To the End.

Chapter Eight

"Kaneko."

Kazuki had sung the name as the woman sat limply in the wooden chair. She'd fallen asleep some hours ago as exhaustion took over her body. The night before had been so long, and she thought she was never going to fall asleep, and she didn't want to. What if she had fallen asleep and Kazuki returned to finish her off? At the moment, it was her biggest fear. Kazuki was a terrifying man with a handsome face, and she hated him. She hated the content look that was almost always on his face. It was foolish of her to have ever thought for even the slightest of moments that he was a nice guy.

She jerked awake as a hand slapped her across the face hard. The force of it made her cheek red and sting violently, and she quickly woke up and stared at him. That smile was still on his face as soon as he saw her eyes open.

"Hello, Kaneko. It seems you had fallen asleep. We don't do that when we're under captivation." If she was sleeping, he couldn't have fun with her, and he wasn't going to wait for someone to wake up. They had to be awake and alert at all times, and unless he was sleeping, they weren't supposed to sleep. It just made sense to him, but it made no sense to Kaneko. She sat in the attic for hours on end by herself, and she wasn't allowed to sleep?

She stayed quiet while Kazuki walked around the room, pacing. What was he going to do with her today? He could do something to amuse himself for the time being, or he could do something that would ultimately kill her in the end. It all depended on how well she behaved, but it also just depended on what he decided he wanted in the end. He'd make her think she was getting the choice but was she really? Was he really going to let her have it her way when it was his game they were playing?

He stopped pacing when there was a knock on the door downstairs. He stayed in one spot, holding his finger up to his lips as he turned his attention back to Kaneko. Although he had put the gag back in place the night before and her arms and legs were bound in a way that prevented her from moving even the slightest bit, he still made it known that she should shut up.

The knocking persisted.

Turning off the light and quietly walking down the stairs, he locked the door behind himself. No one ever showed up at his house. No one knew him on a level that granted them entry into his home unless he decided he wanted to play, and that was only with the few women he allowed in. Those were the women that never left, and he wondered if someone had begun to catch on. What if they had and there was a police officer on the other side?

As he looked through the peephole in the door, he noticed his greatest fears were standing right there in blue. A police officer. It was a woman with her hair tied up into a low ponytail with her hat on her head. He cursed to himself before he opened the door and smiled.

"Hello. Can I help you today, officer?" He kept the screen door shut between them while she spoke through it. There was no reason for her to enter his home, and she didn't seem to have a warrant that he knew of. It didn't look like she had papers of any kind that would allow her to enter his home.

"Yes. We're working on a disappearance report of a" The officer checked a small notebook her in her hands for a name, "Tayama Kaneko. Friends and family have said they haven't heard from her in some time and grew worried. There was no sign of her at her home, and all we could find was a journal entry saying she would be visiting a Takemura Kazuki. That would be you, correct?"

The smile on his face had turned into an expression that only showed confusion and concern. "I am Takemura Kazuki, that's correct. I met Kaneko at the grocery store, but we had only met up a few times afterward. She's a nice girl, but she never told me if she was going somewhere. We aren't close enough to really discuss personal matters." He was careful not to talk in past tense while referring to her. Of course, she wasn't dead but he always spoke of his victims in past tense --when he spoke of them to himself.