Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

Author's Note: Disturbing and bloody scenes ahead.


Something in the night air felt tense. The forest was still except for a cool breeze that rustled through the pine needles and leafy branches of the trees. The tenseness felt similar to what was felt after the earthquake earlier that morning. Akio came to the conclusion that the Pestilence was behind the quake and obviously for leaving that frightening message: "LEAVE US ALONE OR DIE!"

Akio hypothesized that the quake was just the Pestilence's way of "flexing its muscles" at them. All three companions dreaded what else it could do. They even came to a terrifying theory that the Pestilence may actually have a long reach over the majority of Japan itself. Being made up of the souls of yokai and evil spirits that were purged during the Flaying Ritual for over 800 years, they undoubtedly wanted to cause nothing but harm and spread ill will across the country from large things like natural disasters to small things like claiming the lives of anyone who came into the shrine. The Pestilence may have even have had a hand in the devastation caused by the Fukushima tsunami.

With these theories in mind, the trio furthered their resolve to end the Vengeance permanently. Walking down the moss ridden and leaf-strewn pathway, Sumiko couldn't help but think about the Watanabe Three and her mother all those years ago. Their journey started off innocently enough but ended in tragedy and madness. Just walking down the same path that they took twenty-seven years earlier felt strange and somewhat nostalgic. She took comfort in knowing that tonight, she was going to set the souls of her aunt Ayumi, Daichi and Tetsuo free and hopefully put her mother's fragile mind at rest.

As soon as they reached the steps leading up to the shrine, the trio took a pause. They knew that as soon as they went up the stairs and into the main courtyard, there was no going back. The Vengeance was going to end tonight, once and for all. Akio turned to the young couple.

"This is it. Are you guys ready? "

"I am." Sumiko said.

"I am too." Shuu chimed back.

"Alright then," Akio turned to the stairs, "Lets do this."

Together the three walked up the stone steps. In the distance, the rumble of thunder could be heard. Neither Akio, Sumiko or Shuu heard anything about any thunderstorms coming into Mibuzaki or the neighboring towns and villages. Could it have been the Pestilence again trying to scare them off again? Regardless, they couldn't turn back now.

They had come this far and it was time to finish it.

Upon reaching the courtyard, a deep groaning noise was heard from behind them. Turning around, the trio saw that the gate leading back outside to the forest was closing. Before they could do any last minute dashes, which they didn't have the slightest thought of, the gate closed with a dull thud. Akio went to it and tried to open it. It wouldn't even budge.

It was sealed shut. The ghosts of Watanabe Shrine were not going to let Akio, Sumiko and Shuu leave even if they wanted to. The only way out now was either through the purification of the shrine or through death. With only the shrine ahead of them to go to, the group proceeded onwards. The shrine was eerily quiet but an aura of tenseness and anxiety filled the air, making the trio feel uncomfortable and on edge.

Upon reaching the Shrine Courtyard, Akio saw a familiar pale figure disappear into of the warehouse closes to the Temple Courtyard. It looked like Setsuna Kagome. Intrigued, Akio walked faster than the others towards the kura building. He gently pushed open the door and went inside. It was mostly pitch black in the small space.

The area was cluttered with baskets and boxes that were covered in a thick blanket of dust and mold. Some tools and other miscellaneous objects were arranged about as well. A flight of stairs led up to a loft with a support beam straddling two wooden pillars in front of it. Moving his flashlight, Akio then saw something peculiar on the support beam. It looked like a coil of rope with one dangling piece that looked like it was cut.

Walking up the stairs, Akio went to take a closer look at the rope. It was dark with age and mold. As he stared it, Akio began to feel a crushing sadness from deep within his heart. Muffled sounds of whimpering and crying began to ring in his ears. In black and white, Akio saw the last moments of the White and Blue Boy, Setsuna.

The soft sound of the door closing was almost drowned out by the sobs of Setsuna. Carrying a coil of rope in his hands, the young man somberly marched up the steps towards the loft. Using a ladder, he managed to tie the appropriate amount of rope to ensure that his feet would not touch the floor when he took his own life. Using a box, Setsuna stood on it and he gently placed the noose around his neck. He then tightened it…

Breathing deeply, which was obstructed by tears, mucus and fear, Setsuna looked down at the bottom floor, around the loft and then out the window. The moon could be seen outside. It looked like it was full and it was beautiful. Taking a deep breath, Setsuna slid his feet backward towards the edge of the box. Using his right foot, he pushed it off the loft.

Death did not come right away, just an intense pain and a desperate struggle to breathe. Setsuna kicked around a little and he sobbed even harder. To him, he deserved every second of this agony for what he did. He had inadvertently caused the deaths of an innocent woman and her child, bringing untold grief to the husband and father of those two people and finally, setting the groundwork for the Vengeance. Soon Setsuna's train of thought began to darken and cease altogether, his movements began to slow to a twitch and finally, darkness shadowed his eyes and he could see no more.

"Yamato... I am… so… sorry…"

Those final words where uttered through a choked whisper. And with that, the painful flashback was over. Akio came back to his senses. His eyes burned and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay Akio?"

It was Sumiko's voice. Both she and Shuu were at his side.

"What do you mean?" Akio said.

"You have been standing here for quite a while now and your crying. You look so sad…"

Akio felt his cheeks and true to what Sumiko said, he was crying. His face was wet and that was why his eyes were burning. Re-experiencing Setsuna's final moments alive and the emotions he went through drained Akio mentally.

"Yeah I'm fine," He finally said, "I'm just saw something… really sad…"

"What? What was sad?" Sumiko asked.

"I saw that White and Blue Boy, Setsuna's suicide…"

Sumiko and Shuu looked up towards the support beam where the rope was tied too. The scene made the young couple very quiet. The empty space that now occupied by darkness was once filled by the hanged body of a boy that was four years younger than they were. It was a truly melancholy experience. Sumiko couldn't help but tear up a little too.

"Come on lets go…" Akio said after wiping his eyes. Just as he moved his foot, he felt something small move underneath. Looking down at the loft floor, he saw something polished and white stuck in a hole in between the floorboards. Picking it up, he discovered that it was a piece of milky white quartz. It was about the size of an acorn.

As soon as Akio brought it closer to his eyes to examine it better, he could hear Setsuna's voice channel through into his mind.

"Yamato…

Nanami…

Airi…

I am so, so sorry…

Please forgive me…

However…

I confess…

If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything…

Yamato, you deserved to see your family again…

I just wish it were under different circumstances…

Good-bye my friend…

I wish you a happy reunion with your family in the afterlife…"

And with that, Setsuna's final thoughts disappeared into nothingness. Akio felt his tears start to flow again. Quickly pocketing the stone, he hurriedly set off back outside with Sumiko and Shuu right behind him. All three quickly traversed up the next flight of stairs to the Temple Courtyard. Just as soon as they were all between the two pagodas, something once again drew Akio's attention.

Freezing in place in the pathway, he turned towards the left pagoda. Something was laying on the ground in front of the stairs leading inside of the structure. Going towards it, Akio soon found that it was a piece of paper. The date September 12, 1907 was on it. The writing on the page looked rough like it was written with great effort that was under stress and at the end of it, the writing became mere scribbling. Akio had a bad feeling about it.

"Help me

Help me

Somebody please help me

He's trying to

Take over me

He wants

The

Whole world to

Suffer

Must remember

Must remember

Their names

Kazuki

Ayu

Kazuki

Ayu

Kaz (some intelligible scribbling) ami

Ay iri

Kaz

Nanami

Airi"

The mad writing ended with violent, dark scribbles at the bottom of the page. It was frightening to read. Akio felt a similar twinge of fear. It was the same fear he felt when the Skinless Man possessed him. It sounded like Hideki was also possessed at the end and just like Akio, he tried to hold on to his mind by repeating the names of his closest family members.

And just like Akio, he had failed, however Akio had survived his possession but barely. Akio's mind slipped back into the past and just like with Setsuna earlier, he was about to witness the last night that Hideki Asou was alive 104 years ago. At last, he was finally going to learn what had happened to Dr. Ikue Asou's great-grandfather, his original mission. The honden that Akio had visited two nights ago came into view. Hideki was trying to open it but just like Akio, he discovered that the door was locked.

As he went to take a photo of the door, the familiar sound of wind blowing caught Hideki's attention. The Skinless Man was in the hallway. Hideki screamed he took a picture of the Skinless Man instead as the latter came to attack him. Amazingly the light seemed to injure the frightening apparition and Hideki made a run for it. The courtyards of the temple and shrine flashed before Hideki and Akio's eyes rapidly as the former sprinted towards whatever safe haven he could find.

The Skinless Man was in hot pursuit.

The Priests Living Quarters came into view and Hideki's hands were seen desperately reloading the camera with film. The supernatural wind blew again and Hideki's anxiety and fear increased ten fold. Just as he turned around after putting in another piece of film, the Skinless Man grabbed him. Just like with Akio, the Skinless Man turned into a mass of black flames and he implanted himself within Hideki's soul. The poor man dropped onto the dusty tatami matting and he convulsed with pain and fear.

As he struggled both physically and mentally, Hideki grabbed a pen from his workstation and he began to write furiously. He was writing down the very note that Akio had just read. His attempt to stay sane failed and Hideki became completely possessed. The scene changed to the forest outside of the shrine. A shadowy figure walked about under the trees with a stiff and forced gait.

Lights from torches could be seen as well as some simple, old fashioned wooden houses. It was Mibuzaki, then nothing more than a hamlet of a handful of houses and a few modern amenities like a train station and telephone wires and poles in 1907. A sleepy little boy closing up his kimono after urinating on a bush caught the possessed man's attention. Silently, he crept up on the unsuspecting child. Just as the child turned to leave, Hideki struck.

He grabbed the boy by his throat and he held him up in the air. The boy tried to scream as he kicked his legs but nothing came out. Under the influence of the powerful ghost, Hideki's strength had increased. Despite his inability to scream, a man emerged from the house closest to Hideki. His wife soon followed the man, who appeared to be the boy's father.

Parental instincts must have guided them out of their deep sleep to check on their son. Both of them screamed and the father grabbed a rake that was propped up outside his house and he attacked Hideki with it. Despite the blows, the possessed man would not let go. Soon other villagers appeared. They screamed and hollered as they came to the boy's rescue with their fists or whatever weapon they had scrounged from within their houses.

One man tried to stab Hideki with a knife but a black skeletal hand emerged from Hideki's back and it threw him over the gathered mob. The villagers shrieked with fear as they saw this paranormal event transpire before them. Suddenly a man in a white robe appeared as a frantic villager was leading him. In his hands was a bowl that contained what appeared to be salt. The man took a handful of it and he threw it at Hideki.

It was sacred salt and it had the desired effect. Hideki/Yamato howled with pain and he let go of the now gasping boy who was soon cradled in the arms of his worried mother and father. The man, possibly a priest or a village elder, threw more salt at Hideki but he took off into the forest to return to the shrine. As he fled, a loud cracking noise filled the air and a great force pierced the right side of Hideki's chest. A villager had shot him with a hunting rifle.

Despite his injuries, Hideki/ Yamato made it back to the shrine. The villagers wouldn't dare to follow him back there. The following scenes were a blur of movement. Hideki was fighting to regain control of his consciousness. Somehow he found himself in front of the left pagoda.

Forcing himself to enter it, Hideki then climbed the steps of the structure towards the very top floor. He stepped over the balcony railing and limped towards the edge of the roof. Hideki could feel himself slipping closer towards both possession again and death. The bullet wound to his torso had caused him to bleed profusely. Seeing no other way out, Hideki prepared to kill himself.

He stretched out his arms by his sides and he looked out straight ahead. Yamato was fighting desperately to regain control of Hideki but the latter fought him with all the strength he had left.

"Ayu… I'm so sorry…"

After saying his tragic, final apology to his daughter, who was only seven at the time, Hideki stepped off the roof… The ground got closer and closer until Hideki finally slammed into the pavement. The sounds of his bones cracking and his flesh being torn racked the poor man's body with a great, intense and fiery pain. But Hideki wouldn't have to suffer it long. As the blood pooled around him and came into his view, Hideki passed away…

Unfortunately just like Setsuna and any other poor soul who died in the shrine, his suffering would continue long after his death.

Coming back to his senses again, Akio heard a noise coming from the fifth floor roof. There he saw a shadowy figure looking down on him. It was Hideki Asou. He was reliving his suicide once again. He spread out his arms crucifix style and he fell down without uttering a sound.

Akio quickly got out of the way as the man came crashing down onto the pavement. Sumiko and Shuu jumped back from shock and horror with yelps of surprise. Blood began to pool around him from multiple areas of his body where broken bones may have jutted through. Akio could only stare at what he had just seen. So this was the fate of Ikue's great-grandfather over a century ago.

He wandered if both she and her grandmother, Ayu, could finally know peace. But before the trio could move on, Hideki's left hand twitched. His right hand followed and soon his whole body began to move. His arms rose up to support the broken body that they were attached to. A ripping sound came from the coagulated blood as the body that was seemingly glued to ground by it began to break free.

Jagged pieces of bone cut through the flesh of Hideki's legs, giving them a freakish asymmetrical appearance. A gossamer strand of blood dripped from Hideki's shattered mouth, the left side of his jaw was smashed in, pushing the right side farther outward since he landed on that side of his face. As he got back onto his feet, the bullet wound on his chest became visible too. Hideki's face slowly rose up to greet his frightened audience. The skin around his left eye was scraped from landing on the ground and the organ looked bloodshot from burst capillaries.

His right eye was normal, but both them had a dark, sad and unnerving stare. Hideki then began to walk/limp unsteadily towards the group. Bones creaking and cracking from the effort began to emanate from the poor man's ghost. He held out his scraped right hand uneasily in a gesture for help.

"Help… Help… Help me…"

Akio quickly got out his Camera Obscura while his younger companions got out their anti-paranormal weapons. As Hideki shambled over, Akio raised his Camera to his face. The Viewfinder charged up quickly and it looked like Hideki was not going to get out of the way. But just as soon as a Shutter Chance appeared, Hideki suddenly charged Akio with lighting speed. The "Broken Man's" battered hands latched onto Akio's arms with a vice like grip.

Their touch was icy cold and Akio couldn't help but stare fearfully into the eyes of the long lost folklorist. The poor man kept pleading for help.

"Please… Please… I can't get out… I'm trapped…"

A flash of light pushed the desperate spirit away from Akio with a howl of surprise. It was from Shuu with his Spirit Stone Flashlight. He had managed to get it charged back up again with the moonlight. Sumiko attempted to take a photo of Hideki as well since he began to lumber towards the group again. Again he walked slowly but just like before, as soon as the Viewfinder became red, he charged with unbelievable speed.

He grabbed Sumiko and began his earnest plea for help once more. Akio managed to blow the ghost away from Sumiko. As Hideki recollected himself, he vanished and reappeared behind Shuu Amakura. He began the same sauntering gait towards the group, blood dripping from his damaged jaw, torn flesh and abrasions. Akio immediately formulated a strategy.

Since Hideki seemed capable of sensing a Shutter Chance before it happened, Akio decided that it was better to pick away at Hideki with half powerful shots until some opportunity came. But that would be an arduous process and Akio didn't want to waste his film. Just as Hideki was getting closer and Akio was getting closer to a Shutter Chance so he could use the almost fully charged power to blast Hideki, the latter outsmarted him. He was about to charge again when a flash of green light froze the Broken Man in place. Looking towards his left, Akio saw that the light was from Sumiko's Camera.

Hideki's spirit had stopped moving and was now engulfed by a green aura. Sumiko had used the spirit stone that had been given to her by Setsuna during her first night at the shrine to paralyze Hideki. She had completely forgotten about it as she and Akio explored the shrine and encountered its numerous horrors. And to make it even better, Hideki was paralyzed during a Shutter Chance. Sumiko took a photo of him and it did a great a deal of damage to him.

A Double Chance appeared and it did even more damage to the Broken Man. Akio was impressed.

"Nice shot and quick thinking Sumi!"

"Why thank you." She said with a proud smile. However, Hideki wasn't finished yet. He was beginning to stand up again. Once again, he began his saunter a beam of light touched him.

Hideki took just two more steps before the light intensified and it pushed him back. The light had come from Shuu's Spirit Stone Flashlight, the next light however, came from Sumiko. It was a Shutter Chance and it was the "killing blow." Hideki cried out in surprise and he suddenly stood straight and he held his arms high up into the air before bringing his hands to his face. He then fell to his knees and then to his right side.

He soon began to fade away into thin air. As he slowly became more evanescent, Hideki uttered out his final words.

"Forgive me…"

And with that, he was gone. The trio did not know who he was asking forgiveness from. It could have been Ayu, his wife, the trio themselves or all of the above. An aged piece of paper with faded pretty colors and what appeared to be film inside gold colored cases were all that was left of the Broken Man. Curious, the group went over to examine the articles.

The paper was a child's drawing made with colored pencils depicting three stick figures, one dressed similarly to Hideki and the other was obviously Ayu's mother, Kazuki, in a red kimono and had an antique hairstyle. The other stick figure between the other two was a little girl in a purple kimono and a black sash with a tiny dot on top of the stick figure represented a hair bun. It was a crude family portrait of the Asou family. They were all smiling as they held hands. Some clouds and the sun that was drawn in the corner also decorated the picture.

Beneath the cute drawing was some writing. The characters were a little rough since they were made by a child's hand; however, the message they conveyed was clear and concise.

"Come back soon daddy! I love you! Tell me all about your travels when you get back.

Love Ayu

PS: Can I get a puppy please? I got a really good grade on my test!"

But Hideki never came back…

Sadder still, a year after his disappearance, according to what Ikue had told Akio, Kazuki married an attorney from her father's law firm. She was wealthy thanks to her father's lucrative law career, but she did not want to carry the stigma of being a widow nor have her child be identified as the offspring of one. And besides, she was said to have been happy to have been able marry a man whose career was going places whereas Hideki's occupation was leading him nowhere. From the other details that Ikue had relayed from her family history, Hideki and Kazuki's marriage was edging closer to the breaking point and his father-in-law was even trying to help his daughter to annul the union legally. The familial happiness in the picture betrayed the cracks that seven year old Ayu was too young and innocent to see.

Just thinking about that made Akio tear up a little. Reliving the suicides of two people was starting to take a toll on him and the final night had just begun. It was Shuu who snapped Akio out of his melancholy this time. He had gone to examine the film that had been dropped along with Ayu's picture/note. Written on the containers in white letters was: "Type Zero."

Shuu recognized the film. His mother had a collection of antique camera films in her studio and this type was a part of it. Supposedly according legends about the Camera Obscura, this was a phenomenally strong film type that could exorcise any spirit regardless of their strength. Apparently, Ikue had divulged information about this film to Akio as well since he was able to recognize its worth immediately after Shuu showed them to him.

"That film! These are supposed to be able to purify any unclean spirit. What a find!"

Akio stored the film in his right pants pocket. The group proceeded farther up the path. They soon came across the Exorcism Knives dropped by the two Guards from the night before. On their hilts were the kanji letters for "Hope" and "Charity." Only one more knife left to find…

Steeling themselves for what lay ahead, the three went to the stairs leading up to the shrine. As they got closer to the shrine, the breeze suddenly picked up. The ema boards that remained on the exhibition board began to clatter calmly and sporadically, similar to wind chimes. The whole shrine had strangely been deathly still until now. Something was coming…

Nothing showed up at first so the trio made their way towards the shrine albeit hesitantly. Akio reached for the door handles.

"I don't think so…"

The familiar voice of a young girl stopped Akio's hands in their tracks. A knife suddenly stabbed the door just mere inches above Akio's right hand fingers. He gasped with surprise along with Shuu and Sumiko. Masami Watanabe reappeared in front of Akio and as he backed away, she pulled out the Exorcism Knife from the door. Whatever her expression was, her creepy fox mask obscured it.

Akio got out his Camera Obscura and he waited for Masami to get closer. Sumiko and Shuu got out their weapons as well. As they stood by at the ready, another unwanted visitor appeared. She touched the back of Shuu and Sumiko's necks, sending deep chills to rattle their bodies. Despite the shuddering, the young couple managed to break away and they turned to face their opponent.

It was a female Guard. She didn't have a knife but she did have a hole in the forehead of her mask and a stream of blood was flowing down from it, making it look like the mask was cracked all the way down the middle. When Shuu tried to shine his light on the Guard, she disappeared and reappeared behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. Sumiko used her Camera Obscura to blast the Guard away from her boyfriend.

As this predicament unfolded before Akio's eyes, he heard sinister childish giggle coming from the Fox Masked Maiden. She held her left hand to the mouth of her mask as she shook with laughter.

"That Guard certainly has her uses." Masami then turned her attention towards Akio. Her entire demeanor suddenly changed. Akio could feel an evil stare coming from the eyeholes of Masami's mask. She began to slowly walk towards Akio. Her grip on the knife tightened.

"And now… I will make you regret not heading our warning…"

The Fox Masked Maiden's voice was now deep and guttural. Black flames began to envelope her body. She was possessed by the Pestilence. Masami then suddenly disappeared. Akio's sixth sense told him to look out behind him.

Masami was there and she thrusted her Exorcism Knife towards Akio, who managed to jump out of the way of the blade. Unlike the battle with Hideki earlier, Akio couldn't count on Sumiko and Shuu for backup now. They had their hands full with the unarmed Guard. The Fox Masked Maiden began to circle Akio with ill intent as he began to frantically ready his Camera. The Guard meanwhile was causing trouble for Sumiko and Shuu.

Every time either of them tried to land a hit on the Guard, she kept disappearing into thin air and reappearing several feet away from them where even the Camera's Viewfinder could not reach. This time she began to circle them before vanishing again. The Guard reappeared behind Shuu and she grabbed him by the neck again. Shuu yelped with surprise but this time, Sumiko took her chance. A Shutter Chance caused the Viewfinder to glow a vibrant red and the resulting blast severely injured the Guard.

Masami meanwhile suddenly dashed in front of Akio and began to deliver a flurry of stabs towards Akio. The blows caused Akio to fall down to his knees in pain. The Fox Masked Maiden looked down on him with a smug sense of satisfaction.

"If only you and your friends had listened. The quake should have been more than enough to make you consider returning home… But you three are truly a stubborn lot… Now you shall reap the consequences of your unfortunate choice!"

Masami rose her knife arm up and she brought it down. Before that could happen, Akio quickly backed away on the palms of his hands. As Akio was trying to escape the Fox Masked Maiden, Sumiko was facing the wrath of the Guard she had just attacked. The Guard had suddenly reappeared in front of her and grabbed Sumiko by her throat. Flashbacks of the events from the night before caused rampant panic to flood Sumiko's being as she struggled to free herself from the Guard's grip.

Shuu immediately sprang into action. Using his Spirit Stone Flashlight, this time it had power, and he managed to dispel the Guard and cause her to release her grip on his girlfriend. The Guard turned around and began to go after Shuu. However another blast from the Flashlight pushed her back and following it was a powerful attack from Sumiko's Camera Obscura. The Guard suddenly tensed up and then crumpled down lifelessly to the ground and disappeared.

When they were sure that the Guard wasn't going to show up again, Sumiko and Shuu immediately turned their attention towards Akio and the Fox Masked Maiden. The two were getting closer to a wall in the far back by the area where the honden was enshrined. Masami was teleporting closer to Akio in a serpentine pattern to disorient him as he tried to aim his Camera at her. Masami giggled madly at Akio's attempt to attack her.

She vanished just as soon as he tried to take a picture. The only things he photographed were Sumiko and Shuu rushing over to him. Temporarily blinded by the flash, the young couple stopped to rub their irritated eyes. As soon as their vision cleared, they saw Masami's hand holding the Exorcism Knife high above Akio's shoulder. Before she could shout out a warning to Akio, he turned around and took a photo of the crazed ghost girl.

As Masami was pushed back by the blast, Akio delivered a Double Chance on her and she disappeared through the wall. Trying to track her with his sixth sense, Akio looked around for the Fox Masked Maiden. The feeling became stronger when he looked at Sumiko and Shuu. Looking closer at Shuu, Akio could see Masami's feet behind the young man. Shuu himself felt a chill go up his back. Something sharp was pressed into his back and it was being slid gently down his back. Sumiko followed Akio's gaze and she saw Masami behind her boyfriend.

She was tracing down Shuu's backbone with her Exorcism Knife.

"Hehehehehe…"

Masami pulled her arm back preparing to stab Shuu. Sumiko immediately readied her Camera and just as Masami's blade was about to stab her boyfriend's back, she took a picture. Another Shutter Chance came and then another one. Masami was almost finished. She disappeared before anyone could finish her off however.

On high alert now, the trio looked around for the Fox Masked Maiden. Black flames formed beneath the feet of the trio and they realized that they couldn't move. Excruciating pain flared up in the backs of Sumiko and Shuu as Masami stabbed them. As the young couple fell to their knees in pain, Akio cried out to them.

"Sumiko! Shuu!"

The sharp edge of a knife blade was suddenly against his throat. He couldn't raise his Camera up to defend himself. Masami brought her masked face closer to Akio's and she spoke. The black flames licked against Akio's flesh, bringing back uncomfortable memories of Daiki Ishikawa blowing Pestilence in his face back during the second night oh so long ago. The Fox Masked Maiden spoke.

"The souls of the demons here are restless… They wish for you and your friends to join the other spirits here…," She pressed the knife further against Akio's neck, "And now it is time for you to arrive into our ranks!"

Akio closed his eyes and waited for the end to come. Before that could happen however, a blinding flash of light stopped Masami in her tracks. She dropped the knife and let out a harrowing scream. It was a combination of her normal scream along with the shouts of the demon souls that made up the Pestilence itself. The black fire disappeared and the girl fell to her knees.

Her mask fell from her face. Masami rose her face from her sleeve, revealing the image of an innocent twelve year old girl. She had a widow's peak and a small mole under her right eye as well brown irises in her eyes. She looked pretty cute. However, Masami appeared to be sad.

She picked the Exorcism Knife back up and she handed it towards Akio. He gently took it from her. The kanji lettering on the hilt said "Courage".

"End it… Please end the Vengeance… This madness has to stop!"

And with that final plea, Masami Watanabe disappeared. Relief poured over the trio. Hesitant to stand at first, they gained the confidence to do so after they realized that their stab wounds were not real and they got up. Akio walked towards them with the knife. Now they had all five of the Exorcism Knives.

"Which of you two finished off that girl?" Akio asked as he handed the knife to Sumiko.

"I did." Sumiko said as she took the blade and put it away.

"She did." Shuu said at simultaneously with Sumiko's response.

As always, Sumiko had proven herself to be a very reliable person. She looked into her bag and she looked at the Exorcism Knives that were now inside. All that was left to do now was to go to the secret honden, put the knives in the oni statue's club and end the Vengeance for good. Resolved more than ever now and with their morale boosted, Akio led the group into the shrine. He led them through the main worship hall and into the path towards the shrine honden.

Reaching the doors after climbing the steps, Akio procured the Memento Key from his pocket. Sumiko and Shuu did a double take as soon as they saw the lock of hair tied to the key. The lock clicked with approval and Akio opened the double doors. Candles, some in small bowls on three tiered shelves on tables flanking the side walls of the shrine and two iron candlesticks in front of the altar, lit up the small space. A shining, ornate gold frame mirror sat inside a small cabinet with sacred rope and paper suspended over it.

Offertory boxes containing the wilted remains of sakaki branches, incense burners covered with dust and snow-white vases holding faded fake flowers decorated the altar. The mirror was meant to represent the mirror that the sun goddess Ameterasu was tricked into looking at when she sealed herself away in a cave due to the cruel mischief of her brother/husband, the storm god Susano-o, so that light could return to the world. The trio looked around for something could open a secret passageway. Looking back at the altar, Akio had a vision. In it, he saw Noboru Watanabe flanked by two priests in prayer.

He was kneeling front of the altar and he looked like he was meditating. Noboru leaned forward, moving his palms farther up the floorboards closer to the altar, as he bowed farther in deep respect for the mirror. He then pressed down on the floor and a loud groaning sound came from outside. The vision ended and Akio immediately knew what to do. He went to the cushion that was lying in front of the altar and sat down on his knees.

He could feel something move beneath the floor. He then bowed down farther, stretching his hands across the floorboards. Akio then pressed down on the floor just like Noboru did. The floorboards went down as a trick device beneath was activated. A dull groaning sound, like stone being ground against stone, was heard from outside.

Curious, the trio went outside. To the left of the honden they saw a large pitch-black opening as well as the portion of the rock wall that had moved. The pathway to the secret ceremony room and honden was now open for the first time in over 150 years. As the group looked over the new entrance way, a strange sort of pressure seemed to weigh on their shoulders. They knew that tonight, that very night, they were going to end the Vengeance.

Akio looked at Sumiko and Shuu.

"Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah we are." Shuu said while Sumiko simply nodded her head with approval.

"Alright, lets go…"

The three then set off down into the tunnel with only their flashlights to guide them through the darkness. Despite agreeing that they were all ready, the trio felt fear. They were all scared what might happen to them as they traversed farther down the cavern. But they knew that they couldn't turn back now. It was now or never.

Swallowing their fear and summoning their courage, the three pressed onwards into the deep unknown and towards the heart of the evil that had been plaguing the shrine for so long…


Poor Setsuna, Hideki and Masami. Will their suffering ever end? The Vengeance has caused much harm to Japan after it began that fateful night on May 21, 1855. I did the math on a calculator and I found out that 2011 (plus 1907) would have been a year when the Ceremony of Cleansing would have been performed. I would have had some terrible disaster happen every thirteen years after the Vengeance but it didn't work out so it just increases the damage and devastation caused by natural disasters and the like. Anyway, there are now only four chapters left so stay tuned!

Thank you for reading and please review! :)