SHINJI
Shinji hated nightmares.
It's one thing to have bad dreams, but it's another to have a bad dream that doesn't seem to make sense and leaves a feeling of absolute dread.
Shinji felt dizzy and weak. He lay on the bed of his tiny apartment staring at the moving fans on the ceiling, not even sure what day is it. No sunlight seemed to penetrate the curtains of his room, either it's a dark morning out there or its still nighttime. He remembered the grey sky casting shadows on the world surrounding him in his dream. He can only hoped that he had woken up and wasn't in the dream anymore.
His head still spinning, Shinji forced himself to get up from bed. He turned to look at the alarm clock right beside his bed to figure out the time – only to see a completely black screen. Great. The batteries are out. Before he could take one more step further away from bed, his leg got tangled among his bed sheets and blankets and he tripped and fell face down.
The day couldn't have got any worse was what Shinji thought to himself. Rubbing his sore chin, Shinji slowly got up and made his way into the bathroom for a quick wash up. He had no idea what time it is but he know one thing for sure – that it's near impossible for him to fall asleep right after that horrible dream.
The first thing he sees when he switched the dim lights on: a photograph of a girl named Yui.
Shinji had no memory of who Yui was or how or when he met her, IF he had even met her before. The only thing he remembered about this girl is that her name was Yui. He doesn't even remember her last name. Nor does he remember how he came into possession a picture of her. What was even weirder is this strange warm sensation he felt every time he thought about her. He felt like he really knew her and it was possible they were close. If so, how could he not remember more than just a name?
He took her photograph off the messy shelf on the bathroom wall and took a closer look. She had a nice smile. The photograph seemed old, probably from more than ten years ago. Shinji wondered how she would look like now. He wondered would he ever get to meet her. If he does, would she even know him? Shinji felt a pang of sadness as these thoughts ran through his mind.
Shinji didn't know if he was even late for work. In all honesty, he couldn't care less. He had been a journalist in ORE Journal – the local online news service, for more than eleven years. He started there as an intern and he thought he was going to slowly work his way up as an editor. Unfortunately for Shinji, his current editor, Takaiwa, had no intention of promoting him to any senior position at all.
However, Shinji couldn't leave ORE Journal because of a promise he made to Okubo – the editor and friend who took him in when he was still an intern. When Okubo left seven years ago for reasons unknown to him to this day, he made Shinji promised that he would look after the company. Despite not getting any promotions or raise, Shinji resolved to keep his promise. He just wished that it did not have to be this difficult.
Shinji quickly washed up, splashing cold water on his face to remove any traces of the bad dream he had. He still remembered the dark shadowy world. He still remembered when everything stood still and he could hear the voices of the two men talking in the distant. Armageddon. Something about that word, or name, bothered Shinji. He knew for sure he had never seen the two men before, so how did they ended up in his dream?
Whatever it was, Shinji prayed silently he would never had that dream ever again. But he doubted it. For as long as he could remember, Shinji always had bad things happening to him. His luck was as bad as it could possibly get. Something tells him that he would have that same dream again for many times. The very thought of that made him shivered.
The sudden ring of his cellphone shook Shinji out from his deep thoughts. He walked over and took a peek at the phone screen to see who was it. The name TAKAIWA appeared in large bold letters.
"Shinji, where in the hellhole are you?!" was the first thing Takaiwa said to him as he picked up his call.
"I'm still in my apartment. What time is it?"
"What time is it? Shinji, get your lazy ass out of there and meet me at the park now!"
"Which park?" Shinji said groggily.
"Shinjuku Park of course! Wake up that tiny brain of yours and get there in ten minutes!"
"10 minutes? How is that even possible from where I stay?"
"I don't care. Make it happen!"
Taikawa hung up and Shinji stood there, reluctant to move. Not only the park was far but also Shinji had this sudden feeling that he wasn't quite ready to face the world yet. It's like stepping out of his apartment would change his life somehow.
#####
Shinji arrived at the park thirty-five minutes later.
The first thing he noticed was how crowded the park was. He finally knew the time – it was a little past ten and usually the park wasn't that crowded on weekdays. Furthermore, the sky was strangely dark, like a thunderstorm was brewing in a distance. The air felt strangely humid though; Shinji felt a chill down his spine as his mind remembered the details of his dream from last night.
Nobody seemed to be bothered by the looming strange weather. People are huddled over a singular spot, blocking the view of whatever they were looking at from Shinji. He had this sick feeling he wasn't going to like what he sees. Before he could shake the feeling off, Takaiwa was running towards him shouting his name.
"What took you so long?!" Takaiwa said in between heavy breaths. "We were missing out on the scoop!"
"You could've done it without me. You're already here anyway." Shinji didn't bother to hide his annoyance in his voice.
"I'm not going to do your job for you. 'Sides, I need the extra hands. Now get moving. You won't believe what you're gonna see."
Shinji felt more reluctant than ever after hearing that.
They both made their way through the crowd, pushing aside people chattering and whispering to one another. He didn't really pay attention to what they're saying – he's close enough to hear them but was afraid he wasn't going to like what he heard. When they finally got to the front of the crowd, Shinji immediately wished he had stayed in bed and never got out.
Lying on the ground was a body – or what remained of a body. What he saw made his stomach sick. He couldn't decide if the body belonged to a male or female. How could he when the body was burnt and charred right down to the bones – a mix of flesh and ashes surrounding it. Shinji had to fight the urge to empty the contents of his stomach. It was a good thing he hadn't had anything to eat before getting out.
"Gross, isn't it? It's like someone just burned this poor soul and leave her to die on the streets."
"How did you know it's a her?" Shinji asked, surprised.
Takaiwa shook his head, seemingly irritated by the question. "A decade into journalism and you still hadn't learned to be more astute in your observations!" He pointed towards the mount of ashes. "What do you see over there?"
Shinji squinted. "A pile of grey ashes."
"Look closer you moron."
Shinji did as told and still, he saw only ashes. "What are you talking about?"
Takaiwa sighed. "Can't you see that piece of material there, half burnt but clearly was part of a strap that could only belonged to a handbag?"
Shinji took a hesitant step closer to get a better look and true enough he saw just that. He hated Takaiwa but can't help but to feel impressed at his attention to small details. It's something he never quite had it in him.
"Who do you think could possibly do that?"
"Or what. Look at those marks." Takaiwa pointed further down the road.
Shinji saw what could only be footmarks left by something not quite human. It was dark in color, almost black, like whomever those marks belonged got its feet covered in mud. The footmarks disappeared right at the corner of the road and Shinji wondered how far the creature got before it realized it was leaving prints behind. The mark looked like it could possibly belong a bear or something larger, something with long distinct claws as nails.
"Write down everything you see. I want a full report the moment we get back. I'm gonna go talk to the cops and see if I can find out more."
Shinji didn't quite know what to write. Everything he saw was so bizarre he doubt he could pen them down without it sounding like a horror story. He turned his gaze towards the burnt remains; part of him eager to dig deeper on the truth behind this and part of him was afraid of the answers he would find. At that moment he wished his old partner, Reiko, was still with him. Reiko has left for the United States following Okubo's sudden departure and he has been left without a proper partner ever since. Surely Reiko would know the best way to deal with this situation.
Shinji decided to scour the surrounding premise for any possible information on what might have happened. He would prefer to work as far as possible from the horrid remains, so he began to shift his attention to the crowd. He wondered if any of them saw anything at all and he wondered what had the police and forensics came up with thus far. He saw three teenagers huddled together, each of them looking nervously around. Shinji sensed something was suspicious about them but just as he was about to move over to ask them some questions, a man dressed in black overcoat stepped in between.
Shinji paused dead at his tracks upon the sight of that man – the same man he saw yesterday after he got lost in the suburbs. The man radiating a strange aura of death; his skin a pale white, so white it's almost transparent. His eyes locked onto Shinji's, his stare cold and deadly. Shinji couldn't remember what happened much after seeing this man the day before – with the list of strange happenings this morning he hadn't gave it much thought. But seeing him again up close, Shinji actually felt fear itself.
Not knowing why he was so scared of this man, Shinji searched his mind for something to say. Anything at all. He wanted to ask who he is and why was he following him. But this man looked like he represented death itself, so much that Shinji was afraid he was going to drop dead the moment he spoke to him. Shinji's hands began to sweat and as if on cue, the air around him grew still.
To his surprise, the man spoke.
"You need to remember."
"Huh?" Shinji didn't even realize the word escaped his mouth.
The man's voice was dry, like the sound of sand scraping against wood. "You have a role to play. For years you lived your life in bliss and ignorance, not fully aware of the supernatural occurring around you. It's time for you to pick up the card once more. We need every last Rider we can get if we are to win this war."
Thousands of questions ran through Shinji's mind and he didn't know which one to ask. What was this guy talking about?
"Soon, the Mirror World will be reopened. And it will come for you. Be ready then, if you don't want to die."
"Mirror World? What are you talking about? Who are you? Do I even know you?" Shinji's head began to hurt badly. For some reason he felt like he ought to remember what this man was talking about but he don't.
"You've been warned." With that, the man turned and Shinji had the sudden urge to go after him to demand for answers. But before he could call out for the man to wait, he heard a blood-curdling scream from behind him.
