Haunted Weekend

by A Writer of Fact and Fiction

Minako convinces her friends to spend the night in a supposedly haunted house. This story in my series on the Sailor Senshi takes place several weeks after 'Okinawa'.

Haunted Weekend

. . . . .

This next part of my ongoing series on the Sailor Senshi takes place several weeks after 'Okinawa'.

. . . . .

Chapter 1:

"Are you certain there's nothing else you can do, Watanabe-san?"

"I'm afraid not, Kino-san" came the unhelpful telephone reply from Makoto's lawyer. "You have until the end of next month to come up with the property tax payment. It appears to me that your only viable option at this time is to seriously consider selling your home in Nerima. I'm very sorry."

"Arigatou. I know you tried your best." After saying goodbye, Kino Makoto hung up her phone's handset, frowned deeply, picked it up again then slammed it down hard. "Shimatta." She turned away from the device and breathed a heavy sigh of sadness. "I knew it was too good to last" she grumbled aloud, though there was no one else in her tiny apartment to hear her words. Dropping despondently into a kitchen chair, the unhappy brunette reached for her nearly forgotten teacup and raised it to her lips. Finding the liquid within cold, she glared into the cup, wondering how much better it would make her feel if she smashed it against the kitchen wall. Deciding against it, Makoto unceremoniously dumped her remaining tea into the sink and returned to the phone. Dialing a familiar number, she waited patiently for someone to answer.

It rang three times before her boyfriend picked up the call. "Moshi moshi. Ito residence."

"It's me, Yuji-chan" Makoto said, the joy she always felt upon hearing her boyfriend's voice subdued beneath the heaviness of disappointment.

"Mako-chan!" came Yuji's happy reply. "Did your lawyer call back yet?"

"Hai. He just did."

"And? Any good news?"

"I'm going to lose the house if I can't come up with the property tax payment by the end of July" she stated bluntly. "My lawyer suggested I sell it before that happens."

"Oh..." The teenage boy's voice faded along with his smile. "I was afraid of that, darling." He fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. "There's no way he can release extra money from your trust fund to cover the tax bill?"

"Not without causing other problems, Yuji honey" Makoto answered. "Doing that would reduce my monthly allowance to the point where I won't have enough left over to cover my apartment rental in Tokyo this year."

"There must be another way" her young man mused. "What about if you put my savings and Taro's toward the property tax? I know it probably isn't enough, but it may help buy a little more time. And my brother won't mind at all, I'm certain of that."

"Absolutely not!" came the firm reply. "Yuji-chan my love, I appreciate the gesture so much, I really do, but there's no way I'm going to take your hard-earned money, or Taro's either. It just wouldn't be right. If I can't raise the cash myself somehow, I'll just have to sell the place." Her voice quivered ever so slightly as the bleak realization fully hit home.

"My love, please reconsider the-"

"Hang on a second, honey. There's someone at the door." She placed the receiver down and hurried to answer the buzzer, finding Hino Rei waiting in the hallway. "Konnichiwa, Rei-chan. Come on in."

The young miko greeted her and entered the small, spotlessly clean apartment, instantly noting her friend's glum expression. "I guess you've heard back from your lawyer."

Makoto nodded. "Hai, just a few minutes ago. The news wasn't good. I'm on the phone with Yuji about it now."

"Finish your call, then we'll talk, Mako-chan" Rei said, slipping off her shoes. "I'll wait on the sofa until you're done."

"I know what you're going to say, Rei-chan. There's no way I'm asking Yuuichirou or his parents for financial help. But... thanks a lot for offering" she said, giving the raven-haired girl a weak smile. "You're very kind, and a wonderful friend."

"Mako-chan, that old house means so much to you. And to all of us" the miko told her. "It's like everyone's little holiday spot in the country. You can't just surrender it so easily. We just need to find another way to come up with the money."

"If I have to sell it, then I will" the brunette insisted with a shrug. "I've been independent way too long to go begging for charity now."

"But at least listen to-"

Makoto waved her friend toward the living room. "Please have a seat, Rei-chan. I'll be with you in a few minutes." She walked back to the kitchen leaving Rei sadly shaking her head.

. . . . .

An hour later the two girls had gathered in the study room at the Hikawa Jinja, waiting for the last of their friends to arrive. Further down the low table, Ami sat beside Usagi with pencil in hand, the brilliant fifteen-year-old busily finishing, then double-checking a series of calculations. She looked up from the pad of paper, setting her pencil down on it with a sigh. "Your lawyer is correct, Mako-chan. There's simply not enough extra money in your trust fund to cover this year's property tax on your house."

"Are you sure about that, Ami-chan?" Usagi asked. Her forehead wrinkled as she peered down at the neat columns of numbers. "Maybe you made a teeny little mistake in all those numbers somewhere."

"So you're giving math lessons to Ami now, Usagi-chan?" Rei muttered from her end of the table. "I'd actually laugh at you if this news wasn't so serious."

"Quiet, Rei-chan!" Usagi glared back. "I'm just trying to help."

"Speaking of helping, did you remember to call Minako and tell her we were having this emergency meeting? She's late."

"I'll have you know I phoned her ages ago!" the blonde replied indignantly. "She said she had to check on something with her father and promised she'd be here as soon as she could." Just as Usagi finished speaking, the roar of an approaching car engine was followed by a tortured screech of tires from the parking lot behind the shrine, announcing the arrival of their tardy friend. Everyone at the table cringed, expecting a crash.

When none came, Rei breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Sounds like Minako has finally made her appearance. Who else could it be, driving like a maniac? Thank heavens she didn't hit the shrine wall this time!"

Seconds later, Aino Minako flung open the room's sliding door and rushed inside, clutching a folded newspaper in one hand. A pair of designer sunglasses sat perched atop her head in front of the ever-present red bow. "Minna, hi! Sorry I'm late but I had to make an important phone call first!" she said breathlessly as she took her place at the table. She beamed, "Mako-chan, I just may have the answer to your money problems!"

"Oh?" The tall brunette raised a skeptical eyebrow. "What are you suggesting, Minako-chan? Should I rob a bank?"

"Of course not, silly!" the blonde grinned. "Here, take a look at this!" She dropped the newspaper on the table and smoothed it out before pointing to an article on the uppermost page. Curious, the other girls leaned over the paper and quickly skimmed the text in question while Minako beamed happily at them.

After a few moments Rei sat back and frowned deeply at her friend. "How on earth is this going to help us, Minako-chan? It's just a story about some old house that's supposed to be haunted. What were you planning on doing, asking the ghosts for a loan?" she scoffed.

"This article doesn't tell the whole story" Minako insisted. "I looked into it further, with my father's help. The new owners of the house are afraid to live in it because of some weird stuff that happened to them after they tried moving in. So to convince themselves it's safe to stay there, they're running a contest."

"What kind of contest?" Makoto asked warily.

"They're offering a big cash prize to anyone who can spend twenty four hours on the property without leaving. Minna, it's three hundred thousand yen!" the bubbly blonde exclaimed. "That should be more than enough to cover Mako-chan's tax bill! And then some!"

"It certainly would" the brunette said thoughtfully. "That would cover two years of property taxes, maybe even more. But... what does that have to do with us?"

"That's the best part, Mako-chan!" Minako gushed. "I just called the owners and signed us up! The five of us are staying there Saturday night! We'll win the prize and you can use the money to pay that stupid tax bill!"

"You did what?" Rei blurted. "Minako-chan, have you gone completely insane?"

Across the table, Usagi's face turned pale. "Nani? I don't like scary things, Minako-chan! Do I have any say in this?"

"No!" the other blonde giggled. "It's too late for that, Usagi-chan. We're already booked in as a group for the weekend!" she insisted.

"Minna, I think this is actually an excellent idea" Ami remarked. "I've heard of this place too, Minako-chan. It's just outside Tokyo and called the Himuro Mansion."

Minako nodded briskly, "Hai hai! That's the one!"

Ami continued, "Supposedly, seven people were brutally murdered there over the years in some kind of strange ritual."

"Seven people? Murdered?" Usagi gasped. "Hold on, this plan sounds way too scary for me!"

"It could be the only opportunity we have to help Mako-chan raise the money she needs" Ami reminded her.

"But... what about the murdered people, Ami-chan?" Usagi pressed, her hands trembling. "Dead people can only mean one thing! Ghosts!"

The blue-haired girl smiled back reassuringly. "I don't believe in 'ghosts', Usagi-chan. I'm quite sure there must be a logical, scientific explanation behind the owners' fears. Perhaps it's nothing more than some kind of publicity stunt to make the property more famous and increase its value before they possibly resell it."

The miko at the end of the table was entirely unconvinced by Ami's reasoning. "I'd be careful about thinking that way if I were you, Ami-chan" Rei cautioned. "There's a whole lot more to this world than what we can measure or see with our own eyes. This very shrine we're sitting in is a connection to the spirit world after all."

"Sorry, Rei-chan, but I'm with Ami on this one" Makoto announced confidently. "And anyway, have you ever actually seen any spirits?" she bluntly asked the raven-haired teen.

"Not exactly, Mako-chan. But I certainly have felt their presence. Many, many times" Rei answered softly, raising goosebumps all over Usagi's arms. Her trembling blonde friend's eyes began flitting nervously around the room.

"Great!" Minako said. "Then you're the perfect person to be our leader during our stay at the haunted house, Rei-chan! If any one of us can deal with the spirit world, it'll be you."

"Hey! I'm supposed to be our leader!" Usagi objected. "That's my job, remember?"

"Fine. Then you can take charge" Rei shot back with a smirk. "That is, if you don't manage to ruin our chance to win the prize by chickening out and running away."

"Rei has a good point, Usagi-chan" Minako said. "There's only one exit from the grounds and if anyone leaves for any reason before their twenty-four hours are up, a motion-detecting camera thingy at the gate takes their picture and they forfeit all the prize money."

"Oh! Well then! Umm... in that case, maybe Rei should be the leader after all" Usagi relented. "But just this one time, ok?"

"Even if there are ghosts, why are you so worried about them, Usagi-chan?" Makoto chuckled. "They couldn't be any worse than all those youma we've fought."

"That's different! Youma are beings, not spooky spirits!"

"She's right, Mako-chan. This is an entirely different situation we'll be getting into" Rei said in a quiet, serious tone. "Even Sailor Senshi have their limitations when it comes to... otherworldly things."

"Stop it, Rei-chan!" Usagi whined. "You're really starting to creep me out!"

Rei's deep violet eyes locked onto Usagi's, and the miko slowly leaned across the table toward the nervous girl.

"Usagi-chan?"

"Hai?"

"Boo!"

"Aaghh!"

Makoto and Ami smiled at Usagi's fearful jolt. "It seems to me that winning this contest could be the only hope I have to keep my house in Nerima" the brunette said. "I'll do it!" she agreed. "Who else is going with me?"

"I'll definitely accompany you, Mako-chan" Ami volunteered without a moment's hesitation. "Uh, can our boyfriends stay with us too, Minako-chan? I'd really like my Ryo-kun to be there with me."

"I wish they could!" Minako exclaimed. "But the rules say no unmarried couples are allowed, so we have to go it alone. I'm really going to miss my Taro too" she sighed. "A whole weekend without him! But it will be worth the sacrifice if it means Mako-chan can save her house."

"Sure, then you and Taro can keep your usual room on the weekends" Rei snickered knowingly. "I'm still not too comfortable with the idea, but... I may be able to help, Hai, count me in" the miko decided. "Since this was Minako's plan, she'll obviously be staying with us too. Which only leaves..." she stared down the table. "You, Usagi-chan. So, are you with us or not?"

"But... I... I'm... Ohhh!" Usagi stuttered in protest, but the thought of helping her dear friend temporarily overcame her fears. "Alright" the nervous blonde muttered. "I'll stay there with you too, Mako-chan."

"That's the spirit, Usagi-chan!" Minako grinned. "We'll face the unknown together!"

"Did you have to say spirit?" Usagi whimpered back.

"I do have one question, Minako-chan" Makoto asked. "That's an awful lot of money just to spend one night in a house. Lots of other people must have tried to win it before us. What happened to them?"

"That's the really strange part" the blonde replied. "No one else has managed to stay there any longer than half the required time. I even heard a rumor that the last couple who volunteered to spend the night disappeared without a trace. Isn't that odd?"

Usagi began wringing her hands fearfully. "Ahh! I'm going to be eaten by a ghost!" she wailed. "Then I'll never get to marry my Mamo-chan!"

"I'm sure any ghosts should be more worried about you eating them, Usagi-chan" Rei teased. "Anyway, ghosts aren't supposed to eat people. At least... I don't think they are."

"Shut up, Rei-chan!" the blonde fretted. "This is serious!"

---

Chapter 2:

"This is so typical of Usagi to be late for Grandpa's ceremony" Rei muttered. "That's so like her." Early the following Saturday morning found her and three friends waiting behind the Hikawa shrine for the missing teenage girl. The miko glanced at her wristwatch. "We have to leave soon, with or without her."

"Maybe she had a change of heart at the last minute and decided not to go with us" Minako suggested. "She sounded really worried when I phoned her last night."

"That wouldn't surprise me in the least" Rei muttered. "While we're waiting, let me see those directions again." She took a handwritten piece of paper from the blonde and studied it closely. "Minako-chan, are you sure you wrote everything down properly? According to this, the Himuro house is sitting in a forest northwest of Tokyo. How are we supposed to drive there?"

"No problem, Rei-chan" the blonde replied. "The new owner told me there's a dirt road that leads up to the mansion. We can leave our cars just outside the front gate and meet him there at eleven. Don't worry, just follow me" she beamed confidently. "I'll find it!"

Nearby, Makoto leaned over to whisper in Ami's ear, "This is starting to get scary."

Surprised, Ami smiled up at the taller brunette. "Mako-chan, you needn't be concerned. As I said before, there's probably nothing haunted about the mansion at all. I'm sure it's just an old legend."

"That's not the part that scares me, Ami-chan" Makoto grinned. "We have to rely on Minako for directions. Now that's a frightening thought!" Ami giggled softly in agreement as Hino-sensei emerged from the rear of the shrine.

The old priest carried a bamboo rod with ofuda attached to one end. "Are we ready to begin the ceremony, Rei-chan?" he asked his granddaughter.

"Usagi isn't here yet, Ojii-chan" Rei answered. "That big chicken is probably still at home, hiding under her bed or in a closet."

"I heard that!" an angry voice echoed down one side of the shrine. "Rei-chan, can't you be nice to me at least this one time?" Usagi turned the corner, and as she walked up to the group Rei could plainly see signs of fatigue on her pretty face.

"Finally! Usagi-chan, you look like you haven't slept in days. Were you at Mamoru's apartment again last night?"

"No, for your information I was home the whole night!" the blonde replied indignantly. "I just... didn't sleep very well."

"You big baby!" Rei laughed. "On second thought, this could be a blessing in disguise. You'll be so tired you won't have enough energy to cause any of your usual problems."

"Quiet you!" Usagi hissed. She tried glaring sternly at the miko but a sudden massive yawn ruined the effect and Rei snickered back.

"You're hopeless!"

"Now that everyone is present, we can begin" the elder Hino said. He commenced his chant, waving the stick vigorously around the girls in a Shinto ritual to protect them from evil spirits. The teens stood quietly until the ceremony was complete, then thanked the old priest for his blessing.

"Always remember that your safety is much more important than winning some prize money, child" Rei's grandfather cautioned her. "If you should ever feel overwhelmed at that house, promise me that you and your friends will leave there at once."

Rei nodded. "We'll be very careful, Ojii-chan. Please don't worry." She leaned toward him and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow afternoon."

A moment later, Yuuichirou emerged from the shrine's rear door and hurried up to his fiancee. "Be safe, my love. And take this with you." He passed her a large brown envelope. "Extra ofuda that your grandfather and I have prepared" he explained. "I hope they'll help keep you safe."

Rei smiled coyly up at her future husband as she took the envelope. "Arigatou, honey. Will you miss me?"

"Will I?" the young apprentice exclaimed. "Does Usagi love to eat?"

"Ohh!" the nearby blonde sputtered. "That's not fair! Now you're both being mean to me!"

"Gomen, Usagi-chan" Yuuichirou apologized with a bow. "It was... uh... just an expression."

"Perhaps, but no truer words were ever spoken" Rei remarked. She gave her boyfriend one last deep, tender kiss before reaching into her purse for her car keys. "Who's riding with me?"

Everyone but Minako quickly converged on the red convertible, leaving the blonde standing alone. "Minna, isn't anyone going in my car?" she pouted. "I'd like some company too. And it would help to have someone along to read the directions to me" she added hopefully.

"I'll go with you" Makoto sighed, reluctantly walking over to Minako's small, bright orange hatchback. Before climbing into the passenger seat, she yelled to the other girls, "Minna, if anything happens, tell Yuji that I love him."

"Relax, silly!" Minako giggled as she slid behind the wheel. "I haven't crashed yet!"

"Maybe not, but it's the 'yet' part that worries me" the brunette muttered. "Ok Minako-chan, let's hit the road."

Minako started her car and revved it wildly. "Comfortable, Mako-chan?"

"Do you want me to tell the truth?" Makoto yelled over the roar of the engine, tightly fastening her seat belt. "Minako-chan, take your time and let's try to get there in one piece, ok?" They waited while Rei and their other two friends entered the red Mercedes.

"Put the roof down, Rei-chan!" Usagi urged from the rear seat. "It's such a beautiful day."

"I will, but don't get your stupid hair caught in it again like you did the last time" the miko warned. She pressed a button and the cloth top folded back to allow fresh air and bright morning sunshine inside. Rei carefully backed out of her parking spot and waved the other car onward. "Go ahead, Minako-chan" she called out. "We'll be right behind you."

"Hai!" Minako nodded and slipped on her sunglasses. She abruptly shot away, swerving onto the road in a squeal of tires. A passing bicyclist careened for his life into a nearby lamppost and promptly fell off.

"Oops!" the blonde giggled. "Where did he come from?"

"Not exactly a good start" Makoto groaned, her fingers grasping tightly onto the edges of her seat. "No ghost anywhere can be scarier than riding with you, Minako-chan."

Rei eased her convertible out of the shrine's parking lot behind them. "If I live another hundred years, I'll still never know how that girl managed to pass her driving test." She pulled to a stop behind Minako's orange car at a red light.

"Rei-chan, would you mind turning on the radio?" Usagi asked. "I need music or something to help wake me up."

"Open the top. Turn on the radio. Aye aye, Captain" Rei grumbled, reaching for the power switch. "Is there anything else you'd like me to do for you?"

"Hush! Just be quiet and drive" Usagi grumbled. "You know, I should have asked Mamo-chan if I could borrow his car. Then I wouldn't have to put up with your horrible attitude!"

"No, but you'd take the rest of the month just to get out of Tokyo" the miko scoffed. "You drive even slower than Yuuichirou does, Usagi-chan. I never imagined anyone could."

"I happen to be a very careful driver" Usagi said defensively.

"There's a difference between careful and slow. I've seen snails move faster" Rei laughed.

"Ohh! Be nice!"

"Going uphill" the miko added. "In wintertime. And they're dead."

In the front passenger seat, Ami leaned forward, muffling a giggle behind her hand.

"Will you shut up and stop picking on me?" Usagi fumed, folding her arms angrily across her chest.

"I will if you will. Wait, is that even possible, Usagi-chan?"

"Ohhh!"

. . . . .

After what felt like an eternity of terror, Makoto allowed herself to relax a little as the cars pulled onto a narrow dirt road. "Not too much farther, Mako-chan" Minako promised with a wink. "Just ten more kilometers or so to the spooky mansion."

"I never thought I'd be looking forward to staying in a haunted house" the brunette remarked. "But after this little trip, I certainly am." She rolled up her window as dust began blowing into the car.

"It wasn't that bad so far, was it?" the blonde driver asked innocently as they bounced along.

"Minako-chan, in the last hour my life passed before my eyes so many times, it was like watching an old move over and over again. And I didn't much like the way it ended."

"You're silly!" her friend giggled.

Behind them, Rei slowed further as dust from the lead car swirled around her windshield. "We have to put the top up now, my car is getting filthy inside!" She pulled over and waited for the top to raise while Minako and Makoto zoomed out of sight in the distance. "Baka! Doesn't she ever bother using her rear mirrors?"

"I don't like this place!" came a trembling voice from the seat behind. "It's so gloomy with all these tall trees and bushes and things!" A sudden loud hoot from an unseen owl made Usagi cringe. "Nani? What was that?"

"Are you frightened already?" Rei chuckled. "We're not even at our destination yet."

"I'm not scared!"

"Of course not. You're terrified."

"Am not!" Usagi stuck out her quivering tongue.

"It was just an owl, Usagi-chan" Ami said reassuringly. "There must be a large number of them living in the countryside around here."

"Stupid owls!" Usagi muttered. "Why can't they keep to themselves?" The large grey bird suddenly swooped down past her window and came to rest on a nearby branch. Its large head slowly swiveled around to stare at the intruders through cold, yellow eyes. "Aahhh! Rei-chan, get this thing moving!" Usagi screamed fearfully, her eyes wide. "It's watching us!"

"Will you calm down?" the miko grumbled, accelerating away. "Try pulling yourself together, odango atama!"

"Weren't you aware that owls represent protection and luck, Usagi-chan?" Ami asked. "Spotting one is supposed to be a good omen."

"I don't care what they represent! I don't like them!"

The red Mercedes crested a small grade as the countryside became more hilly, and Rei further increased her speed. "I still don't see any trace of Minako's car, Rei-chan" Ami said, peering into the distance.

"Just look for the flaming wreck" the miko joked. "We'd better catch up before she gets too far ahead of us."

"That's a great idea!" Usagi fretted. "Find them before it's too late!"

"We're traveling with a child, Ami-chan" Rei sighed at the blue-haired girl beside her."A fifteen-year-old, licensed-to-drive, engaged-to-be-married infant."

---

Chapter 3:

After gunning her powerful car along the gravel road, Rei finally caught up with Minako when the blonde's small orange hatchback slowed at an unmarked lane. She followed her friend's turn into a rutted driveway, surrounded on all sides by an ancient forest of birch and elm, and both cars stopped at a large black iron gate that blocked the girls' path. Little sunlight penetrated the dense wood, adding a distinctly gloomy air to their surroundings. Beyond the gate, a series of rotted, uneven wooden steps partially overgrown with foliage wound their way up toward what appeared to be the front entrance of the house. Most of the mansion remained invisible, hidden behind a thicket of trees. Minako and Makoto left their car and stood waiting for their friends to join them.

"There it is!" Minako announced with a wave of her hand. "Our temporary home for the night. What do you think, Mako-chan?"

The brunette's green eyes quickly scanned the area. "It's not exactly what I was expecting, Minako-chan. This place has definitely seen better days. It looks really old and neglected."

"It is a little run-down, isn't it? That's ok, Mako-chan. We only need to stay here one night, then collect the prize money and all your tax problems are solved!" her friend replied with a bright smile.

Behind the two teens their three remaining friends left Rei's Mercedes and stood quietly for a moment, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Makoto chuckled at Usagi's worried look, the girl visibly shaken at the thought of spending a night in such an isolated spot. But Makoto could also see Rei's face and the young miko's expression caused the brunette to quickly walk back to her.

"You seem... unsettled, Rei-chan."

"That's because I am" she answered softly, her words nearly lost in the eerie silence of the forest. She reached back inside her car and retrieved the envelope of ofuda Yuuichirou had given her. "I have a feeling we're going to need these after all."

"Are you sensing something odd?" Makoto asked her.

"Hai."

Usagi glared angrily at the raven-haired girl. "Stop it, Rei-chan! You're scaring me!"

Beside her, Ami removed her Mercury computer from her purse and activated it. She studied the device's display screen for a few moments before looking up. "I'm not getting any strange or unusual readings. Perhaps our surroundings are playing tricks on your mind, Rei-chan" she suggested.

Rei shook her head. "I don't think so." She slowly walked up to the locked gate, reached out and lightly touched her fingertips against the rusting, corroded ironwork. " There is something here. Something... evil."

"I don't like this at all!" Usagi wailed. "I want to go home!"

"We can't leave now, Usagi-chan" Minako said. "We have to go through with this so Mako-chan can keep her house." She checked her watch. "The owner said he would meet us here in a few minutes. Why don't you go wait in the car if that makes you feel safer?"

Usagi took her friend's advice and hurried back to Rei's car, sitting in the front passenger seat with a relieved sigh.

"It's very quiet here" Makoto remarked. "I don't even hear any birds chirping." Looking up at the trees, she noticed one of them had a wooden box attached high above the gate with a round hole in one side pointing down. "That must be the camera Minako mentioned." On impulse, she waved at it. The sound of approaching tires crunching on gravel caught her attention and she watched another car appear in the lane, parking behind Rei's convertible. A middle-aged man got out and strode quickly up to her friends.

"Ohayou. Is one of you Aino Minako?" he asked.

"That would be me" Minako replied. "You're the gentleman I spoke with on the phone?"

"That's right. My name is Abe Takahiro" he introduced himself to the other girls with a bow. "My wife and I purchased this property some months ago, with the intent of renovating it for use as a vacation retreat. But... I suppose you told your friends what happened." He seemed nervous and anxious to leave. "You must all be very brave young girls to attempt this."

"We have a very good reason" Minako replied. "You said you have some forms for us to sign, Abe-san?"

"Of course. It's a legal requirement you understand, absolving me of all responsibility for anything that... may happen." He produced the paperwork and a pen and each of the girls signed their names. After some coaxing from Minako, Usagi reluctantly emerged from the relative safety of Rei's car and added her name to the end of the list.

"Arigatou." The man folded the paper and pocketed it, pointing to the camera Makoto had spotted earlier. "It has fresh batteries and a motion detector. You do understand that if any one of you leaves the property before noon tomorrow, you lose the contest and are not permitted to collect the money?"

"Hai. We understand. Is this the only exit from the property?" Rei asked.

"Well... there is the forest behind the main house too. There are no fences on that part of the property. But I strongly suggest you do not go there. Along with the wild animals and poisonous plants, there's also a large swampy area that could prove quite dangerous if you should be unfortunate enough to stumble into it."

"Wild animals?" Usagi gasped. "What kind of animals, Abe-san?"

"Venomous snakes, mostly. But other dangerous creatures as well. Like wolves."

"Snakes? Wolves?" Usagi's slender body quivered in fear.

"Gomen nasai, Abe-san" Ami said. "I was under the impression that wolves are currently extinct in Japan."

"That's the commonly held belief" their host answered. "But I've heard them. When my wife and I tried spending a night here, their howls were unmistakable." He produced a large metal key and struggled with the gate lock, eventually opening it. "My work here is done" he said as he hurried back to his car. "It's nearly noon. Your twenty-four hours begins then, and I'll be back tomorrow at this same time to check on you and retrieve the camera's film." Takahiro handed Minako several sheets of paper. "These instructions should answer any further questions you may have regarding your stay on the property." He opened the car door, visibly relieved to be leaving. A polite bow was followed by his last words before driving away. "Minna, sayonara. And... good luck."

After he had left, Usagi stormed up to Minako. "You didn't say anything about wild animals, Minako-chan!" she hissed, flailing her arms around. "What have you gotten us into here?"

"Gomen, Usagi-chan. I didn't know" the other blonde apologized. "But that's ok, if we stay inside the house we should be safe. It's just for one night."

"Hai. Then we'll only have ghosts to worry about!" Makoto laughed. "Good thing I don't believe in them!" Taking a large suitcase filled with food and supplies from the rear of Minako's car, she walked past the other girls and grasped the gate, firmly pushing it open. A shrill squeak of protest came from its weathered hinges. "I'm not sure why Abe-san thought this would make a good vacation home, but who cares? Let's go check the place out!" She strode confidently onto the grounds with Ami and Minako beside her, stopping at the base of the steps to look back.

Unsurprisingly, Usagi had hesitated but Rei took her arm. "Stick close to me, Usagi-chan" the miko said, leading her through the gate. "I'll look after you."

"Arigatou, Rei-chan" the trembling blonde smiled back. "You really are a good friend."

"It's about time you realized that."

. . . . .

Together, the teens carefully made their way up the weatherbeaten steps to the front of the old mansion. Makoto swatted away a large spider web before sliding open the wooden door. She peered inside. "Smells musty in there. This place desperately needs a good cleaning, among other things."

Minako skimmed the papers the owner had provided. "It says here that there's currently no phone line or outside electrical power to the house. Just a generator out back, and some oil lamps and candles for emergency lighting."

"How quaint" Makoto chuckled. "And I thought my old place in Nerima was bad!" She stepped inside while Rei removed one of the ofuda from her envelope and wedged it into the wooden doorframe. "Still having those weird feelings, Rei-chan?"

The miko nodded, saying nothing. Instead, she attached a second ofuda to the inside wall near the entrance.

Ami looked around the empty room, its only decoration a faded forest scene painted on its yellowing walls. "This is certainly a world apart from your future in-law's mansion in Okinawa, Rei-chan" she remarked. "We really are roughing it tonight."

"I wish Mamo-chan was here with me" Usagi muttered. "And everyone else's boyfriends too."

Undaunted, Makoto pressed on, opening a second sliding door to reveal a larger unfurnished room. She walked inside and put down the suitcase. "I guess this is a good place for everyone to set up for the night. No sense in splitting up our team." A dirty, opaque window inset into one wall allowed a modicum of light to enter, barely enough to cast a long faint shadow behind the tall brunette. She smiled happily, "Minna, I just want to tell you all again how great it is for you to do this for me. I know it's not exactly a fun way to spend our weekend together, but if it means we can keep going to Nerima on our mini-vacations, it'll be well worth it."

Usagi stepped toward the second room, intending to raid the suitcase for a badly-needed drink to ease her parched throat. She abruptly froze in her tracks as a second, much darker shadow appeared on the wall alongside Makoto's. She stared in horror as the shadow slowly faded, raising a quivering finger to point behind the brunette. "Mako-chaaannn!"

"What's wrong, Usagi-chan?" Makoto chuckled. "See a ghost already?" She spun around, finding nothing, and shrugged.

"Another shadow was just there on the wall beside yours!" the blonde gasped. "But it's gone now!"

"Probably your own shadow, Usagi-chan" Ami said. She produced her Mercury computer again, sweeping it around the room. "No. Still nothing unusual to report."

Usagi sat on the dusty floor beside the suitcase. "I know what I saw, Ami-chan, and it wasn't my shadow!" Her hands shook as she hastily unzipped the bag and removed a bottle of water, taking a deep swig from it.

"Go easy on the supplies, Usagi-chan" Rei cautioned. "They have to last us until tomorrow."

"Should we have brought more?" Minako asked.

"It's too late for that now" Rei replied after a quick glance at her watch. "It's noon. We can't leave."

"How about we scope out the place?" Makoto suggested. "After we know where everything is, maybe Usagi will finally start to relax and worry less."

"I'm staying right here!" Usagi insisted, clutching the water bottle tightly. "I'll guard the food and blankets and stuff!"

"I'd like to have a look around, Mako-chan" Minako agreed. "I need to find the bathroom anyway."

"It's probably safe to wander around the house separately in daylight" Rei thought aloud, "but we should all stay together when it begins to get dark."

"Why Rei-chan, you're beginning to sound just like Usagi!" Makoto teased.

"I have my reasons" her miko friend replied, her tone deadly serious.

---

Chapter 4:

Before Rei said anything more, she placed several additional ofuda on each of the other three walls of the room the girls had decided to spend the night in. "They do make interesting wallpaper, Rei-chan" Minako giggled. "If you'd brought extra, you could decorate the whole house!"

Rei answered the blonde with a scowl. "Didn't you say you needed to find the bathroom?"

"Hai! I just hope the plumbing works." Minako and Makoto left their friends and wandered deeper into the dilapidated mansion, soon disappearing from sight.

"Minna, please be careful and don't leave me alone too long!" Usagi fretted after the duo. "I don't like it here!" Rummaging through the large suitcase, the blonde found a bag of chips and began munching on them. "This helps a little" she said after a huge mouthful. "Ami-chan, what time is it now?"

"We've only been here a few minutes and you're already asking what time it is?" Rei sighed. "This is going to be a very long night."

"I think I'll look around too, Rei-chan" Ami said. "I've done some research and the Himuro Mansion has a very interesting history. Perhaps I can find some trace of the previous owners and shed some further light on its past." She too wandered off, leaving Rei and Usagi together in the dimly lit room.

"Rei-chan, promise you won't do anything to scare me on purpose" Usagi said, swallowing another mouthful of chips with a gulp.

"I promise" the teenage miko vowed solemnly. "If something strange happens, it certainly won't be me causing it. This is not the time or the place for practical jokes."

. . . . .

In a second intersecting hallway, Minako eventually found the bathroom and went inside while Makoto walked on. She spied another door and opened it, revealing what she assumed to be the master bedroom, though it was now nearly devoid of furnishings. Only a tattered tatami mat covered one corner of the floor. Continuing further, she found the kitchen. Opening the tap above the sink, a sputter of dirty water slowly dribbled out. 'I'm glad I don't have to cook here' the brunette thought. 'This place is disgusting!'

As she continued her investigation, Minako joined her. "What were you saying, Mako-chan? I couldn't hear you clearly."

"I wasn't saying anything, Minako-chan" Makoto replied, closing a cupboard door that sagged forlornly on its hinges.

"You weren't? That's odd. I was sure I heard a voice outside the bathroom just now." Minako whispered, "Mako-chan, do you think this place really is haunted?"

"Nonsense!" Makoto scoffed. "You're imagining things, just like Usagi was with that shadow thing earlier."

"I guess you're right" Minako agreed with a smile, though a brief shiver quivered through her slender frame. "Let's finish looking around and go back to the other girls."

As they were about to leave the kitchen, a sudden strong gust of wind whooshed through the old house, accompanied by the muffled thump of a door sliding firmly closed somewhere nearby. Makoto poked her head through the kitchen entrance and frowned. "That's weird. I was sure I left that bedroom door open, but now it's closed again. Rei-chan! Ami-chan! Are you in there?" But her call went unanswered. "Must have been the wind" she mused.

. . . . .

Out behind the house Ami found a small gas-powered generator sitting amid the tall, unkempt grass near the back wall of the dwelling. She checked its fuel tank, relieved to find it nearly full, and took a few moments to glance around the property. Not far off, the headless stone statue of what appeared to be a young woman loomed above above a weed-riddled yard. Beyond that the thick forest closed in, forming a nearly impassable barrier through which the blue-haired girl could see no further. Ami reentered the house to find Makoto and Minako standing in the hall nearby.

"So that's where that wind came from!" Makoto chuckled as Ami closed the door behind her. "For a second there, I was beginning to think Rei was right about this place."

"Wind?" Ami puzzled. "Mako-chan, it isn't windy at all outside. In fact, it's quite calm." The brunette stared back at her friend, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

. . . . .

Usagi watched as Rei kneeled on the floor nearby, bringing her fingers together to form ritualistic Shinto symbols while chanting softly. The young miko's eyes were closed and she allowed her mind to reach out, probing the mansion's mysteries. All was quiet for a time, until Rei suddenly gasped and her eyes sprang wide open, making Usagi jump in fear. "What's wrong, Rei-chan?"

Her friend slowly turned to face the frightened blonde, her voice low, just above a whisper. "We're being watched."

"Nani?" Usagi gasped, twisting her head from side to side. "By who?"

"I think we should leave" Rei announced firmly. She stood up. "Usagi-chan, close the suitcase. Contest or no contest, we're getting out of here. Now."

Needing no further encouragement, Usagi nodded briskly and tossed her water bottle into the case, hastily zipping it shut as the three other girls reentered the room. "Minna, we're going home!" she blurted.

"No way!" Makoto said, defiantly folding her arms. "I'm not leaving here until noon tomorrow, even if I have to walk home."

"Ami and I will stay here with you, Mako-chan" Minako agreed. "I want you to keep your house in Nerima just as much as you do. It's the only place Taro and I can be really close together" she winked. "You know what I mean!"

"But if Rei and Usagi abandon us, we'll lose the contest" Ami objected. "We all have to stay here to qualify for the prize."

Rei stood and glared at the other girls. "Is your house worth risking your life over, Mako-chan? Because that's a very real possibility. There are forces here, malicious forces beyond anything I've ever encountered before."

"It's just a run-down old house, Rei-chan" Makoto replied stubbornly with a shake of her head. "I know you have the ability to sense things the rest of us can't, but unless I see something with my own eyes, I'm not running away."

"Please, Mako-chan!" Usagi begged. "We'll find another way to get you that tax money."

"Oh? How?"

"I... I don't know how" the blonde admitted. "But we will! If Rei believes something bad is going to happen, that's enough for me."

"You really are intending to stay here, aren't you?" the miko sighed. "Mako-chan, why do you have to be so damned stubborn?"

"I didn't get this far in life by giving up, Rei-chan. And I'm not starting now." Makoto walked over to the suitcase. "Please leave the bag here if you don't mind. If you want to leave, I'm not going to try to stop you. Would you mind contacting the owner and telling him the three of us are staying on? Maybe he'll make an allowance and let Ami and Minako and me continue the contest since it's still really early."

Rei frowned deeply. "Everything I feel is telling me we should get away from here soon. But... I can't abandon my friends." The raven-haired teen relented. "Fine. Have it your way, Mako-chan. We'll stay too. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Rei-chan!" Usagi objected with a wail. "You're not going now either?"

Rei reached into her purse and produced her car keys, holding them out. "Usagi-chan, if you want to leave, go ahead. You can take my car. But drive carefully and for heaven's sake please don't scratch it!"

The blonde reached out a trembling hand for the keys, then hesitated. "If I go, you'll all think I'm just a big baby and never let me live it down." She reluctantly withdrew her hand. "I'll stay too" she muttered.

"Arigatou, Usagi-chan!" Makoto grinned. "I knew you had it in you! Don't worry, we'll all be just fine."

. . . . .

The afternoon progressed without further incident, and the girls passed the time sitting and chatting together. Makoto had found a broom and swept the room clear of dust and cobwebs to keep busy before rejoining her circle of friends, even spending a little extra effort on cleaning the inside of the single window which brightened the room appreciably. But as evening arrived, the light within again began to fade away.

"My Taro is hoping to get accepted into the Nippon Kogakuin College to study engineering next year" Minako was saying. "But then he'll always be busy like Mamoru and I won't see him nearly as often" she added with a twinge of regret.

"How will you manage to survive?" Rei teased. "Look on the bright side, Minako-chan. If he becomes an engineer, he'll be even more qualified to fix everything you keep breaking. Following behind you and cleaning up your disasters will be a full-time job!"

"Very funny!" Minako grumbled. "Mako-chan, has Yuji decided what he's going to do after high school?"

"Not yet. He's thinking about studying-" She was interrupted by a gasp from Usagi, who was seated facing the window.

"Did you see that?" the blonde blurted. "I never knew there were wild horses in Japan!"

"Horses? What on earth are you babbling about now?" Rei growled.

"Hai, horses, Rei-chan! I just saw one go past the window! It was close too! Didn't anyone else see it?"

"You really should lay off the snacks, Usagi-chan" Makoto laughed. "All that salt and sugar is bad for you. It's messing with your head."

"Are you positive it was a horse, Usagi-chan?" Ami asked with a note of concern. "There are no known wild horses in this part of Honshu."

"It was, but I could only see its head from here. It was definitely a big black horse" the blonde insisted with a vigorous nod.

"Oh. That's... somewhat disturbing." The smile Ami had been wearing on her pretty face instantly vanished.

"This is something to do with the house, isn't it?" Rei asked the blue-haired girl. "Ami-chan, you mentioned earlier that you did some research on the Himuro Mansion. It's time you told us what you found."

"Well... the legend goes that young girls were routinely sacrificed here in an attempt to ward off evil spirits" Ami explained. "It happened several times each century."

"That sounds to me like an old wives' tale" Makoto chuckled. "Anyway, what's that got to do with horses?"

"Uh... it's how the maidens were killed, Mako-chan" Ami continued softly. "Their limbs and neck were tied to horses and the animals... pulled their bodies apart."

"Oh! Not a very pleasant way to go!" Minako shuddered.

"Are you sure about what you saw?" Rei asked Usagi again.

"Very sure, Rei-chan! I know what a stupid horse looks like!" Usagi began to shiver. "I don't like where this day is going!"

"It isn't the daytime we need to worry about, Usagi-chan" Rei replied quietly as the setting sun made the girls' faint shadows lengthen across the gradually darkening room. "It's the night. And... it's nearly here."

---

Chapter 5:

Hearing the seriousness in Rei's voice, Usagi's lips quivered and she began to sniffle. "You promised you wouldn't scare me, Rei-chan."

"I'm not scaring you, Usagi-chan, not on purpose. I'm simply stating a fact."

"I don't like facts!" the blonde wailed. "So please stop it, ok?"

Makoto reached out an arm and slipped it around the frightened girl's shoulder. "Everything's fine, Usagi-chan. Nothing that's happened here so far is very unusual. It can all be explained. Isn't that right, Ami-chan?"

"I must agree, Mako-chan. Perhaps that horse Usagi spotted escaped from a nearby farm or stable. And the gust of wind you mentioned was most likely a random occurrence. Just a sudden strong breeze that made it through the trees somehow." But as she spoke, the studious girl once more activated her Mercury computer and began scanning their surroundings.

"But what about the voices I thought I heard when I was in the bathroom, Ami-chan?" Minako asked. "How do you explain that?"

"Minako-chan, it doesn't surprise me that you're hearing things" Makoto laughed. "Your imagination can be as active as Usagi's at times, if not more so. It doesn't seem to have any limits when you're thinking about your boyfriend!" Minako giggled in reply.

"You heard voices?" Rei asked the blonde in alarm. "How many were there? What were they saying?"

"Sorry, Rei-chan. The bathroom door was closed and I didn't understand them. At least... I think I heard voices" Minako giggled again. "Now that you mention it, it probably was just my mind playing tricks, or the noisy old plumbing in here. Silly me!"

"I'm sure that's all it was" Makoto stated confidently. "No big deal. But if it'll help calm Usagi down, how about if we break out the candles and lanterns before it gets too dark? I found lots of them in the kitchen earlier."

"Good idea, Mako-chan. We can start the generator too, and get out the flashlights we brought along. That should be more than enough light." Rei got to her feet along with the brunette. "I'll go with you."

As the miko stood, Usagi reached over and tightly clenched her fingers around one of her ankles. "Don't leave me!"

"We'll be back in a few minutes, Usagi-chan" Rei promised, brushing the dust from her skirt. "Wait here with Minako and Ami, ok? Why don't you eat something else, that always makes you feel better."

"Hai. I'll do that." Usagi reluctantly released her clench on the miko's leg and reopened the suitcase. She quickly found a bag of soft candy while her two friends left the room. She ripped open the bag and offered it to her friends. "Anybody want one?"

Both girls declined, and Ami glanced back down at her computer to switch it off. Her index finger abruptly stopped, poised above the power button. "Hmm... that's strange."

Usagi swallowed a half-chewed candy with an audible gulp. "What's strange, Ami-chan?"

"This energy reading, Usagi-chan. I've never seen anything like it before. Its... oh, it's gone now." The blue-haired girl pressed several more buttons and stared intently at the screen, her expression becoming increasingly perplexed. After a moment she finally turned off the device and snapped its lid closed. "Whatever that reading was, it's no longer here." She slipped the small blue instrument back into her purse. "It must have been an abnormality in my computer. I'll have to remember to ask Luna about that when we return home tomorrow."

"Has it ever done anything like that before, Ami-chan?" Minako asked the puzzled girl.

"No, Minako-chan. Never. My computer has always been totally reliable."

"Maybe its batteries are worn out" the blonde suggested.

"It doesn't use batteries" Ami smiled back. "It's powered by a tiny crystal."

"Oh!" Minako laughed. "It was just a dumb guess. I should have known they didn't use batteries in the Moon Kingdom!"

. . . . .

While Rei and Makoto journeyed through the large mansion, the miko grew increasingly cautious and found herself slowing her pace. The ancient wooden floor beneath the girls sagged and creaked with every step they took. As they were about to pass by the master bedroom, Makoto pointed at it. "There's the door I told you about that. The one that blew shut."

Rei stopped beside the now-closed door and slowly extended the slender fingers of her right hand toward its frame. Just before she was about to touch it, she briskly pulled her hand back. "Mako-chan, don't open this door" the miko ordered in a whisper. "Not now, or ever again while we're here."

"But there's nothing inside the room but an old mat, Rei-chan. I already looked."

Rei's violet eyes narrowed. "Whatever you do, don't open it again. Trust me."

"Uh, sure Rei-chan. I won't give it a second thought." Makoto assumed Rei's foreboding attitude was probably just a harmless overreaction and shrugged it off. "How about we see if we can get the generator going first, then grab the candles and lamps? Ami said it's right outside the house at the end of this hallway."

"Fine. But let's not waste too much time. We should all stay together."

The pair found the device and studied the instructions printed on it in the darkening evening. "It's hard to read anything in this light" Makoto muttered. "It's getting dark really fast. Must be all those trees blocking the horizon."

Rei found a red switch and flipped it. "I think we're supposed to pull that cord next, Mako-chan. Then it should start."

"Allow me." Makoto grasped the handle and gave the cord several firm pulls. The machine sputtered to life on the third attempt, settling down to a steady muted roar. "That was easy enough" the brunette grinned in satisfaction as the girls reentered the house. "I hope it doesn't sound that loud at the front of the house or we won't get any sleep with all the racket" Makoto remarked as she slid the door closed.

"I don't think any of us will sleep much tonight, Mako-chan. If... at all."

The two teens strode quickly back down the hall and into the kitchen, where Makoto reached for the light switch. A single bare bulb suspended from a spindly wire above them responded with a feeble glow. "Hey, it works! Sugoi!" They began gathering long white candles from a box beneath the sink. "Rei-chan, you said a few times now that you're feeling some kind of... presence or something here, and I assume these aren't just funny feelings because this old place is so spooky. So tell me something... what's this presence going to do?"

"I don't know, Mako-chan. And that's what worries me."

. . . . .

Feeling somewhat better after her snack, Usagi crumpled up the empty cellophane and stuffed it into a plastic bag beside the suitcase. She leaned back with a satisfied sigh and patted her stomach.

"Usagi-chan, you ate that whole bag of candy in less than five minutes?" Minako exclaimed. "I'm impressed! That's really fast, even by your standards."

"I can't help it, Minako-chan. I eat faster when I'm nervous!" Usagi answered. "And now I'm thirsty again too." She dove back into the bag for another plastic bottle of spring water.

Minako caught Ami's attention and laughed. "I bet that suitcase will be completely empty before sunrise tomorrow!"

Ami giggled back, "I have to agree, Minako-chan. The only thing left to carry home will be our blankets."

"Quiet, you two!" Usagi grumbled, unscrewing the bottle cap. "Now that Rei is finally acting nice to me, I don't want either of you taking over her old job of being so mean!" She took a long sip of water. A sudden steady drone from the rear of the house made her gag on it. "What's that noise?" she spluttered.

"Sounds like Mako-chan and Rei got the generator working" Minako replied calmly. She went to the wall and clicked on a switch near the front door. "See, Usagi-chan? We have light now." Above the girls a cracked ceiling fixture glowed softly, though it added little illumination to their surroundings.

"Good!" Usagi breathed. "Maybe the sound that thing makes will help keep the ghosts away."

"Usagi-chan, don't tell me you still believe in those spooky old stories" the other blonde grinned. "Mako-chan is right. There's no such thing as ghosts." She walked over and peered through the window at the encroaching darkness outside the mansion. "I don't see any wild horses outside either. You must have been imagining things."

"Minako-chan, all I know is I'll be glad when tomorrow finally comes."

Minako returned to take her spot beside Ami, sitting facing Usagi with her back to the window. "I think Rei is being paranoid too. All that Shinto training has made her really jumpy. She needs to learn to relax more." She giggled, "If Yuuichirou was with her, she wouldn't be thinking about silly ghosts! She'd have other things in mind. Fun things!"

"I only wish my Mamo-chan was with me. I feel so safe when I'm in his arms" Usagi sighed. "I miss him so much." She absently looked up at the window again and the water bottle dropped from her hands, rolling away and sloshing most of its contents onto the floor.

"Aaaghh!"

Minako and Ami whirled around and both girls gasped. Outside, two greenish dots just beyond the glass stared back at them like tiny eyes. As the teens sat frozen in place, the dots slowly parted and drifted away in opposite directions.

"Fireflies" Minako croaked in relief. "That's all they are."

"Hai, it is firefly season in Tokyo" Ami reasoned, though she and her friends were visibly shaken by the sight. A few seconds later, Makoto and Rei burst into the room.

"Who screamed?" Rei blurted. "What's wrong?"

"Uh... it was nothing, Rei-chan" Ami blushed in embarrassment. "Just some fireflies outside the window. They startled us."

"Fireflies?" Makoto laughed. "You people are scared of your own shadow! Ami-chan, I'm disappointed in you. What happened to that logical mind of yours?" While Rei tightly shut the hallway door behind her and placed the two rusty oil lamps she carried near opposite corners of the room, Makoto dumped a small pile of candles beside the girls and retrieved Usagi's water bottle, handing it back to her. "Try not to waste any more water, Usagi-chan. We have barely enough as it is."

"Gomen, Mako-chan" Usagi mumbled. "I'll be more careful from now on."

Chuckling, the tall brunette found the rag she had used earlier to wipe the window and dropped it onto the spill. "I'd better clean up this mess before someone sits in it." She crouched down to rub the cloth across the floor and flipped it over, surprised to find the wetness had turned the rag crimson red. "What's this?" Makoto cautiously sniffed it, her nose wrinkling at the familiar coppery odour. She looked up at Rei. "Blood... it smells like blood, Rei-chan."

An instant later, the distant roar of the generator abruptly ceased and the room was plunged into darkness.

---

Chapter 6:

"Someone get a flashlight from the suitcase!" Rei yelled. "Hurry!"

Usagi was nearest the bag but became so startled by the sudden blackness around her that she sat motionless, frozen numbly in place. Minako sprang into action and crawled across the floor toward the case on her hands and knees. "Usagi-chan, get out of the way!" she hissed after bumping shoulders with her friend in the gloom.

"Ow! That hurt!"

Minako groped through the bag, fumbling among the blankets and food supplies until her hands finally found what she was searching for. She pulled out the light, a spare Rei had brought along from the Hikawa Shrine, and thumbed it on. The beam accidentally pointed directly into Makoto's eyes.

"Hey! Would you mind aiming that thing somewhere else?" the brunette blurted while squinting through the glare. She flung the wet rag across the room and straightened up from the curious red stain amid the mounting chaos.

"Gomen, Mako-chan!" Minako swung the flashlight back and forth, playing the beam across the doors and walls. "Everything looks normal, Rei-chan! I don't see anything weird!"

"Why is everyone acting like a bunch of frightened little kids?" Makoto stormed. "It's obvious what happened. The generator just quit working, that's all. It must have stalled or something. Whatever it is they do when they break down." She took a step toward the sliding door Rei had closed seconds before, the door separating the girls from the long dark hallway that lead deeper into the mansion. "Pass me the flashlight, Minako-chan. I'll go try to get it running again."

Rei quickly stepped over to the girl and gently gripped her arm. "Wait, Mako-chan. I don't think you should go back there. Not now."

Everyone else in the room watched in silence as the brunette stared defiantly back at the miko. "And why not? It isn't going to start itself."

Rei stood her ground, her voice calm but insistent. "Forget about trying to fix that thing. We'll use the lamps and candles instead" the raven-haired girl said. "I still feel... something. Something very close."

Unconvinced, Makoto turned back toward Minako and held out her hand. "Toss me that flashlight, Minako-chan. There's another one in the case you can use until I get back."

The blonde hesitated, looking first at Rei then back at Makoto. "Uh... Mako-chan, maybe you should listen to-" The wooden beams supporting the walls and roof of the house abruptly began to groan and quiver, almost as though the old building were an animal beginning to awaken from its slumber. Traces of dust fell from the rafters around the teens, and barely visible in the flashlight's narrow beam, the strips of ofuda Rei had attached to the walls all instantly dropped to the floor.

"Now that's strange!" Minako gasped. A few seconds later the shaking ceased.

"Rei-chan!" Usagi wailed. She covered her eyes with her hands and parted her fingers just far enough to peer at the miko. "You're the spirit expert here! Do something!"

Despite the confusion that reigned around her, Ami again got out her Mercury computer and activated it. She hunched over its display, her face quickly becoming a mask of concern. "Minna, I'm seeing some kind of strange energy pattern again. It's directly behind the door you're standing at, Mako-chan!"

"Is it a youma?" Makoto asked, reaching into a blouse pocket for her transformation stick.

"No Mako-chan, definitely not a youma" the blue-haired girl replied with a shake of her head. "The readings are entirely different. And very irregular!" In the hallway beyond the closed door, the girls could hear a floorboard creak ominously. "They're fading again!"

"I'm getting to the bottom of this ghost business right now!" Makoto growled, her temper reaching full boil. With her transformation stick in one hand, she shook her other arm free of Rei's restraining hold, grasped the edge of the doorframe and slid it wide open. Minako immediately directed her flashlight's beam into the dark hallway while nearby, Usagi squealed and buried her face in her hands.

"I can't look!"

"Just as I thought" Makoto said quietly. "Nothing there." The brunette slipped her green and gold henshin stick back into her pocket. "Ami-chan, I'm sorry to say this but I think your computer is busted. It's been giving you nonsense readings all day. There's nothing in the hall, not even a mouse."

"I can't understand it." The blue-haired girl looked down at the device she held. "The energy reading must have vanished the very instant you were opening the door, Mako-chan." She pressed another button and frowned unhappily at the result. "Or... perhaps it is acting up."

Rei reached past the taller girl and firmly pushed the door closed. "Mako-chan, I've never asked many favors of you in all the time we've known each other. But I am now. Stay here with us and forget about the generator, ok? I don't care if you doubt my feelings about this house. Just consider it a favor for a friend."

"Well... since you put it that way... I suppose I can do that." Makoto reluctantly gave in to Rei's request and broke into a grin. "But we still need light. Let's get the oil lamps lit."

"But... the charms!" Usagi said, her voice shrill. "They all fell down at the same time! Everyone saw it!"

"Didn't you feel the tremor, Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked while stooping to pick up the nearest lamp. "I think Tokyo was just just hit with another small earthquake. That must have shook all the ofuda loose. Rei didn't tie them on, they were only wedged into the gap between the walls and the beams." She lifted the glass off the base of the first lamp and Rei ignited the wick with her disposable lighter. A yellow flame appeared and after it began burning steadily, Makoto replaced the glass and carefully set the lamp down. "It's no electric bulb but it should do. Now let's light the other one, Rei-chan."

She and Rei walked past Ami, who still sat quietly puzzling over her computer. Soon the second lamp was also burning, casting eerie, flickering shadows of the girls' silhouettes across the outdoor scene painted on the room's four walls. Minako clicked off the flashlight and placed it close beside her. "Whew! That's enough excitement for me for one night!"

"Is this it?" Usagi protested, unsure whether to feel relieved or mad. "Is this all we're going to do, just sit around here like a bunch of onigiri and wait for the ghosts to come get us?"

"Usagi-chan, there are no ghosts!" Makoto sighed. She settled onto the floor beside the frightened blonde, her voice softening. "Listen. I'm sure Rei is sensing something strange in this old place, but it's probably nothing more than a few bad vibes. The house really is creepy, I'l be the first to admit that. But if you're worried about spirits or beings or something floating around the room and attacking us, I'm afraid you're probably getting yourself all worked up over nothing."

"Are you sure, Mako-chan?" Usagi asked warily. "Really, positively, absolutely sure?"

"Hai. Well... maybe not that much, but as sure as anyone can be, I guess" she smiled.

Usagi's panicked breathing slowed and she allowed herself to calm down a little. "Ok. I'll trust you, Mako-chan. Maybe Ami's computer is broken." She smiled weakly. "I won't be too disappointed if I don't meet any ghosts tonight!"

Rei chose a spot alongside Ami after going around the room and replacing her ofuda on its walls. She had taken time to add extra charms in each of the four corners as well. "Don't work too hard on finding a problem with your computer, Ami-chan. There's nothing wrong with it."

"How do you know?" the studious girl asked.

"I know. There is something here, something very close by. Your readings prove it."

"But Mako-chan thinks it's-"

"This time Mako-chan is wrong" the young miko replied bluntly.

The brunette sitting nearby looked over at the miko and laughed. "I've been known to be wrong before, Rei-chan. My school exam papers would certainly agree with you!" She leaned back, resting comfortably on her elbows. "You know something, if we all just stop worrying about ghosts and haunted houses, maybe we can enjoy the evening together instead."

"You're right, Mako-chan" Minako said with a sigh. "Just think. A few more years and we'll all be finishing high school and moving on to other things. I hope we can all stay together like this."

"You want us to keep living together in a haunted house?" Makoto joked. "Maybe I can rent a ghost somewhere to stay in my place in Nerima." She glanced at her watch, noticing it was getting quite late.

"No, silly! I mean I don't want us to lose track of each other or stop spending time together, that's all. We'll be so busy with universities and careers and things. Not to mention our boyfriends!" she giggled. "Every minute that goes by brings everyone a step closer to their wedding day." Her eyes took on a dreamy, happy glow. "I can't wait until my Taro and I take our vows and become married! Then we'll drive away to begin our honeymoon as husband and wife!"

"Hai. And if you're the one behind the wheel, you'll drive off together into the sunset... and probably straight into the nearest ditch!" Makoto snorted.

"That's not true! I got us here in one piece, didn't I?" Minako objected.

"Just barely. Now I know why we haven't seen any ghosts yet. You probably ran them all down when we pulled into the driveway."

"That would make them dead twice!" Minako laughed.

"Will you two mind being more serious?" Rei angrily muttered. "And be careful about what you say here."

"Why?" Minako asked mockingly. "Are the ghosts listening to us talk, Rei-chan? That's very rude of them!"

"Be quiet, Minako-chan!" Usagi ordered. "Can't you see you're making Rei upset again?"

"What's the matter, Usagi-chan? Still scared?" the second blonde teased. Usagi's big blue eyes suddenly sprang open wide, but the reply Minako heard didn't come from the odango-haired teen. What she did hear made the girl and her friends' faces turn deathly white.

Somewhere deep within the old mansion, a male voice sternly commanded, "Bring her to me! It is nearly time!"

---

Chapter 7:

"Do you believe me now, Mako-chan?" Rei said, giving the surprised brunette her best 'I-told-you-so' look. Suddenly the miko gasped. "There's something evil here... inside the room with us" she added in an urgent whisper.

"Sorry, Rei-chan. I still can't believe it. Some joker must be hiding in the house somewhere, playing tricks on us-"

"Minnaaaaa!" Usagi screamed in panic. The other girls stared at her in shock, refusing to believe their eyes. Though her legs were still tucked neatly beneath her, Usagi was beginning to levitate, her entire body slowly rising up off the floor. "Someone help me!" she pleaded.

Rei grabbed a handful of ofuda from the envelope and rocked forward onto her knees, stretching her hand out toward the blonde.

"Akuryo taisan!"

She tried to touch Usagi with the charms but her arm was immediately and forcefully thrown back as though some unseen force had roughly pushed it away. The ofuda slipped from her fingers and fluttered onto the floor and the miko winced in pain.

Makoto was sitting too far away from Usagi to grasp her friend, but she scrambled to her feet in an instant. Even her cat-quick reaction was not in time. Across the room, the door Rei had warned Makoto not to go through again abruptly slid open on its rails. The terrified blonde felt pressure against her back, as though an invisible hand was pushing her forward. Usagi screamed again as she was whisked through the opening into the pitch blackness of the hallway beyond. Before Makoto or anyone else could take another step, the door slid tightly closed with a hollow thump.

"Usagi!" Rei screamed in fear for her friend's life.

The tall brunette was stunned and enraged to her very core. "That does it!" Out came her henshin wand and she raised it high above her head.

"JUPITER POWER, MAKE-UP!"

The remaining three girls followed her lead and transformed in seconds. "Come on! We have to find her, and fast!" Sailor Jupiter ordered the other Senshi. She sprinted toward the door and flung it open so violently, its wooden frame cracked as it reached its limit.

. . . . .

Tears of anguish ran down Usagi's face, her eyes squeezed tightly closed eyes as she felt herself flying down the hall at a far faster rate than she could ever have run. She felt the pressure of the invisible, chilling fingers on her body fluctuate slightly, changing her direction, and suspected she was being guided outside the mansion. Her thoughts proved to be right as moments later, the sound of another door opening was followed by the cool, musty air and the dank smell of the forest behind the old house.

. . . . .

Sailor Venus had remembered to bring the flashlight, and pointed it down the hall as she sprinted along beside Jupiter. "Coming here was the dumbest idea I've ever had!" she gasped in regret. "If anything happens to Usagi, I'll-"

Sailor Jupiter interrupted her with a yell over her shoulder. "Sailor Mercury, where is she now? Can you locate her?" The blue-haired Senshi's reply was the last thing Jupiter wanted to hear.

Mercury shot another hasty glance down at her computer screen as she ran alongside Mars, all the while trying her best not to collide with her companion in the gloomy passageway. "No reading, Jupiter! I'm not sure where Usagi is!" she called back in despair. The group soon reached the point where the two hallways crossed, not far from the master bedroom, and Venus swung her light around indecisively.

"I don't see her, or anything else!" the blonde Senshi of Venus groaned. "What now?"

"Maybe she's inside that room" Jupiter thought aloud. The Senshi halted behind her at the door and she wasted no time in opening it. An overpowering stench of decay and a blast of icy cold air met the girls, but little else. The beam from Venus' flashlight revealed nothing within the dark, empty space.

. . . . .

"Where are you taking me?" Usagi beseeched the invisible entity that propelled her swiftly across the yard. Receiving no reply, she forced herself to open her eyes as her forward motion began to slow. A grey stone statue loomed off to her right, the size of a girl about the same age as her. But it was impossible to tell for sure as its head was missing. Beyond the ancient monument, at the very edge of the forest, a flicker of torchlight revealed a scene far more frightening than any nightmare the girl had ever dreamt of. Two large coal-black horses stood restlessly pawing at the earth on either side of a massive flat slab of stone. Upon the stone itself lay coiled several lengths of white rope. A thickening mist was rapidly drifting in from the forest, swirling around the huge animals. And then she saw him.

. . . . .

"Mars, are you still sensing those spirits?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

"Hai, I am, but not strongly like I did earlier. They're still around here somewhere, but not as close to us now" the red Senshi replied at once.

"We have to split up into pairs" Jupiter decided. "This place is too big, it'll take forever to find Usagi if we search for her together!"

"Minna, wait!" Mercury exclaimed. "When Ryo and I researched the mansion's history, we read that horses were supposedly used to perform the ritual dismemberments."

"You already told us that!" Venus blurted impatiently.

"If the sacrifice is continuing and horses are still involved, it most likely means that the spirits will perform the ritual somewhere outside the mansion" the blue-haired girl reasoned. "I don't think we'll find Usagi inside the house!"

Sailors Mars and Jupiter looked at each other. "The back yard!" Jupiter gasped. "Follow me!" The teenage soldiers burst from the room on the run, heading down the second hallway toward the rear exit. Venus' elbow bumped against a protruding beam and the flashlight was knocked from her grasp, clattering across the floor. The group slowed while she hastily lunged down to pick it up, then redoubled their speed.

. . . . .

She wanted desperately to close her eyes again in the hope that the horrors before her would just go away. But she simply couldn't. Usagi's body quivered as a man approached her from the shadows. Like a character from Japan's distant past, he was clothed in a long dark robe, his equally-black hair tied tightly back in a knot. From his right hand, the long curved blade of a katana glinted ominously in the wavering light of a pair of burning torches impaled into the ground on either side of the stone she lay upon. The billowing mist thickened further, seeming to waft right through his body, and he silently scraped the tip of his sword across the stone, gathering up the ropes which now hung down from the weapon's lethally-sharp edge.

"Please let me go!" Usagi begged in terror. She tried reaching for her brooch to transform but found her arms unable to move, pinned uselessly at her sides. Her slight frame came to rest with her back against the cold rock of the altar. The girl looked up helplessly as the apparition loomed above her, sliding the ropes off the sword and into his hand. He gazed down at her through cold, lifeless eyes.

"Prepare yourself child. It is time."

. . . . .

Mars was first to reach the mansion's rear door and struggled in vain to slide it open. "Kuso! It's jammed!"

"Stand back!" Jupiter commanded. She crossed her arms over her chest and a small golden rod extended upward from her tiara. The air around the brunette warrior began to crackle sharply with electrical power.

"SUPREME THUNDER!"

An immense, jagged bolt of energy burst from her extending arms toward the wooden door, exploding it into a cloud of fragments with an earsplitting bang. The other Senshi followed Sailor Jupiter outside through the gaping hole, soon spotting the torchlights' flickering glow in the distance.

. . . . .

Still struggling frantically to free herself, Usagi tried with all her might but couldn't break away from the invisible bonds keeping her captive. Something was holding her down, pinning her limbs in place with a relentless pressure she simply could not overcome. Nearby, one of the horses snorted as the man fastened one end of the first length of rope to its bridle. He reached out and slipped the other, knotted end over Usagi's head and around her slender neck, trapping her golden braids against her as he pulled it snug.

"Mamo-channn!" At that moment in time, all she could think of was the boy she so dearly loved. She cried out his name as more tears flooded from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto the chilling stone beneath her. She heard Rei's alarmed voice carry through the dense mist from somewhere out of her sight.

"She's over there!"

"No one must interfere with our sacred ritual!" the male apparition spoke sharply to spirits unseen. "Stop them!"

---

Chapter 8:

The four young warriors pressed on through the mist in the direction of Usagi's voice. "We're almost there!" Venus urged them on as the light from the torches beyond grew brighter. But the girls' progress abruptly halted when an unseen force flung them away, sending them sprawling back into the dew-moistened long grass. The bulb in Venus' flashlight popped when it struck the ground and the blonde Senshi abandoned the now-useless device.

"You will proceed no further!" a disembodied voice warned them.

"Is that so?" Jupiter scrambled back on her feet and raised her arms, preparing to unleash her powers against their invisible enemy.

"Don't use your attack yet!" Sailor Mars warned. "We can't see where Usagi is, you may hit her by mistake!"

"Please stop!" the blonde's voice implored from somewhere ahead of the regrouping Senshi. The figure beside the girl had sheathed his sword and continued his task steadily but with increasing haste as though time was growing short. He fastened another rope from the second horse around her ankles. Usagi felt her body begin to stretch as the horse shifted impatiently, pulling tighter against the tether. With a single bond remaining, the spirit-being's work was nearly done. He grasped Usagi's arms, pulling them up and binding her wrists together, the otherworldly touch of his hands as cold as death itself.

"We have to do something!" Venus yelled. "Mercury, can you pinpoint Usagi's location?"

"I can estimate it! She's laying down, below knee height about five meters straight ahead of us!"

"Close enough!" Sailor Venus decided. "I'll aim above her!"

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

A dazzlingly bright shaft of energy erupted from her finger and shot into the thick mist. Venus was stunned to find her attack seemingly had no effect. The energy beam passed harmlessly through the curtain of fog and into the forest beyond where she heard it strike a tree. A sharp crack resonated through the air as its trunk was sliced cleanly in half, and its upper branches crashed to earth.

The voice spoke again. "These females are not mere mortals, Himuro-san!"

The teens' hearts were breaking as the sound of Usagi's terrified sobs reached their ears. They heard her anguished cry as she again called out for her love.

"Mamo-chan!"

The otherworldly being had already pulled Usagi's bound arms above her head, but paused as he was about to secure the final rope to the waiting horse. "What is this Mamo-chan you speak of, child?"

"He's my boyfriend!" Usagi sobbed. "And I love him!"

The spirit abruptly stopped. "You know a boy? You are not a maiden?" The rope he had held fell to the ground. "Then the ceremony cannot be completed! You are unsuitable to use as a sacrifice!" Loud wails of anguish filled the backyard, sending shivers through each of the girls.

"We have failed! We have failed in our task and the portal will open! The demons will emerge from their pit!" He drew his sword and raised it above the terrified girl's head, grasping its hilt firmly in both hands. "There is no other way! Now we must all perish!"

Usagi squeezed her eyes tightly shut, awaiting the inevitable as the lethal blade whooshed down toward her. Her lips parted in a final scream.

"Aaaahhh!"

Her panicking friends had struggled again to somehow break through to her, but once more were forcefully thrown back. "Usagi!" Sailor Mars screamed. "No!"

Beyond their sight, they heard the sound of the katana sever cleanly through its target and strike sharply against stone. The Senshi looked at one another in utter horror, fearing the worst.

. . . . .

Usagi felt no pain. The fifteen-year-old girl was still breathing, shocked to find herself still very much alive. Strangely, the tension pulling on her limbs had eased. She slowly opened first one eye, then the other. Around her the fog was beginning to lift, nearly as quickly as it had first formed.

"Am I dead?"

She raised her head from off the stone, surprised by the realization that the rope around her neck had been neatly severed in two by the katana. Her other bindings were hanging loosely around her, also chopped apart. The massive black horses and the ghostly man had vanished. Only the torches remained, illuminating the space around the blonde in a flickering, soft yellow glow.

Four anxious Sailor Senshi bolted up to the girl as she slowly tried to sit up, her body quaking visibly.

"Usagi-chan! Are you hurt?" Venus blurted.

"I'm still alive!" Usagi replied in disbelief. She threw her arms around Sailor Mars, the ropes that had bound her now falling away and disintegrating into nothingness.

The relieved red Senshi hugged her tightly. "We thought... we'd lost you" she whispered haltingly, a tear slipping down her cheek and across the red bow of her uniform.

"Usagi-chan, what happened?" Mercury asked. "We heard someone here with you but couldn't see clearly."

"I'm... not sure, Ami-chan. A man, or a ghost or something, was going to kill me. He tied me to two horses! But then he stopped. And now he's gone!" She looked around. "Everything's gone!" Usagi answered with a sob, weeping against Sailor Mars' shoulder. As they gathered their composure, the five girls were startled once again by an unseen scream of pain that seemed to originate from somewhere inside the house, and then another. A third and final cry shortly followed before the old mansion fell silent.

"Enough of this! Let's get out of here!" Jupiter insisted. Taking Usagi's hand, she helped her badly-shaken blonde friend up and onto her weakened, quivering legs.

The group had only managed a few steps back toward the decaying structure when a voice called out to them from the darkness, the same voice of the man that had held Usagi captive moments before. "The demons have awakened! Go inside, children. Stay there until dawn. It is your only hope of survival."

The air surrounding the back yard began to brighten with an eerie reddish glow. They hurried past the disfigured statue and Mercury noticed that a circular patch of ground directly in front of it was rapidly sinking downward, forming a deep pit. Shimmers of light and heat began to emerge from the opening, hissing like steam from a boiling pot. The girls sprinted past it with Usagi's arm still wrapped around Jupiter's shoulder. Sailor Jupiter helped Usagi onward, her friend's numb legs tripping and stumbling through the tangled grass and dense weeds tugging at her shoes.

"Should we do what it said?" Sailor Venus asked the others breathlessly as they ran.

"Forget it! Let's get out to our cars and far away from this evil place while we still can!" Mars answered. They reentered the Himuro Mansion through the gaping hole where the rear door had been and hurried down the hallway toward the room where they had been staying. Passing the opened door of the master bedroom, the increasing glow from outside had brightened the hall enough for Mars to clearly see thick spatters of fresh blood on the nearby walls, oozing slowly down in long crimson rivulets to the floor. The stench of death was everywhere.

. . . . .

The four Senshi and Usagi finally reached their room, the twin oil lamps still glimmering faithfully from where they had been left near its corners. "We have to transform back before we leave here" Mars cautioned her friends. "We can't let that camera take pictures of us as Sailor Senshi. Abe-san will discover who we really are!"

With nods of agreement, the warriors' uniforms faded away to be replaced by their regular street clothing. "I'll get our suitcase" Minako offered after she had detransformed, hurrying over to zip the bag closed.

"Leave the bag behind, Minako-chan!" Rei hissed. "There's no time!" She gathered up the envelope containing the last of the ofuda and removed what was left, handing a strip to each of the girls. "Here, take this. I only hope it helps." The miko tossed the empty envelope aside and took a step towards the hallway door and the final passageway separating the girls from the front exit beyond.

Through the room's single window, Ami once more spotted two bright red dots seemingly staring in at the girls. Her first thought was that the harmless fireflies had returned but as she looked closer, surrounding the dots an unspeakably hideous face now appeared, its wide maw gaping open in a sickeningly twisted smile to reveal twin rows of long jagged teeth. It peered back through the glass directly at her. Though she had encountered and fought many Dark Kingdom youma in the past, this apparition was far more terrifying than anything Beryl had ever sent to fight the Sailor Senshi. "Rei-chan, stop! We can't go outside!" Ami gasped, springing further back from the window. "We won't make it off the property!"

---

Chapter 9:

"Nani? Ami-chan, we must leave-" Rei began insisting, whirling around to face her friend. Though horrified, Ami was unable to turn her eyes away from the window and the miko followed her gaze. She caught sight of the demonic face just before it pulled back out of sight and faded into the darkness. "An Oni!" Rei gasped. "We're already too late!"

Usagi had been looking somewhere else and hadn't spotted the creature. "Oni?" she blurted. "You mean we have monsters here too now?" Her face instantly lost what little remained of its color.

"That spooky voice told us if we stay here we'll be safe" Minako reminded her. "We should maybe listen to what it said, don't you think?"

"For your information, the owner of that voice just tried to kill me, Minako-chan!" Usagi yelled. "And now we should trust him? Or it? Or whatever it was?" The blonde sank to her knees in the middle of the room. "I'm so confused!"

"I saw it too, Rei-chan" Makoto said. "I don't know if our Senshi powers will work against anything like that. For what it's worth, my vote is we stay put right here until daylight."

"Oh? The fearless Kino Makoto sounds worried!" Despite the girls' dire situation, Minako still found time to tease her brunette friend. "And to think, just an hour ago you were saying how you didn't believe in ghosts!"

"Shut. Up. Now!" Makoto glowered back. "Do I need to remind you that you didn't believe in them either? Even Ami-chan didn't think they existed."

"One of the most important aspects of scientific thought is the willingness to change one's position when new evidence comes to light" Ami spoke up. "I'm still not entirely sure what's out there, but I definitely have changed my mind about the spirit world." She apologized to the miko standing nearby. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you earlier, Rei-chan."

"That's ok, Ami-chan" the raven-haired girl replied with a smile. "Let's just concentrate on surviving through the night. Minna, that spirit told us we'd be safe in here. I don't feel anything particularly safe about the mansion but perhaps it has some kind of powers, an invisible wall that helps keep demons away. If we can just hold out until-"

The building quivered again, but the girls knew that this time it wasn't an earthquake. Not far from the window a loud, hard thump rattled the wall, visibly flexing it inward. Rei gasped sharply while Usagi squealed in fright. To everyone's relief, the creaking structure somehow withstood the attack against it and the wooden panel apparently remained unscathed.

"We're like spitting ducks in here!" Minako muttered, infamously mangling yet another phrase. This time no one laughed at her verbal blunder. "Maybe we should try transforming and fighting our way out" she suggested.

"Minako-chan, when it comes to fighting I'd normally be the first to agree with you" Makoto answered with an unusual display of caution. "But... not this time. Not until we know more about what we're facing. Anything less could easily be suicide."

Everyone wondered what the creatures outside would do next and stood waiting for another onslaught. Surprisingly, they heard no further assault against the walls of the old house, though the odd glow beyond the window persisted, slowly growing brighter as time passed. After ten uneventful minutes had passed, the teens breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Looks like we're good, at least for now" Makoto breathed. "Ami-chan, can you and that computer of yours tell us why this house is so special? What's stopping those things from marching right in here to get us?"

Her brilliant friend glanced up from the glow of the tiny screen, the pretty face beneath her blue hair forming a frown. "I'm still studying it, Mako-chan. These bizarre readings I'm receiving are making an accurate determination of our options quite difficult." She returned to her work, her fingers flying across the buttons of the small blue device.

Makoto nodded, then added, "Arigatou, Ami-chan. We know you're trying your best. Anything you can discover may help us. Anything at all." She suddenly remembered something and grew even more worried. "If the outside walls of this house really are a shield, I'm starting to regret blasting open the mansion's back door earlier. That could be... a big problem." She quickly walked over to the sliding door separating the teens from the hallway and checked to make sure it was still tightly closed. With little else to do but wait, Makoto edged up to the window and cautiously peeked around the frame and through the glass.

"Anything?" Rei asked, joining her near the pane.

"Nothing." Makoto's brown ponytail waggled as she shook her head. "Even with that weird pink glow around the property, it's too dark to see very deep into it. I can't see much at all, Rei-chan." As an afterthought, she stooped to pick up the blood-stained rag she had tossed aside earlier and tried covering the window with it, forming a makeshift curtain. "No sense in letting those demon things look in at us, not if we can help it" Makoto mused, jamming the top of the rag into the upper window sill and draping it down over the glass. The cloth wasn't large enough to block the entire window, but it did cover the upper two thirds.

"What's that?" Usagi suddenly gasped, looking up in alarm. Faint scratching and clawing sounds could be heard approaching their room from somewhere down the hallway. As everyone listened, the sounds became nearer. "Minna, something's inside the house!" She buried her head in her hands and sobbed. "I'm never going to see my Mamo-chan ever again!"

"Pull yourself together, Usagi-chan!" Rei hissed. "The last thing we need is for you to fall apart at a time like this! And keep your voice down!"

"I'm so scared!" Usagi whimpered, looking at the miko above cheeks wet with tears. "First a ghost tries to kill me and now this! This is even worse than fighting Beryl and her youma! At least we knew then what we were up against!" The peculiar scratching noise grew steadily louder until it was coming from directly behind the closed door.

. . . . .

At the Hikawa Jinja, Yuuichirou sat on the edge of his bed holding a framed photograph of his beautiful young fiancee in his hands. "Rei my darling, I can only hope you're safe tonight" he softly whispered down at it. He raised the picture to his lips and tenderly kissed his beloved's smiling face. Unable to even contemplate sleeping, he soon found himself walking through the shrine to the room where Rei performed her fire readings, still clutching the picture.

He found the elder Hino inside the sacred space, kneeling before the fire and chanting softly. Knowing just how deeply the elderly priest was also concerned for his granddaughter and her friends' safety, the apprentice quietly joined his teacher, settling to his knees beside the old man. Yuuichirou set Rei's photo on the floor between them and joined his sensei in the ancient Shinto ritual. His troubled heart insisted that Rei and her friends were indeed in very grave danger. If only he knew where they were, he'd hurry there at once to do whatever he could to help them, but he had forgotten to copy down Minako's directions to the mansion and now silently cursed himself for the error.

. . . . .

Makoto quietly approached the door, gripping her henshin wand tightly and wondering if the resulting burst of energy from transforming into Sailor Jupiter would trigger the creatures into becoming more threatening. Not wanting to make a bad situation worse, she hesitated. The brunette gingerly leaned forward to place her ear close to the door.

As she did, the scratching noise abruptly stopped. There was a tiny gap in the bottom of the wooden door's frame where it cracked when she had flung it open, and she found herself staring down at the gap as she listened in silence. A long, blood-red forked tongue suddenly slithered snake-like through the crack and into the room.

"Damn you to hell!" Makoto yelled, springing bolt upright. She raised her foot and stomped down hard on the tongue with all her weight and strength. An unearthly howl shook the rafters of the mansion and the tongue was forcefully yanked out from beneath her running shoe, disappearing back from whence it came. The scratchy noise began again, this time retreating quickly away as the hall floorboards groaned in protest beneath the weight of something very large and heavy.

"This whole thing is all my fault" Minako's trembling voice spoke aloud, her words directed at no one but herself. "Just another one of Aino Minako's dumb ideas. Well girl... you've really done it this time."

Rei looked on with growing concern as Minako stood and produced her Venus transformation wand. "Minako-chan, what do you think you're doing?"

The blonde smiled back, but Rei didn't like the disturbing look in her friend's eyes. "If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be here tonight and our lives wouldn't be in danger, Rei-chan. It's my fault... so... I'm going to fix it. Right now." She diverted her gaze away and raised the orange and gold wand above her head.

"VENUS P-"

"Baka!" Rei lunged across the room and grabbed the wand from Minako's hand before she could trigger her henshin.

"Give that back!"

"No! Don't be an idiot, Minako-chan! You can't go out there, not until Ami can give us more information. And certainly not alone!"

"Rei-chan, I'm warning you! Give me my henshin wand this instant!"

"Forget it!" Rei took several steps backward, hoping the troubled girl would soon come to her senses.

Minako glared coldly at the miko. "Fine. Then I guess I'll just have to take it from you." She took a step toward Rei but suddenly found Makoto standing between them.

"You'll have to fight me for it too, Minako-chan" the brunette told her in a low, firm voice. "How about you calm down and reconsider the idea?"

"Mako-chan, move aside or I'll..."

"Or you'll what?"

Knowing all too well who she was now up against, Minako's eyes drooped downward toward the floor. "I'm... so very sorry."

Makoto gave her friend a smile and a gentle squeeze. "It's ok. Don't worry about it."

"I honestly don't know what came over me." She began to sniffle and Usagi quickly stood and tried comforting the upset girl with another hug.

"Usagi-chan, it's my duty to protect you, not put your life in danger like this" Minako whispered. "Please forgive me."

Despite still being terrified nearly out of her wits at the situation facing the girls, Usagi smiled warmly back. "You only suggested coming here because you wanted to help a dear friend. So there's nothing to forgive, Minako-chan. Nothing at all."

---

Chapter 10:

"It's nearly twelve, Rei-chan." Makoto said. "So... what's our next move?"

The young miko shrugged. "Try to stay alive?" She gave the brunette a wry smile. Listening intently, the girls heard nothing. The dilapidated mansion became eerily still as the midnight hour neared.

"Uh... can I have my henshin stick back?" Minako asked the raven-haired girl still holding it.

Rei passed it back to her. "Here. But you have to promise us you won't try doing anything else so crazy."

"I promise" the blonde vowed with a smile, pocketing her wand. "Anyway, if things get really bad I guess we'll need all our powers together to get through this."

"Now you're thinking clearly" Makoto grinned. "We'll make it through this challenge the way we always do. Together, as a team."

"Hai. Together."

Lost in thought, Ami stood and began pacing around the room, her Mercury computer beeping quietly in her hands. She pointed the device at each of the walls in turn, then directed it upward at the ceiling and frowned. "Minna... something's happening" she said softly. Above the girls, the roof echoed with the thud of heavy footsteps and the teens looked up in trepidation at the dust drifting downward from the rafters, shaken loose by some unknown intruder above them.

"If we don't make it, I just want to say that you've all been such wonderful friends to me" Usagi told the girls in a surprisingly calm voice. "Including you, Rei-chan. Arigatou."

"Save the mushy goodbyes for later, Usagi-chan" Makoto smiled in renewed determination. "Like in seventy more years or so. I for one have my Yuji to marry and a beautiful daughter to raise first, and I intend to live to do it." A short distance from her, one of the floorboards abruptly began to vibrate, then slowly creaked, bending upward from an unseen pressure below.

"So that's your game, is it?" Minako glared at the worn, protruding length of wood. "Trying to distract us while you creep underneath the house? Minna, I've had just about enough of this! Those demon things may think we're just a bunch of helpless little girls. It's time to teach them a lesson and show them what Sailor Senshi can really do."

"VENUS POWER, MAKE-UP!"

The blonde immediately transformed in a brilliant burst of light and energy, the force of her henshin rattling the four walls around her. Sailor Venus positioned herself near the heaving, buckling floor, watching and waiting for the wood to yield and a target to become visible. Her friends also transformed and the five senshi formed a large circle around the protrusion. The old floorboard soon reached its breaking point and snapped, splintering in two. Two short, thick bone-white horns appeared within the opening while beneath them a sickening, guttural cackle came from under the house.

"Let's see you laugh at this!" Venus screamed in rage. "CRESCENT BEAM!"

She brought her fingertips together and a blinding yellow shaft of energy shot into the opening. The entire floor shook as the Venusian Senshi's power hit home, followed by a screech of pain from the monster. But the horns raised further from the hole, revealing two blood-red eyes deeply set within a monstrous gargoyle-like face glaring up in intense hatred at the warriors above them.

The walls rattled again as Jupiter added her might to the fray.

"SUPREME THUNDER!"

The air around the green-clad Senshi crackled as she directed her jagged bolt of electrical energy toward the demon. After another loud wail from the creature, it hastily retreated out of sight. Jupiter stepped closer to the opening to press her attack. "Want more?" she taunted. "Why don't you come and get it?" She prepared herself for another volley but the hideous being had vanished.

"We drove it off!" Venus exclaimed happily. "Maybe now they'll think twice before they come at us again!"

"Hai! And there's plenty more where that came from!" Jupiter added, yelling into the jagged hole in the floor. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

"I wouldn't celebrate yet if I were you" Mars admonished the two boasting girls. "There's a long night ahead of us. The real fight may have only just begun."

The five girls suddenly spun around in alarm as the second door, the one leading to the front hallway, abruptly slid open behind them.

. . . . .

At a quiet country home not far from Nerima, two teenage boys stood outside on the dark rear porch. Together they stared up at the twinkling stars above.

"You can't sleep either, Yuji-chan?" the elder brother asked after the other teen had joined him.

"No. I'm really worried about my Mako-chan and her friends" the sixteen-year-old replied. "I assume you're feeling the same way or you wouldn't be out here like this at midnight."

Taro nodded. "When Minako called and told me what they were planning, at first I thought it was no big deal. Just a single night in a so-called haunted house, some creepy old place with spiders and cobwebs. But now... I'm having second thoughts."

"Hai. Me too." Though far away from their future brides, both boys felt a deep connection to those they loved. And somehow, they knew in their hearts that the girls were in grave danger.

"You're aware that Minako and Makoto aren't just going through with this so Mako-chan can keep her second home" Taro pointed out.

"I know. They're also doing it so they can spend more time with us" Yuji replied quietly.

"We should have gone with them" Taro sighed unhappily, his voice heavy with regret. "It may be against the rules, but we could have found some way to sneak in and stay the night."

"Maybe you're right, Taro-chan. But I can't help wondering if we'd only just get in their way" Yuji thought aloud. "We aren't anything special. I'd love to have the day over so we could insist on being there, but what could we possibly do to help?"

"Perhaps nothing" Taro admitted. "Though I still think anything would be better than standing around here like two useless lumps. In any case, all we can do now is wait and hope."

. . . . .

"Sailor Mars is correct" came a female voice from the hallway. "The full powers of the underworld have yet to be be unleashed." The Senshi were stunned to see Sailor Pluto enter the room, holding her long garnet-orb topped staff in her right hand. She slid the door closed behind her and strode briskly up to the younger teens.

"Setsuna-san!" Mercury gasped. "You've returned!"

"Pluto!" Sailor Moon blurted happily. She rushed over and flung her arms around the tall young woman. "Are you here to help us?"

The black-and-garnet-clad Senshi of Time smiled down at her. "Hai. I am, my Queen. Normally I would not interfere, but in this instance my services are truly required."

"I'm certainly glad you're with us" Jupiter said, "but do we really need any extra help? Venus and I just drove off one of the demons on our own."

"Sailor Jupiter, what you are fighting against now are merely imps, lesser demons of the underworld. They have appeared to prepare the way for a far greater evil that is yet to emerge."

Sailor Moon's shoulders slumped. "There's more? Even worse than the things we've seen so far?"

"Hai. The Master of those imps, the Greater Demon, will attempt to emerge very soon from the pit. It must not be permitted to enter this world."

"Sailor Pluto, how do you know so much about these creatures?" Sailor Mars asked.

"You could say that the underworld is a specialty of mine" the green-haired Senshi replied with a faint smile. "And as for the subject of demons, I have been taught many things by someone who is very much attuned to the spirit world. A true expert in the field" she added, her smile growing.

"Oh? Who?"

"Why, none other than your future self, Hino Rei."

While Sailor Mars' eyes widened, Mercury asked, "Please explain further, Sailor Pluto. If you have witnessed us living in the future, along with our husbands and children, doesn't that mean we will undoubtedly survive this night and live on?"

"I'm afraid the reality you speak of isn't quite as straightforward or as linear, Sailor Mercury. Time and fates are not carved in stone. The paths I have watched your lives take is but one of many possibilities for the future. Unfortunately, some of those future paths exist without... your presence in them."

"So... you're telling us we can still be killed?" Sailor Moon fretted. "And the future could be very different? No husbands? No children?"

"I am saying exactly that."

"Then what are we supposed to do? How do we beat these demons, and that big evil thing that's still coming? Can you destroy it for us?" the odangoed Senshi asked hopefully.

"No. I myself cannot. In this instance, there is only one among us who possesses the power required. She must go to the pit that now connects this world to the underworld and seal it shut, preventing the evil Beast from emerging."

"Nani? Go outside? In a place crawling with monsters?" Sailor Moon asked unbelievingly. "Which one of us has to do that?"

Pluto looked directly into the young blonde's fearful blue eyes. "You do, Sailor Moon. You are the only one who can prevent the Demon Master from crossing over into this world."

"Me?" she gasped weakly.

"I alone will accompany you on your journey to the pit, and shall do my very best to protect you" Pluto promised. "In this instance, it would be wise if the other Senshi were to remain inside the dwelling. If even one of you should be lost" she told them, "the future of the remaining soldiers, indeed the fate of the world, will change for the worst."

Sailor Moon sighed heavily. "Why does it always have to be me?"

"Hold on a second!" Venus exclaimed. "We're supposed to sit here and let Usagi risk her neck for us? No way! We're a team!"

"That is your decision to make" Sailor Pluto said. "However, be aware that if any of you are taken by the creatures outside these walls, your fate will be beyond my control. And... most unpleasant."

"Let's do it!" Jupiter growled to her friends, the teenage brunette warrior spoiling for a fight. The other Senshi agreed at once.

"You have your moon wand and its Silver Crystal?" Pluto asked. "Good. Then prepare yourself, Sailor Moon. Time is running short."

"Ohh! I'm really going to hate this!" Sailor Moon groaned.

---

Chapter 11:

Sailor Mars gave the worried Senshi a comforting, confident smile. "You can do this, Sailor Moon. We have faith in you."

"Arigatou, Rei-chan" her leader mumbled doubtfully. Usagi's fingers wrapped around the handle of her moon wand, clenching it tightly. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Sailor Pluto. Let's get this over with."

"Minna, I suggest we stay close together" Pluto advised. "Whatever happens, do not allow yourselves to become separated from the group. Now where exactly is the gateway to the underworld located?"

"The pit opened some distance behind the house, directly in front of an old statue" Mercury said. "It appeared shortly after the spirit's attempted sacrifice of Usagi failed. I can lead us to it."

"Of course" the tall warrior of time nodded. "A statue. It is not merely a marker, but also a reminder of those who gave their lives in past days to prevent the evil from emerging. And also... a warning to any who follow."

Sailor Moon found herself quivering and forced herself to remain as calm as possible. 'Come on, Usagi!' she coaxed herself, struggling to slow her breathing. 'For once in your life, be brave!'

Pluto walked over to the door and placed her fingers on its frame. "I'm not quite sure how strong our opposition will be, so we must be ready for anything" she warned. With those final words she slid the door open, and the Senshi followed her and Sailor Moon into the dark hallway beyond.

. . . . .

The decrepit old mansion was empty and ominously still as the girls made their way carefully through its passageways, guided only by a faint reddish glow reflecting off the walls from the opening beyond. Pluto paused at the destroyed rear door and smiled. "This appears to be Sailor Jupiter's work."

"Hai" Makoto admitted with a wry grin. "That was me."

"Quite effective" Pluto mused. "As you usually are, Sailor Jupiter." She stepped through the shattered gateway and lead the Senshi outside, emerging from the house into a surreal atmosphere of gloom and diffused pink light. Jupiter realized that the night surrounded her and her friends like a thick, heavy curtain. 'A perfect place for a trap' she thought with a concerned frown.

"I can't see any further than a few meters" the Senshi muttered. Beside her, Mercury had activated her visor and was concentrating on the readings flowing across it. "How many bad guys?" Jupiter asked.

Sailor Mercury whispered back. "My readings indicate six beings. They're... all around us."

The five Senshi formed a loose pentagram with Pluto in the lead and Sailor Moon at its center as they carefully trod their way across the property. "The statue is another fifteen meters further on, and slightly to the left of us" Mercury advised.

Behind her, Venus quietly asked Mars, "Why are the monsters so quiet? Why aren't they attacking or something?"

"They're studying us" came the soft reply from the red Senshi. "Looking for a weakness."

Suddenly, a long disjointed arm appeared from the inky blackness around the girls, its massive claw-like hand slashing viciously at Mercury. Ami had noticed the imp's energy signature on her visor just an instant before and ducked low as the large talon whooshed above her, missing the girl by a hairsbreadth.

"FIRE SOUL!"

Mars' swirling attack blazed into the night, the fireball illuminating the imp's hideous, leering face before it struck home in a direct hit. The being retreated with a guttural growl as the plasma faded.

"My attack didn't work!" Mars warned the others with a gasp of dismay. "It's still out there somewhere!"

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

A blaze of energy projected from Sailor Venus' fingertip also seemed to have little effect, vanishing harmlessly off into the distance. "I think I missed!" the blonde groaned.

"It's moving away from us!" Mercury exclaimed. "Looks like you hurt it, Sailor Mars!"

"Complete destruction of the imps is not necessary" Pluto advised. "We merely need to keep them away long enough for Sailor Moon to accomplish her task."

"The best defense is a good offense" Jupiter said grimly. "Maybe I'll get lucky."

"SUPREME THUNDER!"

The green-clad Senshi of the solar system's largest planet was most fortunate in her timing. She summoned a massive electrical charge and released it at the same instant another of the foul creatures appeared from within the gloom directly in front of the group. A fusillade of powerful lightning bolts tore into it, and it too retreated with a chilling screech that sent shivers down the young girls' spines.

"We're too easy to spot like this" Ami realized. "Maybe I can make it a little harder for them to find us."

"SHABON SPRAY!"

Sailor Mercury's resulting thick mist blocked the Senshi's vision slightly, but also appeared to confuse the imps. They held back as the girls continued on, drawing nearer the pit. But as they approached their goal, the six horrendous creatures reappeared around it, encircling the opening as they stood defiantly in place. The Senshi heard the beings chanting in a rough, unknown tongue, their low otherworldly voices gradually rising as their chants became more strident.

"They are summoning their Master" Pluto said with alarm. "If he emerges, all may be lost. Sailor Moon, you must act quickly!"

"I can't aim my wand's power at the hole!" Sailor Moon answered. Those horrible things are blocking the way!"

Venus released another Crescent Beam at the nearest imp, but it glanced off before striking it.

"There's some kind of powerful force field around them and the pit" Mercury warned. "I don't think any of our attacks are strong enough to penetrate it!"

"You will all gain more powerful abilities eventually, but you are not yet able to handle a situation like this" Pluto told them. "That is why I have come." She swung her time staff in an arc and revealed to the others for the first time the true might of an Outer Senshi. Her battle cry was not spoken loudly or in haste, but with a low, measured tone that summoned the full power of her distant guardian world, causing a whirlwind to gust forcefully around her and the other soldiers.

"Dead scream."

She lowered her staff, pointing the glowing garnet-tipped end toward the being that blocked their way. A dazzling sphere of light nearly as bright as the sun itself burst forth, instantly vaporizing the nearest creature into nothingness while the younger Senshi looked on in stunned silence.

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Pluto urged. "Use your power to close the pit!"

Just as Usagi nodded and raised her moon wand, the ground beneath her feet began to tremble, the shaking quickly growing stronger until the rippling earth beneath them nearly toppled the girls. From the pit, an abrupt upward blast of flame and smoke was followed by two long, sharply pointed grey horns that began to rise from its depths. The blonde warrior regained her footing but froze for just an instant, gasping as the face of a huge, grotesque demon more frightening than she could ever have imagined glowered up at her from just below the rim of the hole. But from somewhere deep inside her, a surge of courage strengthened the young girl and she continued her attack.

"MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"

As she swung the crescent moon wand in a circle, the Silver Crystal nestled within its arc pulsed brightly, then erupted into uncountable multi-colored beams of ancient lunar energy. The power of the Moon Kingdom lit up the sky behind the Himuro Mansion as the beams drove the demon, bellowing in rage, downward into the abyss. Usagi's body grew weak from the effort of channeling the immense energy but kept the wand held high until the imps were also sucked into the hole and returned to the bowels of the earth. The ground around the pit began closing in on itself like a rapidly healing wound, sealing the two worlds apart once more.

Sailor Mercury quickly reached out in the returning darkness to grasp Usagi's sinking body after her friend lowered the moon wand, slumping forward in total exhaustion as the shaking beneath them ceased.

. . . . .

Hino Rei opened her eyes and slowly sat up, surprised to find herself covered by one of the blankets from the suitcase. Nearby, three other girls began to stir as fragments of the previous night's battle stirred within the miko's mind. The room they had slept in was now brightly lit from morning sunshine that now bathed the room through its single now-uncovered window.

"What time is it?" Rei spoke aloud. She spun around at the sound of footsteps close behind only to see Usagi grinning down at her. The blonde held a nearly-empty bag of shrimp-flavored chips in one hand and an opened bottle of water in the other.

"It's nearly ten, Rei-chan" Usagi said with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Hai. Under the circumstances I slept very well, Usagi-chan."

Not far away, Minako rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly. "Where's Sailor Pluto?"

"She left hours ago" Usagi said. "After she and I had a nice long chat."

"Oh. And... the monsters?"

"Gone. For another fifty years or so, according to Pluto-san."

Minako's face immediately brightened into a happy glow. "You know what this means? We did it! We made it through the night!" She leaned forward and prodded the brunette still dozing not far away. "Mako-chan, wake up! We won the contest!" A muted grumble was Makoto's only reply, then a single eye opened and peered up at the bubbly blonde.

Rei carefully got to her feet, her back aching from hours spent sleeping on a hard, chilly floor. The miko looked at Usagi and broke into a wide smile. "I knew you wouldn't fail us when we needed you most. Well done, odango atama."

"Ohhh! The first thing you could say to me, but it always has to be something mean!" Usagi wailed. "That's not very nice, Rei-chan!" Her shrill rebuke woke Ami from her slumber and pleasant dreams of her beloved Ryo.

"Ohayou minna!" the blue-haired girl smiled at her friends. "It looks like such a beautiful day outside."

"Good morning, Ami-chan" Rei answered. She confronted the blonde now standing beside her. "So... what were you and Setsuna talking about last night?" Rei asked. "Did you ask her about our future children?"

"Hai, I did!" Usagi nodded briskly. "She said they're all doing fine... I guess."

"What do you mean 'I guess', Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked, now fully awake.

The blonde answered, "When Setsuna left the future to come here, she said your Midori was in trouble for fighting at school again, Mako-chan. Something about beating up another boy."

"Eh... these things happen" Makoto shrugged, then laughed.

"And Minako's daughter was in trouble too, for chasing after boys."

Makoto glared at the second blonde. "Like mother, like daughter, Minako-chan!"

"Maybe she found herself her very own Taro!" Minako giggled.

"At six years old? Good grief!"

The girls refreshed themselves and sat chatting together while they waited for the noon hour to arrive. Makoto returned to their overnight room after returning the oil lamps and unused candles to the kitchen. "You know, this old dump isn't so creepy after all."

"Especially in daylight!" Ami agreed with a relieved smile.

"Now all I have to do is explain to Abe-san why there's a huge hole in his back door!" the brunette laughed. "Wait, I know! I'll just blame it on Usagi!"

"Hey! Now don't you start!"

. . . . .

Precisely one minute after twelve, the girls trooped outside and down the steps toward their cars and freedom. As they neared the gate, they found Abe Takahiro climbing down a stepladder beneath the camera's perch. The man was plainly stunned to see them approach and waved as he reached the bottom of the ladder.

"Minna! You're still here!"

"We're here and just fine, and we didn't leave the property even once either!" Minako blurted triumphantly. She pointed, "Our cars are right where we left them too."

"When I pulled in behind them, I wasn't sure if you were able to make it out this far" Takahiro replied in relief. "One previous couple who tried spending the night here abandoned theirs. But...they disappeared completely." Usagi shivered, wondering what terrible fate had become of them. "Thankfully I don't have to file a missing persons report with the police this time."

The man gestured to the camera he held and continued, "I don't need to develop any pictures to prove you didn't leave the property. The film counter on my camera didn't advance, so I know you're telling the truth. It's... truly astonishing" he murmured, shaking his head.

"So this means we win the contest, right?" Minako pressed.

"Hai. You win." He hurried back to his car and retrieved a large manila envelope from the glove compartment. "I never thought I'd be giving this money away, but you've definitely earned it." He handed the cash to her. "Congratulations everyone! I guess it really is safe for me and my family to live here after all. Once we renovate the old place first, of course."

Rei walked up to him. "Abe-san, please don't."

Takahiro's brow furrowed. "Pardon me?"

"The fact that we survived is irrelevant. Take my advice. Abandon the house and leave the property for nature to reclaim. Don't ever try living here."

"Nani? Why not?"

"Trust me. It's better that way. For you, and for your family. Don't stay here" she insisted.

The man was taken aback by the firm sincerity in the miko's voice and the urging within her deep violet eyes. "I... I need more time to think about that, Hino-san."

. . . . .

Makoto grimaced from her bouncing passenger seat as Minako raced recklessly along the gravel road toward Tokyo. The little car swayed from side to side then flew over a bump in the uneven surface, nearly becoming airborne.

"Wheee!"

"Minako-chan! Will you please slow down? You're going to get us both killed!"

"But I am driving slowly" the blonde innocently replied from beneath her sunglasses. "Well... a lot slower than I usually do. Just wait until we get on the smooth highway, then we'll really fly!"

"Remind me never to ride with you ever again!" Makoto stormed.

"But we still have a long drive ahead of us, Mako-chan" Minako objected. "Listen! Here's my plan! We'll drop the money at your apartment, take a quick shower, then hit the road to Nerima. We'll be snuggling in our boyfriends' arms before you know it!" she giggled. "I can't wait!"

"Sure we will. If we're somehow lucky enough to make it there alive" the brunette grumbled. She looked down at the envelope in her hand. "Anyway... I just want to say thanks again for everything you and the girls did for me this weekend. It really means a lot."

Minako turned her head to smile at the grateful brunette. "Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."

. . . . .

A short distance behind Minako's small orange car, Rei mused as she drove along, "I suppose you can't wait to see your lover boy again, Ami-chan? It's over twenty-four hours since you've been together last."

"Hai!" the girl to her left replied happily. "I dreamt about my Ryo last night."

"Oh, so that explains those sounds you were making in your sleep" the young miko teased, causing a deep blush to appear on the blue-haired girl's cheeks. "How about you, Usagi-chan? Will you be seeing Mamoru today?" Not hearing an answer, Rei peered in her inside mirror and smiled.

In the rear seat of the bright red Mercedes, Tsukino Usagi was fast asleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Note: Next in the series is 'Vignettes from Tokyo'.