Six years ago...
"So this is the infamous Shinozaki estate, eh?" Two women stood before a run down home. It looked unused for many years, the residence of the house having passed away years ago.
"Indeed, sis. Do you have your charm ready?" The older of the two women turned to her sister. The sister nodded, and both stepped towards the abandoned house.
Upon entrance, the structure shook from the sudden intrusion. From what they could tell, something was in the house, but what, they didn't know. The floor beneath them creaked with each step, the noise echoing off the walls.
"Why don't we split up, Aiko? We could find the book quicker," The older of the two siblings suggested, and the younger woman nodded. Parting from each other, they split off to search for different sections of the home.
The two siblings were in search of a book, one that its pages held mysterious but powerful spells of black magic. It was the core secret to the Shinozaki bloodline, and that of the curse. The two spiritual sisters had investigated the family tree for years, but got nowhere to discovering its dark secrets.
To what they knew, the latest Shinozaki family had lived in this very home, that of a family of three; Seiji, Yoshie, and Sachiko Shinozaki. Under mysterious circumstances, Seiji had passed away mere months before Yoshie was in a fatal accident and little Sachiko had disappeared.
However, the two women could sense something deeper was occurring. Having gone through generations of the bloodline, they came to discover that the husbands that married into the family would soon die after their first child was born. This spelled as odd to the two of them, and with some further information, had ended up here.
The older of the two, Kuon Niwa, had owned a heavily private corporation in Japan, while her younger sister, Aiko Niwa continued to explore deeper into the world of the paranormal as well as the use of black magic. The two of them, on sight, would look like each other, Kuon's bleached white hair, while Aiko had soot black hair. Kuon appeared thinner and taller, Aiko shorter but just as thin. Aiko would wear a number of different charms with her everyday clothes, Kuon only wearing a wristwatch and golden necklace with a woman's suit. Kuon's hair was up in a neat braid, the braid trailing down her back while Aiko simply kept her hair down, loose strands of highlights here and there.
Kuon explored the kitchen area, noticing how dusty the place had become. She noticed a table in the back, outlining windows that were cracked and covered in dirt. Thin light poked through the cracks on the windows, eliminating the table. Various books left untouched for years lay stacked, thick layers of dust and cobwebs covered the table.
Taking a book from the stack, Kuon opened it and flipped through the pages. The paper was old, worn down and torn in places. Nothing seemed to catch her attention, so she closed it and set it back in its place.
Aiko was exploring the hallways, the house making noise with every step she took. The flashlight gleamed off of paintings, the glass crack or layered in dust. Any picture frames containing people had been shredded within its frames, leaving it useless for their research.
She came upon a few bedrooms, the rooms dark and smelled of mold and dirt. One room was completely cut off, the door locked and refusing to budge. Leaving it, Aiko moved onto the next room. What she came upon was a much smaller room, a small bed at the base of the window. Broken children's toys and books littered the floor, also covered in dust. This was a child's room, Aiko could only assume this was Sachiko's room.
In the kitchen, Kuon continued to search, stepping carefully. Suddenly, when she stepped on a very creaky floorboard, the wall next to her shuddered and she jumped back. The wall broke away, dust flying up in its wake.
"A-Aiko! I think I found something!" She yelled out, and she heard her sister's quick footsteps down the other end of the building. Panting lightly, Aiko entered the kitchen, adrenaline coursing through her veins.
"What is it? What did you find?" Aiko stopped before her sister, and Kuon only pointed at the gaping hole in the wall. From the looks of it, it seemed that the had once been a door there, but replaced at some point. What lay inside was a staircase, leading into darkness.
"Should we go down?" Kuon turned to her sister and Aiko nodded fervently. This new discovery would only lead them closer to the truth.
Stepping forward hesitantly, Kuon took her own flashlight and looked into the staircase, shining it down as far as the beam's light could reach. The stairs looked stable as far as she knew, so the white-haired woman stepped inside, testing the first step. It creaked, but no crack followed, so she deemed it safe.
With precaution, the two sisters stepped down the stairs slowly, incase a step gave out. They were far from a town, so if one were to get injured, it could be fatal.
Finally reaching the bottom, they shone their flashlights around, noticeable cobwebs stretching across corners in big masses. Insects ran away from the intruding light, hiding in cracks in the walls. The ground was simply dirt, but something caught their eye. Etched into the ground were symbols dyed in red, as if someone had tried to perform a ritual of some sort. Small items littered the ground around the symbols, and Aiko was quick to recognize what this was.
"Someone tried to perform black magic here," She spoke and Kuon looked at her and then at the symbol again.
"Search the room, there could be something down here," Kuon then said and Aiko nodded in agreement. Both split up again, searching the few drawers that were in the small basement. Kuon stepped over to one, noticing candles on the top of the shelf and a few drawers. The first drawer gave away, dust flying up from the sudden movement, causing her to cough. Inside, it was mostly empty. except one thing.
Shining the flashlight in the edge of the drawer, she blinked, seeing two singular human... teeth...
Blinking in confusion but also slight disgust, she decided that this could possibly lead them forward. Taking a plastic bag from her pant pocket, she plucked the teeth from the drawer and placed them inside. Sealing it shut, she slipped the bag back into her pocket.
"Sis, come look at this," Aiko suddenly broke the heavy silence, and Kuon turned and walked over. Aiko stood before another drawer, more candles lining the sides while a chart of some sort lay in the middle. Names stretched across the old paper, pointing down until it finally clicked.
"This is... the Shinozaki family tree...!" Aiko exclaimed and Kuon leaned in closer.
"Look at this. Here is Sachiko... and Yoshie and Seiji!" Aiko continued, pointing at names as they continued.
"Wait a minute, if this was at least seventy years ago, the bloodline should've died out. So why does it keep going?" Kuon spoke out and pointed to names that continued down.
"Wait a minute..." Aiko paused and Kuon blinked, confused.
"...I know this family," Aiko then said and Kuon blinked a few more times, her brows furrowing.
"What do you mean?" She asked and Aiko pointed to the names at the bottom of the chart.
Ayumi Shinozaki
Yoshiki Kishinuma
Ami Kishinuma
"I know Ayumi. I've met her before in an occult related festival," Aiko replied and Kuon's interest was sparked even more.
"This ink... it seems so much fresher than the rest of the names... This house had been abandoned for over seventy years. Why are their names on this chart?" Aiko questioned out loud, narrowing her eyes as she examined the paper closely. Something was off, that was for sure.
"Sis, you think this has something to do with the mysteries of this family?" Kuon asked, and Aiko was unsure.
"I dont know, but whatever is going on, we could dig deeper into the secrets this bloodline has to offer," Aiko replied, carefully taking the chart from its place on the cabinet.
From the sudden disturbance, the house shook with anger, rumbling from deep within. Both sisters stood in place, the place shaking as if an earthquake had hit. Dust fell from the ceiling above, coating them in a thick layer as the house continued to rumble.
"Quickly! We must escape from this place!" Kuon ordered and Aiko nodded before both women proceeded to run up the stairs.
The building was collapsing, either from its structure finally giving out or some unknown force was causing it to fall under. Ceiling tiles started falling, dust thick in the air as both sisters ran from the staircase and to the front room. Mere seconds after, the kitchen fell in a cloud of dust and rotten wood. Both women burst from the front door, running far from the structure as it finally fell to the earth.
Both panted, watching the home in silence as they caught their breath. Their clothes were ruined, Kuon's pure white hair dirtied from the dust and dirt.
After a few minutes, Kuon turned to Aiko.
"You okay?" She asked, and the younger sister could only nod. Frowning, Kuon looked back at the pile of rubble that was once the Shinozaki estate. The chances of finding the book they so desperately needed to find was lowered even more.
"Aiko, while we were in the basement, I came across something that could help us in our research…" Kuon dug into her pocket and pulled out the small bag containing the human teeth. Aiko blinked at her before taking the bag from her sister's hand, looking closely at it.
"Sis, I think you just made our mission that much easier," Aiko replied, smiling up at the older woman. Kuon took the bag, placing it back into her pocket for safe keeping. The two of them started the long trek back to town to clean up and continue their research in the mysterious Shinozaki name.
Unaware to either of them, the human teeth in Kuon's pocket started to glow…
Yep! I picked this project back up! However, this time it has been completely revised. This one will be a long and wild ride, so be prepared!
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