April, 2008

Yomiyama, Japan

Kouichi Sakakibara looked down at his aunt Reiko's grave. It had been years since both her deaths, one at the hands of a mad-man and the other by his hands. Thinking back to that night at the lodge at the foot of Mount Yomi brought a familiar pain back to his chest. His surgery had removed all fears of another collapsed lung, but the pain came back every time he thought of her. She was like a mother to him. More a mother to him than his birth mother, whom he only knew from photos. He heard his grandmother trying unsuccessfully not to sob beside him. Behind him he could hear his Grandfather moaning his sorrows like a zombie.

"Poor Ritsuko… and Reiko too…" he uttered as if in a trance.

"Cheer up, dear," his wife tried, as futile as ever, to raise her husband's spirits. It was a depressing atmosphere, but Kouichi tried to visit them as much as possible. They had been so good to him in his year spent with them and they had been through so much. He knew his visits gave them a reason to keep going. And, of course he had another reason to come back. Her.

"Kouichi, won't you join us for supper tonight?" his grandmother asked.

"Of course, Grandma, I'd love to," he replied with a forced smile. After a few moments the three of them began making their way toward their car. "I actually think I could use a walk, Grandma," Kouichi said with a smile. "You both go ahead home, I'll be back later."

"Oh, off to see Mei, aren't we?" his grandmother asked with a slightly mischievous grin. Kouichi blushed red, but repressed an urge to deny it. Depressed as his grandparents were, there were not fools. They remembered the beautiful girl with the eye-patch he spent so much time with the year he lived with them, and how every time he visited he found an excuse to wonder off. One year they had even caught him out to lunch with her. It also didn't help keep it subtle that his father had blabbed to them the time she came to Tokyo to tour art museums with him. Kouichi also couldn't hide his feelings for her from them, even if he wanted to he knew it was something else to occupy their minds and distract them from their mourning.

"Funerals… I've been to so many funerals…" grandfather moaned. "It would be so nice to go to a wedding…" his voice trailed off. Grandmother couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh, don't embarrass the boy anymore dear!" grandmother mockingly chided her husband, as if she hadn't intended to say the same basic thing. "Have fun, Kouichi, invite her to dinner if you want."

"Sure grandma, thanks," replied Kouichi. With that, his grandparents departed. Kouichi began his walk through the town he had only lived in a year, but had become very dear to him. Even ten years later the town hadn't changed much at all. It all looked so peaceful. He passed the Yomiyama River, then a small park he remembered as the one He and Mei had passed through years ago on their first moon-lite-walk together. Kouichi felt for the little black box in his pocket. He wondered when would be the best time to ask her. Would she even say yes? He felt like they had a very intimate connection. She had even stolen a brief kiss the night before he'd moved back to Tokyo ten years ago. He knew how he felt for Mei, but would she return his feelings? Would she want to be that closely connected to someone? Kouichi had never considered himself a romantic. But Mei seemed to bring that out of him. He approached the gallery/shop of his prospective Mother-in-Law. The Twilight of Yomi-Blue Eyes Empty to all the World.

Kouichi entered the shop to be greeted by the familiar voice of grandma Amane. As if a pre-recorded message she greeted him and offered him some tea. He politely declined and made his way to the back of the shop and down the staircase to the basement. As always dolls of all variations were strewn about the basement, not nearly as organized as above. Kouichi decided to visit the shop before going up and knocking on Mei's front door. He approached the western-style coffin in front of the black curtain. In it stood the doll that so resembled Mei. It was as if Mei had been frozen in time at age 14.

"So you're still here," he sighed out loud with a nostalgic smile.

"Welcome back Sakakibara…" Mei's voice came from behind the coffin. Despite the nostalgia, Kouichi couldn't help but jerk backwards in shock. He immediately regretted it as he heard a fain giggle. Mei Misaki came out from behind the black curtain with a playful smirk.

"You really enjoy doing that to me don't you?" Kouichi laughed. Mei continued to smirk and held up her hand, holding her thumb and index finger just centimeters apart.

"I'll stop doing it when you stop falling for it," she said, as mildly as ever. "Your so cute like that." Kouichi opened his mouth to deny having fallen for it, but he never could keep the truth from her. She always seemed a step ahead of him. The two child-hood friend made their way up to the apartment via the elevator behind the curtain. Mei retrieved two canned teas from the fridge and they both made themselves comfortable on the couch. Mei explained that her sudo-mother, Kirika, was shut up in her studio as usual. Kouichi asked how she had been and their conversation became pretty casual. As usual, he did most of the talking. Mei eventually brought up the start of the new school year. Soon third year class three of Yomi North Middle School would find itself with an extra student. And if the conventional method of pretending one of the students did not exist failed to keep the bizarre deaths at bay, it would be up to Mei to use her special ability to pin-point the one who is dead.

In the years since middle school. Mei had never permanently moved from Yomiyama. She, like Mr. Chibiki had taken up the task of following the class and observing the curse that had taken hold of third year class three. Thus far, she had needed to take matters into her own hands three times. After the class's counter-measure had not held. She would watch the class and remove her eye-patch. Her mystically empowered doll's eye would enable her to see which student was an apparition of a deceased person connected with the class's past. She and Chibiki would then find a way to isolate and return the living-ghost to death.

It was never something Mei enjoyed, but she knew that once the deaths started there was no other way to assure the safety of the class and their family members. Once Mei followed the deceased student home from school and ran him over with her car. By the time she looked through the rear-view mirror, the body had already vanished. Another year she had gone to the school and arranged for Mr. Chibiki to have the dead-student called from the class room to the office downstairs. She had climbed to the top of the stairs just as the dead-student came to descend and push her down. As before, the body vanished seconds later.

The worst had only been two years ago. The charm did not hold, and on the same day Mei came to pinpoint the dead-student, she and Kouichi had faced the most nightmarish experience they had since the mountain lodge in 1998. It was class three's gym period and the whole class was out playing sports and exercising. An entire family being killed in a car accident had been a clear sign that the curse was active that year. It was July, and very hot and sunny. Kouichi had come to visit and decided to go with Mei that day. She had just spotted the dead-student, a girl, who both Mei and Kouichi soon recognized as Izumi Akazawa, who had died in Kouichi's arms that night at the lodge. Kouichi's stomach had heaved at the sight of her, he wished he hadn't come. He knew what had to be done, and even though she had tried to kill Mei that night, the thought of watching her die again hurt him. She had clearly developed a crush on him that year, and after her death Kouichi had felt sorry he could not reciprocate. That was when it happened.

Apparently one of the student's fathers had gone to a casino in Tokyo and had gotten into debt with the Yakuza, a debt he had failed to pay. As a result, a black van pulled into the school parking lot. Then suddenly the van mounted the curb and drove out onto the school lawn. Moments later the van had driven up to the field behind the school where class three was having gym. Six men exited the van, all wearing suits and armed with assault rifles. Kouichi had recognized some of the weapons as AK-47s. One of the gangsters, clearly the leader with a taste for the classics, was armed with an old Thompson submachine gun; of Hollywood gangster-movie fame. The entire class and even the gym teacher were frozen in disbelief. Kouichi and Mei could barely believe what they were seeing themselves. Somehow, the curse had summoned a death squad.

The six-man death squad began firing their weapons at the thirty students in work-out clothing without a word being spoken. Teenaged boys and girls were falling to the ground with their bodies mangled by bullets. Kouichi had snapped out of his shocked trance and shielded Mei with his body. He dragged her towards the old school building where the auxiliary library was. Some of the students got the same idea, others simply scattered across the field; most of them were mowed down by the merciless gangsters. The lead gangster with the tommy gun emptied his weapon into the class's teacher and the gym teacher before reloading with a wicked laugh that made Kouichi grip Mei's hand even tighter and run even faster. The rattle of automatic gunfire split through the air. Kouichi knew the police would be on their way soon. But would anyone be left alive? Pop-culture and politics liked to say that this sort of school shooting could only happen in America, where everyone had the right to own a firearm. Personally, Kouichi was beginning to feel it might be nice for non-murderers, like himself, to be allowed to own a gun at that moment.

Kouichi, Mei, and about ten other students made it inside the building. Akazawa was among them. Akazawa tried to take charge and encouraged anyone who had their cell to call the police. Moments later bullets ripped into the building, two students were grazed by bullets, one was hit in the head and fell to the floor lifeless. Everyone else dove to the floor in terror. The lead gangster entered the hallway, a blinding smile on his face. Kouichi threw his body over Mei's and gripped her tightly. He felt her hand tightening around his. Gunshots echoed down the hallway again, but not from the gangsters tommy gun. Kouichi looked up to see Mr. Chibiki holding a smoking snub-nosed revolver in his hands. Kouichi turned to see the gangster fall to the ground, his chest pocked with bullet wounds. The librarian was as resourceful as always.

"Is everyone alright?" Chibiki asked. Those who were not too shocked to answer complied. Soon the wail of police sirens were heard above the rattle of automatic gunfire. Mr. Chibiki reloaded his revolver. "Everyone stay here and stay down!" he said. And made his way towards the building's entrance overlooking the field. More gunfire was soon heard, some of it seemed to be coming from the direction of the sirens, which told Kouichi that Yomiyama's finest had arrived. Out of the corner of his eye, Kouichi noticed the lead gangster trying to get back up, he had drawn a pistol from his jacket pocket. Kouichi acted quickly. He rushed over to the wounded gangster, kicked him hard in the face, then pressed his foot down on his wrist, the one with the gun. A moment later, Mei was by his side. She knelt down and, trembling, took the pistol from the man's hand. She then stood and turned towards Akazawa, now trembling on the floor against the wall.

"I'm sorry," Mei said, her voice and face both expressed a deep sadness. Akazawa looked up in confusion. Before Kouichi could object, Mei fired the weapon, shooting the dead-girl in the head. The blast of the gunshot made Kouichi's ears ring. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, until the ringing stopped. By the time he opened them again Akazawa was gone and the other students were trembling on the ground in silent terror; as if they hadn't even noticed the gunshot. Mei put the pistol down on the ground. She said nothing and kept her back to Kouichi, but he was certain he heard a sniffling noise escape. Kouichi kicked the downed gangster in rage. It was all he could do to keep himself from crying.

The final body count was twenty one students killed, two teachers killed, and two wounded. Seven students survived unscathed. According to the police, the Yakuza underboss who had ordered the slaughter committed suicide the next day. Possibly by order of the syndicate, for bringing so much attention to the organization. No one in the class or school remembered the student Izumi Akazawa. Mei was visually shaken by the encounter that day. Kouichi drove her home and spent the night with her on the couch. She had never let go of his hand.

Now, two years later, sitting once again on the same couch together, the two of them sat sipping tea. Kirika had entered the room briefly to say hello. She put on her social and friendly facade as usual before returning to the solace of her studio. An awkward silence soon developed. Kouichi considered popping the question.

"About two years ago…" Mei began, cutting him off. "I spoke with Mr. Chibiki, he agrees that that year the calamity was expressing more anger and rage than ever," she said.

"Anger?" Kouichi echoed in question. Chibiki had always claimed not to notice any malice in the curse at all. It had all seemed natural, like a storm or an earthquake. But even Kouichi had to admit, something felt off about the death squad. Mei continued.

"It seemed to him that there was a tension in the phenomenon. Like it was thirsty for blood and had pent up tension and rage. It's also strange that you and I were caught in the crossfire, literally. Neither one of us had any relatives in the class that year, but the disaster just happened to occur when we were there," she explained. Kouichi's breath caught in his throat. He had always considered it a coincidence that the two of them were there when it happened, but now…

"You think it might have been targeting us?" Kouichi asked, unable to stop his voice from cracking. Mei shook her head.

"Just me, actually, she answered naturally. Kouichi's eyes widened.

"Because of how you've been interfering with it?" he asked. Somehow, in the back of his mind, he had a feeling something like this would happen eventually. It was one thing to observe the phenomenon as Mr. Chibiki had been doing for years. But what Mei had been doing was different. It was more like meddling. Mei nodded silently.

"I've been having dreams lately," she said. "In them, the doll in the coffin downstairs comes to me in my bed. She tells me I've been causing her trouble lately, then she laughs and tells me not to worry. She says soon even I won't be able to stop what's coming. Then I see them, everyone who's ever died by the curse of class three. All of them standing around my bed. None of them say anything, their eyes seem vacant. Then they all start to moan and sneer at me. And then they all reach for me and lung towards me!" her voice became more intense and uncharacteristically shaken as she spoke. Her right eye was wide open and her hands were grasping each other tightly and trembling. Kouichi was trembling himself. "Then I wake up," she finished, seeming to calm down a little. Kouichi came closer to her and put a hand over hers. Mei flinched but did not pull her hands away. Instead, to Kouichi's surprise, she leaned into his chest and shut her eye. Kouichi put his arm around her and held her close.

"Maybe it was just a bad dream, maybe you should just get away from town for a while. Take a break you know?" Kouichi said, trying unsuccessfully to act like he meant what he said. He felt Mei shake her head in his chest.

"There's more," she said. "I saw the color of death in the dream. Not just from the people and the doll, it seemed to fill the air in the dream. I already went down to the basement and looked at the doll in the coffin. I couldn't see the color of death. I think, whatever it was, was just using the doll as a puppet. Some kind of dark force of death put the curse of class three all those years ago and Mr. Chibiki and I think it's been doing this for a reason," she explained.

"What reason?" Kouichi asked. Mei shifted in his embrace and looked up into his eyes, her face was frozen in terror.

"I think something terrible is about to happen," she said.

Meanwhile

Kouichi's grandmother set the dishes out on the table. She made sure to put a set out for Mei. The rice cooker was on and she was still deciding what meat to make. She made her way towards the bedroom where her husband would be kneeling before the shrine.

"Ritsuko! Reiko!..." her husband's voice called out. She stopped in her tracks. She hadn't heard him call out like that in years. She rushed into the bedroom and saw him standing upright and staring at two younger women in the room. She blinked and jerked backwards in surprise. She was about to ask the women who they were when she recognized them. They were her daughters! Ritsuko and Reiko, both of whom were long dead! They seemed to be staring blankly at her and her husband. Shock overtook her, she couldn't bring herself to move or speak. What was happening? Had she gone mad? Was she seeing ghosts? In an instant, her daughters began sneering at the two of them, then moaning-almost growling. Before she could react, both women lunged towards them, roaring with rage. Their eyes blazed murderously.

Meanwhile: Washington D.C.

The senator's office phone rang. He picked it up almost instantly. "Is the team ready?" a voice asked him.

"Yes," he replied gruffly. "It won't take long to drag the worst of them out of the hole I threw them in. They'd leap for a chance at shortening their sentences."

"Are you sure we can trust them?" the voice asked. The senator smirked.

"I know we can't," he replied. "That's why we're taking precautions. We've been over this before sir. They are attached to the command of the FEAR team. They step out of line, they'll have them on a leash, remember?" he asked rhetorically. "Worst case scenario, they find a way around out precautions and kill our boys; we delete their files, they cause more havoc then their already is, we just claim they broke out of prison. We have built-in deniability with them, its perfect."

"These are bad-guys though," the voice said. "Our boys are the best of the best, but the men we're sending in with them are the worst of the worst! Are we sure the situation in Japan requires them?"

"The CIA's paranormal unit has had tabs on this town for years, sir," the senator said sounding sincere. "Whatever our scouts on the ground are saying is going down, is going to make Armikham look like a minor skirmish. Our unsavory team members have abilities, skills, and experiences that make them perfect for the job. It would be nice if more of our good guys had these abilities but all we can do is work with what we have. So unless we want to move in without them and risk mass casualties for the good guys, we're just going to have to play ball with the bad kids, sir." There was a long silence on the phone. "Do we have a green light sir? The senator asked.

"Do whatever it takes, senator," the voice finally said. "Eliminate the threat."

"You've made the right choice, Mr. President," said the senator. He hung up the phone, then picked it up and dialed another number. "Get me online with FEAR," he said when the phone was answered. "We are green-lit for Operation Death Squad."