GHOST HUNT: THE MISSING ARCHIVES
Hello this is my first Ghost Hunt story. I hope you all like it. The story will make use of contents from the games KUON and FATAL FRAME SERIES. I'll be, mostly, using the ghosts mentioned in the games.
Well…I was giving time for everyone to give me your opinions, but I didn't get many so…I'll continue with case 4 in the same story.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters from Ghost Hunt, or any concept from the games mentioned before.
FILE #4: The pacing Shadow: PROLOGUE
It felt…so cold…
I was standing the middle of some sort of ancient garden. Everything was dark, there was no light at all…the weird thing was…I didn't seem to have troubles seeing what surrounded me. There were some Jizo statues pilled in rows, some of them were a little cracked and worn out; they were probably very old. I rubbed my arms and I saw my own breath as a dim steam; it was so cold. Suddenly, a curtain of small white flakes began to fall on me wetting my clothes as they touched it.
Snow? That couldn't be right…we were barely by the end of summer; it couldn't be snowing now…could it?
The sudden sound of taming chimes woke me from my musings about the weather. What could that be? It sounded distant…but it seemed to be getting closer…
I looked around me... all I saw was a closed double wooden door, right across the Jizo statues; the rest of the garden was surrounded by shoji walls; so this was a inner garden…wasn't it?
A sudden light appeared behind one of the panels… a black shadow cast by the sudden light was scored against the rice paper from the panel. I felt the chills running down my back even though I couldn't distinguish whose shadow this was, nor even if it was a male's or a female's. The shadow began to move with slow steps, the light moving along with it.
My heart suddenly dropped. The shadow was heading to the wooden door; once it opened it…I'd find myself face to face with the owner of that shadow… and for some reason…the simple idea scared the hell out of me…
I looked around me, desperately trying to find some possible way of escaping; but there was none. The place only had one entrance-exit.
The shadow had disappeared from view, and the door tremble a little as the person behind it tried to push it open. I swallowed, as the tension in me began to build up. My anxiety was mixing up with the curiosity of knowing whose shadow that was…
The door opened with a soft and creepy "crack# and then….
"Mai" a voice whispered as I was being shaken awake gently.
My eyes opened lazily. I found myself curled on my sit next to the window; I relized that the bus had stopped moving, so it'd been a dream…that explained a lot, I thought as I stretched my arms over my head.
"Hey there, Hikaru-chan…" I smiled " What's up?"
"Are you ok? Your breathing was a little heavy and your heart sounded pretty rushed…"
"Woah…was my heart pounding that loud?" I asked rubbing the back of my head embarrassed.
"Not really…but you know what they say…when you are blind, your other senses become sharper…" Hikaru replied lowering her shoulders "Are you ok? Were you having one of those dreams?"
"Eh? Oh…I don't think so…I mean. I'm not even there so…I guess probably not. It seemed more like a regular dream….a regular stressing dream. "
"Are you sure? Even if you are not physically there…part of your mind is still attached to them, so you could probably feel it …"
"That sounds like something complicated…" I laughed " Nah…Naru and the gang are handling this case without me…My head is full into this trip…"
That was right. This time I wouldn't be with them for this case. It all four weeks after we returned from our case in the hospital.
"Field work?" Ayako asked as she dusted off her hands after hitting Bou-san for one of his not so gallant comments.
"That's right…" I replied while I opened the tap and filled the kettle with the cold water "We'll be out for a week. We're heading to Kyoto…"
"Kyoto again, heh?" Yasuhara said piling some files " What kind of field work are you doing back in Kyoto?"
"Well you know that Kyoto has a lot of history in its background. With that much history there are a lot of rumors and stories about haunted places around the city…" I replied putting a measured spoon of tea leaves into the teapot.
"You two are going ghost hunting without us?" Bou-san said accusingly. He was still rubbing his head, right in the spot where Ayako had hit him.
"Of course not" I said frowning.
"We are only meant to visit some places and research a little…" Hikaru replied courteous " Don't worry, most of the haunting in those places are mere rumors…or at least not serious enough to be consider dangerous. Otherwise, the Abe Clan would had already taken care of it…"
"Now that you mention it…back then during the festival case, I heard that they had quite a name in that prefecture…." Yasuhara commented " Any minimal supernatural issue would be brought to them…"
"The Abe name is quite famous…"I replied " That's just natural."
"So they're the only family in Kyoto that does that?" John asked curiously.
"No…that's not it. There are other three clans…" Hikaru replied "The Sasaki clan and the Ashiya Clan. The Sasaki Clan, though, rarely perform requested missions…they tend to be strict with the cases they agree to take…as long as the Ashiya Clan; they aren't that specialized into cleansings and exorcism…they focus more on fortune telling…."
"Or that's what they say…" I added " Anyway…this is a great chance for us to see this places, many of those place aren't haunted by human souls. There are many legends involving ayakashi, monoke...even Kamis (1)"
"Woah…that almost made Mai sound smart!" Yasuhara laughed.
"HEY!"
There was a regular laugh.
"Even if those places aren't really haunted…there might be one that are; so you two better take this with you…" Ayako said giving us two of her protective charms "Better safe than sorry"
We thanked Ayako for the charms with a bow.
"Well…this is depressing. Our team seems to have been decimated for this case…"Bou-san lamented " You two are out because of that trip, and the twins aren't joining us either…"
That was true. Rei hadn't returned to college or to SPR since the hospital case. Kei had said she was okay; she just needed time to" re-adjust" herself. I really didn't get what he meant with those words though. Re-adjust to what? Kei did come back, but apparently, he was called home for that date too, so he wouldn't be in the case either.
"Oh…c'mon. There's not much to lament…" I said " You've got Aki…and that's better than anything…"
"Don't say that, Mai-chan…" John said smiling " Your dreams are really a key for solving the cases…."
I blushed with John's words.
"Besides…I'm sure it's nothing serious…" Ayako said " It's definitely an earth spirit…all the phenomena points to it!"
"Honestly, woman…." Bou-san said " If I got 10yuan for each of the times you say that I get it wrong, I'd be billionaire… AHG!" he added when Ayako hit him again.
"Forget about the ghost…" Yasuhara said " I know something that's creepier thant that!"
The rest of us looked him puzzled. Yasuhara giggled and lowered his voice.
"Shibuya-san out of Mai's special made tea for a week…." He replied " GOD BLESS US!"
We all laughed. Somewhere behind our laughter, I heard the subject of the joke complaining about his delayed tea. I rushed to delivered with a wide silly grin…
A week later, I was here, sitting in bus with Hikaru and heading to Kyoto.
I was really excited about this trip; I'd learned a lot about the places in Kyoto during class…but there was nothing better than seeing the real thing.
"Anyway…" I said cheerfully " Why did you wake me up? Were you worried that I was having one of those?"
"Not really…it's because we arrived to the hotel…"
"Ehhh?" I snapped " Did I actually sleep that much?"
Hikaru nodded.
"Oh well…let's get off. I really need to stretch my limbs…hehe"
Hikaru and I got off from the bus with the rest of the class. Our hotel was a traditional inn with the nice sliding doors and shiny polished floors. The main entrance had a cute Tanuki statue and a giant wooden plate with the name of the place.
"Attention please!" a female voice called on us. It was our teacher: Shinase Sayuri " Okay…I'll give the general instructions for this trip. The first thing we all do is leaving your belongings in you assigned rooms. You'll sleep in pairs ok? Now after that, we'll start working on the assignment…"
A group of 4 people appeared behind of her. They were all wearing semi-formal clothes and seemed cordial; after each of their introductions the teacher spoke again.
"This people are local folklorists…"Shinase said " Each of the working pairs will receive a yellow envelope like this one in here" she added showing us one " The envelopes are closed and it'll be given randomly to you. Inside you'll find the name of one of the most popular haunted places in the city. What will you do with that? It's simple…I want you to go there and do all the research possible…ask around, look into the library…whatever. By the end of the week I'll be checking the compiled information, and then you'll hand out a complete report for our next class….clear?"
There was a chorus of yes.
"Very well…then… You'll be called by each of our companions, so please go pick your envelope when you hear your name…"
Each team was called one by one. I saw the pile of yellow envelopes under each of the men arms growing thinner and thinner…
" Taiyama Mai…!"
"Here!"
I walked to the man with dark brown hair and glasses. There was something strange on him….something that made him familiar, but I couldn't tell what….
"Ehm…excuse me…" I said shyly " Have we met before?"
"Uhm…I don't think so…." The man replied as dig between the envelopes. Even his voice sounded familiar "Here….I think you might enjoy this one, Taniyama-san…."
I took the envelope from him and looked him puzzled. What was that supposed to mean?
"Excuse me?"
"Have fun….Taniyama-san" he smiled at me. Such a cold smile! It could almost match Naru's glare…
I looked away and rushed back to Hikaru. What was wrong with that guy?
"Everything all right, Mai?"
"Eh? Oh yeah…." I replied " Let's see what we got…."
I opened the enveloped. Inside of it was a map and a bunch of pictures. My heart almost stops when I saw the first one: some jizo statues lined up in rows, shiji panels and a big double door….
Once more…I'd done it again….
And that's case file 4, my friends, I hope this prologue got your attention. Let's see if anyone can guess who's the featured ghost in this story…;P
Thanks for reading! 3
(1) Name given to many of the creatures in Japanese folklore.
