*The Gazenkazza*
By OnlyTheGhosts
Chapter One
Two young Japanese out on a lark, fooling around for a day among the abandoned ruin of an elongated single-storey building. The place was the last memories in concrete that remained of a business that had gone bankrupt many years before. She was extraordinarily attractive, sensual and cute at the same time, she was dressed in a pink and white girls' high school uniform. A recognisable cosplayer's outfit, probably from a famous animé. The pleated pink skirt was absurdly too short for public decency in most countries, but not seen as such here in Japan. The faux uniform was decorated with sequins and fake gems that glittered in the sunlight. She carried a large toy wand which was topped by a faceted huge plastic gem which shone a sparkling rainbow of tiny stars inside.
The man, a few years older than his partner, was dressed in what would have been seen as a particularly strange combination to Western eyes. His late 19th century black suit pants and jacket, worn with traditional wooden geta on his feet. He carried a heavy black sports bag in his left hand, and wore a bulky shoulder bag as well. His right hand carried what looked like an antique box-camera attached to a wooden tripod.
Where there had once been a drive way and carpark, there was only a field of high grass and bushes. The wall surrounding the property was intact though the old steel gate was covered with wooden boards. There were no guards. No cameras. Only the local teenagers came here frequently anymore. The young woman and the photographer were among a mere handful of adults to visit the ruin during the past decade. Apart from birds, there were occasionally seen stray cats.
It was a fine day, with scattered clouds among the azure sky. The leaves on the trees turning to gold, orange, and red with the colours of early autumn. Mildly hot, but tolerable. Perfect weather for romance perhaps.
The young woman giggled, and posed, as the photographer arranged his camera here, then moved it there. They moved around the overgrown field of the site, then as the afternoon heat began to fatigue, he called for his coquettish companion to come with him inside the elongated white single-storey building.
"Is there a way in?" she asked, not seeing any open doorways. Everything appeared still locked. It was also a dirty mess, and she didn't like the dirt.
"There's a gap somewhere . . . probably" he answered.
After a little searching, it was her that found where grillwork for a gate had been broken in one of the private parking areas. A place where a single car would've been parked and a couple on a romantic interlude could have entered their rented suite in total privacy, unobserved by anyone outside the building. The man pushed the hanging gate aside further to allow the woman to enter, but she had to bend down anyway. Getting inside without smudging dirt on the expensive cosplay outfit was likely near impossible, yet she mostly managed to look as if she'd achieved it. If anything, the man was more careful than she, as he seriously didn't want to risk damage to the old outfit he was wearing.
Inside, past the narrow gate was a short corridor, a place possibly for leaving shoes behind when the hotel had been in operation. A dark-stained door was already open. Neighbourhood children must have been through that doorway many times before. The woman was staring around at the walls in the dim suite when the photographer came in. He shone an LED torch about, showing walls covered with a wallpaper that was decorated with a bamboo forest in high photographic quality. The floor was covered by traditional tatami mats. A ratty, stained, futon was in the middle of the room, half rolled up, covered with bits of plaster which had fallen from the decaying ceiling. The wall opposite the doorway was broken open and a wild greenery of trees could be seen outside, their leaves beginning to change colours for the cooling season.
"We could have more easily come in that way" the photographer commented. As he was staring at the greenery, a dark-patched grey cat passed by, among the trees and grass. It was difficult to see it, maybe because it was becoming darker outside, and the bushes, trees, grass hid the feline shape as well.
"Have you noticed that all the cats look the same?" the young woman asked. She spun her toy wand idly, the glittering stars within it's plastic gem shining upon the walls nearby.
"Eh? Same family, maybe the mother cat and father cat were related too."
"Either that, or I keep seeing the same cat."
"You're being stalked by a cat. He thinks you're cute too."
"As long as he doesn't follow me home, my sister says I have too many pets already" the girl replied with a mischievous smile.
"You don't have any pets . . . "
"She's referring to the guys who hang around and keep coming over to visit like you do".
The photographer chuckled. "Your sister . . . Hey? Did you see that?" He turned, startled but his female companion didn't know what he was talking about. There was nothing there in the direction the man was staring.
"Uh-huh? I don't see anything."
"I just . . . I could have . . . No . . . I must have imagined that. Don't worry about it, the light's going and I'd like to take a few more photos before the sun goes down."
The man set up his big boxy camera on the sticks. He also put up some electric lights, all battery-powered. Then briefly he used a smartphone camera to take a few snapshots of himself and the girl posing with the box camera next to them. All looking great in their costumes, afterwards he used the big camera while the young woman posed seductively. She pouted. She flirted. She bent over and posed indecently. She also point-blank refused to lie down on the horrible old futon. n the glare of the electric lights the photographer had set up on stands, the young woman's costume glittered and flickered as if truly magical.
She posed by the old jukebox that was in one corner of the bedroom of the suite, the top covered by dirt and leaves. There were song titles visible from a couple of decades past. Inside, pass the glass top, it could be seen that the jukebox had used laser discs. They seemed so ungainly oversized now. I
She also posed in the ensuite bathroom, which was in traditional Japanese style, as if copied from a museum. A wooden, circular tub, with a wooden boarded lid which was removable. There was a more modern shower hose though, the faucets could be turned but no water came, of course. The bathroom also had wooden slats covering the walls, so almost gave the impression of a place in an old movie.
Sometimes, a cat would go by outside. The young man later agreed with the girl after seeing the cats several times. The cats did all look alike. They also sometimes stared in that peculiar way of cats. Their eyes seemed to glow as the shadows lengthened and the light faded outside. Always a bluish glow. Not quite like what the photographer expected from reflected eye-shine but he supposed the LEDs he had for the light stands had a blue tint to them.
After awhile, the young woman noticed that the number of cats outside was increasing. She was unsettled by that. Plus, she seriously could not distinguish them apart . . . and they all began staring way too long. They'd stop and watch. Too intently. It was unnerving. She was thankful when before asking, the man began preparing to leave. He started packing away his camera gear but left the electric lights on their stands until last. Finally he put away the lights, but packing these in an uncharacteristic hurry.
Like her, the man was spooked by the place. The cats acted weird. They looked identical. He couldn't keep count of how many there were, because as they came and went, they all looked the same, and now over a dozen were outside. Just watching. Staring. After the LED lights had been packed away, the cat's eyes continued shining that same shade of blue. An odd flickering blue.
The couple rushed clumsily as they got out through the broken gate. They could have gone out the other way. Past the cats. They chose to avoid the cats.
"I'm scared" was all the girl said.
"Yeah, but it's only cats."
"Can haunted places have ghost cats?" she asked.
The photographer laughed. "Maybe they're ghosts in cat cosplay outfits."
That made the girl giggle too, but the cheerfulness was momentary.
"When I get back, I want to study the video and photos more. I did some video of those cats. They act too odd. How do their eyes shine like that?"
The man helped the young woman to climb over the property wall first. Then passed over his bags for her to take. As she was waiting for him to climb over next, while he was still out of her direct sight, she heard him comment "That's a strange cat . . . Maybe they are ghosts . . . Amaya-chan, I saw one move in a very strange way. No! That's not real. It can't be real!"
Amaya tried to look over the wall, to see what her boyfriend was talking about. She saw a glimpse of a huge shadow.
She screamed.
. . .