"Yuki! Wait!" Arisa cried out, her steps quickening behind her.

  Yuki didn’t respond. She kept walking, head lowered, pace unbroken.

  "That jerk. Who does he think he is… Trying to play the hero?" She muttered to herself.

  "Insulting my sisters and me like that, treating us as if we’re just his dolls to protect, how infuriating!" she shouted in her head. She told herself it was just anger. Yet the tightness in her chest refused to fade, no matter how fast she walked.

  "YUKI! STOP!" Arisa shouted, her voice carrying more force as she managed to grab Yuki's shoulder.

  "Yuki… are you alright?" Arisa said softly as she saw Yuki's face, flushed with either anger or sadness.

  Yuki's eyes sharpened to slits, her fist clenching with such ferocity that the blood drained from her knuckles, leaving them ghostly white against her trembling skin. "I said I’m fine. Let go," she snapped, shaking Arisa's arm off before storming off.

  "Yuki…" Arisa muttered as Yuki didn't look back. This time, Arisa didn't chase her, but just watched her sister walk away in frustration. Arisa stood there for another second, taking in what she had just seen. Arisa had seen Yuki angry plenty of times before.

  But this time…

  This didn’t feel like anger alone.

  *

  "Hey, Reina, Yuki and Arisa said they'd be back. I wonder what’s taking them so long?" Nao asked, swinging back and forth as she sat.

  "I'm not sure… I hope they're okay?" Reina replied, feeling worried, the uneasy feeling she'd gotten the moment she'd told him she'd keep it a secret, a feeling she couldn't shake off, and now she was feeling the weight of it. Nao, who just kept swinging until she suddenly shot up.

  "I KNOW! Let's go see what they’re doing!!" she exclaimed, a broad smile lighting up her face.

  Reina tilted her head slightly. "But Yuki said to stay here and wait for them," she replied.

  "Yeah, but you know, Yuki, she's a big scaredy-cat when it comes to us moving around alone. Let's go on an adventure!" Nao urged, her tone energetic. Reina paused, clutching her knees together. "I want to go… I want to see how Souta is doing, but what if Yuki gets angry?"

  The thought made her chest tighten. Just the thought of Yuki getting angry scared her, not because Yuki herself was scary, but the fact that she knew Yuki was going to be hurt, and the idea of her not doing anything... Scared her more.

  "But if they're fighting right now… What if Souta needs my help?"

  "Souta…”

  As his name floated in her mind, Reina didn’t notice that Nao was right in front of her, inches from her face.

  "You're thinking about Souta, aren’t you?" Nao teased, a childish grin on her lips.

  Reina hesitated just a second too long.

  "NGH! O-of course I’m not… It’s just that I was worried about Yuki and Arisa," Reina stammered.

  "Hmm, well then, let’s go!" Nao smirked, racing toward the door.

  "Wait, NAO!" Reina shouted, hesitating only for a moment before following.

  *

  The two girls made their way through the dark corridor, doing their best to avoid drawing the teacher’s attention.

  "Shhh, Reina… I feel like a proper spy," Nao said quietly as they approached the entrance.

  "N-Nao, I think this is a bad idea… This place is scary at night," Her fingers curled tightly into the hem of her sleeve as she whispered.

  The dark halls were dimly lit, and every flicker of the motion lights felt delayed, like the hallways were watching them. It felt eerie, a complete contrast to the lounge room they entered, which had once been filled with students' laughter and chatter, but was now silent, creating the sense that Nao and Reina were not alone. The pool table was closed, and the chairs were neatly pushed back together. The only source of light came from a slightly ajar window, illuminated by moonlight.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Ohhh, Reina, look! Someone left the window open, what a goober!" Nao exclaimed, wandering over to it. Reina watched as Nao cautiously approached the window, an inexplicable urge compelling her to shout for Nao to stay away. But the words never left her lips in time. Reina took a step forward. Then stopped. Something faint clicked in the distance.

  What Nao saw as she leaned closer to the window made her jump back in shock.

  "R-Reina?" She said softly as she looked outside the window.

  "Y-yes?" Reina replied, a hint of fear lingering in her voice.

  Nao's usual grin was gone. "Not to sound stupid or anything like that, but is that what I think it is?"

  Reina didn't reply right away; she froze as a sinking feeling of something being wrong settled in her stomach. Finally, she moved. Nao instinctively hid behind the wall, out of view of the window, before gesturing for Reina to do the same.

  "Look…" Nao said, pointing to the window from the side.

  Reina glanced over and saw exactly what Nao was looking at.

  "A-a camera…" she muttered. The camera wasn't pointed outward. It was angled in towards the room.

  "Y-y-yeah, I know…" Nao said, her voice shifting from happy to scared.

  "What should we do? It looks like it's recording…" Reina asked Nao.

  "I-it's probably someone's camera that they've left behind. We should take it and give it back to them," Nao replied, slowly walking over to the camera and opening the window.

  The camera was positioned behind the window, tucked into the corner where half of it was covered by the wall, but the main part, the lens, was exposed. Nao lifted the window and carefully removed the camera from the ledge before closing it again.

  "Umm… this feels weird," Nao said as she began examining the camera.

  The two instantly noticed the red dot in the corner of the screen flashing.

  "So it was recording," Reina muttered as she leaned over Nao's shoulder.

  "Y-yeah, but they were probably just recording some funny moments earlier with friends or something," Nao stammered, trying to reason with the situation.

  Reina hesitated for a second before nodding. "Let's see what it's been recording. The thing's unlocked, right?"

  "Y-yeah, sure. Let's have a look."

  Nao began pressing the buttons to navigate back to the home screen, but since it was such a small camera, the display was unlike anything the girls were used to.

  "Can you see what's going on?" Nao asked, squinting her eyes.

  "I dunno, but I see people…" Reina replied, moving her head closer to the camera.

  "Let’s just have a look at the pictures. Seems it was just for funny moments," Nao suggested as they began scrolling through the videos.

  Nao navigated to the main menu and then to the photos section of the camera, and all they saw... Were black images. Over and over again, each framed slightly differently.

  At least that’s what it seemed at first.

  "Wait," Reina said. "Stop on that picture."

  "Hmmm?" Nao replied, unsure of what she was looking at. It was a dark image with the faintest hint of light.

  "Just look closely. Zoom in ever so slightly," Reina instructed. Nao obliged; it took a second for it to register, but the moment both girls realised what they were seeing, they reacted in unison.

  ""WHAT THE?!" Both of them gasped. In the dim photograph, they recognised the distinctive figure of someone they knew.

  A person who shouldn't be on a random person's camera.

  "T-t-t-That's Yuki!" Reina stammered.

  "Why is she on here… Oh my god…" Nao said, flipping through more of the dark images. They showed their sister, Yuki, either sleeping, talking, or just doing something mundane; there was even one of her clearly getting changed. Images she would never hope to be seen in, now on this camera.

  "This is disgusting… and all of this was in our room…" Reina muttered, her eyes wide, heart racing.

  Nao's hands were shaking now as the situation fully settled in, "We need to show this to the teacher… And figure out whose camera this is," Nao said, her tone shaky.

  "Hm, you’re rig-"

  Reina stopped mid-sentence as the undeniable sound of a door opening and closing, followed by footsteps, approached them.

  "Oh my god, someone's coming!" Reina hissed. The two girls looked for anywhere to hide.

  Under the pool table.

  Too obvious.

  Behind the door.

  It wasn't big enough to hide both of them.

  "REINA, where do we hide?!" Nao shouted, panic coursing through her. Reina could see the sweat dripping down Nao's forehead as the sense of dread enveloped them both. There was no time. Reina grabbed Nao and pulled her down behind the sofa.

  "That bastard… running away from me like that… He’s found my hideout. I have to blend in for the time being. I’ll have to get closer to him if I want to get closer to her…” A man’s voice echoed into the lounge room. “Now, where did I leave that camera… Hopefully, it got some good footage of her,” he continued.

  Reina and Nao clamped their mouths shut, pressing their backs against the sofa, which was only a few feet away from the stalker. It was a terrible hiding spot, one glimpse over the sofa, and they would be caught. But at the same time, the stalker’s guard was down. It was their best chance to identify this man and solve the mystery once and for all. However, that thought was the only thing keeping Nao from jumping up and exposing herself. She faced Reina, and both girls remained deathly silent; even the slightest breath could compromise their location.

  “Shit! It’s gone!” the man snarled. “FUCK!” He continued cursing as he moved around the room.

  “Damn! That bitch must have found it! Fuck HIM!” he shouted, throwing his phone across the floor.

  Reina sucked in a sharp breath.

  “NGH!”

  “…”

  The sound of Reina’s gasp was loud enough to freeze the room, and the man halted in his tracks.

  “Is someone there…?” he called out, turning towards them.

  “No, this is bad, why, why, why!” Reina whispered to herself, standing dead silent.

  But it was too late.

  The sound of the man’s footsteps grew closer and closer to the sofa until they stopped just on the other side of the sofa.

  “I’m sorry, Nao!” Reina stole one last look at Nao’s terrified face-

  Then she closed her eyes.

  DeadEndYuto!