Pa, Pa, Pa!

  A division of Pollinators had already gathered in front of the manor, pounding violently on its wooden doors. Captain Silas walked forward, his one functioning arm grabbing a hold of the doorknob and giving it a sharp twist. The metallic extension only moved a little before stopping in place—it was locked.

  “We’re gonna break it down! See if you can enter the back garden!” Captain Silas remained with half the team, gesturing for the other half to depart, heading to the back of the house.

  Behind the door, they could hear screaming and whelping, accompanied by animalistic noises and growling. Captain Silas clenched his one fist, not wanting to waste any more time. His current plan involved two divisions scattering, one helping anyone inside the manor, while the other would attend to the chaos in the garden.

  “This house has had too many occurrences in a month.” Captain Silas laughed self-deprecatingly as he charged forward, barging his shoulder into the door. The frame shook violently, the golden-colored hinges trembling slightly.

  …

  As the barrier of light around Ayumi diffused, she urged Wilfred to run elsewhere whilst she surveyed the scene for safety. She could see Madame Fitzgerald, clad in her winter garments, writhing in the snow as she covered her eyes with her hands. The woman before her had been acting calm and rational just moments ago, why is she now exhibiting traits such as these?

  Before she could answer her own questions, Madame Fitzgerald suddenly shot up, her eyes scanning the garden around her. Her pupils were an ink-black color, and her scleras were bathed in darkness. To anyone who would see her, the madam looked like she was possessed by a demon. A rivulet of foam—puffy and laced with some blood—drooled from her mouth.

  Ayumi tensed the moment Madame Fitzgerald’s gaze fell onto the fleeing Wilfred. Judging by how erratic she was moving, she was prompted to attack at any moment. Without wasting a moment, Ayumi darted forward, channeling a burst of light that hit the woman right in the eyes. Recalling information from Raymond during the Blood Moon, light was the antithesis of darkness, light could cast out demons and devils!

  Right now, she was facing a woman who was both mad and possessed by something. She didn’t know when the Pollinators would arrive, but she knew one thing was abundantly clear—this was her fight.

  As Wilfred finally disappeared, Ayumi let out a quick sigh of relief and continued her assault on the madam. As more and more resplendent shots of light bounced off the statues and plants of the garden, Madame Fitzgerald gradually grew more irritated. She opened her mouth, revealing lines of sharp teeth and a snake-like tongue.

  Oddly, she ran forward on all-fours like a rabid animal, pouncing at Ayumi. Luckily, Ayumi managed to dodge the attack in time, thinking back to her encounter with the undead farmer with Mr. Ryujin. She couldn't help but chuckle under her breath.

  “I didn’t know demons were this incompetent with their prey.” Ayumi mocked the madam’s lack of coordination, feeling a strange sense of pride within her.

  In response, the feral woman only charged further and faster, clawing and biting like a dog let off its leash. As the attacks pressed closer and became more frenzied, Ayumi gradually felt this sense of pride dissipate within her. She swifty extended her foot, kicking Madame Fitzgerald straight in the face. One of her sharp teeth flew from her mouth, landing in the garden fountain.

  This attack sent her sputtering back, blood now oozing from the gap in her gums. Madame Fitzgerald let out a strange, inhuman shriek as she ran forward even faster, leaping up into the air. Before she could make contact with Ayumi, vines suddenly extended from the ground, ensnaring her and pulling her down.

  A Pollinator leapt down from a tree, her fists glowing with green energy that concentrated through the vines. She looked at Ayumi, nodding.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Move, this area is dangerous.”

  “But I’m a Pollinator too, I can and will help!”

  She contemplated for a few moments before sighing softly. “It was the captain's orders to evacuate everyone present.”

  “Really?” Ayumi looked down at Madame Fitzgerald, watching the woman writhe and groan in her restraints. She felt a small dreg of pity for whatever was inside of her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “I’ll see if the captain wants me to do anything right now!” Ayumi ran out of the garden, leaving the female Pollinator and Madame Fitzgerald alone.

  Ayumi ran to the front doors from which she heard pounding behind, yanking them open. The moment she did so, a large wooden object slammed into her chest, knocking her back onto the marble floor. Ayumi let out a low, breathless cry.

  “Oh my god!” Jasmine—Captain Silas’s wife—ran forward with concern and helped Ayumi up.

  She immediately looked to Silas, shouting angrily. “Watch where you’re using that thing!”

  Captain Silas looked back at the countless Pollinators operating the battering ram, their faces laced with confusion. “Are your minds made of straw or something?!”

  Jasmine immediately looked to the scene in the botanical garden, nodding. “You held her off long enough for us to apprehend her, good job.”

  In a slightly reluctant gesture, Jasmine extended her palm, prompting Ayumi to give her a high-five.

  “This isn’t the first time something’s happened here, but I’ll fill you in later!” Jasmine ran into the garden alongside Captain Silas and other Pollinators.

  …

  Madame Fitzgerald, now ensnared with tight vines, was restrained to a tree in the garden. She was sound asleep, as a small flower beside her emitted a calming pheromone in the form of an anesthetic purple gas. Countless Pollinators surveyed the garden, flipping over rocks, looking around trees and within the fountain for clues.

  Jasmine, clad in white and green attire clandestine for their ranks, turned to Ayumi. “A few weeks ago, there was a tremebrus incident with a servant here.”

  “A… tremebrus? What’s that?”

  “A deadly yet rare creature. It often takes the form of a female to lure men, but it can take and utilize one's deepest, more depraved desires and manifest them, inducing dreams and coma-like states to anyone who dares to cross its path.”

  “W-what happened to it?” Ayumi felt her body tense up.

  “It’s dismembered back at the cathedral, undergoing surgical operations for scientific purposes.”

  A male Pollinator suddenly reached arm-deep into the fountain, taking out a small white object. It was pointed on the end and dripping wet—a tooth. Everyone turned to look at him. He set it on the ground and knelt down.

  “This looks like one of her teeth.” He recalled the countless similarities between the teeth in Madame Fitzgerald's mouth and the singular tooth on the ground.

  The air around the tooth felt slightly cold and clammy, making anyone who went near it shiver a little. A trail of goosebumps slithered up Ayumi’s spine as she stepped forward, kneeling before the tooth.

  “Back away, it could be dangerous.” Captain Silas approached the tooth, picking it up and rolling it in between his fingers

  Ayumi ignored the words, turning to Jasmine. “We can use it to figure out what happened. We should send a faction back to the cathedral and see what they can do with it.”

  Upon hearing her words, everyone seemed to unanimously agree. Captain Silas moved to the door leading to the garden, gesturing for his main platoon to follow him.

  “This may take a short while. After all, we’re also undergoing processes with the archbishop's election.”

  Ayumi nodded, looking back at the rest of those standing in the garden. She stepped forward, approaching Jasmine. “What now?”

  Before she could reply, a sharp scream from the fountain snagged her attention. Everyone turned to look at the spot, noticing its vacancy. The only thing present there aside from the fountain was something sticking up from the stone ground. It was a hand—a human hand.

  “What the hell—” Before one of them could finish, they were suddenly dragged underground, their sharp scream abruptly silencing.

  “Run!” Jasmine shoved Ayumi forward, the action speaking louder than any number of words.

  “Get out of here!” Ayumi called, running from the garden.

  She was about to approach the door when she heard a voice behind her. “Will my mother be safe?”

  Ayumi spun around to see Wilfred standing there, eyes filled with uncertainty. He was clutching a small music box to his chest, its surface adorned with colorful gemstones and intricate engravings. Ayumi paused, her breath nearly sucking from her chest as more and more Pollinators were abruptly sucked underground.

  “Get out of here! It’s dangerous!" Ayumu took a hold of Wilfred’s hand, pulling him out of the manor.

  She felt a sudden, hard pull downwards, making her stumble back and land on the marble floor. She didn’t feel Wilfred under her—she only felt the pressing of his fingers against her lower back. They were cold, ashen--colored, and slowly fading away.

  “No, no, no!” Ayumi rolled over, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she cast a beam of light at Wilfred’s hand, hoping to help it in any way.

  Instead of supplying a positive reaction, the hand only feebly twitched, before quickly crumbling into pieces of charred stone. Before Ayumi could even comprehend what happened, Jasmine sharply pulled her back out of the manor before she too was pulled under. She moved with a limp, which made Ayumi question why and look down.

  Jasmine now only had one leg; she had cut one off to survive!

  “Y-your leg!” Ayumi cried out as Jasmine collapsed into the snow, rolling onto her back and taking deep breaths.

  Ayumi looked back to the manor, noticing how quiet and vacant it was. In her hands, she had managed to grab what remained of Wilfred, even if it was enough to fill a small vial.

  “You can… burn my skin… to cauterize the wound.” Jasmine sputtered out.

  “O-okay, I will!” She breathlessly replied as she began to move, light emitting from her hands as she began to gradually seal the wound.

  Above her, snow began to slowly fall from the cloud-covered sky, just like the warm, salty tears that streamed down her face.

  Only one singular thought raced in her mind. It was her fault. She did this. She had killed Wilfred.