Walls Closing

“How was it your fault?” he asks, sympathy dripping from him like sweat.

The day grows short. The October night-air chill sends its warning of the cold to come. You finger at your sword belt, tracing along until you find your hilt and grip it. You have to make sure it's still there. That it hasn't gone anywhere.

It's the same type of night as that one. How was it my fault, she asks. Had she been there, there’s no doubt in your mind she would’ve thrown blame at you. She didn't see. She didn't see what you did. If she had, she’d cut you down right now out of principle.

Down the way, the new moon nestles behind the clouds past the spiral building. Where it all happened. It's as if the moon herself hides her face from you. Another chill pushes you back a month ago, helping you recount your sins.

Your head grows number by the second as your family's screams fill your head. This one looks different, you think, but they don’t all look the same. You could tell most of them apart if someone lined them all up in front of you. Although, if these things managed to form any type of collaboration, this world would be finished. It's already gone halfway to hell. No, they're all different, but there’s something about this one that feels different to you.

Just like the others, this one towers over us. It has to be over seven feet. Its grimace promises a vicious onslaught. You, your mother, and your sisters refuse the fear that boils in your bellies. You have slain a few of these kaiju already. More of them, you have strategically retreated from. More often than not, you’ve been forced to watch people get swept up in these kaiju attacks and ripped apart.

The beast you fight now slips and dodges every attack. In fact, it has you and your family on the defensive. You dip into the crumbling remains of a house, attempting to steal a breath.

But the kaiju appears right in front of you. Its fist drives through the wall where your head was a second ago.

You dash throughout the house. Up the stairs, crushed now as it smashes them with two giant fists. You slide beneath its vapor beam and leap over the banister, back down to the first floor. Through the hole it just created, your mother, from outside, releases a clip into the beast's belly. It lets out an ear-rumbling growl. You run out to meet your mother and sister, preparing for another strategic attack.

The beast stretches its arms wide, destroying the rest of the house as it grows in size. It emerges utterly unscathed, rubbing its belly where it's been shot, and you realize the growl was more of an annoyed grumble. If you and your family are to take this one down, you're going to have to use the power you claimed from the last kaiju you defeated. At the instruction of your younger sister, the three of you ate the heart of the beast, granting each of you a different ability.

You set up in formation around the block, but it's quickly broken when the beast scoops your mother up, dragging her by the ankle. It swats your sister like a fly. You watch the breath leave her lungs as her back cracks against a stone. You can hear it snap from here. As much as you wish for it not to be so, you don't need to be a doctor to know that's it for her. Your sister will not be coming back with you.

Your mother’s bloodcurdling cry breaks you from your stasis. You swallow the scream that threatens your throat and draw your blade. Scanning the area, you find all you need. It’s like taking note of all the exits at a function, in case you need to high tail it out of there. An old highway sign sits behind the head of the beast. You read out the scratched-up paint: “Twenty-five.”

You warp from where you were to the green sign, feet already propelling you forward as you grip the hilt of your sword, grit your teeth and aim for the kaiju’s nape. Too bad for you that the beast isn't brainless like a lot of the others. It turns to backhand you, but you seek another number. Quickly now. “Fifteen!” you shout, and you find yourself smashing against a black house door. Again, you spring from the door and over an upturned car. You aim for the ankles, but faster than you can react, the foot rises and comes falling over your head.

A blast, and black smoke throws you to your back. Your ears ring, your eyes burn, but when they clear, you see the beast's foot clear of the black smoke and you wheeze through it all. On the far end, your sister's last hurrah: she lies, stiff, up against the stone that broke her. She’s unable to move, but that's no problem for her. She was granted the power of homing. A twitch of her right index finger is all she needs to send another freeze grenade right into the beluga’s chest.

When the dust settles, you find that your sister only made it angry. It grunts an annoyed growl and sucks your mother into its flesh.

You reach for your sword again, only to find yourself grasping at air. You search and search, but all that's left is the sheath.

You watch your mother sink further and further into the beast, wailing for freedom, all while your sister sits barely conscious, with a broken back and who knows what else. Your chest becomes tight, like someone placed a rag over your airway. You don’t know what to do.

Helpless, all you can do is drop to your knees, hyperventilating as you watch the last of your mother disappear. You watch the beast stalk over to your sister, finish her off. Likely its last meal of the night.

You’re brought back to the present moment.

“The next thing I knew, I was kneeling alone. In the same spot as the night before. My sword sheathed at my waist. So yeah, it was my fault,” you tell him.