“Aina!” Akira screamed at the top of his lungs. He had for a while now, but they had not even spotted a sign of her shadow. As if she had sunk into the ground.

The three of them had gone down the hill to search for her, nearly stumbling and toppling over numerous times in the process. Instead, they had been led to a glade, void of any presence, other than themselves.

A wave of disconcertment washed over Akira. I mean, she should be here, he told himself. It just didn’t make sense that she wasn’t.

Akira’s gaze drifted swiftly throughout the clearing. It was just another fraction of the forest, nothing standing out in particular. The sparse stones and pebbles beneath their feet overlaid the earth, scantily shrouded by dead, straw-like grass. Trees and shrubs hemmed them in, forming a circle around them. The only way out was either through the mass of congregating trees or mounting the hill back up.

If Aina wasn't here, maybe she had wandered off? It was a possibility, but why would she do that? They had only been separated from each other for a few minutes, so it didn't make sense. Unless she had been in a hurry – or danger.

Akira clenched his teeth. This could’ve only been his fault. If he hadn’t suggested his ridiculous idea, Aina would still be with them. No, if only he hadn’t suggested the test of courage in the first place. What was he thinking anyway? He was to blame if Aina was in danger right now. They had to find her, they just had to. Even if the world would end tonight, he would search for her until his last breath.

He inhaled the heavy air and filled his lungs with oxygen, as he roared again. “Aina!”

“Do you mind keeping your voice down, you whale?” Kazuya grumbled next to him. “You’re going to make me deaf.”

“Well, how do you suppose we find her, then?!” Akira snapped. “Do you have a better idea, or what?”

“No.”

“Then shut up, already! Stop talking if you have nothing to contribute!”

“Well, what you’re doing isn’t helping exactly either,” Kazuya talked back. “If Aina could hear us, don’t you think she would’ve shown up already?”

Akira opened his mouth to counter, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Just a second ago, he thought he had so much to explain, but right now it was as if the words were stuck in his throat. He gently closed his mouth again.

None of them spoke for at least a minute. That was when Akira detected the sound of heavy footsteps dragging through twigs and leaves, becoming louder and louder in his ears. He instantly neglected the anxiety which had welled up within him. Instead, hope grew inside him, like a feeble fire being lit, as it prayed not to go out.

It’s got to be Aina, he attempted to convince himself. It has to be.

Though, the fire burned out, as swiftly as it came to life. The hope inside Akira crumbled and turned to dust, the moment a tall figure with broad shoulders appeared from the tree mass. The wrinkles on his wide forehead and around his eyes told Akira, that he had to be around sixty years old. His face was thick with grime, and his clothes were ragged and torn. Sticks and amber leaves poked out of his thinning hair. He stood with a lit flashlight in his hand, looking equally as confused as Akira, Kazuya and Rini.

“What are you doing here?” He said with a raspy voice, and the furrows on his forehead deepened. “This place is dangerous. You must leave while you can, hurry!”

The three of them didn’t budge an inch. Akira never once removed the rays of his flashlight to another place than the man. This stranger reeked of suspicion, appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the night. And not to mention, in a forest where a demon had supposedly made its home.

“I think the question is ‘what are you doing here?’” Kazuya said.

That was, indeed, the question. And they all required an answer. Could he be the one responsible for the person who lost an arm? Or maybe he was the reason Aina was gone?

Or maybe he was…

“The d-d-demon!” Rini took a few paces backward in fright, nearly stumbling over her own feet. “That’s g-got to be the demon!”

“He’s not a demon!” Kazuya said hastily.

“I am not the demon!” the middle-aged man exclaimed at the same time. They shared a look for a second before Kazuya turned away his face.

“Hear me out,” the man said. “I am no demon, I swear. As a matter of fact, I entered this forest along with my comrades, by reason of the demon.”

“T-then the demon really exists?!” Rini asked and Akira heard Kazuya sigh for the hundredth time in the background.

The man nodded slowly. “Yes. I have seen it with my own two eyes.”

“There’s no way, mister,” Kazuya said. “You must’ve been dreaming.”

Akira caught a glimpse of annoyance in the man’s almond-colored eyes. “Then tell me, young man, supposing it was a dream, how come my comrades have yet to wake up?”

“Are you saying that the demon killed your friends?” Akira asked.

He waited with bated breath for an answer. The trees around them ceased to move their branches and leaves like they were listening along as the man spoke.

“Yes, that is precisely what I am saying,” the man replied with an unwavering expression on his face. He narrowed his eyes to such an extent, it nearly looked like he had shut them. “Well, to be more accurate, the demon devoured them.”

Akira couldn’t overhear Rini's rapid, heavy breaths, even if he tried. Her chest heaved as if she was nearly hyperventilating. Kazuya, on the other hand, wore the same blank expression he had worn throughout the entire night.

“Devoured them?” Akira’s voice was shaky. “Yasuhiro only told us that one would die if they didn’t grant the demon’s three requests. Not get… eaten,” he spat out the word.

“I see. So, that is how the legend is told nowadays. While it is accurate to some extent, the most crucial piece is omitted.” The man stepped a few paces forward. His eyes took on a far-away look as if he was gazing at everything and nothing at once. “The tombstones.”

Akira shared a look with Kazuya and Rini. “What are you talking about? What tombstones? We haven’t heard anything about that.”

“The tombstones emerge if one approaches the demon while both are in the forest, notwithstanding it being unintentional. At that instant, one’s fate is sealed.” The man took a deep breath. “And that is death.”

A chilly blast of wind swept through Akira’s messy hair, harshly lashing against his pale skin.

“I’m not following,” he said, almost in a whisper. He didn’t want to follow. He didn’t want to understand.

Though, the man continued: “Listen closely. This forest is the home of the demon. The implication of this is, that it makes the rules here. The act of someone approaching it alerts it, thus a personalized tombstone is created before them. Henceforth, the demon will address its requests. If that someone succeeds in fulfilling all of them, the tombstone will crumble down, in such a way that conceals it had appeared in the first place, and they will be free to walk away. However, if they refuse to fulfill even one request, the demon will consume them right then. Right there.”

Akira’s mouth was drier than a desert. Like sandpaper scratching against his throat, as he gulped.

“But that is not all,” the man said steadily, but with a husky voice. “The demon is capable of creating pawns. In other words, it can choose for the victims to be resurrected as an additional demon, much like itself.”

The three of them stood motionless as if thunder had struck down on them.

“That’s got to be a lie…” Akira whispered in disbelief, essentially to himself. It had to be a lie. If it wasn’t, they were surely going to…

Die.

“In the end, it’s nothing more than a legend.” Kazuya dragged Akira back to reality with his words. “It doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“I wish you were right, young man.”

“Stop calling me that, old geezer,” Kazuya sneered under his breath, but seemingly Akira was the only one who caught it.

“Except, I have witnessed it all with my own eyes. The demon…” – The man lowered his head, frowning and clenching his teeth – “… devoured my comrades ruthlessly before me. Even to this day, I have been incapable of forgetting that horrific sight.”

Akira deeply drew a shaky breath. A cold sweat trickled down his face, as he clenched his teeth beneath closed lips. He didn’t want to consider what this stranger had just told them to be true. Even if there was a one percent chance that it was the truth, Akira was to blame if any of their classmates died.

Or if some had already been eaten.

He felt such a tightness in his chest, he could hardly stand it. As if the guilt was eating him from within. He never should've opened his fricking mouth in the cottage, to begin with. What if Aina had fallen victim to the demon? What if Class Rep had died, because of his stupid suggestion? What if…

A thought suddenly popped up in his brain. A connection.

“What if that arm, we found earlier, was the demon’s doing?”

Dawned with realization, Rini widened her eyes in panic. “I knew this was a bad idea! I just knew we shouldn’t have done this. I want to go home!” she whined, not being able to conceal her emotions that well.

“That’s it,” Kazuya snapped. “I can’t believe you two would accept this old geezer’s story so easily. To begin with, there’s nothing that makes him a trustworthy source. What is he even doing in the forest, if he thinks a demon is living here? Does he have a death wish?”

The man grunted in response. “Did you forget what I told you? The demon makes the rules in this forest, thus it is capable of altering its layout and the directions of the pathways. It has not been my decision to remain here. I have been trapped in the forest for twenty years.”

Akira’s heart thumped in his chest like a drum. He felt a surge of panic rushing through him. That explained everything. Why they hadn’t been able to leave the forest, just like this man. And why they couldn’t find Aina, even though they went down the hill just minutes after her fall from it. Something was wrong. He had realized that the moment he discovered the severed arm.

“Wait a second,” Kazuya said. “Even if what you’re stating is the truth, only one person would know all of this information.”

Terror gripped Akira’s heart, as Kazuya spoke: “The demon.”

A heavy silence washed over the entire forest. Akira unintentionally held his breath, as if someone forcefully held a hand over his mouth and nose. He glared at the stranger in disbelief.

“You’re wrong, Kazuya.” Rini’s voice rung in Akira’s ears with such a strength, he thought it was a completely different person for a second. He had never heard her speak with such confidence. “I guess you’re the dummy this time.”

Kazuya rolled his eyes. “Just spill it out, already.”

“The tombstones,” Rini said. “If he's truly the demon, the tombstones would've appeared by now. That means we can trust him, don’t you think?”

Kazuya didn’t quarrel with her like he usually would. She made a valid point, after all. But still, something was off, Akira could tell. He simply couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Everything appeared ordinary, except for one thing. What was it?

Akira moved his eyes from place to place on the man. His clothes. His face. His worn-out shoes. His eyes. His almost non-existent hair. But it was none of that.

Suddenly, it hit him.

“Where did you get batteries that last for twenty years?”

The man's face stiffened, but his eyes gleamed with uncertainty, giving him away. “What do you speak of?”

“Your flashlight,” Akira pointed out. “It’s on. It runs on batteries, isn’t that right? How come they’re still working after twenty years?”

The man’s eyes widened as it dawned on him. “No! That is…”

To no one’s surprise, the overconfident person Rini had been before, became herself again. “H-he’s definitely the d-demon!”

She bent her body forward, stooping down and picking up a round stone, clenching it in her hand. Next thing Akira knew, she hurled it directly at the man’s face. Her aim was surprisingly good. Blood seeped out of the man’s nose, streaking his lips in bright crimson.

His eyebrows lowered and drew together. “You! –” He curled his hand into a fist and lifted his arm above his head.

Akira’s instincts took over. He glanced swiftly through the place. Then, he caught sight of a confined opening to their left, cutting through the woods, leading away.

“This way!” he yelled, as he broke into a run. Rini and Kazuya didn’t hesitate either.

If there was a slight chance, that the man had told them the truth, Akira just hoped the demon would be on their side for once and alter the directions of the pathways. Perhaps that way, the man would lose sight of them.