“Yeah, Billy’s coming home tonight from his business trip in Dubai. I figured I should give him a little welcome home gift, so I’m shopping for some lingerie.”
Cassandra said to a friend over her phone, as she walked to the nearest clothing store from her office. Cassandra just got off work from a major law firm where she is a accountant of.
On the way, an electronics store happens to be near the shop she frequents, and the TVs at the display window has some unsavory news being broadcasted on their screens.
“Mutilated corps of child found in abandoned lot” was the headline, as a male news anchor mouth off words that are inaudible from the other side of the display window. A man with a brown leather jacket that has a hood lined with grey fur happens to be walking from the opposite end of the sidewalk, half of his face hidden within his hood. He seemed to be interested in the news shown on the TV screens, briefly unaware of his surroundings.
Cassandra, who was also absent minded of her peripherals, was unable to avoid colliding with the man in the leather garbs. They bumped into one another, and as both of them started to fall backwards from the impact, Cassandra managed to grab the hooded man’s silver necklace as she tried to grasp on anything to prevent her fall.
The man manage to find his balance and not fall on his rear, something that Cassandra was not as fortunate to do. The man’s silver necklace snapped before Cassandra’s body even hit the sidewalk, her fall producing an audible thud as she did.
“Awww. Goddamn it! Don’t you watch where you’re going? You stupid idiot!” Casandra said as she got up from the paved sidewalk and threw the man’s broken necklace right at him.
She walked away from the hooded man, fuming. The man, on the other hand only stood there as he looked at his broken silver accessory. Slowly, however, his befuddled gaze turned calm and empty as her stared at Cassandra’s back.
After two hours of shopping, Cassandra headed back to her office where she parked her car. Once there however, she was unable to open her car’s trunk. she tried everything but to no avail.
“Great, first the dumbass with the leather hoody knocks me off my ass, and now my trunk’s broken. This day can’t possibly get any worst.” She said begrudgingly to no one in particular.
Cassandra angrily tossed the clothes she bought on the back set before driving out of the parking lot. after an hour’s drive, she reach her posh two story home, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Cassandra wanted peace and quiet, so they bought a house far away from praying eyes.
She pulled into her driveway to park her car in the garage. Cassandra sighed once again when looking back at her car, hoping her insurance will cover the cost for it’s repair before turning off the lights and closing her garage door. As a few minutes after Cassandra left however, a noise echoed within the dark garage, the sound of a car’s trunk opening without anyone to notice.
Tired from her long day of work and shopping, Cassandra decided to take a bath and freshen-up before she started cooking dinner. She drew herself a bath and hooped in the tub once it’s full and bubbly.
“God, I needed this.” Cassandra exclaimed as she soak, bubbles covering both the surface of the water and her naked body. The warm bath was so relaxing that Cassandra couldn’t help but doze off.
Sleeping peacefully for an unknown span of time, she hear faint footsteps muffled by the carpet on the floor of the bathroom that woke her up.
“Hmmm. Is that you, Bill? I must have dozed off. Sorry I haven’t…” Cassandra said in her sleep addled haze. Once she was able to shake off her drowsiness however, she found that it wasn’t Billy that was standing over her, but someone that she vaguely recognize.
“Y-you!? You’re that guy from…” She stammered once she saw the hooded man she bumped into earlier that day. Her blood running cold once she noticed that he is now wearing a terrifying mask over his face. The mask was that of Oni, a Japanese monster with red skin, A pair of tusks in its lower jaw, and two pearl white horns on its forehead.
Cassandra’s blood ran cold as the hooded man stared at her through the dark, hollo eyes of the Oni mask. Before she could utter additional words, the masked man grabbed her by the neck and pushed her down in the water.
Cassandra painfully inhaled the soapy water as the man continues to hold her down, trying drown her. The water muffled her cries for help as she tried to free herself from the masked man’s clutches. However, the man’s vice like grip did not budge no matter how much she clawed at his arm.
Just as she thought she’s about to draw her last few breaths, Cassandra remembered something that could save her life. With her remaining strength, she felt around the edge of the tub with her right right hand, until she finally grasped what she desperately needed.
Once Cassandra had the glass bubble bath bottle, she brought it colliding onto the masked man’s head with all the power she could muster. The bottle shamed into the man’s head, and Cassandra felt her makeshift weapon cracked her assailant’s skull.
The masked man’s grip loosened as he fell on the bath room floor, unmoving. The now freed Cassandra hurriedly sat up on the tub, gasping for air while coughing out the water she inhaled.
Once her body had enough time to recover , Cassandra looked at the seemingly lifeless body of her attacker. The masked assailant’s head was stained crimson from the blood pouring out as he laid there motionless. Cassandra weakly got out of the the bath to put on a towel and grabbed her phone to call Billy, turning away from the masked man as she did so.
“B-Billy? A-are you on your way? Please hurry! I need your help right… AGH!” Cassandra yelled out from the sharp pain she felt on her right leg. When she turned around to see what caused it, and was shocked to find that the man she thought she killed was now clasping a knife he used to cut her leg, standing up on shaky legs.
Out of desperation, Cassandra threw her phone directly at the man’s face, stunning him momentarily. Cassandra wasted no time and limped her way hurriedly out of the bath room and down the flight of stairs. As she tried to climb down however, Cassandra was tackled down by her attacker.
Cassandra and the man rolled down the stairs, and once they hit the last step, Cassandra scrambled to crawl away from the man. The masked man had other ideas, however. Once he stood up, he manage to corner Cassandra to a wall with no escape rout.
“You… Bumped into me!” The masked man said in a raspy and deep voice, made more menacing by the Oni mask.
“I-I’m really s-s-sorry I ruined your necklace. A-and I’m sorry I was rude to you. Pl-please, just take all the money I have, j-just don’t hurt me anymore.” Cassandra pleaded with shaky voice as a puddle of blood and urine pooled around her. The man didn’t relent and came at her with intent to kill.
Just when the man was about to kill Cassandra, somebody kicked the living room door open, pointed a six shooter at the masked man , and open fired. Billy watched as the bullet grazed the masked man’s right shoulder, thanking god that he decided to surprise Cassandra by coming home early.
Before Billy could tell the knife wielding man to put his weapon down however, the man charged at him with full speed. Billy managed to fire another round at the man that hit the left side of his face, but the mask took most of the damage as it partially shatters, preventing a fatal shot.
The masked man then grabbed and pried Billy’s gun out of his hands and tossed it aside. He then held Billy by the neck as he brought his face closer to Billy’s.
“Do you know what she did to me?” The man said to Billy as he stares at him with one exposed eye behind the shattered Oni mask. “She bumped into me, and she showed me her sins. Here, let me show you what she did.” The man with the shattered mask then placed his right thumb on Billy’s forehead.
Billy tried to struggle, but as the man placed his thumb on Billy’s forehead, Billy started to see images of a memory that wasn’t his. Billy found himself in their basement, but it’s surroundings are filled with plastic sheets. He then saw a table with the same plastic sheets, but atop it was something he couldn’t imagine. A crying little girl, no older than ten, was bound by duck tape atop the table.
Billy then saw through the memory him stepping closer to the table with a large kitchen knife in his hand. “P-please mam… (sob!) Let me go… Y-you can… (sob!) have all the money in my piggy bank… I-I can even be your friend if you take me to mommy. P-please…(sob!”) The small child uttered through her sobs. Yet the voice that replied clearly had malicious intent.
“Oh sweetie, I don’t need money. The only thing I need is you.” Cassandra said to the terrified girl, right before she slit the girl’s throat. The image then faded as the child coughed up blood like an exploding crimson fountain. When Billy came to after experiencing the man’s mysterious ability, he heard Cassandra yelling at the masked man to let him go.
“Cassi… In our basement. What have you done to that child in our basement?” Billy asked after the man let him go. “W-what are you talking about? I-I don’t know anything about a little girl.” Cassandra blurted out in her panicked defense. However, she made one crucial mistake in what she said. “I never said the child was a girl.” Billy remarked as his brow furrowed.
Before Cassandra could say anything else, the man relayed what saw. “I don’t know the child’s name, but parts of her are in your freezer right now. She was going to cook it for dinner and serve it to you so you can be a part of her sick cannibalistic lifestyle”
“Cassi? You were going to feed her to me? H-how could you” Billy uttered in his shocked state, refusing to believe she could do something so gruesome.
“Y-you don’t understand… I-I couldn’t help myself. She was so delicious. The texture of her flesh just melts in your mouth. P-please, Billy. If you’d just taste her meat, you’ll understand what I mean.” Cassandra said, no longer denying what she’s done. Her panicked eyes now that of manic pleading.
Billy cried from this revelation. Yet, steeled himself for what he knows should be done. He took out his phone and dialed 911 to have Cassandra arrested. The masked man on the other hand didn’t appreciate this gesture.
“She’s my prey, the police can’t have her.” The man said through gritted teeth. “She’s my wife. If you’re going to kill her, you’ll have to kill me too.” Billy replied with a sad yet accepting tone. As the man saw Billy’s resolve, he turned towards the door and made his way out of the house with a heavy heart. Leaving Cassandra to her fait as she sobbed and wallowed in her own filth, as the masked man faded to the knight