Memory Logs

Hesitant Curiosity

4. Hesitant Curiosity

[ Encounter 93; Yamaoka Estate. ]

The tall, reedy grass swayed with a gentle breeze, but Meg felt no such cool rush on her skin. A side-effect of being a part of this absolute hell was that time and places had no meaning here; there was no such thing as weather, years, days, schedules, even wildlife; and the circle of life here was all kinds of fucked up. Death was not an escape . Her expression betrayed her miserable musings, apparently, because from beside her Kate piped up in a soft whisper: "you alright, sugar?"

Meg gave a queasy nod. She hated this place; the Yamaoka Estate. She waited for the distant roar of the terrible, beastly Oni to reverberate throughout the entire courtyard. It would come any moment; she just knew it. As she and Kate snuck by the basement on the lower edge of the large shrine in the middle of the map, Meg suddenly felt... cold. A terrible shiver ran down her spine, leaving ice in her stomach, and the low, ominous chanting she heard coming from below was enough to make her quicken her step, eager to get away as soon as possible.

God, she hated this place.

Finding a generator wasn't so hard; Kate was silent as she assisted Meg with it, getting on one side and crossing wires while Meg tweaked the machine's innards, pulling a lever occasionally to test things. It was a slow process, but the two women knew what they were doing. Meg focused on her work, ignoring the cawing of the nearby crows and the sick feeling the basement had given her; keeping alert for the presence of the killer, she worked alongside Kate.

Until she heard the sickening CLAP of a trap in the distance.

Her shoulders tensed, her breath escaped her, and suddenly the generator blew up in her face. Kate stared at the smoking contraption then back at Meg, visibly frustrated. Meg just continued working, but now she was fully distracted; though her pulse raced with fear, there was something else there too - her mind couldn't help but wander back to her last interaction with the Trapper. It had been the single strangest thing that had happened to her in this nightmare world, and yet she frankly hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. A killer... giving her a drawing he'd done, of her.

And she still had it.

Hidden in her tent away from prying eyes, of course, but she looked at it often. And kept it safe. And she couldn't for the life of her figure out why she was so loathe to part with it. Meg had been through quite a few trials since then but this would be her first time coming face to face with him since that night, and she wasn't sure what was going to happen. The logical side of her knew that he was a killer, this was his job, and that he would show her the same treatment he showed all of his other victims... right?

She worked as quickly as she could, and once the lights came on and they heard the hum of the generator, the two women moved on to the next one, joining Ace in repairing it. "I'm sweatin' like a whore in church," Kate murmured anxiously. All three of them were wondering where the last member of their party was and why they hadn't heard a scream yet.

"Language, Kate," Ace chided from the other side of the generator, earning a giggle.

Meg's mind remained on their enemy, the wheels turning incessantly. Why did he seem so... sad? When she'd stumbled upon him at the MacMillan Estate... the Trapper had looked... tired. Then again, everyone in this damn realm was tired, but she'd always been under the assumption that the killers - well - lived for it. Killers didn't get tired; killers relished in the hunt. Killers enjoyed the endless slaughter.