Get ready for it...the true identity of the night woman

The forbidden forest

File 14#

Truth

"The ritual; is starting, the festival is burning, the night woman will bring the spell of doom and the fires will consume the village."

"Eri is missing!" Mai shouted. Naru nodded. Mai turned to Ayako. "But weren't you suppose to keep an eye on her!" she shouted.

"Calm down Akai." Naru sighed. Mai squeezed her fist.

"She might be the night woman Akai." Ayako said. "When I was babysitting her she kept glaring at me, her smirk was wide and she kept looking and asking...hey...who are you?'

"No, she's not the night woman!" Mai shouted. "How do you know?" Masako asked. "Because..." Mai stopped when Naru glared at her. Mai clenched her fist. "Anyway we need to find her now!" she shouted.

Naru held her. "Enough." He said. Mai struggled and Naru shook her. "Akai!" he shouted. Mai stopped struggling shocked. Naru seemed to have shocked himself too and he let Mai go. "Eri will be fine. Trust me."

Mai trembled and Ayako pulled her in hugging her.

The doors were flung open and Bou-san and John came rushing in. Their faces were flushed red and they were panting hard. "Bou-san?" Naru asked.

Bou slammed a bunch of files on the tables. "We went to the library...the village library and we found a bunch of archives...they only date back to 10 years ago. Everyone moved here 10 years ago, everyone in this village...the victims, the Harukis, they moved here 5 years ago. Jin and his brother, they moved here eight years ago, the missing boys...their families moved in 9 years ago...and many more, no one has stayed here longer than 10 years." Bou said. He turned to John who nodded.

"We can contact towns outside this village, that means we are not trapped in some kind of dimension." He said. He took out his hand phone from his pocket and the GPS device. "I phoned my mother back at home and asked her to check my position from her computer, using the GPS device stored in my phone."

He placed his phone down on the table. "Guys...we are not in Minamiyamashiro...we are nowhere near Minamiyamashiro...in fact..." he gulped. "We are 45 km away from Minamiyamashiro."

Bou-san nodded. "You realise how strange it was...we have been here for 4 days but I don't see any tourist...and even though the hotel was fully book, I didn't see any foreigners."

"Which would mean...?" Mai said.

Bou-san opened the door and three teenagers came striding into the room. They looked tired, scared and distraught. There were black bags under their eyes. Ayako and Masako gasped.

"The three college students from that day!" Ayako shouted. The three students looked up, they saw both Masako and Ayako and shocked filled their eyes. "Thank god!" one of them shouted and he cried, tears streamed down his face. He sank to the ground. "Thank god..."

"Where did you find them?" Naru asked.

Bou-san and John looked at each other. "At the edge of the forest." They said together.

Shiho had dreams after the car accidents. Dreams of huge mounting fires, the smell of sweet scented flowers and dreams of a millions heads staring at her. They were vivid dreams they flowed in and out of her mind.

It was not a nightmare, neither was it a good dream. Images of a dancing girl dressed in white danced in and out of her dreams. She had no name, no upper face, just a warm gentle smile...that seemed to get bigger every day.

She led Shiho through seasons, through villages, through mountains, through streams. Shiho followed her. She knew if she caught the girl something good would happen, so she ran, crying out to the girl. The girl never stopped and she ran faster and faster.

"Wait!" Shiho screamed "Wait!"

"Run, run, run, run, run!" the girl shouted, laughing, her smile turning wider. Shiho ran in her dreams, villages burn, mountains crumbled and rivers dried up. She didn't know how long she ran but by the time the girl stopped it was snowing. Winter had arrived.

It was cold and Shiho's tears had dried up. "You must always be alone." The girl whispered. "You must never get close."

Shiho felt her tears start again. "Fuyumi." She whispered under her breath. "I caught you girl, please let me see my mother, please let her call me Fuyumi again." Shiho cried. The girl appeared in front of Shiho taking up Shiho's chin and Shiho saw teeth, huge black teeth. The girl's smile has turned menacing...it was still getting bigger.

"You must remain like snow, Shiho, remain like snow, and never get close to anyone! Never...cause they will leave you, they will all leave you." The girl said. She laughs and releases Shiho and Shiho fell into the cold snow, her face buried within the ice, numbing her senses.

"You only belong to me...only me...I will never let you feel anything, you will never be alone, never, remember that...you will have a family, a family Shiho, one that would call you Fuyumi, I will gather your family."

Shiho felt snow pilling on her, felt the girl's hand brushing across her neck. "You are my master." The girl said. Shiho smiled, closing her eyes.

"Family?" she asked. "So long as I don't feel."

"Yes." The girl answered. Shiho felt her smile widening.

"Hey..." she whispered. "Who are you?"

"We were with Minamoto." One of the college students said. "He said he wanted to show us something..."

The college student's voice quivered. "We...we...entered the forest...th...they were everywhere..."

"White...w...white hoods...they danced on trees...they saw...Minamoto. Minamoto smi...smiled and raised ...h...his hands...there...there was fear...in his eyes...but he...smiled..."

'What happened?" John said, taking one of the student's hands and squeezing it. "They cut of his head!"

"They gathered round him and stashed his neck slowly with knives...we couldn't do anything..."

"What else happened?" Naru asked in a strict tone. Mai winced.

"A woman..." they whispered. "Pin...pink hair..."

"Found it!" Lin said suddenly. They all turned to face him. He held out a newspaper and pointed to a news article. "Look at this."

There was a massive car accident near the western forest of Kyoto three days ago, during 18 February, the fires engulfed three cars and one lorry. The deceased included 33 people, including 5 people from the supernatural division from the police force. The police director would hold a press conference for the deceased policemen who died in that accident. The 5 people were. Miyako Junhei, 45, the leader of the supernatural division. Kyo Takashi, 25 years old. Minami Fume, 27 years old, Takeo Jun, 55 and Fuyumi Shiho 27 years old. Fuyumi Shiho's body was never found but proper burials would be held for her. For more information please contact the police at 9908, if you have any information about the accident please contact the police too at 9978.

There beside the article was a woman's face. She wasn't smiling but there was no doubt about it. "Shiho." Mai said.

"That's the woman!" one of the college students exclaimed, shrinking back in fear. The ghost hunt members looked at each other.

"Here's the GPS unit that I took." John whispered, he turned the GPS unit over. "This belongs to Shiho." He said.

"The ritual; is starting, the festival is burning, the night woman will bring the spell of doom and the fires will consume the village."

"Shiho." Mai whispered.

Naru nodded. Masako grimace and Ayako, Lin, Bou-san and John looked at each other.

"Is the night woman." Mai said.