Bzzt bzzt
Ugh, my head is thumping so bad.
Bzzt bzzt
Huh, is that my communicator?
Opening his eyes to the blinding morning glare, Shin, who was slumped into the wooden chair, began to grab his chest.
Why does everything hurt so much? It feels like someone smashed through my heart.
Bzzt bzzzz…
Regaining the focus in his eyes, the scene began to unfold before Shin's eyes. In the darkness of the basement room, through the crack of a small window, the sun shone in. It illuminated the small circular table, the weird symbols drawn on the table's surface, and the two other seated occupants.
However, they had no response; their faces wore a solidified expression of fear. Upon seeing this, Shin began to experience a stinging pain deep in his mind, with numerous fragmented memories flooding in.
I was still in my college dorm, then… Then Yun and Assa called me for something… and we then came here. Ugh... those symbols… and darkness… The last thing I can still vaguely recall was a deep shadow flooding out. Still grabbing his throbbing head, Shin began to inspect the eerie scene.
On the table was a mysterious symbol drawn in red ink with four candles, which had completely burned away, placed in each cardinal point.
Then, looking at Yun, he felt an uncomfortable feeling crawling through his spine. Raising his arm to tug at his friend's arm, Shin began to worriedly call out.
"Yun, please answer me… Yun?" , then turning his head to his other friend, "Assa?"
Bzzt bzzzt
My communicator? Patting his pockets and reaching into the pocket of his tracksuit pants, Shin pulled out his communicator.
Aunt Min with 16 missed calls.
Standing up from his seat, he began pacing towards the door and began calling his aunt.
Beep beep. Beep
"Shin! Where have you been?! You had me so worried I almost called the police." His Aunt Min's voice drummed through the speaker.
Ah! The police, Shin's eye suddenly widened. "Aunt Min, you need to call the police… something…something terrible happened at Yun's house."
"What happened, Shin? Is everything okay?" Her voice softened.
"Please just call the police, Aunt Min."
…
Before long Shin found himself in the interrogation room of a police station. Sitting opposite him was a burly police officer with a light blue uniform, and on it were a detective's epaulette and name tag: Muranaka Kenta. The senior officer then removed his hat and revealed his dark black hair, forming a stark contrast against his bushy gray moustache.
Sliding the open docket towards Shin, the young adult's face was drawn to the mug shot taken moments earlier.
Since youth, Shin always had average looks, neither handsome nor unattractive; his dark brown hair and almost black-like brown eyes were the typical look of citizens from Sakura City.
However, the mug shot had clearly captured the frightened child within.
"Meiko Shin, age 20, born 8 September 615 AC."
"Parents; Father deceased." Pausing for a moment, the detective continues, "Mother, whereabouts unknown."
"A 2nd-year student at the 45th District College of Engineering."
"No prior delinquency records, no warnings, and you were on track to graduate at least in the top 10, with a bright future in HexTech industries."
"So tell me, Meiko Shin, you have a get-together with your friends, and then they are all dead. How does that work?" The burly officer made his inquiry.
"I don't remember anything. When I woke up, they were like that. You have to believe me, detective." Shin could not help but plead.
"Our preliminary investigations revealed you kids may have played that new devil game that's been going around, trying to summon ghosts…" Clearly irritated, the detective then continued, "Tsk, the youth these days… Once we have the autopsy results, we'll know what killed them."
Standing up and collecting all the documents, the senior detective then added, "You have 5 minutes before we take you back to the cells."
After having left, a woman then entered. She was of a very mature age and wore a simple blouse with a long dress skirt flowing underneath an apron. Her black hair was tied up in a neat bun.
"Aunt Min!" Shin then called out, feeling a slight sense of relief at seeing a familiar face.
Aunt Min then quickly sat down on the chair the senior detective had sat on previously. "Shin, my boy. I left the cafe so quickly, and when I got here, they wouldn't tell me anything." She then took Shin's hand in her own and gently squeezed it. "Come now. Tell Aunt Min what's the matter."
…
Having recalled the details he could remember to his aunt, Shin found himself back in a small cubic cell. This cell was only enough for two occupants and only afforded the bare necessities like a bunk bed and toilet, with a tiny window to the outside world.
Lying on the top bed, Shin found it difficult to fall asleep; in his mind, he kept replaying the moment of his awakening over and over, feeling like all of it was just a long nightmare.
The outside world was covered in darkness, it was almost midnight when he suddenly heard heavy footsteps approaching in the hallway of the cells.
Raising his head, Shin then noticed that the footsteps stopped at his cell.
Standing there was the burly senior detective Muranaka from earlier, who then spoke in a solemn tone. "Meiko Shin, get up. You have visitors."
This late at night? Immediately Shin found the situation suspicious; however, he had no way to retort it.
Now finding himself back in the interrogation room, he was confused to find two new strangers.
A man who was sitting at the table and a woman, who seemed to be around Shin's age, stood against the wall behind the man.
The man then spoke, "Mr. Shin, we are special investigators here to find out the truth of today's incident…" The man then pointed to the seat opposite him. "…Please have a seat."
Returning to the familiar seat, Shin then carefully analyzed the appearance of both strangers.
With silver slicked-back hair and wearing sunglasses at night, he looks like some shady gangster in that black combat wear and trench coat; however, he is handsome… So maybe a part-time model. Shin tried to alleviate his mood with a jest, then turned his head to the young woman. She looks about my age, has above-average looks, and her black hair that's tied in a short fishtail braid hanging over her shoulder reminds me of a certain idol I followed. And that attire looks the same as this man's.
Returning his attention to the handsome man, he noticed a silver cufflink with a serpent devouring its own tail on the man's trench coat. He then remarked, "I've already given my statement several times. How many more investigations will I have to do?"
The man then simply smiled, after which the woman then spoke while opening a silver pocket watch.
"One minute left, Captain," her gentle voice flowed.
Turning his head to the analog clock on the wall, Shin noticed that the clock had just struck 11:59.
"My name is Gin Wardens, and that there is my subordinate, Miss Tsuki." The silver-haired man named Gin then spoke.
"Now we will see if you are 'special,' Mr. Shin."
Huh, see if I'm special. However, before Shin could finish his thought, he then observed how the man retrieved a similar silver pocket watch from within his trench coat.
Whilst opening the lid of the pocket watch, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to dim a little.
"Synch." The both of them then spoke while pressing a button on the sides of their respective silver pocket watches simultaneously.
Confused at this action, Shin then turned his head to look at the detective, when suddenly he got a terrifying fright.
The burly officer named Muranaka was standing there to the side; however, he looked like a corpse. His eyes looked carved out, leaving behind empty sockets with his mouth agape, sharing the same emptiness.
Reeling away from the officer, he then heard the silver-haired Gin speak, "That there is a Hollow, and judging from your expression, you can definitely see him. Indeed you are 'special,' Mr. Shin."
Looking at the handsome silver-haired man in his shocked state, he noticed these two strangers were unbothered by the sudden change and still looked normal.
Gin then let out a slight smile before adding,
"Welcome to the Waking Hour, Shin."