Chapter 1

The knock at the front door came again at one in the morning.

The past three nights, it had only been a few taps, then whoever it was left.

Tonight was different. After the knocking, they didn't leave. They started working the handle instead.

I dragged a chair over and climbed up to the peephole. The motion light in the hall was on. The corridor was empty.

Right then, the peephole went dark.

An eye was pressed flat against it, staring in.

Before I could react, whoever was out there slammed a foot into the door.

The chair went out from under me. I pitched off the back of it and cracked the back of my head hard against the floor tile.

Everything went black. My ears rang.

The second my vision cleared, a few dense rows of danmaku flashed across the air in front of me.

【Don't open the door! There are robbers outside. They've been staking the place out for three days. They're carrying knives!】

【They know there are no adults in this unit. In one hour, their accomplices arrive and they break the door down.】

【This is bad, this is so bad, the little brother is still in the living room watching cartoons, he has no idea anything's wrong……】

【Looks like the sister figured it out. While they're still waiting for the signal, there's still time if she moves now!】

I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead, grabbed my phone, and called my dad.

"Dad, bring some of the guys and come home right now. There's a citation waiting for all of you!"

……

The line went quiet for two seconds.

"What citation? Sweetheart, what are you talking about?"

My dad's voice was hoarse and tired, like I'd just woken him out of a dead sleep.

I gripped the phone, and the moment I opened my mouth I nearly couldn't keep the sob out of it.

"Dad, I'm not talking crazy! There's a fresh cigarette butt on the doormat again, exactly like the ones the last few days, and it hasn't been out long!"

The line didn't answer right away, like he was trying to tell whether I was telling the truth.

I got so scared the tears just spilled over, and I stamped my foot.

"There's an X drawn on the wall by the door with a rock. It wasn't there before!"

"Dad, there are about three of them, they've got knives, and in about an hour they're going to break in. Dad, believe me. I'm really not making it up!"

The more I talked the more my nose stung, tears swimming in my eyes.

The line went silent for another couple of seconds. My dad was probably making a fast call.

"Lock the door right now, take your brother into the back room, and stay quiet. No matter who knocks, don't open it!"

"Dad's going to report this to my supervisor and head back with a few of the guys right away. You wait for me!"

He believed me.

He didn't write me off as a kid making things up.

I clutched the phone and nodded hard, forgetting he couldn't see me.

The danmaku went wild, scrolling up like crazy.

【Wait, her dad's a cop? Then she's saved!】

【A cop doesn't help, I just checked, her dad's out in the suburbs, it's at least forty minutes back! Will he make it in time?】

【The crooks get there in half an hour! And one of them comes to the door first to test the place, then in an hour they break in!】

【Kid, don't just stand there waiting! It's only you and your brother in the house, you've got to prep something first!】

Right. I couldn't just wait.

I wiped my eyes, turned around, and got to work.

Even if I couldn't stop them from breaking in, I could buy some time.

First I dumped out my brother's box of LEGO, the whole thing clattering across the tile in the entryway.

Dinosaur models and little cars were mixed in. Step on those and you wouldn't just slip, they'd punch right through a sock.

Then I dug my mom's pepper spray out of the shoe-cabinet drawer and shoved it in my pocket.

The pepper shaker and the chili-flake jar from the kitchen, I popped the lids off both and set them on top of the shoe cabinet.

Last, I took down all the clothesline from the balcony and tied it low across the entryway, five centimeters up, between the two posts on either side.

By the time I finished, there was a layer of sweat down my back.

Ten-some minutes later, a knocking suddenly came at the door, bang bang bang.

My brother was curled up on the couch watching his cartoon. The second he heard it he shot up and went sprinting for the door.

"Daddy's home!"

My head roared, and half the blood in my body went cold.

How long had it been since I hung up?

Not even half an hour.

My dad couldn't have gotten home that fast even in a plane.

The danmaku blew up the whole screen, the characters stacking over each other, scrolling so fast I could barely read them.

【Don't open the door! That's the one casing the place! He's got a knife!】

【Open it and it's over! He'll shove the door right open and force his way in!】

【Grab your brother! Hurry!!】

My brother was already at the door, up on his toes, both hands on the handle, pressing it down hard.