to wait around to find out which one it would be. He had to run. Ella stumbled as he got up, then bolted toward the door. Gunshots from the last man rang out behind him as he passed the piles of what used to be people.

He made it out into the hallway. He went as fast as the dress would allow, hoping that the captain would last long enough for him to escape.

Who was he kidding? Where was he going to escape to, exactly? He was stumbling aimlessly through the halls of the mansion handcuffed and with no time to stop. Besides, even if he could make it out of the house, what was stopping that thing from chasing him down out in the field?

Something detonated far behind him, shaking the house. Maybe the captain had used some kind of grenade or explosive.

It was dark. Where ever he was, there were no windows, making the candles along the wall the only sources of light. Even if he could use his hands, there were no more doors in the hallway either.

“Keep running,” the captain huffed behind him. “It’s still alive.”

“Uncuff me!” his wrists were already rubbed raw.

“No time,” he ran ahead.

“Please!” Ella’s face streamed with tears. “You can’t just leave me to die!”

The man turned a corner and was out of site. Somewhere in the house behind them, the creature let out a shriek. It wouldn’t be long before it caught up with him.

“I don’t want to die!” Ella turned and continued down the corridor.

Ahead, the hallway ended. The captain was slamming up against a strange door. It was pitch black, and was covered an intricate maze-like design.

“Help me break this down,” the man yelled, ramming up against it.

As much as Ella didn’t want to do anything for him, he really had no choice. He ran forward, tackling the door. The impact sent a wave of pain through his body. It felt like he might have cracked a rib.

“It’s no use,” Ella said. “It’s too strong. Don’t you have any weapons?”

“I’m out of ammo,” the man said, readying himself for another assault on the door. “Now hurry up. We don’t have time for-.”

A clawed hand burst through his chest from behind. He tried to scream, instead making a terrible gurgling sound. The hand whipped him through the air, splattering him against the wall.

He was alone with it.

Ella pressed himself against the door. The monster was right in front of him, bearing down like a lion ready to pounce. Black and red. That’s all he could see. Its shining eyes pierced through him. Its long razor sharp teeth dripped with blood. It was over.

He would never see his family again. He would never be able to spend time with Urara. Even K was on his mind.

“I don’t want to die.”

It jumped at him.

Behind his back, his hands found the knob of the door. It turned and opened, sending him falling backward just as the shadow’s claws reached his chest.