Here is chapter 3! I suggest reading this with a light on, or if you want ambience, read in the dark with scary music on! But do so at your own risk… (heeheehee). Anyway, enjoy!

Author's Note: Profanity and graphic detail ahead.

Beforehand…

After his run in with the Slashed Throat ghost, Akio had continued on his way down through the halls. Upon turning a corner, he saw a closet and wanting to be thorough, he investigated it. Nothing remarkable was inside; just some boxes containing miscellaneous items that were of no use to Akio except for a small, very old container. He removed the cap and saw that it contained herbal pills inside. Not one to trust seriously outdated medicine, Akio nonetheless pocketed it.

Who knows, maybe the medicine had gained significant potency over its century and a half stay in the closet. Beside the container, Akio found what appeared to be a ragged scrap of old paper that was written on. It said:

"Black flames… Man with no Skin… People screaming… People turning into ash… Am I going insane? No… This place…"

The text disturbed Akio. It sounded like the ramblings of a person going mad. But it was the faded date that Akio could make out at the top of the page that really caught his attention. It said September 15, 1907, the same year and month that Hideki Asou went missing over 104 years ago. Akio thought he would be excited that he had found something that had belonged to Ikue's great-grandfather but he wasn't.

Instead he felt a morbid sense of dread. If this was from Hideki, something very awful had happened to him and Akio might run into the long missing man sooner or later… And there was the mention of a "Man with no Skin". Akio had heard of the "Skinless Man" legend and now just hearing that name sent a chill down his spine. He could anywhere, waiting, watching and planning…

Shaking the thought from his head, Akio closed the closet. Just as he turned, he saw a flash of white and blue in the corner of his eye. Akio tensed but his sixth sense told him that the entity wasn't hostile. Intrigued Akio went into the general direction of the spirit, only to come across a beautiful atrium with a Zen garden in the middle and magnificent bronze lanterns hanging from the ceiling. In the garden, Akio saw a specter, but it wasn't the one he just saw.

This one was dressed in white and gray, with a fedora and waistcoat. His back was turned to Akio, but he was absolutely sure who this spirit was. It was Hideki Asou. It looked like he was taking pictures of the structure and then he vanished and in his place was a pile of papers. Excited, Akio sprinted towards a flight of stairs and eagerly scooped up the articles.

One of them was page from a journal.

"September 8, 1907

I have finally reached the Watanabe Shrine! However, my excitement was slightly dampened when I tried carrying my luggage up these old steps. The villagers refused to help me, they only carried my belongings and equipment from the train station to a border represented by a special marker in the woods, and they refused to go any further. However, it was worth it. The shrine is absolutely breathtaking.

It has been fifty-two years since its abandonment but it still retains it remarkable physical and spiritual beauty. Its paint chipped, moss and weed grown in a few places but Watanabe still looks like a respectable religious venue. This place is supposedly haunted by the sprits of pilgrims and priests who were slain in a massacre. I am here to discover and document any paranormal occurrences here. I brought my projector and my uncle's camera for this.

The scientific community laughed at my uncle for his fervent belief in the existence of a world beyond our own. He disappeared on a trip into the mountains and he has never been seen since for over nineteen years. I hope I can find something to strengthen his claims and help him be recognized as a forerunner of study into the paranormal. I dedicate this research to my honorable uncle, Kunihiko Asou (1836-1888) and to my daughter Ayu."

As Akio read the words intently, he heard a noise. He looked up and saw to his surprise a young woman in gothic clothing. She had spikey, dark hair that appeared to be cropped short at the back with bangs on her face and cheeks, thick eyeliner, a black studded choker with a silver necklace with a ruby hanging below it, a dark purple shirt with a skull and crossbones on her chest, fingerless black gloves topped by spiked, studded or plain leather or plastic bracelets, a ragged pair of jeans with white framed holes and a pair of black leather strapped boots with silver buttons. One thing in particular that caught Akio's attention was the bandages that were wrapped around the young lady's upper left bicep. Besides that, it was one hell of an outfit.

He knew he was staring, but Akio couldn't take his eyes off the bizarre getup. He hoped that his daughter would never dress like that. Another thing put him off but he wasn't quite sure what it was. The young lady stared back and then she put up a nervous smile and waved.

"Hi…" she said nervously from dark painted lips. Even her fingernails were painted black. Akio recovered from his shock and curiosity.

"E-e-excuse me miss, but may I ask who you are and what are you doing here?" he said in a stern yet friendly tone. The girl seemed taken aback by his gesture; she didn't expect this kind of tone. As she crossed her arms, she spoke:

"My name sir is Sumiko Yamada. I am eighteen and I have every discernable right to be here." She said in a bold tone.

"But you shouldn't be here though!

"Speak for yourself asshole!" She said sharply. Akio had to admit it was pretty hypocritical of him to tell her she wasn't supposed to be trespassing while he was obviously doing it himself. However, he did not have to take that tone from her.

"Hey now, I'm sorry if I was being self-contradictory but I didn't deserved to get sworn at." He said in the tone he used on his students. The girl was undeterred and she simply shrugged.

"Sorry dude, its just I don't like hypocrites and I don't appreciate being told what to do by one!"

"Do your parents know you're out here? Are you by yourself or do you have friends with you?"

"Nope."

"No as in…?"

Sumiko rose her hand up and as she spoke, she pointed up two fingers.

"No as in, number one in correct order of your questions: My parents don't know. My dad died in a car accident when I was nine, my mom is currently hospitalized and I am now living with my grandparents. I lied to them. And number two, I am all by myself, no one else is here but you and me."

Akio was shocked. She certainly liked getting to the point by being a smartass. Not appreciating her attitude too much, Akio got of his knees and proceeded to leave the garden and walk towards her.

"What are you doing? Go away!" she said.

"Listen young lady. I don't know if you know this yet, but this place is not safe and if something were to happen to you and when your parents were to find out that you were here with a complete stranger, things will not go well for you." He said "And for that reason. I am going to escort you out of here and tomorrow morning I am going to get you train tickets, watch you get on that train and see you off."

"Dangerous? Sir I can take care of myself. I got this." She pulled out an old camera and Akio froze.

It was a Camera Obscura! It was modeled like the ones from the mid-Twentieth Century, the ones with the stick by the side that had the circular shade behind the bulb to magnify the flash. Where had she gotten that? Akio was speechless. Without a word, he produced his own Camera, which surprised Sumiko.

"Have you seen them?" she said without her combative tone.

"Yes I have just recently."

"Me too…" she said.

For a second it was quiet until Akio's head snapped straight towards the hallway that he had gone through earlier. The doors were open and he could see the lavender shirted woman walking down the hall. Sumiko bolted towards the door shouting:

"Ayumi wait!"

Akio tried to follow Sumiko only for the doors to slam shut in his face and it wouldn't open. He could hear Sumiko's footsteps disappear into the distance. What was so special about that woman she had went after? He hit the door in frustration.

"Great, now this…" he muttered to himself.

Sumiko ran down the halls following the path that she assumed Ayumi was taking. She soon came across some double wooden doors and saw Ayumi's specter go through. She entered into the Dining Hall. It was huge and still adorned with its lacquered tables, utensils, cushions, damaged shoji and dusty hanging scrolls in the alcove in the wall. But Sumiko couldn't take the time to enjoy this scenery.

The moment she entered, she felt an extreme temperature drop. She could see her breath as she crossed her arms. An eerie sound caused her head to turn to the left where she saw a wooden closet door. Sumiko had a gut feeling that something was in there but what? Then Sumiko fazed out.

In scratchy, black and white, Sumiko regained her senses. She was still in the Dining Room but now there were two other women. They were Ayumi and Rina Oshiro. They were clinging close to each other with flashlights in hand. Sumiko couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A hideous scream caused all three women to jump. It sounded like a man's.

"D-d-dude…" she whispered. She hadn't learned Akio's name yet. She heard another sound like blowing wind or something breathing coming from the hall. Ayumi and Rina ran into the closet and hid. Sumiko's vision then changed from her point of view to the point of view of one of the girls.

She could feel the girl's lungs and rapid heartbeat. She could hear deep breaths coming from behind and Sumiko turned to see that Ayumi was behind her, staring wide-eyed at the door. She heard doors opening and she peaked through a crack and saw a great mass of black flames. Sumiko/Rina could see a shadowy image of a figure emerging from the flames. It surrounded him like mist.

Sumiko could make out a few features in the monochrome light. She could see that the figure didn't have a nose, just the boney part without the cartilage and she could see a white glint coming from his mouth. But then Sumiko noticed that the figure didn't have any lips either. It was as if the figure's face was like a skull. It appeared that both Sumiko and Rina did not want to see more as she slowly backed away.

But then Rina's knees pressed hard on the wooden floor.

Could have heard a pin drop in that closet.

It was as if Oshiro sisters' heartbeats had stopped along with their breathing. Rina turned wide-eyed to her equally astonished sister and then she looked through the crack. Neither the figure nor the flames were there, he had disappeared. Where had it gone? The breathing resumed to normal albeit much more slowly. But then faint wisps of black flames danced in the corner of Sumiko/Rina's eyes.

She rapidly turned around to see what appeared to be, lit by the moonlight in the door crack, a single, solid black eye. Sumiko/Rina and Ayumi screamed then. Sumiko's vision returned her own eyes and she barely had time recover from her shock when she the closet door slam open and the girls tumbling out as fast they could. Rina went out first and followed by Ayumi but just as she was about to reach her sister, six large black skeletal arms shot out of the closet and grabbed Ayumi and like an octopus does to its prey, the elongated arms began to slowly drag Ayumi back into the closet. The event that was unfolding was too horrible to behold.

"RINA!" Ayumi shouted desperately with fear-induced tears filling her eyes as she was being dragged into the darkness.

"AYUMI!"Rina shouted in turn and she quickly ran to her older sister's aid. Ayumi reached out for her sister but her left hand was snared by a skeletal one and was held firmly by her side. Rina managed to grab hold of Ayumi's right hand with both of hers and she attempted to pull her sister away from the grip of the demonic arms. Despite their best efforts, the hands would not let go. Rina's shoes slid roughly across the tatami mats, she was not letting go of her sister no matter what.

Sumiko watched in horror as the two got closer and closer to the closet. Ayumi looked back to see the abyss that awaited her and then she turned to her sister. Sumiko, even though she wasn't up close, could see something painful in Ayumi's eyes. She then saw Ayumi loosen her grip on Rina's hands, she letting go so that her sister wouldn't be dragged in to her death with her. Rina began to scream hysterically for her sister not to let go.

As her fingers slowly slipped from Rina's hands, Ayumi smiled. Time seemed to go slower and everything was in slow motion. Sumiko watched intently, her heart beating from sheer terror while at the same time breaking from the tragedy that she was witnessing, a tragedy from that March night all those years ago. Rina's tears fell slowly from her cheeks like little jewels lit by the moon. Ayumi spoke her last words.

"I love you."

Her fingertips slipped from her sister's palms. Time was beginning to speed up and soon, Ayumi was swiftly pulled into the closet and the door slammed shut. Rina stared at her hands in disbelief and then like a madwoman she ran towards the door and began hitting on it with all her might as her sister's screams began to flow out of that room.

"Let her go! Please let her go! Please!" Rina continued pounding on the door. Ayumi's screams got louder and louder and Rina sank to her knees in despair with her fists pounding with less force and her tears started falling in showers onto the floor. She crossed her arms over the door and she rested her head on them, crying. Sumiko could feel tears fall from her own eyes too. Then what seemed like an eternity, the screaming stopped, the only noise was Rina's crying.

But then the door started to slowly open. Rina regained her senses she backed away on hands and feet. The flames gradually surged out and Sumiko could hear footsteps coming from the closet. The figure emerged. Sumiko could've sworn that her heart had stopped.

Standing in that doorway, was the "Skinless Man."

Sumiko couldn't move, in fact sure wasn't even sure if she was functioning at all. She was terrified beyond comprehension. True to his name, the "Skinless Man" had no skin; instead his entire musculature system was exposed. Even in the monochrome light, Sumiko could see that the muscles had the appearance that they were decaying and it looked charred in a few places. A vortex of black flames surrounded most of his lower torso and the face…

It was a skull; the muscles around the jaw, cheeks and skullcap were intact except for his eyelids and mouth. And the eyes… at first glance they appeared to be empty eye sockets but the light gleamed on the dark pools. They were like glass balls filled with oil. He stared malevolently at Rina as she whimpered and trembled on the floor. Her hair was slowly turning white at her scalp. For a minute nothing happened.

Then suddenly in a blink of an eye, the "Skinless Man" dashed towards Rina with blinding speed. She got right back up on her feet and got away just as his arms tried circling around her. Rina ran screaming into the kitchen through the dining hall and he turned to look in her direction, staring directly through Sumiko. It reminded Sumiko of the Terminator when he chased Sarah Connor on the conveyor belt after he got blown in half. That goddamned smile…

He dashed right through Sumiko, sending a tidal wave of chills up and down her spine as he went right after Rina. And then the vision faded and Sumiko was brought back to the present. Sumiko gasped loudly from the shock and fear. She couldn't believe what she just saw. Her mind raced uncontrollably.

"I have to get out of here! No I want to solve this-Your so stupid Sumiko, you will die here and no one will ever find your body and your family will be left to wander what happened to you until the day they die! The "Skinless Man", oh my god, that was the "Skinless Man"! What am I going to do! FUCK!"

Her thoughts were grinded to a halt when she heard the closet door open. It was a simple creak at first, but then the door slowly opened. Heart pounding and sweat dampening her skin, Sumiko retrieved her Camera and aimed it at the opening door. The closet was completely black save for the pale figure that was standing in the doorway. It was Ayumi Oshiro.

Sumiko stood in shock. Ayumi simply looked down on the floor but then she slowly raised her head up, revealing her wide, red rimmed and bloodshot eyes, her glasses had a huge crack on the left lens. She stared directly at Sumiko and smiled softly.

"Rina, why are you still here?"

And that is that was the first visual of the "Skinless Man"! What do you guys think? I think his lips could've stayed intact but it just adds to his creepiness along with his missing eyelids. On the other hand, I was going to write the dates the Japanese way (yy/mm/day) but to avoid confusion I wrote it in the style we are all familiar with. I promise that the next chapter will be equally terrifying! Stay tuned and please review! :)

PS: Sorry if you get confused with the chapter numbers. I just recently found out how to customize them and I got to work on them!