Screams of fear, cries of pain, wails of the dieing, and shrieks of the beasts. All these sounds mixed in the air to form a horrific, sorrowful ballad. It was a song that Ruri wished to never hear again. She wished she did not have to hear it now, but she could not tune out the desperate cries that filled her ears.

A high-pitched scream came from a building on her left. Ruri's heart skipped a beat--that was the cry of a child. Without pausing even a moment more Ruri burst through the door and leaped up the stairs. The child was still emptying his impressively large lungs, guiding Ruri to the room he was in. "Yala NAUR!" Ruri cried as she shouldered through the half-open door.

A ghoul was crouched on a bed dyed red, feasting on the corpse that had fallen over it. The screaming was coming from beneath the bed, a second ghoul clawing at the bedside to get at the boy hidden underneath. Ruri threw the small ball of fire she held in her hand at the lower ghoul. It burst across the abomination's back, a small hole appearing as the heat melted away the black hide. With a shriek of pain, the ghoul turned on Ruri and ran at her, taking two steps and leaping.

Ruri slammed the door closed behind her. The wood proved too hard for the creature's face to break through, a loud thump resounding from the other side. After a moment, one clawed hand burst through the door, reaching blindly for the small redhead. Ruri jumped up, grabbed the ghoul's forearm below the joint, and yanked sideways as hard as she could. With a loud snap the creature's arm became unusable, bent backward and pressed against the wood. It screamed and thrashed about but could not extract its broken arm from the door.

Ruri pushed the door open again, throwing her weight into it to open it all the way. The ghoul behind it was pressed between the door and the wall, stopping its thrashing for a moment. Ruri took the chance to run forward. The first ghoul was still feeding, not seeming to care about the commotion its partner was causing. Ruri ran straight toward it, knowing the other ghoul wouldn't be far behind her. She reached the bed and threw herself onto her side, rolling under the bed before the monster above her could decide to stop her. It took Ruri a few moments to orient herself after a few turns and the light becoming dim so quickly, but when she did manage to look she found the little boy pressed up against the wall.

"It's okay! I'm going to save you!" Ruri reassured him. But even if she said that, her options were limited. The ghoul she'd left behind the door had finally pulled its own arm off to get loose and crashed into the side of the bed, its last hand scratching at the floor near Ruri. She looked around the space under the bed. There were a few stockings and a shirt, but what made Ruri celebrate was when she saw a stone about the size of her fist. She didn't question her luck; she just used it. "Kemen," she said quietly. The stone lifted from the floor and flew to where the ghoul was still trying to get at them, this time by shoving its head down low. The stone met it in its open mouth, cracking a few teeth and wedging into the others.

That one was dealt with. Ruri pulled herself to the screaming child and held out her hand. "Don't worry! You'll be alright!" The boy looked at her with tearful eyes. Ruri could see the fear in his eyes, but what made Ruri's heart swell was the spark of courage she could see right alongside it. The boy put his hand in Ruri's and gave a small nod. Ruri smiled back at him.

Now they just needed to find a way out.