At that moment, the living room door opens and a woman enters carrying two trays.
She has long purple hair that falls loosely down her back. It is short in front and gathered on both sides of her face, framing it beautifully. Her eyes are the same deep purple color. She has a slender waist and large breasts that are noticeable under her dress.
She is Yuriko Takagi, Saya's mother.
Her full lips, normally painted with red lipstick, are bare today. Probably because she has just lost her husband and spent more time crying than worrying about her appearance.
She is carrying two trays, one in each hand. On top of the first tray are cookies that look delicious. And on the other are cups of what looks like hot chocolate.
Damn... Even though they look delicious, I only feel hungry when I look at Yuriko's flesh.
But I notice she's limping. And at any moment, it looks like the trays will fall from her trembling hands.
My eyes drift down to her thigh. She's wearing a red dress, which makes it easy to see her leg.
There I see the white bandage wrapped around her thigh. Red bloodstains seep through the bandage.
I wonder why she does this kind of work when she's injured. She could have left it to the servants to take care of since the Takagi family has dozens of employees.
As I think that, I get up from the sofa and walk toward her.
"Good morning, Mrs. Takagi. Let me help you carry the trays."
I say with a smile.
Mrs. Takagi looks at me and her tired expression softens a little.
"Arata-kun. Thank you for coming to see Saya."
She nods as she thanks me.
I carefully take the tray with the cups of chocolate and walk beside her to the coffee table.
"Mrs. Takagi, why don't you let the servants take care of this kind of thing? You're injured."
She looks sad for a moment. Her purple eyes fill with pain.
"After what happened with my husband, I can't trust anyone else. I don't want to put my daughter Saya in danger by letting strangers near her without supervision."
She pauses and then continues in a soft voice.
"I apologize in advance, Arata-kun. I didn't want you and Rei to come over today either. But Saya saw you arrive through the window and said to let you in. She needs her friends right now."
I'm surprised by this and look over at Saya, who is sitting quietly on the sofa.
I am moved that she decided to let us in even though her mother and she herself have every right to distrust us and anyone else at this moment.
I think that what Yuriko thinks is correct from her perspective. They are normal people and are not like me, who has the sensor to differentiate a parasite from a human.
They can't do that. So they can only distrust everyone around the mansion.
One of the servants could be a parasite waiting for the right moment to attack.
And in fact, I sense through my sensor that somewhere on the estate there is a parasite.
Later, I must take care of that disgusting worm before it gets close to Saya.
"You don't need to apologize for distrusting me, Mrs. Takagi. You only do so because you care about your daughter. That makes you a good mother."
She flashes a tired smile. After setting the tray on the coffee table, she gently strokes my hair with her hand.
"You're a good boy, Arata-kun. So considerate and mature for your age."
Unlike Souichiro, who always looked at me coldly and suspiciously, Mrs. Takagi has always been kind to me since I met Saya.
There are even times when she treats me like her own son when I come to visit.
It's a pleasant yet strange feeling.
I set the tray with the cups of hot chocolate on the table next to the other one.
"Saya, Rei-san, Arata-kun. Please come and have something to eat."
Yuriko invites us in a motherly voice.
But Saya responds without moving from the sofa.
"I'm not hungry."
Yuriko frowns with concern.
"Saya, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten anything since last night and..."
"Shut up!"
Saya interrupts, suddenly shouting.
"Just... just shut up, Okaa-san!"
Yuriko looks deeply saddened as she sits down in one of the chairs at the table. It seems she has no intention of continuing to pressure Saya to eat.
I sigh at the sad scene. I approach Saya and gently pull her arm to lift her off the sofa.
"Come on, Saya."
I say with a smile.
She wants to get angry at me. I can see the beginning of a frown forming on her face.
But before she can protest, I grab a cookie from the tray and pop it into her mouth.
"Mmph!"
Her eyes widen when she feels it in her mouth.
Saya slowly chews the cookie I forced into her mouth. Her cheeks puff up as she chews.
I stare at her. Crossing my arms over my chest with a serious expression.
"Swallow."
I order her.
She frowns and her eyes flash with frustration. I can see she wants to spit the cookie out and yell at me.
After a long moment, she swallows.
"Idiot! You dared to force the cookie into my mouth?! What kind of person does that?!"
"Me, of course."
I smile proudly and ruffle her pink hair with my hands.
She blushes and looks away.
"Good job, Saya. Now sit down and eat properly."
"D-Don't treat me like a child!"
She protests, hitting my hand away from her head.
But despite her complaints, she sits down on the chair in front of the coffee table.
Rei also comes over and sits down next to her. She takes a cookie and starts eating quietly while watching me with narrowed eyes.
What?
Yuriko looks at me in surprise, then smiles.
"Ara~ thank you, Arata-kun. I'm surprised she's more obedient to you than to me. Although I'm a little concerned about how you treat my daughter."
"Eh, don't think too much about it. That's just how our relationship is."
I nod and take a chocolate cookie and bite into it. Then I chew and swallow it with a gulp.
But you're probably wondering, hey, couldn't you eat human food? How can you eat now?
To answer that question, I must say that I have developed a technique over the years to pretend to eat in front of Rei and Saya without arousing suspicion.
Basically, I bite into the food in front of me, and without actually chewing it, I swallow it. That way, I don't taste the horrible flavor, and it goes straight to my stomach. Then I just have to pretend to chew before swallowing my saliva with a sound.
The last step...
"It's delicious, Mrs. Takagi."
I have to smile and praise the food as if it were really delicious.
Then I take a glass of hot chocolate and pretend to take a sip. The liquid touches my lips, but I don't let it enter my mouth.
That's the curse of being a zombie. I can't enjoy normal food.
But I have to keep up appearances. I can't let Yuriko or the girls suspect that something is wrong with me.
Yuriko smiles weakly.
"I'm glad you like it."
As I pretend to chew, I notice that Saya hasn't touched anything else since she swallowed the first cookie and just stares blankly at the cup of chocolate in front of her.
"Here."
I pick up another cookie and hold it in front of Saya's face.
"Hmph!"
She makes that sound and opens her mouth before chewing.
For some reason, as I feed Saya like that, I notice Rei staring at us with expressionless eyes while chewing her cookie quickly.
Hey, chew slower.
—Grumble!
My stomach makes a low noise.
Shit.
The smell of Yuriko's blood from her thigh wound is reaching my nostrils.
It's sweet, intoxicating, and seems delicious.
My mouth involuntarily salivates.
'No, no, no. Control yourself, damn it!'
I scold myself mentally.
I clench my fists on my knees and dig my nails into my palms. The pain, well, I don't feel any pain. But the feeling of pressure helps distract me a little.
I take a deep breath. Or rather, I make the motion of taking a deep breath.
I have to control my zombie instincts.
I can't lose control here, especially in front of Saya.
"Arata-kun, are you okay?"
Yuriko's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
I look up and see her looking at me with concern.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine."
I put a smile on my face and lie.
But then Rei looks at me too.
"Arata, you look pale. I mean, you're always pale, and sometimes I think you're a zombie, but now you look even paler."
Rei's words feel cold right now, stabbing my heart. Have I done something to upset her?
"I'm fine, really. I'm just a little tired."
I say quickly.
She puffs out her cheeks. It seems she doesn't suspect me of being a real zombie, but is jealous of Saya. That reassures me.
Saya brings the cup of chocolate to her lips while looking at me out of the corner of her eye.
—Grumble! Grumble!
My stomach growls again.
This time louder.
And my eyes involuntarily drift to Yuriko's leg. To the bloodstained bandage.
Her thigh looks appetizing.
'Damn it. I have to get out of here before I do something stupid.'
I jump up from my chair.
"Excuse me. I need to use the bathtroom."
I announce awkwardly.
Yuriko blinks in surprise.
"Oh, of course. The bathtroom is..."
"I know where it is. Thanks!"
I interrupt before she can finish.
I walk quickly toward the door of the room, trying not to run.
But before I leave, I feel Saya's gaze on me.
I pause for a second and turn my head to look at her.
Our eyes meet.
Her orange eyes stare at me for a long second in silence.
"Come back soon, idiot."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry."
A smile appears on my face.
I leave the room and close the door behind me.
Once in the hallway, I lean against the wall and let out a long sigh.
"That was close..."
I murmur to myself.
—Grumble! Grumble! Grumble!
My stomach continues to growl insistently.
And then...
There's a parasite somewhere on this estate.
A sinister smile forms on my lips.
"Well... I guess it's time to hunt."
My zombie instincts awaken completely.
And I begin to walk through the halls of the Takagi mansion, following the trail of the damn worm.
×××
20 advanced chapters on Pá treon.
pá treon.com/OlwinMoriarty