It was a dark stormy evening. Most people would be inside right now. Most people wouldn't be in an old abandoned house right now. Sasada had other plans.
"I wonder if we'll find any ghosts here!" Sasada said as she, Kitamoto, and Nishimura walked down a hall of the abandoned house.
"You're really into this stuff." Kitamoto muttered. "You know we won't find anything. Spirits don't exist, so let's just go home." Sasada ignored him and continued to wonder down the hall.
"Hurry up, you two!" she called over her shoulder. Both boys exchanged looks and sighed.
"Why did she drag us along again?" Nishimura asked annoyed.
"Because she couldn't get Natsume to come." Kitamoto reminded him.
"Too bad he didn't come." Sasada grumbled. "It would have been so much more interesting if he did. We would actually find something."
"Hey, we're not that bad!" Kitamoto said indignantly.
"Besides, I'm not sure he's really into that kind of thing." Nishimura commented. "Natsume's so jumpy all the time; this place would probably really scare him." She ignored them again and went into one of the rooms, Kitamoto and Nishimura following her in. The room was full of old, dusty furniture. Most of it was covered in sheets, except for a small statue of a dog that was sitting on the table in the middle of the room.
"Hmmm." Sasada muttered, disappointed. "I don't see anything in here…"
"What were you hoping to find?" Nishimura asked her. "It's not like there's going to be a youkai sitting on table waiting for you."
"I know." She sighed. "I was more hoping that something supernatural would happen, like we'd hear footsteps or hear a voice."
"You want that to happen?" Kitamoto asked, horrified. "That's the sort of thing that happens in horror movies right before people start disappearing!"
"The only thing creepy in this room is that dog statue in the corner." Nishimura said.
"Yeah, its eyes seem to follow us. Creepy…" Kitamoto said, sounding slightly worried.
"Ah, are you afraid of it?" Nishimura teased while walking over to the statue.
"I'm not." Kitamoto growled, eyeing the dog statue. "Though, I'd feel more comfortable if it was covered like the rest of the furniture."
"Then cover it if it bugs you that much." Sasada grumbled. "There are sheets on the ground." Nishimura bent over and pulled a sheet off the ground. The sheet went flying up, knocking the table over, and the statue flew off the table and hit the ground, breaking into pieces.
"You broke it!" Sasada exclaimed.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Nishimura said. "I didn't know that table was so unstable."
"Who dares to wake me from my slumber?" a low voice hissed. All three teens turned to see the dog statue float up and put itself back together.
"Humans, for your disrespect, I will eat you!" It hissed again as it started to grow in size.
"Run!" Nishimura yelled as the three of them charged into the hall.
"Is... that what… you wanted… to… happen?" Nishimura gasped as they ran.
"No!" Sasada exclaimed, panting. "I was hoping… to find a… good youkai. Besides… It's your fault… you broke… it."
"Can we save this until after we're safe?" Kitamoto yelled as they ran down a staircase.
"Do you think you can outrun me?!" They heard it hiss. Suddenly the giant dog statue jumped down in front of them, blocking their exit.
"We're going to die." Nishimura whimpered. The statue opened its mouth to reveal massive, sharp teeth. The three teenagers huddled together in fear and watched as the monster approached them. It stopped a few inches away from them and growled.
"This feeling… I'm still not free yet. I cannot leave without my name…" It hissed. "Curse you, Reiko." The youkai stopped and thought for a moment. "Humans, how about we make a deal? I'll let you live if you find me the Book of Friends."
"The Book of Friends?" Sasada asked nervously. "What's that?"
"A powerful object." It growled. "I may not be able to get my name back, but with an army of youkai at my side I can do whatever I want! I'll be able to tear down this building and escape into the outside world." It stopped as it remembered that there were still humans there. "Ah, but it doesn't matter to you what I do with the book. If you don't bring it to me, I'll eat you! Oh, and don't try running. I put a curse on you. If you take too long or I want to know how your search is going I can call you back here and you'll be forced to return!"
"A curse?" Kitamoto asked as a sharp pain hit is arm. He gasped in pain and grabbed his arm. The other two did the same.
"Now go find me the Book of Friends." It said as it disappeared. "And don't fail…or else." It vanished, leaving the three teenagers alone to their thoughts.
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