HOCUS POCUS | H. SHINSO

IX」SAVED BY THE BELL

❝i don't wanna die❞
━━━━━━━━━━━━

The second Hitoshi received the coordinates, he ran like hell.

It took longer than he expected to navigate through the dense woods and ultimately that ate up most of his time.

When Hitoshi first picked up, he was expecting a late-night booty call that he typically received from her and he was more than happy to answer because he was already on his way to her house. Rather than that, the call contained nothing more than the impulsiveness of a woman, completely aware of the risk factor. Koroko definitely lied to him when she said she 'knew when to quit' because there was no way in hell a normal person would enter the bunker she found under the same pretenses. The letters they sent her were graphic enough to make her hand the case over to someone else—but no. Koroko Amano didn't see fear even when it was on top of her, screaming in her face. Her skull proved too thick to get through and even scientists confirmed that the bones of her cranium had an extra layer of protection.

He had trouble wrapping his brain around exactly what the fuck she was thinking during this chain of poor decision making. No one in their right mind would investigate the lair of a serial killer of dozens of women after receiving letters from said killer threatening—no, promising to rape them repeatedly then kill them. NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND.

It was a death sentence but Koroko never cared much for stats. He could've killed thousands of people with a one-hundred percent success rate and she still would've entered the cave.

As soon as he got her ass out of there, Hitoshi planned on grilling her for everything she did. There was no reason for her to go by herself with nothing to prove and everything to lose.

Hours later he finally stumbled upon the abandoned building on a wing and a prayer after his maps app gave up. Only one door acted as the entrance and exit, the rest barricaded by heavy machinery rusted and taken over by wildlife.

Without a second thought, he pushed it open and ran down the stairs, greeted by a piercing scream of a feminine voice. May God strike him for thinking this, but he hoped it was anyone but Koroko. Those groans were too familiar and he knew right away.

"Koroko!" He slammed his body against the door, trying to get through the thick metal separating him.

"Hitoshi!" He heard through the door and immediately picked up the pace because nothing good could come of those sounds.

Finally, he kicked through the door and his heart stopped. The blood in his veins boiled when he saw her underneath this killer who was less of a man than anyone he ever met. Crimson liquid covered her unclothed torso, seeping in to stain her bra. A knife handle stuck out of the side of her thigh like someone was holding it there until it was time to carve the turkey.

He hadn't seen her face yet and it was for the best that he didn't.

"Hey! Get the fuck off of her!" Hitoshi grabbed him by the back of his shirt to tear him off of the woman.

The killer jerked around, reaching for the gun barely held by his sagging pants.

He began to raise it, pointing it to Hitoshi but Koroko noticed and wasted no time, yanking the knife from her leg. She held it tightly, reaching over and plunging it into his shoulder until he fell over. A shot fired, barely grazing Hitoshi's ear but Koroko wasn't so much worried about that. She kept stabbing and stabbing him, blinded by fear and anger in the form of tears. Not even the squelching sounds of flesh and the splatter of blood could stop her.