2 The Laughing Cat

Her shoulder, which had been slashed, ached profusely. The blood refused to stop.

Pressing her shoulder with her hand, the girl slid her body into the room in which the door lay open. Breathing hard, as if hyperventilating, she crouched tremulously beside the room's rusted and tattered bed.

Wherever she ran, the passage was seamless. There were dozens and hundreds of doors lined with iron bars. Once the rust began to thicken, the girl's strength drained away and she retreated to a nearby room.

A song can be heard. This song, what could it be…? A high-pitched, out-of-tune voice with a grating melody.

"Oh, Happy… day." With a chuckle, the rabbit from earlier approached her, singing and scraping the floor with his sickle. "It stinks, it stinks! Alice! You reek of blood! I smell rotting blood! You're close, you're close!"

The rabbit's voice was screeching and hysterically screaming. Hurriedly, the girl covered the wound on her shoulder with her hand and sucked in a breath, desperately attempting to stop it.

"It's no use trying to hold your breath… The bleeding won't stop! You can't stop the stinking blood! The wound rots and turns to mush, and then it turns to sludge and flows down! Congratulations, Alice! Today is also the anniversary of decomposition!"

The rabbit's footsteps halted at the entrance of the room, chuckling along with unintelligible lines.

"Here! It smells so fishy in here! It stinks, it stinks, it stinks! A happy day!" The rabbit entered the room. Struggling to compose her heart that was on the verge of exploding, the girl tensed up. She could hear the sound of the rabbit stepping on stone… barely.

In the midst of her fear of incontinence, the rabbit paused in front of the bed and started humming. The voice was growing progressively closer. Desperately, the girl closed her eyes and shrank back. No matter how long it lasted, nothing happened. Yet she could hear the song. Right before her eyes.

After a minute or two, the girl gently opened her thin eyes to check on the situation and let out a… piercing squeal. Right in front of her was the upside-down head of a rabbit. The neck of the giant stuffed animal was shredded and extended by what looked like a cable. And its head went around and via the top, peering at the girl.

"Good evening, Alice!" There was a chuckle in a raspy voice, and then its mouth snapped open. Rusty nails were arranged in a snaggletooth pattern with their sharp edges facing outward.

Slowly, the circular saw came up and the rusty blade started to spin. The circular saw ceased right in front of the girl, who was hunched over and had her back pressed against the bed. Then the rabbit bobbed its head.

The girl let out a screech as the saw grazed her cheek. The button eyes of the rabbit swayed inorganically.

"Ah, Alice. Alice, oh… Alice. I like you. I love you. So I won't kill you away. First, I'm going to remove your fingers one by one. Then I'm gonna rip your toenails off. One by one! I'll gouge out your eyes! Scrape your nose! Tear off your ears! Let me hear your death cry!"

The circular saw swayed in front of the girl's eyes.

"Please drive me wild with your beautiful voice! Oh, I'm so excited! I'm so happy! It's the anniversary!"

"Help me…" Holding her head down, the girl squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "Somebody help me!"

In a high-pitched voice, the rabbit giggled. It sounded pleased. With a voice that seemed to be amused. Then the circular saw drew nearer in a trajectory that chopped off the girl's head…

◇

The girl flung open her eyes and scanned her surroundings. Blood was all over the place. On the floor were scattered cotton and some unknown objects.

Her body was soaked with blood; she raised herself up in a daze. The rabbit's head had fallen before her eyes.

"Hii…" She let out a yelp and stiffened in fright. The head of the stuffed animal was lying on the ground with its mouth half open and a circular saw slung down like a tongue. From the shredded cable flowed a reddish-black liquid that seemed to be blood.

"W-What… what is…?" She stood up with a small mutter, turned around, and gulped. The creature that had been severed from its body in a diagonal slash was standing erect. The upper half of the body was lying on the floor and the lower half of the body could be seen standing there swaying. Blood-like liquid was spurting intermittently from the disconnected surface of the lower half of the body.

The swaying lower half of the stuffed animal toppled over before the shivering girl. Instantly, it shredded and crumbled to the floor with a drenching sound. The surface of the cut was sharp as if it had been severed with some kind of blade.

There were cords in some places and a lump of flesh peeking out. What seemed like a heartbeat pulsed through the flesh of the stuffed animal's chest. It gradually decelerated, and then ceased.

A pool of dark blood spread out around her. Soaking her bare feet in it, the girl stood there in utter disbelief.

… A living thing…?

Was this a living thing? But the flesh was certainly moving. The splattering also seemed to be blood. But the cords were also visible.

What is this…?

Her head was all messed up. Nothing made sense.

There, the girl held her breath as she watched the walls illuminated by the incandescent light on the ceiling. Countless gashes had been carved all over the wall, as if by claws belonging to some huge predator. It was made of stone, yet there were numerous gashes on it. The rabbit seemed to have been struck by it.

"Who is it…?"

When she whispered discreetly, from behind came the voice of someone.

"It's you, Alice." A voice called out to her, and she turned around as if she had been played. It was a boy's voice.

On the blood-soaked bed, a small cat appeared and stood there. It had never been there before, yet like a mirage, it appeared. The cat's mouth twisted up in a grimace, and it flashed a snarky smile.

It was an odd-looking cat, as black as mud, with eyes as red as fresh blood. On his tail was tied a white ribbon. As the girl looked around, the cat widened his mouth.

"You killed it. You killed that rabbit."

A voice could be perceived from the cat. The girl wore a confused look on her face, to which the cat continued.

"It's me. Right before you, and I am speaking to you. My name is 'Laughing Cat'… You can call me Raffi."

The cat, who identified himself as Raffi, directed his red eyes at the girl and broke into a small laugh.

"What's the matter with you? Alice. You're awake, aren't you? Hurry up and get out of here."