The Story of Gothic Lady Who Met a Grave Keeper in Another World - Chapter 5

I felt it in the air.
I feel it.

Oh no, hey?
?I mean, I’m with a guy who would scream and run away when he sees me naked in front of him, right?
?No matter how hard I look for it, I can’t find any reason why a lascivious woman who willingly rubs her own boobs should stay in the room of such a pure man!

So, I quickly prepared myself right after that lucky incident – my wet body was wiped with the bed sheets – and I left the old house hotel in a hurry before Mr Thorden came back.

Farewell to the abroad one-night stand.
Farewell, authentic old folk house hotels.
And farewell Mr. Thorden.
I am going to return to my own bed with the shame I have earned on this trip.

Well, if that grave is a real grave, there should definitely be a private house nearby, and if you walk along the path extending from the grave, you should eventually be able to return to the Gothic Festival site.
Maybe.
At the very worst, I will find another house.

However, it is already quite late.
The festival may be long over, and there is a concern that if a foreign woman suddenly rings the doorbell at night, no one may open the front door.
Still, it would be better than sitting in Mr Thorden’s room like that.

Nevertheless, the street was dark.
To my horror, there is not a single streetlight on the road.
The moonlight was so bright that my shadow fell on the street, and I began to regret having run out of the old folk house hotel without thinking.
Maybe, I should have asked him to stay at least one night after all, but he ran away screaming…
I wonder if I’ll get to hear a story tomorrow about a Japanese woman who tried something on a man and then I’m in trouble.
Mr Thorden didn’t seem like the type who would do such a thing, but it didn’t calm my mind.

“…… Oh?”
On the other side of the pitch-black road, I could see a dimly glowing object floating in the distance.
It wasn’t a flashlight-like light, but more of a blur – it looked like a human figure.
Just like it might look like that if it had fluorescent paint all over its body.

In other words, a person.
There is a person across the street.
And if my hunch is correct, it must be a Gothic Festival participant dressed in a fluorescent painted wacky costume!
I didn’t read anywhere that the Gothic Festival turns Halloween-themed at night, but I guess that’s possible since gothic and horror go hand in hand.

“Thank goodness! Thank God!”
I suppressed my impatience, but I walked up to the group as fast as I could.
The more I looked at them, the more I realized that they were very well made – they looked like Skeletons.
A head of bone, a body of bone, limbs of bone.
It was as if they were so perfectly made of bone that it was hard to imagine that there was any flesh packed inside.
What? Isn’t it too well done? What is going on here? It’s like a black suit with bone patterns painted on it but it is already so dark outside?

I excitedly held up my phone and snapped a picture of the group of glowing Skeletons.
It’s a photo that would get a lot of comments if I uploaded it to social media. They are so photogenic. I can’t wait to get back to the hotel where I can get internet access!

I was in a state of excitement when a group of bones suddenly noticed me and began to approach me.
Oh, no, I shouldn’t have taken their picture without permission, should I?
“Oh, I’m sorry! I mean, I’m sorry! I’m sorry for taking pictures without permission. ……?”
Cruel, cruel, the limit of my English ability.
While I was slumbering, a group of Skeletons came closer to me.

And then I noticed.

These Skeletons are transparent.
They were not painted on black suits but were really hollow inside.
“…… it means they’re puppets! Like the latest skeleton robot! Wow, that’s amazing! I wonder if there is a pilot somewhere! Is it coated with fluorescent paint to prevent it from getting lost? I see!”
This must be a global surprise project. This must be a global surprise project, an attempt to surprise people who are wandering the streets at night with a skeleton robot.
And where is the operator?
I looked around with a shifty glance, but could not see anyone who looked like one.
Isn’t this interesting?
If he was hiding in the dark bushes or something, it would be natural that I couldn’t find him.

Oh, shoot, I forgot to …… surprise myself.
Isn’t that what this is?
I’m the one who should say, “Kya!”
I’ll have to say “kyah!” to not ruin the fun.
But I lost the timing to be surprised, and I’m already staring at the ghosts.
Hmmm… …… If I just stand here, will he give up and reveal the surprise to me? Thanks – I’m Japanese – I’m not suited to overreact like a foreigner.

What is going on,huh? Something got caught on my leg.
“Ah, ah, Whaa!”
I fell. Suddenly. In the middle of nowhere.
No way, right? Did I just untie my shoelace and step on it? It hurt like hell.
“The dress was expensive! It’s dirty! Aah!”
I sat up in a panic, and while sitting on the ground, I fluttered my dress to inspect the damage.

……Huh?
It still feels like there’s something stuck in my foot.
How gruffly did the shoelace get tangled up? Maybe it wasn’t a shoelace, but something like a children’s trap made by tying leaves on the ground?
It could be possible if it was this dark.
I pull up my dress to expose my shoes and ankles.

At that moment, I felt my heart shrink.
Bones.
A bare bony hand gripped my ankle tightly.
A bone! Bone!
I unintentionally screamed.
The surprise was a big success! I was so surprised.

Shaking the bone off as hard as I could, I rolled on the ground and stood up, holding my pounding chest.
“Stop it! I was so surprised! I didn’t expect such an ambush, and letting you fall is too much! I got my dress dirty too. …… and ……”

The area is quiet.
The group of skeletons gradually closed the distance between me and them, still making clinking, toy-like noises.
I notice that there are countless more of them at my feet, reaching for my hands and closing in on me.

For the first time, I felt horrified.
No sign of a joke. Nowhere to be found.
I was startled enough. I screamed and fell down. And yet no one came out and laughed at me. I broke out in a cold sweat.
No, that can’t be true.
My brain was not so twisted as to think that this group of looming ghouls was some kind of a real monster.

The only thing I was sure of was that I should run away.
Whatever kind of joke, malice, or crime this group of guys was, I had crossed the line of being able to stay here with a smile on my face.
Let’s go back.
No matter how awkward it may be, let’s stay at Mr Thorden’s place for the night. In the first place, it was too much of an act of recklessness to go walking alone at night in a foreign country I didn’t know. I am a foolish and peaceful Japanese person, please God forgive and save me.

I turned on my heel and started to run.
But within a few steps, I bumped into something that blocked my way.
Who is that?
I look up.
I look into its eyes — his eyeballs have fallen out of his eye sockets, and his cheeks are half bare.
The dry skin and sparse hair.

“No! Oh no! Zombie! Nooooooo!!”

This time, I really screamed.
I know it was a stupid scream, but that’s the kind of scream you would make if a zombie actually appeared in front of you.
I slipped past the zombie standing in front of me and started running down the road to the old house hotel. But then they grab me by the hem of my dress and I end up kissing the ground again.

My lips are cut by the impact of my fall, and the iron taste fills my mouth, and I cower to the ground with a numb head.
Za, za–.
The sound of dragging footsteps comes from behind me. The clattering, toy-like sound of walking bones follows, and the pain takes over, arousing fear in me.

I have to get up.
This is no time to be in pain.
What’s going to happen to me? What happens if a zombie catches me? Am I going to be eaten? Does the bite turn me into a zombie too?

I shouldn’t have been thinking about that.

“It hurts! Ouch, oh no, ouch ouch ouch ouch!”
I screamed, struggled, and flailed as a burning pain shot up my leg.
Something had bitten my leg.
I flailed wildly and somehow managed to escape from the jaws of the bone or zombie, and I stood up.
The warmth of blood spread around the bite site. As I put weight on my leg, intense pain shot through my entire body, and I felt like I was going to pass out.

I can’t walk. You can’t run. You can’t run – but if you stop, you will die. You will be killed.
No, no, no.
No, no, no.
Why? Why am I being treated like this just because I came to Germany for a short trip?
I want to go back to Japan.

“Help me ……, help me, help me …….”

I heard a voice praying.
In the distance, I could see lights – lights of the old folk hotel from which I had escaped.
The flickering lights seemed to be getting closer and closer to me.

“I could hardly walk properly! —I’m not used to hearing that, but still…!”
A voice, not familiar, but still familiar, echoed through the night forest, bringing me back to reality.
I realize that it is the light from the Cantera in Mr Thorden’s hand who is approaching, and my whole body suddenly feels faint.
I had the energy to take one more step.
I reached out my hand toward the light. And then his hand was grabbing mine tightly. It was a warm, human hand. A big, burly, strong hand.

In no time at all, I was pulled into Thorden’s chest and his arm was firmly around my waist.
It was as if he was saying, “I will protect you,” reassuring me in my confusion.
At the same time, the head of the zombie that had been chasing me jumped with a mighty leap.

A shovel.
The huge shovel that Mr. Thorden carried when we first met, for digging deep holes. It was like an axe, and with a full swing, Mr Thorden severed the zombie’s head.
“—-. —?”
I whispered with a concerned voice in his ear:
“My leg, I’ve been bitten……! It hurts…… so much…….”
I cried out to Mr Thorden, saying, “It hurts.”

Though he could not have understood my words, Mr Thorden looked at my leg. The light from the Cantera illuminated my blood dripping on the ground.
I heard a gurgling, dull sound.
A beat later, I realize that it is the sound of Mr Thorden’s back teeth grinding together.

The look on his face.

I can now clearly see his face and expression, which had been obscured by his bangs and beard.
Unexpectedly, I let out a small scream.
It was much scarier than a pack of ghouls or biting zombies.
Mr. Thorden didn’t seem to notice my fear, and swung the shovel he was carrying on his shoulder once in a big swing, and thrust it deep into the ground.
And then…

“Oooooooooooooooo!!!!”

He roared into the sky.
The air shook with a shudder and the ghosts and zombies that were slowly closing in stopped moving with a snap.
So loud was the roar that I covered my ears and closed my eyes. And when I freed my eyes and ears again, there was silence in the forest.

Only Mr Thorden and I stood in the darkness, illuminated by the moonlight and the Cantera.
It was as if the tragedy of a moment before had only been a bad dream.
But only my legs, aching to the beat of my heart, reminded me that this was real.

What was it?
What was it, now, what was it?

There were giants and zombies, and I was bitten, and Mr Thorden saved me.
And it hurts. It is so painful. Even after calming down, it still hurts more and more and I don’t feel well at all. I feel like I’m going to throw up.
“Eri Himeno.”
I was snapped back to reality from my daze when he called my name.

“I was bitten by a bite…… and my feet…… hurt, in English. …… um,”
No, I don’t understand.
I don’t understand anything.
In the first place, he doesn’t speak English. Of course, he couldn’t understand Japanese either.
All I could do was cry out in silence.
My feet hurt.
That was all I could think about.