Chapter 12

The News Report

The night air was cool and welcoming. It lulled many people into the oblivious bliss of sleep. It could be considered to be a good thing, as the hard workers can sit back any relax. Or it can be considered to be a bad thing, as many things can happen to you during the night. A lot of scary things can end your life in a second during the night. But lets not get too deep into that debatable topic.

I stared up, unblinkingly, at the ceiling. It was late at night but I just cannot begin to shake the unpleasant and uneasy feeling from the pit of my stomach. The feeling started a little while after I came back home from the peacefulness of the empty park. When I came home, Eren was already fast asleep in his room, mumbling something under his breath.

But that was not what got me so restless. No, it was a strange, deep, inner fear that something terrible, something vile would happen very soon. I sighed in annoyance and rolled onto my side. I desperately tried to shake off the nervous fluttering in the pit of my stomach. I tried to convince myself that nothing was wrong and that nothing would happen. And I wish that I didn't...

I gasped as I was suddenly being roughly shaken awake. I groggily scooted back until my back painfully hit the wall behind me. I winced and shook my head as I took a deep breath in to try calm my racing heart. I slowly opened my eyes to see that Eren's concerned face was way too close to my own face for comfort. He gulped and backed away slightly.

"Kurosaki, this is no time to be playing games! I need you to come and see this right away!" He yelled in panic as he jumped off my bed and raced out of my room as if it had suddenly caught on fire. I heaved a deep sigh and untangled myself from the bed sheets and dragged myself out of the room to follow Eren. What could he possibly want me to see at this ungodly hour? The news?

I walked into our small but spacious lounge to see that Eren was sitting on the two seater couch, staring quite intently at the small flat screen TV. "Well, don't just stand there looking pretty and all! Come sit down here and listen!" He said without looking away from the screen. I felt my eyebrow raise in question while my shoulders shrugged. I sat down next to Eren and, just like him, stared intently at the TV screen.

"Yes folks, you have heard me correctly! This accident was not ordinary in the least!" Said the female reported in a shrill voice. I sighed and rubbed my forehead in annoyance. So Eren did want me to watch the news? "You called me all the way here just to show me that someone got into a freak accident?" I asked with a sigh. "Shh, just shut up and listen Kurosaki!" He whisper shouted.

I sighed again but looked back at the TV. "And now folks, we are going to ask the only man, who who had survived the accident, about what had really happened during this terrible event." The female reporter said and hurried off to where a random man was silently sitting by an ambulance. When the camera got close enough to the man, I could clearly tell that he was shaking.

"Mr Kusana, sir, could you please tell us, the public, about what happened here? Please, the public needs to know!" She asked in her shrill voice. The man looked up in shock and fear. He backed up until his back was flushed against the side of the ambulance' van's side door. He began to tremble very violently as he looked into the camera. His eyes were wild with fear. What the hell could have possibly scared the man so much? This is ridiculous...

"It... It was huge! A-And it came out of nowhere! I swear it! It was nothing that I have ever seen before! Huge and dark I tell you!" He yelled into the camera as he began to have a panic attack. I looked sideways at Eren, he was sitting on the edge of the couch, silently chewing his thumb nail. I looked back at the screen in time to see that the woman took a step back in shock.

"Sir? What on Earth are you talking about? Could you please elaborate on what you had just said?" She demanded as she walked closer to the man. The man vigorously shook his head as tears streamed down his dirt-caked face. "I-I... I... We..." He stammered as he tried to take a deep breath in to calm himself, and probably to try and to convince himself that he was not going through what he did last night at the present.

"M-Mr Seina... He was the truck driver..." He whispered. "He... He... I was sound asleep in the passenger's side when it happened... I... He... Mr Seina... I remember that I... H-Heard him scream bloody murder. I... I opened my eyes, about to question him as to why he was screaming. And then I saw it... It... It was the biggest, most scary looking animal that I have ever seen in my life! I swear it was at least 10 feet tall! Its entire body was cover in what seemed to be an ebony silk cloak! But its face... It was whiter than any fine piece of porcelain you can find in the market!" I swear it! I swear it was a monster from the deep recess of hell itself! I swear it!" He yelled out as more tears and sobs wracked his body.

I stared blankly at the TV screen. Not really hearing the rest of the sad story. I didn't really need. On the outside, I felt calm. But on the inside, it was as if was battling with my inner demons. I felt a raging turmoil within myself. From the description that the man gave, I had no doubt that it was a hollow. But... I felt my hands clench into fists that were so tight, that I was sure that it would soon start to bleed.

What was a hollow doing here? There are hardly any reishi's here, let alone ones that are powerful enough to attract large hollows. This is bad, really bad. If one hollow was able to come here without any reason, then who's to say that that one hollow would not summon its buddies later on? And who's to say that others won't come here without any reason to? If that were to happen, this town will be in grave danger and will be on the path to utter destruction and chaos.

I sighed and got up from my seat, unaware of Eren's eyes on me. I couldn't let that happen. I have got to try and stop it from happening.

But first, I need to go and get rid of that hollow.