At once, Blake, Mark and Sophia donned their masks even as different weapons appeared in their hands. Mark was still holding the axe which he dropped, favouring the flamethrower instead. Blake had a spiked bat while Sophia had a gun. I got to my feet and moved towards the solitary axe resting on the wall.

A set of three knocks sounded from the door once more, a bit impatient this time around. Blake walked towards the door with confidence, hiding the bat behind his back. Sophia followed while Matt just waiting where he was, pointing the flamethrower towards the entrance.

“Who is it?” Sophia called out, using her sweetest voice.

The suddenness of it shook me and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“It’s Detective Wells, Met Police,” the voice replied and I moved instinctively to the door, reaching for the handle before the detective.

I shot them all a look, for them to relax their nerves before turning back to the door. Taking a deep breath, I twisted the knob and the door opened to the detective.

Detective Richard Wells looked worse for wear as he stared at me and I at him. When we had first met in the interrogation room, he was a clean-shaven man, with short hair and a confident look on him. Now? Not so much.

His eyes were slightly withdrawn, he was sporting a rough beard and his clothes were dishevelled. That’s when I noticed a dark red stain on his hands, his knees and just about everywhere on his trousers.

I ushered him in and he entered, giving the rest of the occupants a quick look. As his gaze fell on the Oni-masked guy, his hand went to his side but I caught it just in time.

“It’s not what you think, detective. Get to the living room and we’ll talk,” I said in a low voice.

His eyes darted from me to Mark and then back to me. I nodded and pushed him further in before securing the door behind us.

Tentatively, he made his way back to the living room and we all followed behind him. Moving to the end of the room, so that he could see us as we walked in, he rested his back to the wall and glared at us.

“Start talking,” he said in a raspy voice.

I shrugged and turned to Blake, who still had his mask up.

“You’re going to have to take this because I still know nothing,” I said.

Blake looked at Mark first then at Sophia, both of whom nodded before he turned his attention to the detective.

“Richard?” he began, getting to his feet. The detective perked up, jerking closer back to the wall with a confused expression on his face. His hand was in the fold of the jacket he was wearing but he didn’t pull it out.

“Relax, mate,” Blake said, raising both hands to show that he wasn’t holding anything.

“Tell us why you’re here and we’ll tell you what you need to know,” he added.

“Y-you’re with him, aren’t you?” the detective said, bringing his hand out. I shirked away from him as soon as I saw the gun in his grip.

“You’re with the weird oni guy. You and the fox,” Detective Wells said, using the gun to point at them.

“Keep the gun on me, Richard,” Blake said, taking a step closer, “Yes. I am with them and they are with me. Talk to me and I’ll do my best to help.”

“W-w-why should I do that? For all I know, you’re all part of the same fucked up, sick shit I’ve been dealing with. Why should I trust you, uh?” Detective Wells said.

I made to get up when a hand touched my shoulder, pushing me back down. Sophia glanced at me and shook her head.

“What ‘fucked up’ shit have you been seeing?” Blake asked, taking another step towards the trembling detective.

“I’m not talking. You can’t make me talk. I’m the one with the weapon here!” the detective yelled.

Mark laughed and Detective Wells hands moved to point the gun at him. At once, Blake’s hands shot out and grabbed the man’s arm. In one smooth motion, he disarmed the police officer and had the gun trained on him instead.

Detective Wells raised his hands as he backed away from Blake. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Blake waved his hands at the gun vanished. Detective Wells’ mouth dropped in shock and I hold in a sigh. It still made no sense how they did that.

“Richard, speak to us. I promise you we are not what you think,” Blake repeated slower this time around.

The detective looked at him and then at all of us before crumbling to the ground, shaking. His face was set as he looked away from us. For a moment, he shut his eyes before opening his mouth to speak.

“It’s not making sense. I’ve been working with the details, turning it over and over in my head but it doesn’t add up to anything that makes sense,” he said quietly.

I was about to open my mouth to ask what he meant when Mark glanced at me and shook his head. Slight irritation bubbled underneath at being stopped twice but I suppressed it and kept my attention on the officer.

“After the first moment with the CD shit you pulled…” he began, glancing at Mark, “Life went back to normal. Or as normal as a mysterious homicide could afford. We ruled his mum down as a victim. Dead by mysterious laceration”

“I opened up a case for it. The Masked Man Murder. The fact that your mum was killed from the TV made no sense. Spoke to a few of my colleagues to see if they had encountered anything similar. I was left with more questions than answers.”

Detective Wells looked at me and I swallowed unconsciously.

“And then, we get a call. Your workplace. A new set of murders. I thought it was going to be a different case until I saw you standing in front of the building, looking like you had seen a ghost. I didn’t question you that day. Looking at you, I couldn’t bring myself to.

“All of these shit? Still normal. Until I get a call from forensics. ‘Something’s off with the bodies’, they said. So, I made my way down to the forensic departments. Lights were flickering ahead like something was wrong with the power when I walked in.”

The officer stopped then, breathing out before shutting his eyes and his mouth. Sweat dripped down his face.

“The stench of death was heavy. Pungent as I walked into the lab. My legs slipped and I fell into a thick, dark liquid on the floor. It stuck to me, drawing off the floor as I tried to get back to my feet. I made my way cautiously, trying not to slip again when I heard a sound ahead of me. Like a crunch sound.”

He sniffed, wiping a hand across his nose.

“So, I walk closer, slowly. And I see, in the dark, in the fucking distance, some unnaturally tall monstrosity. I could only see its side view. Long fucking arms, long legs and a contorted face. Its jaw was larger than I thought possible. Long fucking tongue lashed out of his maw and I froze in my steps.

“The monster towered over the lad that had called me. Jake, I believe his name was. The lad just seemed weak on his feet and I couldn’t blame him. The monster took a hold of the kid and brought his mouth down, biting a chunk off his fucking flesh! His fucking flesh!”

Detective Wells shot up to his feet, his eyes wide with terror.

“You would have thought he was a fucking Snickers bar. He just gobbled up the kid so easily like it was nothing. Something about the scene unfroze me and I tried to get away. In the process, I stumbled and fell, looking back to see the remains of a partly eaten foot. A fucking foot!

“I might have screamed, I don’t know. But next I know, the lights in the lab stabilise and a hand helps me to my feet. I looked to see who it was, ready to tell him all I had seen and to get him to call the fucking cavalry down. Then it registers to me who I’m looking at.”

Silence filled the uncomfortable silence. I was rooted in my seat, captivated by the story he was telling and matching it with the creatures I have seen myself.

“Who were you looking at?” Sophia asked, speaking to him for the first time.

“Jake. It was fucking Jake, naked as the day he was born, covered in blood.”