The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 8.2

[touchturnfly]

2

Hirota sulkily left the dining room.

Unable to control his irritation Hirota wondered why Midori as well as Reiko chose to rely on a psychic more than him.

He went from the dining room to the corridor. Hirota let his gaze stop at the door of the washroom before of his eyes. The door was opened for only just a little. A cord that twisted through the corridor, disappeared through that crevice into the washroom. A camera had been placed inside by that company.

Hirota opened that door. The two cameras that were set up in the corner of the dressing room were filming the inside of the bathroom of which the glass panel was left open.

After frowning a little, Hirota felt anxious about the peeking in the bathroom. Perhaps -- because those guys placed a camera there, it probably was impossible, but wouldn't any traces be left behind? Wouldn't the trespassing man have dropped something small by accident?

For that reason -- Hirota looked at the camera. He leaned a little from the washroom's door and yelled through the corridor into the direction of the base.

"Lin --. Sorry, but I'd like to use the bath."

Lin instantly showed up. He faced Hirota and lightly nodded. When he returned to the dressing room, the camera and the light element of the video cassette recorder at the camera's feet were turned off.

Hirota snickered. He shut the door as tight as possible and draped a towel over the camera just to be sure.

-- With this I'm good to go.

Hirota nodded in his mind and stepped into the bathroom.

The light was still on in the dressing room as well as the bathroom. The camera those guys brought was able to film during the night, so basically there was no need for lighting. Perhaps someone with evil tendencies left on the light. The white tiles of the bathroom that was used during the evening were still damp. The joints were black or a grey close to black and it weren't particularly dirty. It had been like that from the start.

Hirota took another look at the surface of the tiles, but dirt on the white tiles would instantly stand out. At the very least he would have been able to see mud or a blood-like substance that Midori claimed to have seen.

Hirota traced his finger along the joints just to be sure. Using his fingertip to confirm, he examined whether it picked up on any red substance. The joint didn't seem to be abnormal, so this time he peeked at the drainage, removed the entire silver-colored metal fitting on top of that and gently brushed the reverse side and the inside of the outlet.

"... ... There's nothing huh."

He could find nothing suspicious. Hirota lifted the lid off the bathtub while getting up. Light entered the stainless bathtub and the vacant space glittered dully.

"-- There it is... ..."

It was at the bottom of the bathtub. Several red blots had fallen down.

-- Just as I thought.

A satisfied smile appeared on Hirota's face.

Those guys really did leave a trap after all. It was likely that the man who threatened Midori concealed himself here. Then the paint they used for their play had fallen here by accident.

Hirota picked up the red color with his fingertip. When he brought it under his nose, he smelled the faint scent of blood.

Hirota frowned.

At least it wasn't a volatile smelle. Was it a poster color or something? It smelled like blood, so it's possible that the man injured himself.

He took a handkerchief and wiped the blood stains. He carefully put it back in the pocket of his trousers.

-- If he asked prosecutor Kurahashi to have this examined somewhere, there would at least be no doubt about what this could be.

Hirota made a satisfied smile and raised his body. He gently returned the bathtub's lid and after that he became aware of the ventilation window near the ceiling.

It was a pivoted window with a height of 30 centimeters and a width of 60 centimeters. When pushing the knob below this, the underside rotated to the outside. This also contained a mirror. It was currently open, possibly to let out the steam.

It wasn't possible for a human to use this as an entrance, but it was something he wanted to be sure of. Hirota placed his foot on the bathtubs' edge and climbed up. While balancing himself, he stretched himself slightly to peek through the ventilation window. Hirota nearly shouted.

Hirota had made eye contact. -- With someone who was peeking in from outside the window.

The thing he had seen suddenly vanished. It really happened within a blink of an eye and Hirota wasn't able to comprehend what he had seen himself in that short moment.

-- A person.

He recalled it vividly for only a short fraction of time.

The underside of the ventilation window was pushed open towards the outside. The thickness of the wall, was dented on the inside, the opening that was made to be the edge of the wall and the window was a mere three centimeters. -- The eyes were there.

-- Their eyes had met.

Hirota had looked into those eyes for sure. Even though he had only seen it for a short moment.

In shock and then in confusion he leaned forward. He thought that he wouldn't be able to see the figure of the concealed person. At that moment he had forgotten his own footing on the thin bathtub's edge and the ease of slipping with his wet feet.

Hirota completely lost his balance. He recovered himself on the opposite side at once and stepped on the bathtub's cover. The lid was totally unable to support Hirota's body weight.

"Wa--"

With a miserable voice Hirota tumbled down into the bathtub. What broke his fall in the bathtub was the bent and broken lid that served as his cushion.

"Shit... ..."

Wouldn't this very pitiful? Someone would probably rush in because he made such a ruckus. No matter how much it took, Hirota moved his body in a hurry in order not to be seen in such a disgraceful state. The squashed bathtub lid was in the spot where he put both of his hands, it gave a broken response.

His hands felt damp. It was as if an amount of water had gathered at the bottom of the bathtub and had leaked onto the broken lid's space and in turn had wettened Hirota's hand.

While crawling out of the bathtub, Hirota looked at his hands. Then his attention shifted to the inside of the bathtub.

-- What was that?

This -- his hands were soaked, he was able to see between the fallen broken lid, what could this red stuff be?

It smelled like rust.

Hirota softly lifted the lid that had broken into a V form.

Hollow eyes were there.

-- It was a man's head.

"... ... --!!"

Hirota jumped up. He kicked the floor and retreated, bumped into the door that was left open. The door made a loud sound.

-- What was that just now.

Hirota resisted pressing his hand against his mouth as his hands were covered in blood.

It was a head. Moreover it was decapitated and tumbling in the corner of the bathtub. For a moment his mind recalled the sleepy and unclean eyes.

"What's wrong?" said a voice. Someone had rushed to him.

Hirota couldn't speak. The best he could do was scramble and tumble into dressing room.

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