tried to help. Being close in age to Sae, the old man himself was often sent to the house with gifts from his mother. "Well I do recall......." The man says. "....how good Yae cared for her daughter...."

Yae had cooled Sae's brow, had spooned rice porridge into her mouth, had given her sponge baths, and had cleaned up her vomit and filth. She had worked tirelessly. Perhaps to hide the smell of medicated baths and disinfectant, or else to soothe her bedridden daughter's nerves, she had kept fragrant incense always burning in the house. But just when it seemed, Sae was recovering at last, she had suddenly taken a turn for the worse.

"Soon.....she couldn't even speak anymore. Poor thing wasn't yet ten when she passed," The old man sighs, as if the event pained him as well. "The evening of the wake, Yae broke down sobbing in front of the dresser in little Sae's room."

My head perks up, "Dresser?"

"Little chest of drawers, low to the floor with a mirror on top," The old man nods, explaining what he meant. "Marvellous old piece of furniture Yae inherited from her mother. And I heard her mother inherited it from her mother. Made special to order, by all accounts, and the mirror was supposedly a charm to ward off evil spirits. It was just about the only thing she managed to keep her vile husband from pawning. No doubt she hoped it would protect them...." the man trails off. 

Clearly this charmed mirror, handed down for generations had not saved the mother and child, "What happened to Yae after that?" I ask hesitantly, as if it weighed the question.

"Well, that, you see....." the old man's bushy brows furrowed. "Sae's body was buried on the grounds, but not long after the mourning period, it was dug up. Dragged away by wild dogs or some such, I don't doubt. All that was left was the girl's kimono. Well, that was the last poor Yae could bear. She gave in to grief and drifted off someplace. No one knows what became of her."

A chill ran down my spine, feeling like something was missing.

"And no one's lived in the house since then?"

"Stood empty ever since," the old man sheepishly replies, assuming this man was the one keeping the grounds trimmed and cut back. The grounds were neatly tended too, as if in his heart, he still longed for the girl who had departed from this world too soon, or her missing mother.

 "Whatever else, it's a fine house, " The man continues. "Can't have ruffians coming along and getting up to no good in there."

I nod in agreement, "Can't let that happen," solemnly i lower my eyes for a moment.

"Just this evening, you know, I saw a couple of seedy-looking characters headed this way, loud as all get-out. Got concerned and decided to take a look," the old man gave me a glance, but I stood there in confusion. What Seedy-Looking characters?

Oblivious I was, "I have haven't seen anyone like that," I reply, with a clueless look. "Where'd they go?"

With a bonk on the head, "Fool! I'm talking about you and your friend!" The old man sputters, while I rub my head with a grimace. "But, well, now I get a proper look at you, you seem harmless enough. Maybe a bit dim, is all. Where's your friend though? He looked a right villain, he did. He's not still there, is he?"

Turning around searching for my friend suspiciously, my eyes in realisation that I lost my friend suddenly minutes ago. That was right! So the old man must've seen both of us, I wasn't hallucinating! So Sanemi really disappeared then. Dammit!

But though my head was clear, I still was puzzled.....

Wait, so if Sanemi disappeared.....could it be the work of a demon? Through some supernatural power, some wicked trick, it whisked certain people away, leaving others behind.  But why Sanemi and not me?  Did that mean Sanemi had something in common with other other abductees?

While being silent for a moment the old man breaks the air, "So now you know there's nothing more to see here. Not even the police have the right to go tramping over an old man's memories. Take the other fellow and go, you hear me?!" with his final warning, before turning on his heel and walks away through the night from view.

Glancing back towards the house behind the thicket of trees, I felt myself update to date with some history from years ago. Having the full story, the building was less scary and more painful and sad to see. Everything seems so easy just listening to the story, the tragic story of Yae, after losing everything, then an abusive husband and then losing her daughter after his death. Then she disappeared without a trace........

What if.......

Was she the demon we're after? Could it be?

Perhaps Muzan Kibutsuji  had given his blood to a woman in the depths of despair from the loss of her beloved child. The woman, now a demon, abducted children, unable to move on from her daughter's death. 

But where was she taking them? 

And what about the missing demon slayers, whose number now included Sanemi? 

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