Beyond, With a Yokai

Chapter 1: Who Are You?

"Go," the stranger whispered, his breath warm against her skin.
"When he comes for you again, don't show fear. Act like you're expecting nothing."

And then—he vanished.

Everything looked normal.

But the moment Yesenia really focused—ice-cold fear wrapped around her chest.

People moved too perfectly. Too predictably.
Their words were flat. Rehearsed.

Like someone had pressed a button labeled "play scene", and now they were just looping the same script over and over.

She tried to remember the fall.
Every tiny detail.

But the harder she tried, the more everything fell apart.

She hadn't fallen on her arm. So why did it feel like she had?
Was it just suggestion?
Then why had this "dream" lasted so long? Why did it feel so real?

Yesenia spent the next two days waiting. Dreading.

She tried talking to people, but their answers stayed mechanical, scripted, artificial.
The only exception... was Svyatoslav.

Did the fox leave him like this on purpose?

Maybe because they'd known each other the longest.
But even then... he wasn't the same.
Everything he'd said or done after her fall felt fake.

Until that point, she'd believed he was finally opening up to her.

If this isn't a dream... will I ever go home? Will the fox help me once he gets whatever he wants?

Those questions haunted her.

After lights-out, Yesenia sat on her bed and glanced out the window.

Two yellow eyes stared back.

He was here—just like the guy said.
If someone had told her days ago that she'd one day stare down a creature who came for her life and then calmly get into bed afterward, she'd have laughed in their face.

She swallowed the panic, pulled the blanket over her body, and squeezed her eyes shut.
She prayed—desperately—that the fox would keep his word.

Her heart pounded like a war drum, ready to burst from her chest and land in front of the monster on a silver platter.

Yakan stood at the second-floor window.

Yesenia heard his ragged, labored breathing—even though the glass was closed.
She could smell him—foul and moldy—right against her face.

How?
He was outside.

He couldn't have snuck in silently... could he?
Then again, if all this was just an illusion, then maybe the rules didn't apply.

"There you are, sweetheart. I almost thought you'd grown a brain and decided not to come back," came the fox's voice, slicing through the silence.

Yesenia's eyes flew open.

The room was gone.
Her roommates—gone.

Only him and the brunette remained.
Standing by her bed.
Facing each other.

"Still playing with her?" Yakan sneered, never taking his predatory eyes off the guy.
"You must really like this one."

"Keep talking," the guy muttered, smirking. "Those might be your last words."

Yakan's grin widened.

"You've convinced me. I'll kill you first—then I'll deal with her."

He looked terrifying.
But he was scared.

Yesenia could see it.

No matter how hard he tried to mask it with bravado—his tension gave him away.
Still, it didn't stop him.

With a roar, Yakan lunged.

Yesenia scrambled off the bed and threw herself into the nearest corner, shaking harder than she ever had before.
It was like a horror movie playing in real life.

She clung to consciousness.
As strange and terrifying as the guy was... she prayed he would win.
The idea of being ripped apart alive was something she'd rather avoid.

Yakan lunged, jaws open, aiming for the guy's throat.

But the brunette flung him into the wall like it was nothing, leaving a deep dent in the concrete.

Yakan didn't stop.
He attacked again, this time launching bursts of glowing energy.

One of them hit.

The guy staggered, letting out a low groan.

"No... please no..." Yesenia whispered, curling tighter into the corner.

He couldn't lose. He couldn't.

"That hurts," the brunette growled.

Yakan's face lit up with twisted satisfaction.

"Perfect. Now I'll take what's mine," he hissed, stepping forward.

But then—laughter.

The guy chuckled.
And Yakan froze.

"You really are stupid," he said.

In a blur, he was in front of Yakan.
His hand plunged straight into the creature's chest.

Yakan gasped, choking.

"Your impulsiveness and idiocy... were your undoing," the guy whispered—and ripped his hand free.

Still beating in his palm... was Yakan's heart.

Blood dripped onto the floor beside Yesenia.

"Oh my god..." she gasped, clapping both hands over her mouth, shaking.

"Whoa. You do know how to react," the guy said with a smirk, casually tucking the heart into his pocket.

Despite her natural curiosity, Yesenia didn't dare ask why.

She was too paralyzed with fear.

"Stay here. I'll be back," he said, grabbing Yakan's lifeless body by the scruff.

And just like that—he was gone.

Yesenia was alone again.

Her mind bounced between relief that the danger was over... and a new kind of fear—

What if he's even worse than the monster he just killed?