Chapter 18: Sheby (1)

Hiyori was watching the passing by street lamps, blurry from the heavy rain as they drove into the city. For her, everything looked as if she was in a completely different world now. The silhouettes of the buildings were foreign, towering above the landscape as she felt herself become frighteningly small before them at that moment. Looking at the car’s clock, it showed that it was only 03:20, in the middle of the darkest hours of the night. 

 

“Where are we going now?”

 

“To a friend, who will help us.” replied as they slowly rolled through a crossroad. The yellow, blinking light of the stop lights’ reflected on the wet windshield, lighting up Hiyori’s face while they drove deeper and deeper into the winding, deserted roads of the big city. 

 

“Will anybody even welcome us? At an hour like this? Not to mention the terrible weather!” asked, letting out a small yawn, covering her mouth.

 

“There are plenty of people who thrive at times like this!” looked at her for a second as he drove into a parking garage, finally out from the dreadful storm that has been raging on for hours by now. Clearly he was not about to elaborate on it so she just stopped asking in the end, stepping out from the car, following him without any more questions. She found it extremely hard and uncomfortable to walk in a business skirt, even with her thin legs. At least she did not have to change into high heels and could keep her sneakers on. If she would have to change those too it would be best if Everlong carried her on his back because she would be falling all over at every other step! Luckily, they did not have to walk far under one umbrella before they entered into a tall but old, run down apartment complex. “This way.” led her to a probably 50 or 60 years old elevator. Pushing one of the labelless buttons, it slowly started to rise upwards… or going downwards? It was hard to tell.

 

“Hopefully we won’t be crashing down…” murmured Hiyori, listening to the loud rattling of the elevator and eerie, distorted elevator music that started to play, coming from a tiny speaker, above the control panel.

 

“Are you claustrophobic?” looked down at her Everlong. 

 

“No… but this place gives me the creeps for some reason!” shivered a little, looking at the dilapidated walls of the elevator, filled with old scribbles and scratches, as if something was imprisoned here and it wanted to get out… desperately. 

 

“You’ll get used to it. At first I also couldn’t shake off the feeling, no matter where I went.” patted her shoulder as the lift stopped and he opened the door to the dirty, dimly lit corridor. Hiyori was not about to hesitate at all, following Everlong right out, walking with a quick pace right next to him.

 

“Do people live here?” looked around, seeing the tattered, faded, wooden doors and their rusty room numbers, barely hanging on them. The dirty, graffitied up walls, the unkept floors, all looked like nobody cleaned up here since the whole complex was built! She could not even read the marks on the walls as most of them were already faded, painted over multiple times or in a completely foreing language to her. Not to mention, the symbols were… like straight out of an anime or manga, at least she would swear she saw some of them before, if nowhere else, but in a video game!

 

“Yes and no. There are… residents in them. Let’s leave it at that!” answered, stopping at a door, having only a 7 plastered on it, the rest of the two numbers behind it were long gone, leaving behind nothing more than black smudges on the faded oak wood. “You don’t need to be so nervous!” said with an encouraging voice “She won’t eat you alive!” laughed, knocking on the door rhythmically. 

 

“...” gulped Hiyorin, not really feeling that his words instilled in her the most unbreakable bravery she needed right now! Especially not what happened in the cemetery a few hours ago! Not eating her while she was alive did not mean she would not eat her at all!

 

They were standing there for seconds, which felt like hours for Hiyori. She couldn’t help but look backwards, feeling like multiple pairs of eyes were watching her. Almost like a hungry group of wolves, ready to pounce as soon as she remained alone. When she heard the locks’ loud clicks as they got turned open from the inside, she almost jumped up, flinching, pulling closer to Everlong. After feeling like the door itself had a dozen different locks installed onto it at the other side, it finally opened up a little, as a pair of cloudy, yellow eyes lit up in the small slit, leading into the dark hallway of the apartment. Hiyori couldn’t make out the figure, hiding in the darkness, but those pupils were not human as they were horizontal, just like a goat’s! 

You are reading story Detective Everlong at novel35.com

 

“Hmm?” scratched her throat, the owner of the yellow eyes “Oh… it’s you? What do you want?” looked upwards as in height she was at the same level as Hiyori, barely reaching Everlong’s chest’s height.

 

“I need your expertise.” answered with a smile “Can we come in?”

 

“No.” replied immediately, trying to close the door but Everlong already put his foot into the opening, making her unable to close it. The way he was smiling, and also intruding on the… thing, behind the door, made Hiyori question who was the otherworldly being here at the moment! “Take your filthy foot away!” grumbled, as Hiyori saw a thin, goat-like hoof stomping on Everlong’s shoe, trying to kick it away.

 

Somehow, the whole scene was turning her fears into a kind of hilarity she was not expecting at all, since stepping out of that elevator! Now her private detective looked like a street thug, here to get some shakedown money from someone who was owning him big time! Was this turning her into an accomplice? Was she now some kind of yakuza fledgling? She couldn’t help but ask herself questions like these, imagining herself in an unbuttoned suit, wearing only bandages around her chest under it, resting a big wooden longsword on her shoulders while a lit cigarette barely hung on between her lips. 

 

“The girl has some strange fantasies.” said the owner of the hoof, stopping the stomping, looking at Hiyori, who quickly shuddered, shaking her head, expelling all the unnecessary thoughts, avoiding eye contact with her.

 

“She can read your mind if you don’t concentrate.” warned Everlong but he was not really worried. “Come on Sheby, don’t be a stubborn, old goat!” 

 

“Yes I will be!” continued stomping “This is an assault! A breach of contract! You are threatening someone with a Permit of Asylum! You treacherous demon!” 

 

“Hey, hey, Sheby, your words are truly hurting me! Come on… please? Pretty please?” laughed, using such a sweet voice even Hiyori felt herself weirded out, especially because Everlong’s foot went even deeper in as he held onto the door, pushing it inwards. 

 

“Damn you, you hornless bastard! No! Get out of my domain! Out, out, out!” shouted at him, sounding like a true goat in the end, screaming in desperation. Looking around, Hiyori could feel and hear some of the other doors slowly opening and could see dozens of unnatural, glowing eyes watching them.

 

“I will let you devour it…” whispered Everlong but his voice was still so loud that not just Sheby but Hiyori also froze in place. The latter mostly because she thought he meant her!

 

“...” even the other doors opened up hurriedly, even wider and Hiyori could hear more locks opening quickly at those words. “Fuck… come in!” drew back her hoof, opening her front door to them and Everlong just pulled Hiyori in, before closing the door behind themselves. 

You can find story with these keywords: Detective Everlong, Read Detective Everlong, Detective Everlong novel, Detective Everlong book, Detective Everlong story, Detective Everlong full, Detective Everlong Latest Chapter