“This is the pattern?”
The rat studied the drawings with a slight frown, eyes narrowing as he took in each line. But after a moment, the tension on his face eased, and he seemed to follow along with my thinking.
“You’re suggesting that the pattern is in the missing pieces in the drawings?”
“Yes. Now that the sample is bigger, you can clearly see that the thing that separates the children’s drawings is the missing pieces. However, don’t you also notice how the things that are missing are all the same? In the same pattern? Missing button. Missing button. Here, look at these two.”
I pointed at two drawings.
“They both have missing buttons, but also missing the shoes.”
“I can see it.”
The rat nodded, following along with my words. But even as he followed, he couldn’t help but ask questions.
“…I get what you’re saying, but it could just be that the kids are drawing together. If a group is sketching Mr. Jingles at the same time, it’s only natural they’d end up with similar mistakes.”
“Yes, I know that.”
I could see what the rat was trying to say.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought of this either.
“So then…?”
“It’s a starting point.”
“Hm?”
“We’ve got a possible lead, and so we should be able to carry out some experiments or even have a point of reference when looking for clues.”
“Hmm.”
Although the rat didn’t seem to be fully convinced, his brows eventually eased, and his dimples returned.
“You make a good point. I’ll keep your words in mind.”
“Sure.”
I nodded back at him, trying my best to hide the fact that I was uncomfortable talking to him.
“Anything else I should keep out for?”
“Nothing else for now. This is the only thing I’ve noticed. I’ll keep you updated later.”
“…Okay.”
Pulling his hand away from the table, the rat lowered his head and excused himself.
“In that case, I’ll take my leave. I won’t disturb you any longer. In the meantime, I’ll keep a lookout for the things that you mentioned.”
“Good.”
I gave him a thumbs up, and he left a moment after.
Clank!
It was only after that sound of the door closing echoed that the smile faded from my face, and I started massaging it.
’Fucking rat.’
Looking back at the drawings and checking out the names on each one of them, my eyes paused on an empty piece of paper by the desk. Not far away was also a set of crayons that I took.
I had taken them from the first floor before.
“I wonder what happens if I try to draw it myself.”
Looking over the drawings, I picked up the red crayon and began with the shoes, long and a little ridiculous, just like in the sketches. Next came the balloon, then the nose…
“Eghh…” I paused for a moment, staring at the drawing in front of me. While I knew that I wasn’t the best artist, I didn’t think that my drawing would be this bad. It… looked almost identical to that of the children.
And it wasn’t even completed.
’If Kyle sees this, he might actually laugh at me for ages.’
Shaking my head, I drew the gloves, and then… And then…
“Eh?”
I paused, looking down at the drawing before me. There were shoes. There were gloves. There was a nose. There was a balloon. But why…? Why couldn’t I draw anything else?
Looking at the other drawings and then the paper in front of me, it was as if all memories of the previous sketch faded from my mind, leaving me only capable of drawing these four things.
“What sort of…”
I looked at the reference drawing again. In particular, I focused my attention on its large, red curly hair.
’Curly hair. Curly hair. Curly hair.’
I kept repeating the features in my mind, forcing myself to remember. But the moment I tried to move my hand, it was as if something invisible pressed down on it, and I couldn’t move at all.
“This…”
It was at this very moment that the conductor’s voice rang quietly in my head once more.
’It’s all a puzzle.’
Scenes from before began to replay in my mind.
The rolling ball of red.
The glove on the piano.
The balloon in the playroom.
The… button in the basement.
One by one, the pieces started to fall into my mind as I froze on the spot, feeling my entire body was overcome with chills.
“Wait, wait…”
I covered my face, feeling my head throb.
“How is it that I’m only now recalling them?”
While I wasn’t the smartest person, I was quite observant due to my cowardly nature. Thinking about the red ball, the glove, the balloon, and everything else, how was it possible for me to only think about them now?
’No, that makes no sense.’
Unless…
Squeak! Squeak!
“…..?!”
I hastily turned my head back in the direction from which the noise came. However, all I saw was the empty room behind me as the rain poured down with more intensity.
An overwhelming feeling of dread washed over me as I stood up from my seat, looking around me cautiously.
My stomach silently rumbled while I held my breath, trying my best to make as little sound as possible.
Squeak! Squeak!
The squeaking sound echoed again.
It was right outside the door.
I could see its shadow slowly starting to elongate from the small gap of the door, and I felt my breath leave my body.
Squeak!
The squeak echoed again, my hands tensing further as I opened the shop in front of me while also getting ready to call the Dreamwalker and Mirelle.
Eventually, the doorknob moved.
I grew even tenser.
And then—
Clank!
The door opened, and a figure came in.
“——Huh?”
I had just begun to act when I stopped. Blinking my eyes and staring at the approaching figure, I paused.
“Rat?”
“…What?”
The rat stopped by the door, frowning.
My mouth twitched as I mumbled,
“I mean—”
“Rats? Did I scare you again?”
“…Yes, but because I heard squeaking sounds coming from the door.”
“Hm?”
The rat looked behind him.
“Squaking sounds? I didn’t hear anything, and I was right outside the door.”
“…I know.”
“Anyways, I forgot something.”
The rat made his way into the room and looked around before finding his phone. It was on the table next to mine.
“This.”
He showed it to me.
“…I forgot my phone.”
“Oh.”
That made sense.
However, I couldn’t think properly. I was still thinking about what had happened a few moments prior, but when I felt the rat slowly start to head out of the room, I snapped out of it and pressed my hand against his shoulder.
“Wait.”
“…Hm?”
The rat stopped and looked at me.
Ignoring the look he was giving me, I pointed at the table where an empty piece of paper appeared alongside the crayons.
“I need to test something. Try drawing Mr. Jingles.”
“What—”
“I think I found something. Try drawing Mr. Jingles.”
The rat’s face grew a little bit more serious then. Looking at me directly, he eventually nodded and sat down before the table, where he picked up the crayon and started drawing.
However, not even a minute later, he stopped and looked at me.
“This…”
I nodded in silence.
“Yes, it seems that we’ve been targeted without us knowing. I’m sure you’re starting to recall seeing all the weird items, but somehow dismissing them after seeing them…”
I bit my lip.
“This an—”
Tatatata~
A certain tune suddenly echoed through the room, freezing both me and the rat in place. And I didn’t mean that figuratively. I was literally frozen, my body locked in place, completely unresponsive.
And then—
Flick!
The screen of my phone flashed, and a certain cartoon appeared