Chapter 35: Knocks From Beyond
Standing in front of the door, sweltering flames silently burned my scent.
With flames wrapped about my stinging hand, I clasped the door handle and:
Creak...
Carefully opening the door, I decimated all possible fingerprints and slipped my head through the gap;
Behind the door-
Hmm?
-a staircase leading downwards.
A well-lit staircase built from dreary bricks; this isn't exactly the flowery and cutesy feel you'd get from this clothing store.
From the lack of rust in the door hinges, the relatively fresh paint on the door and the practically untouched door handle, I had a couple of conclusions I could draw.
This door isn't used often, and a door that is labelled for staff only should never be this untouched.
Especially in such a wealthy store.
With further suspicions arising, I threaded the gap and entered the staircase.
Click.
Gently shutting the door, I ignored the fact that I just slightly melted the door handle with my flames, nothing I could do about it now, and descended. The walk down was relatively long in comparison to the store's size.
The stale air and lack of noise implied good soundproofing plus poor ventilation.
Once I approached the bottom of the staircase, I calmed my flames to reduce the amount of Curses tearing me apart from the inside out.
Taking that final step down, I immediately shut down all Curses.
I reduced everything to a minimum, quieting the incessant talking and agonising freezing and burning of flesh; with my vocal cords fully recovered and the rest of my bones healing at a solid rate, I was in a state where I could cease Curse usage without risking shutting my body down.
Releasing a soft breath, "Hoo..." I shot my eyes down the hallway...
The hallway...?
I blinked blankly.
There was no hallway.
I stood upon an overhang, upon a rocky surface overlooking a massive underground cavern stuffed with smoke, rambunctious noises and the stench of darkness.
It was a market.
An underground black market that was attracting people from all walks of life; the smell filling this enclosed area stunk of all sorts of horrible smells, from the smell of burnt meat to the scent of rot wafting off maggot-infested corpses tossed aside in the corners of the market.
Glancing my eyes across the underground market, I spotted items of all sorts. I couldn't recognise any of them except for the most obvious one, the one with the short black-haired girl negotiating with what seemed to be the owner of a store.
Her face was exposed to all other black market dwellers, no mask or disguise to hide her identity.
As for the store in question, it was a-
A drug store.
My breath halted.
Ba-dump.
Saliva gulped down my throat.
Ba-dump.
And the temptation rose, sliding up the back of my neck.
Ba-dump.
Tightening around my neck, caressing my earlobes as they whispered alongside the voices.
Ba-dump.
Temptation.
Irresistible temptation.
An opportunity to numb it all.
A minute portion of my consciousness attempted to crush these rising thoughts, but I-
Crunch.
-I bit down and erased the daring portion of my consciousness.
This is the perfect opportunity.
I smiled.
74,765,331rightmother?74,789,025
-----
"Alora? Where did you run off to?" Esme grabbed Alora's shoulders with a firm grip, her eyes staring deep into Alora's.
Holding off the burning sensation in her chest that was trickling all across her skin, Alora, with a hidden, flushed face, brushed off Esme's concerns.
"Bathroom."
Esme awkwardly removed her hands, "Oh... Sorry."
"I apologise for the transgression, dear sister..." Esme's speech switched back to her formal voice once she felt embarrassed.
The girl herself had yet to notice that throughout this outing, she had long turned off her eloquent tone and blended into the innocence of her friends, and not just her; even Yulei was influenced by Hilda.
Alora, however, long noticed these little changes in Esme.
Her adult innards would be wasted if she couldn't figure out these simple social cues of little children.
Understanding, however, was one thing; implementing this knowledge was another difficulty.
"It's okay."
While Alora struggled to manoeuvre the conversation with Esme, amid the endeavour of holding back the filth from leaking:
"Vanessa~! Vanessa~!"
Hilda 'dragged' Yulei around in search of their missing member.
"Ahem, excuse me, Lady Yulei and Miss Hilda." Vanessa's maid promptly entered the scene.
"Hm? Vanessa's dummy maid?" Hilda quipped from below with one hand still pestering Yulei's Remmy mascot shirt.
"Indeed, Ladies, my Lady Vanessa shall be back shortly. You need not search for her."
Hilda opened her questioning mouth, "Mmf!" But Yulei reached up and covered it before Hilda could pester the innocent maid any further.
"I see, you have my regards for conveying that message."
Smiling, Yulei pulled Hilda's sleeve and gestured for her maid to push the wheelchair to Esme and Alora.
"Ehh?! Okay, thank you!" Waving to the maid, Hilda hopped to Yulei's side and back to the twins.
...The maid was left alone.
But even after the girls had left her line of sight, she gave a slim smile to the girls.
Then, the maid bowed, hiding her face beneath the folds of hair that fell in the form of a curtain.
She bowed out of their line of sight.
-----
I didn't learn more from Yulei.
The outing suggested by Esme was a half-failure, but the discovery of the underground market was a boon.
"Little dummy... Journey's End... Let's go..."
Kicking her legs like a baby, Hilda lay on my lap as she filed her complaints to upper management—me.
"Next time."
Pouting, "Not next time, now! Let's go now!" She smacked her fists into the cushioned seats.
"No."
I don't think I can stay out for any longer, either.
Iseetoomuchblue-
Motheriscallingformyreturn-
...Ugh.
Rubbing the mild headache that abruptly struck past the layers of Curses, I peeled the mask off slightly to improve air circulation. It had gotten too hot beneath, hot enough to aggravate the nagging headache.
Squish.
A finger poked my waist.
Squish. Squish.
"Hey~ Little dummy~ Why the mask?"
Witnessing me adjust the mask, Hilda seemed to have grown curious.
Did she forget what she saw that day?
Hmm...
She wouldn't be asking if she remembered...
"To protect."
Tohide.
"It's for your sake."
Itsformysake.
"Hnng..." Yawning, Hilda sleepily accepted my words and tucked her head deeper into my belly. Snuggling into me, she wrapped her arms around my waist and shut her eyes with a soft sigh.
Her warm breaths tickled my abdomen, soothing my restless nerves.
Momentarily glancing at the gloves covering my hands, I...
Rustle~
I planted my right hand onto her head, running my fingers across her scalp in a circular motion.
Satisfied, Hilda buried herself further into this impromptu lap pillow.
Whatever.
Empyting my needlessly active mind, I pushed my head back and took a rest.
Not that I can sleep.
74,792,677Inthefirstplaceicanonlysleepbyknockingmyselfout74,797,100
74,801,344
-----
"...Lily, I forgot, didn't I?"
Sitting across from Esme, Lily, with her hands intercrossed over her abdomen, nodded, "Yes, you did, Lady Esme."
Lily hurriedly raised her finger, "But, I think it's fine."
"...Why?"
"You had fun with everyone; Alora must have also had fun, so don't worry. You can try again next time."
Esme begrudgingly had to agree, she did have fun. Perhaps too much fun.
'I embarrassed myself throughout the outing, my manner of speech degraded, and I went with the flow due to Hilda and Yulei.'
Sighing-
Pomf~
-Lily's hand smothered Esme's scalp, ruffling her smooth, snow-white hair.
"My Lady, don't push yourself too hard. Don't try to rush this process, it has only been a few days."
"I know..."
Though she knew, her turbulent emotions weren't so easily quelled.
-----
Lying in bed, between the freshly made debris littering my room, I stared at the ceiling.
My mask was tossed aside, freeing my face to the cool breeze brushing past the curtains through my open window.
The aurora was nowhere to be found, and the night had drawn its own curtains upon the Domain of Light. Ruminating within the silence of the room, I listened to the voices utter their endless complaints.
Endless requests.
And innumerable cries.
They repeatedly warned me.
They repeatedly informed me of the dangers reaching their grubby fingers at Esme.
I've made almost no progress.
The underground market and Yulei are two possibilities, but I'm not sure yet.
Curling up with the glass shards, I poked them, allowing my Cursed blood to flow. The faint screams and sizzling could be both seen and heard from the tainted, black blood.
Taking a deep breath-
Hoo...
I shut myself to sleep.
.....
The night slowly passed.
But.
At some point during the night.
It awoke.
The doll stretched its limbs, crackling upwards as it stumbled off the bed.
Casting its snowy-white eyes across its room, it clenched and unclenched its fist, smiling beneath the layers of Curses blossoming across its skin.
Releasing the pent-up emotions that had built up across the day through a breath of sizzling flames, it sighed, relaxed its limbs, and-
Knock.
-it heard a knock.
Knock.
Looking towards the front door-
Knock.
-it wasn't from the front door.
Knock.
Looking towards the terrace door.
Knock.
...It also wasn't from the terrace door.
Finally, after a short process of elimination, it shifted its gaze to the only remaining door.
The bathroom door.
Its wooden frame loomed silently in the distance, veiled in darkness, the doll stared at it for a-
Knock!
Vibrations rattled the bathroom door, shaving bits of wood off the hinges and sending bits of dust flying off and onto the bedroom floor.
The doll remained silent.
It waited.
...And waited-
KNOCK!!!
A powerful slam pounded at the bathroom door from beyond the veil of darkness.
...The creepy smile on the doll's face melted.
Replacing the smile;
Replacing the sizzling flames;
Replacing the holy, white eyes laced with unholy black Curses;
Replacing it was her clarity.
Alora woke up.