Miako: The Child of the Night

Chapter 5 - The Sky and the Night II

Click clack click clack click clack...

The sound of footfalls on stone stairs echoed throughout the passage. A circle of light could be seen in the distance, albeit barely visible. Racing towards that light was Moe, arms and legs trembling in slight pain.

The stairway felt infinitely longer as she went up than it did when she went down. Gasping and panting, Moe heard nothing but the rapid thumping of her heart.

What just happened to me?

Not stopping her sprint, she tried making sense of what just occurred.

Can a rabbit really transform into a tiger?

Was her immediate thought. She recalled that it was in the moment that her mother mentioned something about rabbits turning into tigers that her body reacted. Whether or not the reaction was directly caused by that, was another question.

A rabbit. I guess I'm a rabbit. Wait...

A thought entered Moe's mind.

Those 'tigers' were tiger hybrids... weren't they?

That would explain the humanoid shape that she saw.

And that book... the one Eiko bought for our project. 'The Theories of Hybridization,' I think it was called.

It was a book, as the name suggested, that contained several theories of how hybridization — the properties of a hybrid's body — worked. The book labeled them as the 'Nature of Hybridization'. One such theory suggested that it was possible for a hybrid's body to change to another species under certain circumstances. Most of it was fiction, but Moe couldn't help but wonder if the theories were true.

I'll have to ask Eiko for the book... Later, though, later.

She pinched herself lightly, blanking her mind to focus on her ascent. The thumping of her heart and the pain in her extremities subsided as she sped up. It seemed her body had loosened up under the extra strain, which didn't make much sense. Moe was too mentally exhausted to care though.

After a minute, she let out a sigh as she finally crossed the line between light and dark. Her face immediately loosened up as the sun's radiance beamed down upon her body; her longing for light was replaced by an overwhelming relief. She made a mental note to never follow anyone down the basement, or any dark passage at that, ever again.

Click click clack clack, click click clack clack...

Sounds of footfall echoed behind Moe, albeit quite distant.

Almost forgot they were here...

Of course, she was still under the risk of being caught. She originally had the plan of just hiding in her room, but decided against it. What would her mother think if she found out that her daughter — half of her own blood — was capable of making such a predatory sound?

Pretending that she had just come back didn't hold many merits either, especially if her mother planned on keeping everything under wraps. That meant that things would work out better if Moe wasn't there to begin with.

Her mind made up, Moe made a dash to the other side of the living room and into the front hallway, where a door was awaiting her. She twisted the doorknob and pushed forward, making her way out of the house. Except, there was a problem—the door wouldn't budge. No matter how hard she pushed, a harsh resistance fought back.

Oh, it's probably locked.

She leaned down to check a small monitor, expecting the screen to glow a bright red with the word "LOCKED" plastered over it. But to her horror, the monitor was green, reading "UNLOCKED".

A cold sweat trickled down Moe's face—the door must have been jammed somehow. Either that, or someone locked it from the outside, but that couldn't be possible.

...Fuck.

She gave the door a few more pushes before ultimately giving up. Seeing no reason to continue trying to open the door, she made her way back into the living room, searching around for another exit.

There!

Her eyes fell upon the row of windows. She beelined to the closest one, and propped herself on the frame to take a quick glance across the neighborhood. It'd only spark more trouble if she was spotted jumping out through a window, so she had to be careful.

No one, good.

Her hands reached for the latch, releasing the window's constraints, and pushed. The glass frame swung open, letting in a cool breeze. The chilly air wrapped itself around Moe, causing her to let out a cute achoo!. Flustered, she hurriedly checked behind her — hands covering her mouth — worried that she might've been heard.

She focused her ears on the stairway, listening for signs of movement. The clicks and clacks were, fortunately, still a long way away. Sighing in relief, she hopped out onto her front lawn, closing the window behind her. There was only one issue — while the window could be pushed back into its original state from outside, it couldn't exactly latch itself.

They won't notice, right...?

And even if they did, it probably wouldn't matter—it was unlikely that she'd be tracked down from a single opened window.

Hahaha, it's like I'm running from a crime scene or something.

She joked to herself, jogging out onto the footpath. She pondered where to go to pass time, and there was one place that immediately popped up in her mind.

They're probably still there... I should apologize for leaving so suddenly. Maybe they're worried about me...

She decided the best thing to do was to head back to the mall. She could apologize via text, but if she had time to head back to the mall, why not just do that? Thinking back a couple hours, why did she even leave anyway? Of course it'd be awkward meeting people for the first time — relationships weren't formed in a single day.

Flicking herself in the forehead, she made her way to the closest bus stop and took a seat. However, she didn't sit for long, because the bus arrived less than a minute later. She gave her greetings to the driver before plopping herself down on a random chair.

Pulling out her phone, she sent a message to Eiko.

Hey !! Sry for leaving so suddenly. Felt like I was dragging down the mood, so I went home ; ;
Coming back in thirty umu

She didn't want to waste the rest of her Saturday doing nothing, though she'd be lying if she said she wasn't afraid of how they would react at her sudden return.

Maybe they think I'm holed up in a bathroom stall... Eiko hasn't read my message though.

The message she had sent several seconds ago still read "Delivered". She shoved her phone back into her pocket and turned to stare out the bus window, letting the blue sky consume her.

Something in Moe's peripheral sight almost caught her attention, but the bus took off before she could see what it was. She rested her chin on her hand, changing into an idle mode as she readied herself for the thirty minute ride.

That was the most fatal mistake Moe would ever make. Had she paid a little more attention, she would have noticed an all-too-familiar car pulling into her house's driveway. Unbeknownst to anyone of the world, the car — the driver of the car — would be a catalyst for the biggest event in centuries.

Perhaps, if Moe had been a little more attentive; a little wiser; a little less ignorant, she could've prevented the seeds of disaster from being sown. The disaster that she herself would instigate in the very near future.

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<k̵̛͓͗̈͒̽ŏ̸̯̘͌̄͑>During day, the sky prances about, beholding the world...</k̵̛͓͗̈͒̽ŏ̸̯̘͌̄͑>