Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After I threw the phone, I began panting slowly and heavily. A few moments later, a sudden jolt had rapidly travelled across my body and at the same time, I had gasped. I ran over to where the phone had landed and I looked over the shattered unit. I noticed that one half of the phone went under the cyan recliner near the couch and the other half was in front of the light brown TV cabinet. I picked up the pieces as quickly as possible, fearing that the shadow figure would show up again, and threw them in the trash. I scampered past the kitchen and travelled up the stairs so fast that I nearly tripped on my way up.

When I got upstairs, I slammed the door and locked it. I even went as far as to put a small white wooden chair that I found in the back corner of the room near the bunk beds under the door handle. I scrambled over to the daybed and tried to hold the remote but my hands were shaking so much that I kept dropping it. I did the best I could to steady my hands and I was eventually able to hit the play button.

The episode had shifted to a scene where the police were investigating Kristy's house. Several officers were shown to be thoroughly examining the kitchen for potential clues to lead them to whoever or whatever caused the damage. Kristy and her parents were sitting in the living room until a police officer came over and told them about what he and the others have learned. The officer cleared his throat and began to explain what happened based on the clues presented. "Well I've got some good news and bad news for you. The good news is that we were able to identify the animal tracks. They appear to be from some sort of fox. The bad news is that the fox might've had rabies since they usually come out at night."

Kristy and her parents were just about to be interviewed when they heard a knock at the door. Kristy's father moved slowly towards the door and barely opened it. He saw that it was a boy around Kristy's age. "Hi there, sir." the boy said, "I saw a couple of police cars outside of your house and I came by to see if Kristy was okay. Is it alright if I come in?" At first, Kristy's dad harshly refused and growled, "Look buddy! I don't know how you got my daughter's name, but I want you off of my property now!" The boy was taken aback by what Kristy's father said and found himself unable to move, thinking he'd get beaten up badly by the father if he did so. However, Kristy recognized the boy as Hotaka based on his voice and told her dad that's who she met earlier. Kristy's father gasped and hastily said, "Wait! You're Kristy's friend?" He took a deep breath and continued with what he had to say. "I'm so...Sorry. Look, if you want to visit Kristy, you're more than welcome to do so." Hotaka started to calm down and was escorted into the house by Kristy's father. "Eh... Sorry about that whole mess back there, pal." Said Kristy's father as they made their way towards the living room.

When the two made it to the living room, they had sat down on the couch and another officer who seemed to have tree trunks for arms and legs had walked over to Hotaka and opened up her dark blue notebook to a clean page. She got down on one knee and placed the notebook on it as if it were a little desk. She fished out a badge from her pocket and held it up to where Hotaka could see it clearly. She then introduced herself as Officer Sugimoto and asked for his last name. Hotaka gladly gave it to her and she immediately began writing his name in her notebook. Sugimoto looked at Hotaka for a few moments before saying, "Do you mind if you come with me to a separate room? Don't worry! You aren't in trouble. All I need you to do is answer a few questions, okay?" Hotaka nodded and got up from where he was sitting.

Hotaka and Sugimoto made their way up to the second floor of the house and decided that the master bedroom at the end of the hallway would be the most quiet and private room to conduct their interview. The two had split up and wheeled over a couple of office chairs from both sides of the room. As soon as the got settled, the interview had began.

"So you're Kristy's friend from what I understand. Is that correct?" Sugimoto asked in a stern voice as she looked at him with a fixed gaze. Hotaka nodded and she immediately started jotting down notes. She took a deep breath and proceeded to ask the next question. "When was the last time you saw Kristy and what were you two doing?" Hotaka stroked his chin and stared at the ceiling for a moment. He then looked at Sugimoto again and said, "I think it was around 13:00 and I was at my house telling her stories and---" Before he could finish, Sugimoto quickly interjected with "What kind of stories?" Hotaka glared at her and sighed. "Well... If you must know... I was telling her about the samurai girl legend." Sugimoto's eyes had opened wide and her pupils quickly shrunk. Her breathing came to a halt and she was unable to move. She eventually packed up her notebook and slowly backed out of the room as she peered at Hotaka. She carefully unlocked the door and opened it one inch at a time. When she distanced herself enough from Hotaka, she booked it down the hallway and flew down the stairway and at that moment, her breathing had matched the pace of her speeding heartbeat.

As soon as Sugimoto reached the bottom of the stairs, Hotaka sat stiff in his chair as he stared through the open door for a few moments before shutting his eyes tightly and slightly shaking his head back and forth. After that, he immediately opened his eyes and continued to stare through the open door.