Chapter: 6 First Encounter {Re-write}

It was a warm Friday evening, roughly a month after she opened her eyes in an entirely unfamiliar world. Renko was running late. The students were excitedly planning their upcoming trip to Kyoto. She would have liked to skip the planning, but Yuki and Hori had already submitted her name. Now, a hotel room would be booked under her name somewhere in Kyoto.

It wasn't as though she didn't have enough cash to cover her expenses, just that she hadn't touched most of it and didn't feel like changing that either.

As she reached the apartment, she noticed something strange in the air. It was too quiet, unusually still for this time of day. Typically, people would be coming back from their workplaces or wherever they spent their time. Even her body felt sluggish, reacting slower than usual. 

As Renko approached her apartment, she noticed something odd. The lock was open, and an eerie darkness peered out from the crack. Instinctively, she reached into her duffle bag for the pistol—

'No, too loud.'

—for the knife. She held it firmly, leaning forward in case someone was waiting by the door to ambush her. 

She stepped inside, noticing the usual darkness within, and walked while hugging the wall. So far, she saw no sign of the apartment being broken into. Everything was in place, at least at the entrance.

She reached for the light switch but paused, eying the floor suspiciously. Even if she saw nothing, the lock had been picked, and someone might be inside. In which case, darkness would be her better ally.

She closed her eyes to adjust to the darkness, opening them groggily to the faint outline of her living room. 

The living room was dimly lit; the curtains were drawn tight as she had left them. She moved silently, striding across the floor without making any noise. There was a faint, unsettling aroma in the air—unpleasantly sweet for a moment before changing into the stench of a corpse.

She was all too familiar with it: the whiff of rot and decay. It smelled like someone had died in there at least a week ago. The air was unnaturally still. Perhaps that's why she hadn't noticed the stench before. But she knew for sure that at least one of her bedroom windows was open; she had left it that way.

Something felt strangely wrong, but why? It was the same feeling as seeing a radioman on the phone through a scope, just before the bastard's about to call down hellfire on your ass.

The bedroom door was ajar, invitingly 'ajar.' As she cautiously approached and pushed it open, a draft of cold air swept through the apartment, causing the curtains to flutter ominously.

There was nothing inside.

Nothing except for an open window, through which gust after gust of cold wind flowed into the apartment. She approached the window, intending to close it, when she suddenly noticed a dark shadowy figure out of the corner of her eye. 

'Damn.'

Whoever it was, she had exposed her back to them. Her grip tightened on the knife in her hand as she slowly turned her head.

Before she could react, the figure lunged like a wild beast. It was a humanoid creature, although 'humanoid' might be stretching it. The creature stood on two legs, but that was where the resemblance ended. Its mottled blue skin glistened in the darkness, its eyes burned bright red, and half its face was dominated by a gaping maw filled with jagged, crimson fangs. As it tackled her to the ground, those fangs sank deep into her arm.

"Argh!"

Renko screamed in pain, struggling to free herself. She twisted her body, using the momentum to plunge her blade between the creature's eyes. The knife penetrated a thick layer of hide and bone before stopping just shy of the brain.

The creature let out a screech, but the pain only seemed to enrage it further. It hissed, snapping its jaws again, tearing into her flesh and muscle.

Renko's vision blurred from the pain. She gritted her teeth and glared at the creature. With a surge of adrenaline, she yanked the knife out and stabbed again, this time aiming lower toward its throat. The blade sank deep, releasing a gush of dark, viscous fluid that sprayed over her hand and face.

The creature eased its bite momentarily, reeling back with a gurgling roar. Renko seized the opportunity to wrench her arm from its mouth. She rolled to her feet, her injured arm dangling by her side.

A pounding filled her ears as she steadied herself, gripping the knife with her good hand. The creature was visibly enraged, its glowing red eyes filled with primal fury. All it saw was food.

Renko took a step back, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. She knew she couldn't afford to let it land another blow—one more strike would be her end. Nor could she allow it to escape. She had only one option.

She lunged forward, her eyes locked onto the creature's face. As it charged with a guttural roar, she staggered, feigning weakness. At the last moment, she twisted her body to the side, feeling the rush of air as its massive jaws snapped shut. In that instant, she drove her blade upward, guiding the creature's momentum.

Its jaws clamped down, but instead of her flesh, it met cold steel. The blade sank deep into its maw, cutting off its roar in a wet gurgle. Renko held firm as the creature writhed, its blood splattering her face.

It grew weaker by the moment, twisting and jerking. She withdrew the knife and struck again, and again, and again until the creature slumped to the floor. She didn't stop. Blood spattered across her face and clothes, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. Her vision tunneled, focusing solely on tearing through flesh and bone as fast as she could.

The screeches turned into wails, then into pitiful whimpers. She didn't stop until the last twitch of life faded from the creature's body.

Renko breathed heavily as she stared down at the empty spot where the creature's remains had been just a moment ago. Now, there was nothing but a small pile of ashes. The pain in her arm flared again, finally becoming unbearable and snapping her out of her trance. She forced herself to stagger into the bathroom, leaning against the wall as she walked.

With her shaking hand, she unzipped the first-aid bag just under the sink and grabbed the bottle of antiseptic liquid. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to remove her blood-soaked shirt, exposing a jagged bite wound on her bicep and shoulder. The creature's fangs had torn through the flesh and muscle but hadn't dealt any fatal wound. The bleeding wasn't severe enough to suggest major arteries had been nicked; in fact, the bleeding was slowing down, which was even more annoying since she would have to sew it all together herself.

The blood made it hard to remove the shirt, but she didn't have much time to fumble around. She poured the disinfectant directly over the wound. The burning sensation was excruciating, white-hot pain searing through her arm. Renko let out a muffled groan, the sting of the antiseptic annoying but necessary.

After a long moment, the initial stinging subsided considerably, leaving a dull throb around the wound. She set the bottle aside and took out a packet of sterile needles and thread from the kit.

The next few moments were blurry in her memory, but she remembered threading the needle and wincing as the movement pulled at her torn muscles. Not long after, she began stitching the gashes. Her memories from that time until she sighed in relief as she cut the thread with her knife were all but gone.

The room was silent except for her heavy breathing and the occasional dripping of blood onto the tiled floor. Her stitches were rough, barely adequate, but they effectively closed the wound for the time being.

Renko slumped against the bathroom wall, exhausted but strangely calm after all that had happened. The adrenaline had ebbed away, and all she could feel now was the burning sensation from the wound. 

Reaching back into the kit, she pulled out a roll of bandages. Carefully, she wrapped her arm with the gauze. Thankfully, it wasn't too drenched in blood from the mess she had made. She secured the bandage and staggered to the living room, where her duffle bag still sat on the table.

Reaching into the bag, she pulled out the pistol and spare magazines. It was idiotic not to use it in the first place.

'Fuck the noise, I ain't getting into another close quarter.'

The first rule of a knife fight is don't get into one; no one comes out unscathed.

Instead of taking a seat, she returned to the bathroom and locked the door. Slumping against the bathtub, she stared at the bottle of alcohol disinfectant.

'Just a sip.'

There were no painkillers in the kit; they were sold separately, and she couldn't buy one without a doctor's recommendation. Nor was there any alcohol in the fridge; she hadn't thought of stocking up. But disinfectant would be too much.

'I guess pain's better than going blind.'

With another sigh, Renko closed her eyes. For the first time since her... what was it again? Reincarnation? Time travel? Whatever it was, only now did she feel truly alive. She noticed her hand wasn't shaking anymore. That was a relief.

Slowly, her head bobbed, tilting sideways against the edge of the tub. A soft groan escaped her lips, and suddenly, she was fast asleep.