2 Are you afraid?

Her father had warned her not to do this countless times. Why did she do it?

Because curiosity often kills the cat.

Nakashima Wakana is not a cat for sure. She is a little kitten who has poked her nose where she shouldn't have.

Under the blinking light, Nakashima Wakana's feet are covered with blood. But she is not looking at the blood on her feet. Near her feet, the woman's clothes are drenched with blood. The woman's eyes are still open, filled with the shock received from the sight that she witnessed before she was shot between her brows.

Sound of footsteps draws near Wakana. She looks for a hiding place. Her feet are moving on her own. But it's too late. She hears him laugh. She realizes that her cheeks are wet with tears.

"Sei Chan." The door is opened and the man walks in. His clothes are a bloody mess. His eyes are red with a glint of madness. There is a gun in his hand -- the same gun that he used for murdering the woman. He points the gun at her.

Seeing her flinching in fear, the man grins at her with a satisfied look in his eyes. "Are you afraid of me?"

Nakashima Wakana's body shakes violently, but her body is still standing. This body is not hers. She is inside Minami Sei's most terrifying memory. 

One of her abilities is to relive the horrifying memories of the people if she touches them.

The man guffaws. The sound of his chilling laughter echoes in the room. He places the tip of the gun inside his mouth. At that moment, the man's eyes regain clarity He widens his eyes when he looks at his dead wife near his son's feet. He shakes his head and tries to pull the gun out. At this last moment, his confused eyes meet the wide frightened and shocked eyes of his son. His finger moves against his will.

Wakana covers her ears and looks away. The blood splatters on her face. Suddenly, it's eerily quiet. She can hear the sound of her heartbeat. Why is she still here? She wants it to be over soon. Why isn't this nightmare ending?

"What is this?"

She turns her head to look at the man. Blood is gushing out his mouth. The deranged look is back in his eyes. He bends down his waist and looks into Wakana's eyes. "What are you?"

"M-Me?" She stammers. She realizes that she can speak. She isn't Minami Sei anymore.

"A stray demon?" The man seizes her by her throat, enraged. "Can't you smell that he's marked?"

Marked? Wakana has no idea what this monster man is speaking about. She is too terrified to speak. All she wants is to wake up.

"Aigoo! The youngsters don't respect the elders." The man turns into an old man suddenly. His teeth are rotten yellow. His eyes are silver. His long white hair wraps around Wakana's small body, cracking her bones. She screams in pain and terror.

"Stop, please."

"You are lucky that I am not the original, Stray."

Before Wakana passes out, she hears the faint voice of the old man.

"Stray demon, you better not touch this boy again. He's a property of the Red Guest."

***

Wakana wakes up in the hospital.

"Am I dead?" She asks the person next to her. The person closes her book and looks at her pale face.

"Nope, you nearly died though," Her elder sister replies with a straight face. "Father told you not to do it. Why did you do that? You always get sick whenever you do that."

"Elder Sister, don't scold me." Wakana's voice is weak. "I had a bad nightmare."

Natsumi lets out an exasperated sigh. Wakana is always creating trouble. Why is her little sister never still? All she has to do is never get too curious about other people's secrets.

"I wanted to know why he hated seeing blood. I ended up seeing dead people again." Wakana sits up and sighs. "Elder sister, if I do it again, you can slap me 100 times."

"I have a feeling that I would be slapping you for 100 times in the future." 11 years old Natsumi furrows her brows. "When that happens, I will ask Sayuri's help."

It's been 2 days since Wakana passed out at the school. She had a high fever. She wouldn't wake up. Their father was worried about Wakana. She nearly died once when she was two.

At the moment, Wakana can't care less about her situation. She's sure that she doesn't want to see scary things ever again. She swears that she will never meet that boy or that old man again.

"Elder Sister, where is Father?"

"He went back home to make food for Sayuri."

Natsumi is not surprised to hear her sister's words. Among the three of them, Wakana can do things that a normal person can't do. She is not jealous of Wakana for her special abilities though. Those abilities only bring troubles in their lives.

Like her father, she is often worried about this sister. She doesn't show her caring side usually. Being the eldest one, she always has to act mature. The reason why she wants to be rich is that her father asks her to take care of Wakana and Sayuri. She wants to take off her father's burdens.

"If you want, you can tell me what you saw," She says to Wakana.

Wakana purses her lips. Should she? The old man is bad. "I saw his parents die."

"Oh, then?" She raises her brow. She is used to hearing stories like this from Wakana. Still, her sister won't become like his because she only saw people die. There must be something else.

"His father killed his mother and then, killed himself.

Natsumi frowns deeply. Minami Sei is a recent transfer student. His relative is a teacher at the school. He doesn't talk much to anyone. Honestly, she doesn't like him because there is always an ominous aura around him.

After Wakana passed out and fell on the ground, he simply left. He didn't even glance at Wakana once like it got nothing to do with him. That was heartless.

Natsumi hates him already. She barks at Wakana, "You should stay away from him."

"Why?" Wakana leans closer to her sister. Though she doesn't want to get closer to the boy either. But she feels bad for him. "He must be sad. We should invite him to our house to play with us."

"Father had to spend the money that he saved up for the repair work in the shop for your treatment." Natsumi scowls at her, "You shouldn't make trouble for the family."

When Wakana is being like this, Natsumi can't help but become harsh toward her. Wakana often needs to be told that family and her life are more important than other people.

"I am sorry." Wakana looks down at her hands. She feels like a burden sometimes. She is always causing trouble. "I won't cause trouble again."

"Stay away from that boy and never ever use your abilities again," Natsumi warns her. "Else, it won't just be 100 slaps. I will take you to the cemetery. Then, you can find out how each person died."

"I won't do it, Elder Sister. I won't do it ever again."

Wakana promises her sister. Natsumi is scarier than that old man.