Corpse Party: Spirit of Justice
Hair slicked back? Check.
She stole my heart in the trailer park,
Boots shined and fly of jeans zipped up? Check.
So I jacked the keys to her fuckin' car,
Black leather jacket and AC/DC t-shirt? Check.
Then crashed that piece of shit,
Rabbit's foot hanging on jacket? Check.
And stepped away…
The softly spoken lyrics came from the mouth of one Roy Chordata, a student at the Perris Military Academy of Southern California. The English language was foreign to the halls of this hellish place, but considering his current state it wasn't really English that he was speaking. No, Roy was dead – another victim that had fallen prey to Sachiko's curse; a friend of his having decided that it would be fun to try out the charm. Of course, it was also Roy that had botched it in the first place, so… he wasn't all that broken up about being the one that was left behind here. Especially since… well… this was also after his second time of having gone through this.
The first go around he had actually managed to be one of the survivors. Their group of six had only lost two, thankfully, before figuring out what really needed to be done to escape. Or… so they thought. Apparently, somehow, everyone else had forgotten that they had already gone through this series of events. Somehow… he had been the only person to actually remember what happened. At first he had tried to convince them not to do it all over again, but they wouldn't listen. Then he tried refusing to do it with them. They elected to go ahead with it without him. Then he joined them, knowing that they would end up going through it either way.
Of course, he thought that this time if he did everything right, the charm might actually work. No such luck. It was just the exact same scenario all over again. This time though he had been able to save his cousin Lea… but the foreign exchange student, Amelia McCrery, still died. It wasn't the worst death imaginable really, even she had said so – and after finding out that they would feel the pain of their deaths for all eternity, she had actually given off a spark of that ginger confidence of hers. Even now, when he got to speak with her, she always said that it 'ain't nothin I can't handle'. Strong girl. To think, she'd ended up with her wrists slashed to save him – both times. Her death, even now, he couldn't figure out how to prevent.
So why was he here this time, when before he had survived? Simple. Last time Lea had died, but before she died she'd lost her piece of the paper doll and wouldn't have been able to make it back anyway. This time she had lived… but still didn't have the paper doll scrap. Thus, he had given her his piece, made her take it, so that she could get home with the others. It was almost funny… he had come back this time to try and save two people. Yet, two people still died – just… this time… one was him, instead of someone else.
His death hadn't been quick, either. As fate would so have it, the entire group had been on a camping trip, and had just arrived at their campsite after hiking into the woods… with all their food and water. They'd taken enough provisions to last each of them a week. They all knew that there was no food in this reality, and the only water was what came down as rain, so they had decided to leave enough supplies with Roy to give him at least a month to live, and he made sure that they took enough rations back to be able to get out of the woods and home without going hungry. He also made sure that they each would have messages on their phones to warn them against the Sachiko Charm, lest they forget this time too.
He had a theory though… and it was this: the only reason they had forgotten the first time, when he had survived, was that he was meant to die here. That's why it had all restarted on the same day, and the same events had transpired. He'd beaten fate in a sense by saving Lea, but in doing that, his own fate had been assured as he had no way to return home. The cruelest irony had arisen though upon his return to the infirmary. After the others had left, the separated closed spaces had united into one… and upon the desk in the infirmary he had found both Amelia's and Lea's paper doll fragments. Just laying there on the table, as if Sachiko were enjoying the fact that both those scraps could have sent him home.
Were it Sachiko's doing, he was sure that she had realized a couple of times by now that he'd had wondrous opportunities to fuck over her plan of torment. There were various groups of friends that had come through here since his own had left, and he'd helped all those that he could, in any way that he could. He and his friend James had watched a bit too much TV and read a bit too much folklore for their own good, and had fancied themselves "Hunters"… this really was just a way to say that they knew how to combat the forces of supernatural evil.
Vampires, werewolves, zombies, poltergeists, vengeful spirits, demons, ghouls, windigos, skinwalkers, shapeshifters, witches, and a host of other paranormal belligerents were on their list of things that they could combat. They had actually been able to apply some of that knowledge to this place, which had surprised everyone – including themselves. Considering that it was cut off from Heaven and Hell, no amount of faith in God could help them, and crucifixes and the like had not had any effect whatsoever. Yet somehow… salt, fire, iron, and – of all things – pentagrams had been successful tools. It was a good feeling to know that this place wasn't entirely hopeless. With proper knowledge and tools… you really could fight back.
Needless to say though, despite saving quite a few lives… in time, nature had run its course. He'd eventually gotten down to his last meal and his last two bottles of water. He was finished… kaput… done in the most final of ways, and he knew it. Thus, he'd eaten his last meal, waited for a time when it was quiet, when no tremors ran through the school, drew a new protective circle around his cot (in a classroom that he had claimed for himself)… and decided to overdose on sleeping pills. When he'd 'woken up' from his death, he was surprised to find himself in his own spectral body instead of some little blue flame.
Apparently, at least according to other spirits here, he'd lived in this place long enough that it came to recognize his form. He'd stayed here, alive, long enough to bond with this place to some extent, and having done good deeds while here he was thusly rewarded… Perhaps not with life, but with form, and in here? That was a hell of a gift, when most spirits were only little blue or red flames. That was already seven years ago.
Over the course of those seven years, he had fought spectral tooth and nail to save as many people as he could from being stuck in this hell. He'd also figured out how to move between the closed spaces just like Sachiko, Yuki, and the other two… gutless boy and headless girl. Whatever their names were. It was almost funny how laughably easy it now was to move from space to space. You just had to will yourself to, at least as a spirit with form. Unfortunately, it wasn't so easy for mortals. They had to wait for the spaces to collide and shift, hence the 'earthquakes' that were experienced so often.
He'd also had the revelation that he felt no pain, and had to laugh. The only real punishment for dying here was that you would feel the pain that you died with. He hadn't had any. His body had simply shut off in his sleep, and that was that. He'd passed away without so much as an ache… a feat that was unheard of in this place.
His one real complaint about being here for all eternity was that, unless he was saving people… this place was actually pretty boring. It was an elementary school. Sure, yeah, there were some books in the library… some that honestly should have been at a high school or a university probably… but other than that there wasn't much to do. Hell, he'd even talked to Yuki a few times just to not have to deal with that. Turned out that she wasn't evil at all… when there was nobody else here. When the school lacked mortals she was a nice girl.
It was through her that he learned of the Kisuragi Academy students that had managed to put the original Sachiko to rest, the tale of what had caused this place to come into being, and the fact that the current Sachiko was nothing more or less than a shadow of the original. She had been created by the school, an entity to act like a central core while mortals were present, and then she essentially shut off (or at least went into sleep mode) when it was just the spirits of the untimely deceased. It was comforting to know that these three kids really weren't evil at their core. They were just victims like everyone else… even little Sachiko had been a victim originally. It was truly sad to think that everyone here was really being punished thanks to the actions of one man.
The principal – or "Take-whateverthefuck" as Roy called him whenever he tried saying his actual name – had been the cause of it all. He had tried to rape Sachiko's mother, might have even done so, and Sachiko had witnessed it. He had killed them both. He was the first one to kill anyone, and the last to die when Heavenly Host Elementary was still standing. Worse, the bastard hadn't even gotten offed by someone else. No… he got to take his own life. Only… now he relived it almost constantly. Or… he had gotten to relive it, until Roy learned about this.
The tale of the principal had been the only thing to truly set him off, aside from learning what had been done to Yuki and the other two children. You see, there were few things that could make Roy's blood boil. The chief three were Murder of the Innocent, Abuse of the Innocent, and Rape of the Innocent. If those things happened to a death row inmate or some such, he didn't give a damn, but if they happened to someone that hadn't done anything to deserve it? That's when the fire got lit under his ass. Of course, here it had shown through in his aura. Hearing about that from Yuki was the only thing that had been able to change the aura of his spectral form from a cyan color to a raging crimson. It had lasted only a minute or so as Yuki told the tale, but she had snapped him out of it before he could get stuck that way.
He wasn't about to let the principal just get away with this though. No. As far as he was concerned, reliving such an easy death was hardly a punishment for the man. He'd jumped from the roof and died on impact. So what? That meant that he had an instantaneous death. Hardly a punishment in this place. There was no pain to attribute to that. He was just reliving jumping off the top of a building over and over again. Big deal! Of course, that was his death. How could he hope to change that? But again… he had changed fate once already.
Deciding that it was time to give the principal a real punishment, Roy had made his spectral way to the roof and watched for a few minutes as the scene of the principal jumping replayed before him time and time again. Then he had tried to get in the principal's way, and was actually a little surprised to see that there was an effect. At first the principal had stopped, as if waiting for him to move, and then he had just gone around him and gotten on his proper route to the edge. The next time, he tested to see if he could actually touch the other spirit… and sure enough, he could. Then it was time for the third test – to see if he could actually alter the principal at all.
Hands in his pockets as the principal made his way onto the roof, he slipped his fingers into the brass knuckles that James had left in his pack. He'd had them on his person when he died as well, so he now had a spectral version of them (he was much better with a sword, a bow, or hell… a gun… but hand to hand was all he had here… and it was effective). Standing near the edge, he waited for the principal to get within striking distance… and then quickly pulled his hand from his pocket and punched the principal right in the teeth. That one put him down, but his aura flared red. Before he could do anything to retaliate though, Roy grabbed him by the shirt and decided to use his 'reset button' – by throwing him off the roof.
A minute later he was back, and had returned to the normal bluish hue that surrounded him, just like some drone that was pre-programmed. However, the earlier reaction said differently. Hurting him had caused anger, and anger was only present with those that could think, and if he could think, then he could truly be punished. Moving out of the way so that the cycle could resume for a while without interference, he made his way around the school, until he found a long garden hose meant for use out in the grounds around the school. That in hand, he returned to the roof… making a noose from the green rubber. The next few times after that he watched the principal, timing things, and noting the slightly confused, even worried, look that crossed the principal's face every time he stepped past.
Finally, when he had the timing down, he waited for the principal and the followed right behind him up to the edge. Right before he jumped, Roy quickly slipped the noose around his neck and tightened it. The spectral ne'er do well grabbed at the green rubber on instinct, feeling his airway being constricted despite no longer needing it, and Roy leaned back to bring the noose and the line of hose coming away from it taunt. A kick to the backs of the principal's legs put his feet over the edge, and he let the hose begin sliding slowly through his grasp… lowering the kicking, squirming principal down over the side with a scowl on his face.
Lowering him down the side, he left the principal dangling a mere foot off the ground, kicking and struggling in the pounding rain. This is what he deserved for what he'd done. And now, with no way to 'die' from falling, even if he came loose somehow, he couldn't just reset and start again. No… he'd have to seek out his demise through a school that changed shape continuously, and might never actually reach the roof again for all eternity. Perhaps it was cruel, but Roy had an old west sense of justice, and this was about as close as he could get without an oak tree and a real length of good, strong hemp rope.
Of course, this was a long time ago now. The thought of the principal hanging outside did bring a feeling of some accomplishment to the wandering spirit though. He'd brought a little bit of true justice to this place, and while this was no old west town, and he sure as hell was no sheriff, he'd noticed that some of the spirits that normally didn't talk to him were more… open, now. They were also prone to helping people out more often, and not so prone to become enraged by small slights of the living. The number of survivors had increased, albeit marginally, ever since he had punished the principal. Whether or not this was out of some sort of respect for him, he didn't know, but he was happy that it was going on.
Right now though, the reason for his getting ready to head out of the classroom he was now thinking of as his barracks, was he felt two disturbances. The first was a normal disturbance – the same one that the spirits felt when mortals arrived in their reality, and when the new Sachiko 'woke up'. The 'quakes, the shifting of the buildings' innards, and the general sense of increased doom and gloom throughout this parallel dimension.
The other was something… wrong. Something very basic to his existence here had changed, and he could tell that it most certainly was not for the better. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell what it was from here. He would have to investigate; trace the ripple of unsteady energy back to its source. For a spirit with form, though, that wasn't very difficult. And he already knew that there was something that hadn't been changed – his body hadn't been messed with, so it wasn't really about him so much as something he had done had been changed.
Considering that new victims usually had about half an hour before something went wrong, he decided to play detective first.