VIII.

[stephen_owling]

[In his shock, Nagi stumbles back, knocking the nearby phone off the hook; as a result, anyone listening can hear the shriek ripping through the house, followed by Nagi's mechanical voice- tinged with the slightest inflection of panic.]

Aqua? Aqua, where are you-!?

[The screaming fades, and the sobbing sets in.]

Who's there? Who...

[Sounds of

Comments

[peonymarket]

[a hiss of both surprise and pain, low and muffled by his own clenched teeth.]

....what is going on?

[stephen_owling]

...I don't know. Someone here is crying, but I can't tell where it's coming from- or who it is.

[peonymarket]

I can also hear it, so I doubt that both of us are hallucinating.

...did you also receive a roasted fowl?

[stephen_owling]

The turkey? Yes. The screaming started right when I touched it...

[a_gentle_boy]

W-What was that?!

[He recognizes the artificial voice box easily, but the screaming doesn't sound as if it came from there.]

Mr. Nagi? Mr. Nagi, is everything OK?

[stephen_owling]

I don't know. Someone here is in trouble, but I can't...

[He has to take a moment to collect his breath.] I can't find them.

[a_gentle_boy]

Was that someone from your family? Who lives with you?

[stephen_owling]

Only a girl named Aqua. It's not her, so I don't know who it could be.