“Hello! This is Rokkenjima! My name is Ushiromiya Battler! Please respond! This is Rokkenjima! Can anyone hear me! People are dead! We need help! Please respond!”

George stood at the shack entrance. “Battler—”

Battler gripped the receiver even tighter. “Can anyone hear me?! Please respond! I repeat: PEOPLE ARE DEAD.”

George stared at his feet. “Battler, it’s broken. Come on.”

Battler slammed his fists against the table. “PLEASE. FUCKING. RESPOND.” Again. And again. And again. “Shit!” He pushed the broken radio off the table. “Shit! Shit! SHIT!” He clutched his head.

Thunder roared in the distance.

The pair returned to the guesthouse. Three taps on the door, as agreed, and Jessica let them in.

“How’d it… go?” she asked.

Battler simply walked past her. That was answer enough.

Shannon, Doctor Nanjo and Maria were in the lounge. Even if tiring, the games likely helped keep their mind off the nightmare they’d found themselves trapped in.

Battler considered their options. The storm was showing no sign of calming. Escape was, therefore, impossible. Barricading themselves in the guesthouse had been the smartest move on the survivors’ part. Even if it turned out one of them was the culprit, the chances of the culprit standing a chance against several people at once were smaller than whatever the alternative was.

Of course, all it really took was a moment where their guard was down. Just one mistake and it was all inevitably going to snowball. So, as good as those odds might’ve seemed, they weren’t good enough.

Battler understood this. As did everyone else, to an extent.

“Let’s… I don’t know.” Jessica sighed. “Let’s go through Mom and Dad’s murders again.”

Doctor Nanjo cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, my dear, but… I really don’t think it’s appropriate to be discussing this… in front of…”

Shannon squirmed in her seat. “I… agree. We’ve been over this hundreds of times by this point, and—"

“I’m not gonna just skirt the subject forever!” Jessica said. “We need to figure out what happened! I… We can’t just sit here hoping for a miracle! Somebody murdered our family and something tells me if a bunch of adults couldn’t stand against them, neither can we! Not unless we know what we’re fighting against!”

Battler frowned. “What do you mean by ‘what?’ Don’t tell me you’re giving into this witch horesh—”

“Uu-uu.” Maria interrupted. “Don’t say it, Battler! You’ll make her mad!”

“See?” Battler pointed to the kid. “Is THIS what we’re stooping to now?”

“Mom and Dad’s murders.” Jessica placed her hands on the table. “Nobody can explain it. We saw both of them walk in their bedroom. All of us here were right outside. It should’ve taken only a moment, right? And it really…” She blinked. “…It really did. We heard the gunshots – what? – a minute later? We went in, and there they were. And there was nobody in the room.”

“Windows were all locked…” George rubbed his hands together, glancing in Shannon’s direction. “…And the gun was right there, wasn’t it?”

Shannon nodded. “There was also nobody hiding in the room.”

“And,” Doctor Nanjo added, “I can assure you all of the… ahem… bodies we’d found up to this point really were dead.”

“Kanon is missing.” Battler reminded them.

“Kanon didn’t do it.” Jessica crossed her arms. “Now—”

Battler chuckled. “You can’t be serious! The ONE person—”

“He didn’t do it! End of!” she hissed.

“So, what? It’s a witch? That’s easier to accept than some guy you’ve got a crush on? I thought you, of all people, Jessica, would be better than that.” Battler shook his head. “Listen, this isn’t some fantasy story, okay? There’s not gonna be a prince on a white horse coming to save us. This is the real world. And as much as I want to believe that none of us did this… This is a matter of survival now. And to survive, we need to consider all options.”

“Then why won’t you consider the idea that MAYBE this is bigger than all of us?!” Jessica demanded. “And who the hell are you to lecture me?! Come here after six years, talking and behaving like you should somehow have a say in anything – look, we get it, you were sad about your Mom, but you guess what? You chose to leave. And you left! And now that you’ve realized you’re too much of a waste of space to achieve anything, you came crawling back to get your hands on some quick cash!”

George leapt to his feet. “Jessica!”

“How’s that for consider all options, Battler?!” Tears welled in her eyes. “Huh?! How’s that for—” She closed her eyes. “I’m—I’m sorry, I—” She sniffed. “Oh, man, I didn’t—”

Battler sighed. “It’s… fine. I’m sorry, too. I just…” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. Okay?”

Jessica nodded. “Yeah.” She wiped her tears. “Yeah. I know where you’re coming from. But Kanon didn’t… do it. Alright?”

Battler didn’t respond.

“Whoever the culprit is,” Shannon cleared her throat, “the point still stands that nobody could’ve killed Master Krauss and Mistress Natsuhi. Kanon or not.”

“Uu. Beatrice did it.” Maria laughed.

The night laughed, too. Through the thunder, through the rain, through the blood and the tears – and through the sneering eyes of the witch’s portrait – the night laughed away, knowing dawn was too far away, and life far too short.