The Kennels, Part One

Agawa rushed to Sato's side, giving us no time to question her motives or protest. Then, after kneeling next to him, Agawa reached for his cheek; her hand trembled more with each inch of distance closed. 

Despite her determination, Agawa's hand halted just short of touching Sato's cheek. She stood frozen, a profound sense of fear etched on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kamida asked while gathering up Sato's knives.

I had the same question. With her uneasy expression and trembling, I didn't know if we could trust this girl with the task of carrying Sato. "Look, just let me handle it! I'll carr-," I began but was interrupted by a resounding clap that echoed throughout the room.

My initial reaction was one of confusion. 'Did...did she just slap herself?" I wondered, dumbfounded. 'What the hell exactly did that do?' I was about to voice my question when I noticed my answer in Agawa's unflinching eyes.

Following the slap, her cheek swelled and turned red, but the fear that was so prominent before had vanished completely.

Agawa reached out once more for Sato, this time succeeding and gently brushing his hair back with affection. "I'm sorry for earlier," she whispered, her expression twisted with regret. However, her remorse quickly faded as her lips curved into a warm smile. "It's my turn to help you now."

With great care, she removed her hand and, in one fluid motion, lifted him onto her back with gritted teeth.

"Wait!" I protested. "I should probably be the one to carry him. You know, since I'm stronger."

"Were you captain of your school's Track and Field club?" she sneered. "I'll admit, Sato is kind of heavy, but he's nothing compared to the hell I put myself through in school!"

Usually, I would have insulted her at least five times by now for how ridiculous her idea was. However, given her conviction and pride, I couldn't push further.

"Fine," I smirked back, "you can act tough for now."

"It's not an act if it's true," Agawa retorted with sass.

We growled at each other, but Kamida interjected and placed a hand on Agawa's shoulder. "Let me know if you need a break, okay?"

"Come on, let's go already!" Agawa growled with impatience. But then, her tense expression softened into a smile, and the rest of us couldn't help but grin in response. "We're getting out of here!"

As those words rang out, a powerful resonance coursed through our bodies, binding us together in a way that transcended our disparate backgrounds. Though we came from vastly different circumstances, we were now united by a single purpose, and our hearts beat as one.

We would save the one who had sacrificed everything for us. We'd save the hero who'd shielded us from danger.

'This mansion…they could send whatever monstrosities they've got; they won't stop us from saving you!...' I tried to keep my thoughts locked up but couldn't contain my overflowing resolve. "So, you better not die, Sato!" I shouted with unbreakable conviction, startling the others. "If you do, I swear I'll beat you to death myself!"

We raced out of the room and sprinted toward the escape tunnel, our hearts pounding in our chests. The sound of clamoring guards echoed through the corridors, spurring us on.

The clatter of weapons and the barked orders of our pursuers grew louder with each passing moment, and we knew we had to move fast if we wanted to make it out alive.

As we ran, I stole a quick glance at Agawa's expression. Despite the weight of the fully grown man she carried, she looked completely unfazed, her eyes locked on our goal. 

'She really wasn't bluffing,' I thought, panting heavily. I was genuinely impressed with her athleticism.

It took every ounce of my strength to match her stride and avoid falling behind. I may not have been a professional athlete, but even I could recognize the efficiency of her movements. 

Every step she took was precisely calculated, wasting no energy and conserving as much motion as possible. It was no wonder she could sprint down the hallway with such incredible speed!

'Like hell, I'll let you show me up!' I gritted my teeth and pushed myself beyond my limits, knowing our lives depended on it. Agawa may have been my clear better, but my competitive nature refused to let me admit it.

Looking behind me, I noticed that the other two had it worse than me, especially Kamida, who heaved like an old laborer with every step he took.

"Ugh...Ugh...Ugh..." Kamida's head bobbed wearily as he ran, his form clumsy and unsteady. Sweat poured down his face, and his eyes were wide with exhaustion.

Thanks to Agawa's ludicrously fast running, we made it to the tunnel in half the time it took to reach Sato.

Just like the rest of these desolate halls, it was poorly illuminated by sparsely placed torches. However, unlike the dungeon's corridors, the air within was bone-chilling and moist.

Our run slowed to a quickly-paced walk due to the illumination. We didn't want to risk reckless injury by slipping in a tight, dark corridor. Especially since we had Sato to worry about; we couldn't afford to carry someone else.

Despite our concerns, we had to maintain a fast pace. Who knew how far behind the guards could've been in pursuit of us. However, our speed slowed to a crawl when our noses were assailed by a putrid stench of rot.

The deeper in we went, the stronger the decay became.

"Ugh," Kamida griped, clenching his fingers over his nose, "what is that horrid stench?!" he retched, trying his best to avoid hurling.

"It's decomposition," the doctor replied matter-of-factly. He narrowed his eyes toward the halls in front of us. "Wait a moment, please," he asked, then started tearing at some spare cloth he'd saved from before.

"W-With pleasure," Kamida smiled. He was delighted at the suggestion to wait; his skin was soaked with enough sweat to fill a hot spring. Between his pained wheezing and hunchback posture, he looked like he'd been on the verge of death from exhaustion.

Sadly for him, a few moments of respite would be all he got as Nakamura handed us each the fruit of his labors. Resting within our palms were sturdy but makeshift bandanas.

'Will this even do anything?' I eyed the rags with skepticism.

"Put these on," he ordered, "it should limit the number of airborne toxins we ingest."

"Oh, thank god!" Agawa exclaimed in relief. "I wasn't saying anything, but this rancid odor is killing me," she flashed a charming smile and crinkled her nose.

We each wrapped the cloth around ourselves, except Agawa and Sato. 

They both needed assistance for individual and obvious reasons.

Now that we'd had some protection from the odor, our march quickened, and our confidence grew as we explored more of the dark corridors. We were lucky the tunnel was linear since several torch mounts were vacant, leaving stretches of total darkness ahead of us.

In those moments, we relied on the sparse, flickering orange glow emitted by two torches we had scavenged from the walls. The path ahead was barely illuminated, leaving us in a constant state of uncertainty. Shadows danced on the walls, and every sound echoed endlessly down the halls.

"Those bastards," I grumbled. I assumed the missing torches were courtesy of the cowards who'd run so decisively away before. They must've taken the majority of them to ease their escape.

'I swear if I get my hands on them,' I cracked my knuckles. Knowing they got out scot-free while we trudged in darkness boiled my blood.

Several steps ahead and the narrowness of the corridor stretched out into a pitch-black room. The only reason we'd even known of the opening was due to the presence of a lone torch. It was mounted to the hallway's edge with metallic stakes embedded into the wall.

We proceeded forward but suffered a fit of gags once we'd reached the room's entrance. The stench of decay had grown so invasive that our masks weren't adequate enough to snuff it out anymore. The smell was so foul I would've gladly traveled through a metropolitan sewer instead.

Kamida opened his mouth to complain, but his words were cut short by a spine-chilling howl that echoed through the tunnel. My companions froze in their tracks, exchanging wide-eyed glances of terror.

Soon after, it was accompanied by a dozen others just like it. The black abyss before us was filled with a chorus that one could only link to death and misfortune.

The sound was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was a bone-chilling combination of a blood-curdling shriek and a guttural wail. It was as if the sound was ripped straight from the depths of hell. 

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and a shiver ran down my spine into my veins. Though I tried to hide it, I felt it too; a profound fear.

We stood there, paralyzed in place, waiting for the noise to fade into darkness. But, even after it did, I could still hear it on replay within my mind. It was a sound that would haunt me for a long time to come.

"What was that?!" Agawa whispered, her voice barely above a breath.

Kamida found his footing and leaned against a wall. "Nothing good, I assure you..."