Ecstasy

04

Curiosity killed the cat.
But satisfaction isn't gonna bring it back.
~

Kai Haruchi slowly put his key inside the keyhole. His thoughts were occupied with a number of theories.

Theories about the girl he had interviewed less than two months ago. The girl who'd discovered her parents murdered one summer evening. The girl he somehow believed was definitely not who people thought she was. The girl- Daisy Maraud.

An image of the undeniably pretty face of Daisy formed in Kai's mind. He kicked the dried leaves and the single white daisy, at his front door aside, frustrated by the fall.

He then slowly pushed the door to his apartment open and looked at the ground for a moment as he tried taking his shoes off without actually having to bend down, the image of Daisy getting clearer and clearer.

"She's alive ," he mumbled softly.

Once he was done, he turned on the lights.

Only to be met with the startling image of a very alive Daisy Maraud.

"Hello, Mr.Haruchi! Being very productive, aren't we?" she greeted him cheerily.

A confused Kai couldn't process what was going on. His eyes darted across the room, trying to check if it was all real.

And then everything hit him like a load of bricks.

His tweet...

Kai remained mute, frozen in fear.

"An influential individual like yourself..." she softly tutted. A lump started forming in Kai's throat.

"Arson?!? Anyone..." she read aloud from a laptop. His laptop.

"How irresponsible!?!" she half-growled, raising the laptop, ready to smash it.

She stopped the moment she realised what was going on. The lump in Kai's throat seemed to grow, making it hard for him to swallow. To breathe.

"Why are you here?" he finally managed to choke out.

Daisy let out a bitter laugh. "I don't even know why I thought you'd be smart," she said amusedly.

Kai wasn't annoyed. He didn't have time to be relieved. Or to feel anything he normally would've.

He was scared.

"Look, I just need a place to say," she said, slowly composing herself.

Kai remembered how she literally taught her grandmother what to say during the interview. How every question was planned. How the grandmother had followed her orders like a puppet. A woman of about seventy.

Sweat beaded up on his forehead as he clenched his fists and nodded. He just knew he had to agree.

Daisy smiled and turned to look out the window. Kai reluctantly went further into the apartment.

His pet cat lay dead on his desk, blood oozing from unexpected parts. A bloody knife was stabbed into the table, right over his picture for a special article that was to be published later. On the psychopaths he'd met in his lifetime.

He shivered at the sight of his mangled cat.

For the first time, he was utterly frightened.