The Dark Widow – Part 1-1

Standing outside a seemingly average house were the three members of Shibuya Psychic Research, or SPR for short. First, was the young, narcissistic boss, Kazuya Shibuya, but we just call him Naru. Then, there is his assistant, Lin Koujo, and finally there's me, Mai Taniyama.

We had just arrived at the home of the Hosana family to investigate a case brought to us. Three days ago, Mina Hosana stopped by our office and asked us to come and look into strange activities that have been occurring at her home.

Mrs. Hosana took us into the living room, "Please make yourselves comfortable." Mrs. Hosana was a pretty woman with shoulder length blonde hair. As Naru and I sat on the smaller couch and Lin sat in the arm chair next to Naru, a man with black hair walked in.

The man walked over to Mrs. Hosana's side and introduced himself, "Hello. I'm Suske Hosana, Mina's husband. We are thankful you could be here today."

Naru gave a slight nod, leaving the introductions to me. Smiling I responded, "We're happy to help. I'm Mai Taniyama, and this is Lin Koujo and our boss Kazuya Shibuya." At Naru's introduction Mr. Hosana sent his wife a questioning glance, which isn't unusual due to Naru's young age.

Mrs. Hosana gave a reassuring smile before saying, "I'll go get some tea and send Hiro in, and you can start explaining our situation." With that she left the room and headed for the kitchen.

Mr. Hosana sat down across from Naru on the large couch. Then Naru looked to make sure that Lin was ready to keep track of the explanation, and then turned to Mr. Hosana and said, "Alright, please tell us the occurrences that have been going on." He nodded and took in a deep breath.

"Well first, you should know that the things that have been happening here have been going on for as long as we have lived in this house, which will be twelve years this year." Shocked to hear this I glanced at Naru and Lin and could see that they were a bit more interested. "Now I know what you're probably thinking, 'if this has been going on for so long, why haven't we moved?' Trust me we have our reasons. You see, Mina and I have three children, our son Hiro, and two daughters, Rika and Mitsuki. Rika, our eldest, is blind and this house fits her needs, not to mention moving now would be too hard for her. Also, until recently we've been able to put up with it.

"For the first year, the hauntings were almost non-existent and quite harmless. However, as time went on, things changed and we've been able to realize that there are two different hauntings. The first tends to be harmless and more like simple pranks, and normally shies away when outsiders are at the house. The real problem lies with the other activities that go on."

Just then a boy, with blonde hair that looked just a little younger than me, came in to the living room. "Ah, there you are," Mr. Hosana said to the boy, and turning back to us said, "This is my son, Hiro." Hiro took a seat next to his father and I immediately realized he had scratch marks on his arm.

Noticing that I was looking at the marks, Hiro answered my silent question, "the ghost did it." Naru looked at the marks as well and then at the younger boy, who assured, "It doesn't hurt that much, only for the first minute or so after it happens."

"So this happens frequently?" Naru asked. Hiro nodded and looked at his father to further explain for him.

Mr. Hosana stared at the table for a few seconds, and then at Naru to continue explaining. "Like I was saying the real problem lies with the second haunting. Things like the scratches have been happening to me, and sometimes guests, for years. It's definitely more active, and violent. Where the one is normally harmless, this one is always out to harm or scare."

"What about your wife or daughters? Are they attacked as well?" Naru questioned.

The two looked at each other and then Hiro answered, "No, my mother and sisters have never been harmed, but Mitsuki and my mom have been the victims of the more harmless, prank-like hauntings. In fact, until last year I was a victim of only the lesser hauntings as well, but never attacked. Also, now that I think about it, none of the female visitors have ever been attacked."

Naru thought for a moment and then asked, "Hiro, how old are you?"

"I'll be 15 in a few weeks," Hiro answered.

"Hm…" Naru thought for a moment and then questioned, "It sounds like only male adults and teens are attacked, and children and women are left alone, correct?" The two nodded. "As for the more harmless activities, are they just against your family, or anyone who's been in the house for at least a day or two?"

Mr. Hosana thought for a moment and answered, "The second option, but that doesn't stand true for the other. The other will attack as early as an hour after someone being in the house."

"Interesting," Naru said thoughtfully, "And have either of the two become more frequent or violent lately?" Naru, Lin, and I looked at the father and son as they thought about it.

After a few minutes Mr. Hosana answered, "Yes, I suppose over the years the two have become more frequent and violent, but my concern lies more with the fact that my son and his friends are beginning to get attacked as well."

Then the door opened and Mrs. Hosana came out with the tea. As she began to place the tea on the small table for everyone, I began to review the conservation in my head. Suddenly, something stuck out to me, and I turned to Hiro and asked, "Wait a minute, Hiro; earlier you said that your mom and sister, Mitsuki, were victims, but what about your older sister, Rika?"

Mrs. Hosana looked up and answered for her son, "Now that's one irregularity we are thankful for! We don't know why, but Rika has never been a victim of any sort of hauntings. In fact, strangely enough when Rika is in the room, nothing ever happens." I looked at Naru, who was looking at Mrs. Hosana thoughtfully.

After a moment of thinking, Naru asked, "So you're saying that nothing has ever happened too or around your daughter?" The parents nodded and Naru asked, "How old are your two daughters?"

"Mitsuki is 11 and Rika is 17." Mr. Hosana answered.

Naru nodded, "Ok I think that's all we need to know for now. Lin?" Lin nodded in agreement and Naru continued, "We'll need a room to set up our equipment, and we will get started tomorrow." Then, Naru reached for his cup of tea when there was a sudden cracking noise. All eyes turned to the cup, and Naru decided to continue to reach for it. Just as he was about to touch it, the glass shattered completely!