Devil's Wonderland

Natsuko

Halo Ten: Natsuko:

-Natsuko-

I work for a small supernatural magazine. We started back in 2006. The magazine an underground one until about three months ago. Lately, my boss is interested in the tadpoles. I just couldn't pass up this case. My boss was the one who came to me. I couldn't believe it at first.

"Wait... are you serious?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "Write a piece about the tadpoles." I about jumped to attention.

"Yes sir!" I shouted. "I won't let you down!" So out the door I went. Let's just say it's not been an easy hunt. Not many people want to talk. I wasn't going to give up that easily. That wasn't in my nature.

Lucky for me, I snagged an interview.

-Friday Night-

Tetsu walked up to the ticket booth. The woman behind the glass didn't look at him.

"One please," Tetsu said. He slid across his money. She took it and gave him another ticket. The tadpole bowed and walked inside. Tonight, it's another old samurai film. These are the only types of movies playing this late at night. The newer stuff plays at other theaters in the areas. Somehow, Tetsu didn't feel those would help in his case. He walked into screen room three. His usual seat was near the exit in the back. Once the tadpole sat down, he let himself get lost in his mind. Tetsu never really watched the movie.

But tonight, Tetsu was not alone.

In the middle of old trailers from the 1950's, he heard the door open as quietly as possible. Footsteps shuffled in and stopped next to his seat. The chair to the tadpole's right creaked down and someone flopped down into it. He didn't sense anything from them. Not tadpole or a demon. Just a plain old normal.

Then, the movie started.

"You come out here at night too, huh?" a voice whispered. Tetsu didn't turn his head. Maybe it was a guy or a girl.

"Yeah," he said nodding. The title card came up.

"Are you afraid to come here alone at night?" they asked.

"No," Tetsu said.

"But you could die out here. Because of them."

Tetsu looked out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't really see the face. The tadpole still couldn't sense anything about them.

"Who are you?" Tetsu whispered.

"Tell who you are."

"Why?"

"Just tell me."

Tetsu focused his eyes back to the screen. "Tell me who you are first."

"Nobody. I am nobody."

"Okay... I'm Tetsu." He tried to focus on the black and white fight on the screen. Still, the tadpole could still feel the eyes locked on him.

"What do you want from me?" the tadpole asked.

"I just want your story," they said.

"My story?"

"Tell me everything about yourself." The tone of the voice sent up a red flag in his head. There was something almost robotic about it. Like it sounded rehearsed in a way. The worst part was he couldn't pin down the motivation. He didn't sense any evil from them. But, Tetsu doubted there was any good will behind it either.

"Can I please just watch the movie?" he asked. The tadpole got no response for the rest of the night.

-Saturday Morning-