It was already dark when Hiyori was allowed to stand up. Her knees were bleeding, and pieces of corn were still embedded into her skin, but her face remained stoic. She was led upwards naked, beaten, and bleeding, and, as an added bonus, she was left without a dinner. Arriving atop the staircase, she was tossed into her room before her mother locked the door behind her, making sure she would stay there until she let her out. Looking around, the room was just as desolate as the house itself, as inside, beside her bed, there was nothing else but a lone table with a thick bible on it. Watching the empty, white walls, sitting down on the bed, she finally let out a painful hiss as she slowly started to pick out the pieces of corn kernels from her flesh.
"Fucking nutjobs… they not just fucked over their own daughter but my own family as well, by extension! Hope you all burn in Hell!" Hiyori spat onto the wooden floor, and her fingers stopped rubbing her knees, watching the stain of her saliva on the floor, turning the wood where it landed much... much darker, just like her own thoughts. The last sentence was uttered by her in complete sync with Yukari's soul inside of her mind. Something she realized, but...
Then, the sharp sound of knocking on the windows jolted her out of the strange numbness that started to sink into her mind. Hurriedly rushing there, opening the door for Everlong, the detective climbed in like a professional burglar. In his presence, Hiyori quickly breathed out a long sigh, looking up at him with a relieved look.
"Geez…" he looked at her, watching the naked body of Hiyori, quickly turning her, touching the red marks on her back as his eyes suddenly turned very serious. "Damn."
"Ouch… careful… they still sting like hell!" she hissed, biting her lip. She felt utterly shy before him yet did not even try to cover herself up, getting a bit of excitement out of the situation. Or... was this Yukari's feelings? She couldn't tell.
"Sorry! But... This explains a lot of things…" Everlong murmured, recovering his calm expression before finally taking off his shirt, dressing up the girl, and stroking her head with a smile. "How are you? I mean you, not Yukari."
"Fine," she answered, her eyes looking at him with a strong, defiant light in them.
"Good! Sometimes reliving past events can be… traumatizing."
"I'm good, trust me!" she replied with a puffed-up chest, then quickly retold him everything that had happened until now, missing no details, knowing the devil may lay in them. Quite literally, this time around.
"Hmm…" he crossed his arms, sitting down on the bed as Hiyori climbed up next to him, wearing his shirt. While he was thinking, she could not help but chuckle, imagining what kind of face her mother would have if she opened the door now, finding them like this! Wait… that was not her mother...
"Damn it!" she clicked her tongue as she tousled her hair with two hands. "Stop trying to get into my head already!"
"Close your eyes," Everlong said coolly as he placed his hand on her back, gently rubbing it, trying to avoid the snake-like marks under her shirt. Even though it was still stinging as he touched it, she quickly followed his instructions. "Deep breaths… in… out… in… out… good. Don't stop, just do it… that's it." He whispered, helping her regain full composure and calmness. "Better?"
"Yeah…" she nodded, letting her limbs feel relaxed, her mind clear as Yukari's intrusion began receding once more.
"It's not the first time I've seen something like this," Everlong continued, shaking his head. "I would like to say that problems like this are becoming less and less prominent in modern times… but it seems not. Fanaticism never works out as one would think."
"What now? Is it the trigger? The fact they are going to move? Was that the final push? Or the psycho mom? Both? None? Is this just a trick? Could it be that Yukari is the one who saw it and experienced it like this, but the reality was different?"
"..."
"Everlong?" she asked, seeing him remain silent, thinking with a serious face.
"Worse." he shook his head. "The marks on your back…" he pointed at the bottom of her spine through the thin cloth covering her. "Going upwards…" he continued as he whispered in a quiet voice while his finger started to travel, sending shivers through Hiyori's body. Soon, he was using all ten of his fingers as he ran them over the marks left by the wooden ruler, reaching up to her neck and shoulders. "They are in the image of a hydra."
"A hydra?" Hiyori asked, feeling a bit confused. "What does that mean?"
"It is the symbol of Leviathan," Everlong explained, turning her face to look at him, examining not her, but... Yukari. "This means it is not just her who was influenced but the whole family… If it were just Yukari's perception, a detail like this would not be here. Couldn't be here. But because it is right on her back, meaning, on her essence, the direct mark of one of the incarnations of a deadly sin, it can not just be a conjuration of Yukari's mind. It is a sign of being claimed ahead of time. Ahead of death." he shook his head with a sigh. "There is a thin line between devotees and fanatics, you see. The latter are a group that is already corrupted, and they don't even know it. It is true for not just religious groups but for any other facet of life. Politics, sports, science, you name it! Those humans who became fanatics are very, very easily morphed into something else. Something inhuman."
"Are you saying that the whole family is under the influence of this... Leviathan? They are... his property?" she asked with a bit of shock in her voice.
"No, not exactly." Everlong shook his head, raising his hand. "Demons at Leviathan's power level won't bother with a family like this. The Princes of Hell have much more pressing matters to deal with than corrupting some small family out in the world. They are not interested in worshippers. They do not strive to be worshiped… they are much more direct. They command you, and that is it. But, they do welcome in willing minions... if they fall for a demon's influence. Usually a work of someone from that Prince's realm."
"Oh… I see… I think. Hmm... Are these things... Are they Level 5 beings?"
"Close but also very far away from that. So no. But they are a cut above all of the other level fours, that is for sure. So the one that twisted and corrupted her parents and her family from devotees into fanatics is just another demon serving Leviathan. It seems Yukari's bloodline had fallen in the servitude of the serpent without them ever realizing it." he explained, standing up and walking up and down the room, thinking.
"What does that mean for me?" Hiyori asked, gulping and feeling the weight of the topic, especially how serious Everlong's look was right now.
"For you? Nothing. Really. I'll take care of it; it won't be the first time I piss off someone strong, and also not the last. I am certainly not afraid of a minion of the snake. I'm only thinking about how to prepare for the aftermath. Haha, okay, let's focus on the now!" He laughed, smiling jovially, "Did she have any journals we could look into? Peep into what Yukari was truly thinking? A direct contact with her is the last thing I need to start."
"Heh, not all girls keep little journals; this is not… a… movie…" she said, stopping at the end, twitching her eyes.
"Hm?" Everlong smiled while waiting as Hiyori stood up and walked to one of the floorboards. She lifted it up, and a thick, black book was hidden under it.
"Fuck. You were right. She did have one…" Hiyori grunted, sounding a bit defeated as she turned towards Everlong.
"And not just a simple one!" He exclaimed as he walked to her, taking it from her hand and flipping through it.
"Can you even read it? You said texts in dreams and illusions are unreadable!"
"Yes, that is true," Everlong nodded, laying out the thick journal on the only table in the room and showing it to Hiyori. "But this is her thoughts. The only possible exception to the rule. This is not really a journal... but her. Look, they are clear as day." He pointed at the scribbles on the paper, which looked like the ravings of a madman, and not because they were in a 'dream.' Yukari's handwriting was disturbing, strong at places as she painted the book with ink and blood, while on other pages, it was flowing elegantly, like something from the hands of a calligraphy expert. Dozens of drawings accompanied her writings, images of herself clawing off her own skin, emerging from it like a butterfly from its cocoon, and in other instances, she was depicting herself amidst an orgy, surrounded with text, suggesting that everyone wanted a piece of her. Sometimes, literally, she was torn to shreds and then devoured.
"Damn…" Hiyori whispered, feeling disturbed. "She could've been an artist with skills like hers. A guro artist, but still… an artist."
"As I said, this is not a book. This is her," Everlong answered, sitting down, deciding to go through the whole journal, page by page. "This is what was and still is... in her mind. Dominating her now demonic existence."
While looking at the pages, sometimes Hiyori had to look away as she felt her stomach turning from the detailed drawings or descriptions of Yukari and her ideas... including the complete massacre of everybody she knew. To bring the same suffering she felt onto all those who facilitated it... and then to everyone who just stood by. And then... to everyone else.
