Sho’s eyes were directed to the writing scrawled across the far wall. He slipped further inside the room and approached the wall with a visceral cautiousness. When he read the words, he felt his blood run cold. There was a child in this godforsaken place, too? The idea of it was sickening. His gaze drifted to the blockier lettering in the middle. [i]‘Erase from the paper?’[/i] He wondered what that meant. It didn’t sound like something a lost child would take the time to write.

[b]“A child was in here?”[/b]

Sho started at the unexpected voice. He spun around to find Suzume standing behind him. He rolled his eyes, irritated at his jumpiness and her unwillingness to stay put. However, part of him was amazed at how quickly she recovered from her earlier panic attack.

“I thought I told you to wait in the other room,” Sho said with a scowl. He tried to sound mad at her, but at the same time he took her hand in his again and drew her closer. A smile played on his lip. “Since you don’t listen very well, I’ll just have to keep an eye on you, myself.” He led her over to the second door on the far wall. “Would you care to go exploring, my lady?” He sent a quick prayer up to any god that would listen that this room wouldn’t be as abnormal as the last one.

[i]Here goes nothing,[/i] Sho gave the handle a turn and opened the door.